A golden light erupted between Cyclone's hands revealing a stylized golden-blue tome. Its beautiful appearance drew everyone's attention. Balm was staring closely as she and Cyclone were the only ones carrying tomes in their offhand.
Cyclone frowned as she shared the item's information in the group chat. After realising that the tome was no set item, Cyclone was already not enthusiastic, but not even its stats were great.
Although the rare tome boosted elemental damage, its effects were geared towards close combat. It was clearly meant for some kind of spellblade class.
After a short discussion the party decided to put the tome into the guild treasury although there was no one in the guild who could use the tome effectively for now.
But perhaps during the next round of recruitment they could use the tome to attract suitable players.
Other than this tome Cyclone found mostly uncommon equipment. Those only brought a small upgrade to the party since most of the items required a higher level.
"I had hoped we could increase our strength a bit before facing the next boss.", said Silver Blade with a frown.
Some of the friends shared her apprehension while others faced the upcoming fight with confidence. Anyways, they had only one path to take.
"Rarf! Rarf!"
Excited barks echoed through the smithy distracting the party. Faint smiles formed on everyone's faces as they followed Fellfell towards the big gate leading out of the smithy.
Silent Acacia patted the beast's head, saying gently:
"So excited? Are we getting closer?"
"Rarf!"
Fellfell nodded his head quickly, keeping his eyes focused on the gate. Silver Blade made sure that everyone was ready before pushing the gate open.
Immediately Fellfell rushed into the next room. He skipped the small, empty square behind the door and jumped on a large, circular platform. He barked frequently as he sniffed the ground.
Watching Fellfell trying to find a way past the platform the friends understood that his target should be somewhere below.
Silver Blade frowned knowing that this platform was actually an elevator which only drove upwards. She questioned Liam confusedly:
"Is there a trick to get the elevator to go downwards?"
"Nope. We have to continue the dungeon. The trick to go down comes at the end."
"Oh..."
The friends looked apologetically at the excited Fellfell who didn't seem to comprehend Liam's words. They boarded the elevator one by one. It could easily carry all the party members. It was after all built to transport the huge weapons constructed in the workshop.
Fortune was the last to step onto the platform. As soon as both her feet landed did the rustling of chains echo in the room. Chains moved within shafts inlaid into the wall, drawing the elevator upwards.
"Rarf! Rarf! Rarf!"
Poor Fellfell sounded anxious as they distanced themselves from the smell he was tracking. He looked at the party with blame in his eyes, not able to understand why they wouldn't travel downwards.
Silent Acacia felt a pang in his heart. He quickly stepped forward to pet Fellfell and slowly explain the situation. It was uncertain if Fellfell understood but at least he stopped barking.
The scene turned quiet except for the rattling of chance. The room the elevator moved in was rather dim. Lights lit up when the elevator got close and turned off when it passed. The atmosphere turned tense.
Soon Cyclone found it difficult to endure and started asking random questions to distract herself and her friends.
The atmosphere lightened until the elevator finally stopped. There were gates in multiple directions but one of them was wide open, inviting the players.
When they walked forward, they found themselves back in the city portion of the dungeon, close to the top of the gigantic cave.
The dwarfs had widened the space here a lot. Plants were growing along the smooth walls. All the surrounding houses were clearly separated and even the smallest one offered enough space for multiple families to live in.
Despite years of disrepair bright banners still hung from the houses carrying the symbols of different dwarven nobles. Lamps looking like modern street lanterns spent a comfortable light. From one look it was obvious that this part of the city was reserved for the upper echelons.
But the party's eyes concentrated on the only person on the square. It was an old man in a silver armor which had seen many battles. He was kneeling on the stone floor with closed eyes.
His ears twitched as he heard the approaching steps. He slowly opened his eyes.
A shiver ran down the party's backs. The old man's gaze was piercing like a peerless sword causing the player's skin to prickle.
"Old man, we meet again!", exclaimed Cyclone to give herself some courage. A deep voice filled with power answered her:
"The empire is arrogant as ever. Sending adventurers to take us down. What a farce!"
"Hmpf! Aren't you the arrogant one here?"
"Ridiculous! My confidence is built on years of battle. When I led soldiers into the battlefield, you were not even born yet!"
"And you still ended up here."
"YOU!"
The old man suddenly erupted as Cyclone stabbed at his sore spot. He was one of the empire's powerful generals. He always thought that if he got strong enough, the emperor would value him and elevat him into the empire's highest ranks.
But his humble background held him back. The noble families made sure to deny him any chance of proving his worth. Eventually he severely injured another general and was thrown into jail.
After years of inaction his strength waned greatly. It has only been recently that a mysterious person freed him and brought him here to take control of this small force.
And now even adventurers dared to mock him?
The old general narrowed his eyes. A storm erupted around him, tearing on his long white hair. The man slowly stood up spreading an invisible pressure.
He put his hands in front of his body in a grasping gesture. A sword made from white light materialized in his hands. The sharp blade and graceful shape reminded him of the precious sword he used to bring into battle.
"Adventurers! This will be the place of your death. I won't let you disturb the prince!"
The fight began as the old man stopped talking.
[Treacherous General Basset, 'The Blade of the Northwind'
Rank: Boss
Level: 35
HP: 27.300/27.300]
Before Radiant Shield could close the distance, General Basset raised his hands high above his head. A biting cold win spread through the surroundings. The sword in the old man's hands shone like the purest diamond.
"You children are a hundred years too early to challenge me!"
As he spoke the general suddenly let go of his sword. It dissolved and fused into the wind. Subsequently ten smaller swords formed, hanging in the air like sharp icicles.
"Not again!"
Balm lamented as she recognized the skill. Simultaneously the first sword launched at the party. It only targeted a single person, but the party hastily scattered in order to clearly discern the target.
Staring closely at the projectile flying swift like the wind, Silver Blade realized that the sword was following her every movement. There was no way to dodge. The sword was a test of a player's skill, not allowing any escape methods.
For Silver Blade this was not a big problem. She took a stable posture and held her shield in front of her body.
With a thud the sword clashed with her shield. It dissolved into a strong breeze which pulled on her long black hair.
The other swords swiftly followed targeting the party members one by one. Watchful Eye twirled his staff while Liam leisurely slashed with his sword, hitting at the perfect timing.
The rest of the melee players all found it more or less easy.
But the ranged players faced obvious difficulties. They had to focus, aiming carefully to let their attacks clash with the swords.
Eventually only Silent Acacia managed to block the attack with his arrow. Cyclone, Fortune, and Balm missed. The small swords crashed into their bodies dealing a fixed 3000 points of damage.
Cyclone sounded upset as she shouted:
"What a terrible start!"
Before the party even approached the boss, they had already lost a collective 9000HP. Luckily Basset didn't repeat the skill. He watched Radiant Shield approach, reforming his sword to welcome the tank.
The two men quickly exchanged blows. A strong wind kept blowing with every slash of Basset's sword, cooling Liam's face as he swung his swords.
[-150!]
[-75!]
The attacks of Liam's friends arrived simultaneously. Cyclone was unhappy as she only dealt about 140 points of damage. She was determined to prove her prowess with her skills.
For a couple of seconds, the general endured everyone's attacks while he focused on Radiant Shield. His sharp sword carrier a huge force, shaving off a huge amount of stance with every hit.
Radiant Shield found it surprisingly difficult to block the swift sword strikes. He even failed completely at one point.
[-1520!]