[Works for me,] Anja said.
Mason picked up the two Mana Crystal Shards and we continued on our way. We didn't come across anymore Kobold Assassins, but we did come across our first room. It was very similar to the chambers on the previous floors, but actually seemed quite a bit easier than the fifth floor. There weren't any elites, either, which made it super easy.
We cleared the room pretty quickly before continuing, and came across multiple traps on our way down the hallway. There was another one that seemed like a dud, but a few minutes after triggering the trap, we were ambushed by Kobold Assassins, again. Jonathan dealt with two that came from behind, while Anja launched an Ice Shard over my shoulder that hit the one that attacked from the front. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it did give me a target to aim at.
That's the way the next few rooms, and floors went, it turned out. We would get ambushed when going between chambers, but we always dealt with the assassins quickly. In rooms, would be a large group of kobolds waiting for us. There were no assassins mixed in, fortunately, so they died just as quickly.
We ended up clearing three floors before something changed, but that wasn't to say that those three floors weren't boring. We determined that those 'dud' traps were ones that spawned the assassins, having been able to skip a few groups of assassins by stepping over the trigger plate rather than getting one of the skeletons to stand on it. We even got a couple of drops, those being uncommon pants, while also getting another Tier-D Skill Gem to add to the pile. We opted to hold off on handing out the pants, deciding to wait until we killed the boss on the tenth floor, instead. That would give us three items to roll off rather than just the two.
The ninth floor was where things got interesting. Each room was comprised of a smaller number of kobolds, though they were all elites, and there were Elite Kobold Assassins mixed in as well. They were visible when we entered the room, but soon turned invisible when they noticed us. It caught us off guard at first, though we adapted to that pretty quickly.
Jonathan, Mason and Ben were nigh-invulnerable against the Assassins, which meant that they could only really attack my sister and I. The problem with that was that Anja was able to see their attacks before they even happened, so she was able to deal with them on her own, or warn me to get away. Ride the Lightning was very good for that, having a pretty short cooldown while also being cheap on the mana. It allowed me to disappear, and then Anja would appear right behind it and either cut off its head using her katana or stab it through the back with one of her many other weapons.
We always killed the Elite Kobold Shaman and an Elite version of a Kobold Chieftain whenever we entered a room, knowing that while it would enrage the other kobolds, it would make it a lot easier when the kobolds weren't getting healed. It also allowed Jonathan to be engaged in the fight from the start rather than have to keep the chieftain busy. In the second room, Jonathan had actually used Blink to appear behind the shaman and closed his hand over its head before proceeding to squeeze, popping the kobold's head like a melon.
It was extremely effective, while also being extremely disgusting, something we all agreed on after clearing the room. He didn't do it again, as the first time he had to take a minute to wash all the blood off his hands before we continued. Instead, he went with a neat beheading before continuing on to the chieftain. The ninth floor was also quite short, only having four rooms and none of those containing a floor boss, which was surprising, but not unwelcome.
*****
[Shit, a Disorienting Aura,] Ben sent when he spotted one of his markers indicating we had been here before.
[Seems par for the course,] Jonathan said, looking up at the ceiling. [Too bad it's not a labyrinth or I could fly up and see where we need to go.]
[That would be nice,] Ben said, continuing to lead us.
He actually had three skeletons now, two warriors and an archer, Raise Skeletal Warrior having hit rank three about halfway through the previous floor. It allowed us to go quite a bit quicker, as his skeletons didn't need to be summoned as often.
Having turned left at the first intersection, we turned right so we would head into another direction. It proved to be the right one, as we soon came up to a small room with a chest in the middle. There was no glowing aura around it indicating it was a trap, so I didn't need to fire an arrow at it. Mason opened it up, finding a Tier E Skill Gem, as well as the usual Mana Crystal Shards. After gathering everything up, we continued, picking one of the two paths at random.
There were five ambushes by Elite Kobold Assassins before we reached a room containing ten elite Kobolds, as well as a Kobold High Chieftain. We went all out on the fight, with Jonathan taking out the shaman as quickly as he could before focusing on the High Chieftain next. Anja's job was to deal with the three assassins, while Ben and I helped Mason out with the archers.
Trying a new strategy, we took out the archers as soon as possible, because it was easier to avoid attacks from a warrior that had to run around, rather than an archer who could stay stationary and firing off arrows without a care in the world. It worked rather well, having killed all three archers within the first minute of the fight and then turning to deal with the very pissed off warriors.
It ended up being quite a bit easier than the boss on the fifth floor, even with the assassins added into the mix. We couldn't tell if it was because of our experience or because they were easier, but it was probably a mix of the two. The High Chieftain didn't have Metal Skin as the boss did, so that made him quite a bit easier to deal with when all three arrows found their mark, rather than one hitting and the two just bouncing off.
After that, it was just a matter of navigating the maze. That was the annoying part, having taken us nearly forty minutes to finally make it to the decorated doors that lead to the boss room. The door was quite large, showing a large kobold-looking creature, though there were some noticeable differences. It actually looked more like a dragon than a kobold, having wings on its back and having two swept back horns sprouting from its head.
Deciding to see what we were in for, we opened up the doors and stepped in. We were getting used to the darkness, so we walked forward until the doors slammed shut us and the lights came on. The room was massive, having what looked like perches all around the room. The one that caught our attention was the one directly opposite the entrance, a grey creature standing up and beating its large wings. It roared before jumping into the air and gliding down into the middle of the room.
It looked to be just as big, if not a bit bigger than Jonathan was in his Seotross form, sporting some wicked looking claws and what looked like very thick scales. There were jagged areas on its forearms and its elbow, and it had some very sharp teeth. It looked incredibly muscular, and it made me wonder how such a large creature could fly. There was no way it's wings would be able to lift its weight, which meant that the only possibility was magic.
[If I'm right, that's a Dragonewt, though it's quite a bit smaller than I was expecting. Usually you don't see them until level fifty or so. I've never seen a grey one, either. Usually they're more colorful.]
[Dragonewt, huh?] Jonathan said. [What can you tell us about them?]
[Well they can fly, obviously, so get ready for it to fly around. I'm pretty sure it'll also be able to breathe fire, but I'm not entirely sure. Besides that, it's incredibly strong as you can see, and he should be pretty fast as well. I have no clue what type of abilities he'll have.]
[I could probably take care of it pretty quickly if I changed forms again. What do you guys say?]
[Nah, let's do it as we are. Ben and I can both summon our elementals and then we can go in. Maybe this guy will actually put up a challenge,] Mason said.
[I don't think there is much point in Ben summoning his, so we'll go in as soon as you've summoned yours.]
[Oh, right, the fire resistance thing. Alright, gimme a minute,] Mason replied as he began summoning his earth elemental.
Ben also began casting something at the same time, though the cast times were much shorter. By the time Mason's earth elemental was summoned, there were two Skeletal Archers and a Skeletal Warrior standing in front of Ben. He hadn't used them before on a boss fight so I was curious to see how it would go.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Jonathan turned and extended his spear and his cutlass before proceeding to walk towards the boss. Normally we all ran in, but he seemed like he wanted to slow it down a little. It seemed to be a good choice as well, since the boss took a big breath as soon as we walked past a certain point.
Jonathan reacted instantly, stopping and taking a breath of his own. Mason and Ben put up Mana Shield, while Anja and I made sure to spread out. Moments later, the boss breathed out a jet of flame that traveled the hundred foot distance pretty quickly, only to meet Jonathan's own fire breathe about thirty feet away from him.
It looked like he wasn't able to breathe it any further just yet, but his breath weapon was easily strong enough to hold up to the dragonewt's. The duel must have lasted for at least thirty seconds before both of them stopped, Jonathan coughing a little at the end. There wasn't any time to recover, however, because the boss immediately started running forward, using a quick beat of his wings to increase his speed.
Jonathan met him halfway, his spear activating and reaching across the distance when they got close enough, the spear impaling the boss' waist. Seeming to not even feel the attack, he began swinging one of his arms. The backhand connected with Jonathan, who got Mana Shield up before the strike even hit, but promptly flared up and fell, sending Jonathan flying a short distance.
