Jake ducked just in time as a ratman grunt swung the mace it wielded in his direction. Unfazed, the beastman pressed on with its assault, delivering another powerful swing. Jake swiftly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blow. He immediately darted aside as a second ratman grunt slashed at him with a two-handed sword. The huge blade sliced through the air over his head with a whoosh. As the grunt lifted its sword for another attack, a third ratman lunged forward with astonishing speed, thrusting its spear toward Jake. He barely managed to leap aside, evading the deadly point. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the mace-wielding grunt charging at him once more and quickly danced aside to evade the blow.
This fight was quickly becoming frustrating. Over the past half hour, Jake had faced multiple groups of ratman grunts. While these foes were undeniably stronger and more dangerous than minions, he had managed to dispatch them with relative ease. This fight, however, was different. The reason was another type of ratman that was part of that group.
Ratman - Bonecaster - Level 85
This new type of enemy maintained a constant position behind the grunts. The bonecaster was tall and scrawny, lacking the physical strength of the grunts. As a spell caster, it chose to stay at the rear, relying on the physically stronger grunts to handle the frontline combat. Every now and then, the bonecaster would unleash a bolt of lightning from the top of its staff, but thanks to Feral Instincts as well as his remarkable speed and reflexes, Jake was able to skillfully dodge the attacks.
What made the bonecaster an annoying opponent was another spell it kept casting. Every few seconds, it would point its staff at one of the grunts and unleash a wave of energy that temporarily empowered the target, making it significantly more agile, faster, and physically stronger. The bonecaster used this spell far more frequently than it launched lightning bolts, which meant there were multiple beefed-up grunts at any given time.
The enhanced grunts, powered by the bonecaster’s spell, demonstrated surprising speed and agility compared to their regular counterparts. This made the battle significantly more difficult than any previous encounters he had faced. He knew that to win he had to take out the bonecaster, but getting to it proved challenging. The spellslinger always stayed tucked behind the beefed-up grunts that pressed forward relentlessly, pushing him onto the defensive.
Confronting these fast and agile foes was no small feat, forcing him into a rhythm of dodging and deflecting their attacks. Most of the time, he found himself unable to launch a counterattack, as he was ensnared in a continuous struggle just to protect himself. The relentless onslaught of the enhanced grunts tested his skills and endurance, leaving him to ponder how he could turn the tables in this increasingly desperate situation.
Jake continued to evade the grunts’ attacks for some time. Unable to reach the bonecaster, he found himself with two options: wait for the buffs to wear off, returning the grunts to their normal speed and strength, or hope the bonecaster would eventually run out of mana. Unfortunately, the bonecaster cast the buffs on the grunts way too often, allowing them to constantly be in a beefed-up state, and the spell caster also appeared to have an enormous amount of mana. Jake was quickly running out of patience. Ultimately, he resolved to go on the offensive, even if it meant sustaining some damage.
With a thought, he unleashed countless spikes from his body and charged into the heart of the grunts, swinging his battleaxe with ferocity. The blade gleamed as it cut through muscle and bone with surprising ease.
He took the head off the shoulders of one ratman. A fierce sweep cleaved another one in two. With a downward swing, the blade of his axe bit into the shoulder of another ratman, going almost to the middle of its body. The battleaxe he wielded proved extremely effective against the ratmen. With a powerful yank, he wrenched the axe free from the grunt’s body and pressed on his relentless assault.
With each strike he unleashed, the ratmen shrieked in rage and agony. They surrounded him, their eyes glowing like embers, but he pressed on, fueled by unwavering resolve. The ground was strewn with the remnants of the fallen ratmen, the acrid stench of blood assaulting his senses. Every now and then, they managed to land a hit on him, but he barely paid attention to that.
When he was in the middle of ratmen, he launched the spikes from his body, sending them zipping through the air every which way. He pressed on without pausing, hacking and slicing through the dense ranks of the ratmen until he finally emerged into the open. Up ahead, he saw the bonecaster. Instead of charging it, he did something else. He hurled the bone battleaxe toward the enemy, sending it flinging end over end through the air. The bonecaster tried to get away, but it was too slow, and the blade of the axe sank into its head, splitting it cleanly in two.
Jake pivoted to face the remaining grunts. With the bonecaster defeated, the enhancements it had bestowed upon them evaporated instantly. Once back to their normal speed and strength, the ratmen posed little challenge for Jake. It didn’t take him long to dispatch what was left of the ratmen.
Multiple enemies killed. +25,125 XP
For a brief moment, Jake remained rooted to the spot. The floor was strewn with the remnants of the slain ratmen and slick with spilled blood. Several wounds he had endured during the fight oozed mana, but Enhanced Regeneration was already hard at work patching him up. He took a second to assess his current experience.
In one of the corners of the chamber sat a primitive chest. Since it was of common rarity, it wasn’t trapped. Upon approaching the chest, Jake lifted the lid and peered inside. He found a few lesser mana items alongside some vial nestled at the bottom. After extracting the mana, he picked up the vial for a closer inspection. It contained a clear, viscous liquid. He summoned its description.
Name: Deathwhisper Ointment
Description: When applied to the blade of your weapon, the ointment grants it the ability to deal damage to ghosts and other creatures that do not have a physical body.
Primary effects: Increases damage inflicted on ghosts and similar creatures by 10%
So it was a temporary buff vial. Since he was given such an ointment, it probably suggested there might be ghost-like enemies lurking on this floor as well. Jake moved toward the bonecaster’s body, which lay sprawled on its back with the battleaxe still embedded in its skull. He placed a foot on the chest of the slain ratman and, with a sharp tug, wrenched the axe free from its skull.
Returning to the chest, Jake placed the axe on the floor. He picked up the vial once more and pulled the cork free. He then took the axe with the other hand and poured the liquid-like ointment over the blade. He thought he would have to spread it all over the blade manually and was taken aback when the magical ointment began to move across the surface of the axe’s blade on its own, covering every inch of it. When it reached the edge of the blade, instead of dripping off, the strange viscous liquid flowed smoothly to the opposite side, covering that as well. The whole process took just a few seconds, and when it was over, both sides of the axe’s blade were coated in the transparent ointment, which slightly glinted in the light of the wall-mounted torches.
Jake then summoned the description of the axe once more. Since he had already studied it before, he concentrated solely on the newly added information.
Temporary effects: The damage inflicted on ghosts and similar creatures is increased by 10% for 6 hours. Remaining time: 5 hours 57 seconds
With that done, Jake left the chamber and ventured into the deeper sections of the dungeon. He continued to explore for some time without encountering any enemies.
At one point, he came across a room that contained a familiar shape: the looming arch of a portal. Just like the one he had found on the first floor, it was inactive. He stepped into the chamber to take a closer look at the dormant portal.