Ultimate Level 1
Chapter 494: Breaking Rules

“What are we going to do?!” Fowl shouted as Max came near them.

“I don’t know! I hit it with everything I had, and it still survived. Any ideas?”

The five of them looked at each other and their ranger spoke first.

“My arrows aren’t doing anything against the boss. I sent a normal attack, and it basically just bounced off. I could use one of my boss arrows and empower it, but since you weren’t having any luck, I preferred not to do so.”

“Both of our spells are doing little damage outside of the crushing rock one,” Tanila stated. “From what I saw, yours didn’t have enough time to build up. Perhaps a bigger one might be more effective. And don’t forget to use your Stone Mastery to speed it up.”

Wincing, Max realized he had forgotten to attempt that, trying to focus on so many different things and knowing that Bob would normally handle and do that.

“Those spawns were weak once they got in close,” Fowl said as he tapped his hammer against his shield. “The aura did a lot of damage to them, and only a few managed actually to land a blow against me. I still got taunt up as well.”

Max looked at Batrire who shrugged.

“I’m fine on the mana. All I know is we’re not making much headway against that boss. Still, there are fewer bones on the floor than before.”

Some of the larger piles were gone, and he wasn’t sure if those had turned into creatures he had slain or if the boss had consumed them somehow.

“Start storing the ones near us. I’ll get to work grabbing the others,” Max said as he pointed at a larger pile. “If we can limit what it can eat, then we can hopefully limit how it heals.”

“While also maybe preventing it from summoning more,” Tanila said.

Nodding at her, he ran to the nearest stack of bones, grabbed them and stored them in his necklace.

Like a street sweeper, Max ran around the tower floor, plucking bones and cleaning up the area.

A loud shriek came as the boss returned, its skeletal head now fully healed and two green eyes scouring the black dirt area.

It came after him, and he ignored it as much as possible, using his speed to stay ahead of it as he cleaned up the floor.

Wish you were here to tell me if you think this might work again…

His sonar started to go off, and Max saw that whatever black aura had been coming from the boss earlier had tripled in size, now coating the bones with a glistening black sheen. It had become like a liquid, and when it launched a salvo of bone shards at him, they were covered in the same dark sheen.

Grimacing, Max zigged and zagged, sensing that the rain of bone shards continued to follow him. The boss unleashed its attack for over ten seconds, littering the floor with black bones.

Finally, feeling like he was getting a true understanding of the boss, Max started to summon a stone spear, pouring mana into it. He ran in almost a circle, keeping it close to him. After a few moments, the boss began nearly to trample its own body as it chased him, still sending more bone shards at him.

It began to adapt to his movements, and over two dozen of the black bones struck Max. His shield could only stop a few, as he had to adjust his direction to the outside of the circle he had been making or be overwhelmed by the attack.

Pain radiated through his lower legs and arms, where a few of them pierced his armor.

[ Poison Resisted ]

The notice appeared multiple times, and his regeneration ability forced the bones from his body, revealing that they had small hooks that tore his flesh even more.

Not wanting to experience that again, Max sent small bolts of fire at the boss’s eyes, knowing no damage would be done, instead wanting to try and disrupt its focus.

They traded spells, black bones occasionally striking him, while flames peppered the green eye sockets and the giant skull.

When he knew there was enough mana in the stone spear and that he was ready for the next part, Max changed his normal pattern, running away from the center area they had been circling, and this time stretching out the boss’s body.

Taking to the air, he darted just slightly above the boss’s height, preparing for the spell he hoped would work.

[ Spell Burst ]

His spear erupted from the sky, hurtling at the elongated bone body, doubling in size. Max sped it up using his Stone Mastery ability, causing it to penetrate and crush off over two-thirds of the boss’s body.

A shriek came, and Max watched as the centipede-like skeleton stumbled a few dozen yards, taking a moment to right itself as it suddenly found itself much smaller.

Dropping to the ground, Max ran past the boss, sending another bolt of fire at it, sensing it turning and chasing him.

With his skill, Max dismissed his summoned stone spear, sending the pieces that took a moment to dissolve out of the way.

The bisected area began to move toward the boss, which was opening and closing its maw, its giant claws slamming together with force.

Standing between the two pieces of the boss’s body, Max came to a halt, waiting as he prepared for what he knew would happen.

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[ Dimensional Space ]

As with Kemruss, he believed this might just work but had to wait until the very last second to prevent it from dodging.

Opening the twenty-foot-tall door, Max watched as the claws began to close upon him and the section he had cut off.

He angled the opening, unsure what would happen if it tried to bite the dimensional space. Max watched as the bone claw on the right vanished inside, the boss trying to slow itself as it pulled upward.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

He appeared above the boss's head, watching as the right side of its face and claw vanished inside.

A loud noise came from the back half of the body, slamming into an invisible barrier, causing it to rise off the ground. Bony legs moved as the force radiated through the skeletal frame.

Willing it to close, the doors shut, and a shriek much different than before came as Max’s ability took off a third of the skull.

His hammer was moving, bashing against the back half of the skull using wind magic and stone magic, trying to send it forward as he readjusted the dimensional space again, this time to the left.

A giant boulder, the size of a four-story house, fell upon the boss’s back about twenty yards away, causing the whole body to buckle. Max knew Tanila had used her ability like he had, draining mana for increased damage.

The shockwave and his assault forced the boss that was trying to pull back into the opening. He willed the doors shut, removing the other claw and about a third of the remaining skull.

With his Stone Mastery, Max cut apart the stone boulder, forming a collar, and wedged it around the beast, sealing the gaps as it thrashed around.

It attempted to bend toward the ground, yet Max fought against it with every bit of power, the stone collar struggling against the force of the boss.

“TAUNTING!”

Fowl’s shout came as the boss gave up its current attempt, snapping its head to the left and at the dwarf who stood upon the black dirt, banging his hammer against his shield.

“Come get some!”

An arrow took off a four-foot chunk of the left side, their archer having sent an empowered shot with her special arrows.

Their warrior was at the max range, and he gave a slight nod, a grin visible under his beard.

Letting the magic go, the stone collar fell apart and the boss took off at their warrior.

[ Dimensional Space ]

Once more, the door opened up right before the boss crashed into Fowl, and with both claws gone and a large chunk of the skull missing, it dove head-first into the opening.

When the door closed, separating the skull from the spine a gust of wind exploded from where the bones had connected, sending up a black cloud that made seeing impossible.

“Where is it?!” Fowl cried out.

Max’s sonar could make sense of some of the shapes in the cloud of dust, and he could sense that no movement was coming from the body that lay beneath him.

“It’s dead! The experience!”

Cordellia’s voice carried out in the quiet of the boss floor as Max used his wind magic to sweep away the dirt, clearing the air and allowing them to see what they had accomplished.

“What in the gods was that?” Fowl asked as Max came to land next to him.

“I told you what I did to Kemruss,” he replied. “It’s the same thing.”

“Well… yah but seeing that in person… I mean… can you do that against every boss?”

Bobbing his head, Max grinned.

“Who knows? I’m sure it can’t work forever, but while it does, I’ll gladly take the easy win.”

“Easy win… yeah… that’s what I call this.”

Both men laughed as they moved to where their friends were.

“Nice shot,” Max said as Cordellia drew near.

“Says the warrior who almost soloed it,” she replied.

“No… this was a team win. Tanila’s boulder, your arrow, Fowl’s taunt. All that allowed me to do what I did. Without each of us working like that, I’m unsure how it would have gone.”

“Well, I’m just glad Tanila told us what to do,” Batrire said. “She knew what you were doing, and I’ll admit at first it seemed crazy, but I’m glad it worked out. Besides, there appears to be an ugly chest waiting for us to open.”

They all turned to where their healer motioned and saw a white raid-sized chest on the black dirt a few hundred yards away.

“Race you to it,” Max said as he winked at Fowl.

“Bah, with these legs? I’d win for sure.”

Laughing both men started to jog toward the chest, leaving the other three to quickly follow them.

Stopping at the edge of it, Max saw that it looked to be made of bone like the boss had been and a relief of the entire creature was carved around the outside.

“That’s ugly,” Cordellia stated. “I mean… those tiny legs almost appear to look like they’re moving.”

“Still, it’s our loot,” Fowl replied as he pulled out a stool and stepped onto it. “So, going to open it?”

Seeing his friend looking at him, Max nodded and put his hand on the lid, thrusting upward with his hand.

Nothing happened, and he gave it one more try before stopping and smacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth a few times.

“Uh… I think it’s one of those.”

“Ockrim does love me,” Fowl muttered as he put a hand on the chest.

Soon, all five of them touched it, and the chest began to glow, giving off a green aura before turning yellow.

A click came, and the lid lifted on its own.

“Well, I’ll be an ogre’s girlfriend,” their dwarven warrior said as he peered inside first.

“That poor ogre,” Batrire teased as she pulled out a stool and stepped up on it as well.

A second after looking in, she snorted and gave Fowl a shove.

“I guess I can be the ogre's girlfriend as well.”

Max couldn’t take it any longer and motioned to Tanila and Cordellia. They all stepped forward, looking inside.

“This ogre’s going to have a lot of girlfriends,” their ranger said, her voice unable to hide her excitement.

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