The Swarm vanished, and the team resumed attacking. Although they threw their best skills at The Brain, only Legacy's ice did any noticeable damage. It was slow going.
Severance wondered if he should switch to Sky Dance and throw in some Bolts and maybe a cool Flare or two. But before he could do so, The Brain shrieked once more.
"Baaaaaaalllls of Mud!!"
Severance immediately dodged. However, he wasn't targeted this time. Neither was Wertwert24.
"Ooops," said Dappppp.
Two puddles lay right at The Brain's hovering form. One of them had successfully trapped Dappppp. The other lay empty, with Wellon a few steps away. The Veiled teen quirked an eyebrow at Dappppp, seemingly amused at the Rainblade's failure to dodge.
"Bones of the Fallen!"
"Uh oh," said Dappppp.
Wellon moved so fast it almost appeared he'd teleported twenty feet away from the Boss. He made it to safety, but poor Dappppp was stuck. The mud started to fade just as multiple Bones pierced up from the ground. Dappppp was speared right through the gut, which was rather disconcerting to witness. What was even more disconcerting was seeing nearly all his health vanish in a second.
"Mend," Severance muttered. He was glad he hadn't tried to switch Dances. The Bones slid back down into the ground with an awful grating sound. There was even a gross squelch as Dappppp came free. The Rainblade staggered, gripping his gut, but he managed to remain on his feet.
Severance slashed his fans at Dappppp's general direction. "Mend."
"Trash!" shrieked The Brain. "Eat trash, you trash!"
"Ward," Severance snapped. The shield enclosed Dappppp's bloodied figure. It was just in time, because the sky darkened with every putrid thing imaginable.
Half-eaten chicken drumsticks bounced off Severance's head. It hadn't escaped his notice how Wertwert24 had picked up a filthy rag and covered her face so she could snooze relatively undisturbed. Her armor protected her from the worst of the garbage. It was unfair.
The poison debuff appeared once more, so Severance dutifully placed another Radiant Dome. Wellon, Legacy and Dappppp migrated to stand in it, all the while they continued to beat on The Brain.
At least they were working hard.
And so was The Brain. "Baaaaalllls of Mud!"
Severance didn't move—he was in the middle of passing out Mends, and he didn't want to interrupt the process. Mud glued him down to the ground, though he didn't really care. He was far enough away that there wasn't a whole lot The Brain could do to him.
"Steal!"
"Hey!" Wertwert24's sudden protest came at the same time a sword and shield appeared in The Brain's hands.
Severance almost smiled, because out of all the weapons to steal, The Brain had chosen the ones that weren't even being used. Besides, what could he possibly do with a tank's weapon?
"Counterattack!" The Brain spun 90 degrees to face Wellon, and the sword, which looked cartoonishly huge in his small hands, arced beautifully through the air. Wellon tried to evade it, but the flat of the blade still glanced off the side of his head. Blood spurted. Wellon grunted, swaying dangerously though he managed to keep on his feet. One hand went up to his head, his face dazed.
The Brain tossed the sword and shield away. "Bones of the Fallen!"
Dappppp immediately ran backwards, getting away from the Boss, but Wellon stayed where he was. He was still stunned from being stuck upside the head.
Crap! Severance felt a wash of rising horror. "Mend! Ward!"
The little bubble snapped in place just as bones rocketed up. It broke instantly, having done diddly squat to slow the bones. Wellon let out an awful, ear piercing scream. One bone plunged deep into the teen's side, blood seeping out and running down its length. Another dug into Wellon's thigh, and a third had completely gone through his shoulder. It rose up behind him, stained a garish red. Wellon screamed again.
All the blood within Severance's body turned to ice.
The Veiled teen went limp, eyes fluttering, jaw slack as he made harsh, wheezing little breaths. He was losing huge amounts of blood, his health bar already red and still creeping downwards. At this rate, Wellon had less than a minute to live.
The war fans trembled slightly in Severance's hands. While he'd grown somewhat used to seeing gruesome wounds and copious amounts of blood in the game, it hadn't prepared him for this. Players felt no pain, so they hardly reacted to be maimed, stabbed, or even set on fire. But Wellon...
Wellon acted like it was real.
The bones returned beneath the earth. Wellon gasped when they pulled out of his body with a sickening squelch. Fresh blood stained the ground beneath him, pouring from gaping wounds. He whimpered, twitching feebly as the last of his health slid towards zero.
"M-mend," Severance whispered. The first touch of gentle green wind stopped the bleeding and began to close the wounds.
"Mend." The second stitched them entirely closed and began to deal with the internal damage. By the third heal, Wellon looked a lot better, and he managed to get back on his feet. The fourth had him almost at full health, and the teen resumed attacking The Brain like nothing had ever happened.
A deep furrow had settled in Severance's brow as he watched. His hands no longer trembled, but unease buried itself deep within, never quite going away. The echo of Wellon's agonized cries still sounded in his mind.
The fight dragged on. The Brain summoned another swarm of droning insects, giving Severance a chance to get everyone's health to full. Then the creature stole Dappppp's weapon and launched into a savage stab and slash that nearly cut Dappppp in half.
"Aw, come on," Dappppp complained, even as his horrible injury sprayed blood all over the Boss. "That's not fair."
Severance silently healed the Rainblade, though he was feeling increasingly disturbed. The difference between Dappppp and Wellon's reaction was like night and day. Yet no one else seemed to even bat an eye. His teammates hadn't even reacted to Wellon's obvious distress. Even Wellon himself—he just got back up and resumed like it was no big deal.
What's going on? This isn't normal, is it? Severance shook his head slightly, trying to focus on the fight before him. Or maybe it was normal, and it was just him that was the strange one.
"Ward." He placed the shield on Dappppp, who was getting stung by angry looking horse flies that had left the swarm. "Mend."
A gust of cold air roared past him and froze the entire insect Swarm in place.
"Thanks man," Dappppp flashed a thumbs up at Legacy, who stood behind Severance. "We're almost there, guys!"
Indeed, The Brain was down to his last quarter of health. Even though he himself did very little damage, the things he summoned were a giant pain in the butt. Surviving them was half luck and half skill.
From where she comfortably reclined near the edge of the room, Wertwert24 cupped her hands around her mouth and cheered. "C'mon guys, you got this!"
You can help, you know, Severance inwardly growled. Though he supposed it didn't matter much at this point. They got this far without a functional tank and this fight didn't really need one.
"Baaaallllls of Mud!"
Severance dodged a mud puddle, as did Wellon. Legacy sent another frosty whip lashing at the Boss, who reacted by stealing Wertwert24's weapon again. Both Wellon and Dappppp immediately backpedaled, not willing to risk getting stunned by another Counterattack.
With nothing really going on, Severance found himself standing around with nothing to do. He glanced around. Everyone's health was full. Surely... surely he could try an attack skill now, right? It seemed safe.
Raising his war fans before him, he took in a deep breath, then let it out as a whoosh. "Sky Dance."
At once, something shifted within him, an odd sensation that had him blinking. Gentle green winds morphed in sparking blue energy, crackling around his fans. Severance snapped one shut and thrust it high into the air. "Flare!"
Thunder rolled ahead in the already overcast sky. A single bolt of blue-violet energy fell from the sky like a meteor, striking The Brain right on top of his head. His health bar lost a small, but noticeable chunk.
+1 Intelligence
Whoa, Severance blinked. That's so cool! Since his attacks were elemental like Legacy's, they seemed to be just as effective. Well, maybe slightly more effective than Wellon and Dappppp's physical attacks, since he wasn't a DPS class.
In that case, if he'd been attacking all along, this Boss would have died sooner! That is, if everyone hadn't been taking so much damage. As it stood now, he didn't have much time to attack.
Squealing, the creature grabbed his head and glared hatefully at Severance. "No!" The Brain shrieked. "I will not stand for this! You will all die!! Take this!"
He raised both hands high, and different types of shoes began popping into place around him. There were sneakers, boots, stilettos, sandals—every kind of shoe one could imagine was there.
"Face the Footwear!" The Brain pointed at Severance. "You!"
A sneaker instantly vanished from the collection floating about The Brain, and reappeared in front of Severance's face. It surged forward. Severance's head snapped back and stars exploded in his vision.
He staggered, then fell on his butt. What the heck?! How can a shoe do that much damage?!
"You!" The Brain jabbed a finger at Dappppp. A pretty orange wedge rocketed towards Dappppp and hit him square in the face. He flew back, blood spurting in an arc from his nose. Over a third of his health vanished, turning the whole bar orange.
"You!" A cowboy boot, complete with a shiny spur, flew at Wertwert24 next. Since she was already on the ground, it didn't do much more than make her slide a few inches along the ground. Being a tank, she only lost a fifth of her health.
Severance groaned, rolling over onto his knees before getting unsteadily to his feet. Shoes flew at Wellon, and at Wertwert24 again, doing surprising amounts of damage with each strike. Legacy also took one, which wiped out nearly half of his entire health. One more hit would end him.
I can't take another hit, either, Severance realized with a trickle of fear. He raised his head. I need to heal!
He lifted his hands, grasping his war fans tightly. "Mend!" Electric blue light spun gently around him. Other than that, nothing happened.
Crap.
"Earth Dance," he growled. The energy shifted, and pale green wind flared about him. Now he could try healing. "Me-!"
He never saw the shoe that hit him. All he saw was his world explode into a snowy white fuzz.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing outside the dungeon. A few players hung out, talking cheerfully with one another.
Severance blinked. I'm outside?
A little confused, he looked around. It took a moment for him to realize that none of his teammates were out here. The party list still existed in the upper corner of his vision, however he could no longer see any of the others' health bars or their status. He no longer had access to them.
That could only mean one thing.
He'd died, and everyone was still in the dungeon.