The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 31: Do you know the way?

As the [Sensei] boss' HP dropped below 50%, the amount of damage that it received dropped sharply. Crucis found that a strong [Overhead Slash] was only dealing 2% of the boss' HP in damage, and a slightly miscued [Slash] did no damage at all. While the players were getting more accustomed to the boss' attack patterns, making it easier to parry most strikes, the boss' harsh strikes and ability to use unavoidable attacks were also eating away at their HP.

As the strangely-named DigdugMan walked up to the boss, Crucis could feel the Mage's growing sense of impatience as the boss fight drew on. While the Mage effectively used [Parry] on the boss' initial strike from his left, blocking the strike with the bottom half of his blade's edge, his retaliatory [Lunge] was wayward due to low Dexterity, and barely grazed the boss. Alarmed, the Mage stepped back quickly before the boss could attack him, and absent-mindedly held out his blade to the left after seeing Sensei raise his blade in that direction. Crucis shook his head tiredly, as the boss predictably switched his angle of attack and struck the Mage cleanly from the right. This blow reduced the Mage to 40% HP. Seemingly, these players were already starting to get impatient and forget the boss' pattern.

Crucis saw that both of his compatriots were low on HP, with the boss still on 43% HP. Due to the boss' increased resistance to damage, he decided that he would have to change his plans. Instead of trying to keep his team-mates alive to etch away at the boss' HP, he realised that the boss' current damage reduction meant that he would have to use the [Black Cursed Draugr Light Sword] in order to deal substantial damage at his level. However, he was trying to conceal this weapon from other players, so that people didn't start trying to speculate about how to achieve it. Instead of micromanaging his allies, who were having difficulty making a scratch on the boss, he could allow them to die and then withdraw his draugr sword unobserved.

GemsBond was still ailing from the boss' initial assault on his hand, and he clearly felt a bit of pain each time he used [Parry]. The longer the fight dragged on, the more his hand was beginning to sting. While he was still able to get in an [Overhead Slash] after parrying the boss' second strike, the strike went limp on impact and dealt only 1% of the boss' HP in damage, as the Knight felt pain in his hand and nearly dropped his sword. The boss tried to grab his trailing hand, but he snatched it away just in time, though Sensei still kicked the Knight back onto the ground firmly since he had been leaning forwards during the strike.

"Use your shield to attack," said Crucis, since the shield was in the Knight's uninjured arm.

GemsBond took Crucis' advice, and after using [Parry] on Sensei's next strike followed up with a [Shield Bash] that sent the boss flying back. However, his HP was running low. The following [Sensei is Displeased] sent him sprawling to the ground again, now with only 5% HP. Crucis shrugged. The Knight would probably be the first to die. While Knights are expected to be strong at sword combat, Crucis wasn't that surprised by the result: the slow, lumbering movements of the heavily-armoured Knight can easily get caught out against this boss, who would sharply take advantage of any vulnerabilities or errors in technique.

When DigdugMan fought this time, he took care to enchant his weapon, using the [Clay Enchantment] skill. He easily parried the boss' initial strike, but seemed winded from the [Heart Lunge] earlier. He still hit back with a [Lunge] that sent the boss careering backwards, reducing the boss' HP by 5% and giving him the chance to attack again as the boss walked slowly back towards him. Striking with a [Slash], which dealt only 1% damage due to his low Strength and Dexterity, the Mage then stood back as the boss prepared another strike. He was able to parry that as well, but when he saw the boss prepare for a slash he tried bravely to attack with an [Overhead Slash], to pre-empt the boss and deal some damage. He was also getting impatient. His hit dealt 2% damage, lowering the boss' HP below 35%, but the boss struck back quickly as his sword arm fell to the side and a [Heart Lunge] snaked out towards the Mage's torso. Alarmed, the Mage tried to leap out of the way, but was still scratched by the boss' firms strike and reduced to 25% HP. He was left shouting on the ground, before being slammed into it with [Sensei is Displeased] and being left with 15% HP.

Crucis was getting used to this boss' pattern by now. After parrying the initial strike, he would use [Lunge], since during this phase of the fight the boss was less alert and less likely to grab his hand or sword if he didn't withdraw quickly. After parrying or using [Dodge Step] to avoid Sensei's second strike, Crucis would use [Overhead Slash] because it was more damaging than [Slash], and then quickly step back to prepare for any further attacks. After avoiding the boss' final attack, Crucis would finally use a quick [Slash] to get in some damage before Sensei shoved him away to fight the next opponent. Crucis still had 55% of his HP remaining, but he was becoming nervous because, as the fight went on, this would decrease steadily until he would have to be very cautious.

The Knight GemsBond stepped up to fight again, parrying the boss' telegraphed first strike and then attacking with a shield. After using the shield to block the boss' second strike, he tried to parry as the boss struck at his wounded hand, but found that he couldn't hold his blade steadily due to the pain and his sword went flying. On seeing his enemy disarmed, Sensei changed his usual pattern. Using a debuff that lowered GemsBond's movement speed by 50%, Sensei raised his sword and slowly prepared to strike. The Knight was backing away, though slowly, and was soon almost backing into the walls to stay out of range as Sensei slowly walked towards him. Crucis could see a glint of red in Sensei's eyes, as if he was possessed. Finally, Sensei used the [Supreme Execution] skill, and his sword extended to twice its usual length as he brought it down hard towards the Knight. It struck GemsBond hard near the neck, and the Knight collapsed to his knees with a loud grunt before collapsing to the ground as a dead weight. One down.

With the Knight gone, DigdugMan entered the fray once more. By now, he seemed determined to remember the boss' pattern, and diligently rebuffed the boss' attacks. By carefully responding to the boss' pattern and striking when there was an opportunity, Crucis and Digdugman were able to reduce the boss to 25% HP as the boss fought them in sequence. However, DigdugMan's HP was low, and Crucis could tell that the Mage was still winded by the boss' blows. The Mage was still hanging on bravely and trying to strike at the boss, but many of his blows dealt little damage if any. Crucis clapped slowly on occasion, as if to acknowledge the Mage's efforts.

Eventually, however, DigdugMan grew frustrated at the slow progress and tried to direct a sequence of both [Overhead Strike] and [Slash] at the boss after the boss' second move, even though the boss was most alert during this period. Sensei parried the Mage's [Slash], and stepped towards his opponent before directing a firm slash of his own against the Mage's lower chest. As DigdugMan tried to respond with a [Lunge] angled towards the side of the boss, the boss swung out his own sword across the Mage's angle of attack, and as the boss moved his shoulders firmly forwards and struck with a [Heart Lunge] his sword forcefully shoved the Mage's out of the way with its side. As Sensei struck the Mage below the ribcage, DigdugMan collapsed immediately to the ground and died.

Crucis still had 25% of the boss' HP to deal with, and he knew this might be difficult to deal with using his current weapon. However, he switched to the [Black Cursed Draugr Light Sword] as the Mage died, and prepared for the boss' pattern. As the boss moved in, predictably, to strike from his left, he lifted his sword to parry, then used his high Agility to quickly try an [Overhead Slash], curious how much damage this weapon would do. It shaved a hefty 6% off the boss' HP, and sent the boss sprawling backwards. Crucis took advantage of this opening with a combination of [Agile Step] and [Lunge], stepping up to the boss with a fierce lunge beneath the boss' chest, that dealt reduced the boss' HP by 8%. As the boss prepared for his second strike, Crucis duly parried on his right side, then stepped forwards to [Slash] at the boss, reducing the boss' HP to 6%.

However, he was perturbed when the boss triggered an ability named [Last Stand], raising its HP by 15% as soon as it had fallen below 10%. This meant that the boss was now on 20% HP. Crucis blocked the boss' next attack, but was soon floored by a [Sensei is Displeased] skill that reduced him to 24% HP.

However, as he hit the ground, he was surprised to see the Sensei still walking after him to attack.

"Your compatriots are dead, now you must die also! You must die in shame, regaling in the mastery of a swordmaster who uses the true Way of swordfighting!" shrieked the boss.

Crucis realised that the boss would typically leave opponents alone after using [Sensei is Displeased], to fight the rest of their team, but if the opponent was alone then the boss would continue attacking them while they had fallen to the ground and were vulnerable. The boss struck him fiercely with an [Overhead Slash], tearing a small gash in his left shoulder that made him wince, and he found that he had only 12% of his HP left. He hurriedly rolled to his feet at a distance from Sensei, and used [Dodge Step] to get further distance as the boss followed him.

He was relieved to see that the boss had reverted to his usual pattern once Crucis got off the ground. Crucis parried comfortably as the boss struck to his left, then leapt forwards with a powerful [Lunge] that reduced the boss to 12% HP like himself. As the boss prepared for a second strike to Crucis' right, he parried that comfortably and then used an [Overhead Slash], falling into the routine which he had used before. This lowered the boss to 7% HP and sent him sprawling backwards, but Crucis saw that the boss was alertly holding his sword up to parry any follow-up attack. Crucis realised that the boss would soon use [Sensei is Displeased], reducing Crucis' HP to between 2% and 3%, and after that even a single strike on the grounded, vulnerable Crucis would probably be enough for Sensei to win the fight.

Thinking about how to extend the boss' pattern and postpone the use of [Sensei is Displeased], Crucis decided to switch back to his [Silver Wasp Sword]. As the boss approached and tried to strike, Crucis deflected the strike with [Parry], but then allowed the momentum of the strike to dislodge his sword from his arms. The silver sword clattered against the floor, and Crucis saw a glint of red re-enter Sensei's eyes. Sensei quickly reduced Crucis' movement speed by 50%, but Crucis had anticipated this and immediately used [Stealth Cloak], increasing his Agility slightly as he snuck behind Sensei with [Agile Step]. The boss looked across the room, preparing to strike.

However, Crucis struck first, drawing his [Black Cursed Draugr Light Sword] and landing a firm [Overhead Slash] across the back of Sensei's head to reduce the boss to 1% HP and send the boss falling forwards. This was followed immediately by a [Lunge], and Crucis ran his sword through the boss' lower back in a single, agile step. Sensei was dead. Crucis felt slightly tired after that effort, and sat down for a few minutes.

Since the others in his party had also participated in the boss fight, and done at least 10% each of the total damage, they would receive rewards once they revived in an hour. He felt as if they had been helpful in this difficult fight, but keeping them alive at the end would have been a burden. Since much of Kruxol had died or fled in the draugr event, or were still reluctant to venture outdoors, Crucis figured that he was stuck with these two for now.

Returning to Hiroto, Crucis was congratulated and given a large amount of EXP for surviving the battle, enough to rise to level 45. Hiroto also gave him a [Motion Practice Sword], which moved 15% faster if it was not being used in an attack. He told Crucis to use this on order to practice footwork and parrying, as well as the passive sword skills. He then said to wait for Crucis' partners to revive, because they would need to do the next quest in a party and then fight a difficult boss. Crucis sighed and asked if he could return in an hour, and Hiroto nodded. Stepping out of the building, Crucis walked over to the small [Kruxol Library] nearby to pass the time until he could resume his training.

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