Tristan

It started with Drannis running up and hurling a javelin at the oversized salamander boss, but the moment Cross engaged the second boss, everything changed. Suddenly the sky above the clearing grew darker, and with a quick glance, Tristan realized this was because a black dome had seemingly appeared above them all. There was no longer any outside light, only that of their own gear and spells--and the fires that were still trapped in the dome with them.

All around him, the raid dungeon became a flurry of movement. A massive circle of quick-moving wind appeared directly under the feet of the majority of the raid. It had to have been thirty paces across at least. Fortunately, with the extra movespeed Tristan had stacked from his achievements, he was able to escape it easily before the full force of the tornado formed and began doing damage. He was glad to see that all the others had been able to do the same.

Running slightly ahead of Xanax, he moved into what they'd called "melee position," which meant basically sitting on the left hind leg of the salamander boss. The temperature spiked as he got within striking distance, and it only decreased temporarily whenever the tail swung--which was always counterclockwise--at Drannis. With their positioning, Xanax and Tristan didn't even have to move to avoid it, as somehow it didn't do damage when it returned.

Yet as the fire-lizard kept regularly twisting around to strike Drannis with its tail, it left ever-burning trails of fire on the ground, and those they had to constantly move out of. It quickly became a constant dance of attacking and repositioning as Drannis slowly and methodically backpedaled between tail-strikes, leading the fire-belching salamander around the outskirts of the clearing.

Tristan suddenly felt the wind pick up.

"Tornado forming on the healers!" Chessa shouted from somewhere much farther away as he practically leapt over a pace-wide river of fire. She'd agreed to be the spotter, and he was now starting to understand just how important that would be. He was already struggling just to focus on his own positioning and footwork.

Meanwhile Xanax was literally standing directly in the fire, seemingly pulsing with greenish light that showed he was getting constant heals.

"Incoming breath in five seconds!" Drannis yelled. "Sophie, prepare your astral for the first wave of adds!"

And just on the mark, the salamander belched blue fire, which somehow caused all the other nearby flames to burn taller and brighter momentarily, damaging Tristan even through the reductions of his [Heat & Fire Resistance], [Rivalry], and [Tempered Spirit].

A quick splash of cool green wind from Kitara soothed that away, and so he went back to work, hoping he wouldn't take any more big bursts of damage in the next 30 seconds.

From across the open clearing behind him, he heard Chessa cry out again as he felt another gust of wind, "Another tornado forming! LAURA, MOVE!"

Except Tristan could tell that the caster hadn't moved when a powerful bolt of lightning struck the Salamander Broodmother almost a full second later.

A piercing shriek followed, and not from the lizard.

A glance over his shoulder showed Tristan that Laura was being whipped around and shredded in a tornado. Lashes of barely-visible air cut into her skin and armor over and over.

"I've got HoTs on her," Kitara relayed, voice clearly strained.

Opie followed up quickly with, "And I'll shield her before she lands. Hopefully she LEARNED HER LESSON. I'm not made of shields!"

"Adds!" Drannis and Sophie both called together.

Mister Biggs bellowed so loudly it drowned out even the nearby crackling fires.

From the corner of Tristan's eye, he saw what seemed to be a dozen much smaller but super speedy salamanders rush straight toward the snarling astral. All of them trailed fire. Where they'd come from, he had no clue, but they were here now and had to be dealt with.

"He's moving them to the middle," Sophie relayed. "DPS, and Laura when you land, switch and burn them down!"

Tristan was extremely thankful that Sophie had given him a quick primer on "raid lingo," as otherwise he might have gotten hung up on the wording, since "burning" fire elementals didn't seem like it would be very effective. But because of that talk, he knew this wasn't a change of plans. The adds just needed to die as quickly as possible, which was why he'd held off on using [Blade Flurry] earlier.

As he ran, he realized he was running alone because Xanax wasn't switching targets at all. Once again, it made sense with how the scaleborn's sword worked. He just hoped that was fine with the others, too.

He ended up behind all the tiny salamanders, which were spitting and clawing at Mister Biggs, right as he felt a new boost of energy and power surge through him. Manama had completed a second buffing song, [Anthem of Mind], despite the first one still going strong. In fact, Tristan could distinctly hear the man's voice singing both melodies at once, intertwining them in fascinating harmonies. Cooler still, when he checked his buff bar, he did in fact have both [Anthem of Mind] reducing his ability cooldowns and [Rally the Heroes] increasing his damage dealt!

Feeling mightier than ever, Tristan popped [Blade Flurry] and went to town with all his attack abilities, loving how quickly they were coming off cooldown. He cycled through everything as fast as he could, finishing with a [Cleaving Slash], which actually ended up being the last bit of damage needed to reduce all the little monsters to ash.

"Rotate back," Drannis ordered, but it wasn't even necessary, as Tristan was already running.

"Another tornado!" Chessa called out again. "It's under melee!"

This time, the wind was so forceful it almost slowed him down, and he could already feel it slicing away at his health.

"Gods damnit!" Opie yelled. "I'm popping a cooldown! Can we PLEASE kill this big lizard soon?! AND DON'T TRY TO TANK THE FREAKING EXPLOSION, XANAX!"

But the scaleborn did not move. "Apologies, but I must! I need to take the damage to boost my own output!"

"Oh, sure! Fine! But in case you forgot, you do no damage if you're DEAD!"

Yet as much as Opie complained, Tristan still saw a big heal hit the scaleborn a fraction of an instant before the tornado hit the fire and exploded violently, and then the heal echoed immediately afterward. The healer was doing his best to care for all his raid members.

"Another breath incoming, and adds to follow!" Drannis announced. "Shifting left."

"But that's where the adds are coming from!" Sophie warned, her hands glowing a shade of green.

Her words didn't change the dwarf tank's movement though. As he continued dodging the flame trails, he actually moved straight into the midst of the tiny salamanders' spawning.

Another intense roar brought all of them to Mister Biggs. Including the boss that was now in the astral tank's [Taunt] range. The salamander pounced forward, then reared back on its hind legs and made two powerful swipes with both its flaming claws. Tristan barely kept up with the hasty shift.

Then the smell of burnt fur hit him.

Drannis kept trying to position himself in between the salamander's claws and Mister Biggs, trying to intercept the blows, but he was only somewhat successful. "His [Taunt] has it locked! Even if I use mine, it won't matter until his wears off!"

Meanwhile Mister Biggs was practically a green firefly, aglow with constant healing... and still his fur was scorched and patchy. His previously majestic mane had been partially shorn off on the right side. Tristan could only imagine how Sophie was feeling.

Having pulled all the salamanders together, stacking them side-by-side-by-side, meant their flame trails fanned out to cover practically everything nearby, or at least wherever Tristan might consider setting his feet. He wouldn't be able to get there without taking some damage. But stacking the adds also should make it easier to burn them down, once everyone was in place.

Considering his [Heat & Fire Resistance], Tristan decided to run through the fire and let the healers do what they did best. Besides, the faster they killed the adds, the faster they could get back to killing the bosses.

Laura's thundercloud formed directly overhead, sending bolt after bolt at all the monsters, big and small. Manama had begun his cooldown-reducing song again, and Tristan went back to cleaving, and for the first time that Tristan could recall, Xanax was cleaving, too.

The result was a lot of dead salamanders, and quickly, which was good, because Tristan's feet were really starting to warm up.

So when it only took maybe twenty more seconds before the huge salamander boss slumped to the ground in a rapidly-blackening pile of scales, Tristan let out a huge sigh of relief--

Only for Drannis to practically shout in his ear: "One down! Great job everyone! Now focus down the butterfly as fast as possible! The longer this boss stands alone, the tougher it will grow!"

"Wow! It's already hitting harder," Cross chimed in from seemingly across the world.

Once again, Tristan was on the run. The distance was far greater this time, providing yet another opportunity for his boosted movespeed to shine. He also used the transition to try and take stock of the current situation. There were still huge burning rings where flames from previously-ignited tornados lingered. The healers were positioned almost exactly midway between where the two bosses had been, with Kitara standing on Opie's shoulder. Both were sweaty and looked stressed.

Laura and Manama had been closer to the salamander, apparently, and were just finishing their own move to be closer to the butterfly. Chessa was a fair distance away, but she had clearly moved earlier and was already in position, firing arrow after arrow into the butterfly's back.

Then there was Sophie, the only person running the opposite direction. She was full on sprinting toward Mister Biggs.

"Don't worry--You just focus on the boss," she managed to say as she rushed right past Tristan.

Tristan didn't question her. He trusted her judgment and knew there was still a boss to beat, but he would still be worried, no matter what she said.

Still, he kept running, closing the distance to where Cross was managing to keep the floating butterfly more or less stationary.

For Tristan at least, this part of the encounter was far, far easier. Sure, he had to occasionally dodge a tornado, and his reactions might have been tested a couple times when he had to duck under a spinning wing attack, but once he learned that the spin was on a strict 25-second cooldown, it was laughably easy to avoid.

The only additional difficulty was at the very end, when the boss reached the final 10% of its health, and its flaming wings began burning hotter, becoming bright blue all over. Now, every time Tristan struck it, he took damage as some sort of vibration was sent through his own greatsword. The tanks were also having to switch as soon as their [Taunt] came off cooldown, with each incoming hit causing Opie to curse progressively louder. Yet no one fell. No one ran completely out of mana. Tristan thought that it was, for all intents and purposes, handled really well. So it really didn't surprise him at all when they managed to take down the monstrous, flaming butterfly in only a handful of minutes.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

When the butterfly's wings took their last flap, and the burning insect collapsed to the ground like a bundle of dampened ashes, an excited, wordless cheer of victory went up, first from Kitara, and then carried by all the others in the raid.

A series of notifications made Tristan grin even wider. Up first were the standard, all-important kill notices.

You have slain [Scalding Tail, level 21] {{Flamewalker Salamander Broodmother}}

You have slain [Light Wing, level 21] {{Emberwing Butterfly Matriarch}}

Raid Hardmode completed!

And because of that, he'd received the notification starting the raid's larger quest.

[Raid quest available: A Cleansing Fire]

There are rumblings within the volcano, clear signs of a larger threat than anything currently contained within the Ever-burning Wood. Enter the volcano and bring the Final Encounter to a fitting conclusion, by any means necessary.

Clear all bosses from the four wings of Cinderbark's Fall, then bring about a conclusion to the final battle within the volcano. Required objectives:

̶S̶c̶a̶l̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶T̶a̶i̶l̶ ̶L̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶W̶i̶n̶g̶ Cinder Wyvern The Hydra Oozymandias, the Unstable Oozolplexx Cinderbark Progress toward the Final Battle

What he hadn't expected was how genuinely excited he was to get another quest. He really did love a good checklist. Besides, the experience gains would probably be huge! And so far it felt like his group was well equipped to handle the raid's challenges.

The final notification he'd simply hoped for--thanks to Sophie's previous experience--and was thrilled when he saw it.

Hidden Achievement unlocked: Hardmode Boss Slayer! Rewards: When entering a dungeon, you now see the requirements to unlock any hardmode bosses present.

But then there was something strange at the bottom, beneath all the other notifications. Something ominous.

A Great Wave has been sighted on the horizon.

He wasn't exactly sure what that was all about, but he didn't have to wait long for an explanation.

"The so-called 'Great Wave' can do whatever it wants for now," Cross said, "because when we get to Cinderbark, we're going to end it, and I can't wait!"

"You don't really fight it during Cinderbark," Chessa added offhandedly.

"I know, but that's when it'll first learn to fear us!" Cross countered.

Chessa gave one of her patented eye-rolls and said nothing.

Just part of a future boss, Tristan concluded. No reason to worry about it now. He was too happy after defeating their first bosses anyway, and that feeling was only enhanced when Drannis's cheerful baritone said some of his favorite words.

"It is time, my fellows, for everyone to gather round so that we might see what we've earned! Feast on the spoils of our enemies!"

"That kind of sounds like cannibalism," the little fairy said, eyeing the remains of the butterfly.

Xanax tilted his head and tapped the side of it with one black-scaled finger. "I do not feel that way at all. To me, I only feel the glory of a thrilling challenge."

"Well this is what thrills me," Opie said, indicating the glimmering objects within the pile of ashes. "Bring on the loot!"

"What thrills me is the thought that, maybe someday, singing of our stories might be what provides the buffs to my allies. With more encounters like this, and a lot more growth...!" He let a sigh fill in the blank. "For right now, I must content myself with using only the songs I've learned. But soon!"

Laura turned and looked up toward the towering entertainer. "For what it's worth, I rather enjoyed your songs, big guy. You have a great voice, and those buffs were really nice."

"It would have been better to have gotten more of the mana replenishment one earlier," Opie griped, "to save on the mana potions."

"That actually reminds me!" Tristan said as he began rustling through his bag, seeking the small supply he'd kept specifically for his friend. It only ended up being four, but that was better than nothing, he figured!

Opie received them with a show of surprise. "Wait, how did you of all people get mana potions? I can barely find mana water at this point!"

"Just lucky with drops, I guess," the swordsmith responded.

"Thanks, Tristan. Even one of these helps a lot."

Hearing that, Sophie also opened one of her bags, pulling out several more glass bottles filled with shining blue liquid. "Do you need more? I don't end up using too many normally, and I have several dozen."

Opie just stared at her for a few moments before griping, "Level 12, and she's got spare freaking mana potions."

"If you don't want them..." Sophie started to put them away.

Chessa made no attempt to hide her chuckling.

Opie reached out and stopped Sophie's hand. "Alright, but just one or two. And thanks."

Sophie grinned. "You're very welcome! Let me know if you need a couple more."

Opie scowled as he looked straight at Tristan. "I think I hate her."

The swordsmith laughed. "Yeah, she's awesome, right?"

"Gentlemen, I apologize for not further indulging your banter, but it is time for the revelation of treasure!" Drannis said, leaning down and allowing his hand to enter the pile of ashes that were the butterfly's remains.

"That looks most unpleasant," Manama said, mouth curled with clear distaste.

"And unnecessary," Laura added. "He could just use the normal interface--"

"But where is the fun if you cannot get your hands dirty?" the scaleborn asked.

The bearded entertainer adjusted his hat, pulling the brim down before his face. "My hands make literal magic happen. As an artist, I must protect my instruments!"

"You know you'd still reach in if it meant loot," Kitara replied with a laugh as she flew over and perched on Sophie's shoulder, whispering something that sounded a lot like, "Could I get a potion?"

Tristan saw another vial come out of Sophie's bag and land in the little fairy's hands, shrinking the moment it touched them, before the raid leader whistled.

"My friends and allies, we have three nice drops here." He pulled his hand from the ash, and in it was a reddish scarf that glowed and flickered as if it was on fire. Tristan immediately used [Identify] on it.

[Scarf of Living Flames (rare)]: [Heat & Fire Resistance II], [Flamestep]

A stylish scarf that can be worn in place of a hat. Its threads seem to twist and flow like the fire from which it came.

Of course the first thing Tristan looked for was the property that wasn't there, Soulbound. That meant he couldn't use this scarf even if he liked it. Still, from a sense of curiosity, he examined its two properties anyway.

The first was fairly impressive. He knew from personal experience with his own basic [Heat & Fire Resistance] just how powerful the ability to reduce damage from an entire element or damage source was. This one reduced all fire damage--in a dungeon built around fire! The second level of resistance apparently increased the reduction to 75%. It was definitely a great piece of situational gear.

Then he checked the second property and realized that it was even better than that.

[Flamestep] The user may make a short-range teleport, leaving a small pile of ash and a plume of smoke in their wake. Cooldown: 1 hour.

It looked like a very powerful mobility ability, even if it was limited in how often it could be used. Tristan wondered just how far its "short-range" would cover, and he planned to ask the eventual owner if he might be able to help test it out.

When the scarf ended up going to Xanax, Tristan was only slightly surprised. It made sense to give more mobility to a melee Class, but he was a bit worried about the damage reduction interfering with the unique power of Xanax's sword.

"It will be nothing but a boon," the scaleborn said, eyebrow ridge lowering. "I do not gain strength by the amount of damage taken, but by the number of instances. Therefore it is only logical that I take damage often--but do all within my power to minimize the amount accrued."

That actually made a lot of sense to Tristan. When he asked why neither tank had put in for it at all, their answers were unified, and unexpected.

"My helmet gives me a lot of stats," Drannis confessed.

"Mine too," Cross echoed. "Mostly Endurance and Strength, but seeing as they're my most important stats, I can't really justify throwing them away just for a few teleports."

Tristan was kind of thrown off by their answers, mostly because they forced him to consider that only one piece of his current gear had any raw stat bonuses on it, and it was the [1s Ring]. His other ring and boots added max health, and that was it, which was far less powerful than getting Endurance would have been.

He'd have to see about changing that. Eventually.

"With that settled," Drannis puffed up his chest, smiling broadly, "I think it is time we showered some gifts upon our caster friends."

Reaching back into the pile of glittering ashes, Drannis slowly removed a long, suspiciously-straight, pitch-black twig.

[Branch of Scorched Birch (rare)]: [Eager], [Spell Booster]

A remnant of the Ever-burning Wood, turned into a potent wand for spellcasters.

Tristan was surprised to recognize both properties, as he'd managed to get [Eager] on one of the belts he'd made after Rockmoor Cemetery--though at the time the 5% cooldown reduction hadn't seemed worthwhile--and Opie's staff had [Spell Booster], which increased spell power.

Laura's eyes immediately widened. "I'd love to have that, despite that horrid name! I mean, if that's fine with everyone."

Opie waved her off, thumping his staff on the ground. "I don't need it. Mine's bigger."

Kitara floated closer to the wand. "It is really nice, and I don't mind the name. I also have a pretty impressive offhand I could pair with it..." She paused, and perhaps saw Laura's face drop. "But I suppose it's not that much better than what I already have. I mean, the cooldown reduction is nice, but I really only have two big abilities to boost, so it won't help my output that much."

Laura walked over and met the fairy's eyes. "Thank you, Kitara."

"We're all in this together, at least for today."

"And maybe in the future as well," Cross said, walking up and placing a hand on Laura's shoulder. "There are other raids, you know? And more hardmodes."

"Too true," Manama said from behind them, sitting cross legged on the ground and tuning up a rounded wooden lyre. In his massive hands, the instrument looked quite tiny. "But let's not write the full ballad just yet, shall we? We've only defeated two bosses!"

"Aye, but in quite a compelling manner," Drannis said. "And don't forget, for our success, we still have one final piece of loot to distribute. You see, my illustrious companions, I saved the best for last!"

He pulled out a pair of long, flowy, red cloth pants patterned with white and pink stripes.

[Fire Seeker's Pantaloons (epic)]: [Lucky], [Intelligence Boost]

As much a statement of intellect as of style, it's said the stripes of these pleasantly warm pants shimmer slightly with the wearer's every thought.

Tristan figured he must have been missing something. He expanded the [Intelligence Boost] property, but it was just a +10% to the stat. "Why does it only have two properties if it's epic rarity?"

Except beside him, Sophie gasped, and she wasn't alone. "Because it has [Lucky], on a Tier 2 item?! I didn't think it could drop until Tier 3!"

Chessa had pulled out her notes again and was madly flipping through pages. "But these, they weren't--they aren't--on the loot table for either of these bosses!"

"Then how, might I ask, are they here?" Xanax asked.

Opie thumped his staff on the ground, quirking an eyebrow. "I guess we just got... lucky."

As everyone else groaned, Tristan leaned in to Sophie and whispered, "Wait, so is [Lucky] really that rare? It's just magic-find, right?"

She shook her head at him with a little laugh. "I keep forgetting how isolated you must have been in that little town. Yes, Tristan, it's incredibly rare, and equally powerful!"

"Oh," he said, a bit embarrassed. "I made a belt with it back before I went to fight Shadow--"

"Then why don't you have it on? You absolutely have to equip it immediately! Magic-find is amazing at any level!"

Tristan cleared his throat before admitting, "I, uh, kind of used the leather for my breastpl--"

Sophie smacked him. Hard. It came so quickly and unexpectedly he didn't even try to avoid it. "Tristan! Gods above us. Never tell another soul what you've just told me, you, you... blessed idiot!"

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