Steel Wolves of Craedia (Realm of Arkon, Book 3) by G. Akella Read Free Book Online Page A

and pale-brown stalactites added to the ambiance. A river crooned to the right of the square entrance, half-disguised by streaming seaweed. If you looked hard enough, you could see through the clear black water to the distant bed, making out the bundles of phosphorous weeds and fish slowly stirring their fins. The whole thing would have been perfectly idyllic if it weren't for the final boss—the same necromancer I'd encountered earlier. At level 220 and 110 million HP, he seemed especially out of place.
    It had taken us maybe two hours to get here. All the mobs we had encountered so far—frogs, starx, giant brown slugs oozing toxic vapors, and creatures that resembled land octopuses—hadn't given us any trouble. Neither had the four bosses we'd already slain, of which the only one that stuck with me was a mythical three-headed poison-spitting hydra. Of course, those heads didn't get to spit their poison for long. But what was a high-level raid boss doing in a level 170 dungeon designed for a party of ten? That was puzzling, to say the least. A trick of some sort on the part of the local AI?
     
    Magus Diarten stood on a round square platform, his expression grim. More like, his fierce and arrogant face wore no expression at all. His right hand rested on the hilt of a black kris, while the left hung freely at his side. His tail lashed from side to side, and if it weren't for ominous crimson flame splashing out of his eyes, one might mistake him for a tifling immersed in his own thoughts after randomly wandering in here.
    We weren't leaving this cave without killing this necromancer first. But how were we supposed to kill him? Our strategy against the first four bosses had been to simply overpower them on account of our high levels relative to this instance. The same approach wasn't going to fly here, and there were no strategy guides readily available for us to look up. We would need to play it by ear. Any raid boss fell into a rage half an hour after being engaged, at which point the fight was a guaranteed wipe due to a tenfold increase in damage. In theory, that time should be enough. Taking into account my Legendary Warlord achievement, the raid sporting more or less decent gear, and morale sitting at 30%, our collective damage output averaged around 85,000 per second. Even if the boss had resistance to cold, slashing Reece's effectiveness in a fight, we should still come out on top. His robe just couldn't absorb more than twenty percent physical damage—that was one of the game's principles. I would rather not have to waste one of the remaining three vials with Shaartakh's Venom on this dude, but let these precious potions be our ace in the hole in a truly desperate situation that would surely come up sooner or later.
    "Problems, dar?" Iam's pensive voice brought me back.
    "I'd say," I said with a grave nod. "We haven't encountered an opponent as strong as this one. And we cannot leave this cave for as long as this tifling lives. The main thing I need you all to remember is this—don't be a hero. If anyone dies in this fight, the whole clan will suffer as a result. I don't know what to expect once we attack, so stay sharp. Certain moves or attacks can be foreseen if you're paying attention."
    "Who's going to tank him?" As usual, Aritor was all about the brass tacks.
    "I will tank him. If anything goes wrong, I've got a shield that will give us an extra twenty seconds. Reece," I turned to the mage. "Throw Silence on him after I do. Melee, use rotation to try and interrupt all of his long casts. Pop combat form fifteen minutes into the fight. Everybody drink an Elixir of Possibilities—this is exactly the time to do it. Put only potions with mana and vigor on your belts—those should be enough for a half-hour fight. Any questions? Then buff up!"
    The next half hour will decide if we're actually any good in a fight that counts, I touched the vial with the venom of the Netherworld's Elder Demon, and raised my eyes to