DD 203 Ch 6 (Patreon)

Finally, with the three adds dead, the man in the corner lifted his staff from the ground, raising it high.

The bones from the monsters that hadn't disappeared in black smoke, an oddity for the dungeon, began to swirl around the room.

I knew that something would come of them.

A bone hit me in the side, and I felt my ribs ache, forcing me to dodge through the sudden storm of bones whirling through the room.

"There's an open spot in the center!" Candice shouted over the roar of the bone storm.

With hundreds of bones flying through the air, each one made a dull noise, occasionally a musical chime as they hit someone.

We all rushed to the center of the bone storm to avoid taking damage and to give the healers a moment of respite.

Harley was playing her flute like a madwoman, trying to restore people's mana. From all the damage the raid had taken the healers were taking a respite trying to recover.

In the center of the bone storm, I grew frustrated because after six seconds, my [Liminal Speed] stacks started to decay. I wasn't alone. Taylor and Miexie both seemed agitated at being unable to attack.

Wendy's wolves were there with her, whining amidst the storm, as Wendy took pot shots with her crossbow at the boss, but that wasn’t a big part of her damage.

The ranged DPS were all able to focus on the boss, slinging spells and arrows through the storm of bones.

After what felt like an eternity, the bone storm finally ended.

I activated sprint and rushed towards the boss. My daggers hit it maybe a dozen times before it stabbed its staff into the ground, summoning three more adds.

Each of these was a different beast than the last round.

The boss had the audacity to chuckle at me as my next attack bounced off the eerie shield once again.

A groan of frustration ripped itself out of my throat.

"This is ridiculous," I said, charging away with Taylor to see which of the three adds would be best suited for melee damage.

"Tell me about it," Taylor said. "I feel absolutely useless. More like a liability."

I grunted in agreement. Running around like this was making us far less effective than the ranged DPS. Not to mention we were taking more damage with all the effects flying around the room.

The fight continued in this manner, though it was clear we were barely able to damage the boss before he would spawn a new set of adds. The healers were groaning and moaning, quickly running out of mana.

"I'm out," Meredith said, throwing her hands up in the air and rushing out of the boss's doors. Her retreat caused a cascade of the other healers to follow suit.

With the healers gone, the ranged DPS were next, rushing out the doors behind them.

I, however, did not have such a luxury.

One of those casting adds was in front of me, slinging bolts of water that split and hit the entire raid. Bolts of water that, if I stopped interrupting, were likely to kill more of the group.

So rather than run, I stayed and fought for a moment longer. But without heals, the tanks died quickly, and I was soon to follow as a rhino skeleton slammed into me.

***

I sat up with a gasp, looking at my chest. Being resurrected never felt comfortable. Especially when I was killed with a skeletal horn through my chest.

"All right, what did you guys do wrong?" Professor Sai was already in teacher mode.

It seemed I was one of the last to get back on my feet. I wasn't sure how many people had run out, but judging by the number of people sitting on the ground trying to restore their mana, I could assume a decent number had escaped without dying.

Candice raised her hand. "If we had been completely prepared and understood what we were facing, that would have gone smoother."

Helen raised her hand. "If we had spent all day listening to you talk about the various tactics for each and every combination, well, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have any more time to read."

I glared at Helen. This was not the time to be fighting.

"You were all taking way too much damage," Meredith said, and the rest of the healers nodded in agreement. Except for Charlotte, who cast me a glance while waffling her head.

I knew she was at least partially right. We were certainly taking more damage than previous fights. However, that seemed to be how this worked.

Elysara raised her hand. "I could switch to healer."

"We're already killing the adds too slow," another added in.

"What's with that? Our DPS in the exercise was so much higher." Regan asked, her eyes turning to me. There was a hint of accusation in them.

I held my hands up. "What am I supposed to do? Learn to fight?" As soon as I said that, I realized it was a mistake.

Tensions were rising in the raid group as a whole. As the leader my words had been a spark.

Patting the air, I tried to get people to calm down. "Everyone, quiet down. We wiped. That sucked. Clearly, there were a number of problems. The adds were not dying fast enough, which in turn put a greater strain on the healers."

Everyone seemed to nod in agreement.

"I think the only people who didn't screw up were the tanks." I got smiles from the four tanks.

"Right. So the problem came when we had two adds that the melee DPS couldn't effectively attack. They could have gone after the beetle," Felicity said.

"I could have wasted my time. You're right," I gave her a not-so-friendly smile. "However, the beetle was charging around far faster than any of us could keep up with. And only when it impacted with the caster were we able to effectively damage it at all."

"I think both of them were taking bonus damage when that happened," Candice said.

"That's great, but it's hard to engineer the situation." Taylor said.

"Not entirely," Desmonda disagreed. "Maybe from your position as melee it was hard to see. But it was clear who the beetle would attack next. It would turn and focus on them for a moment before charging. If we positioned ourselves such that we were in a cluster and the person who was getting targeted rushed to line up with the other add, we could essentially send the beetle flying like a missile towards the other add."

I pointed at Des, nodding along. "That's a fantastic idea. Anyone else see anything?" It was a little over complicated, but once people got used to it, they’d manage it just fine.

Candice's hand shot straight up in the air. "Yes, Candice?"

"Most of the ads have some interaction. If you can get them to hit each other with any of their abilities, it seems to weaken the others." She said quickly.

That was good to know, but it was hard. There were so many abilities that these various skeletons possessed that I wasn't sure if the entire raid could keep them in their head. In the middle of combat, especially combat where you might die with a misstep, sometimes it was hard to keep a bunch of new information in mind.

"We'll just have to practice, then," I said, glancing around the group.

"If it's the parrot, then we should all stack?" Taylor asked.

"No. If we all stack, we'll all take damage together." I said.

The healers nodded at that, happy that I was helping reduce the damage taken.

"Regardless of what we do, I think we need our healers to be in a better place. And I don't just mean having to do less heals." I glared at the healers. "Most of you need to understand, you're going to have to heal the raid. Plenty for this. Pick amongst yourselves who is helping each tank, assign someone to the melee group, and then assign someone to the rest of the raid."

Being told what to do seemed to put some of the healers off. However, Harley gave me a wink, telling me she would make sure it happened. I hoped she could handle the healers.

"Let's take 10, and then try again." I clapped my hands together and moved off to the boss doors to lean against them. The rest of my small group came to join me, along with a surprise guest, Professor Sai.

"Yes?" I asked the professor.

She smiled at me politely, that kind that usually came before teachers started asking leading questions. "You're doing a great job, Ken. But..."

I liked Crimson better, at least she’d just tell me what was wrong and leave me to fix it. "But?" I urged her on.

"But in a fight like this, you might not be the person to lead the raid. In melee, you're caught up with a number of things, and you may not be able to see the whole room appropriately."

I frowned at that, though she did have a point. I glanced at my ladies, thinking who would be the best, my eyes landing on Elysara, who held up her hands in protest.

"Nope, I'm not here to lead, I'm here to have fun, and follow." She lost the humor from her face. “Taking a break from being Empress, remember?”

Next, my eyes skipped over Felin, causing the Nekorian to pout, and landed on Des. "People respect you, and will listen to your orders."

She shrugged. "For this boss, I'm happy to take charge. I think I understand most of what Candice said. But I'm not the raid leader," Des clarified. "I'll just be in charge of calling out what formation we have to take."

That was good enough for me. I smiled at my lovely warlock, happy she understood everyone well enough to find her place.

"The healers are becoming a little bit of a problem, though," she said, voicing what was likely on most of our minds.

I couldn't help but nod in agreement, glancing over to the professor, who had still chosen to linger by my group. "What do you think, professor?"

"It's not uncommon for the healers to be the most skittish part of the raid. Nor is it uncommon for there to be conflicts among the various groups. The best solution I can offer for you is to make officer positions for the healers. It already seems that Harley is at the center of the healers. Meanwhile, it might be best for you to take the center of the melee damage."

I thought about that, and after a moment, I couldn't help but agree. It gave them a voice as well as took managing them off my hands. Harley, despite her flippant attitude about most things, would be serious about the role. "Thank you for the advice. We'll get this working."

It would be a big step, now if only Crimson would come back.

***

"This is ridiculous," Crimson said, looking at the other people in the board room. Among them was the lawyer that the U.G. had sent with her, a representative from SJS Financials, along with their small team of lawyers.

"Why are we going through this again?" Crimson asked her lawyer. The president of the U.G. had recommended him, and he had come without complaint.

hough to be frank, Crimson knew just about nothing about the bespectacled man who adjusted his glasses, his tie, and clicked his pen.

These people were going to drive her insane

"This is just a meeting between the two parties. Your job here, Crimson, is to maintain calm, rational behavior and answer the questions," he explained.

Crimson leaned back in her chair, her leather bodysuit creaking as she glared at the office worker across from her. He was probably someone ‘important’ while simultaneously being a pencil pusher.

She didn't care. All of these pencil pushers around her, she could crush with her bare hands.

"All right, let's get this over with. I have far more important things to be doing," she said.

"Yes, and what would those be?" The SJS lawyer asked. "Please speak into the mic."

Crimson rolled her eyes. There was no reason to hold back. These people were clearly here trying to push her around and waste her time.

"Actually, the U.G. has asked me to investigate strange disturbances in the dungeon," she said.

She was not making that up either. The president of the U.G. had noted that there was some level of magical activity that had shifted within the dungeon. What it meant, no one knew. It could just be the dungeon sneezing, but it was a wonderful excuse to get out of this conversation.

"Noted," the SJS lawyer said. "I would also like to remind you, Mistress Crimson," he read her word off the paper as if he didn't recognize her, "no one is above the law, yourself included. While adventurers might have rules about what happens in a dungeon, stays in a dungeon, you have clearly infringed upon matters that involve the financials of a law-abiding corporation."

Crimson thought his tie would make a wonderful noose. All she'd have to do is flip it around, pull it a little tighter, and then off goes his head.

Sadly, she couldn't actually act on that impulse. She would have to sit here and let the pencil pushers unfortunately push her around. While she might be able to blow through most things with force, this was an unfortunate necessity if she were to maintain a positive reputation on the surface and continue her Haylong teaching career.

That’s how the Headmistress had put it.

Of course, that was important to her. She was unwilling to give up teaching Ken and the rest of his class.

"Is it true that you've interfered with a betting situation involving SJS Financial President Prince Albar?" The laywer made a note on his pad.

Crimson groaned. "I have done nothing but my job as a teacher. If me helping my students is considered influencing a betting situation, then I would have to ask why this betting situation was allowed."

"That's not part of this discussion," he quickly dismissed her words. "Please answer the questions. Nothing more than the questions, Crimson." he said her name this time, but there was an almost nauseating tone to it as he spoke it.

"Fine. I have not affected the outcome of the betting situation." Crimson wanted to get done with this and go back to the class.

"Well, we find that interesting," he said.

Crimson threw her arms up and rolled her eyes. "If you already assume you know the answer, why the fuck are you asking me?"

"Please stick to answering the questions," he said into his microphone.

Maybe once all this was done, Crimson might have to go on another rampage. There was nothing more infuriating than the legal system.

"Okay. So please inform me how I have affected this betting situation in some sort of unlawful manner." Maybe she could go strangle the Headmistress for forcing her to play this game instead of ignoring it in the dungeon.

"Wonderful. I'm glad you understand your position," the lawyer continued.

Red sparks danced across Crimson's cheek. That caused the whole group to jump in their seat.

"Please no use of abilities while in here."

"It's a passive," Crimson said with an eyeroll.

"Okay. As I was saying, you provided high-level potions to your student during the DPS competition. I would also note that you seem to have placed a bet on your student. It is believed that you rigged this for your own gains." The lawyer continued.

"Is that supposed to establish the motive? Because I can assure you, what I put on Ken was a pitiful amount." It was just her spare cash on hand.

The lawyer held up a piece of paper, reading down the spectacles on his glasses. "400 million is a pitiful amount?"

It was Crimson's turn to laugh. And laugh she did, holding her stomach as the fancy office chair nearly fell backwards. "Yes," Crimson said, laughter punctuating her words. "Four hundred million is a pitiful amount for me. Do you realize how much I come back with every time I dive into the dungeon?"

Crimson pulled out a red mana crystal. "Do you know how much this goes for? mana crystals. One mana crystal is a black mana crystal." She pulled another one of those out of her CID. "Roughly equal to one Ren."

Then she pulled out a purple mana crystal. "This is equal to ten Ren. This is a hundred Ren. This is a thousand Ren. Ten thousand. A hundred thousand."

And then she got to her red mana crystal. "One million." From when she slaughtered her way through the naga, she had filled her CID to the brim.

And then she tapped on her CID. Red mana crystals spilled out all over the table, creating a mound around her as she gave a sweeping gesture to the crystals in front of her. "There you go. The biggest problem for me is I can't turn these into Ren fast enough."

Crimson swept up all the mana crystals with her CID. "Now explain to me why I have a motive to make… how much was it?." She stared around the group.

The lawyers cleared their throats. Several of them had loosened their jaws at the sight of so much money. "That isn't the purpose here. It would be, for legal purposes, considered a substantial amount of money. One that could sustain his motive." The lawyer spoke into the microphone as if he was trying to argue to a judge at the table.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that, buddy." Crimson sat back and crossed her arms. "Since logic's not going to work, please continue. How did I do this again?"

"You gave Ken—" he read the sheet in front of him "—Negato performance-enhancing potions prior to the event."

"I did, did I?" Crimson frowned. "He's my student. I've probably given him health potions. So has every other teacher."

"So you have given him high-level potions?" He scribbled down on a sheet of paper in front of him while speaking into the microphone.

"No, health potions would have no impact on his performance.” Crimson realized she fucked up and wanted to smash the microphone and the computer recording everything.

“But it does set a standard of you having given him potions in the past." The lawyer latched onto it.

“Yes, but Ken did that all on his own. There was no influence from me.” She crossed her arms. “Prince Albar is just a sore loser.”

“And then is it also true that you are in a relationship with Ken Negato?" The lawyer asked pointedly.

Crimson hesitated. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“Are you refusing to answer the question. That would be an admission of guilt.” The lawyer pressed.

“No it wouldn’t.” Her lawyer stepped in. “You don’t have to answer his questions here.”

"Yes, that is true." Lying here would probably do more harm than good.

Though she was worried more than anything else about Headmistress Marlow discovering that she was in a relationship with one of the students. The headmistress was a prickly woman. And there was a decent chance she tried to cause Crimson trouble for this.

Crimson also realized the secondary goal of these lawyers wasn't to find her guilty but simply drag her through the mud and cause her enough issue that she gave in. Had she mentioned how much she hated lawyers? If she hadn't, she would reiterate. She fucking hated lawyers.