Core of Knowledge

The sword hit the armor of the Boss and cut through the bark like it was butter. The Boss let out a blood-curdling scream and tumbled back, writhing in pain. Bellino cast another lightning strike, instinctively trying to take advantage of the Boss’s injury. The spell hit the Boss. Alessandro could see that damage was minimal, but damage was not what Bellino was aiming for. The Quick Lighting spell had an effect, and it stunned the Boss in place. Roberto immediately took the chance to attack. Roberto’s eyes turned red with fury, his muscles grew bigger, and there was a red glow surrounding his body.

[Raging Honour]

Roberto hit the Boss with his shield, and Alessandro could feel the shockwave of the hit from where he stood. The Boss stumbled back from the hit, and his heart lifted as Roberto began swinging wildly at the Boss. Alessandro recognized the Skill.

[Raging Honour] was a skill that allowed Roberto to release accumulated honour into his body, greatly enhancing his physical abilities. It was a Skill that his friend often employed, but it came with a drawback. The Skill required Roberto to sacrifice his defense for offensive power, but that was where Alessandro came in.

Much like Simone and Bellino, Alessandro and Roberto had different roles despite having the same class. Alessandro was the calm frontline defensive specialist, and Roberto was the damage dealer. The two friends had an instinctive feel for each other in combat and worked well together. Alessandro rushed to take his place beside his fellow [Knight].

Several pieces of the bark armor fell from the Boss’s body, but the effect of Bellino’s spell ended sooner than expected, and despite its size, the Boss did a backflip. It swung its staff in midair. Alessandro raised his shield to defend the swing, but the knockback forced him to take a step back. That was all the Boss needed.

The Boss leapt and delivered a flying kick at Roberto. Caught by surprise, the knight was sent tumbling. Without hesitation, the Boss pointed its staff at the fallen knight, but Alessandro was there. Shield in hand, he stepped infront of Roberto. Seeing this, the Boss switched targets.

It swung the staff to the side and pointed it at Bellino. Alessandro watched helplessly as a green glow engulfed the staff, before it shot out a blast of green light. Seeing the attack, Simone cast a quick spell on Bellino, but the green light strangely split into two. One continued towards Bellino, while the other darted towards the last member of the party. It went for Simone.

What?

Alessandro’s eyes widened in shock, barely able to comprehend what he was seeing. The Boss was targeting their spellcasters! Instinctively, Alessandro followed the two blasts of light to their destination.

The spell hit Bellino and broke upon a transparent shield. With the spell armor shielding him, Bellino was relatively unaffected, but Alessandro saw the [Mage] clutching his chest, which meant he had suffered some damage.

The other blast sped towards Simone and hit him, sending him flying back towards the stone door. With a resounding crash, the [Mage] smashed onto the door and fell heavily to the ground. Simone spat out blood from his mouth.

Alessandro did not hesitate and sprinted at the Boss. The Boss saw him coming. It opened its mouth and…sang.

Not a mighty roar, or a fearsome cry, but a smooth lullaby. Alessandro was so shocked he almost fell to the ground. He stopped, and the world tilted before his eyes. A faint shattering sound reverberated in his ears, as if a part of the world had broken like a piece of glass. Alessandro fought against the effects of the song, but it was a hopeless battle. His eyes started to close.

A wave of tiredness fell on him, and Alessandro saw blades of grass infront of his eyes. He wondered why he was looking at grass. Then, he saw cracks. Some brown objects rose from the ground, and Alessandro struggled to understand what they were. He did not understand what he was seeing and did not care. Alessandro was tired.

He felt something grabbing him, pulling him into something that was both soft and warm. Alessandro was glad. He needed rest. He needed sleep. Alessandro closed his eyes, and waited for the sleep to - a cry shook the [Knight] awake!

His eyes open, and Alessandro realized what had happened.

He had fallen! Alessandro had fallen under the song of the Boss and fell onto the ground. Now, roots were trying to drag him into the ground, and only Roberto’s [Cry of Honour] had saved him.

Fear and anger filled him, and Alessandro fought against the roots. Snapping sounds could be heard as he pulled his right arm free of the roots, and he risked a quick glance towards the other members of The Young Nobles. Roberto, Simone and Bellino were all trying to do the same with Roberto having the most progress.

Then, the song changed.

The soothing lullaby rose in tempo and the Boss began singing in a higher octave. The useless music lessons forced on Alessandro by his mother told the [Knight] all that, but he did not know the reason for the change. He soon found out.

The ground beneath Simone softened, and a thick root shot out from beneath the earth like a spear. Right through his friend’s chest!

Everyone froze in place, like fragile vases on an unstable shelf, afraid that any movement would lead to them being broken. Sounds could not be heard, the world disappeared, and Alessandro could only see his friend’s convulsing body. With the roots holding him in place and as injured as he was, Simone had no chance to resist. He saw Simone’s last breath and noticed that the roots were slowly pulling him underground.

The ice broke. Rage replaced fear, and Alessandro heard a desperate cry of anguish echoing through the forest. Alessandro realized the cry was from him. He stood. His mind fled, and he ran at the Boss, seeking death. Either his or it’s.

The Boss pointed its staff at the charging knight and thin green blasts that looked like arrowheads shot at him. In an instant, he decided.

Alessandro positioned his trusty shield before his body and a blazing white light surround his body. Alessandro didn’t stop or dodged but hurled himself straight at the oncoming blasts. He barely slowed as the blasts hit his shield and was rewarded with a look of surprise on the Boss’s face when his shield slammed in the monster.

[Shield Charge]

As the white glow of his skill dissipate, Alessandro activated another skill without hesitation. White flames engulfed his body and Alessandro felt magic filled his body with strength. His sword lit up with brilliant yellow glow again as he activated two more Skills.

[Turn Honour to Strength]. [Strike of Honour]

His muscles protested and Alessandro knew he would suffer greatly for using so many skills in a row, but he did not care. Only one thing mattered to him right now; he needed to kill this Boss. After that was done, he shall go down and kill the dungeon core that created this Boss that had killed his friend!

Seeing Alessandro’s attack, Roberto also recovered from his shock. He witnessed his friend’s white glowing shield colliding with the Boss, his activation of Skills and knew of Alessandro’s determination. However, Alessandro wasn’t having much success.

Despite its fat body, the Boss was faster and more agile than it looked, turning and twisting in strange angles, dodging passed Alessandro’s attacks with ease. Roberto knew that Alessandro needed help, but he did not attack the Boss directly.

With the Boss’s attention fully on his friend, Roberto seized the opportunity to flank the Boss. The Boss saw what he was doing and tried to reposition to keep Roberto in view, but Alessandro saw what his friend and fellow knight was trying to do as well.

Alessandro pressed his attack, allowing Roberto to get on the other side of the Boss. Once he was in position, Roberto leaped at the back of the Boss. With Alessandro attacking from the front, Roberto thought the Boss would be defenseless if they attacked from two sides.

He was wrong.

The Boss swayed to the side as if it had eyes at the back of its head and launched itself at him as the knight stumbled passed. Alessandro saw the Boss striking Roberto in the forearm with the heel of its paw. Alessandro recognized the move. It was a trick most [Martial Artist] followed; strike the arm that attacks you.

Roberto’s sword fell to the ground.

The Boss pressed the advantage and swung its staff in a fierce and decisive arc. Roberto saw the attack and tried to bring his shield up to defend. He was too slow. The staff hit Roberto’s helmet so hard, it knocked the helmet clean off Roberto’s head. Alessandro saw a visible dent in the helmet as it landed on the ground, but Roberto had amazingly kept his feet. The Boss approached, and reached Roberto in two huge strides.

Almost gently, it placed a paw on the knight’s chest. Roberto saw the Boss touching his chest and looked up. For a moment, Boss and [Knight] looked each other in the eye, then the paw caused a shockwave, and Roberto flew.

Alessandro saw his friend smashed against the wall with great velocity, and knew he was dead before his body hit the ground. He turned back to the Boss, and to his horror, saw that it was right in his face. Alessandro swung his sword in panic, but the Boss blocked his attack with a swing with its staff and sidestepped to his right. It swung its free arm at his face and its claws raked along the knight’s nose and mouth. Alessandro closed his eyes on instinct, but Alessandro did not even have time to cry out when he felt a furry hand on his neck. Alessandro’s eyes widened in fear.

He saw that the Boss had a hold of his neck. He could feel the claws digging in, crushing his windpipe. His eyes quickly turned to Bellino.

Alessandro saw that the last surviving member of The Young Nobles was in a state of shock. Bellino’s mouth was open, his eyes were watery, and Alessandro could see several emotions warring across his face. Alessandro tried to give Bellino a smile. Simone was dead, Roberto was dead, soon he will be dead.

Run, my friend. Run-

Then, there was nothing but darkness.