Chapter 48

The next morning, it was time to begin our final fight. I had 4 mana potions remaining from the original 12. I really didn’t know how many floors this dungeon had. Did I go down to level 10, or level 20? I wouldn’t believe the dungeon had more than twenty levels though. Still, the difference between a level 10 and a level 20 was scary. We might be able to beat a level 10 boss. A level twenty boss would certainly wipe us out.

I cast all the preparation spells. I decided to stick with my highest job, White Mage until we knew what we were facing. Looking down the stairway, I gulped. Lydia reached out and grabbed the back of my robes with shaky fingers. That’s right, I was there to protect her. I had to be strong for her. The pair of us worked our way down into the darkness. We came out into a room that looked like a throne room. Sitting on the throne was a gaunt, skeletal-looking man.

He shot the pair of us a glare that caused my skin to go cold. “It is about time you two came.”

The pair of us looked at each other.

“You closed my doors yesterday!" He continued. "Yet you’ve spent the last twenty-four hours playing around and giggling up there!”

It looked like the boss appeared when the doors closed, and thus he had been forced to wait while we prepared things. Well, who asked for the boss to pop in the preparation room! We were just as inconveniently trapped as this guy was. It was simply bad game design! If we got trapped it should have been upon entering this room. In fact, the door slammed shut behind us, sealing us in this room, which made the whole process redundant!

“We’re sorry we inconvenienced you.” Lydia politely lowered her head.

“It doesn’t matter.” The skeleton waved his hand dismissively. “Now that you’re here, you’ll both be dead shortly.”

As he spoke, numerous glowing circles appeared, and a half dozen skeletons appeared. This really wasn’t fair! We had never fought more than three at a time. This was twice that many!

“Group Heal!” I threw the spell out, and the skeletons all froze as the boss grabbed his head and bellowed.

“Attack them!” He ordered.

Lydia leaped forward and began to fight three zombies at once. The other three seemed to think that I looked like a good person to attack. I backed up, casting Harm Undead as quickly as I could manage. As soon as my mana ran out, I gulped down another potion and kept casting it. Lydia had managed to knock down a skeleton, but she also got a cut on her arm in the process.

As for me, I kept casting, running around to avoid them as I did this. The Necromancer only waited and watched. Lydia downed a second skeleton, and my first finally hit the ground.

{White Mage has increased to level 12.}

{You have unlocked the White Mage Skill: Sanctify Land.}

“Sanctify Land!”

I didn’t hesitate to throw my new skill out. The ground began to glow, filling up half the room. Instantly, the skeletons began to slow down. They were taking damage and were affected on sanctified ground! The Holy Circle was more like a barrier. This was more like an area effect spell. I felt my mana recovering faster. It wasn’t nearly fast enough though, as I needed my second mana potion soon after.

I cast Harm Undead again and again, and the second skeleton fell. At this point, Lydia finished off the last of her skeletons and then came to my aid. We made short work of the last one. Finally, we turned our attention to the Necromancer, who was standing just outside my sanctified ground.

He snorted, waved his hand, and another six skeletons appeared.

“S-seriously?”

This was going to be a long fight.