The wounded mages would be fine after Luke tended to them, but Curtis and Blanchett were having trouble with the Patriarch. From the start, they were supposed to be a stalling measure until the damage-dealers were done with their task of killing the Beebler support creatures. Darkness dripped from Curtis and his blade, and was forming a cloak that had now reached the middle of his back.

  While the Patriarch hadn't showcased many skills so far, the boss made up for it with sheer speed and ferocity. The Integrated mages were useless, and Rick hadn't uttered a single order since the fight began. Blanchett wasn't doing such a great job either, and Curtis kept having to come to her aid. This whole thing was devolving into a real shitshow.

  Luke: "Curtis, I'm going over to Ray to break the stalemate. Are you fine here?"

  Curtis's gaze flickered to Luke, then back to the Patriarch.

  Curtis: "I'll manage. This is the last time I'm going into a dungeon with randoms."

  With confirmation received, Luke set off, leaving the mages behind. As he ran, he shouted over his shoulder. "Stay back and keep safe!"

  "HEALER," Rick shouted after him. "RETURN THIS INSTANT."

  There was a pull in those words, as if they attempted to hold Luke back. That had to be part of Rick's skill set, but it wasn't a forced command, and Luke ignored the leader and kept running.

  As he ran past the Patriarch, doing his best to keep some distance, it took a deliberate step closer and flashed one of its blades with an almost arrogant twist, aiming for Luke's neck. The blow was quick, but not to the point of being impossible to defend against. Using the same method he'd practiced since deflecting a blow from Curtis back in the dungeon with Hollows, Luke placed several threads of mana between himself and the Patriarch's weapons. Not to block, but to deflect. Straining, he pushed upward while ducking, clearing the swing without too much trouble.

  Free and clear of the monster, Luke upped his pace, running for all he was worth to reach the support bugs who, for the most part, were busy keeping Integrated at bay.

  "HEALER SCUM SHOULD NOT TURN THEIR BACK ON THEIR BETTERS!"

  Luke threw himself to the side as the strike came for him, this time aimed through his midsection. The Patriarch, beyond fast, had charged after him, or perhaps it had teleported again. Adrenaline flushed through Luke's system, and he reached out with a thread of mana, not to attack or defend, but to move out of the way of another blow. A sword crashed into the ground with enough force to cleave the stone itself just as Luke used Weavestep. Ending up behind the Patriarch, Luke reached in with another thread of mana. This time, he didn't bother reaching for the monster core. That would take too long, and the boss would just receive healing anyway, nullifying the damage. Instead, Luke severed the mana channels going through the monster's leg, then cut through physical muscle and tendons for good measure.

  "I WILL WEAR YOUR SKIN AS SMALLCLOTHES!"

  The bastard fell but swiped at Luke again. It missed, but its arm took Luke in the side, tossing him into the air. By the time he'd landed and spun to keep the Patriarch in front of him, Curtis had rejoined the battle and was hacking away, taking up all the boss's attention.

  Rather than jump in and help, Luke set off running again. The Patriarch roared in anger, but it was unable to follow with Curtis, and now Blanchett as well, keeping it back. Soon, its leg would heal, but Luke had bought himself a short window of opportunity, and he wasn't about to waste it.

  As he ran, it didn't take long for him to pick out which Beeblers were responsible for keeping the Patriarch's health up. Ray, along with several other Integrated, were attacking the group of Beeblers with everything they had, but it wasn't enough. The monsters stood in a ring to defend the healers and support caster bugs who were at its center. Several barriers kept the bugs safe, except for the few who stepped past the defenses to strike back at the Integrated.

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  Luke ignored them all and reached forward with a thread of mana, made sure Weavestep was off cooldown again, and readied himself to trigger the skill when he got close enough. The bugs saw him coming. Whether they sensed his intentions or not was impossible to tell with those unexpressive, turtle-shell-like faces, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that they put a stop to it, or at least tried to.

  Patterns formed in front of several bugs, creating symbols that heralded spells to come. Luke spotted a symbol he recognized and winced. Fire. He hated fire. After unleashing the spells at Luke, the bugs turned their attention back to the other Integrated, who fought with renewed energy now that they saw they were getting reinforcements.

  A large ball of fire arced toward Luke, who lashed out with threads of mana to pick it apart. The attempt was successful, but it didn't leave enough time to deal with the other two spells coming his way.

  "Crap," Luke muttered, and raised his hands in front of his face in a vain attempt to protect himself.

  The first spell reached him. It was a debuff that wrapped itself around him like an invisible net, slowing Luke down to a crawl. Moving his limbs at all was a struggle, and he found himself caught mid-stride, struggling even to breathe. While the net held his physical body, it did nothing to stop Threads of Mana. Cutting through the strands proved to be a quick and easy process, which was a blessing, considering the third spell coming his way. This one was new, with unrecognizable symbols, but Luke was ready for it. Slicing through the spellweave, the attack fell apart.

  With the Beeblers already having turned their attention back to the other Integrated, sure in their belief their attacks would be enough to off Luke, none of them saw him coming. It was perhaps a less graceful entrance than he would have liked to make, but the plan was solid. Weavestep brought him before the healers in the blink of an eye as the Patriarch bellowed somewhere behind.

  The Beebler healers just stood there in defeat, perhaps resigned to death. Luke did not want to disappoint. Slamming the staff down on one, he sliced free the monster core of the other in an instant, then turned and stomped on the head of the downed Beebler, dazing it long enough to retrieve its core. Before the protective ring realized what'd happened, the healers were tucked away in Luke's inventory, adding to his collection.

  After that, there wasn't much of a fight. Ray's stealth kicked in once the healers were gone, and without the ones able to detect hidden Integrated, the Beeblers didn't stand a chance. They were all dead within two minutes, leaving the Patriarch to fight alone.

  "You're welcome," Luke told Ray, keeping his voice neutral since he knew that sort of teasing would work best on his friend.

  "Go heal a prolapsed asshole," Ray countered, keeping his tone even.

  The two shared a grin before turning to the Patriarch.

  From the look of it, Curtis was having a difficult time keeping Blanchett alive, to the point that he was unable to deal proper damage himself.

  "Bunch of noobs," Ray muttered and set off toward the fight.

  Luke stayed behind and made sure to loot the dead Beeblers. After healing the wounded, of course. All in all, he collected around four hundred credits. Unfortunately, taking the monster cores from the monster bodies didn't work after they were dead. A bummer. For once, he was not the only one taking monster bodies with him. Two others, both of them rogues, were doing the same, and the three of them exchanged knowing glances, nodding to each other in approval.

  By the time Luke was done, the Patriarch was lashing out with its last gasp, shouting obscenities all the while. Without the healing and other support, and with a whole lot more Integrated focusing on the boss, it dropped. In the end, Curtis got the final blow and used his massive sword to decapitate the boss just as it was about to utter some final words to curse the humans who'd come to destroy it.

  Quest Complete: The Beebler Patriarch has been slain.

  Reward: 1000 Credits.

  Dungeon closing in 60 minutes.

  Again, several Integrated had been injured, and Luke sighed as he went through the motions of healing them. Healing during combat was exhilarating and often required him to be quick on his feet, dodge, and even attack while helping. Fixing people up after a battle was just dull in comparison. These people didn't even have the courtesy of getting hurt in new and exciting ways.

  A pop-up appeared regarding the Patriarch's weapons, but Luke dismissed it. What need did he have of swords?

  "That's it?" Luke asked, feeling exhausted and not in a good way. "Kind of a letdown.”

  Johanson: "Luke! We have made contact with the Fallen Shepherd! Stand by for more information!"