Embridge’s health bar exploded well under half. The dragon shrieked, and blasts of dark magic and fire followed with so many particles that all I could see was colors. Something hit me right in the chest, and I found myself at a freefall, back into the city below.

  Thanks to my absurd defence stat from whatever hit me, I only took 5% damage. I reoriented myself and identified my landing spot. I was aimed at a tiled rooftop. The fall was long enough to let [Shadow Dash]’s cooldown run out. I used it before the fall to avoid damage. Slowly, the defence I’d stolen began dissipating back to Embridge.

  A portal appeared on the roof beside me, and Veyra followed. The first thing we did was glance up at the dragon on the wall.

  Ray Dragon Embridge had black, rocky scales, as if made of thick obsidian. Her right eye was a sharp orange. The left eye burned like a campfire where I’d hit it, red demonic power rising within. The underside of her wings were a devilish orange, shining through the mist.

  Her health bar was at ninety percent.

  “Ten percent!” Veyra gushed, mouth open in awe. “You did ten percent damage! In one shot! That’s a record, is it not? Ten percent contribution to an event boss!”

  I squinted up at the health bar. Had I seen wrong earlier? I could have sworn the dragon’s health dropped below half. Did something heal her?

  Veyra was laughing in disbelief next to me. “That’s top damage for sure! You should be getting a mythic item!”

  I saw her health drop below half, did I not? Did I do enough damage to proc a healing effect?

  Whatever it was, Veyra’s grin spread to me. Ten percent damage to an event boss was crazy. Event bosses dropped loot by contribution with hundreds of players competing for damage. Anyone who did even one percent damage was almost guaranteed legendary drops, and those with three percent or more had a good chance at mythic items. Ten percent damage pretty much guaranteed at least one mythic drop.

  The fight wasn’t over, however. Ray Dragon Embridge opened her mouth. Flames swirled within the gaping throat, charging energy, until a wide ray of flames burst out into the city below. The buildings hit were immediately crushed by the sheer force of the flames. Fire caught the nearby buildings, igniting the city.

  Embridge flapped her wings, jumped, and fell down to the plaza with an echoing crash. Her clawed feet crushed the pavement, and she shrieked, knocking back all players near the landing.

  The city turned into total chaos. Players spammed their spells onto the giant dragon. Hundreds of projectiles, arrows, fireballs, time rays, arcane bolts, everything the playerbase had to offer hit Embridge's scales. Most melee players stood cautiously back, afraid to get close to the giant boss, but a group of brave players ran straight to her tail and [Swung] for their contribution damage.

  Embridge lifted her tail, slamming it back down. Three lower level players were crushed and one-shotted. She breathed another ray of fire, hitting a full line of ranged players. Over ten players died instantly. A few tanks took it head-on, surviving with their health bars below half, while more experienced players used their mobility spells to dodge the ray.

  Spells and projectiles continued raining down on the dragon, though her health was still at ninety, not having dropped a single percent. Her resistance stats must have been insane, and I knew her defence was well into the thousands, now that she’d recovered all of what I’d stolen.

  A giant runic circle appeared over her head. A long cast time ensued as Embridge charged a spell. The clouds above gradually lit up, until a bright circle of light shone underneath Veyra and I, as if the sun had pointed there.

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  “Run!” I called, and we jumped out of the bright circle just in time as a ray of fire burned the spot from the sky.

  More rays of fire fell from the sky, hitting buildings, players, anything that was unfortunate enough to stand in the dozens of bright spots. Smoke rapidly rose to the air from burning buildings, the city turning to rubble.

  Finally, Embridge’s health dropped to 89.9%, while more and more players rushed into the city.

  “I won’t do any damage to that,” Veyra said. “It has too many resistances. I could hit it all day and barely get any contribution.”

  “Next plan it is, then,” I said. I’d need to wait for the boss to die to see what drops I got.

  I summoned Heywin’s cube from my inventory and spun it on my finger. “I’ve got another place for potential legendary drops.”

  “I really don’t like it when you get mysterious, Aiden,” Veyra said. “What are we doing?”

  “We’ll clear another impossible boss real quick,” I said. “For a start, we need to escape the city. Teleporting is probably not possible so close to a boss. Can you portal us out?”

  She gave me a look, but placed a portal away from Embridge as far as her range allowed. She grabbed me from the shoulder, and said, “If we hop in together, we won’t have to wait for the cooldown, by the way.” Holding me close, she hopped into the portal with me, bringing us further to the opposite end of the city, where buildings weren’t yet burning.

  “So what are we doing?” Veyra asked. “And why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Did you just give me a hug?” I asked, grinning.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yes, and you’ll get another in a few more seconds. How far do we need to go?”

  “What if we do a piggyback ride?” I asked. “Will the portal let us in?”

  “Aiden, that’s an event boss right behind us,” Veyra said, crossing her arms, “and you’re proposing a piggyback ride?”

  I showed her my back and knelt down a bit, and I could feel her eye-roll on my neck, but she hopped onto my back anyway, summoning another portal deeper out of the city. I hopped in, and we got further away, all the way to the edges of the city.

  Embridge was far enough that all we could see through the mist was a few flashes of light from the rays of fire. Here, the game finally registered that we weren’t a part of the boss fight, and teleportation was allowed. I checked my teleportation stones to see which one would be closest to the location.

  Interestingly, the teleportation stone directly in the Portal Mage’s Crypt was still operational. That could mean two things. Either it was trapped, or it hadn’t been found. I had hidden it in a nook in the walls.

  Well, we’re pressed for time anyway, I thought, and decided to take a risk. I held Veyra’s hand, who still sat on my back, and initiated the teleport.

  [Teleporting to the Portal Mage’s Crypt…]

  Vision flashed, and we appeared in the grand opening hall of the crypt, bricks floating around the ethereal chandelier. Nobody waited in the opening room, and I didn’t see any traps, but multiple teleportation stones lay on the floor, unprotected.

  “Well, then. Let’s see if my idea works.” I pulled out Heywin’s cube, opening its latch.

  The cube lost its weight on my hand and floated in place. It twitched, shaking, shining inside, until it suddenly disintegrated, and a spell of time magic was cast in its place, colors inverting.

  Great Dragon Heywin (NPC, Level ???) teleported in its place. He fell the short distance and thumped against the ground, on his feet. He looked around himself, ears perking up, and his dragon cheeks rose. “The secret crypt! You’ve found it!”

  “I told you I had something good prepared,” I said.

  Heywin glanced around himself, taking in the smells and time magic happening in the room. “Amazing. The last secrets of the portal mage should be here. His life’s work.” He cleared his throat. “And before you call me a thief, do know that I was very good friends with Tielan, the Portal Mage himself. He wouldn’t mind. His life’s work will find good use in my hands.”

  “You can be honest,” I said. “We’re also thieves.”

  “Right,” Heywin said… “Okay, I might be a little bit of a thief. But I am also a dragon.”

  “How about a proposal,” I said, facing him with seriousness. “We’re going to rob this place together. As teammates. We’ll just need help from your spells, Great Dragon. There’s a guardian defending the loot, you see.”

  He eyed me, a grin suddenly appearing, while Veyra wrote me a message.

  Veyra: “No way, are you trying to hire an NPC for a boss fight?”

  Assassin: “He might steal some of the loot, but this could work.”

  “I accept your offer,” Heywin said. “Let’s rob this place together.”

  A system message came.

  [Great Dragon Heywin (NPC) wants to join your party. (Items divided by contribution) Accept? yes/no]

  20 chapters ahead on !