Second World

Jack and The Man attacked the Boss aggressively while their respective teams were still on their way. The Ogre whacked at The Man. He managed to dodge, but the monster grabbed his legs with its free hand. It pulled him up and then slammed him down hard. The slam stunned him. The Man hadn't recovered fully from his last turn, so his health had now fallen to a third.

The Ogre lifted its club high to deliver a lethal blow.

Jack ran in front of The Man, holding his sword above his head. The Ogre's club hit the blade at an angle, and Jack fell to his knees from the force. The Ogre then grabbed Jack and threw him upwards. It struck him with its club like a baseball player scoring a home run. Jack was sent flying far away, passing John and Bowler.

The Man's teammates arrived and pulled The Man out of danger.

Flame and Trap started to harass the Boss, and the rest of the Fighters all joined in.

"Arggh..! Damn it all to hell! Everyone attack at will!" John yelled as his tactics fell apart.

He took out his last energy potion and drank it as his Heightened State skill went off cooldown. John immediately activated it and cast Energy Bolts, followed by normal range attacks. His wand's energy was also getting low. Bowler and Tip had long depleted their weapons' energy. They were relying on their natural mana recovery and casting spells whenever they got enough mana. Their DPS was significantly reduced.

As John cast Mana Bullet, he saw five Energy Bolts rushing from behind, followed by a Mana Bullet. They slammed into the Ogre. 'Who the hell cast those?'

He first thought it was Bowler, but then he remembered that Bowler's and Tip's Energy Bolts only fired four bolts. And the damage these bolts caused was greater than theirs.

'Hell, the damage was even greater than mine! But there are no Magicians here but us three!'

Jack jumped past him, sword in hand, ready to engage the Boss again. John glanced around again, was there another Magician player hiding in the dark? Maybe someone trying to take advantage of their battle? He walked back a little bit and looked around; there was no one. The cavern was not a place where people could hide. Although there were stalagmites, they were not large enough to completely conceal a person.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going? Sight-seeing!?" Bowler screamed at him.

John then remembered his Heightened State was still in effect. Not to let it go to waste, he tossed the idea of the mysterious Magician out of his mind and went back to throwing offensive spells at the Ogre.

Jack rejoined the fight with the Ogre, standing next to The Man.

"Thanks for the help back there!"

"Thank me when we defeat this son of a bitch," Jack replied.

"Agreed!" The Man replied with vigor, despite having only recovered half his HP.

When a Magician used the Heightened State skill, there was no glaring visual effect; only a tiny distortion in the air around them. To notice it, you had to be real close and be looking for it.

No one noticed the distortion around Jack.

When Jack was knocked flying behind everyone, he had taken a basic healing potion and medicine to recover his health. He also took the opportunity to throw two Magician spells and activate Heightened State. He had learned from experimenting with this skill that it not only buffed his Magician skills cooldown and MP recovery but also his Fighter skills cooldown and Stamina recovery.

This time, he dished out fiercer Power Strike and Swing and scored more DPS on the Boss.

Now that everyone was crowding around the Boss, they attacked more and dodged less. The Ogre's HP began to drop faster, but they also suffered casualties more easily. Tip was killed, as was another of the Men of Solidarity. There were only five of them left; they had lost more than half their number.

Despite the casualties, they managed to bring the Boss down to a critical state.

It let out a furious roar!

John immediately yelled, "Get back! It's going to make the stalactites fall again!"

This time, it didn't affect them with Disorient status, but the Ogre didn't disappoint; it really started to stomp and cause earthquakes.

Fortunately, John's early warning let them get out of the earthquake range before the stalactites hit the ground, except for one Fighter who was clubbed as he jumped out of range. His health was low, but he survived that one hit. When they looked back, they realized that Jack hadn't joined them. Instead of running away, he dashed further in.

"What the hell are you doing?" The Man shouted at him.

Without replying, Jack closed in on the Ogre as stalactites started falling around him. He had noticed that the stalactites never hit where the Ogre stood, so the safest place was actually with the Ogre.

As the Ogre continued its stomping and summoning stalactites, Jack slashed at it using all his skills whenever they came off cooldown. Heightened State let him launch Power Strikes after every two normal attacks.

Jack was doing massive damage, but his stamina was dropping fast despite his increased recovery rate.

While the earthquakes continued, the others could only watch in awe as Jack battered the Boss' HP.

When its skill ended, the Ogre stared at Jack angrily. It couldn't believe that its ultimate skill had failed to kill anyone this time. Instead, the most annoying fly had slashed it over and over. Not only was its HP hurt, but its pride had suffered humiliation.

The Boss squatted down to grab at Jack with its free hand, but this time Jack was ready. He deftly moved aside, jumped onto the Ogre's thigh, and climbed up its body.

Everyone's jaws dropped to the ground in amazement.  Not one of them moved to rejoin the fight. They were so engrossed in Jack's escapades that they all forgot that they could.

Jack climbed onto the Ogre's back and steadied himself by grabbing its hair. He began stabbing the back of its neck, dealing critical damage. The Ogre turned around in circles with hands flailing, trying to get at Jack, but its bulky arms prevented it from reaching its own back.

Jack continued to stab his sword onto its head, bringing the Ogres closer and closer to death.  In desperation, it ran backward and smashed hard into one of the stalagmites. The stalagmite broke to pieces. Jack screamed in pain, but he didn't let go. He sent another Power Strike to the back of the Ogre's head, again dealing critical damage.

The Ogre roared out loud. As the roar ended, its limbs became limp. It fell forward onto its knees and continued to fall until its face squished flat into the ground. Jack was thrown forward over its head. He dropped to the ground in a roll, his adrenaline still pumping. He quickly got up and took a stance, expecting the Ogre to rise again.

But it didn't.