Humanoid demons poured out of the guard barracks. Their yellow eyes glowed in the dim lighting of the perpetual overcast. Red skin rippled with muscles as their claws flexed. We dashed like madmen towards the central building. The demon guards were hot on our tails. Reaching the front door to our destination before the guards did would not be a problem. The real threat was having to deal with the reinforcements along with the monsters inside.

            “Go! I have an idea!” Candy wheeled around as I slung the door open.

            She smashed the candy part of her staff into the ground. From the barren wasteland, a wall of thorns sprouted in the door frame. The plants spread around the front wall as well, making what was, in essence, the world’s deadliest shrub maze.

            “That wall should hold log enough! Let’s move!” Candy ran as fast as her little Riki-la legs could go.

            I led the group, side by side with the Flesh Hulk. For such a massive zombie, it was surprisingly fast. As we ran, Suzuha cast Marching Tune, speeding up our run speed. With the extra boost, we managed to run straight past the next set of mobs who were busy hanging out around the receptionist’s desk. Not a single monster aggroed us as we were too fast for them to even register. Sadly, that bardic buff only lasted a few seconds.

            The next room was the holding cells. Demons sat in cages, staring us down with murderous intent. Because we did not kill the earlier monsters, these were not set free. It was an advanced strategy that could only be pulled off when a Bard or Warlord was in the party. Coincidentally, it also made the first boss a lot easier.

            Standing in the center of the preliminary cell room was a rather large demon. Its bulky body looked like it was hunched over at first, but upon closer inspection, it turned out that its back and shoulder muscles were just that big. The rest of its muscles were just as big. In its clawed hands rested a jagged great sword made out of black metal.  

            “I see we have a prison break!” It growled in a barely understandable English dialect. “Time for some corporal punishment!”

            Above its head, a red health bar appeared, and above that was its name which read Brash’Na the Head Guard. The demon ran forward, sword falling towards my head. I had no reason to brace for impact, as a meat cleaver deflected the blow. Lucky’s Flesh Hulk blocked the hit for me. Our first real combat began.

            The Head Guard locked in combat with the Flesh Hulk. As great sword and meat cleaver clashed, I dove to the side and proceeded to unload my entire skill rotation in the demon’s side. My damage and speed buffs activated, making my next moves even faster. Behind each hit, a small blast of lightning followed (a perk of my race).

             It was a weird feeling, actually feeling the connection of fist against flesh. When this was a game, I felt nothing as it was behind a screen. Here and now, though, I truly felt the impact of each strike.

            Behind me, the casters slung spells. A red stream of energy siphoned health from the boss and sent it to FeelinLucky while a green stream returned the health to the Flesh Hulk. Suzuha cast her small regen on our makeshift tank. Candy cast her big regeneration spell on the tank, signaled by a large sunflower spraying light rays at her friendly target. Despite the healing, we could still see the Flesh Hulk’s health points dropping faster than the regens could manage.

            While the healing was going, Candy launched bolt after bolt of lightning at the demon. Suzuha strummed her guitar as fast as she could, unleashing blast after blast of her thunderous spell, Sonic Boom.  FeelinLucky continued to channel Drain and Necromancer’s Prayer in an attempt to help with healing.

            We watched as the health bar depleted to the halfway point, triggering the only mechanic this boss had. The demon let loose a guttural roar, piercing our ears. From beneath each of us, the ground cracked and heated up.
            “Candy!” I shouted.

            “I know!” Candy smashed her staff into the ground, sprouting vines from her position.

            Plant growth snaked towards each of us, quickly engulfing each of us in a cocoon of dense flora. Half a second later, hellish flames erupted from the ground, burning through the vines, but causing us no harm.

           With the party wipe mechanic successfully avoided, we returned to our assault. One more minute passed as we unleashed our skills upon the boss. Luckily, we did not release the prisoners so the fight was much easier than normal. As the last lightning bolt connected, Brash’na fell, melting into a burning pile of goo.