A gentle tapping on my cheek brought me back to consciousness. My eyelids opened heavily to Stella’s piercing eyes scrutinized a few inches above my face. Worry was evident in her canine expression. I was lying flat across my back with a light layer of sediment sprinkled gently over my face and body. Seeing awareness return to face, Stella withdrew slightly to leave me with enough room to sit up.

  “How long was I out?” I asked somewhat groggily before taking her invitation to come to a seated position. It felt like I had been unconscious for a handful of seconds, yet, at the same time, also for several hours. Clumps of sand and grit fell away from my robes while my head spun momentarily from my upright motion. I shook my head to clear what cobwebs remained before brushing away what little remained of the debris still clinging to the front of my dark robes.

  “Only a handful of seconds,” Stella replied with a hint of fear in her tone. “You gave me quite the scare there at the end. You gave everything you had left. I shouldn’t need to say it but it’s not wise to empty your mana pool so rapidly! The strain can and will knock you out.” This last part she said with some emphasis before gesturing to where I had fallen. “If the blasted Ogre hadn’t died when he did, you would have been left completely at his mercy. That’s not a position you want to be in, especially considering how damn determined he was to stomp you under his boot heel.”

  “Sorry about that. I felt like I had to,” I replied, somewhat admonished as I took in my surroundings. Gilgamesh lay face-down a few feet in front of me, his gargantuan body stretching off horizontally to the right. His head, or what was left of it, was an unrecognizable gory mess. It looked like a green-skinned pumpkin post smashed to a pulp. It also was entirely torn away from the rest of his body, though I wasn’t sure if the decapitation was a result of my final spell or from Ripley’s slashing greatsword. Either way, there was no way the massive creature would be standing up ever again.

  Stella lowered her brow and looked at me sternly. “No, you didn’t. It would have taken him a bit to get back to his feet, which translates into another tick or two of your DoTs. That would have ended him! It was not worth the risk. I can’t stress how much of a bad idea that is. If you fall, we all fall.”

  I knew deep down Stella was right. Well, mostly right, though I didn’t dare vocalize the thought. In the heat of battle, I hadn’t consciously decided to give everything when Gilgamesh threatened to get back up. It was an automatic reaction, a desperate move that gambled more than I could afford to lose. Finally nodding in agreement to her words, I apologized. Standing to my full height, I worked out some sore muscles with a few light stretches. Next to me, Ripley was absolutely covered in the boss’s blood giving her a truly diabolical appearance. She bore a domineering presence that seemed to radiate away from her like a heat wave as she stared toward Cicero’s spire.

  Seeing a red icon next to her name in the party menu, I realized Ripley was still under the effects of Gilgamesh’s weakening debuff. She was at about half health and no longer under the effects of my lesser regen from earlier in the fight. Recalling the effect’s System description from earlier, the debuff would only dispel after Ripley was fully healed. Remedying it, I intoned Lesser Regen to bring her to full.

  “Are you alright, Ripley?” I asked after completing the one second cast time. Green energy dove into her body, instantly repairing torn tendons and splintered bone. The lofty skeleton turned her head and gave me a curt nod in affirmation.

  “I’m glad Gilgamesh didn’t use his enfeebling debuff earlier in the fight,” I commented as I worked the battle through my head, looking for anywhere I could have improved or made better decisions. “If he had, I doubted I would have been able to keep Ripley in the fight with just regen and the healing effect from my funeral pyre spell.”

  “It looked to me like he was waiting to use it when both you and Ripley were in range,” Tallos offered. He was no worse for wear and actively used his enchanted quiver to resummon his spent arrows.

  “Yeah, I think Tallos’ is right,” Stella agreed with a bob of her head. “The boss knew the fight was coming to an end, so couldn’t wait any longer in an attempt to tip the balance of the fight in his favor.”

  As we spoke, Lowki trotted over to my side and brushed against my legs, begging for a few shoulder pats. He came up from behind me, and I suspected he just scouted everything nearby in case anything else was nearby. I heartily obliged his request with strong strokes across his dark fur. I knelt next to him and gave him a once-over. “You look all put together, my feline friend. I was worried when you got tossed away like a used chew toy.”

  Lowki’s response to my clearly asinine statement was an exaggerated, overly affronted look back at me. His fluffy brow narrowed with incredulity and was rife with disbelief. It was as if the normally untouchable panther never believed he was in any real danger, even if the boss would have been better served than tossing the cat away like a heavy sack of grain. I tussled the fur atop Lowki’s head and said no more. Clearly, Lowki was right, as always. I chuckled. He was fine, and that’s all that mattered.

  Considering what we accomplished, it was remarkable no one besides Ripley took any serious injuries, let alone not be killed outright. A victory was a victory, though, and it was time to earn our spoils. Several notifications were blinking in my vision, one of which would certainly be a level up, but I was more interested in what gear the powerful Ogre had on him. If his summoning brought some Ascended gear along with him as he was torn across the void by Cicero’s summoned him, oh, were we in for a treat.

  Touching an unblooded section of the boss’s left arm, I willed Gilgamesh’s inventory to appear. Yes! Luck was on our side, and I quickly moved everything he had on him into my inventory. Gilgamesh was left suddenly bereft of nearly any clothing. I did leave a grubby loincloth for modesties sake, though was certain to double check it wasn’t enchanted before doing so. No longer needing to be as close to his wart-covered body, I stepped back and turned my attention to our latest prizes.

  You have received: {Fortified Splint Mail Surcoat of the Despoiler}.

  You have received: {Fortified Splint Mail Greaves of the Despoiler}.

  You have received: {Broad-bladed Sword of the Despoiler}.

  You have received: {Fortified Targe of the Despoiler}.

  You have received: {Fortified Leather Sabatons of the Despoiler}.

  You have received: {Bewitched Necklace of the Despoiler}.

  Tallos, seeing me swiping through a System menu he couldn’t possibly see, chortled to himself with an amused shake of his head. He knew we were going to be a while. Walked away, Tallos made his way across the sandy field where Dutch and Jax whined anxiously nearby. “While you and Stella take care of that, I’m going see to our horses,” he called out over his shoulder when I failed to notice his departure.

  “Thanks,” I replied distractedly before realizing we were still in a somewhat dangerous area, as close as we were to Cicero’s spire. Laying a hand on Lowki’s neck, I invited the large hunting cat to follow him. “Go with Tallos, would you? There may be other things about. Look after him and our other friends while he brings Dutch and Jax back.”

  Lowki yawned as if my request lacked any prospect of excitement for the displacer beast. His long fangs glinted in the late afternoon sunlight. The panther bobbed his head once loping off toward our retreating elven friend. He swiftly reached the ranger’s side and pressed into Tallos’ legs the same as he did with me earlier. Tallos said something to the big cat I couldn’t catch over the gusting wind but saw him quickly surrender to Lowki’s insistence with several heavy shoulder rubs.

  Returning my attention to Gilgamesh’s split mail tunic, I was overjoyed to see just how impressive the ascended-tier armor really was. And that’s not even mentioning the remarkable set bonus if all five pieces were equipped. “Ripley, you’re about to get some hearty upgrades,” I beamed.

  “Wow! Those bonuses are out of this world,” Stella babbled as she took in each set item's description with me. “This is certainly from an Ascended World. I’m shocked Cicero was able to call this over when he summoned Gilgamesh. These gains are better than you’ll find on nearly any epic or legendary-tier piece of gear you could find in this world.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Knowing we were about to replace several pieces of Ripley’s older Battlelord Dreadnought set, I pulled up her set bonus. A quick review confirmed she would be losing the six-tier bonus, unfortunately, but would be gaining far more benefits in return.

  Battlelord’s Dreadnought - Armor Set Bonus.

  (3): Health and Stamina increased by 1,200.

  (4): Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution increased by 40.

  (6): Plus 25% armor value for each piece. Plus 15% additional damage with all melee-related attacks, skills, and abilities.

  Eagerly calling Ripley to my side, I prepared to swap out her Dwarven breastplate, boots, and greaves when a System note at the bottom of each of the new pieces gave me pause. “Shit! Stell, please tell me she can still use these,” I breathed out, my shoulder’s slumping at the implication staring me in the face.

  {Fortified Splint Mail Surcoat of the Despoiler} Made of unidentifiable leather with evenly spaced riveted shards of titanium, this matched set piece of splint mail armor significantly enhances the user's physical attributes, as well as increases all damage dealt by melee weapons, skills, and abilities.

  Quality: Superb. Rarity: (Unknown/Ascended). Type: Heavy Armor. Slot: Body. Armor: 100. Durability: 9,842/10,000.

  Effect(s): plus 5% Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Luck (stacking effect with additional set items).

  Secondary Effect(s): plus 5% resistance to piercing and slashing attacks, and plus 5% increased health and health regeneration (stacking effect). Movement speed is increased by 5% (stacking effect with additional set items).

  Notice! You CANNOT use this armor piece as it is only wearable by monster-designated entities.

  Frantically looking to Stella, I silently implored Ripley would satisfy the item’s peculiar requirement. It was an exceptional set of gear, only to be torn asunder finding none of us could use it. If so, it would be little better than sales fodder to the next merchant willing to acquire the potentially useless junk. Ripley was a skeletal minion, after all, so she could just squeak by, considering she was something akin to the monsters we fought. I could only clench my teeth in stark anticipation as Stella dove through her Accelerator screens.

  After an intense minute of swiping through screen after screen, none of which I could see, Stella finally lowered her head and took in a deep breath. She let out her breath slowly before speaking up in a leveled voice. “Yes,” she answered, though without as much enthusiasm as I would have expected with such good news. My chest was suddenly full to bursting with excitement for the gains Ripley was about to undergo. “Ripley should qualify, though barely. There is a small chance the System may reject her, so don’t hold it against me if this doesn’t work.”

  Alright then. The possibility of the gear still rejecting Ripley would explain why Stella wasn’t sharing my zealous fervor as I waved Ripley closer. We had her stow away her greatsword and, with bated breath, handed her the former boss’s ‘broad-bladed’ sword. Her undeath-infused digits closed around the handle which, in her hands, appeared more of a greatsword than a one-handed weapon. After a tense moment in which time seemed to stretch on forever, nothing happened. Staring at Stella for confirmation her eyes light up to match my excitement. Yes, Ripley could use it!

  Celebrating with an excited fist pump, I was nearly startled out of my boots when something did happen. My eyes shot to the blade the moment a brief flash of light emanated from the steel. With relief, I realized it was only the massive broad sword shrinking its new user’s stature. Ripley didn’t seem bothered, instead inspecting the delicate scrollwork near the blade cross guard. After a few seconds, the sword shrunk by about half the size of when Gilgamesh wielded it. The red glow faded as if never there, and the weapon was the size of a longsword and a greatsword. With the enchanted blade and soon-to-be-equipped armor, Ripley was becoming a powerhouse in her own right.

  Arms and Armor of the Despoiler – Set Bonus

  (3): Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Luck of each set item is increased by an additional 2.5%.

  (4): 35% additional damage with all melee-related attacks, skills, and abilities.

  (6): 50% decrease in Stamina used with all melee-based skills and abilities, as well as a 50% increase to all movement-related skills and abilities.

  One by one, we swapped out Ripley’s breastplate, greaves, shield, boots, and her lone necklace. Having the six-piece set bonus from the Despoiler gear while also maintaining the four-piece from the battlelord set significantly increased all of her most important physical attributes. Her health and stamina skyrocketed when all the stacking bonuses were fully applied to her body. Once again, I silently thanked the System for considering Ripley enough of a mob to equip it all.

  “Damn, Ripley,” I jested before plastering a wide grin on my face. “You’re tougher than all of us put together now.” Ripley returned with a smile of her own, the black ribbons of undeath energy binding her body together flexed with the response. It was slightly terrifying to behold given her undead nature, but I was loathed to tell her that.

  Beyond the increased attributes, extra damage and effectiveness with her skills, Ripley also gained some noteworthy benefits from a few pieces of the Despoiler set. For starters, as I had suspected earlier, Gilgamesh’s scale mail boots had the trigger-able effect, allowing him to charge forward at profane speeds. Suddenly boosting your movement speed by two hundred percent was nothing to sneeze at. However, the effect did require Ripley to maintain a perfectly straight heading when used. Still, being able to get within range of a distant opponent near-instantly was a powerful ability.

  Ripley’s new buckler had a passive effect which caused the round shield to automatically block any incoming critical hit as long as she could see it coming. This ability was what had allowed Gilgamesh to casually block my pistol's normally piercing bullet as it careened toward his venerable eye. For a tank, it was an incredible defensive ability to possess, and it took no conscious thought before the shield moved itself into the path of a devastating blow. Her matching broad sword had the interesting capability to magnify its mass at will, all the while leaving its overall length static. This meant Ripley could put a lot more force into her swings whenever she wanted to. There was almost no cool down between its uses, so the only limiting factor was her strength and ability to wield a heavier weapon. Ripley wouldn’t need to swap out weapon sets now, not for a long time. This was owed to the fact her new broadsword hit far harder than her greatsword had ever been able to.

  Wrapping up Ripley’s newest gear addition was her new bewitched necklace. It didn’t have anything extra beyond adding more strength, dexterity, and health regeneration, but it was a remarkable thing of beauty. The chain was made of tantalizing links of a pale blue metal which seemed to pull your gaze into its glossy depths. Its pendant was an orb the size of an inch-wide ball bearing and could have been mistaken for a walnut-sized Neptune. It was stunning to look upon and I had to forcibly tear my attention away from it. It was a good thing Gilgamesh wore the captivating thing under his leather tunic. Slipping the necklace over Ripley’s neck, our small group of friends paused to admire her new look.

  “Looking badass, my friend. Bad… ass!” Stella whistled as the new gear magically settled upon her stout body. Ripley grinned her evil grin once more at the compliment. Thankfully, the moment we handed each piece up to Ripley, the gray leather and numerous hunks of riveted metal shrunk down to an appropriate size for her to equip. Like most, if not all, magical pieces of armor, the System automatically ensured it would fit whoever put it on. The sword did look overly large in her hands but seemed not to hinder or bother the beaming skeleton in the slightest.

  With her bulky plated arms, gauntlets, and pauldrons glinting in the fading afternoon light, she was no less impressive to look upon than before. Sure, her off-color leather-covered torso and legs may look slightly odd against her plate armor, but I doubted many would want to knowingly tangle with her if they understood the power she just gained. She was a proper warrior who could cleave through a mountain of enemies with ease.

  Tallos returned soon after with Lowki walking comfortably by his side. We heard their small group coming, thanks to our horse's clomping hooves, but a quick inspection displayed no apprehension or haste. Nothing else was around while they retrieved our equine friends. Following behind by their lead ropes, Dutch and Jax trotted close with their ears happily tilted forward until they got sight of Gilgamesh’s body. To help ease what tension remained, we moved away from the downed Ogre and focused our sights on the base of Cicero’s spire.

  We came to an abrupt halt when a low whine filled the air. It wasn’t quite a warning. Instead, it seemed as if some large piece of machinery was powering down. I rocked back slightly as we noticed the already dark obsidian base of Cicero’s tower somehow grew blacker like it was stealing all the light around it. We watched in amazement as the once-hovering emerald spire slowly descended downwards before touching down with a loud bang.

  “Well, that explains how we’re supposed to get in there, but what are the odds Cicero didn’t notice that?” I asked no one in particular as the low-pitched sound grew silent in our ears. When an even louder CRACK reverberated across the barren wasteland, any hope the shaman didn’t notice this was thrown to the wayside.

  “I’d say slim to none,” Stella answered as if she cared little if the vile summoner knew of his approaching doom. “We just took down what was probably his most powerful ally, so I bet he’s shaking in his booties at this very moment.”

  I gave an amused chuckle, as did Tallos, but no one else said anything as we all waited patiently for something else to happen. A half minute passed with nothing of note. I almost half expected the mad shaman to shout down curses upon us from up on high. “Well, let’s treat Cicero with some uninvited guests, shall we?” I invited, sharing some of Stella’s energy. Though, I wasn’t about to underestimate the Orc.

  With nods of avid agreement all around, we boldly stepped forward.