The right knee came forward, catching him in his chest and chin, sending him flying backward.

Max hadn’t even considered that a possible attack, especially after just making another massive wound to that leg.

Even being only a few feet away, the speed of the knee as the boss shifted its hips and caught Max square in the chest and face.

He flew through the air, barely a few feet off the ground, when the boss’s two hands came down at him.

There was nothing Max could do. He braced for the impact he knew was coming, only to see it smash a foot above his chest into a shield of air.

The shield broke, but it had done its job, stopping almost all the force that overhand attack would have delivered to him.

It caught his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground about eight yards away.

The landing on the floor was not pretty as he slammed face-first into the stone floor, barely holding onto his sword and shield.

The boss was charging, preparing to attack again, and Max grimaced, feeling the bones in his face and chest rejoining as Batrire cast another healing on him.

A kick came as he started to rise, and Max rolled to the side, dodging it by a few inches.

A left backhand came toward Max as the boss spun after its missed kick. Seeing the attack as the boss pivoted on its left leg, the timer in the top corner of his vision flashed red.

Holding his shield up, Max got to his feet just in time for the boss’s attack to connect, sending him rolling to the right.

He heard a curse coming from Fowl and knew the warrior had just managed to get to the boss and dodge the attack meant for him. The dwarf slammed into the boss's left leg, causing it to stumble slightly as it had yet to get both feet down.

That moment created by Fowl gave Max the time he needed to get to his feet and try again.

The boss was more complex than anything he had faced yet. Even harder than the three-headed ogre.

How to beat this? I can’t keep letting it hit me forever…

The right leg of the boss was still bleeding, and their strength was close, but Max knew the boss was stronger. The longer the fight went on, the more chances the boss would have to use its skill again.

Putting his sword and shield in storage, Max pulled out one of the large axes he had kept from the ogres. It was time to go on the offensive.

The boss came running toward him, but there was a limp now as its right leg struggled to move as quickly as before.

The book said it fought with intelligence… let's see if it does.

Holding the axe back, ready for a massive swing, Max saw the boss react as he thought it might. It slowed its approach, bringing its claws back to near its main body and preparing to deal with the attack Max might deliver with his weapon.

“Run Fowl! Hide behind a pillar!”

Judging how fast he could swing that axe, he could see the boss reading his movements. It had to know it was stronger, yet its weakness was the lack of armor. Its catlike fur only did so much, and its skin had yet to stop any of his strikes.

It’s strong and fast but doesn’t have a lot of hit points!

Max knew Fowl had moved back a few steps, not getting close.

It was time to end this. The odds of winning were limited, and Max knew it.

[Berserker Activated]

He was only two strides from the boss when the world went red.

The rage took over, and Max missed the boss’s eyes, realizing something had changed the second Max dashed forward.

His axe was a blur, hacking at the boss who towered over him. It tried to dodge and leap away, but Max’s sudden burst of speed and strength caught it off guard. The head of the axe slashed into its left leg, catching it right above the knee as it lept. Bones shattered, and the ligaments were destroyed. The only reason it hadn’t been cut clean off was its momentum to the right had mitigated it enough.

It crashed to the ground, rolling to its side, seeing the axe coming for it again. The distance between them was gone in a second, and Max swung the axe, driving it down on the fallen boss.

Rage drove him with no concern for where he attacked. All he felt was the cold need to end its life.

Lifting up its left hand, the boss roared as the axe split its hand all the way down into its forearm and got wedged between the bones. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Unhindered by the setback, Max ripped the axe free as his hips pivoted, sheering off the inside of the boss’s arm.

It tried to roll, realizing it couldn’t attack or stand now, only to find the axe again coming for it.

Max’s strike clipped the left shoulder as it rolled, taking a chunk out of it and shattering the joint.

As the boss rolled and accepted the pain it knew would come, it swiped at Max with its right hand, catching him in the side and sending him flying across the room as its claws raked into his legs.

The axe clattered to the ground as Max rolled. He rose to his feet and stumbled, his left leg not working, and crawled across the floor. As he crawled a few feet, suddenly, his leg worked. Unaware of the heal, he charged, running at the boss with nothing but his fists.

And then the world returned to normal. The red rage was gone, and Max felt himself sag momentarily.

The boss was on the floor, blood pouring out of the left side of its body. Its leg buckled every time it tried to lean on it, and the boss’s arm hung limp against its side.

“I got this!” Tanila shouted.

A fireball exploded on the boss, and a few seconds later, an ice spear pierced its chest.

It tried to move and dodge the onslaught, but it couldn’t.

Fowl, seeing an opportunity, raced toward the boss, yelling as he charged. The boss flashed red as Fowl ran toward it, and Max tried to shout, but it was too late.

The shout from Fowl told the boss he was coming, and its right fist slammed into the dwarf, barely blocked by the edge of his shield that covered the left side of his body.

A crack echoed through the room as Fowl flew back and hit a pillar twenty yards away with his back.

Max saw Fowl’s health plummet on the team view and knew Batrire had used her special heal the moment he got hit. When his friend hit the wall, thudded against it, and fell to the ground, Max watched as Fowl’s health again dropped.

Racing toward Fowl, he saw a heal give a little health back, but he was still under twenty percent. Whatever had happened almost killed Fowl.

A potion was in his hand, and the lid was off when Max got to his dwarven ally. Bones were sticking out in his legs and one of his arms. His hammer was nowhere to be seen.

Rolling him over as carefully as possible, Max poured the potion into his friend's mouth and held Fowl’s nose and mouth until he choked down the drink.

The sounds of bones adjusting and watching them slide back inside his friend's arm and leg was a horrible sight to see.

Tossing the flask to the side, Max turned to see the boss, barely moving but suffering from the spells Tanila had kept throwing at it.

“Batrire, come help him!” Max shouted as he moved to where his axe was. “Tanila, it’s mine!”

The boss was on its back, chest slowly rising, and the amount of blood on the floor was impressive. To consider how much blood it must have lost and still managed to deliver that blow reminded Max that nothing was ever dead until it never moved again.

As he walked toward it, skirting it till he stood near its head, Max saw it trying to move, but its time was done.

Consume it!

The voice came again… Max froze for just a second. It had been a while since he had heard it, and had believed he had just made it up that first time. Now, there was no denying he had heard a voice inside.

The hunger to kill it was there. It had been a good fight, but this creature needed to die. He needed to kill it. He needed to consume it.

Hefting the axe overhead, Max drove the blade into the boss's skull, splitting it in half.

Cold power filled him and made him feel alive.

[ 2 Strength Consume ]

[ 3 Dexterity Consumed ]

[ 49 Hit Points Consumed ]

[ Consume has Consumed a Skill ]

[ Skill does not match beings body type ]

[ Consume is adjusting skill ]

[Would you like to learn [Power Strike]?]

[ Yes / No]

“Seth!”

Staring at that information that flooded him, Max turned and saw Batrire standing over Fowl.

Letting go of the axe, he staggered for the first two steps and ran to where Fowl was.

His health was up past sixty percent, and the color in his face was better.

“You still need another half minute before I can give you a potion, so just rest,” Batrire said as she gently brushed the hair matted with blood on Fowl’s head.

He started to talk, and she shushed him.

“He’ll be ok?” Max asked, still looking at his friend and how he was crumpled on the ground and the health bar on the party display.

Batrire nodded, not taking her eyes off Fowl. “Yes. Great thinking with the potion. I want to wait on the healing and let another potion do what it can. It’s better for stuff like this.”

Tanila put her hand on Max’s shoulder and smiled when he glanced at her. “What made you change tactics?” she whispered as they watched Batrire tend to their friend.

“A book I have mentioned, the boss was smart. It has a skill like mine, or… it has had a skill when leveled up enough that makes it faster and stronger, but it doesn’t lose itself as I do. It was injured, and I…” Max paused as he watched Batrire pull out a potion, remove the lid, and pour it into Fowl’s mouth. His health rose to almost ninety percent, and Fowl let out a small groan as he licked his lips.

“I wasn’t sure we could win. The longer the fight, the more it could use skills, and as you saw… they hurt.”

“You bet your elf tits they hurt,” Fowl said with a grunt. “It felt like a giant had kicked me or something.”

Max and the others chuckled as Fowl sat up, letting Batrire help him as much as she felt she should.

“I’m not sure of a giant's strength, but you got smacked by at least a sixty-plus one when it hit you. “

“Sixty plus,” Fowl muttered before his face went blank, and he turned to look at Max. “Should I ask how you know that?”

Wincing, Max grinned. “I gained two strength points from it, putting me at a thirty-one. I’m sure it was still stronger than that, and the skill doubles it so…”

Everyone let out a small groan, considering the kind of power behind an attack.

With Fowl back on his feet, he stretched slowly and slightly popped his neck.

“I guess I owe you another one,” he stated with a slight laugh. “I’m never going to get anything nice at this rate.”

Max laughed and then pointed to the glowing chest that could barely be seen through the room's pillars.

“Maybe we should go and find out what’s inside.”