The Reaper

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Retainer has been constantly checking on me ever since her class change.
“As I keep telling you, yes, I’m fine now.” I reassure her for the tenth time.
It’s not like I don't understand where she’s coming from after all that happened. And since the Vow of Silence has ended and she has her ability to talk back, it seems like she's trying to make up for everything.
“But you got hurt because of me and back there you were bleeding so much,” she’s breathing fast and sharp. “And I couldn’t do anything.”
I pat her head, it's become a habit whenever I talk with her now and it works to calm her down.
“Listen to me.” I sigh. “I got hurt because I wasn’t prepared. It has nothing to do with you, okay?”
She gives a little grunt in response and falls silent.
I take this as an opportunity to look around the room we are currently sitting in. Small, but not cramped, enough space to move around, but not somewhere I would want to fight any enemies in. Thankfully, the large ornate door we’re sitting next to means I don’t have to worry about that.
“So, do you want me to call you something different now?” I decide to break the silence and ask what’s on my mind.
“Huh, what do you mean?” She tilts her head while looking up at me. “Oh, you mean because of this?”
She steps back and gives a quick twirl, the grey cloak flares out around her, revealing the sheaths on her hips.
“Yeah, because of your class change.”
“Hehehe, just call me Assassin,” The smug look she has quickly changes as her entire face goes red with embarrassment. “No, no, don’t call me that, please.”
“You’re not even an Assassin, your correct class is Reaper, it’s the one above Assassin.” I correct her.
“Just keep calling me Retainer please. I mean, I still technically am your retainer.”
“If that’s okay with you. Did you get enough practice on the way here? If you want I can tank some more enemies for you?”
“No, I think I’ve got the hang of this now.”
To prove her point she unsheathes her daggers, throws them in the air, then blinks to catch them mid-air, before landing silently on one foot.
“See, it’s kind of like dancing. And this cloak just fills me with energy.”

“Sorry to keep… you waiting.” The merchant announces as he enters the room, now with a large bag strapped to his back. “I had to get the rest of my wares before I could proceed.”
“It’s fine by me, having another rest was nice. Plus we got to discuss strategy more.” Retainer nods her head in agreement.
“I see.” He takes a deep breath. “Well then, I shall wait here until you have defeated the boss and the door unlocks again.”
“Should we wait for you in the boss room?” I ask while opening the door.
“No, feel free to wait for me at the safe zone on the other side.” He chuckles. “I don’t think you want to spend any more time in an empty boss room than necessary.”
“Nothing gets past a merchant huh?” I don't even bother turning to face him.
“A good merchant has eyes everywhere.”

The boss room is nothing like the previous one. It’s square, almost half the size, and cold. But most noticeable is how dark it is. The last boss room was dim, but this one is almost pitch black.
Retainer makes a quiet “Oof” as she walks into the back of me, her hands finding my shirt that hangs out from under my armour.
“Lightstone.”
I bring out a handful of the small pebbles from my inventory, cracking them all together then scattering them all around the room. The light they emit isn’t enough to completely fill the room, but it’s enough for what I need.
Near the center of the room, is a darkness that the light fails to penetrate. It almost seems to be absorbing it.
Damn, why couldn’t it have just been a normal boss?
What makes challenge mode so hard is the fact that some of the bosses are hidden. They get obscured by a thick black darkness that covers their bodies and boss rooms. You only get to know what it is when the boss uses its unique move. But, it doesn't make them invulnerable, so the normal strategy for them is.
“Now,” I shout, cracking another handful of lightstones and throwing them directly at the boss.
It’s enough to trigger it to aggro me which is what I wanted. Retainer disappears from behind me as I quickly equip my new and improved sword and shield. My sword is now longer, upgraded with some of the material we looted earlier, while my shield has been completely changed, going from a small metal buckler to large heater shield thanks to the merchant helping with crafting.
The boss raises a shadow covered limb as it swiftly approaches me. I have no idea what it’s about to hit me with, but all I need to do is block whatever it throws at me so Retainer can take it out. It’s exactly what we were practising on the way to the boss door and while waiting for the merchant. The only difference here is that while normal enemies could be taken out in one hit from Retainer and her new class, a boss is going to be a lot of small hits to take it out.
I block another strike from it as I watch Retainer swiftly strike the boss again and again. She never stops moving, and the speed she’s going along with the enhancements from the cloak make her look like a blur. Of course, blocking isn’t the only thing I can do, nor is it. I swing my sword down on the shadowy limb that is currently pressing against my shield, then another at its body when it pulls it back. I need to keep its aggro on me, if I never hit it, then it would start to focus and target Retainer.
“I see it.” Retainer yells. “The Mark.”
The Assassin Mark. A special ability Assassin and Reaper get. When an enemy is low enough, a Mark appears on the target, hitting it results in a guaranteed kill.
“Go for it. Wall of Rage.”
Wall of Rage. Not a specific Paladin skill, just a general tank ability. It massively increases the users defense while also increasing the aggro they generate passively.
The bosses strikes get faster and wilder as my ability causes it to rage against me. But it’s fine, I only take a few more before I watch two glints appear in the air behind the boss come crashing down.
The boss stops, staggers for a few moments, then collapses.

“Did we do it?” Retainer asks, still crouched where she landed behind the boss, daggers in hand.
“Looks like it,” I give the boss a quick kick as I walk towards the exit. “Let’s loot and get out of here, those lightstones won’t last much longer.”
Retainer nods, quickly darting around the room looting everything she can, with her new class it’s much faster than last time.
It takes less than a minute before she joins me at the exit door.
“All done.” She beams with pride as she stops next to me.
“Good job, we’ll check it once we’re out and waiting for the merchant.”
I give the door a tug but it doesn't move.
“Huh?” I give it another stronger pull. Still nothing.
“What’s wrong?” Retainer asks me, also trying the door. “Did we miss something? Maybe a button or a lever?”
No, the doors are only connected to the bosses, no button or lever could open one, otherwise it would have been easy to cheese the game.
But that would mean.
I quickly turn around, just in time to see the boss, that we had assumed was dead, shed off the darkness covering its body.
Long spindily limbs the same colour as the darkness it just shrugged off, a mouth with too many teeth, wings that drip a disgusting purple liquid, and hollow eyes that feel like they are looking straight through you.
“Crap, Retainer, we have to kill this thing now before it…”
Too late. The entire area around me goes dark. I can’t even tell if I’m still standing, maybe I’ve fallen over, or floating. The weapons that I was just holding in my hand are gone as well, or they might still be there, I can’t feel anything though. But worst of all, is the fact that my eyes are getting heavy.
Ah, that’s right, a sleep would be amazing right now.