The creature took a few seconds between attacks, allowing Geth to get in a few sword swings and his Aura tick.


    Most of his sword strikes were doing 8-15 damage. It wasn''t much, but stacked with his Aura, it added up over 60 seconds.


    :Goblin Gourmand; HP-11,306/11,750:


    ''It''s not enough. I need to at least drag it below 11,000 before the others move in.'' Geth thought. He had considered how quickly they would do damage and was worried he would lose aggro.


    After one more round of his Corruption Aura, he called out to the others. "Now, pile in behind him. Attack for precisely four seconds, then move at least five feet back.


    After two seconds, attack again. Filthy, stay at a range, and never attack from the same spot twice. We''ve yet to see what its magic is, so stay cautious!"


    After his instructions were called out, they all moved in sync. The four melee fighters started attacking the creature''s back and sides. Filthy began to shoot arrows while running in a circr motion.


    Goblin Gourmand''s HP plummeted, dropping close to 400 per second. Geth still didn''t rx. He was waiting to see a change in its movements.


    Nothing happened for about 15 seconds. Then, the battle became much more dangerous as the monster''s HP dropped below halfway.


    Gourmand opened its mouth unnaturally wide. Geth watched as a suction force made of Mana began to form in the opening.


    Through his Mana Sense and Inspection, he was able to see the Mana pulling from the corpses littering the ground. He had a bad premonition for what wasing next.


    "Everyone get in the tunnels, NOW!" He shouted as loudly as he could. No one wasted time in heeding hismand. As they ran, Geth cast Restoration on the five of them. This dropped his MP dangerously close to 0.


    He was confident in his resistance but he still jumped back all the same. It would be close to 30 seconds before he could use Restoration on himself.


    The suction onlysted a few moments, Geth watched as the creature''s HP rose from 5,500 back to 8,000. This negated almost half of the work they''d put in.


    When the suction stoppedpletely, Gourmand raised its staff in the air and grunted strangely. The tip of its staff began to glow a burning red, Geth could feel the heat pouring off of it.


    Gourmand mmed the glowing end of the staff into the ground, leaving a small crater on impact. The red light from the staff burst! A wave of fire over 6'' tall surged out in a circle around the sub-boss!


    ''A burst AOE!'' Geth thought, ncing at the others receding backs. They wouldn''t make it to the tunnels in time. "BLOCK!" He yelled loudly.


    He crossed both his staff and his sword in front of him, kneeling to make himself a smaller target. Geth was much closer than the others, who were only a few yards from the tunnels.


    mes surged over him, scorching his forearms and singeing the hair on his head. He was ted to find that his beard survived the wave!


    Filthy and Zolis turned in time and saw the wall of fire rushing towards them. Both leaped into the air without hesitation,pletely avoiding the mes.


    Hulk and Farris blocked with their swords and forearms, kneeling in the same fashion as Geth. Harris wasn''t as lucky.


    He had tried to jump over the mes, imitating Filthy and Zolis, but his Agility was severelycking. Both of his lower legs were consumed by the fire, melting his skin and cooking the muscles beneath.


    "Harris!" His brother called as he watched the man fall limply to the floor. The wave continued past them and smashed into the wall, leaving light scorch marks on the earth.


    "Grab him and drag him into one of the tunnels!" Geth called. "Let the spell do its work, it will be some time before I can cast it again.


    Farris didn''t bother responding as he quickly scooped his brother into his arms, running off towards one of the smaller tunnels. ''It was a tough lesson, but they have to learn.'' Geth shook his head at the man''s stupidity.


    He wouldn''t die. As long as the legs weren''tpletely destroyed, muscles could heal, and skin would grow back. It was likely that he would remain unconscious for a while.


    Geth then called out, "Alright, when I call out, Zolis and Hulk get into the tunnels. Filthy, you hang close to the tunnels at that point and keep shooting. Run when its staff starts glowing!"


    "Roger!"


    "Okay!"


    Filthy just nodded, showing that he understood.


    Geth moved forward and continued blocking the beast''s strikes. Zolis and Hulk resumed attacking from behind, while Filthy stayed near the outer edges. He was saving his arrows for when he was needed.


    Its HP was decreasing a bit slower, but it wasn''t a dramatic change. ''7500, 6100, 5000, 4200. That''s it.''


    "NOW!" Geth shouted.


    The two melee fighters quickly ran to the tunnels. Once they were safe, Filthy nocked and fired 2 consecutive arrows. Gourmand''s health dropped under 4000 and it opened its mouth again.


    Geth paid attention to the Mana being drawn from the corpses around him. The cores that he could once see in most of their skulls werepletely gone. More cores were disappearing into the mouth of the beast.


    ''The amount of Mana it''s pulling is considerably less than the first time.'' Geth noted, waiting to observe the effect.


    He didn''t have to wait long. The glowing staff soon mmed into the ground. Billowing mes poured out, causing a four-foot wall to st in every direction.


    The heat wasn''t anywhere near as intense as the first wave. Geth simply blocked his face and stepped up to face the beast again. The fierce battle continued as the party whittled at the beast''s HP.


    This process continued for two more waves before Gourmand ultimately fell.. As decided beforehand, Geth took thest hit.