NOVEL NEXT Chapter Forty Eight - Ending This
As before, the boss of the third floor had another few hundred gold coins, a magical weapon and a belt upgrade. I hadn’t paid much attention to style since entering the dungeon because all my clothes got destroyed during most fights. Home Base had come with a few stocked wardrobes which was nice, but the fabric was nothing special. I had a stack of random clothing to throw on whenever I ended up disrobed by an attack.
Since receiving my special magic trousers, I hadn’t changed this habit much. I could use mana regeneration to repair clothing of all kinds due to the effect of the Adept’s Trousers but it just wasn’t worth it. Once I had better gear, or even just my own clothes, I would care a little more. All of these thoughts leading to me firmly deciding that red was not my colour. Of all the belts, this one looked the gaudiest.
Item - Red Belt (Upgradable)
If there is no challenge, there will be no change.
Effect: Attributes +17.5%
I did like the inspirational quote on this one though. It felt particularly poignant after my realisation in the previous fight. The whole dungeon felt stale and I was ready to be done with it. I still found myself hoping for something in the next two floors which might feel worth my time. Once I saw the layout of floor four, the same as the previous three, I began to lose even that hope.
The fourth floor was the first where I fought alongside the party. For them to be in the fight at all meant I needed to run interference. The weakest of the other side was level 35 and the mini-boss was feeling less mini. Standing somewhere between the gigantic first boss and the rest, this ten-foot creature was imposing. Whether it was just mirroring my actions or whether this floor was always going to be different, the boss monster jumped into the fray early.
This led to two battles occurring at the same time. One was a thrilling clash of two unequal forces, pitched and dramatic, pushing the survivors to greater heights having lived through it. For each enemy which fell, another took their place. For each ally who found themselves in danger, a saving grace appeared. Phantom shields, clasping chains, even the odd arrow was seen blocking incoming attacks and setting up retaliation.
The second fight was arguably more exciting. The combatants of the first melee could hardly register the higher level clashes which were happening. Shockwaves ruptured the otherwise structured battle lines of the opposing force as their commander fought desperately to stop the monster in their midst. For the beleaguered tower boss, the situation was as life-or-death as it had ever experienced. It had entered a state akin to enlightenment just to keep up.
Good for you, I thought venomously. I lazily probed into the enemy lines, allowing myself to be pushed back. At level 67, the boss of this floor was easily as troublesome as Shub-Nagorath had been once true combat started. Her real threat had been in the children she produced and the strength she would eventually reach. I cut her growth short, and didn’t regret it for a moment.
The only reason I wasn’t doing the same to this boss as I did to the last was because it had attacked first. Initially I was on the defensive, having to keep the destructive power of the turtle-boss away from the party and help out where I could with the slightly overwhelming amount of fodder enemies. Once the herd thinned a little, the balance began to overtly shift in my favour. Naea soon joined the others to make their lives even easier.
The magical weapon wielded by this variation of amphibian was at least a little interesting. A sickle and chain combination, it’s skill with the alternating range and weird angles of attack possible only with the strange tool made me consider using the weapon long term. Until I left the dungeon, it was hard to know which equipment was common enough to add to my Weapon Mastery.
Our exchanges were both fast as lightning and charged by it. My movements were sharper when the mana running through my veins was charged with Harmony of the Storm and my attacks were more potent. Each clash caused the mini-boss new burns on its shell, new scorch marks across its flesh. I took a few cuts and bruises as I learned how to dodge the blade on a string but the difference in strength was obvious quickly.
I found my moment and I took it. Instead of dodging, I let the ball at the end of the chain hit me. It weighed a tonne, maybe literally, and I smashed backwards into some unsuspecting turtles who were dispatched by the others quickly. I never let go of the weapon, however. The chain taut, I heaved with all my strength, layering Infusions together. Unwilling or unable to let go of its equipment quickly, the creature came right towards me.
Not finished, I started to run. Full speed and against the intense weight of the swinging mini-boss, my magically augmented muscles burned and my bones creaked under the strain. Must have been worse for the mini-boss because I’m fairly sure the force of the swing knocked it out for a few seconds. It definitely knocked out some of the other turtle men, shell hitting shell and pinging the smaller, weaker ones across the room. They died from the various impacts into unyielding ground, wall or ceiling.
I looked to the end of the chain and saw an angry face. “Two choices, let go of the weapon or continue being slammed like a ball on a string.” I gave it a try but my quip was lost to the sounds of battle all around. How did Spider-man banter with his enemies when fighting was so loud? Comics were dumb.
I made the choice for the floor boss with a burst of mana right along the chain. The energy bolted up the metal with all the properties of lightning. Storm affinity mana’s natural state was destructive offence and I had an abundance. I started jumping and spinning the chain, sending the creature at the end slamming to the ground hard and fast, over and over again. My mana fried its wrist the chain was currently wrapped around.
The hand was severed and the creature removed. I looked down at the weapon and shrugged, putting it into my inventory for now. So it’s called a kusarigama, I noted. Again, unless I instantly added it to my Weapon Mastery repertoire, it was nearly useless for me. Removing it from the hands - hand - of the one actually skilled with it was valuable enough for now.
I turned, sensing eyes on my back. Both the party and the turtles they fought were watching me warily. I had interrupted the flow of their battle massively, to the point where no one knew what to do. More than ten of the fodder mutants remained, so I quickly booted the nearest one into another before jumping away. “As you were! I’ll stay over here!”
Naea joined me now, clearing away what little damage I had accumulated quickly. “Did I get carried away?” I asked, only half-joking. I had lost myself for a second there, thinking only about my own disappointment and taking out on the whole room around me. I could easily have hit the others, and the only reason I didn’t was pure luck. I certainly wasn’t consciously avoiding it. She shook her head either way.
“You’re strong, Grant,” she reminded me while we stalked down the mini-boss. She gestured towards the creature, currently scrambling and crawling on broken bones to try and get away from me. “See? Making it obvious is a good thing, otherwise people start getting ideas.”
I stood over the mini-boss and found its attempts at survival mostly just sad. For the first time in the fight, I activated Drain for the first time. The struggle stopped entirely at that point, not because the creature had died but because its hope had. I stole its power and its chance at survival with one hidden trump card. It knew in that moment it had never stood a chance.
I finished the creature with a powerful kick to the side of the head. In a rare turn, I used my boots’ special ability to further increase the damage. The Thunder Steppers were overkill in combat where I might end up hurting the party with the extra damage but we had moved a distance away from the group with my few attacks. They were finishing the other enemies as a cataclysmic thunderclap shook the floor violently.
It signalled the end of the battle for everyone. I found myself surprised when every member of The Ascent apart from myself and Naea collapsed. There was an aura of pride and accomplishment in all of them, but they were completely spent. “Wow,” I said, “I guess I forgot how easy it was to get tired before I evolved.”
I had expected to push on with the group almost immediately. With my late Drain, I was honestly feeling as strong as I had when I started the battle, if not a little more powerful even. I hadn’t used the level up prompt yet, as I figured it was worth saving at least one. The burst of healing energy wasn’t enough to fully heal me anymore but I could foresee it coming in handy at some point. The additional attribute points were somewhat negligible.
Naea and I looted the bodies, I upgraded my belt one more time and inspected the kusarigama while waiting for the others to catch enough breath to move somewhere more comfortable.
Item - Crescent Moon Kusarigama
A sect of cultists turned assassins refused to remove the telltale mark of their beliefs. These stylised sickles have a heavy weight attached via chain. As they’re obviously incredibly conspicuous, the order of assassins was quickly routed out.
Effect: When infused with mana, the chain of this weapon becomes much more controllable.
Not for nothing, I gave the weapon to Luke. Other than Tom, he was the only one who had yet to receive a weapon from the tower and I could see the applications between his Aspect and the changing momentum of the exotic tool. Unfortunately, Luke was weirdly difficult about it.
“But I use a bow.” He said, dumbly. He looked to the others for support, with Harry and Aaron nodding in agreement. Tom looked like he was trying to stifle a laugh from the other side of the conversation and Ellie had one of her eyebrows raised, waiting for my reply. She seemed to be on my side though.
“He does use a bow,” Harry added helpfully. I was a little stunned at the refusal and couldn’t help huff out a laugh when Aaron once again nodded like something was being explained to me. They were actually serious, too.
I held up my hand. “Maybe I’m wrong, but none of your skills need a projectile to work, right?” Tom shook his head and I had to stop my eyes from rolling. “And you never held a bow before the System came along?” Another agreement. “So, you’re just using a bow because it was the first thing you found that seemed to work?”
I don’t know when I truly fell into the role of teacher, but it happened without me knowing it. I doubted I would ever stop raging against the thought of needing to help people on their path, but I would also never stop doing it either. It felt too good to see someone succeed for me to let them fail. I sighed and began a long, winding argument about the need to actually experiment with things in this new world.
It’s going to be like teaching mana control all over again, I lamented.