Apinsig
patreon
Chapter 153 Homesteading in a fantasy world
🕑 Added 2023-01-25 20:07:32 +0000 UTCThe next few fights went normally but I could see some people starting to tire. Our first challenge came on the next floor. We were about half done with this floor when we reached the rat boss. The problem with this boss was that it had 11 tails and all of them worked independently.
During this fight, I was finally able to confirm the main problem with the main tank's shield abilities. It can only protect against conscious attacks and those tails weren't connected to the beast’s intelligent attacks.
The only good thing was that the tail attacks that moved like whips weren’t the strongest but they were fast. So, all three of us were needed to keep the boss busy. While the tails were doing their own thing, they still concentrated on the main tank, so our job was to protect him. It was a tough job but thankfully the boss didn’t have amazing defences. The raiding party did panic a bit, so a lot of damage dealers spent more mana and energy than was strictly necessary.
The trouble didn’t end with the next room where we had our first problematic trash mob room. Monsters here were a mix of grim reapers and dementors. The spell combination that Luana uses worked a little bit, but the monsters kept coming.
They were wielding a formidable-looking scythe and the spells and arrows that hit them only did minor damage. After the second wave of attacks just before the monsters reached the extended shield of the main tank, I could see that some of them went down fast. I found the commonality and it seems that these monsters were weak to ice types of damage.
Before I could bring this up to anyone else, we could hear the voice of our commander informing everyone to switch to cold-type attacks. Then another surprise happened. And the situation looked bad. Those weapons that they had were able to penetrate the energy shield to an extent and after a few quick attacks holes started to appear and the monsters would soon be through our protection.
This would end our raid party. Some might survive but most won’t. When the first one got through, I was already running towards them. I started activating all the abilities needed and then yelled. “Come and fight you sorry excuses for Halloween decoration.” My yell once again froze all the monster's movements and that gave me a chance to run past them using my movement ability.
All at once they turned their backs on the raiding party and started to move towards me. One thing that was good about these enemies was that they weren’t the fastest but apparently, they did have some abilities that granted them fast movements. Those bastards were able to appear in my shadow and get behind me. It seems that there was a long cool down for their actions, but they were all enraged enough to use it.
When the first attack hit my shield, I had to curse out loud. About 7 inches off the scythe pierced through the shield but when I pulled the shield back there wasn’t a hole. Those weapons had some sort of ignore armour ability and that was really bad for me. I did the only thing left to do and I ran. There were a few more close calls but now that I know what their weapons were capable of, I could still use my shield but the effective area of it was now a lot smaller.
I don’t know how long it took but eventually, I got the command to stay still and so I did. The monsters closed on my location fast and I only had a few more seconds to live but then I noticed a spell hit me and some sort of a bubble formed around me. While the weapons were still able to get through the bubble, they could not reach me and just a few moments later all I could see was white.
The shield was cracking but it hold and after about a minute it dispersed and I could see why I could only see white. Some sort of blizzard spell or something like that had killed off all the monsters. I was glad that it was over, and I got a quick explanation on how Luana and another mage worked together to save my life and also kill all the monsters. Had I not stopped I would have most likely died from the ice blizzard spell.
I could see some coins being exchanged and it didn’t take me long to understand that some had bet on if I would follow the command or not. While I did not like that, I couldn’t get angry because I have done something similar as well. It wasn't my proudest moment, but I also couldn’t erase it from my memories. I did give them a disapproving look and I was glad to see most of them abashed.
The next few fights were just managing our resources and we were making reasonable time clearing them. Then came the 5th-floor end boss. They said it was a snake-type boss monster with multiple heads, but it wasn’t what I expected. I imagined a snake that had multiple heads but it was more like a hydra with five heads. If this was that mythical creature we were going to die if we didn’t run but everyone seemed calm, so I just did what was commanded.
I drank the fire-resistant potion and I had to watch as all of the heads started to spit out jell-like globules that started to admit heat and smoke as they came into contact with the air. After they landed only a few moments later they burst into hot flames that started to heat up the room. The only good thing was that their range didn't seem to be too long but they also didn't seem to stop spitting them.
While the main tank taunted the boss monster it was slowly moving towards him but didn't seem to have any interest in attacking us directly. The exception was when we got too close as one of the melee attackers soon found out. We were able to save his life thanks to the healers, but no one was willing to get close to those heads. The boss monster just kept spitting and the jell seemed to just keep burning. Soon the temperature of the room started to rise.
I activated my heat tolerance and it helped but we needed to take it down fast. It was a huge monster the size of an apartment building so it was easy to hit and we didn't have to worry about hitting one another.
I started to send out my flying slashes at one of the head's necks and I just kept doing it. Its scales were tough but I was slowly chipping through it and even from this long distance my aim was good enough that I was hitting a general area.
The fight was a long one. Within 20 minutes people were starting to succumb to the heat. They weren’t close to death yet, but they weren’t able to fight. But the monster was already down two heads. The first one was cut off by Luana and the second one by the strongest archers. I was able to cut off my own head that I was focusing on and then all the combined attacks from the rest of the raiding party cut off another one.
The last head didn’t last long with the combined attacks of everyone, but we didn’t have time to wait and recover in this room. Everyone who could carry someone quickly run towards the tunnel. Scouts quickly moved ahead to start clearing some of the traps and for the first time, we had to take a rest in the tunnel. It was good that the heat stopped as soon as we took the first step into the tunnel but we still needed time to get everyone back on their feet and we had used up a lot of our resources.
The rest of the dungeon was a grind and with each boss room, more and more people were not able to contribute much. When we reached the 6th-floor end boss only about 12 of us, were still capable of dealing massive damage. But the last boss was a huge damage soak.
This was another case of please to not be that monster. It was supposed to be a lizard type that was seen on one of the southern continents. It was a small regular creature like any other small lizard but here it was an oversized monster that looked scarily like Godzilla.
At first, my steps faltered as we ran into the room. We only had about 20 minutes left, and the mood wasn't the best. We were quite certain we won't be able to clear the dungeon but there was still hope.
We had to hit the monster in the head. It was able to regenerate quite quickly, and it was too massive for us to do any real damage to the body. The only viable way to kill it fast was to hit its head, but it was well armoured like all other parts of it but even more so. This thing reportedly had scale armour over a meter thick protecting its head. The thing must have been 20 stories tall.
My faltering steps grow steadier as I noticed the double legs and the extended body. So, it wasn’t like that famous monster. I quickly firmed up my mind and didn’t let doubt creep into it. I almost failed when it started to attack us with a light beam fired from its mouth. I was glad to see that our tank was able to handle it and seemed to be stable enough to keep going.
We all waited as Luana prepared her last spell. She was able to keep enough mana to make this spell work, but it would be her last and it might not even be enough even with the reserve she has. We painstakingly waited as she prepared a spell for about 10 minutes.
The entire time the boss didn't pause its attack for a second as the light beam kept hitting the shield. I could see the shield slowly starting to heat up but the time will run out before the shield will start to melt but that's assuming the shield would have a similar melting point as steel.
The waiting was something I wasn’t enjoying but no one was. The light show was beautiful in its deadliness. I think I might only be able to take that beam for a minute before it would melt me into nothingness. Luana was close to being done with her spell, but I saw the main tank drink his last energy potion. We were all running close to empty. I checked my fuel tank and there was only about 30% left and I had used all my potions.
One thing that was almost completely full was my core energy which I would need to put into my flying slashes after the spell will strip away hopefully all of the armour from its head. When it was finally time we watched as rainbow-coloured beams combined into a similar white beam that the boss was attacking us with. Just a moment later it hit the boss's head. It was the first time when the boss stopped attacking and screamed in pain.
This was a bad development because Luana was too low on mana, and she couldn’t keep up her attack nor keep it at the same spot to burn through all the armour. When the spell ended, she collapsed into unconsciousness, and we all looked in horror as there seemed to still be armour left on the spot that she hit. Before the monster was able to attack again arrows and spells hit the spot but they were barely doing anything.
If we had the resources and time, we might be able to get through it but we won't be able to kill it. My flying slash even with my core energy would not help. It just didn't have enough penetrating properties.
My mind ran through all the possibilities, but nothing seemed to work. “If I only had a powerful throwing spear.” That could possibly work but even then, it would be difficult. I was quite disappointed but I could see them still trying. I readied my sword and prepared to give it my whole when Tom stopped me. “What did you say about the throwing spear.” He looked at me with a spark of hope in his eyes.
“If you have a spear close to rank 2, I might be able to finish it, but the spear will be lost,” I said in a grave tone, and I could see him running through calculations if it would be worth it and if they even had anything like that. “Miltgon!” Tom yelled. “Do you still have the spear your grandfather gave you?” I could hear command but hope and pleading in his voice.
I could see him running towards the person he addressed, and a quick argument followed. It didn't take long before he was running towards me without any spear. When he got close, I could see him channel energy into his hand and a magnificent spear quickly expanded into its full size. It was a 7-feet spear with dark red wood and a red metal head. I could see the runs carved into the shaft and I could feel its power.
“Here use this and quickly we don't have much time.” I looked at the spear and took it. I started to flood it with energy to learn its quirks and I could feel how magnificent and old it was. It had killed a lot, but I could also feel it being tired.
There were some small cracks in the shaft and the metal head had chips in its edges. Even then it was a powerful weapon. I looked towards the person that had given it and gave him a questioning look. No matter what Tom said I would only destroy this weapon if its owner permitted it.
I could see the sadness in his eyes, but he gave me a small nod. I accepted it and started to drown the spear with my energy. My regular energy flooded in and soon the spear started to glow. All that I could focus on was this action but soon I became so familiar with the spear that I could finally look up at my target who seem to be attacking again. Everything else fell away and only my target was in my mind.
My regular energy was starting to run out, so I began to use my core energy. This I had to add slower otherwise the weapon might not be able to handle it. I moved away to get a better angle and stretched out my hand warming it up for the throw.
My balance was off so I disregarded my shield but my target was far and my helmet was limiting my sight. I removed it so I could finally see my target and make sure the path of my spear would be perfect.
Still, my target was far, and I needed more speed, so I started to back up. I could feel the spear struggling but it was also hungry. It wanted its last kill, and I wasn’t going to deny it. My ability adjusted the spear so it would fly better but I grabbed a hold of that part of my ability and changed it.
The spear needed to penetrate and then expand. The head of the spear was compressed into a smaller point so it could penetrate better and like a bomb, it was filled with energy ready to explode when it penetrated the monster's armour.
I was running out of core energy but all that I had left went to boosting myself with my other abilities. I started to run. The spear was pulled back and with the last step, my entire body was put into the throw. It flew off faster than it had any right to move, and it almost didn't have any ark as it flew through the air crackling like it was charged with lightning.
The monster noticed it and tried to defend itself but it was too late it was too focused on its singular attack. My throw was just a bit off, but it still hit where the armour was most damaged. Luckily the damaged area was a few meters in width.
When the spear hit it sank in with a dull thump. Nothing happened for a split second and then a sound similar to a lightning strike sounded out but 10 times louder. It took a moment before the shockwave hit and my exhausted body was thrown back.
As I looked back it didn’t seem that the monster was hurt but the previously damaged area was now just a hole. Its scale armour was able to contain the damage but that made it even worse as all that power was directed inwards. We all looked the monster slowly started to slump and soon the notification came.
Dungeon cleared.
Calculating first clear bonus.
Comments
Tiresome
Wonder if he's going to pair up with the Loli mage and be her energy battery
LA
Looking forward to see how much progress he will get in both level and skills!
