NOVEL NEXT [7] The 5th floor boss
It's been a week so far since their date, and a lot has happened.
The date itself went better than Martyn expected, and as imagined, Amber got hooked on pizza. He ended up making more, not only for her but for himself too.
That lovely day ended with the two of them in bed, loving each other’s comfort. Normally, they’d both rather ravage each other, but Amber was hit with a food coma. So they agreed to another time.
As the days went by with set goals, Martyn and Amber took gathering quests, and with his appraisal skill, they've been gathering more high-quality herbs. All of which helped add fourteen silvers to their joint guild account. Which brought their total up to 37 silvers.
Right now, they were heading back to the city with a bag full of herbs, looking to complete another fetch quest.
They'd also been following his training routine, and with it, Amber had grown stronger; all her attributes, excluding psyche and strength, had increased by one point.
As for Martyn sharing his senses with Amber during their mana training, he deepened his understanding. This pushed him right on the edge of advancing his mana core and increased his arcana, vitality, and strength by one point.
‘I never thought I’d be this close; most would take five years or so, but by learning how the dungeon’s mana worked on Amber's I made it in three, the mana veins skill shouldn’t be far away.’
He couldn’t wait to push it to the next level, hoping he could do so in the next month before meeting up with Joseph.
Speaking of the next level, Martyn was close to levelling up; he felt his body had reached the limit of what it could do in terms of training but still waited to have Amber catch up to him. Thanks to her fast healing, it made recovering from fatigue easier allowing great progress.
Arriving in the guild, he handed the herb bag to her and waited as she went to collect the rewards. He couldn’t do so, as if he did, he’d level up right then and there.
He did plan to level up soon, not out in the open but in the dungeon instead.
After gaining experience from the quests, Martyn and Amber went to the blacksmith's. Walking into the smithy, the orc greeted them with a nod as he was catering to another customer.
Moving in line, the two talked about their plan while Martyn pulled up his status.
“I’m going to get some weighted clothing after our time in the dungeon. It’ll help us in training not something usually done but it does give results.”
“This is going to be tiresome isn’t it.”
“Oh yeah, and more so because we’ll be facing the mini-boss of the fifth floor.” He added it with a smirk.
Realisation dawned on Amber as she froze. She mouthed a silent no, making him chuckle.
“You’re not planning to have me fight it, are you?”
“Haha, of course I am. I don’t want to level up till I get my stats up as close as I can to 20, but you need the high-quality experience and training.”
“I hate you.” She pouted only for Martyn to kiss her cheeks, “I hate you less.”
They walked up to Jorn, who welcomed them with a handshake. “I thought you’d forgotten about me.”
“What? How could I forget the best blacksmith in the city?” Martyn said.
“Flattery won’t cut the price down, lad.”
“Fuck.”
Amber chuckled at the two and asked, “How much will it cost?”
"Well, since your E ranked, I went ahead and made reinforced leather armour for you. With the shield and spear all together, it’s twenty-five silver.”
He said as he was pulling out a box with her gear.
“We are going to fight the boss on the fifth floor; do you think that’ll be enough?” Amber added.
“Oh yeah, you can even take this down to D-ranked floors seven to nine. Honestly, I recommend doing so; knowing you’re not fully protected helps you stay sharp. But it should do well against what you’ll face down there.
And moving onto weapons, this is a round shield; I used the rock lizard's scales to make them pretty sturdy, and for the spear, it’s wholly made of rock scale stone.”
Jorn pulled out the spear from the back; it reached his shoulders and had a thick silver blade. Martyn paid with his guild card and used a changing room for Amber.
Stepping out with the spear and shield in hand, Martyn was glued to the sight before Jorn nudged him out of his daze.
“You look great.”
Adjusting her leather bracers, Amber smiled, her tail wagging in affection.
All that was left was for Martyn to return to the inn and bring his gear. Once he was ready with his potion and supplies in his sack, they went to the dungeon.
Arriving at the crystal, the two joined teams, an effect of the adventurer title, allowing them to share experiences. The ratio was always split evenly, but this was just done so they could teleport to the fifth floor with ease.
Landing with a thud, both drew their weapons, and Martyn disbanded the team.
Once back to the luminous caverns, the duo wandered around their depths; the walls cracked, and from them fell a rock lizard, the monster hissing at the two of them.
“It’s level 2; I still can’t see its attributes yet, but you should be fine.” He said as he stepped back.
“Alright then.”
Amber stepped up, shield and spear in hand. She banged on them, drawing their attention, and the monster hissed, spewing a ball of acid.
Mana covered her shield, helping to block the attack. She charged, thrusting her spear, and stabbed it in the eye.
It yelped in pain and jumped back, spewing more acid and this time shooting rock spikes from its body at her.
Amber covered her shield in mana; the acid was simple to block, and the spikes too, as she expanded the area of the mana coating her shield.
Dashing, she brought her spear up, the tip glowing blue, before swinging it down. The lizard moved out in time as it slammed into the ground, cracking it hard.
She kept at it, landing some hits against its rocky scales and chipping away at its defence before it spewed a much larger wall of acid. Amber raised her shield not to block this time as water formed in the centre, shifting into a water bullet she fired.
The magic attack shot a hole through the wall of acid and the rock lizard’s mouth.
It was a simple battle; the monster vanished, leaving nothing behind. Martyn, seeing her fight, whistled, clapping his hands.
The praise was short-lived, as two more rock lizards fell from the ceiling. Amber, with a grin, twirled her spear in her hand and charged forward.
The battle was fun to watch, and Martyn wasn’t worried as she showed excellent balance and skill.
‘Seeing her move like that’s got me acting up; then again, she’s a strong woman, sexy too... ahem, focus.’ He reprimanded himself.
It took around four minutes for her to be done with the two monsters, one of which dropped its magic core.
“Nicely done.”
“Phew, thanks! I’ve been eager to test my new strength.”
She giggled as they ventured further into the dungeon. They ran into more rock lizards, varying in size but not bigger than a dog.
Martyn stepped back and watched Amber move swiftly. She cast magic, combated with her spear and shield using strength alone, and even slid across the ground with slip-water magic.
She defeated the three rock lizards in roughly ten minutes, so the journey continued. There wasn’t always an encounter in every room.
[Algae Shroom, Quality: High]
It’s a glowing green mushroom, one of the many plants good for potion-making. He picked only high-quality herbs.
The next room was filled with a Kobold group—five, to be exact. This fight for Amber was more challenging, but she managed. She did get a few scars on her though, facing two archers and three warriors.
Martyn was ready to jump in when an arrow scratched the skin of her thighs, but she kept him back.
He didn’t like seeing her struggle but stayed back. Once she won the fight, they went to sit in a corner. Martyn erected a magic barrier.
“It’s better to heal normally; it helps quicken my fast healing,” Amber said between breaths.
Martyn said nothing, instead watching her heal.
“I know you didn’t like seeing me get hurt, but you’ll have to get used to the idea.” She said, standing up, her cuts closed.
“Yeah…” Martyn nodded, and he pulled her in for a strong hug. "It still doesn’t change how I felt then.”
Amber leaned in, hugging him back.
“I gained a lot of experience; my focused mind and weapon skills levelled up too.”
Martyn nodded. “So do you think you’re ready to fight the boss, or do you want to continue facing other monsters?” He asked.
Amber paused before answering, “I want to fight the boss now.”
Martyn felt the drive through their link, so they delved into the centre of the catacombs. The centre of each floor is where the boss would usually rest, and until it’s defeated, the dungeon won’t allow you to go to the next floor. A force would push adventurers back.
Arriving at thick metallic doors, Martyn and Amber waited, seeing red runes glowing, signifying that the room was being used.
On the door were the markings of the boss. Martyn had already researched the types of bosses that appeared on this floor, but they could always change if a monster killed them and took their place.
So as they both sat in a corner, he explained about the boss of the floors.
“It’s either a greater rock lizard, a variant, or a Kobold warrior. We won’t know till we enter. You can’t enter the room until a new boss is spawned after its defeat or if the adventurers inside die.”
As he said, the runes turned blue. They waited for a moment, but no one came out.
“Fuck.” Martyn cursed.
“Are they?”
He didn’t answer, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“… Yes.” Amber stood up.
Together, they walked to the enchanted doors and opened them. The sight within shocked them only for a moment, as they’d both seen dead bodies before. This was life; this wasn’t anything new.
The boss was just as tall as them, standing on all fours with a thick mace-like tail, sharp stone-like skin, and red eyes. He was a greater rock lizard. It had a black, blade-like rhino horn covered in blood.
It paid no attention, feasting on the dead bodies of the two adventurers beneath it, bone snapping and crunching as it had its fill.
“I’m going to help in this one,” Martyn said, “but the killing blow is yours.”
Amber nodded, gripping her spear tight.
Martyn appraised the monster as it stopped focusing on them. To his surprise, he could see its status now.
[Appraisal (2) has levelled! (3)]
[Greater Rock Lizard Level 3 Title: Mini Boss]
» [Mana: 410/410] [Strength: 14] [Agility: 9] [Vitality: 13] [Arcana: 15] [Psyche: 12]
» [Unable to appraise]
“My appraisal level is up,” Martyn said as they circled the boss.
“What does it say?”
“It has more mana than both of us alone, more strength than you and I barely edge it out in strength.” He said.
The mini-boss roared while standing on its hind legs before falling back with a heavy thud. The doors shut, and the battle began.
It charged at Martyn, slashing at him with its horn. He dodged easily to the left, swinging his blade, but it only scratched its stone scales.
Amber came from the other side, thrusting her spear coated in mana. It stabbed through its scale, making it hiss in pain.
It swung its tail at her, forcing Amber to block the blow, sending her back skidding. Martyn moved in to slash at its neck, only for it to roll to the side.
It stood on its hind legs, taking a massive breath of air. “Barrier!”
He shouted, creating a magic barrier. Amber did the same as the greater rock lizard exhaled, letting out a powerful green plume of smoke. It kept on blasting it towards Martyn then to Amber, the breath attack, forcing their barriers to crack.
It stopped, slamming its tail against Martyn’s barrier, shattering it. He jumped back, holding his breath.
Amber moved back before it had the chance to do the same. Martyn brought his hand to his mouth, creating a magic bubble around it. Amber copied him so they didn’t breathe the toxic gas, and they both charged in.
The boss swung its tail at Amber and its horn at Martyn; it kept both of them at a distance, exchanging blows with Amber and Martyn.
Metal and stone clashed, and screeching and sparking clashes followed as they exchanged blows.
Amber braced herself, blocking the heavy mace-like tail. Her arms felt numb, but she kept her footing, coating her spear in twisting water before thrusting it at the back of the boss’s hind leg.
It pierced the skin, and she twisted the blade. The boss roared, lashing wildly, and its back leg buckled.
“Nice work,” Martyn said, between breaths.
“Thanks.”
‘It can’t move anymore. This is my chance!’ Amber kicked off.
A vast quantity of mana surged through her spear as she was getting ready for the final bow.
“Wait!” Martyn called out, but she was already in the air.
The boss hissed, a glint in its red eyes; its scales vibrated before pointing outwards. Martyn dashed, stretching his palm. Mana went to form around Amber in an attempt to shield her. Its body exploded like a porcupine stone, and shrapnel flew everywhere.
“Aarh!” Amber let go of her spear, and her body fell hard with a thud.
The boss moved to finish her, but Martyn closed the distance. It slashed at him with its horn, but he parried with his blade, and his muscles burned doing so.
He unleashed a mana blade, clashing with the boss, before it let out a growl and tried to swipe at him with its claw. Everything slowed. Martyn couldn’t glance at Amber behind him, but he felt the pain through their link.
She was hurting, and it set him off. His pupils turned into slits, and he charged a quarter of his mana into his blade and swung at its claw. The clash echoed, and a heavy thump followed with a dreadful roar. Its arm was cut off.
Martyn didn’t stop there, as he grabbed it by the horn. With another quarter of his mana, his body surged in a blue flame, and his muscles bulged as he lifted the monster before slamming it back down against the ground.
Quickly, he went to Amber, her body shaking in pain. He made a barrier and saw her wounds.
Her belly and thigh were punctured. Two barbed scales suck out; luckily, they didn’t seem too deep, at least he hoped.
He didn’t want to pull them out, but he did so quickly. It still caused more pain; quickly he doused the healing potion over them.
She stood, huffing and rubbing where her body had burned just a moment ago. Quickly, she stood up, raring to go.
Martyn was aware of the situation, and seeing the boss on its back released the barrier.
Amber dashed and lept up, all her remaining mana forming at her palm. It expanded into a spear of water. The boss, failing to get up, roared, taking a deep breath. It unleashed another plume of smoke, and Amber shot her mana spear.
Her magic sliced through the smoke, impaling its defenceless, soft belly in an explosion of blood. Its body twitched before falling limp.
No experience came to Martyn it went to Amber huffing in sweat.
The boss was dead; they were safe. Which meant Martyn could finally speak.
“What the hell was that?”
Amber jolted. She turned, keeping her face down. “I’m sorry. I thought that was an opening.”
"Amber, you almost died.” His voice was thick and heavy, but it never rose above a certain level.
“Your heart, head anywhere else and you would’ve died.” He said walking up to her.
“And don’t say I know; just please communicate. I know it’s not your first time fighting with someone; you were part of the tribe in here, right?”
She silently nodded.
Martyn wanted to say more—he was mad, furious, but more than anything relieved. Walking closer, he hugged her tightly, resting his head atop hers.
Through their link, they felt each other’s worry, and Amber knew how badly it must’ve felt for him.
“You’re already forgiven,” Martyn said.
“I still feel better saying it; I’m sorry I shouldn’t have rushed. I’ll do better next time.”
Martyn nodded and went to look at the boss. Realising its body hadn’t disappeared meant they could take it with them, except it was a bit big.
"Wait, if its whole body is here, then... its core is too, right?” Amber asked.
"Yeah, but that’s not enough for you to evolve; its body and core intact all together should be between seventy and one hundred silver.” He said.
Amber came over, and with their combined work, they butchered the boss’s remains. They were able to bring everything with them, leaving behind some organs and meat.
“I can’t forget the adventurer’s tags.” Martyn moved to the dead bodies, picking up their badges.
As they got ready to move, Martyn pulled up his status.
“Oh, my strength and agility went up by one.” Martyn mused,
Curious Amber checked hers: “Nothing for me, though I did get a lot of experience; I’m right around five hundred now.”
Glad with today’s events, the two went to leave the boss's room. With heavy sacks on their backs, they made their way up and left the dungeon. The walk back to the city was silent.
Though Martyn wasn’t mad, he couldn’t say he wasn’t upset. Regardless, they made it back to the guild; the boss’s corpse, core and other drops netted them a hundred and six silvers, and they returned the adventurer’s badge, informing the guild of the two deaths
