NOVEL NEXT Chapter 98 – Boss Fight at the bottom of the Chitinous Caverns
Chapter 98 - Boss-itively awesome glitch!
🙞❤︎🙜
Boss Monsters weren’t hard to defeat in Adventure Incarnate. As long as a player had the appropriate Battle Ranking and knew what to do, then it was a piece of cake in the game.
The problem was that this was not a game. Getting some hitpoints taken off was no big deal In Adventure Incarnate, but it would mean an injury for me. I really didn’t fancy having my arm broken, for example.
The Boss this time was a magic type. Legend has it that the ancient people of this land discovered an underground network of caves and tunnels that had a god living at the lowest level. The humans built temples and altars to the god, which were later abandoned after the god disappeared.
However, the unnamed god had left behind a pet which players had to defeat in order to access the bottom of the Mines.
“Here goes nothing,” I said to myself.
I looked around one last time at level 90 to check if I had forgotten anything. The Ranch House and all decorations had been removed and I had harvested today’s mushrooms. The vegetables from the hydroponic farm weren’t ready to be plucked yet, but I had checked the nutrient levels and put the grow lights on automatic mode.
“Let’s do this!” I said to Mr. Bear as I climbed on his shoulders. I quickly placed [Staircases] down until I reached the 98th floor.
Since I wanted to take advantage of the ladder space’s protection, I couldn’t use a [Staircase] to create my own way down. Instead, I used my [Pickaxe] to clear the way until I found a ladder while I fought [Insectoids].
[Insectoids:
A strange insect-like creature that seems to be made of blue crystal.]
By this time, my combat training had paid off enough that I could easily kill the monsters on this level with one blow from my sword.
[Violet
Level 41
HP: 4,100/4,100
MP: 35/35
Strength: 30/99
Attack: 31/99
Archery: 41/99
Magic: 3/99]
Now that I was higher level, I discarded my [Lunarite] equipment and upgraded to [Aurite] melee equipment. [Aurite] was a metal alloy made of steel and enchanted gold. Some older items were called [Luminite], but it was basically the same thing. My archery had also leveled up, and I could now wear [Studded Leather Armor] and wield a [Goldenwood Longbow] with [Orichalcite Arrows]. [Orichalcite] was Adventure Incarnate’s name for steel mixed with enchanted platinum.
With my new equips, my Battle Ranking was now a whooping 292 for melee and 388 for archery.
“Aha!” I said when I finally found the ladder. “Let’s go, Mr. Bear.”
I threw my puppet down first and then descended.
Level 99 turned out to be a large natural cave with earthen walls and floors. The space near the ladder was an open space around twenty feet in circumference that was illuminated by the sickly bluish glow of luminous moss and mushrooms. At the far end of the cave was the Boss though I couldn’t see it right now since it was in darkness.
Walking on tiptoes in order to make as little sound as possible, I moved forward a few feet and placed a [Potato Cannon]. They were not normally usable on this level, but I thought it was worth a try.
I mentally chanted, “Please work, please work, please work.”
Somehow, my mental commands must have short-circuited something because I was able to place not just one, but three cannons.
I covered my mouth to stop myself from screaming.
Oh my gosh! There was supposed to be a limit of only one cannon per person. How did this happen?
I was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Placing as many cannons on the floor as I could, which turned out to be fifteen, I made Mr. Bear expand until he was six feet tall and crouched behind him as I loaded the cannons up with the maximum number of [Thunderbolt Tubers] possible.
I finished just in time. A few seconds later, I heard the Boss’s voice.
“Chu~” When its mouth opened to make a cute sound, its skin glowed with a warm yellow light and, for the first time, I was able to see it clearly.
The [Winged Golden Slime Queen] was triple my height, and its jelly-like body was amber in color. Its blue eyes were droopy, and it had no teeth that I could see. As a god’s pet, it was the cute kind, with white feathered wings on each side and a tiny golden crown perched rakishly on its head.
At the top of its round body was a strand of slime that was similar to an anime character’s ahoge. That was what would alert me about the Boss’ next move. The [Winged Golden Slime Queen] looked around and seemed alarmed when it spotted me amid the cannons. The slime strand formed the shape of a question mark.
“Chu~” The Boss’s voice echoed in the cavern.
I relaxed a little when I saw that it wasn’t going to attack me, just like in the game. I would have to make the first move. Without turning my back to the Boss, I retreated until I was just below the ladder. Then I drank a [Strength Potion], put on the noise-canceling earmuffs, and mentally clicked on the [Start/Stop] button for the [Potato Cannons].
The combat screen showed me that the first round of cannon fire took off only a tiny fraction of the Boss Slime’s HP bar.
“Chu!” This time the Boss sounded angry. The slime strand formed the shape of an arrow pointing at me. It opened its mouth and coughed up a ball of golden light that flew in my direction.
I once again crouched down behind Mr. Bear. Would the ladder safe space work here, too? The normal rules did not apply to Boss Fights.
Alas, the ladder was not a safe space since the spell hit Mr. Bear, blasting a concave hole in his stomach. Thankfully, it did not pass completely through my puppet, so I was unharmed.
I would have to dodge the next one.
The cannons continued to whittle down the slime’s health. The Boss’ next spell came fast, and I dove to the left and rolled to avoid it. The ball of light hit the wall behind me, leaving a small crater in its wake.
The next few minutes were quite touch and go as I jumped around and rolled on the ground to avoid its attacks. I regretted not laying down a layer of mattresses to protect my fragile flesh as I acquired a dozen scratches and bruises.
Nevertheless, the outcome was a foregone conclusion since I had the power of fifteen [Potato Cannons] behind me.
When the Boss’s HP bar had only a sliver of red left in it, I hid behind Mr. Bear for cover as I shot an [Orichalcite Arrow] at it.
[You have defeated the Winged Golden Slime Queen.]
When my arrow hit the slime, it shrank until it was only a foot in diameter, then fell down on the ground. Its slime strand formed the shape of three letter z’s, indicating that it was out cold.
[Congratulations, you just advanced an Archery level!]
[Your Archery level is now 42.]
Yes! I retrieved the cannons and cautiously approached the sleeping slime.
Where was the item? I scanned the area near its body until I found a small, golden key. Then I went back to the ladder and knelt down. There should be a metal door here somewhere. In the game, it only appeared after one got the key.
My heart sank when no door appeared.
“This is the worst!” I said to no one in particular.
Dejected, I sat down on the lowest rung of the ladder to rest for a bit before going back up.
That was when a trapdoor was triggered, and I tumbled backward along with the ladder into a hole that appeared on the ground.
- Did you think the boss would be another bug/insect? Hahaha, I'm fond of slime bosses. This one is very cute, as befits a farming game like Adventure Incarnate.
- Adventure Incarnate isn't Dark Souls, so the boss fights aren't particularly dangerous if you're the right level. I hope it wasn't boring to read.
- Advanced chapters on my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/linmeili
- Thank you very much for reading.
- Did you spot an error? Please leave a comment so I can fix it!
The slime is alright! It just fainted.