Firm: Opal’s Story

I ended up using my Dark Tendrils skill to hold the boss in place while my son poked it to death with his spear. It’s better this way since it won’t explode and get its gross goo everywhere. “This thing has a lot of Health mom. Are all bosses this strong?” Garnet asks while continuing to poke the large green blob. I think about it and answer “It’s almost second tier, so it will of course be tougher than the little ones. Remember that bosses in dungeons are always higher level than the monsters on earlier floors.” I watch him stab it a few more times, and as it turns into a puddle I add “If you get a screen telling you it’s a Rare boss, just leave and come back until you get a normal one. The tenth floor Rare bosses I’ve seen are always at least 4^th tier and they can be sneaky. Just wait until you’re 5^th tier to fight them.”

I think Cindy already has that on the list of stuff to teach new kids, but just in case I’ll remind her once she wakes up. The boss chest appears and I tell him “Go ahead and open it, then show mommy what you got.” His eyes seem to sparkle as he runs over to it and flips the lid open. I slowly walk over as he reads the descriptions. He turns and hands me a potion bottle and another seed. I double check that they aren’t spelled weird or sneaky, and then hand the breast potion and seed of hate back to him. “They should be safe and mommy doesn’t need them. They’re your first loot from a dungeon.”

He eagerly eats the seed, but then looks at the potion with a weird face. I think I know what he’s think so I tell him “You can keep it for a friend or girlfriend who might want it. You don’t have to need it yourself to keep something.” He smiles and nods. He’s still such a cute kid. Garnet says “The seed gave me 100 free points, isn’t that a lot?” I guess that would be a lot at such a low tier and level. Maybe we should just do this dungeon a few more times before switching to the other one for him. I tell him “Since it’s so much, go ahead and pick your second class, that way you’ll get twice the stats per level.”

I remember I couldn’t afford to unlock mine until I got to level 25 and tiered up my first class. His first two classes will be much closer in level if he does it now. Just using them for stat points doesn’t make as much sense, since he’ll just get more seeds soon anyway and he’ll be getting levels as we go along. He looks at his screens again and about a minute later he says “Mom, there’s a new class and I can’t decide what to pick.” I nod and tell him “Well go ahead and tell me which ones you’re thinking about. I’ll see if I can help.” He then goes to explain that he wanted to pick Healer for his second class, but the new option Slaver sounded fun.

I’m only a little surprised. I forgot to ask what he picked for the current world quest, and the other Wyverkin seem to like the Slaver class. I guess I have some more explaining to do, and start right away.

About 30 minutes later

“Sorry I didn’t pick Rise Up mom. I’ll go ahead and pick Healer for my second class. I didn’t think a class option could be so mean.” My son says and I give him a pat on the head. I could tell that he didn’t think slavery was fun anymore as I described it. The classes, skills and other stuff can really catch you off guard if you don’t know any better. I don’t want him to make the same mistakes I did since he’s my cute son. Seeing him like this and with this new race has really made me regret what happened with Jett. If I had just taught him more and been there for him, would he have turned out different?

“Why are you crying mom, did I do something wrong?” I hear my son ask, so I wipe the tears away that snuck up on me. I should spend a lot of time with Cindy today. There’s a lot more stuff I can tell her that she may not know, and can teach the new kids. This new race can be a lot of work it seems, but I still wouldn’t want to get rid of it. I smile and tell him “No sweetie, mommy’s just remembering something sad. Let’s get you some more levels so you can get tough just like me.” He hugs me and it feels really comfy, so we stand there for a few minutes before restarting the dungeon.

An hour later

I watch as my son dodges to the side before poking the slime boss one last time. It turns into a puddle and Garnet raises his spear in celebration. He can finally fight it by himself without getting hurt. The free points from the seeds really help, but I can tell he’s gotten much better at using his spear. “Good job son. You did everything yourself this time. I’m so proud of you.” I say while walking up to him. He puffs out his chest and tells me “It feels good mom. Can we try the other dungeon now?” I point at the chest that appeared and respond “Sure sweetie, just pick up your rewards and we can go.” It’s good to get experience fighting other monsters.

“The potion is different this time mom.” He says while swallowing the seed. I hold my hand out, and he gives it to me. Of course I have to check it for him. I was starting to think all this boss ever dropped was the breast potions.

I’m glad he didn’t just drink it. I don’t know for sure what it would do, but slimy sounds gross. I don’t want my son to turn into a green blob. I guess I’ll have to explain racial modifiers to him now. Luckily I have my Lofty body, so I have a little bit of experience.

When we get to the worm dungeon, the entrance is crowded just like last time I was here. Apparently some people are looking for specific bonuses on piercings and wait here to trade. It doesn’t take us long to push past them since I’m leading the way for my son. Once we’re inside the dungeon Garnet sighs before saying “There are so many people here. I didn’t see anyone at the other dungeon.” I nod and explain the reasons I think people focus on this dungeon. I leave out the exploding slimes thing since they only do that to me.

He of course makes quick work of the worms on the first floor. I thought I remembered them spitting acid, but it was probably just the boss. I didn’t really fight the little ones. The seeds let my son have much higher stats than a normal tier 1 Player, and the second class being unlocked helps. So he speeds through the floors pretty quickly. His spear is much less messy than my fists and feet, but I still think it’s better not to use a weapon. What if it breaks or gets lost? I’ve lost hands and feet a few times and they just grow back. I don’t even have to sharpen them.

As we enter the 10^th floor I hear a chime. “Garnet, stay behind mommy. I’ll show you why you should run from Rare bosses when I’m not here.” He’s a good boy and gets behind me next to the door. I walk forward and watch as a giant, scaled worm bursts out of the lake in the center of the room. -Forloth, The Dauntless Worm Sovereign Lvl 56- is above its head. I’m hoping it drops something nice for my son with such a fancy name. It turns it’s massive mouth full of spikes towards us and lets out a deep roar. My son falls on his butt behind me shaking, and I hear another chime.

Apparently I’m immune to some sort of fear skill it used. I remember I have a skill for that and tell Garnet “Don’t worry sweetie, it can’t hurt you while I’m here. Just pay attention.” I run forward so the fight doesn’t hurt my son for being too close. The worm is pretty big after all and a Rare boss. It roars again and I get another screen.

I’m a little interested in seeing how that would work, but select no. That’s not what I need my son to learn right now. I need him to see how powerful Rare bosses are. The worm shrieks after I decline its offer and lunges at me. It hits me with its massive body. I would guess from the hit that it’s 5^th tier. Probably. The ground shakes and I hear my son scream. Concerned I quickly toss the worm to the side and look back at him. Oh, he’s fine. My cute son was probably just worried about me. The worm swings at me from the side with its scaled head, and instead of catching it this time, I let it knock me a few feet away. I have to help it look tough after all. It doesn’t seriously have a chance against me.

It’s rude though, and takes the opportunity to spit a huge splash of acid at me. I sigh seeing it coming, and prepare myself to be without clothes again. If I just dodge it easily, Garnet might think he can do the same. As the acid washes over me, it actually feels kind of nice. Unfortunately my outfit doesn’t survive. Luckily the acid dissipates shortly after, so I don’t have to find a way to wash it off. When the acid on my face goes away and I can see again, the worm is already bearing down on me with its huge toothy mouth.

I can’t let it swallow me though. It might hurt my son after it thinks it killed me. Instead I dodge it just enough to be hit by the side of it’s mouth and flung a few more feet. As I’m flipping though the air, I can see that my son is pretty scared. That’s good. This should be enough then. I land on my feet, Spry probably helping a lot. I use some of my boosting skills along with Power Attack and sprint at the large worm.

About 5 minutes later

I step off of the huge, bloody worm corpse before it disappears behind me. Garnet runs up and squeezes me with a hug. I return the hug and tell him “Now, just because mommy could do it doesn’t mean that you should try okay?” He nods and looks up at me with wide eyes responding “You’re so strong mom. I couldn’t even move after it made that noise. What tier are you?” I wiggle at his praise and answer “I’m 7^th tier. Just remember, wait till 5^th tier to fight Rare bosses, and even then you should have other people help.”

“I know mom. That thing was almost as strong as you. I would be squished for sure.” he says. I’m glad my acting weaker helped and nod in response. He doesn’t have to know that I could have killed it in less than a minute. He lets go of our hug and adds “Oh, I can get both of my classes to 2^nd tier now.” That’s good. I guess he was in the party when I killed the worm… I wonder if he got any nice titles from it? He’ll tell me if he wants to, but I’ve gotten used to people keeping that stuff mostly secret. “Go check what the chest has before you do that. I know I beat it, but mommy gets to open a lot of chests.” A few of my bodies go into the dungeons alone all day, so it’s not as exciting as it used to be.

He says “Right, I forgot.” before running over to the larger-than-usual chest. It is from a rare boss after all. Following behind him, I get close just as he’s reaching in to grab it. He pulls it out and shows me some kind of piercing. “It sounds good mom, but I don’t think I want anything like that in my mouth.” He says handing it to me. His tongue is moving around oddly in his mouth and I can guess what kind it is.

I didn’t think that kind of bonus was possible, but maybe it’s just better since it’s from the rare boss. I ask my son “Is it okay if mommy takes this one then?” He smiles and nods before answering “Of course. I bet it will look really pretty on you mom.” I’m not looking forward to the feeling of having it my mouth either, but Jim asked me to get a tongue piercing for my next visit, and I think Amber will like it. I ask him “Can you help me put it on?” and then stick out my tongue. I don’t have the mirror here, so putting it on right might be hard by myself.

As we exit the dungeon, I’m still moving my newly pierced tongue around in my mouth when I hear a familiar voice. “You know Opal, most people dodge the acid spit.”