After searching the entire perimeter of the vast circular cavern and finding no sign of any kind of Boss, it became obvious to the pair that they were going to have explore the thick forest of stalagmites. Row upon row of conical stone pillars were impeding their line of sight, making whatever might be hidden within the area a complete unknown.
After a short discussion, they both reactivated their stealth Skills and split up. Due to the likelihood of a surprise attack, Alan and Su'ong moved nearly fifty feet away from each other before they entered the field of stone pillars. This was done for the sole purpose of insuring they wouldn't both be taken out by a single well timed strike.
Luckily, the majority of the stalagmites were thick enough for Alan to hide behind. As he crossed the room he darted from one column to the next, trying to make as small a target as possible. He could hear the rustling noise of Su'ong slithering across the floor somewhere off to his left, but couldn't even catch a glimpse of her.
He quickly decided that the most likely explanation was that her stealth Skill had evolved at least once in the past. That or it was of an exceptional quality, or rarity. Perhaps all of the above. If it hadn't been for the green dot on his Mini-map marking her location, he would have had no other option than to rely on sound to locate her. Alan found he was once again thankful that Su'ong hadn't chosen to fight him. Unless he managed to catch her by surprise, he now knew there was a damn good chance she'd end up wiping the floor with him.
Near the middle of the room, Alan abruptly stumbled upon a large area completely void of any stone structures. He had just clambered up an exceptionally steep hill of eroded flowstone, and suddenly found himself standing at the base of a mammoth pair of stalagmites. The stone obelisks curled around each other in an off-centered spiral. Alan noticed that if he were to look at them from just the right angle, they looked like crossed fingers.
It was when he walked around the 'Fingers' that he first saw the mirror-like pool of water. Momentarily stunned by the unexpected sight, Alan sucked in his breath, shocked to behold such a wonderous vision hidden away in the middle of the cave. A perfectly still pond reflected an image of the glowing stalactites almost stacked atop one another along the ceiling.
The hill of flowstone surrounding the circular clearing created a shallow bowl-like depression, within which stood the pond. The small body of remarkably clear water was at least a hundred yards across, from bank to bank. Even after scrutinizing the pond for several moments, Alan was unable to determine it's depth. As clear as it was, it could've been tens of feet deep, or only several inches.
He was however certain of one thing. Directly in the center of the hidden body of water waited what Alan first assumed to be two sets of pristine obsidian equipment. He even went so far as to get excited, thinking he'd already found new gear. Like suits of medieval armor made of glistening black stone, they stood solemnly in place, practically begging to enter his Storage Ring. The one on the right was equipped with spike covered armor, and carried a stone halberd. The other was equipped with the same armor, however it was armed with a curved stone sword and a plain round shield. From nearly fifty feet away, Alan could plainly see that although these weapons had been made from stone, they were nonetheless extremely sharp.
Alan activated [Trap Detection] and stepped forward when his Skill remained totally silent. His surprise doubled when he placed his boot into the water. Not only had it disturbed the smooth surface, sending ripples out in all directions, but it only sank a little over a foot beneath the waters surface before hitting the bottom. The ripples crossed the calm surface of the pond and sloshed against the ankles of the stationary stone equipment waiting in the middle of the pool. When they detected the disturbance, both suits of armor readied their weapons and hoisted their shields in unison. Alan cleared his throat and stepped back, his heart beat increasing. He was glad to see the moment the body of water calmed, so too did the armor-clad beasts.
I really need to stop assuming shit.. Alan thought while activating [Examine].
Lvl 17 Stalwart Sentinel HP: 3200/3200
Alan was collecting his thoughts in preparation of pointing out his findings to Su'ong when her voice sounded in the back of his mind.
<"I've actually had to fight one of these before, back when I first recieved my Wandering Mini-boss Class. I was woken up from a nearly-month-long nap, and it was just standing there...waiting for me." She spit off to the side, the memory leaving a bad taste in her mouth. "It was fairly tough, but nothing too difficult...I'm pretty sure it was another one of the Dungeon Master's stupid tests..."> Her voice cut out in a hiss of pain.
Alan was honestly impressed that she'd snuck up on him so easily. The clarity of her voice made him think she was right next to him, so he looked to the right, and to the left. When that failed, and he still hadn't found her, he spun around. His assumption that she must be standing behind him was swiftly proven inaccurate. As she continued to speak, he eventually understood her voice was being transmitted through his Party functions when he saw his PSA flash every time she spoke. She was speaking directly into his mind. Alan opened his PSA and saw it was a function called Party Chat.
<"I found smashing it into pieces, one chunk at a time to be most effective. You can take the one on the right, the one without a shield. It's lack of protection should make it more susceptible to your Spells. If you can, try to split them up. I'll make a wall between them so we won't have to worry so much about friendly fire.">
<"Roger that"> Alan sent back to her, testing his Party Chat, while simultaneously activating [Mana Regulation]. He began to charge an empowered [Spectral Firebolt]. Taking aim at the waters surface, directly between the Sentinels, he loosed his supercharged Spell.
Remarkable! Your Spell (U)[Spectral Firebolt] has grown to Level 6!
His aim was spot-on, and the bolt of green flame struck the water between the stationary beasts and erupted in a violent explosion of heat and steam. The ensuing shockwave raised a circular wave of water and sent it rushing out from the point of impact. It washed over the flowstone embankment, flooding the stone forest beyond, and nearly emptying out the pond. The majority of the water remaining within the banks of the pool was soon evaporated by the overheated stone floor. The plan had hinged upon Alan separating the Sentinels, and he pumped his fist when he realized he hadn't disappointed. As he watched, the explosion knocked the Dungeon Born Creatures over, and they were momentarily pulled along with the flow of water.
It was obvious to anyone with eyes that these particular beasts were much too heavy to be moved a great distance in such a way, but Alan was excited to see his plan was thusly going off without a hitch. He did his best to keep his emotions in check, for he knew the next part of the plan was equally, if not more so important. As the receding flames of his Spell turned the last of the shallow pond's liquid water into steam and vapor, Su'ong went on the offensive.
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She took advantage of her minor influence over the Dungeon, coupled with her high affinity to the Earth. With a perfectly timed pulse of Mana from her Beast Core to soften the floor, she then used her [Stone Manipulation] Skill and raised it into a four-foot thick stone wall. The wall almost instantly extended from one side of the empty pond to the other, and all the way up to the ceiling. Giving them plenty of space with which to handle their opponents. The rising wall relentlessly crushed every illuminated stalagmite blocking its ascent to the roof. The clearing dimmed considerably as stone powder rained to the floor.
The Sentinels were surprisingly quick to get back to their feet, but it was already too late. Their ability to function as a team had been removed from the equation.
Alan dashed towards his assigned target. His damp boots slapped noisily against the stone as he ran. Each footstep was echoed by an exceedingly loud clapping sound that reverberated around within the enclosed space of the dome shaped cave. The phantom applause quickly grew to the point Alan was unable to hear himself think, and it began to grate on his nerves.
He slowed to a stop several yards away from his target.
The Sentinel remained completely still. After it had been toppled by Alan's [Spectral Firebolt], and the ensuing wave of water pushed it further from its companion, it had picked itself up off of the ground and stood unmoving ever since. Now the stationary beast had a thick stone wall placed up against its back and was unable to retreat.
Alan paced a half-circle around the Sentinel while maintaining his current distance. Each step he took changed the angle the light from the ceiling hit its polished stone armor, causing it to release blinding flashes that stung his eyes. It reminded him of holding a polished gem under a bright light and spinning it. The glinting and glimmering was already becoming distracting. But he was no longer a stranger to discomfort. It had become nothing more than another part of the day over his time in this blasted Tutorial.
His eyes had been destroyed and rebuilt stronger than ever before. A bit of light wouldn't be enough to blind him anymore. What it did do was illuminate several deep cracks running up, and over the Sentinels shoulders, which then thinned down to a spiderweb of hairline fractures. Numerous of which not only split off horizontally around its chest, but a tight cluster of ultra-fine cracks shot down it's left hip and leg.
Multiple instances of being caught unawares had begun to instill within Alan a habit of carefully studying every unknown object he happened across. So he immediately knew these cracks were fresh. He felt it most likely the intense level of cracking hadn't actually come from the heat of his Spell rapidly raising the temperature of the Sentinels stone armor. Instead he had a strong gut feeling was more to do with the hot stone being forced to insta-cool when it had toppled over into the water. Curious as to how much damage the cracks had caused, he activated [Examine]. The results were far better than he had dared to hope.
Lvl 17 Stalwart Sentinel HP: 1786/3200
It was an unexpected gift from a half-cocked plan, but he surely wasn't about to start complaining now.
To Alan's delight, it soon became quite obvious the sentinel wasn't going to be the one to make the first move. As he studied the damaged beast he was able to glimpse a faint purple light pulsing steadily from deep within the widest crack running the length of its chest, a foot or so beneath its bulbous stone cranium.
I wonder if these sentinels are dependant on the water? Alan pondered to himself, while making another half of a lap around the motionless beast. Is it possible the still surface of the pond acted as their eyes and ears? That they sensed the direction of the ripples and simply followed them back to their source? Guess it's time for a bit of theory testing...
Once Alan was standing a good distance off to the left of the Sentinel, he took a handful of Trail Mix from inventory and threw it at his foe while quickly and quietly walking off to the beast's right side. Alan grinned at the results. He knew he was on the right track when the sentinel looked over to its left in the direction of where he'd thrown the Trail Mix from, and not to the right where he was now located.
He raised his left leg and stomped down on the floor hard enough to rattle his own teeth. As he'd expected, the sentinel somehow registered the vibrations and immediately turned to face him.
So Alan stomped again. This time the Sentinel raised its weapon and took a step in his direction. Next, he stopped stomping, and the beast stopped moving. Now that he had a better idea of what he could expect, Alan activated [Mana Regulation] and summoned up an [Aqua Shield]. The moment he was able, he began channeling additional Mana into the Spell.
He fully intended to destroy the sentinel from a distance, so his only real worry at this juncture was its halberd. That thing was extremely sharp, and Alan was fairly certain the beast wouldn't hesitate to throw it at him if he gave it the chance. To increase the odds his barrier would be able to survive an attack of that caliber, he kept forcing in more and more Mana, even when his Mana tendrils began to bulge and tremble.
Remarkable! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] has grown to Level 8!
...
...
Remarkable! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] has grown to Level 10! +1 Free Status Point!
Caution! Your Skill (C)[Aqua Shield] is prepared for Skill Evolution!
Proceed with Skill Evolution? Yes/No
Remarkable! Your Skill (U)[Mana Regulation] has grown to Level 6!
Remarkable! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] has grown to Level 11! +1 Free Status Point!
Caution! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] is still prepared for Spell Evolution! Additional energy has begun to accumulate!
Proceed with Spell Evolution? Yes/No
Remarkable! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] has grown to Level 12! +1 Free Status Point!
Caution! Your Spell (C)[Aqua Shield] is still prepared for Spell Evolution! An excess of additional energy has begun to accumulate! *Warning* Additional Spell Levels may cause an instability during the Evolution of this Spell.
Proceed with Spell Evolution? Yes/No
Notifications piled up in the corner of his vision as a churning orb of water hid Alan's frame from prying eyes. By this point he'd already emptied out more than a quarter of his Mana pool into the slowly spinning barrier. He read the notices and hesitated briefly, unsure if evolving a Spell mid-battle, not to mention mid-cast, was the smartest choice to make under the circumstances. After a moment of careful deliberation he decided the potential for an instability in his Spell made it necessary, and selected Yes to his Spell Evolution.
The moment he did, it was like his [Aqua Shield] temporarily gained a mind of its own.
To anyone observing the recklessly timed Spell Evolution, it would almost certainly appear that he'd lost control of the situation. The orb of water surrounding Alan began to wobble from side to side and change shape at random. All at once it was like an invisible fist grabbed the base of the unsteady sphere of water and squeezed. The majority of the orb was forced to rise while the rest fell. It grew wide at the top, and tapered off to a mere yard thick around Alan's legs before it began to spin.
He soon stood within a miniature water-tornado, which was still building in intensity, spinning faster, and faster. It soon rotated so fast Alan chose to close his eyes. He worried what may or may not happen if he were to get dizzy and lose control of his Spell now that it was mid-evolution.
A warm tingle traveled up his spine. He flinched involuntarily as it tore through the nerves and connective tissue between his eyes and brain. Just as he felt something in his head click into place, he suddenly had a full 360-degree, panoramic view of everything around his barrier.
Alan opened his eyes, and was disoriented by what he saw.