They ended up having to fight another swarm of the little ones, as well as five more of the larger variant before they got to the end of the dungeon. Ezekiel’s healing also got a bit of a workout, putting James back into fighting form after he threw himself headfirst into the swarm.
The D-rank suit had protected him well, but it couldn’t do much to stop him from bruising after receiving countless bites. Still, he was right as rain after a short session, and he was able to personally take down two of the big crocodiles.
By then, James was so close to twelve that it hurt, and all his companions had also leveled up. He assigned his points to STR and AGI, bringing them to eleven and nine, respectively. His senses were already good enough that he could feel every croc that got near them, but the thing he felt was lacking the most was his ability to kill them quickly.
Even when buffed by Ezekiel’s skill, it still took him four blows to kill one of the larger crocodiles, which was impressive enough for someone who had Awakened not even three weeks ago, but was still not enough for him.
I realize I have very high standards for myself, but if I don’t push forward with this intensity, I’ll never become strong enough to change things. Strong enough to show the Radiant Guild they cannot do whatever they want with impunity.
Refocusing, James noticed that though their path had stopped expanding, the sewer water next to them was deepening until it was enough to easily hide three of the large crocodiles.
“I think we might be getting close to the Boss.” He said, making the others perk up.
The fights so far had been pretty difficult, especially since they had come in expecting something closer to the squirrels he had cleared by himself. Basically a den of newborn crocs. Instead, they had been faced with monsters strong enough to easily overpower the mutated rats and a dungeon large enough it couldn’t have been that recent.
That meant it had been growing unnoticed for quite a while, possibly even a couple of weeks. How it had managed to do so, James didn’t know. Mana readers were ubiquitous these days; even regular law enforcement had them on hand.
That a dungeon could grow for weeks beneath Manhattan without anyone knowing a thing about it was simply impossible. Not with the sheer amount of attention that was on the island.
Which means either a complete failure of the system - which I’d not be too surprised about - or someone knew but kept it quiet.
The second option was very sinister, as the image of the pulsing heart of New York City being ripped open from the inside by a swarm of monstrous crocodiles evoked terrible memories of the Apocalypse.
Back then, such occurrences had been quite common, and until order was finally fully restored in the city in 2013, they all had to live with the constant fear of monster attacks.
Considering just how much blood and tears had been spilled to take some normalcy back, James was not inclined to let the ‘error’ slip by unnoticed.
“Do you think we should expect another Boss that uses swarming tactics?” Ezekiel asked, drawing James’ attention away from his musings.
“With all the little crocs we had to kill to get here, it wouldn’t surprise me.” He answered, looking at his gloved hands, still coated in a dried layer of monster blood.
It’s not like I can clean myself with the water. We are in a sewer, for fuck’s sake.
“Either that.” Maria interjected, looking around with a distrustful frown “Or it’s gonna be an absolutely massive croc. Big enough to swallow us whole. Or it could chew us up. Oh! Or it could try to bring us into the water and drown us there!”
The pretty redhead, it turned out, was surprisingly morbid. James knew she did it to exorcize her fears, but in these moments, he’d really like it if she managed to keep her mouth shut.
Any retort he might have given was interrupted as a low growl reverberated through the tunnel. It was deep enough that James felt it in his chest, and it seemed he wasn’t the only one to be spooked by it.
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“Alright, I guess massive croc it is.” Maria whispered, though they all heard it.
“You know the drill people. DDD: Distract, Direct and Deal.” James called out, ignoring the Fire Mage’s mutterings.
That strategy was one they had agreed upon to fight with the previous Boss, though they had been forced into a different formation by the swarm the rat had called. It had, however, worked well against the large crocodiles, and it was the best bet they had to take the Boss down without any serious injury.
When they all were ready, they walked forward, entering the Boss’ den. There was nothing to demarcate this stretch of the sewers as different from the rest beyond the deeper water, but James could now feel a large presence ahead of them.
It was already on dry land, as if waiting for them. As the light of their torches finally illuminated it, they all took a deep breath. Standing at a massive twenty-five feet in length and five in height, its snow-white scales looking like armor and red eyes filled with intelligence, the Boss regarded them calmly.
It was as if it didn’t care that they had been slaughtering their way through its dungeon. James felt like it was studying them, curiously taking in their suits.
A low rumbling emitting from deep within its throat was the only warning it gave, and when they made no motion to leave, the creature coiled up.
Instead of rushing forward like they had expected it might, they were hit by a jet of water coming from the side, completely blindsided. The entirety of Team 0 was thrown to the ground, their suits the only reason they had not suffered enough damage to end the fight then and there.
Instinctively, James rolled with it and jumped up, knowing that if he allowed the creature to set the rhythm, they would surely lose and become its lunch.
It was good luck that he did so, because the Boss had taken their disorientation to rush them, moving relatively quickly for a creature of that size, especially on dry land.
Knowing that he couldn’t match its strength directly - but also having to stall it for a moment to allow his teammates to gather themselves and regroup - James flooded his limbs with Thakinetic Empowerment, pushing twenty points of mana in a single application.
There came a point, after the maximum threshold, that adding more juice to a skill simply wasn’t worth it, and he had fiddled with his enough to understand where exactly that point was.
For Empowerment, that was twenty mana. More than that, it didn’t show any further increase. It was still a substantial amount, considering that James only had fifty-five points available.
Still, coupled with his iron determination to grant his friends a reprieve, his strength grew enough that he was able to deflect the Boss’ powerful lunge. It also increased his VIT enough that he wasn't immediately taken out of commission when the massive white tail hit him in a surprise strike.
James could only scramble up, desperately dodging another bite he was sure he would have felt, D-rank armor or not. He then firmed his resolve, rolled under another tail whip, and jumped over the Boss, raining punches everywhere he could get to.
The monster, however, was clever and immediately rolled, dislodging him. Before it could capitalize, a powerful blow threw it away from James, granting him some much-needed air. Daniel nodded at him, having recovered his shield and taking up his position as Tank.
Now that the formation was regrouped, the balance shifted. The Boss tried again to disperse them with a water jet, but Daniel interposed himself and, through his skill and Ezekiel’s buff, managed to take the hit with only a grunt.
Maria shot several fireballs, all aimed at distracting the creature more than doing any harm, considering how thick its armor was. Thanks to that, Lauren and James were able to close the distance. His punch, enhanced as it was, managed to send the crocodile reeling, and the Rogue took the opportunity to score a series of gashes near its eyes, though the Boss managed to avoid any severe damage.
To avoid another jet of water, they were forced to jump back, thus returning to their starting position. “This thing is much tougher than the others. My knives are sharp enough, but I don’t have the strength to push them through its armor.” Lauren complained.
“First of all, Ez, slow it down. If we can avoid its attacks, we’ll be better off than if our hits do more damage. This is a death by a thousand cuts type of situation. We need to avoid wasting mana, but we can’t win in a direct assault.” James took charge, seeing that their regular tactics were not working.
Ezekiel obeyed, releasing the buffs he had cast on them and turning his attention to the Boss. His debuff skill, having leveled up, allowed him to target a specific attribute to lower, and tanking its AGI seemed the most effective way of getting some room.
The crocodile, however, didn’t let them be for long. Another jet of water hit Daniel’s shield, who grunted in pain. However this time it had been used to hide its charge, so the Tank was sent flying, the Boss’ powerful tail too much for him. Without respite, it launched forward, trying to clamp its jaws on the Tank’s leg.
“It’s trying to pick us apart!” James yelled, even as he shoulder checked the crocodile away from his friend. By then, Ezekiel’s debuff took hold, finally lowering the Boss’ speed enough that they could reorganize.
“I’ll keep it at bay. When it gets close, force it back.” Maria’s fireballs flew true and hit the monster, scorching the outer layer of its armor. It didn’t seem to be feeling too much pain, but the Fire mage kept up the barrage long enough to force it to call upon the waters to its aid, forming a liquid shield.
The situation, it seemed, had reached a stall of some sort. Thanks to the slowing debuff, the crocodile couldn’t get close enough, nor did it have enough time to attack with its water magic, while Team 0 didn’t seem to manage to inflict lethal damage on it.
The beast, though it looked beat up, was still perfectly capable of fighting, and if they continued this kind of fruitless assault for too long, they’d end up out of mana and at its mercy. James’ plan to whittle it down would only work if they managed to do some damage, after all.
The water shield prevented James’ first idea, which was for them to continue a long-range assault, using rocks and knives if necessary, thus gaining enough time to prepare something more lethal while slowly accumulating the damage. His second, however, might just work.
We have to break the stalemate. If we can do enough damage that it’s hampered in its movements and it can only focus on defense, then we win.
“Maria, concentrate your fire on the side of the shield; we need to break through. Lauren, let’s aim for its legs. We need to slow it down even more. Guys, try to keep its attention. I’ll attack from the other side.” That said, James rushed forward, the roar of Maria’s fireballs hitting the shield and evaporating the water resounding through the cavern.
His blood pumping, energy flowing, James found himself grinning. He knew his life was on the line, as was his friends’. He just couldn’t help but enjoy it. He felt alive.
This is it. This is the life I want to live.