Haru: Apprentice 10/Acolyte 5
Optifex: Legionnaire 10/Initiate 5
Haru froze, watching the giant frog boss—Fulmen Rana, charge her down. Almost as wide as the massive mine shaft, and nearly as tall as the area was high, the frog didn’t have much room to leap, so it slithered forward, dragging its belly as it charged. The apprentice stared as the beast drew near.
Opti rushed to Haru’s side and then used Line Breaker on the beast. The stun procced and dealt 5% damage, but the Fulmen Rana was immune to stun. Though the effect of the legionnaire’s ability forced the boss to stop and focus on Opti. His auto-attack triggered, dealing another 5% damage. The beast was down to 90% total HP.
The boss started charging its ability, Bellyflop. Red orbs swirled around, and the beast’s grumble filled the mines. Then the frog hopped, bounced off the ceiling, and slammed into the ground. It dealt 60% damage to Opti.
Haru snapped her attention towards the legionnaire and started casting Mend. She breathed a sigh of relief considering how close she was to the frog. If that had been AoE like in the 5-player version, she might have been wiped out by it.
Mend finished and brought Opti back up to 100%.
The frog auto-attacked, hitting the legionnaire for 10% of his health, bringing him down to 90%.
Then Haru targeted the boss and started casting Ice Bolt. As the spell charged, the two antennae on top of the frog’s head, each having a small orb, began to glow. Then as the spell grew closer to finishing, the luminosity of the orbs increased to become almost oppressive. Haru’s spell finished and slammed into Fulmen Rana for 35% damage, bringing him down to 55% total HP.
Then the beast started to growl, and red orbs swirled around it. In an instant, a flash of light blinded.
Haru took 35% damage, bringing her down to 65% HP. Her Magic Defense trait lessened the impact of the incoming ability.
Opti took 55% damage, bringing him down to 35% HP.
Haru staggered backwards, unable to see anything. She opened the menu, which overlayed the bright light that filled her vision and targeted Opti. Then she began to cast Mend. Spells didn’t have a miss rate due to vision and she was confident that it would land.
Opti swiped at the air with his auto-attack, missing the beast. “Of course it has an ability that blinds.” He grumbled.
The boss hit Opti for 10% of his health, putting him at 25% HP.
Haru’s mend finished and put him back to 100% HP. Then the white light that filled her vision started to ease and she could make out Opti’s form against the silhouette of the massive creature he stood before.
While still mostly unable to see, Haru casted Mend on herself to get her HP back to 100%.
She blinked and shook her head hoping that her sight would return in full faster. But even though her vision recovered slowly, her ability to spot the creature’s silhouette was enough to allow her to target it once more. So Haru did and started to cast Ice Bolt on the creature.
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Opti used Line Breaker, likely out of caution. But the stun didn’t proc and it dealt no damage. But he followed up with an auto-attack, bringing the boss down to 50% total HP.
Haru’s spell hit the boss for 35% damage, bringing it down to 15% HP.
“Burn it.” Opti called out.
She started rapid-fire casting on the Fulmen Rana, charging another spell as fast as the system would let her.
The beast’s antennae began brightening once more. Haru’s Ice Bolt was almost done. The shine of the two antennae made it almost impossible to even look at the frog. Red orbs appeared around the boss and it started to rumble.
Just as the orbs disappeared, Haru’s spell completed. The pointy length of ice slammed into the frog. It hopped into the air, flipped over, and then landed on its back.
“Phew.” Opti turned to her. “Not as bad as last time but still pretty challenging.” He smiled. “It’s one of my favorite fights in this dungeon.”
Haru had a hard time getting a read on Opti’s feelings unless he was getting angry at something and stirred the infection in her chest. She thought he would have been upset at how the dungeon was put together, that’s what she sensed from him coming in. But the farther they progressed, the less unhappy he seemed. It was a shift from how he felt about the Corrupted Gryphon world boss that the demon placed in the deadwood forest. She was glad that he wasn’t miserable, but worried about his volatility. Was this Opti’s true nature?
A small chime rang out behind her, on a table near the door with three locks.
“Ah, there’s the last key we need.” Opti walked over toward the table. “They spawn in after the boss is defeated so players can’t just rush through the dungeon without fighting.”
Haru nodded and followed him to retrieve the key and unlock the door. But as they grew closer to her old encounter once more, a question gnawed at her. Why did Opti get so upset when she asked him about her former boss fight?
The two descended once more into the depths, toward the portal which would bring them to the final fight, and after it, the exit to the dungeon. The desire to know was starting to overpower Haru’s better sense to just leave things be. And the closer they got to the swirling gateway, the harder it became to resist the urge to ask.
Finally, at the bottom of the stone stairwell, the sight of the portal led Haru’s impulses to get the better of her. “Opti?”
He stopped a few steps away from the portal and turned. “Yes?”
Haru swallowed hard. “I—um.” Haru looked around at the brick walls covered with moss, lit by shards of the iridescent crystals from the mines above. “I don’t want to upset you, but something has been bothering me.”
Opti blinked and tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”
Haru shifted on her feet, regretting not just leaving things be. “About my encounter…”
Opti’s expression, one of what seemed to be contentment, melted away to sadness.
Haru saw the change and shifted, angry at herself for even having said something. “I just wanted to know if—”
“Did I design it?” Opti looked away, his voice droned.
“…yes.” Haru looked at the ground.
With a sigh, Opti shook his head. “No.”
Haru blinked, confusion blowing away the remorse. “Th—”
“You were supposed to be something else. Somewhere else. But it’s all ruined now.” Opti’s voice was grim. He turned to walk into the portal. “It was somewhere better. Bathed in rays of gold.” He spoke loudly toward the portal as he walked through. His sorrowful voice echoed in the stairwell.
Haru stared, stunned by what he said. Was that why she was glitched? Had someone changed the game so drastically to put her down here despite the original design?
Haru scratched her head and groaned. The new questions were worse than the old one. Did the demon put her here too and she never knew? How could she not know?
She finally snapped out of being awestruck when she realized that there was one more encounter to defeat. But now she worried that there would be a second encounter with the demon and that this time she might be all by herself. She clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists. With a deep breath, she stepped forward and held her head high as she walked into the portal.
After a few moments, her old encounter phased into view. She was at the far end of the circular arena, a few steps from where the actual boss fight occurred. If it was a fight the demon wanted, he would get it.
But Haru deflated the moment she spotted who awaited upon the wooden platform that she once stood at the start of her encounter.
It was her old kitty companion, Vernal.