The nighttime had truly taken hold of the dungeon by the time I found myself slowly making my way towards the Claimant’s location. Like a beacon to my sharpening senses, the undulating energy given off by the powerful staff it wielded was a lighthouse to my magical perception. My skin itched as I spotted some fresh footprints on the ground. Activating Tracking, I paused as my vision alighted. There were multiple creatures, all heavily plodding in the same direction.

It seemed like the Attack Animals were gathering. How ominous. Keeping my thoughts to myself as Naea and I penetrated deeper into the wooded land. The smells changed and the trees became wilder, vines and swampier ground everywhere. I choked down a bitter glob of bile which tried to rise in my throat from fear. My hands were shaking. “Are you okay, Grant?” Naea asked, and I winced. Even the fairy was able to pick up on my mental state.

“Yes,” I said, truthfully. With a conscious expenditure of Willpower, I forced the panic away. My muscles tightened and the engine of mana in my chest came to life with a draconic growl. The world around me seemed to hold its breath as I passed. Naea said nothing, but I could tell she doubted my answer. “I’m serious. I am a lot stronger since last time I was here, my body just doesn’t know it.”

Making a non-committal noise, Naea gestured forward with her chin and slipped from all mundane sight. I turned to see a wall of bodies. It was only four figures, but they were wide enough to block my path if I didn’t move around them. Which I wasn’t going to do. Unable to stop myself, I checked my status pages one final time to remind myself I was ready.

Character Window

Name

Grant Kaeron

Race

Earth Human

Title

Dragon Slayer

Level

16

Health

80/80

Mana

125/125

Attribute Window

FP:0

Strength

12

Recovery

15

Resilience

12

Dexterity

12

Agility

19

Perception

14

Power

17

Regeneration

20

Command

25

Health

80/80

1.5 per minute

Mana

125/125

20 per minute

I was strong. My attributes had doubled since I last saw Master Thorn’s smug expression telling me I wasn’t worth its time. Almost more than I wanted to defeat the thing to escape the dungeon, I wanted to prove it wrong for looking down on me. The Aspect within rumbled happily at my prideful stance. I stopped around twenty five feet from the defensive line of Attack Animals.

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The standoff was short-lived. The darkness had stolen most of the colour from my vision, so I looked at their defiant grey faces curiously. The fact they hadn’t charged at me upon seeing me was a change. Whether it was a good thing yet remained to be seen. Each of the Attack Animals had their arms crossed, the thick limbs wrapped around each other tightly. As one, their arms fell to their sides in one quick motion.

I tensed, but instead of approaching, the group of four parted like an opening gate. Humming uncomfortably, I took a step forward. When they didn’t move, I took another step. Serious as a guard at a palace, the four monstrous turtle-frog-men stood at attention to let me pass. Even as I removed Severance from the Xaverweave Pouch, they didn’t flinch. I was a little impressed as I cautiously strode between the group. Outwardly I looked confident, but my mana was hovering around the Haste skill, ready to overload it with energy if I needed to.

The misnamed Attack Animals did no such thing, remaining stationary until I had moved well beyond them. Only then did they turn once more, watching me. I swear to god, I promised, if you jump into while I’m fighting I’ll hunt down every last one of your kind. Assurance of genocide notwithstanding, I was on edge and serious. The trees were curving and gnarled, as though they were leaning to grab at the power waiting beyond them.

Somehow, I knew even before breaking the treeline that I would be dropping into a boss arena. Even then, I was taken aback by the architecture I literally stumbled into. Dropping a step, and slipping down two more of the wide stairs before catching myself, I couldn’t help but wonder. The Claimant, Master Thorn, waited at the bottom of a large basin but it was hard to focus on him.

Placed into the ground, hidden by an encirclement of tall, leafy trees, was a veritable colosseum. Along the circumference of the large space were descending rows of stone benches, separated by steps down to the centre at four intervals. The actual colosseum in Rome was a lot larger, but there was still an imposing aura to the place. At the top of each set of stairs were two statues, one on either side. Instead of facing outwards, they seemed to be looking down on the battleground with excitement. Even the art was excited for battle here.

Though none were as prepared as the robed figure waiting for me in the arena. The System’s analysis cost had already been paid, so when the nameplate appeared I wasn’t surprised. Until I saw the level. “Twenty fucking nine?” I demanded when my feet touched the earthen arena floor. I thought this thing was proud! It had gained more levels than I had!

Mini-Boss - Master Thorn - Level 29

Snorting at the use of the word “mini”, I regarded my enemy. The nightmarish vision of the thing I had created in my head gave away to the truth. Standing a head shorter than me, every visible limb was a spindle, wiry hairs covered its body everywhere but its palms and feet. With two pitch black eyes in the already dark space, Master Thorn’s gaze was particularly inscrutable. Then, it dipped its head and chuckled.

“Yes,” the ratman said, “perhaps a little much for a whelp, but my preparations were not done with you in mind. I hope that gives you solace.” Matching every expectation I had, Master Thorn had the voice of an elderly man, with a jovial lilt speaking to eccentricity. I opened my mouth to respond but it seemed that our conversation was over.

I barely evaded the palm strike, turning my body and spinning away with a hard jump that created some distance between us once more. “Hmph,” was all that Thorn emoted before attacking again. To my own amazement and the Claimant’s growing frustration, I managed to dodge each attack. Though more than a little luck was involved, I bobbed and weaved with the acuity of a boxer. Thorn was fast, easily the fastest creature I had ever seen, but I had been reforged by the trials of the dungeon.

I slipped under a spinning heel kick meant to take my head off and stepped in for the first time. Even in the gloom, it was possible to see the ratman’s eyes widen. The mana had been waiting, ready for the moment I would strike. I didn’t need to so much as have a conscious thought for Heavy Blow to activate as my fist crashed into the flimsy feeling rat’s chest cavity.

I wanted to kick myself for using my fist with a sword in my other hand, but I hadn’t had the chance to get used to using Severance as a weapon. There was a very satisfying thump as the attack landed, and an even more enjoyable one when Master Thorn landed on his back, stunned by the attack. We both were. I honestly expected him to dodge. I was so ready for the counterblow that I didn’t follow up right away. Still…

“Get up,” I whispered. It wouldn’t be nearly so easy to finish this battle. Maybe he heard me, or maybe the shock had worn off, but the ratman rolled to its feet all the same, raising an angry gaze towards me. “Maybe you should have done some more levelling.”

Master Thorn snarled horribly, a distinctly inhuman sound which set my teeth on edge. “You will regret not running me through when you had the chance.” I didn’t reply that I was already regretting that very thing because the world was suddenly cast in a sickly pale glow. The source was obvious, mana so potent it felt like heat against my skin. The staff the rat had neglected to use to now was glowing bright enough to bathe the colosseum in light.

The dark pink luminance was surprising, and it cast a harsher shadow over the world. The effect was bright enough to blind me for a moment, and I barely managed to block with Severance as a sweeping attack came my way. My arms buckled in protest and the tip of the blade buried into my leg as I was pushed away. I yanked it out and clashed once more with Master Thorn’s staff.

I spun violently, dropping the sword from the pain in my leg and the numbness in my arms. I just about managed to stay on my feet but Thorn wasn’t slowing down this time. In fact, he seemed to be speeding up. The light from the staff intensified and there was no dodging or blocking this time. The staff caught me in the ribs as Thorn jabbed it forward at a dazzling speed. I was slammed into the far wall, creating rubble with my hard body rather than getting turned to paste.

Though my eyes were bleary from the damage, I caught a slither of movement as the staff returned to its original length. It had been pressing into my chest the whole time I flew back, but I saw now that Thorn himself had barely moved. “Cool stick,” I coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. The attack hurt but I had the health to spare. Slightly. There was a look of surprise on the rat’s face. “Yeah, I’m tough now.”

As Master Thorn exploded into movement, so did I. High tension and at the ready since the start, I activated my equaliser. Haste burned through my mana, but it was the weapon I had gained specifically for this fight. The world slowed, and even that was barely enough to pull myself out of the wall and get out of the way of Thorn’s incoming overhead swing. His eyes managed to follow me, but with all that momentum, there was nothing he could do as I jogged over to Severance. I released Haste and watched the real time speed of Thorn crashing into the wall after me. There was a screech of rage from within the dust cloud his landing kicked up.

For good measure, I threw a Mana Bolt at the illuminated staff. It was harmlessly batted away even through the dust. Thorn extracted himself from the obfuscation and circled the arena. I was now the one in the middle. The expression on Thorn’s face could only be a demeaning sneer, which made me raise my eyebrow. “You have grasped much talent in a short time,” the ratman begrudged.

I nodded. Despite him being my enemy, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the creature before me. If he wasn’t an obstacle I absolutely had to defeat, I might have tried to learn more about him. As it was, I had enough respect to give the creature as good a fight as possible. I imagined that Thorn was feeling the same way, if flipped on its head somewhat. Now that I had earned some respect, there would be no more casual banter.

Without another word, we both attacked once more and the dance began again.