Chapter 239

The big fight.

It always ends with a big fight, and this dungeon would be no different in that respect. The group climbed the stairs and moved up to the next floor and were a bit surprised when they did so. They no longer appeared to be in the tree but instead had reached the top of it.

The fresh air was almost intoxicating after being forced to breath in smoke for so long. They all took deep gulps of fresh air as they looked about.

The edges of the round arena were made of bark and would hopefully keep anyone from falling off the edge. The 'ground' was made out of wood, the tree itself, and the air smelled earthy and vibrant, like a jungle should.

A transparent dome covered the wide expanse they found themselves standing in. The tree was huge, and they were no longer standing in a room 1/3 the size of a circle. Instead they stood on top of the tree and were able to see the entire thing, from one edge to the other.

It was a large arena as far as boss fights went and Jay could see the jungle outside of the dome. It looked as if the tree didn't reach the top of the jungle's canopy but terminated somewhere in the middle and Jay's view was one of trees and leaves and vines everywhere he looked.

The area inside the dome however was mostly clear save for two things.

The first thing Jay noticed in the room was a round wooden podium that stuck up out of the ground next to the trap door. Jay smiled and nodded to Carly as she closed the trap door behind them.

The podium had a lever and a plaque on it. That was it, just a single lever.

The second thing Jay noticed was a huge elephant sized tick, swollen and glossy, that sat motionless across from them on the opposite edge of the tree. It had multiple colored bands that wound around its abdomen. Jay frowned. Hadn't the other ticks only had one colored band? Jay's thoughts were interrupted by M'redith.

“Water release,” M'redith said out loud.

“Pull it!” Carly said quickly as her eyes lit up in excitement. “It'll put out the fire!”

Crackling could be heard from the trap door next to them. The fire had fully engulfed the room they had just left. Was the fire moving faster now?

M'redith looked at Jay who merely shrugged in response. She reached out and grasped the lever in one hand. Immediately M'redith was presented with a notification.

Warning: Use of the water release will significantly lower the intended difficulty of this dungeon. If used, the boss' loot table will be adjusted accordingly. For emergency use only.

“Uh, guys?” M'redith said in a voice that sounded a lot like the way Jay tended to talk. M'redith and Jay were starting to use some of the same idioms and phrases the longer they were together. Couples that spent a lot of time together often ended up sounding a lot like each other.

Jay and the rest of the group turned and Jay raised an eyebrow, “What's up?” he asked.

M'redith shook her head and used one hand to brush her hair off of her face and behind one ear. “We can use this, and it will make everything easier, but we won't get a chance at the best loot.”

Carly's eyebrows furrowed. “Wait. So after all of that we'll miss out on the good stuff if we use this lever? How is that fair?!”

Aiden shook his head and looked away from Carly but didn't say anything. Norri spoke up though.

“Who said anything about fair? If we go with the easy fight we get normal loot. If we go with the hard fight we might get some really great loot. We should put it to a vote,” Norri said reasonably.

M'redith nodded. “Agreed. Who here is for using the lever?”

Carly immediately raised her hand. “Great loot would be great, but we've almost died a couple of times already. And that boss looks brutal. I say we go with the easy fight. We can't graduate if we're dead.”

Everyone was silent for a moment as they considered Carly's words. They might not all like Carly, but she had made a great point. Dead was dead.

Jay considered their options. They weren't here for fun, or for adventure, or treasure, or anything like that. They had been given a very specific task – retrieve the item from the last boss.

What item? They hadn't been told. That was enough for Jay to figure out that it would be an important looking item. They would definitely know it when they saw it. It was probably valuable.

But what would happen if they pulled the lever? Would they still have a chance at their important item being in the reward chest after they had beaten the boss? Or would the item be removed from the loot pool due to fighting the boss on easy mode?

Aiden shook his head while Jay thought. “I'm against using the lever. We've done fine so far,”

“You call Jay being covered in ticks fine?” Carly said in exasperation but Aiden just shrugged in reply and grinned.

Norri shook her head too. “I want to fight the real fight, not some watered down version,” she said with a playful smile. Her eyes twinkled as she waited for the group to get the joke.

Aiden groaned, “Puns? At a time like this?”

M'redith let a tight lipped smile briefly appear before she smoothed her face to stillness once again. “Jay? Your thoughts?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Jay pursed his lips and shook his head. “I think we have to do it without pulling the lever. We're here to retrieve an item from the last boss, that's the entire point of why we're here. Pulling a lever that might remove that item from the loot pool sounds like a horrible idea. We're dungeon runners, this is what we do. If we can't finish a dungeon when it gets a little difficult then what are we even doing here?”

Carly frowned. That had not been the answer she had been hoping to hear.

“Are you all crazy? This dungeon is on fire! FIRE! I can't believe I even have to explain this to you! We have to get out of here before we are on fire too!” Carly insisted and was now waving her hands around in an attempt to drive her point home.

Jay shook his head, “There's another good reason to not use the lever. I think this lever might be a trap.”

“What?” M'redith said as she took a hurried step back from the lever and snatched her hand away from it as well. “You see a trap?”

Jay smiled and shook his head. “Not like that. Think about our fights – has fire hurt us or the ticks more?”

M'redith nodded after a brief moment, “The fire's hurt the ticks far more. We've gotten injured but we've been ok so far thanks to Aiden's healing.”

Aiden smiled and nodded his head once in thanks for the recognition.

Norri tilted her head to the side in thought, “Hey that's a good point. The ticks seem to hate the fire.”

Carly stared incredulously at the group and deadpanned, “To be fair, we hate the fire too.”

Aiden laughed, “Yes, but we don't pop and explode in it.”

Carly shook her head, unconvinced. “Scalding burns are just as bad.”

Aiden grinned. “Let's agree to disagree.”

Carly took a breath and was about to yell at Aiden when M'redith cut her off.

“I'm with the others. Besides – things in dungeon fights are usually there for a reason. We might need the fire,” M'redith pointed out.

Carly was shaking her head and saying 'no no no' over and over again.

“HEY.” Norri said loudly and yelled at Carly who startled and stopped her frantic complaints for a moment. “Cut it out. Get ready to fight!”

Carly looked horrified that they were planning to fight the boss in fire but didn't have much of a choice. There was nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, just a large open arena and a boss monster that hadn't even moved yet. Carly frantically tried to figure out a way out of a situation that the others had already accepted as just what needed to be done.

A sudden burst of flames was heard as the wooden trap door next to them splintered and collapsed as fire pushed its way through the opening and began to light parts of the arena on fire.

The arena was round, like a pie, or a clock. Imagine the clock divided in to twelve slices. The trap door and lever were at the 12 o'clock 'slice.' The boss was at the six o'clock 'slice.'. The fire began to burn along the outer edge of the slice the trap door and lever were on.

The group had little option but to move away from the fire, and the entire group stepped off of the 12 o'clock slice and on to the 1 o'clock slice.

All except for Carly, who saw her chance and lunged for the lever in an attempt to pull it. M'redith might be in charge but Carly wasn't about to let her kill the group, even if the group agreed with M'redith's choice.

M'redith drew her sword, extended her arm to its full length, and smacked Carly up side the head with the flat edge and sent Carly stumbling, away from the lever. Carly was momentarily stunned and Aiden was forced to reach out and drag her out of the fire when she made no move to do so herself.

M'redith stomped over to Carly, grabbed her by the front of her robe, and pulled Carly up on to her toes. She glared at Carly with fury, who looked at her with quiet resignation. Carly's eyes looked a little wild and her complexion had whitened considerably.

Jay was shocked. He had never seen M'redith look so angry. For a moment Jay actually thought that M'redith was about to hit Carly, but after a brief pause M'redith let go of Carly's robe and shoved her away from her – and away from the lever.

The fire had by then really gotten going and it would now be impossible for anyone to make it through the flames to the lever – there was just too much fire. Carly had missed her chance, and she knew it. Her expression darkened and she looked as if she had accepted her imminent death.

The rest of the group ogled at Carly's attempt to disobey M'redith in shock. Going against the group's leader was a huge violation of Guild rules. When they made it back, if they survived that is, Carly would be in for some serious punishment.

“Oh Goddess no, Aiden! Get over here!” M'redith said and Aiden quickly moved up next to her.

M'redith motioned towards Carly, who was not looking all that great. The fire raged next to them but hadn't moved out of the slice of the arena it currently occupied.

Aiden took one look at Carly and frowned deeply. “Crap,” he said and M'redith looked upset at his reaction. “Dungeon madness. She's going in to shock I think.”

“Can you do anything for her?” M'redith asked in a worried sounding tone.

“Do? Like what? I can slap her – sometimes that snaps people out of it, but I don't have anything I can cast on her, if that's what you're asking,” Aiden said a bit loudly so that he could be heard over the adjacent flames.

M'redith looked incredibly frustrated but knew that dungeon madness was never the victim's fault. It just happened to some people. Unfortunately it was now happening at the worst possible time.

Norri came over and led Carly a bit away from the group and talked with Carly for a moment quietly. Carly could be seen nodding her head occasionally but didn't talk much. Finally Carly gave one last head nod and the two returned to the group. Carly looked a little better but was still obviously having difficulties.

“You ok?” M'redith asked Carly.

Carly shook her head, “Let's just get out of here!”

M'redith frowned and was about to reply when an ear piercing shriek was heard and the giant elephant sized tick began to lurch towards them.