Ocean Mob

Olma

Proteunia Guardian

Level 25

“Olma is definitely here,” Owin said. He stood from his makeshift seat and immediately drew his wand to cast Magma Mine. He placed the trap in the middle of the floor. If Olma was blind like Ernie had claimed, it should be difficult for the mob to avoid the spell.

“We’re not quite done,” Ernie said.

“I’ll handle it. Finish getting the mushrooms.” Owin put away the wand, double checked both knives, and flipped them into a reverse grip.

Olma continued walking toward Owin, revealing more of its long white body. Red frills ran along the sides and like fins down its legs. Muscle rippled through its back as it turned and flipped its long, thin tail around the corner. The tail smashed into the wall, causing the stone to crack.

A low growl rumbled out of Olma, shaking Owin’s chest. He waited, watching the lizard swing its head back and forth as it prowled. Ernie had wanted the head left to harvest venom. At first, that sounded simple. Now, after looking upon the monster, it was difficult to imagine killing it without going for the head. That was usually the easiest way to kill something.

Olma lifted its head, pointing its snout at the ceiling. All the gills running up its neck flared open. Its head snapped down, locking on Owin as if the mob had just spotted him. Was it blind or not?

Owin took a step back as the mob's clawed feet scratched the stone. It inched forward slowly, taking small steps closer to the trap. Owin watched the pulsing red spell, waiting for it to release a stream of magma right into proteunia’s face.

Olma turned, whipping its tail around to brush over the spell. It moved so quickly that it caused a burst of water to smash into Owin and toss him backward. The tail was already past the trap by the time the magma rushed out, quickly hardening into another column.

Owin drifted through the water and gently crashed against the ground, unable to land directly on his feet. He righted himself just as Olma swiped through the column, crushing it into a million pieces.

“That was the easy way to win,” he muttered. The other wand only had a single charge too, and that only gave him Ice Bolt or Ice Aura. Owin shifted both knives to one hand, grabbed the white wand, and cast Ice Bolt right at the boss’s face. A ball of ice formed from the tip of the wand and launched through the water. Owin ran forward, rearming himself with both knives as he took quick strides.

As the spell hit Olma, Owin was already leaping. Unfortunately, the spell barely touched Olma. It shattered upon contact with the lizard, melting and vanishing into the water. Owin readied his knives as he prepared to crash into Olma’s face. A white, webbed paw swung, flashing in Owin’s peripheral view. He brought the knives up in time to catch the claws, but Olma’s huge size and strength still easily tossed Owin at the ground.

Minimal damage. He bounced off his feet, hopping backward as Olma stepped forward and swung another paw. The webbed foot churned the water, almost throwing Owin off balance.

How could it know his movements? Owin searched its face for anything that looked like eyes. It was all smooth from its lips to the frilled mane surrounding its head. Not an eye anywhere on its head.

Owin jumped to the side. Olma turned its head, tracking his movements. The lizard’s tail swung into the air, preparing for another whip like it had done to the mine. A few steps back took Owin out of its range, which made Olma relax.

A blind lizard, bigger than even the ogres Owin had fought, could see him without eyes. It had known there was a trap, and the Ice Bolt spell had done nothing. What did it mean?

Everyone kept telling him to think while fighting. Artivan had helped him with some basic tactics, at least not only jumping. Sanem had forced him to practice new ways of fighting, and Katalin continually reminded him to use his brain.

What was the connection? How could it know where Owin was without sight? Did he smell? He lifted an armpit and sniffed. In the water, it was difficult to tell. He probably did, but did he smell worse than anything else?

As much as his instincts screamed to jump and stab, Owin knew it was a bad idea. Every little movement, Olma reacted. A step to the right, its head followed. A flourish of the knife, the lizard tensed or prepared its tail for an attack. Instincts had served Owin well, but he needed to change things.

Owin slowly walked to the left wall, staring down Olma the whole time. The lizard took another step forward with its face still pointing at him. In another few steps, it would be blocking the alcove holding Katalin and Ernie.

He hadn’t made any real noise, and even if he did, Olma had no ears to pick it up. He didn’t smell any worse than anything else nearby. Olma had no sight, and they weren’t touching. That left only taste as a sense, and Owin couldn’t imagine any way that Olma could be tasting him. As if on cue, the lizard opened its mouth, showing the row of knife-sized fangs. Its gills flared open.

What would it be sensing?

Owin looked at the knives in his hands. Naxile’s curved knife was nothing special. It was a solid, sharp knife without any special properties. He had used it to carve out Kidibose’s heart, and it had served as a useful, if quickly dulling, weapon since. The lich bone knife was still fairly new since he had to keep it away to avoid luminous damage for a long time. The white lich bone dealt undead damage, making it a magical weapon.

Owin glanced up at the lizard and chucked the lich bone knife to the opposite side of the cave. Olma growled and tracked the knife until it hit the wall and fell to the ground. The lizard’s face immediately swept back to Owin. It took another step closer.

He could tell Ernie and Katalin to leave the alcove so they could slip around the back. Most sections of the cave were connected, so they could pass by the arches and loop around without having to fight the boss.

But that was boring, and he doubted the alchemists would support the idea. They wanted Owin to get stronger, and to get stronger, he had to keep using his brain. Owin ran to the opposite side of the cave, eliciting a small charge from Olma. It got close enough to whip its tail around, which was such an obvious attack that Owin almost dodged too early. He leapt over the tail and landed beside the lich bone knife. Owin dumped his bag and both wands, leaving only Naxile’s knife in his hand. Moments like this made him miss his stone knife, but he never had a chance to recover it back when he had thrown it while fighting the cetanthro swarm on the previous floor.

After dropping all his magical items, Owin slowly walked back to the other side, only for Olma to continue tracking him.

“Oh.” Owin walked back, dodged another tail swing, and took off his headband. Before he could take off any armor, Olma fully charged. Owin flattened himself to the ground as the lizard swung its clawed paws one after the other. It hit Owin’s bag, tossing the whole thing deeper into the cave. His wands and the lich bone scattered. Olma took a small step back, swinging its head all over, trying to track each magical item.

Owin quickly slipped off his pauldron and breastplate, leaving him with only a pair of pants. He hadn’t realized the breastplate had somehow destroyed his shirt. He dashed into the center of the cave and watched Olma continue turning its head to the different magical items, waiting for movement.

A few slow steps confirmed Olma wasn’t watching him anymore. The lizard likely didn’t even know Owin had stripped himself of magical items. He tried to remain quiet. Whether or not the lizard had ears, Owin didn’t want to be loud enough to be noticed. Maybe noise could be detected through water movements. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know.

After a few seconds, Owin stood behind Olma’s front right leg. The lizard was tense, ready to pounce as it watched the magical items. Its tail hovered in the air, ready to whip around again.

Owin had also been tense, ready to move as soon as the boss noticed him, but after a few seconds of standing there, Owin relaxed. Olma had no idea where he was. It felt kind of wrong to kill a boss when it couldn’t fight back. If he wanted to safely grab all of his belongings, he did need to kill it. At least it would respawn.

Owin shrugged and dropped low to the ground, crawling under the lizard. Where was its heart? He slid himself along the ground, watching for its beating heart. Three separate, distant parts beat at the same time. Owin waited, watching for another repeat.

Olma inched toward Owin’s dropped bag. Its tail waved, preparing to whip out and kill the bag, which Owin really hoped survived the attack. He didn’t have a better way to carry things.

All three spots beat again. One in the neck, one near Owin in its chest, and another in the rear, the tail. There was almost three feet between each one, so a quick attack on all three locations would be difficult if Olma reacted to being stabbed, which Owin assumed it wouldn’t enjoy.

The central one beat just above Owin again. His best option was to attack it, hoping it was the actual heart, and move somewhere safe until he figured out what else might need to be stabbed. This type of fighting didn’t sit well. Dodging and predicting was what made a fight interesting. But when Owin thought back to it, he did jump at and kill several heroes on the first floor when he awoke before they even realized what was happening. Those had been closer to assassinations than fights. He was originally a Goblin Darkblade, and he hadn’t escaped those roots, even if he was technically a wizard now.

Owin drove the knife into Olma’s chest. Red blood blossomed into the water as Naxile’s knife tore through the white flesh. Owin dragged it across as he slipped out from underneath Olma.

The massive lizard roared and reared up. It whipped its tail around, passing right where Owin had just been. Luckily, he had expected the attack and had already leapt to the wall. In the water, he could drift down slowly, easily dodging all of Olma’s thrashing.

By the time Owin’s feet touched the ground, the lizard had settled back down, spilling a ton of blood into the water. It walked backward, still watching the different magical items. While it made sense to sneak to the back and attack the beating heart near the tail, Owin didn’t want to simply cause the lizard pain. He wanted to kill it. A knife to the brain was the best option. It was always the best option.

Owin crept around to stand just beside Olma’s face. Its mouth hung open as the lizard continually growled. Its fangs were tipped with black drops of venom. According to the alchemists, that venom was worse than the bristle worm venom, but Owin didn’t plan to find out for sure. He jumped up, wrapped both hands around the knife’s handle, and drove the blade down as soon as his feet touched Olma’s head.

Just before the knife touched the white skin, Olma flicked its head up, launching Owin straight at the ceiling. The blade scored a line across its face as Owin flipped and smashed into the ceiling. Olma followed up the attack with some swings of its claws and a few whips of the tail, all missing Owin. Olma attacked wildly in every direction, except directly above where Owin was floating back down.

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The knife had split the skin enough to reveal its skull. Owin only needed to break that bone and he could end the lizard’s pain. It had reacted so quickly to his feet, so Owin needed to find a way to drive the knife down with force without landing.

He glanced back at the ceiling. He had jumped off walls to change his direction in the past. There was no reason he couldn’t do it again if Olma launched him back up to the ceiling.

He braced as his feet touched the lizard’s head. As predicted, Olma immediately flicked its head up again. Owin clutched the knife in both hands, holding it carefully as he was flung back to the ceiling. He twisted in the air, landing roughly on both feet in a crouch. With all his strength, Owin pushed off the top of the cave, launching himself like an arrow at Olma’s head. He extended his arms, pointing the knife straight down. The blade easily shattered Olma’s skull and tore into the lizard’s brain. Owin’s shoulder collided with Olma’s head, forcing him to let go of the knife and bounce off.

He landed on the stone ground, crushing a few mushrooms, before bouncing back to his feet. A quick scramble brought him to the white wand, which wasn’t the ideal weapon since it was out of charges. He pivoted, pointing the wand at the lizard, which swayed back and forth. Its front legs drifted into the water as more of its body went limp.

0 Experience

Owin let out a breath and slipped the wand into his belt. “It’s done.”

Katalin already stood in the narrow alcove entrance. “Damn.”

“Did you see all of that?”

“No, but I saw that.” She stepped out, cocked her head, and pointed to her own torso. “Where’s the armor?”

“Olma sensed magic, so I got rid of my magic items.”

“Where’s your shirt?”

Owin shrugged.

Ernie sidled through the entrance and stopped. “Why are you naked?”

“I’m not naked. I have pants.”

“Sure. Nice job.” Ernie leaned on the wall, still keeping a hand over his abdomen. “Is the venom still there?”

“It should be.” Owin went about collecting all of his things while Ernie and Katalin took a spare bottle and started extracting the black venom. It took a bit to find where some of it had gone. When he grabbed his breastplate, he held it up and turned it over, looking at it. His shirt had become the lining inside of it, and was apparently fused with the chitin. He figured it didn’t really matter since he wasn’t planning to usually go without armor.

After a minute, Owin finished fetching his items, except Naxile’s knife. He climbed on top of Olma’s head where a cloud of blood floated like a halo. The handle of the knife rested in the gash across the lizard’s head, while the blade remained lodged deep inside the brain.

“I lost another knife,” Owin said.

“What do you still have for weapons?” Katalin asked.

“Lich bone knife, my wands, and the hammer.”

“You’re running low, even if that’s still more weapons than anyone else carries,” Ernie said with a laugh. “You will find plenty more.” He held up a bottle of the black venom and swirled it. “This is worth more than anything else we harvested. We don’t even need to refine it or make a poison. Assassins will pay for the venom on its own.”

Owin climbed off the head, picked up his hammer, and took the bottle of venom. He was glad he didn’t find out how painful it was, but he did feel bad that the fight was so one sided. “Olma is strong.”

“Just wait for the floor boss,” Katalin said. “It’s the other one.”

“Now I know how to fight it.”

She patted his head. “Two more harvests and we’ll go fight the boss.”

Owin pushed against the body, which didn’t budge. “How do I find the loot when they’re this big?”

“It should drop right away. Search around,” Ernie said.

Owin circled the corpse, lifting the legs when he was able, eventually spotting a little band of cloth, not unlike the one wrapped around his head. “What’s this?”

Band of Dexterity

Apprentice Magical Item

When worn, the Band of Dexterity increases the wearer’s dexterity attribute by 5. If the band is severely damaged or taken off, the bonus points will vanish.

Note: Magical item effects do not vary by user

Owin brought it over and let each alchemist Examine it before he slipped it onto his left wrist. “It’s not that good, but it should still help.”

“For now, at least,” Ernie said. “Once you get gauntlets, you will want to replace that. It’s better than nothing.”

Hero

Owin

Deficient Wizard

Nimble Hog Hero Company

Level: 1

Strength: 216

Constitution: 140

Dexterity: 55*

Intelligence: 155

Wisdom: 24

Charisma: 60

Owin slipped the cloth band off his wrist and watched his dexterity drop back to 50. He placed it on again. “It works.”

“Obviously. The dungeon isn’t going to give you something that doesn’t even work.” Katalin nudged him with her elbow. “You’re the only deficient thing here.”

Ernie had his index open and pointed past Olma’s body, around the bend the lizard had appeared from. “Next one is going to be over there. We might catch a glimpse of Olmu, but we’ll wait to fight the floor boss. If we take longer than a half hour, you would have to fight the boss twice, and I don’t think you want to do that.”

“I don’t.” Once was enough for Olma. Even thinking about doing it again right now felt exhausting.

“There’s a bristle worm by the last mushrooms, but I think we can avoid fighting.” Ernie set off. He was moving a little better without hunching over or putting pressure on his abdomen. Owin was sure it still hurt, as plenty of Owin’s own body was in pain, but the alchemist was adapting.

They walked through the dark cave, past the huge corpse and the clouds of blood. Owin opened his own map of the floor, seeing their path swerve back and forth through the cave. Many routes were still shrouded in shadows. They looked like they all would connect, but he knew plenty were dead ends or looped in ways he wouldn’t have expected.

Ernie pulled various bottles from his bag as they walked, checking the contents of each one. He had the black venom, the silver worm blood, and Chaeta flesh all just from the fourth floor.

“Do you have more empty bottles?” Owin asked. He had been amazed at just how many bottles Ernie had brought.

“None. Olma’s venom is the last thing to collect other than the last mushrooms.” Ernie pointed to the left, turning down a small path. The gilled mushrooms were clearly visible growing against the base of the wall.

“Those aren’t even hidden.”

“These are probably the easiest to find,” Ernie said as he sat down. “Olma does patrol past here though, so if you didn’t fight the boss before, you would have here.”

Katalin yawned and crouched. She plucked a few mushrooms, but stared off into space as she did it. “I’m ready for a nap.”

“I can watch on the ferry ride back,” Owin said.

Katalin nodded as she yawned again. “That would be good.”

Even as they harvested the mushrooms, Owin stood guard, watching both directions down the cave.

It only took a few minutes to gather all the mushrooms and move on without incident. Ernie led them to the next spot, passing by Olmu, who looked identical to Olma. The huge white lizard waited patiently near the exit door and the stairs down to the fifth level. They stopped briefly, watching Olmu, before continuing. Ernie changed paths to avoid three more bristle worms until they eventually found the last cluster. It was the smallest, and a bristle worm patrolled nearby, but didn’t seem to notice as Ernie and Katalin quickly tossed the mushrooms into Ernie’s bag.

“It’s hard to believe we actually collected them all,” Katalin said. She yawned again. “I cannot wait to be outside this dungeon.”

“Last thing is the floor boss.” Ernie led them back the way they had come, avoiding the same worms. “We could slip past, if you wanted.”

They stopped at the edge of the cave. It opened back to a small area of sand, just like the stairs from the third floor. Owin could see the ocean surface far above and faint sunlight made the area look incredibly bright compared to the dim cave they had just traveled through.

“Skip it?” Owin asked.

“I know your tiny brain might just think about stabbing, but it would be safer and faster to sneak past and disappear through the exit,” Ernie said.

“I know how to beat it easily, but . . .” Owin sighed.

“But what?” Katalin asked. “You’re scared you’ll mess it up?”

“You’re going to think I have no brain, but I felt bad for killing Olma.”

Ernie scratched his cheek and watched Olmu as the lizard stood guard. “Kat?”

Katalin sighed. “Yeah.” She patted the top of Owin’s head. “Most people would say not to feel bad because they’re just mobs, but, well . . . they’re not, are they? Look at you.”

“Mobs respawn, like you know,” Ernie said. “I still think it’s good that you feel bad about it. Makes you different from most heroes.”

“I thought I was already different enough.”

Katalin tousled Owin’s hair, stirring some dirt and blood out that floated in the water. “Nothing is wrong with being different. Trust us. We’re far from normal, and Althowin is really fucking weird.”

“Understatement,” Ernie muttered.

“Let’s leave Olmu.” Katalin pulled her hand from his head and wiped the blood on his shoulder. “Next time you come through, you can fight if you want, or you can leave the lizard to do its lizard things and hop through the door.”

“Are you sure?” Owin asked.

“Honestly, it’s safer and faster if we don’t fight. You won’t get any complaints from me,” Ernie said. “You will have to keep Olmu busy long enough for us to run through the door.”

“Just make sure you don’t linger,” Katalin said. “I don’t want to sit outside worrying if you got eaten or not.”

“Okay.” Owin adjusted his belt, making sure his knife and wands were placed correctly. His bag sat on his hip and shoulder in a way that they wouldn’t swing around. The Thunderstrike Maul acted as a comforting weight on his shoulder, even if he hadn’t used it to its full power in a long time. He took a deep breath. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Katalin said with a smile. “Following your lead.”

Owin sprinted out of the cave, immediately drawing Olmu’s attention. The blind lizard swung its tail so fast that Owin barely had time to leap over. It caught his foot, causing him to spin and land on his back.

Ernie and Katalin ran around the outside following the boundary wall toward the stairs and the exit in the corner.

Owin watched their feet from beneath Olmu. The lizard reared up, flared its gills, and roared in a deep bellow. Owin smiled as Katalin bent down and made eye contact below the boss.

“Get up!”

Owin rolled and landed on his feet, barely dodging Olmu’s claws as they smashed into the sand. He dashed toward the boundary, following the cave wall. Katalin vanished through the exit, while Ernie waited, watching Owin.

“Go!” Owin shouted.

Ernie shook his head and waved him over. Owin jumped back, getting far out of the way of another swing. Olmu roared and flipped its tail in the air. Ernie pointed to the door.

“I’m trying!” Owin stepped to the side, watching the lizard’s tail. As soon as it whipped around, he jumped as far as he could toward the exit. One of Olmu’s paws caught him mid-jump. Claws scraped along the Thunderstrike Maul.

The blow pushed Owin to the ground where Olmu smashed both its paws down. Owin dove to the side, landing near Ernie.

“Really taking your time here, goblin.”

Owin scrambled to his feet and dove, tackling Ernie into the void nexus doorway.

Sunlight was unbearable. Owin gasped and covered his eyes. Even the noises were terrible. Every wave that crashed on the sandbar was louder than someone screaming. He had grown so used to the muted sounds of being under water. Even his skin felt sensitive as the breeze blew past.

“Oh, thank the fucking gods,” Katalin said.

Owin cracked an eye open to see Katalin standing upright with her arms outstretched. The sun shone directly on her face. Water dripped from her hair and clothes as if they had just walked out of the actual ocean.

Owin moved his arms and felt his clothes sticking to him. Water dripped in a steady stream from his bag, filtering through the cloth. “This is awful,” Owin said.

“Not great, is it?” Ernie helped Owin to his feet.

His eyes adjusted to the light, allowing him to fully take in his surroundings. They stood on the end of the sandbar just outside the small doorway. The entrance was about fifty feet away with nobody waiting outside.

“Ferry will probably be here soon,” Katalin said, yawning again. “It’ll bring a new batch of heroes, so try not to start any fights.”

“I don’t start the fights,” Owin said.

“I know, Owin. It’s a joke.” Katalin waved them over to where the ferry docked. She sat on the sand and rested her forehead on her knees. “Dry clothes, some whiskey, a hot meal, some more whiskey.”

“We need to bring Owin back to the Hogs first,” Ernie said.

“I know. Chorsay will have a drink with us.”

Ernie sat himself down and leaned on Katalin. “We can’t take the time for that. We’re already late.”

“Are we?”

“Yeah.” He leaned on her shoulder and closed his eyes. “Can you let us know when the ferry is close?”

“I’ll let you know,” Owin said. He sat on Katalin’s other side, resting his back against her. Minolitana Prima was barely visible in the distance as a pile of shapes and buildings on the shore. Some mountains lay beyond that. There was little else Owin could see from the sandbar. Everything else was just ocean, which he felt like he didn’t need to see for a long time.