Welcome to Floor 20: Lone Titans Limbo (Semi-Instanced)(Raid Boss)
Defeat the titan wandering the floor.
Upon entering the floor, the first thing that came to mind was just how accurate the name of it was. Limbo was the perfect way to describe the landscape I found myself in. The floor was packed dirt as far as the eye could see with not a single hill, tree, or patch of grass to be found. The sky was an overcast gray, but still emitted enough light to give off the impression of it being mid morning.
Looking around, the titan that the notification had spoken of wasn’t in the immediate area. Squinting harder and scanning the horizon, I could make out the only imperfection on the otherwise perfectly straight divide between earth and sky. The small bump on the horizon moved, confirming that it was at least something alive. The only thing it could really be was the titan.
I began running towards it, my feet pounding against the floor. With a quick leap, I gained enough height to begin gliding with the assistance of my new cloak. The landscape beneath me flew by, with me only needing to push off of it once every hundred meters or so. The sprint towards the monster was long, taking nearly a full minute to cross the distance between the two of us.
It had been hard to judge the sheer size of this monster before I’d gotten this close, but now that I could make it out more clearly, I was more than a little intimidated. By my best guess, it had to be somewhere around 20 meters tall.
The titan had a very human-like body, with some exceptions. Its legs were longer compared to the rest of it, and its neck was almost non-existent with how short it was. It had thick muscles that wrapped all around his body, and upon noticing me every fiber of said muscles tensed up as it began lumbering towards me.
The speed that the monster was able to move its body was a little terrifying, especially considering the weight it must be carrying around. It wasn’t quite as quick as my top speed, but it wasn’t too far off. Every step it took shook the earth around it, and dirt was kicked up into the air around it.
With all of the speed and momentum I had built up while gliding, I was confident in being able to get a good opening attack in. Mana Bolts flew towards the giant, splitting in the air as they were empowered further by the mana in my aura. They were all headed straight for the face of Titan. An arm came up to block my attacks, nullifying most of the damage, but my intent had been to distract the massive creature.
I finally reached the titan, rocketing between its feet as my mana dagger sliced through its ankle. It cut all the way to the other side, though the cut was only about 20 centimeters deep compared to over meter thick ankles.
Some of my momentum had been slowed down by the attack, but I was still moving fast enough to avoid any counter the titan could have attempted. The distance between me and the monster quickly grew, and I began circling around for another round. Right now, my sole focus was on slowing this thing down. If I could ensure it wouldn’t be able to catch up to me, I could pick away at it with spells at a distance until it died. Even if I didn’t have enough mana in my entire mana pool to kill it with just spells, my mana could regenerate over time. Unlike most fights I found myself in, this was a battle of attrition I saw myself winning.
The titan clearly had some other plans in mind, as when I circled around for my second strike it did something I had not been expecting.
The earth beneath my feet was suddenly sent high into the air as the titan dragged up the dirt below it to form a weak but effective barrier against my speed. I slammed into the airborne dirt, the fragments of rock smacking against my mana shield with quite a lot of force. My attack still landed, but with much less to show for it than the previous one had. I was now brought to a near stand still, and before I could recover and retreat, the titan pulled back its long leg and punted me.
I had figured there must be some sort of trade off for being this size, and speed was obviously what this monster had traded for its sheer size. What I can tell you for damn sure is that it didn’t sacrifice its strength to grow larger. They say it’s not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop. I never liked the saying, as it was like saying the bullets kill you as opposed to the gun, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that my stats meant the sudden acceleration didn’t hurt much, and my mana shield blocked the direct impact of the monster’s foot.
What it could not stop was the speed at which I now found myself flying through the air and away from the titan. A few hundred kilometers per hour was the absolute minimum I would dare to estimate. I was burning mana in an attempt to slow myself, and infusing mana into my cloak to prevent me from smacking into the ground, but it still hurt when my feet eventually did make contact and I found myself skidding across the ground. I had deactivated my mana shield because while it could have prevented the damage, I also really didn’t want to incur the cost of dampening all that, so I just decided to tank the damage and hope the armor I wore was up to the challenge.
When I finally stopped and got my footing, I had blood running down my cheek from where my face had smacked into the ground. I was bruised all over and everything generally just hurt. I didn’t have time to think about the pain though, as the titan was already running towards me once more. It had a noticeable limp now, not that it slowed it down much. Now that it had found a counter to my trick of speeding past it like a bullet, I would have to come up with something else. The titan was rapidly getting closer, so I did the only thing I could think of to deal damage while saving mana.
A wall of mana appeared in front of me, firing towards the massive monster and hitting it right in the ankles. It stumbled forward just a bit, but when I turned the wall into a blast of concussive mana it fully swept its feet out from under it. With how large the monster was it almost looked as if it was falling in slow motion.
Spikes of mana appeared below the titan, and it landed right on them as it crashed to the ground. They had managed to pierce the tough skin of the monster, forming holes all across its front. I didn’t want to give it too much time to recover, and I ran over to finish off what my first attack had started.
The titan screeched as my dagger hacked into its ankle again and again. I managed to gut down through its Achilles tendon and to the bone before it finally kicked me away again. I used my mana shield this time to block most of the terrain damage since I didn’t fly nearly as far.
The titan tries to stand, but quickly finds itself unable to put weight on its right foot. I scream towards me, sinking its hand into the ground and pulling up a massive ball of soil and rocks.
My eyes widen and I run to the side, narrowly avoiding the hail of small rocks threatening to hit me. A few manage to, though each individual one isn’t too much to worry about. If it had hit me head on, I would have been buried in the small pile of dirt and my mana would take a very significant hit.
More and more of these chunks of dirt were thrown my way, leaving craters and small piles of dirt scattered across the once flat landscape. I was not simply avoiding the attacks though. I was sending out dozens of spikes of mana to chip away at the impressive constitution of the monster. It was too large to avoid the attacks, so it simply did its best to take the attacks on its arms, where the skin seemed to be the thickest.
Eventually the giant shouted again, and slammed both fists on the ground hard enough to draw blood from its knuckles. I could sense man flow outward from it in a circle. It dawned on me just then how much magic its body must be able to hold. Even if it had a relatively low mind stat, such a large container for mana would be a waste not to utilize.
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Walls of stone rose all around us, each one as tall as the titan itself. It still left plenty of room to move around though, so I didn’t have to worry too much about getting cornered.
At least, that is what I had been thinking right up until the first of the walls started moving. With a loud scraping noise, the walls began to slowly close in with the obvious end goal to box me into a confined space with the titan. Even worse, the extra earth that wasn’t being used as the walls got closer together was being put towards making them taller. Soon enough they would likely be too tall for me to escape over.
Making a quick decision, I decide to sprint straight towards the titan. If I retreated and moved outside of the walls, then the raid boss would have a massive fortification of stone protecting it. I might be able to burrow a hole through to get back in, but the titan would probably just collapse my path through and suffocate me in the wall.
This was no longer a battle of attrition. I had just been put on a time limit, and it was not a very forgiving one. As I got closer I tried to think of a plan to deal enough damage to kill this thing in time. Mana bolts wouldn’t be enough in this small amount of time. Mana spikes would suffer from the same problem. The sword I had stored away in my aura was much longer than my dagger and could probably do some meaningful damage, but if I was that close anyways I had better options.
To me, the only path forward looked to be one I’d tread several times before. It was time to fall back on ole reliable.
As I get close to the titan, I leap high into the air, using my cloak to prolong my airtime as I level with the monster’s head. A concussive mana blast sent behind me propels me towards the titans face far faster than it had been expecting. It can’t turn its head much due to its general lack of a neck, so when I land on its shoulder all it can do is try to grab me with its hands.
By the time the boss’ hand smacks down on its shoulder, I’d already delivered a double cast of mana blast straight into its ear and found my way into the other shoulder. It smacked that one too, having taken another double serving of my favorite spell.
I briefly wonder how well the spell would work with my new spell split skill. It wasn’t exactly a projectile, but it did use the same skill my mana bolts did. I may as well give it a shot. I’ll even spend a few seconds charging it up to add that extra umph.
Mana absolutely bled out of my system as I cast mana blast, using spell split to duplicate it five times over and empowering each of those casts to be nearly as strong as the original.
The resulting shockwave sent through the head of the titan caved in its skull. I almost thought that had been enough to kill it, but the damn thing still stood. It swatted me out of the air and I crashed into one of the walls around us. They were now over triple the height of the titan and only about 50 meters away. I had less than a minute before I was absolutely screwed.
Well, if that thing can survive traumatic brain damage, lets see how it can handle not having any brain left to damage.
I kicked off the wall, gliding towards the titan once more. It had launched me at an upwards angle, so I was coming down from above now. I tried to throw a few handfuls of earth my way, but none of them came close to hitting me. Using mana conversion to maneuver through the air allowed me to avoid them easily enough.
By the time I was within arms reach, I was already close enough to accomplish what I wanted. The monster was swinging an arm towards me to slam me into the ground, but its fate had already been sealed.
Behind the titans head, three spikes of mana appeared, standing completely still in the air. With them just barely within reach of my aura, I duplicated them so there were now 12. Using the first ever effect of my trait I had learned, I cast an arcane blast right behind the spikes of mana, rocketing them towards the now much more vulnerable head of the titan. It seemed to sense the imminent danger, and tried to move its head to the side to avoid the fatal strike. Given that all of this happened in less than a second, the result occurred far too quickly for the impressive reaction time of the titan to save it.
The spikes of mana pierced deep into the skull of the titan, piercing its brain and doing significant damage. The monster roared in pain, but was still alive for the time being. Now that the spikes were embedded in the soft tissue of the brain, they no longer needed the piercing capabilities that they were usually used for. I duplicate six of the spikes a done times each, not wasting the mana to empower the now much weaker mini spells. The remaining three mana spikes are all detonated in a concussive blast, scattering all of the mini spikes throughout the cranium of the titan.
To put it simply, I just detonated a grenade right inside of the titans head.
I’d been partially expecting the titans head to just explode in a firework show of brain matter and blood, but the impressive durability of the skull prevented that from happening. I never would have been able to pierce through it if I hadn’t first shattered it with the strongest use of arcane blast I could muster.
The walls stopped closing in around me, having been just 30 meters away in all directions. I had definitely cut that a bit close.
You have slain Titan Juvenile (Level 70) (Raid Boss)
Bonus experience earned for slaying a raid boss without assistance. Bonus experience earned for fighting an enemy of a higher level.
“That... wasn’t even a fully grown titan!” I shout, staring in awe at the system notification. Just how big could these things get? That was almost unbelievable. At a certain point just how much did you have to sacrifice to grow bigger?
I shake my head, clearing away the thoughts and turning back to my notifications. The one I’d gotten from slaying the raid boss had not been the only one I’d received. Far from it.
You are now level 63
You are now level 64
You are now level 65
You are now level 66
Your title, King Killer, has been upgraded.
Arcane Splinter (Epic) Has been upgraded to Arcane Shatter (Special)
You have completed floor 20!
As a reward for clearing floor 20, you are allowed to keep one item you have gained on these chain floors.
“The cloak! Give me the cloak!” I shout, my body immediately filling with excitement. Nothing even came close to the utility that would be granted by this cloak.
Every item I’d acquired from the past five floors vanishes in an instant. All except for my cloak. I admire it for a moment, now truly feeling like it was mine. Before it had felt borrowed since I knew I’d be losing it soon, but now it felt like it was really mine. It was a comforting feeling. I read through the descriptions of my upgraded title and skill while I waited for some of my mana to regenerate.
King Killer
You have proven to be capable of punching above your weight class and besting the odds when the numbers are not in your favor. Be it a difference in level, size, or status, you persevere. Provides a bonus to all stats when fighting an enemy of a higher level or much greater size, and a larger bonus when fighting a system recognized boss monster. Grants +10% to mind and spirit, and +15% to body.
The effects of the skill had slightly improved, and I now also got a bonus when fighting enemies who were much larger than myself. Over all, a solid bonus.
Arcane Shatter
Fire a spike of mana, sacrificing damage for penetrative power. Alternatively, fire a more powerful spike of mana at a closer range for an increased cost. The surface of the mana spike is covered in smaller spike to increase damage done. Attacks with this spell can be charged for a short time to increase damage output without increasing the mana cost. Mana spikes can be detonated into fast moving shrapnel upon impact.
Recognition for the stunt I had pulled to kill the titan. It was very nice to see the upgrade, as now I could perform a similar effect with just one mana spike instead of needing several like I had used before. This upgrade also marked the first time that it has made a serious divergence from my main spell, Arcane Flash. The only advantage it gave before was armor penetration, but now it was so much more than just that. I couldn’t wait to figure out more ways to utilize it.
The staircase to the next floor appears by the titans feet, and I almost walk down it before I take a moment to think. I look up at the body of the titan. Aside from the head and a few holes on its abdomen, it was mostly in one piece. Now that I’d switched my spirit stats’ focus to aura, and I’d gained a lot of levels, maybe it was time to see how large my spacial storage now was.
I place a hand on the calf of the fallen titan and activate the enchantment I’d made in my arm. I double over as all of the mana in both my aura and body are immediately used up, leaving me completely empty. The discomfort doesn’t subside, and the mana I regenerate is all getting poured into the enchantment. After almost an entire minute of this, The corpse of the giant disappears, and a loud clap can be heard as the void where the titans body had just been rapidly filled with air.
My aura was almost entirely full. The titans body was scrunched up tight, and it almost felt like it was deforming my aura, as if it was a balloon that had just been over inflated. The feeling is comparable to having over eaten at a buffet, just 10 times worse. I quickly hurry down the staircase, heading back to floor one. I sprint through the outpost in a hurry to find the only person I know who would have any semblance of an idea of what to do with this body.