As Jake walked through the final hallway, he noticed a slow shift around him. Everything around him seemed to smoothen out. the floor going from a rocky trail to a paved path, the walls becoming like those of a stereotypical dungeon. even the Luminore seemed to shift from soft, scattered nightlights to that of focused spotlights, lining the ceiling.

As he continued down the hall, he was met with a sudden pressure, not unlike the berserker. However, this was different. While the berserker had malice surrounding it, the actions it took were barely focused. It was like he was dealing with a gangster; they had a rather basic understanding of combat, but that was it. Everything was still driven by instinct, making it sloppy. This, meanwhile, was different. The feeling he was met with was aggressive, yet focused. It seemed like whatever the source was, it was aware of its own power.

‘Cuts out the Ancient Salamander,’ he thought. That boss was only as intelligent as a long-lived animal could be. It could use tactics, it could be wary, it could be threatening. However, it was all either passive or instinctual, not fully deliberate. This, meanwhile, was a completely intentional threat.

As he walked through the hall, he paused when noticed something nearby. A small pile of bone fragments laid on the ground, with only a few remnants around. Walking over to the pile, he knelt down and grabbed one of the larger shards before looking it over. Covered in various nicks and a chunk of it shattered, it was clear that whatever did both had knowledge of melee combat that could rival a trained fighter and was well armed.

Only one boss fit all of those areas.

Getting up from his spot, he continued on, mentally coming up with a plan. He could try to use his pistol, pepper it with fire until it got weak enough. Death by a thousand cuts. Or bullet holes, rather. however, it would just get blocked by the shield it would most likely have.

Getting into melee is also an option, but a rather ill-advised one. Silently mulling over his choices, he eventually arrived at the boss room. Around the size of a basketball court, the floors and walls were littered with gashes, markings of numerous victories. However, Jake's eyes were focused on one thing. On the other side of the room, seemingly in a trance, stood the Warchief.

Riddled head to toe in scarred tissue, it held its arms in silence as it seemingly stared into space.

'Let's do this,' he thought. Might as well start it off.

Pulling both the blade and pistol out, he took aim at the head, aiming directly between the eyes before pulling the trigger.

Hearing the gunshot, the Warchief instinctively raised its shield, causing the shot to ricochet off into another direction.

Now.

Dashing forward like a bullet, he jammed his blade into its stomach, causing it to let out a roar of pain. Before it could fully respond, he quickly jumped back, ripping the blade out and leaving a large gash. Almost immediately, the Warchief charged at him, raising its greataxe before swinging downward, intent on dividing him in half. Side-stepping the strike, he quickly bent most of his body backwards as he dodged another swing, this one aimed for his meck. Putting his hands on the ground to steady himself, he saw that the warchief was right above him, gearing up for a strike with its shield. Twisting his body, he dashed out of the way of the attack, causing the warchief’s shield to dig into the stone floor. Turning his body to regain sight on his target, he saw a hail of stone coming his way. Focus. As the world started to slow, he quickly took aim at each rock before firing, with every bullet either knocking them out of the air or just straight turning them into dust.

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Shooting the last rock out of the air, he let out a small breath as he tensed up his body.

In his mind, only one word appeared:

Purge.

Suddenly letting out all the tension in his body, he dashed towards the boss like a bullet, catching it off guard. Once he got close enough, he slid underneath its legs before twisting his body and slashing at its tendons. Seeing the boss fall to its knees, he quickly went for a strike at its heart.

However, a sudden wave of pressure went over him, causing him to jump back instinctually. Tightening his grip on his weapons, he watched as the boss seemingly got back to its feet, a dark glow surrounding its body.

Upon seeing the boss in that state, he holstered his pistol before swapping the dagger between his hands.

Closing his eyes, he got into a stance before tensing up his body.

Wait for it.

Upon meeting the warchief’s eyes, he saw nothing but pure hatred in its eyes.

Letting out a loud roar, the Warchief rushed towards him.

‘Now,’ he thought before shooting forward like a bullet. Ducking under a swing, he jammed the blade into its throat before twisting his body and, with a single swing, slashed open its throat, painting the floor a crimson crescent.

As the body fell to the ground, a swarm of large roots suddenly appeared, wrapping the corpse and its weapons up like a cocoon. Stepping back, he watched as the sound of crunching bone and tearing flesh filled the room. However, that sound quickly stopped as a large flower bud started to bloom from the cocoon. Around the size of a basketball, he stepped towards it as it gave a soft white glow. Gingerly placing his hand on the bulb, it suddenly opened, showing him his reward. Inside the flower were three items. The first item was a Magos Boss Core. It looked similar to a Magos Core at first glance. In fact, the only thing that would be noticed would just be that it was a bit bigger. However, when he grabbed it and gave it a closer look, he noticed a few distinct differences. For one, it was rather warm. It wasn’t exactly hot, but it felt a bit like he was holding a lightbulb that was recently turned off. Another thing he noticed is that it's…decently smooth. While regular Cores felt like he was holding a piece of rock, this felt like he was holding a shot put ball.

The second item was a rather large fang, around the size of a small knife. Just by holding it, he felt…something pass through him. He couldn’t really have a solid read on what it was, but it sorta felt odd. It was like his body suddenly got tense for a bit. However, he decided to just not really think about it. After all, it’s nothing important.

The final item he took was a stone around the size of a golf ball. As he looked it over, he saw that it sorta looked like an eye.

Odd, but it could be useful.

‘Now then, time to leave,’ he thought before walking out of the boss room.

----------------------------------------

Upon exiting the dungeon, he was met with the same orange sky he saw on the way here. However, considering it’s a shade lighter, a decent amount of time must've passed. Walking towards the truck, he saw that Brunette was just sitting in the driver’s seat, seemingly asleep.

Time to wake them up. Taking a couple steps back, he quickly dashed forward before letting out a forward kick into the driver's side, snapping Brunette awake.

Nothing like force as a good wakeup call.

“Wh-what’s going on?!” she exclaimed, looking around frantically. Lightly tapping her shoulder, her head snapped in his direction.

"I'm back," he said, giving her a small peace sign. Before she could even say anything, he hopped into the truck bed before tapping the side. Hearing a sigh come from Brunette, the truck roared to life before driving back towards Northwater, the soft glow covering them.

oft glow covering them.