Drew grabbed his ax and rushed the cliff to see the enemy. Down below, the pair appeared to have been returning to the path when they were ambushed. A single cat monster had blocked their path.
It was the same monster they had seen previously that had taken some of the cooked meat.
He could see the black coat reflecting the last light of the setting sun.
It had come out to prowl the sandy banks in search of food while the sun was low only to stumble on his companions on their way home.
Drew began rushing down the path before the fight could pick up. It appeared to have Nurgle in its hypnotizing gaze. The cat slowly slinked around, unsure of what to do with the plushy that seemed unaffected by its stare.
It got close enough to the pair to pounce on them when Drew came barreling down the path. The loud ruckus he caused startled the house cat and sent in jumping multiple feet in the air.
Drew circled the monster with the pond at his back while it hissed at him. Its black hair stood up tall, seemingly ready to fight to the death with the new intruder.
The trio finally reconnected and prepared themselves for the clash.
The cat stared them down, glancing behind them every few seconds. The beast seemed just as unsure of the fight as they did. Something unsettled Drew when he looked at the monster. The same violence that had been there in all of the other monsters they had faced was not visible in its demeanor.
He looked behind them and saw what the beast had been looking at. All the parts of their meeting fell into place. Where a normal monster would either flee or rush them with bloody abandon, this thing had watched them and looked to be weighing its options.
Behind the trio sat the spoils of war. Nurgle and Sapphire had left the bodies of all of the monsters they had killed laying on the ground. The frogs sat behind them in various states of disarray.
Drew led his companions to the side of the pond and rotated around the cat monster. It followed them all the way. Drew avoided its gaze in fear of being hypnotized like the first time.
The monster refused to turn its back on them in fear of being attacked but its vision flicked behind it periodically.
The trio slowly backed up the path until Drew felt confident they could get away without being pounced on from behind. He picked his summons up and ran back to their base.
The monster only seemed interested in the food they killed. It was a good trade if the alternative was possible death.
“Master, I believe we could have defeated the beast. It looked rather skinny and ill suited for a three on one fight.” Sapphire voiced her displeasure at the outcome.
“It really just wanted the frog meat behind you guys. Don’t see a reason to fight something that isn’t trying to kill us, plus I don’t want any of us to get mauled for no good reason.” Drew tried to cover all of his bases to end the conversation before it started.
“If you have seen it before, why has it not come to kill us in our sleep? Last night would have been perfect for that. It was only Nurgle watching you sleep. It could have come in and taken us out one by one.”
“Wow, that's a real boost of confidence right there. Thanks.” Drew sat down near his recently repaired clothes and watched the sun set. He glanced over at his companions. “Did you guys have fun?”
Nurgle slapped his sides in joy at their recent expedition.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Drew thought he saw Sapphire watching the cyclops' response quite closely . He did seem much happier after the dungeon dive even with the near death event.
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Maybe he just needs more time to get back into fighting? He was unsure, but he wasn’t going to deny him what he was meant for.
They all hunkered down for the night and slept the darkness away.
They woke up to the sounds of splashing water from down below. The background noise of the waterfall rushing was eclipsed entirely.
Drew crawled to the edge and peeked over the side.
https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F0epbi7s.jpg [https://i.imgur.com/0epbi7s.jpg]
A herd of blue creatures of varying shapes and sizes were being chased by a rainbow colored dinosaur. They were easily ten feet tall and fast to boot.
The creatures flew through the water and into the jungle. They were only in sight for a few seconds but they roused him enough to make going back to sleep an impossible challenge.
He waited for everyone to wake up and practiced his knitting in the meantime.
A few hours after the sun had fully illuminated the land, both of his companions stirred from their sleep.
His arm and ribs felt completely fine after the night of rest thanks to Sapphire and the magical recovery of the planet's magic leaving him in perfect shape to tackle the dungeon and move on to the next floor.
He would even say that he felt better than ever. His arms felt loose and powerful compared to only a few days before.
The trio entered the dungeon, excited to fight after their short hiatus, and raced for the best time they could achieve. The random shamblers and lieutenants were obliterated in record time.
They barely faltered in their steps with each small group. Nurgle ran alongside his master, completely different from the last incursion, while Sapphire was carried on Drews back in a new harness he created with his sewing skills.
They were light on their feet and reached the end in a similar time it originally took them to clear the first few fights.
The trio walked through the last door and began the boss fight.
The boss advanced like normal and they stuck to the tried and true tactics that let them fight it without fear of death unlike the last time.
The barrage of blows from so many sources destroyed it incredibly quickly. It rarely found time to fight back against the constant hits. It was juggled from the blows surrounding it, killing it before anyone could even be touched.
Congratulations on clearing the Dungeon Hidden Behind the Falls floor 1 You rank in the top 1 percent of all participants for clear time. Congratulations Maximum additional rewards provided.
Drew checked his fanny pack for the items and found a bundle of things he didn’t remember from last time.
A new ring sat at the bottom which he quickly snatched up and equipped. No immediate rush knocked him on his ass like it had done before but a tight feeling did spread out from his chest in a much slower wave.
A nearly Identical cleaver to match Nurgle’s other kitchen utensil sat near a pile of health potions.
He balked at the items. How could he have been so stupid? He didn’t even try to drink a potion and he already had a couple of them in his fanny pack from the last win
He filed that problem away and looked around to avoid looking at his near fatal mistake.
A metal flank with strange swirls laid down beside the vials. He inspected it before unscrewing the top and pouring a small amount out. It looked and smelled just like water. The taste confirmed it was just normal water. It didn’t hurt to have more containers, it was just weird it was considered a high tier reward. On the other hand it was literally floor one so he did not expect a lot from it.
The last item was a silver bracelet. Drew was tempted to wear it, but, upon withdrawing it, Sapphire took extreme notice and refused to take her eyes off of it.
“Would you like this… necklace?” He held it down to the elephant and she seemed to tap her feet quickly on the ground at the thought.
Maybe that was her version of the leg slaps that Nurgle did when he was happy? The plushy turned around and let her master secure the bracelet around her neck.
“How do I look?” The proud monster seemed ready to strut her stuff as she raised her head high so all could see her new accessory.
“Great. Let's get a move on now that we all got our upgrades. I have a good feeling about this.” She looked disappointed at the dismissal but moved on to the task at hand.
The group moved to the set of stairs at the back of the room and looked into the darkness ahead. Nurgle’s nervous tendencies came to light and he hid behind his master's leg.
“Well, no reason to wimp out now. Let’s do this shit!” The trio entered the dark corridor and followed the path down.