The entire time Calista's party had to spend traversing the empty area near the boss room, they couldn't help but be nervous. They were confident enough that they could take down the boss [Monster] without much difficulties, but it still made them nervous that it could see them walking around. What if it attacked one of their weaker members, like her brother, when they weren't expecting it? It was one thing to fight the boss when they were ready for it, but it was another when they weren't expecting to be attacked. Luckily, the boss didn't seem interested in attacking until after they entered what it clearly considered its territory.
"Everyone ready?"
Cassia asked.
"Aye, as ready as I'll ever be."
Orik grunted in confirmation. Bellarth nodded in confirmation before saying
"I've mapped out the rest of the dungeon as best as I can. I'll have to wait until we get closer to confirm if there are any [Traps] or not."
Aramis and Calista were quick to confirm their readiness as well.
The ground was uneven with pools of murky swamp water even more abundant in the boss chamber. As they grew closer to the center of the room, the pools of water even grew deeper, making it clear that the goblin mage that served as a boss [Monster] would not be lacking water to attack with. Calista wasn't looking forward to getting hit with the foul water, but she set that thought aside.
In the center of the room stood the goblin. It was hunched over, its green skin glistening with moisture. It wore tattered blue mage's robes, far shorter than any she had ever seen before. In its hands, it clutched a wooden mage's staff that was taller than its own height, a blue water magic crystal affixed to the top of it. Even if they hadn't done research into what to expect from the dungeon, it would have been more than clear that the boss was a water elementalist.
The water in the nearby pools rippled in response to their arrival and a low, guttural growl escaped the goblin. It almost looked feral as it made its annoyance at their arrival clear.
"So, you’ve come to die, have you? Fools! This is my domain! Here, the water bends to my will!"
The goblin declared, its voice scratchy and its accent making its words difficult to understand. Most goblins couldn't even communicate with adventurers, but mages tended to have higher intelligence than the rest, so this wasn't entirely surprising.
With a tilt of its staff, the goblin summoned a wave of water from the pools around them. The water surged towards them, but they were hardly going to remain still. Cassia raised her voice as she called out
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"Sanctuary!"
A glowing barrier of light sprang up around them, the wave crashing against them harmlessly. The barrier pulsed with energy as a gentle, healing light washed over the group. They didn't need it now, but it was a nice bonus and made their leader quite dependable.
The goblin snarled in frustration, raising its staff to summon another attack. However, before it could, Cassia lashed out with her mace, easily landing a blow on the goblin. Orik and Bellarth both readied their ranged weapons, prepared to launch their attacks in quick succession. Calista didn't summon her golem yet as she felt it would only take up space and make it more difficult for the others. Instead, she pulled out a dagger from her waist, something she kept for emergencies, and stood at the ready in case she too needed to act.
The goblin screeched in rage, slamming its staff into the ground before summoning a geyser of water. The water crashed against the magic barrier, slowly diminishing its effectiveness until it broke. There was a limit to how much damage could be absorbed before it would have to be recast. Orik dodged the next attack that was aimed at him, cursing under his breath as he fired another bolt at the goblin. It struck the boss's shoulder, causing it to stumble.
The battle raged on, but nothing the goblin threw at them was very effective. Its spells were all low-level and easily blocked. The most it could do was summon water from the pools to create barriers or attack them. The slick, uneven ground was more of a hazard than it was.
Cassia and Aramis were the main damage dealers for the fight, swinging their mace and long staff with precision as they landed powerful blow after blow. The goblin did its best to dodge what attacks it could, but their party easily overwhelmed it thanks to the addition of arrows and crossbolts from Orik and Bellarth. It didn't take long before the boss [Monster's] injuries were too severe and it, finally, fell down dead.
Calista couldn't help but feel it was a shame she didn't get to participate in the battle. It would have been nice to get a share of the experience, even with how few a goblin would offer. They were still considered beginner [Monsters], after all, so even a boss-level goblin wouldn't offer much in the way of experience.
"That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Did you get everything you needed, brother?"
she asked. Her brother nodded as he confirmed
"Yep, I just need some time to compile my notes into a report for the guild and finish drawing the map before making the guild's copy. We'll need to decide whose rewards will be offered up as well so Aramis can send it off to the guild as well."
Aramis spoke up to add
"We still need to meet with the Dungeon master as well."
"That's assuming they are even willing to cooperate with us."
Orik said. The Dungeon Master was likely in the dungeon core room since they hadn't run into them yet. There were a few rooms they couldn't access in the inn, but Dungeon Masters were known for being overly cautious about outsiders getting close to the dungeon core room. Leaving it unguarded was almost entirely unheard of unless there was active work being done on the dungeon. Still, Orik wasn't wrong in saying that being able to find the Dungeon Master didn't guarantee they'd be willing to answer their questions and cooperate with them. Still, they had to try.