The first door we reached was the entrance to a quaint hovel in the middle of the woods. The door had a yellow moon inscribed on its surface. Blood splatters, scorch marks, and bullet casings in the small clearing around the hovel spoke of a fight.
“Seems like someone has already cleared this site. Not a surprise, really.” Gylam grunted. He turned to me. “So, is this door good?”
I looked down at the [Delve Tracker] wrapped around my finger. The info packet the Guild Master had given us said the ring would light up at a certain distance from a suitable door. So far, I hadn’t spotted a single flicker.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
Gylam nodded. “Just as well. If the key to this door is found, it would be as expensive as a grassland key, with how close it is to town and that there don’t seem to be any enemies on the way. Next one shouldn’t be quite as expensive.”
“What do you mean?” Zuri asked.
Gylam tapped the side of his nose. “You’ll see.”
We silently stalked through the woods behind the huge man, on the lookout for enemies. When we were almost at the next door, Rufus let out a tiny squeak, and Gylam raised his hand, his fist closed. We all froze in place. He then opened his hand and slowly angled his arm until his palm was parallel to the ground, in the universal signal for “lower your profile”. We slowly took a knee, and my second-highest stat, Perception, kicked in.
Leaves and sticks crushed by a massive weight. Deep, loud snuffling. A grunt. Hooves. Coming closer.
I felt the breeze at my back, and my hackles rose.
The creature stopped. A loud sniff. A squeal of surprise. A huff of rage. A hoof digging at the ground. Oh shit. I think it’s going to-.
“Move!” I shouted and dove to the right. Zuri moved at the same time as me, and Gylam dove a heartbeat later to the left.
Just in time, too, as a massive figure two meters tall crashed through the tree ahead of us like it was made of paper and charged through the spot we were crouching in a moment before.
The massive creature slowed down and turned around, staring at the three of us with eyes full of rage. Four gnarly-looking horns covered in blood and gore jutted out of its pig-like snout. A pair of massive sharp antlers crowned its head.
“Rings preserve,” I heard Gylam croak. “That’s a boss monster.”
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[Crowned Behemoth Matriarch]
Level: 17
A unique and powerful mutation of the [Tusked Behemoth], the [Crowned Behemoth Matriarch] has vastly increased physical attributes complemented by unique abilities. Protects its territory with ferocity.
“Beware the wrath of a mother.”
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“Fuck me,” I whispered to myself. The behemoth snapped its head towards me. That wasn’t good. It snorted and charged.
I activated my [Uncanny Dodge] and jumped to the side, barely avoiding the creature’s charge. I deactivated my stance to preserve MP, raised my [Rail-Pistol], and activated [Metal Storm].
The beast started turning back towards me, and as soon as its full profile was in view, I pulled the trigger. The bullet shattered into six sharp pieces as it exited the barrel, and all six projectiles buried themselves into the Behemoth's side. It was obvious that I hadn’t done much real damage; the beast’s hide was too thick, but it did flinch.
It gave me enough time to aim down my sights and fire another [Metal Storm] at the creature’s head. The bullets flew true, but most bounced off of the creature’s shockingly thick skull. Despite not feeling my [Lucky Shot] passive activate, it seems luck was on my side because one of the projectiles did manage to inflict quite a lot of damage when it hit the beast in the eye.
It reared on its hind legs with a furious squeal, but before its hooves touched the ground, an arrow buried itself in the Behemoth’s back leg. A moment later, the arrow exploded, taking a large chunk of the boar’s thigh with it. The Behemoth, already unsteady on its two feet, lost its balance and fell to the ground with a loud thunk. I glanced back and saw Zuri lower her bow. I guess her normal gear came with a rapid switch subroutine because she was suddenly wearing her archery set.
Above my head flew Rufus with a vicious squeak. The little creature was hugging a small steel ball and was heading straight for the massive beast. The Behemoth was trying to get to its feet, but was having trouble on account of half of its leg being blown off. Rufus flew between the creature’s antlers, and in the span of a heartbeat, the ball started glowing red and then yellow.
Rufus let out another squeak, and suddenly, the metal ball flowed around the ferret, wrapping around his whiskers and extending them into long, flexible blades. The metal hardened as he landed on its back. He started jumping and tossing his head around wildly, causing his long metal whiskers to carve shallow furrows into the beast’s back.
With a deafening roar of pain, the monster got to its feet, shaking its body wildly, trying to get Rufus off. The little ferret was almost thrown off, but he managed to grab onto the Behemoth’s side. As he held on for dear life, the monster’s movements caused his whiskers to flail around, causing even more damage to the beast.
Gylam aimed and fired his shotgun at the gaping wound Zuri had created, the pain adding to the beast’s confusion and rage. I scrambled to my feet, and we used the momentary reprieve to spread out. Just as Zuri fired another arrow, I aimed and fired off a bullet at the monster’s head. Unfortunately, its wild tossing caused me to miss, my bullet bouncing off one of its antlers instead.
Pain exploded in my head, excruciating despite my [Pain Tolerance], and the world went silent. I fell on my knees, clutching at my bleeding ears, watching from the corner of my vision as Zuri and Gylam did the same. With effort, I looked up and saw that the antlers were fuzzy. No, they were vibrating. Nausea assaulted me. My HP started rapidly dropping as the nanites controlled by the gem lodged in my chest fought to heal the constant stream of damage.
The Matriarch stopped her thrashing and looked down at us imperiously, with one eye ruined and another filled with hatred. Rufus was still clinging to her. He opened his mouth for a squeak nobody save maybe the Behemoth could hear, and his fur glowed incandescent for a second.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The metal around his whiskers melted and flowed through his fur and around his claws, creating a nasty set of talons to claw away at the beast.
The sudden shift in tactics caused the matriarch to flinch with surprise and try to look at what Rufus was doing, but the ferret had gotten to the Behemoth’s blind side. It turned towards us, and its back leg buckled for a moment. It’s eye locked on Gylam. It pawed at the ground. The ferret tried to bury itself in the creature, clawing wildly at its hide, but it was too tough. It would take too long. The Behemoth was about to charge straight at Gylam, writhing on the ground, his mouth open in a silent scream.
I looked around in a panic, trying to figure out how to make the pain stop. How to prevent the beast from turning our guide into a paste. My mind screamed at me to activate [Unflinching Fortitude], but I suspected the only thing that allowed me to retain some of my wits was my [Pain Tolerance] hard at work. I couldn’t afford the 10% hit to Wisdom. I looked at the ferret again and had an idea. I just hoped the little critter would understand.
With a herculean effort, I raised my [Rail-Pistol] and aimed in Rufus’ direction. My eyesight started getting blurry as my HP dipped below a quarter. I momentarily turned [Uncanny Dodge] back on, hoping the increase in Perception would be enough. I silently urged my [Lucky Shot] to trigger, activated [Magma Bullet], and fired.
To my relief, [Lucky Shot] activated, and the bullet hit the wound where Rufus was digging, missing the critter by a hair’s breadth. The molten projectile’s increased piercing damage and Rufus’ efforts caused it to bury itself deep inside the Behemoth’s body. The beast stumbled and screamed in pain, its cries inaudible to us, but I could still feel the vibrations in the air.
Rufus turned to me, then the wound, then back at me. His tail wagged once, and then he started clawing at the opening, quickly burying himself in the monster. The Behemoth reared up in pain once more, starting to thrash wildly about, Gylam entirely forgotten.
Suddenly, the terrible sound assaulting us cut out, and my HP stopped dropping. Both Zuri and Gylam were lying on the ground, unmoving. With a pop, and at the cost of one more of my precious HP, I could hear once more. The desperate squeals of the Behemoth and the noise as it thrashed around, slamming its body against nearby trees, filled my ears.
I stumbled to my feet, and the Behemoth, one eye filled with agony and madness, turned towards me. It screamed and charged. My legs trembled. I couldn’t get out of the way fast enough.
Then, something inside the Behemoth snapped, and its legs gave out under it like a puppet whose strings had been cut. It slammed into the ground, the sheer momentum behind its charge causing it to continue sliding towards me for a few meters.
It stayed there, its eye rolling wildly in its socket, squealing, grunting, and whimpering. I glanced at the unconscious Gylam and then back at the Behemoth Matriarch. I could feel her hot breath coming out in hoarse wheezes from several paces away.
I slowly stumbled forward, my vision still swimming, as my HP started back climbing up. The Behemoth lay unmoving, its breaths labored. I looked into its eye and saw rage, resignation, and… grief?
I activated [Apostate’s Blade]. My mechanical right arm transformed into its sword form, the red holohaptic edges of the blade softly glowing. The Matriarch closed her one remaining eye and let out a wheezing whine.
I took a deep breath and sunk my blade into the boss monster’s already ruined eyeball, the sword going through the open wound and into the monster’s brain with close to no resistance.
The [Crowned Behemoth Matriarch] grew still.
A blood-covered Rufus emerged from the hole I helped him create, and tiny, sharp metal teeth fell out of his mouth as the metal around his claws fell away. Guess now I knew what he’d done with the metal from the [Magma Bullet]. Clever little bugger.
Zuri was already stirring, her equipment doubtlessly having at least one powerful healing subroutine, but Gylam remained unmoving. I hurried over to the giant man, concerned that the sonic attack from the Behemoth had killed him. Thankfully, his chest was moving, but barely. He was in a bad state.
The large man was lying unconscious on his side, and a slow trickle of blood came out of his ears, nose, and, worst of all, his mouth. The man probably had no protections against sonic attacks or healing subroutines. The blood running from his mouth indicated something had ruptured internally. His breaths were getting shallower. Fuck me, this guy was dying.
Rufus ran up to Gylam’s side and dove inside his cloak, rummaging around.
I had no time to worry about the critter. I looked at my inventory and grimaced. Each person was allowed to bring only three [Full Restore Injectors] in the Delve-Lands. Between Zuri and me, we had six. Using one of them in the first chamber stung, but there was never another option. I couldn’t let the man die.
I grabbed the [Full Restore Injector] out of my inventory and slammed the injector into the man’s arm. He woke up with a yell and proceeded to cough out all the blood in his lungs. “You good?” I asked him, patting him on the back.
Gylam nodded and stared at the Behemoth’s body through his goggles. “You killed it.”
I winced. “Barely. If not for Rufus, I think we’d all be dead. Good job, little fella.” I looked at Rufus, who poked his head out of Gylam’s dark green jacket.
Gylam looked down at Rufus, who was holding onto a [Full Restore Injector]. Where did he get that from? “Wait,” Gylam said. “That’s my injector. I put a little mark on it. How did I…” Gylam’s head snapped to me. “You used your [Full Restore Injector] on me?”
Gylam had an injector on him. Figures. “Well, yeah, I couldn’t just leave you to die, and I had no idea what Rufus was doing, so I made the call,” I said with a shrug.
“And you chose to use one of your injectors on me?” Gylam repeated.
I glanced at Zuri, who was rubbing her temples as she walked closer. "Uh, yeah? The other alternative in my mind was to let you die. I wasn’t about to do that.”
“Plenty of people ain’t so decent as you,” Gylam muttered. “Would have used me bein’ useless on the ground as bait to distract the Behemoth, save their friends, and get some distance.” he got up to his feet with a grunt and offered me his [Full Restore Injector]. “Look, I ain’t got enough money to pay for your injector, so take mine.”
I raised my hands and took a step back. “Keep it. Your defenses aren’t as strong as ours, you’re more likely to need it. And if you can’t afford an injector, I won’t take the last one from you.”
Gylam looked at me askance and then nodded to himself. “Alright. I’ll keep it.” Rufus plucked the injector from his fingers and dove back into Gylam’s clothes.
“That was certainly unexpected,” Zuri said, sighing as she wiped away the dried blood on her ears. “But Rings, what a beast.”
“I’ll say,” Gylam grunted. “Behemoths ain’t supposed to come this far down. They usually stick to their territory, which is a couple of hours to the north.” He turned to the dead body of the beast. “Something must have happened for a Matriarch to be stalkin’ these woods. A rare variant like her should have been in her den protecting her treasures.”
“How did we survive, anyway?” Zuri huffed. “I passed out towards the end there.”
I pointed at a ripped-up, charred hole in the Behemoth’s body. “Shot it with a superheated bullet. Rufus used that to dig in and somehow incapacitate the best. I have no idea what he did, but as the Behemoth started to charge, its legs collapsed from under it. Finishing it off was easy.”
Gyllam grunted again and brought Rufus out, affectionately petting the ferret on his head. “Tusked Behemoths are tough. Real tough. Their hide, muscles, and organs are very resilient to damage. Most of the time, it's a battle of attrition with a Behemoth, but Rufus can take advantage of one of their weaknesses. Y’see, Behemoth nerves are just as fragile as everyone else’s. They have the nerves responsible for the movement of their limbs that go through the center of their bodies in a bundle, protected by all the tough organs. Rufus probably chewed through that.”
“Explains the metal teeth,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Zuri asked, cracking her neck with a wince.
I waved her question off. “Nothing of importance. Just muttering to myself.” I turned to the Behemoth and smiled. “We have more important things to take care of.”
We did the work; now it was time to reap the rewards. After that, maybe we could figure out why a rare boss-tier monster was out here, so far away from its den. Who knew, maybe it could lead us to a door or, even better, a key.