Just like with the Infinite Block, our plans went through several revisions before it was finally time to attempt the capture. The sandstorm raged around us. The airship was back in the shatteredlands portion of this level 5 zone.
I was out here, with Michelle, Doctor Katz, and Joyo. Captain Francis was back with the airship, keeping an eye on things there. We would have to push the Crystal Vortex quite high and risk the fifth layer with very dangerous monsters if went through a sandstorm. Going directly through it, would cause damage that would need to be repaired.
We had explored the edges of this zone, nothing but void on three sides. The level 4 zones seemed to be where the zones started really turning into void. There were a limit of level 5 zones to pick. One concern was getting enough upgrades for skills.
Since level 4 and level 5 zone boss monsters only offered one skill, how would things change with a level 8 boss monster in a level 7 zone? That had been a big question, one we had no answer to. There were a lot of guesses and speculation, but the only concrete trend was the progression of crystal points.
A level 6 point crystal was worth 151,200 points. With how the progression worked, it seemed to cap out at level 10. Seeing the difficulty of a level 7 monster would confirm if there was another power skip between level 6 and 7 like there was between level 3 and 4.
That would mean a level 10 monster would be an absolute nightmare. If the monsters truly got smarter, than a level 10 monster might have human or beyond human level intelligence. That was a fight I was not looking forward to, but I knew it would happen one day.
One step at a time. We had to capture the Eclipsing Moon. The Infinite Block was earning its value as it blasted the approaching Ball And Chain monsters coming out of the swirling sand. We all had goggles, and thick clothing to block out the biting sand.
We didn’t move far. We had moved from the shatteredlands portion of the zone to where the boss monster was. Getting lost in this sandstorm would not be fun. I saw a thick ball of energy moving above us. I tapped Joyo on the shoulder and pointed up. We couldn’t verbally communicate in sandstorm. Our faces were completely covered and the constant swirling sand made it hard to hear.
He nodded at my gesture and looked up. The massive ball of energy began to plummet. I tapped Joyo on the shoulder again, while I made finger guns with my hands. Spiders were already being spawned and at the ready. Joyo was doing his dance to get his skill ready, going through several hand signs and feet movement.
It was a level 6 base skill and a powerful one at that. Nullify Force when used in the right circumstance was incredibly powerful. A massive shadow appeared, plummeting towards us. Joyo thrust his hands upward. A massive pulse of energy went out. The sand began to fall directly down.
A massive sphere, the Eclipsing Moon was only 50 feet, or 15 meters above us. The Infinite Block was quickly moving around the monster as it began to descend once more. I aimed carefully and adjusted the size of my beam attacks to be as small as possible. Radiant Beam. Void Beam. A focused annhilation effect took place.
I was already pulling the Rod of Taming free. The rest of the team quickly grouped around me as a shelter of Infinite Block formed around us. I thrust the Rod of Taming upwards, and it slammed into the hole of the massive monster. I pushed up with my other hand, pushing my Body stat to the max. It pushed me down, and the Infinite Block acted as a resting place for the massive monster, stopping it from crushing us.
Spiders rushed from all around and began covering the monster in webbing. It would take time to immobilize it. The Eclipsing Moon, began to spin, I didn’t let go of the rod. I was swept up and away from the rest of the group, making sure not to let go no matter what while the taming process began to take place.
A massive chain, with each link being as tall as me, raced around. The sandstorm was coming back, but I still heard the massive impact as it began sweeping for my team.
Michelle
Focus, I needed to completely focus, as I sheltered under the massive monster. My spiders were quickly working to restrain it, but they would take time. Michael was swept up and away as it rotated. He was the only one who would be able to keep his grip no matter what. It would be very difficult, but it was at least possible for him, theoretically.
I quickly pointed in a direction that the massive chain was coming in at as the Eclipsing Moon began to rotate. Joyo quickly positioned himself in that direction, as I adjusted the portions of the Infinite Block nearby to not be in his way.
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I used the Infinite Block to help brace Joyo. The massive chain swept towards us. The impact shook my bones and he was pushed back. Spiders webbed the chain, lots of sand was stuck to the monster during the attack. Joyo had managed to block the attack, with my help in slowing the rotation of the monster down and bracing him.
The Eclipsing Moon was about the size of very large warehouse used for distribution. It was a purely physical monster, and its defense was insane. The annihilation attack Michael used was only one of the sure ways to really damage it. Joyo blocking it, hadn’t even damaged the massive chain that was attached to the monster.
It tried to rotate again and pushed down on the Infinite Block. The level 6 monster was holding up, creating a space underneath the Eclipsing Moon we could survive in. The ground began to shake slightly and the sand began to shift.
Joyo was busy pushing back on the chain so it wouldn’t sweep us away. Michael had jabbed the taming rod into the monster and needed to keep holding it. I was webbing down the monster and stopping it from crushing us. It was time for Doctor Katz to cover things right now.
He had both his hand cannons out and ready. The Ball And Chain monsters were being pulled towards us. The rotating energy draw formations of the Infinite Block were already cutting down several of the monsters, but some would get through, since the boss monster was pulling them across the zone. We hadn’t and wouldn’t have been able to clear it before hand.
Docotor Katz blew away the monsters that closed and made it past me. Carefully aiming each shot, to blow away the smaller Ball And Chain monsters that were car size. He was quickly switching out barrels and continued to fire, one shot after another, aiming between the supporting structure I had built with the Infinite Block.
Joyo
I was pushing back against the massive chain, keeping it from sweeping our team away. I felt my Body stat straining and then some. Even my physical body had to put in effort to resist the force of the Eclipsing Moon.
It was a massive monster. One of the biggest we had faced so far. Well, we had fought it before, but it hadn’t been nearly as clean as this fight. Having information and a plan made it a lot easier. Capturing it though, made it a lot harder. The difference kind of all evened out in my mind.
I was incredibly scared, but I couldn’t back down. Michael had invested so many points into me, I was trapped. There was no retirement plan unless I died or we defeated the final boss monster of this place. “AHHH!” I screamed as I pushed against the massive chain with my beat stick. The enchantments helping, but it was a level 6 monster.
The beat stick hadn’t broken yet, but it was struggling. I needed to hold on until Michelle could retrain the monster. I saw the webbing from the spiders nearby, through the swirling sands, layer on the webbing. It was quite a bit, but the monster was so massive, that it was taking time.
At least I didn’t have to hold onto the Rod of Taming like Michael had to. Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. The doctor was firing those hand cannons of his and tossing out the occasional bomb. Holding back the monster horde that got through Michelle’s perimeter. Normally I would be on pest control, but I needed to hold back the Eclipsing Moon’s chain from sweeping us away.
I was already down to my knees in the sand and a small trench had formed in front of me, where my feet had been pushed through the sand.
Doctor Katz
There were no new level 5 monsters for a while now. I was running low on gun barrels and bombs. It would be a pain to replace them all, but this entire plan to face a level 7 monster in a level 6 zone required an insane amount of preparation.
Proper preparation was key. I had no doubt fighting a level 7 monster would be a disaster, but Michael was committed. And no one would be able to change his mind once he made it up. It was both a good and bad trait. But without that determination, we would have made this far in only a decade with as few casualties as we had.
A wave of heat hit us. The Eclipsing Moon was going berserk just before it was tamed. It was super heating. The webbing quickly began to smoke. It let off a horrid smell. I kicked off the ground and leapt up. My gloved hand slapped the bottom of the Eclipsing Moon. Imbue Melt. Imbue Death. Imbue Void.
The monster quickly began to cool off. Using those three types of imbue skills, I was able to create cold energy, or close enough that it was enough to counter the buildup of heat energy in the monster. Using three skills at once, was stronger than one alone.
My hand was warm, but there were no burns thankfully. The monster struggled a bit more, but it finally went still. I let out a sigh of relief. I had been mentally keeping track of the time since we started. It was a relief for this capture battle to be over. While we had a good plan and it worked out. There was very little margin for error.
That was one thing I liked about Michael. He didn’t like gambling in his fights and wanted to have preplanned moves. I pulled out a life flask and took a slight sip to refresh me. I handed it off to Michelle, who gladly had a sip, and then Joyo as well. Michael showed up with the Rod of Taming in hand and had a drink as well.
“That wasn’t fun, but it is captured,” he said using the sound trick to speak loudly and then handed over the Rod of Taming to Michelle. “So?” he asked. We all moved in close to her to hear over the swirling sand.
“Hmm, it can resize, spin, float, plummet, and heat up. It is a physical type of monster. Or force type in this case with its sheer bulk and durability acting in place of instead of energy.” The massive Eclipsing Moon began to shrink above us. “A good capture. Now we just need to get the last monster. The Book Of Curses.” I let out a long sigh behind my cloth mask.