‘Just the mother fucker I've been waiting for,’ he thought to himself with a wild excitement.
Garath focused inward and activated Black Blood. Black droplets seeped from his pores and coalesced into a thin mist surrounding his body. He was really starting to get the hang of manipulating the malleable liquid. With just a thought, the mist came together and hardened as the molecules condensed and vibrated faster. He willed the hardened blood into a lance that quickly ended his wrestling match when it skewered his opponent. Its Health already low from the Necrologist's damage over time Spells, a punctured heart was more than enough to finish it off. The melee unit's arms released the Necrologist and it fell limp to the ground. Garath got to his feet quickly and readied himself for what was coming.
What was coming was about as intimidating as Liam Neeson after you abducted his daughter. The spiny fins protruding from S’thys Zor’s face rattled and shook as he bellowed a command that rose even above the crashing of the surrounding waterfalls. Every Naga in the cove stopped what they were doing and slithered over platforms and through flowing water to meet him.
In the brief seconds it took for S'thys Zor to gather his forces, Garath urgently weighed his options. Fighting in human form had its advantages, he could summon and command the pets he had bound to that form, but it was by far his least mobile option. Cat form definitely had the best resume in terms of past accomplishments, but crow form was quickly becoming a favorite. In crow form he would be able to avoid taking damage with relative ease while bringing the cumulative life force of the Naga army down bit by bit with Plague and Blight - maybe even aerial Death Bolts. That idea pretty much decided which route to take for him, the image of flying around and blasting little death balls at the helpless Naga below was just irresistible.
Decision made, he faced off with the oncoming S'thys Zor (and friends) then leaped into the air and gracefully shifted in to crow form - at least that's what should have happened. Instead, when he attempted to activate his BeastScape Ability, there was no tingle at the back of his neck. His skin did not sprout black feathers and he did not take flight. He simply fell back to the ground with his arms spread wide, flapping. He received a prompt explaining his mishap and took an instant to read it as he fell through a tear in space-time in the form of Athios' Transport Ally Skill.
You have reached the maximum amount of shape shifts for a 24 hour period (13). You will be unable to use BeastScape for another 6 hours and 36 minutes.
‘That's exactly the kind of information a prompt should provide BEFORE your fucking life depends on it,’ Garath thought with chagrin.
When he emerged from the second half of Athios' Spell, the Necrologist fell to his hands and knees on the far end of the center platform. Warrion and Athios were standing between him and the gazebo as the remaining nine Naga slithered out of the ornate structure in force.
In all, there were six Naga Pikemen, one Hypnotist, one Sentry, and one very angry S'thys Zor. Two of the Pikemen and the Hypnotist were running on empty with under ten percent of their HP remaining. The rest of the enemies, S'thys Zor excluded, weren't doing much better with their Health bars sitting between a quarter and half full. S'thys Zor himself had been taking damage from Plague for over ten minutes straight. Garath thought that between that and the countless Roots spells from Sharon should have at least made a dent, but the dungeon boss’ HP was still sitting pretty at just over ninety percent.
The dungeon divers were less than one hundred percent themselves, but were far from out for the fight. Athios' Mana was nearly empty but her HP bar had made it through her wild dash around the cove unscathed. Warrion had taken some damage and was bleeding profusely from his right leg and shoulder. Sharon had recovered a quarter of her HP and Mana from the potions and was able to cast a Nature's Touch on herself, regenerating even more HP every second from her position atop the gazebo. Garath was a bit put out about the fact that he couldn't enact his method of letting his poisons do the work while he flittered out of harm's way above their heads, but otherwise was in good health. They were as ready as they could be for the four versus nine death-match ahead.
As Warrion jumped back to avoid a trident, Garath decided to even the odds a bit. He willed his Flayer and Fel Hound out of his mind and into existence before him. Before he even gave orders to his summoned creatures, his hidden Skill, Death’s Medium, bolstered the Party’s numbers even further as two undead Naga Pikemen slithered out of the blue water and onto the central platform. They approached him with uncomprehending expressions to await orders. With Garath’s new additions, what had been a four versus nine death-match had just become a much more even, eight versus nine death-match.
*Kill. Caster,* he told the Flayer, projecting the image of the last Naga Hypnotist to the little creature. The Flayer glared in response, then turned away from the Necrologist and flew off with its unnatural, boney wings to join the fight. As it flapped its way forward, Garath decided that if his Flayer survived the fight, he was going to give it a name.
His next command was directed at the undead incarnations of Naga Pikemen standing before him. *Go kill Naga.*
The two expressionless undead Pikemen turned without acknowledging and sped into the melee to join Warrion.
Garath didn't need to give the Fel Hound a command, the eager demon-dog jumped into action immediately upon being summoned - the threat to his Summoner was obvious and he would protect Garath to the bitter end.
‘Fel Hound is totally getting a name too,’ he thought fondly to himself as the sickly green creature barreled into S'thys Zor at chest level.
The Hound was no match for the named dungeon mob. S'thys Zor threw the Fel Hound to the ground and stabbed it through the chest with one huge trident. The Hound yipped pitifully as S'thys picked it up, still impaled on his massive trident, and flung it into one of the gazebo's pillars. A trail of sticky, hot blood painted the pillar green as the Hound fell to the floor. The green demon-dog tried and failed to get to its feet, its red Health bar dangerously low. Garath didn't know if it would help, but he dismissed the Hound - returning its broken, demonic body to the confines of his mind.
Garath himself did not just stand there, content to let his pets do the dirty work. He charged the cluster of Naga, following the path his Fel Hound had taken, trying to get close enough to infect all nine remaining Naga with Blight. He had never done something like that in human form and felt the gamer inside of him screaming that ‘casters should fight from behind the melee!’ The rest of him was ready to end this fucking fight though, so he ignored the years of seeing newb ass mages get one shot for doing something stupid like running head on into a melee skirmish with little to no armor.
The Necrologist was only ten feet from the group, running at a full sprint, when green light erupted from below S'thys Zor and binding Roots lashed out, entangling his arms and tail. Sharon was back in the fight, cackling madly from atop the gazebo.
"I'm back, you anus!" she shouted at the enraged creature.
Garath and Warrion didn't wait for someone to tell them an opportunity had just presented itself. The Assassin ducked under a massive trident as S'thys Zor flailed to free himself from the Roots. Warrion slid a dagger into the struggling Naga's hand and sliced down, splitting Zor's arm from wrist to elbow. The named creature howled in pain and the trident it had been holding clanged to the ground. Garath got as close as he could before entering melee range and unleashed Blight - sending deep purple energy one-meter in every direction, infecting most of the nine Naga with the powerful debuff. He started backing away while channeling Mana into the first cast of Creeping Death on the Boss, then something unexpected happened. A bolt of black energy struck him square in the chest, ripping a sliver of Health from his red HP bar.
Garath looked for the source, and rolled his eyes when he located it. His fucking Flayer had fired the shot at him, and was already releasing a second and third Death Bolt at the Necrologist. Another look around and it was obvious what was going on. The
last Hypnotist had her eyes closed and hands outstretched, channeling a spell.
Garath's solution to this problem was much more simple than when the previous Hypnotist had Charmed Warrion. He simply banished the Flayer from this plain of existence, dismissing it into his mind. The Necrologist then resummoned the hateful little creature who glared at him, looking a bit bewildered.
*Kill. Caster,* he told it again, once again projecting the image of the Hypnotist - who was reeling in pain with her hands on her head from Spell backlash. *Don’t look into its eyes.*
The Flayer paused briefly, hovering over the platform in front of the Necrologist. It shook its malformed little head, straining its simple mind to decide which team it was fighting for.
*Now!* Garath commanded. The Flayer scowled at him, but turned back to the dwindling group of Naga and set off toward the Hypnotist.
Garath turned back to the dungeon boss struggling to free itself with multiple open wounds oozing blue puss. The Necrologist cast Creeping Death again, then again and again, stacking the damage over time debuff, Quickening Entropy, five times in as many seconds - ripping a migraine inducing 517 Mana from the Necrologist.
Warrion smartly dashed away as S'thys Zor broke free of the Roots and swung his massive trident in a wide arc in front of him. A pair of Athios’ silver disks relocated the dungeon boss to the other side of the central platform, giving Warrion, Garath, and the Flayer some much needed time to finish off the remaining trash mobs. As low as the snake-people’s Health bars were, it didn't take long. The two undead Naga fighting for Garath continued stabbing their living counterparts with gold-tipped tridents even after the bodies hit the ground. Death’s Medium once again proc’d with the death of the last Naga Pikemen. A mere moment after the Naga’s heart stopped beating, it rose and gripped its weapon before turning to Garath to wait for orders. With a simple mental command to the three Naga now fighting for the away team, they joined Warrion and Garath in tearing into the boss’s remaining HP.
Garath continued stacking QE debuffs as the boss sprinted back toward the Party. Sharon cast Roots again in a futile attempt to slow him down, but S'thys charged straight through them.
A wicked grin spread over S'thys Zor's face even as his HP bar dipped below a quarter and his left arm hung limp at his side - his second trident left on the ground, discarded and forgotten. Even with his own death looming, the dungeon boss would fight with everything he had until the very end - ideally dragging one or all of the humans that had attacked his home with him on his way to hell.
“Athios, help?” Garath called over the Party channel as S'thys Zor towered over him, weapon raised.
The massive Naga wasn't about to wait around for Garath to elude him again, though - and Athios had not been standing by, idly waiting for Garath to get himself into trouble (again). The Dimensionalist was firing little blue bolts from the tip of her gold staff, something the Necrologist made a mental note to ask her about later if he wasn't skewered.
S'thys Zor swung his limp arm to grasp his remaining trident, wielding it now as a two-hander, and spun into a deadly whirl with his weapon outstretched. Sharon cast Roots for about the ninety-fifth time that fight, but the thorned Roots were sent flying away in small chunks as they attempted to entangle the whirling monster. Garath decided to exercise the better part of valor. He ran.
The whirling death spin was spectacular. S'thys Zor madly spun out of control as he gained on the Necrologist. All three of the reanimated Naga were cut to ribbons by the wild attack, falling to rest - eternally this time - in several pieces on the central platform.
Garath screamed as his lower back was lacerated from behind and he fell to the ground, landing hard on his stomach. He rolled quickly and reached back to push himself up, but his hands slipped into a white disk and he fell through. The Necrologist emerged from a second white disk milliseconds later back at the cave-side of the center platform, ten-meters from the dungeon boss and his likely demise.
The searing pain in his lower back lessened with a sip from his Endless Potion of Healing and his heart filled with hope. S'thys Zor wasn't long for this world, his HP bar blinking red, below five percent, and dropping fast from the myriad of damage over time and bleed debuffs. Warrion continued to back away from the dangerous whirlwind of blue skin and sharp objects.
Finally, S'thys Zor's spinning attack slowed, teetering like a top losing speed, then it stopped and he fell to the ground, lifeless. The fight was won.
Chapter 33
Loot
"What a rush!" exclaimed Sharon, sitting atop the slick gazebo rooftop with her feet dangling off the side. "In my seventy-eight years, that was the single most exciting and stupid thing I have ever done."
Garath smiled fondly at the Naturist. He had to remind himself that despite her stellar performance, Aquawood Depths was the first time Sharon had experienced a dungeon run in any capacity. He couldn't even remember his first dungeon at that point in his life, but imagined it must have been a similar experience - albeit a bit less life threatening - because he became addicted and had cleared hundreds, if not thousands of dungeons since.
The Party recovered there beside the gazebo on the center platform of the now Naga-free cerulean cove. Warrion and Sharon's wounds recovered completely with a little help from their Potions and Sharon's healing magic. Before long, all four of them were in perfect Health and Mana. Everything was going well, that was when Athios demanded an explanation regarding Garath's awkward jump at S'thys Zor that resulted in flailing arms and needing to be sucked through space-time to safety.
"I was supposed to turn into a crow," he explained. "I was flapping my wings."
"I see," Athios frowned, "but forgot a step? Like, the step where you turn into a crow?"
Garath explained the inopportune prompt he had received informing him that thirteen times was the maximum allowed shape shifts per twenty-four hours.
"That bites," said Warrion. "How you gonna get back to base camp?"
“We can worry about that after we figure out how to get out of this dungeon," Athios suggested. "How long until you can shape shift again?"
Garath attempted to shape shift again to trigger the prompt, then shared the information. "A little over five hours."
"Shit," said Warrion. The Assassin got to his feet. "I'm going to go back to the cave we started in and see if there's an exit there now."
Without another word, Warrion shimmered into crow form and took to the air, soaring easily over the flowing blue water and out of sight into the cave. Garath was the only one of them even close to the daily shifting limit. Athios and Sharon also shifted into crow form and flew over to investigate the statues lined up on the track leading to the far side waterfalls, leaving Garath alone on the central platform with his Flayer and Fel Hound.
The Necrologist didn't just sit idly though. Garath sent his Fel Hound tearing around throughout the corpse laden cove to gather every weapon and piece of armor, then drop them into a pile beneath the gazebo. The Flayer followed the Necrologist as he walked from corpse to corpse, tapping the teal orbs to gather Mana Crystals - he didn't know what the hell for, but better to find out later with the Crystals than without them, he figured. After looting all the trash mobs, Garath had a massive pile of gold Naga weapons and tiaras - and each member of the Party had gained 9 of the Mana Crystals, whatever they were for.
He and the Flayer made their way around to the massive corpse of S'thys Zor. The teal orb hovering above his lifeless carcass was significantly larger than the ones they had gathered from the trash mobs. When Garath tapped it a quarter of the orb entered his chest.
You have received 3.75 Mana Crystal(s). Mana Crystals will be stored in your Items panel until spent, traded, or until you die.
Even though he didn't know what he could buy with these Mana Crystals or where to spend them, Garath whistled appreciatively as the Crystals were split four ways - the rest of the Naga had only given one each. The Necrologist bent to pick up one of S'th
ys Zor's massive tridents. Garath was able to lift the oversized fork, but only barely. He looked at the item description one with eyebrow raised at the listed requirements.
S’thys Tear
Attack Damage: 29-51 (Physical)
Attack Speed: 3.25
DPS (damage per second): 12.307
Durability: 50/50
Item Score: 39
Two-handed weapon
Type: Polearm
Quality: Impressive
Rarity: Epic
+30 Strength
+30 Maximum Stamina
+10% Stamina recovery rate
-10% Stamina depletion rate
Item Requirements:
Level: 18
Strength: 40
Dexterity: 25
‘Of course the first named weapon I find isn't for my Class and has a Strength requirement I'll never meet,’ Garath thought with chagrin.
The Necrologist stored the enormous trident, along with most of the items fetched by the Fel Hound - excluding a diadem and staff for Sharon - in his Items panel. He didn't know if he would ever find a use for the Epic weapon, but if he did it would be waiting for him in his perfect little storage system.
The Items panel was better than any game inventory Garath had ever seen. Whenever the last grid square was filled with an item, another three empty rows would appear on the panel below it. The size and weight of the items stored were completely irrelevant, as each item took up only one grid space and, once inside the panel, the items stored were held outside the plane of existence where size and weight held any value. In essence, the Items panel appeared to be a limitless, secure storage device.
The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) Page 30