Alburet was happy that Gnasher didn’t have a tail, as he could only imagine what damage would have been done to the group with the boss turning around like that. Once Gerald had Gnasher again, the others closed in and started to damage the boss. Alburet reflected that the fight was a little disappointing, there were no flashy mechanics here, just a flat tank and spank fight. He did muse that this was only a level twenty to twenty-five dungeon, so maybe that was fine for now. Plus they had, after all, included the stomp attack since beta apparently.
The next two minutes went by with no real trouble as they got Gnasher down to half life. When they got close to tipping it over, Alburet decided he wanted to try something. He turned and ran away from the boss. As he was doing so he heard Gnasher roar. He turned around a little over twenty feet away to watch Gnasher impact the ground again. Both Tinys, Stacia and Fluff went flying back while being knocked prone. Karen stumbled, but stayed on her feet as she had been getting out of the area as well. Gerald got to his knees, blocking the first attack of Gnasher. Tiny taunted it to him after regaining his feet, so that Gerald could stand back up. Alburet saw he’d taken no damage, while Karen had taken less than half of the others who hadn’t vacated the area.
Everyone got back in around Gnasher after Gerald taunted it back to him. When it dropped to within a touch of 5,000 health, all the damage ran away from it except for both Tinys. One of them taunted it around to him. Gerald was about to object when he realized why Tiny had done so and ran away. A few seconds later, both Tinys were thrown back and away from it. As Gnasher started after them Gerald taunted it immediately back to him.
A moment later the guild icon was flashing. Alburet blinked at it and managed to trigger it between swings.
Marysue:
It’s too loud for you all to hear me. I’m out of mana.
Alburet cursed as he edged over to Stacia. He leaned in next to her on his next swing, shouting to be heard. “Go tell Gerald to trade aggro off with both Tinys. It’s the only way, he won’t survive the damage otherwise. I’ll tell Tiny.”
Stacia nodded as she ran for Gerald, dropping her meager damage to do so. Alburet stopped swinging to run to the Tiny that was closest to him. He leaned in to yell, “Back, both of you. As far back as you can. Trade aggro off between your bodies and Gerald. Marysue is out of mana.”
Tiny nodded and broke for the wall at a run. As he did Alburet went back to damaging Gnasher, waiting to move with the beast. A few seconds passed with Gerald’s life dropping steadily before Gnasher finally turned towards the Tiny that was furthest away. Fluff and Karen were taken by surprise but adjusted, following Gnasher as it stomped over to Tiny. The next minute was easy as the damage dealers just walked along beside Gnasher as it adjusted targets a few seconds after getting to the next tank in line for the rotation.
Finally, Marysue got mana back enough to heal Gerald just in time for Gnasher to fall over dead. Its legs collapsed under it, producing a horrendous thundering echo. After the echo died the tunnel was dead silent.
“Okay, so that fight is a pain,” Gerald finally said into the silence. “Still, easier when you got Tiny to take it at the end. Even if they don’t hold it for more than a second or two it makes a difference.”
“It hurts like hell if you get kicked,” Karen muttered. Her life had taken a big dip when she hadn’t been fast enough to get out of the way of a leg near the end.
Marysue touched the corpse, looting it, “Oh, a Gnasher shard for the quest, along with a staff that gives me increased Intelligence and Wisdom.”
Everyone else checked the pop-ups notifying them of their loot. Each of them received a shard from Gnasher as well as an item. Karen got a new head piece that looked like a ninja hood and gave an increase to Agility. Fluffball got a new belt with Strength added to it. Gerald got a new shield that upped his Constitution, while Alburet got a new ring with ten to Wisdom.
“Everyone else got plus ten to their stat?” Alburet asked as he put the ring on.
Everyone gave an affirmative answer before they began to trek back up the hall. As they walked Stacia slipped up next to Alburet. “Master, are ya goin’ call Bob back now?”
Alburet dismissed the duplicate Tiny, copied Stacia, then summoned Bob. As he did, Karen dropped back to walk beside him. A moment later Bob appeared in his usual puff of smoke. Before he could say a word both Stacias and Karen had picked him up and smothered him in a three-way hug. After a few seconds, they released him.
Gasping, his face a much darker red than normal, Bob had a grin from ear to ear. “Now that is how you welcome a person.”
“Feeling a bit better now?” Alburet asked.
“Not sure I’ll be a lot of help, but after that hug only a dead man wouldn’t feel better,” Bob replied, skipping along with the group.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to help us with the rest of this dungeon,” Alburet told him. “The rest of it is gnolls and plants, I think.”
“If you can get me another hug like that before we stop for tonight, I will not complain again tonight.” Bob smirked as he stole a glance at the women.
“I’ll get Stacia to hug you, Karen is her own woman. Far be it from me to attempt to talk her into things.”
“I’ll think about it,” Karen said over her shoulder. “It will depend on just how much you try.”
Bob rushed forward to start skipping alongside Gerald, “We should get moving faster, right?”
Gerald shook his head, “Nope, slow and steady in here for now. You’ll get your chance to earn a hug.”
Smiles and laughter came from the others as they walked. Bob stayed right next to Gerald, eager to prove he was more than willing to do his best.
Chapter Nineteen
When they finally got back to the branching tunnel they paused so Gerald could brief them on what he knew from beta. “There are going to be vines periodically that will spring up as we walk to the boss. They’ll grab one of us and begin to constrict, they need to be killed. Those same vines spring up during the boss fight, half of the people in the fight will get wrapped up at a time. I don’t know if it’ll count your minions in that number or not, I never did it with a Necro or Summoner. There is no crowd control needed, so either a second imp or a second destroyer would be better than a second succubus. The boss will spit poison at a random person every half minute, so be aware and prepared to dodge if possible. Any questions?”
“Will you be on the boss the whole time?” Karen asked.
“No. The boss is a giant plant on the ceiling, so it isn’t tankable. Each tentacle we kill does damage to it. Just kill the tentacles as they come up.”
“They’ve changed every boss so far,” Fluff put in. “We should be ready for an extra twist or two,” she finished in her normal soft tone looking at them as if waiting to be rebuked, nervously grooming an ear.
“Good point, Fluffball,” Marysue cut in. “If you notice anything during the fight that wasn’t covered shout it out so we can adjust.”
Gerald nodded, “Yes. That was a very good point, Fluffball. Mary is also correct about telling us if you spot something. Okay then, let’s go.”
Alburet dismissed the second Stacia, bringing out a second Bob. “Okay Bob, this time you get to play with fire all you want.”
“I hope they aren’t too damp to burn,” Bob muttered.
They started down the tunnel to the plant boss. After a few feet Alburet saw that the floor, walls and ceiling were becoming covered in thick vines. Each vine started at about six inches in diameter before tapering off to maybe an inch wide. Each vine had a number of leaves to help disguise just how long each one was.
“The footing doesn’t seem bad,” Alburet mused out loud.
“It be nay good for me,” Stacia replied, having trouble getting traction with her hooves.
“I would offer to carry you, but…” Alburet started to say but was interrupted as a vine shot out and wrapped him up. From his shoulders to his knees, the vine grabbed him and beg
an to squeeze. “Ack, help.”
Stacia, Tiny and both Bobs immediately began to attack the vine. Karen, Fluff and Gerald turned around to come back to his aid. Fluff and Gerald also got wrapped up as they turned to come help. A fourth vine sprang out, just missing one of the Bobs as it went over his head, then disappeared back into the tangle of vines on the wall. Karen stopped to attack the one on Fluff as Marysue started to attack the one on Gerald.
A few seconds later Alburet was free as the vine holding fell to the floor dead under the assault of his minions. “Help Fluff then Gerald,” Alburet heaved as he came free and he could get a deep breath again.
Less than a minute later everyone was free of vines again. “They damage you every second while you are constricted,” Marysue told them as she healed those who had been held. “It isn’t a lot of damage if we can get you out but if you stay in it will add up fast.”
“There were four vines, one of them missed Bob,” Alburet spoke up. “So, I’m going to say the boss and its adds here count minions in the total. Shall we dismiss all the minions and see if the next set of vines is two instead of four?”
Gerald nodded slowly, “Good idea before we get to the boss.”
“I’ll summon you again as soon as we find out if having you with us is detrimental,” Alburet told his minions.
“But I just got back,” Bob huffed before both of him vanished in the usual puff of smoke.
“I will make sure he is okay,” Tiny rumbled before he also vanished in a puff of smoke.
“See you shortly, master,” Stacia said, giving him a peck on the cheek before she also vanished in the same puff of smoke.
“Okay, let’s test the hypothesis,” Gerald said, and the group moved down the tunnel again.
A few feet down the tunnel a sudden puff of purple haze filled the air around them. Everyone got a lungful of the pollen, as no one had been expecting it. Soon the tunnel was filled with the sound of coughing as all of them got a debuff, Polluted Air. After thirty seconds the debuff went away and they were able to catch their breath again.
“I found something new,” Mary commented as she wiped tears from her eyes. “I don’t recall pollen in the tunnel during beta.”
“Neither do I, which means it might be a mechanic during the boss fight, too,” Gerald sighed. “Vines, poison and pollen, ugh. This is going to be bad.”
“It will depend on me,” Marysue frowned. “If I get hit with the pollen, it’ll stop me from healing for half a minute. The vines do twenty damage a second, which is bad enough. Plus, the poison does damage every five seconds, if I recall correctly. That means I can’t get hit by the pollen or else someone might very well die.”
“We also have our potions,” Alburet pointed out. “Ten percent of our health per dose which, while not a lot, will mean the difference between death and life at times. So, if Marysue gets hit with the pollen, we need to chug-a-lug to keep ourselves up until she’s free to heal again.”
Gerald nodded, pointing to his belt, “I have six of the next dose up, so mine do twenty percent a go. Mary only has three health, but also three…” he paused as he looked at her belt. “Two mana potions?”
“I used one during Gnasher. I didn’t want to use all of them which is why I ran out of mana,” Marysue responded to the question.
“Ah, right,” Gerald acknowledged her reply. “Anyway, we do have some options to stay up until Mary can get us healthy again.”
They started forward again, and after a minute two vines snapped out, wrapping up Marysue and Karen. Everyone jumped on the one holding Marysue first, then attacked the one holding Karen. Alburet noticed that his axe seemed to be doing a bit more fire damage than it should. He looked at the logs after the fight and confirmed it.
“They’re vulnerable to fire damage,” Alburet informed them. “I’m supposed to get fifty fire damage with this axe, but it’s doing sixty to the vines.”
“So, an Elementalist with fire abilities or even your imp once upgraded would do well in here,” Gerald rubbed his chin as he spoke, eyes lost in thought for a second. “It’s too bad your area of effect spell hurts allies.”
Alburet sighed, “Yeah, tell me about it. I don’t get why the Devs did it that way.”
Karen shrugged, “Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of the Devs?”
The other chuckled, then Fluff spoke up. “So no minions for the boss, then?”
“Yeah, I think no minions is the right idea,” Gerald told her.
“What about just two Bobs?” Alburet suggested. “He doesn’t get wrapped so if they do target him they should just disappear like in the tunnel. In the meantime, he can do double fire damage with a bonus against the plants. All it means is maybe an extra vine for us if it doesn’t go for Bob. It might be worth that risk.”
Gerald considered it for a moment, “I’m not sure. It does increase the chance of Mary being wrapped up.”
“Bob can focus on me first if need be,” Mary pointed out. “Also, he’ll help us kill vines faster. I think we should chance it.”
Fluff nodded, “I agree with Marysue.”
“I’ll side with them,” Karen added.
“Fine, bring Bob and a copy of him out, Alburet,” Gerald sighed, giving in to the women’s demands. “If this goes wrong, then the next time we go with no imps.”
“Fair enough,” Alburet said, summoning Bob. “Hey, Bob. We think two of you is the way to go here.”
Bob blinked as he was summoned then copied in quick succession. “I will do my best, master,” Bob responded quickly, glancing at Karen as he spoke.
Karen laughed, “So, you still want that hug, do you?”
“Who wouldn’t?” Bob countered as he smirked at her. “Care to up the ante? If I’m the most valuable member of the fight then you kiss me.”
Karen laughed while shaking her head, “Not ready for imp action yet, Bob. Let’s see if you can earn a hug this fight, then we can see about larger bets in the future.”
“Done,” Bob’s reply was snapped back quickly as he skipped up to Gerald. “So, we going?”
Gerald shook his head with a sigh, “Sure.”
They started down the tunnel again. After a hundred yards or so more purple haze popped into existence, catching them all again including both Bobs. As they started to cough three vines snapped out, one catching Marysue, the other Gerald and the last going over the top of one of the Bobs then vanishing back into the wall.
Hacking as they were Fluff, Alburet and Karen converged on the vine holding Marysue. They swung at it as two Fire Blasts hit it from both Bobs, who were still hacking. Another set of attacks from them all and the vine withered and died, allowing them to turn to Gerald. A few seconds later Gerald was free while they all waited for the debuff to wear off. When it did they stood around catching their breath for a moment.
“I didn’t know imps could cast while coughing,” Gerald said, looking at Bob.
“We do not need to speak to cast our spells, though we still need our hands,” Bob replied, looking a little smug.
“We made the right call I think,” Marysue opined as she patted Bob on the head.
“I’m not a dog, lady. I’m an imp, an Infernal of flame. Next time I’ll burn your hand,” Bob snapped, glaring up at Marysue.
“Why you little…” Gerald snarled as he took a step towards Bob.
Marysue stepped between Gerald and Bob, looking over her shoulder at Gerald, “Stop.” She turned back to Bob and dropped to one knee to be more on his level, “I apologize, Bob. It was not my intent to demean you. Will you accept my apology?”
Bob glanced at Gerald, who was still glaring at him, then looked back to Marysue, “I accept, Marysue. Seal it with a hug?”
Marysue smiled as she pulled Bob into a hug. While she did, Bob let a look of pure bliss cross his face as he looked at Gerald, who was silently fuming. Karen held back her laughter as she turned away from the scene. Alburet sighed, shaking his head in exasperation, while Fluff looked
on as if working through a puzzle. Marysue let Bob go after a few seconds.
“We good now?” Marysue asked.
“I am fantastic, thanks,” Bob replied with a huge grin. As Marysue got up and started to turn away Bob winked at Gerald. “We good to go, Gerald?”
Gerald was glaring at Bob still when Marysue turned to face him. “Gerald, what is the problem?”
Gerald jerked as he looked at Marysue, “Nothing…”
Marysue frowned, “Stop glaring at Bob, we made up.”
Sighing Gerald turned to face down the tunnel, “Yeah, okay.”
Forming the Company (Alpha World Book 2) Page 28