by Ivan Kal
The boss took the hit, but it did little. So they danced around—Ves keeping the boss’s attention while Lucius and Vall took shots at it, and Clara protected them when they couldn’t get out of range fast enough. Meanwhile, Morgan reached in his satchel and pulled out three of his woven plant pouches. There was not really any soil in this room, but the room was set deep inside the mountain, which meant that there was soil behind the walls. He looked for cracks in the walls and found them easily, as the entire dungeon was a rundown palace. He removed the plants from the soil in the pouches—he only used soil so that he didn’t need to keep the plants constantly alive—and placed the tiny sapling and its tiny roots into the crack. Then, he pushed energy into it and made it grow. Leaving it there to do its thing, he did the same with the two other plants.
Then he turned around to look at the battle as his plants grew. Ves had taunted the boss to the other side of the large chamber, and the four of them were following the plan with them slowly chipping away at it. Morgan saw Lucius jump high in the air and send a wave of air at the boss from above, making it stumble and hit the wall with its head. It didn’t do much damage to it, but it allowed Vall to hit it several times, sending more cracks spreading from every impact point.
Then Ves’ bear smashed into the boss, making it stagger. Ves took the moment to pull out another smaller barrel of water from her ring and use it to send ice forward, freezing the boss’s legs. Unable to move, it lashed out with its spear all around itself when anyone came near, and when it had the opportunity it stabbed into the ice, trying to free itself. Vall smashed his hammer against its shoulder, and it retaliated faster than Vall expected—he blocked the strike, but was still sent flying across the room. Clara quickly ran to him while Ves tried to get its attention again.
The boss freed itself and then stomped, quaking the ground and sending the others stumbling away from it. By then, though, Morgan felt that his plants had grown enough behind the walls and called out.
“Ves!” he yelled, and she immediately moved in his direction and the boss followed.
She led the terracotta to the wall where he had been standing just a moment before and as soon as he was in range Morgan activated two abilities. Without the need for his guidance, Binding Roots and Vampiric Root Spears exploded out of the wall, sending stone flying. Binding Roots struck at the terracotta’s limbs, tying them up and pulling it toward the wall, while Vampiric Root Spears stabbed at the already damaged areas, trying to punch through. A few of the spears managed to drill into the boss, but it wasn’t nearly enough to take it down. The boss itself was struggling, ripping roots from the walls and breaking them apart. Morgan pushed his energy into the last plant, forcing his standard vines to grow. They slithered out of the wall and tied up the terracotta, attempting to pull it to the wall. It was still refusing to move—his plants and the boss were in a stalemate—but then Vall was there, and he struck the boss with his hammer, sending it stumbling into the wall.
And that was the opening Morgan needed. His plants twirled around it tightly and pulled it against the wall. His roots were finding any cracks and were pushing in, trying to break the boss apart. With his roots, he managed to rip off an arm, just as Vall swung and hit the boss over the heart, sending cracks spreading in all direction. Then Lucius walked up the wall on the other side of the room, getting almost two meters up before he pushed off. The air in the room suddenly came to life as wind whistled and Lucius flew at the boss, his swords extended in front of him. He struck the boss over the heart, his swords punching through the cracks and into its core.
The struggling boss stopped moving and was still.
Morgan let out a long breath, and looked around at the others. “One down, two more to go.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
They came back into the courtyard, and after another short break they were ready to start clearing the mist-stone terracottas. From the info they received before, they knew that mist stone was tougher than regular stone, but not as tough as dark iron. The problem with these type of enemies was mostly their stone dogs. Still, Morgan had come up with a few ideas about how to deal with them.
They started the attack in a similar formation: Vall and Ves up front, with Lucius just behind them, followed by Clara and Morgan. They came to just the edge of the range where they would react, and Morgan prepared to use what he had decided to call a Phase Shot. A reason why Morgan had started naming things was because he had a growing suspicion that he could turn actions into abilities.
Skills gave a person raw knowledge of everything from mundane things like language to things like the capability to manipulate plants. It simply appeared into their mind once they obtained the skill, given to the person through their soul space and their soul-implant, which was in many way their subconsciousness, only able to operate on its own and alter their body. It facilitated the system and all the benefits that being an ascended granted. It was up to the ascended, then, to learn how to use those skills to their maximum potential.
Abilities, on the other hand, were different—activating an ability caused an action to take place, but it wasn’t really the ascended who carried it out, but rather their unconscious self. Morgan could utilize some of his abilities without activating them, simply by focusing and expending effort and energy. Some he didn’t know how to replicate, as he didn’t have the knowledge required, but his unconsciousness did, and by training and studying his abilities he could gain more insight into them and learn new ways on how to use them. But using an ability was both far faster than him attempting it himself, and more cost efficient, as it didn’t require as much energy to be spent. Morgan suspected that this was because Sabila, his soul-implant, had the requisite knowledge on how to execute an action with no wasted movement or energy. He hoped that by achieving that level of skill with an action at least once that he would unlock that action as an ability. This Phase Shot for example was a complicated ability that he had to concentrate hard on in order to achieve. He was utilizing two other abilities along with making sure that he had the timing right as well as trying to hit a target.
It was not something that he could just do in the heat of battle, not without at least some room to maneuver, and the same could be said about his utilization of Phytokinesis. He could use his Vampiric Root Spear ability easily. It required some variable setup—if he was in a forest it required barely a fraction of the energy compared to using it in a city, where there were no large roots beneath the ground. That was why he carried plants and seeds with him always, but using that ability in a place where there weren’t already developed roots took a lot more energy, as he needed to grow the roots first. Still, using just his skill to manipulate the plants was draining and took concentration, not to mention the need to put his mind in the state that allows him to use the skill. He could do it in combat, but his speed while he attacked was not as fast as when he used just an ability.
Morgan took a deep breath, then knelt before touching the ground and using his Mass Transfer ability. Using abilities did not require his mind to switch focus from domination to discipline, and he suspected that that was because he was not the one that carried out the bulk of the action, not really—it was the system that he was part of. As the wooden orb got heavier in his arm, Morgan turned the ability off and then stood up. The others were all ready, so there was no need to wait.
He raised his hand and concentrated, using his Phase Shift only on his hand and the ball it carried, and then he shot it forward. In his mind he yelled out, Phase Shot!, hoping that it would do something. The orb left his hand and became corporeal again, flashing through the distance to strike the closest terracotta. The orb punched through it and several of the ones behind as the group sprang to life and charged at them.
There were six stone dogs and their first move was to spread out and try to flank them while the sword-wielding terracotta charged. Morgan pulled out a plant pouch and threw it in the path of two dogs—feeding it energy, it sprang to life and vines caught
the two dogs, tangling them up. He raised his crossbow and fired at the third one, hitting it in the head. It stumbled but continued on. Clara put up a slowing field and then jumped forward, striking it in the head with her staff and breaking its head off, then swung again at the body and kept going until the stone dog stilled.
On the other side of their formation, Lucius jumped forward, heading toward the second group of stone dogs, his swords sending wind blades at their legs and tripping them. His attacks were chipping away at the mist stone, but it wasn’t doing much damage—it took him several attempts to cut through one of the dogs’ legs. But then he jumped in the air, wind roaring to life as he sent a large wind blade at one of them. The dog was battered to the ground and the mist stone parted, but not all the way down. Lucius jumped forward and stabbed his sword down, breaking the dog in half. It was still alive, but only able to crawl on the ground.
Of the last two dogs, one had its front legs cut off and was pushing itself with its hind legs. Lucius ignored that one, and went after the other. The dog jumped, attempting to bite him, but Lucius evaded easily, moving fluidly and snapping out with his swords, though doing little damage. He continued to dance around it while inflicting damage little by little, until the cuts were deep enough for him to stab into one and destroy its core. Immediately after, he went to the last one and finished it off.
In the middle, Ves and Vall had already joined with the terracotta formation and were fighting hard. The demon bear was fighting off the terracottas that were stabbing their swords in its body, and swiping others around. There were already several of the terracottas were already destroyed; but both Vall and Ves were struggling from their numbers. Then Lucius, Morgan, and Clara joined in, and they began taking care of the stone dogs. The battle switched pace and the terracotta started falling.
They finished them off quickly enough and then turned to the stairs. Using the same tactic they had used on the other stairs, Morgan planted seeds and Ves and Vall took positions a bit further away. Lucius pulled the terracottas from the platform and they spilled down the stairway. The combat went much better this time, as there was no additional groups that Vall could pull, but it still took them some time. The dogs didn’t really have the chance to flank them as Morgan’s plants and Ves’s ice wall made a choke point where they died before they could become too much of a danger.
Finally, after they cleared them all, they walked up the stairs and toward the next boss. They fought slowly, pulling a single group of terracottas at a time, playing it safe and again avoiding the traps. They cleared the entire building, even the rooms that led away from the boss, just like they had done for the previous boss. They didn’t look at any of the loot just yet, however—that they would do at the end of their run.
Some teams, Morgan knew, liked to loot everything at the start, hoping that they would get a new powerful weapon that could help them immediately, but Sky Force did not do so. Changing their gear inside the dungeon might seem like a smart idea, but in most cases it was not—having to adapt to new weapons or new kits while they were already sufficiently prepared for a dive only served to force them to make adjustments to their plans. Morgan liked to have as few new elements to deal with as possible. In any case, the most powerful loot was always at the end of the dungeon, so it was not like there was a big enough chance of them getting a great upgrade. The only items that they could find outside of the final chest were mundane items. Stat giving items could only be found in chests.
Finally, they reached the boss room. It was a large dirt field that looked like it once used to be a training yard, nestled in a courtyard between the mountain and the building on the other side. The sun couldn’t be seen, so the entire yard was in shade. The boss was on the other side of the yard, the same size as the last boss, with a sword and a shield in his hands. There were two large stone dogs by his side, double the size of the previous dogs. They looked as if they were about half the size of Ves’s bear—and the demon bear was massive.
They started helping Morgan by preparing the ground for him to plant his seeds and set up a trap. A few minutes later he was finished and so stood up. They gathered on the other side from the boss and discussed the plan.
“You should hit one of the dogs first,” Vall said.
“Why?” Morgan asked. Their plan had been for him to use his Phase Shot on the boss, getting some damage on it. Sure, the dogs were a danger, but Morgan felt that the others could handle them.
“I know that you wanted us to keep them busy while we led the boss to your trap, but I think we should focus and deal with one of them quickly. That way, we’ll have less opponents to think about,” Vall argued.
Morgan could see his point, and he had in fact had a plan that was similar, although before they entered the dungeon when he hadn’t known just how destructive his Phase Shot was. He thought about it and realized that Vall was right—they could adjust their plans.
“All right, we’ll do that,” Morgan said.
They moved into position: Vall, Ves and her bear up front, Lucius behind them, and Clara and Morgan behind him. Clara cast her armor spell on Vall and Ves. She didn’t use it on the rest of them since it was a bit energy consuming, and they needed her to be as fresh as possible, even if her healing abilities were never needed. Ves summoned another barrel of water, her second to last, and pulled the water inside over her body, creating ice armor over her regular armor. Then Morgan walked over to the entrance and found a block of stone to put his hand on and siphon mass. As soon as he had enough, he walked back, then raised his arm and threw another Phase Shot.
The orb flew straight at the dog on the left, hitting it in the chest. It made a crater and sent cracks flying in all directions as its front leg cracked off, causing it to stumble. The boss and the other dog reacted instantly, charging them. Ves jumped forward at the boss while her bear took the other dog, while Vall headed toward the injured one.
Ves clashed with the mist-stone terracotta boss, her shield coming up to block a sword swing. Her bear smashed into the stone dog and they started fighting to the side. Vall reached the injured mist-stone dog and attacked. The stone dog jumped out of the way of his swing on its three remaining legs, and tried to get in close for a bite, but Vall blocked by letting it bite down on his metal arm. It tried to wrench it away, but Vall raised his hammer with his other hand and smashed it down on its body, cracking its back and dislodging the dog. He then jumped back and swung a wide attack in an arc, hitting the dog in the head and breaking most of its jaw off. The dog tried to jump at him and hit it with its head, but he moved out of the way and then attacked from below, using his momentum ability. His strike took the dog in the chest and raised it into the air as it cracked its torso open and destroyed the core.
On the other side, Ves was fighting with the boss, slowly leading it back toward where Morgan and Clara were standing and where their trap was. Clara was watching the battle intently, ready to cast her shield-dome spell if there was a need. Morgan raised his hand as Ves jumped back out of the boss’s range to evade a sword stab, and he fired. The bolt struck the boss in the shoulder, chipping the stone just a tiny bit. He quickly realized that it wasn’t worth wasting his bolts on it, as the damage it caused was negligible. Instead he focused on his plants, which were growing beneath the ground and waiting to strike. Lucius would send bursts of air at the boss every time Ves wasn’t in range, trying to stagger it, but the boss was large and heavy and Lucius couldn’t do much.
Then Vall reached the boss and attacked its leg. The strike sent cracks spreading over its knee, and the boss turned lightning fast to retaliate, but Vall jumped back out of range. Then Ves smashed her shield forward, sending icicles at the boss’s back to get its attention. It turned around and went back to attacking her, and she led it back to the trap.
Then as it came into range, Morgan used his skills and abilities. Spears struck out of the ground at the boss, and vines exploded to grow over it and restrict its movement. It started fighting
it, ripping vines as it moved—the spears had struck at its mist-stone body, but did little damage. Morgan tried to force the vines into the cracks on the boss’s body, but he noticed that he wasn’t able to control them as well as he usually could; in fact, in some places the plants had just stopped growing altogether. He frowned as the boss ripped through the vines and continued attacking Ves.
“Uh, Morgan?” Ves yelled out.
He frowned. He could tell that something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. The only thing he could tell was that something about the boss was making his control of the vines stall. The only thing he could think of was that somehow the mist stone had properties that made it hard for his power to interact with it. That hadn’t been in the report, but then again he hadn’t purchased all of it.
He didn’t have the time to think on it too much—instead, he formulated another plan as Ves, Lucius and Vall fought the boss. It was tough, but it wasn’t as fast as them, and the damage was accumulating. They might even be able to destroy it without him immobilizing it. Still, there were a few things that they could do.
“Vall, go help the bear!” Morgan yelled out. Ves’s demon bear was still fighting with the stone dog, although it looked like it was winning. Nevertheless Morgan wanted the bear on the boss, too. At his command, Vall jumped out of the range of the boss and ran away as his body caught fire, using one of his charging Blazing Juggernaut abilities to cross the distance quickly.
Then Morgan looked back at the boss. Ves had conjured her eldritch tentacles and was trying to catch and slow it, while Lucius chipped away at its ankle, probably hoping to cut its foot off.
