by Ryan DeBruyn
The skewered rat is actually a hindrance to the other two, and they now crowd together. This impedes their earlier side-to-side motions, and I begin scoring shallow wounds on their chests as they attempt to dive in. Mur is still managing to hold them back with the shield and his wild swings. Damage mounts, and the enemies continue to slow. The last to join is the first to succumb to blood loss, then the others crumple, and I finish each off with Mur’s blade.
We will really need to work on coordination in the future. As far as I can tell, that battle was a bad showing, as we both fought the Rodentia individually. Maybe I should try to find an app that has combat simulations. I notice a fourth Rodentia watching us from the other side of the portal.
“Mur, why that one no attack?” I ask in Gartuski, pointing.
“Mur know ‘bout dat. Monsters have kitchen stations. Don’t cross the stations, ya feel?” Mur says in such strange English that I can’t help but stare at him. Is this still from those shows he’s been watching?
“Okay.” I shake myself out of the moment of confusion before turning to the last living creature. “Might as well kill it before we try taking the boss on.” I put the three Rodentia corpses into my subspace.
“Do you, fam. Do you.”
The fight with the final Rodentia is easy enough that I feel slightly bad for the creature. However, the fact that it tries desperately to kill me, in turn, makes that feeling easy to push aside. After that corpse is in my subspace, I turn to Mur.
In English, I begin outlining my strategy to try lobbing the acorns back down at the boss.
“Let’s get cooking, donkey!” Mur responds, his final insult making me unsure if he understood what I said or not. I clarify in Gartuski, and he confirms he understands the goal. Shrugging, I step through the portal first, thinking I may need to watch these shows just to understand him.
Inside the portal, the setup is nearly identical. Sure, a few roots and the coloring are slightly different, but the balcony and sleeping boss are the same. My [Identify] kicks in, and I discover something else is different.
Bottlebrush
Rank: F-8
Boss Rodentia
The name of the boss isn’t the same. Looking down, waiting for Mur to enter, I consider why that is. Perhaps the rank increase changes the name. Or every dungeon boss may be unique. Regardless, the creature has to die, and I figure I can take a closer look before it wakes up. It doesn’t look much different than the fat Chunkalunk.
“Squirrel on the menu!” Mur shouts a war cry the instant he phases onto the balcony. I suck in air as I hear it echo off the far wall. In response, the sound of jostling hollow wood begins from below, followed by a loud crack. Instantly, I see a strange shadow start rising along the opposite wall from the balcony. The shadow grows as the top of a thrown acorn appears over the lip, the projectile growing in size as it hurtles toward us.
“Look out,” I shout as I throw myself out of the way. The acorn hits the roof of the alcove and pinballs a few times between it and the floor before slamming into the back wall, missing us both by only a few feet. Mur stands back up but has dropped his shield and sword.
I chance a look over the ledge and notice that the Rodentia is setting up another acorn. I keep watching and catch the moment when Bottlebrush spins in a fast circle and bats the acorn off the top of the pile with its tail, launching it toward the alcove. There were maybe only three seconds between the two attacks.
“Incoming!” I track the object’s trajectory and need to scramble over the ground to avoid a ricochet bounce when it collides with a root and changes direction. “Hurry! Let’s drop one on it,” I say to Mur. We roll the first projectile toward the edge but find another enlarging acorn already heading right for us. “Crap!” I begin to dodge but this time a bounce off a ceiling root saves us from the collision.
We roll our acorn over the edge and watch it tumble through the air. The trajectory seems like it will connect with Bottlebrush below. Still, the farther it gets from the ledge, the more of the Rodentia I can see. It bounces off the floor and single hops right into the pile of acorns that Bottlebrush has set up. The stack scatters, and Bottlebrush’s tail vibrates as it chitters angrily at us. It then begins moving around the room, gathering up the acorns. Did we miss something or just miss our target?
Dammit, I thought this boss fight was going to be easy! I’d figured out the strategy. But all we did was momentarily stop Bottlebrush from batting another projectile at us!
“Quick, look around balcony. What Jeff miss?!” I shout in Gartuski to ensure Mur understands. I think we bought ourselves a moment with that last attack. I scan the balcony myself. Seeing nothing, I rush to move deeper into the alcove. I hear a crack and spin back around. That was too fast!
I watch in horror as the enlarged acorn collides with the roof and keeps coming straight at me. I hit the ground hoping it will bounce over me. The collision off the ground is near enough that I can feel the ground near my head shudder, and the crack of it hitting the roof above me tells me that I might still get clocked by the projectile on the return to ground. Instead I hear it thud away to my left. I stand up, my heart thudding madly. Above me is a cluster of roots! Lucky again? We are going to be hit eventually, though. Especially because, as more acorns land up here, the less room we’ll have to dodge the next ones.
I run around a bit and try to finish my scan but find nothing. There aren’t any field mice or obvious pools of water to investigate. I hear the sound of the tail making contact and shout a warning to Mur. I get into a ready position, knowing that the danger isn’t only the direction but the changes that come because of the roof. This one jumps toward Mur. It’s going to hit him!
Only thanks to my intense scrutiny do I notice two things. Mur hugging the wall and narrowly avoiding the collision, and the fraction of a second that the acorn glows red. It is like it landed in a pile of red dust that was just beginning to spray up and surround the acorn. Then it is like I was imagining it. I rush to the area, scanning the ground for a sign of something vibrant and red. There isn’t anything there.
Mur pokes me in the side as he walks up beside me. Turning to him, I find his hand pointing up at the ceiling. My neck cranes, and I see a tight grouping of roots in a pattern. If I hadn’t seen the red powder or glow or whatever it was, I probably would dismiss it. But now, I think it might form . . . a symbol?
“Quick, bring the closest acorn here.”
*Crack.* My eyes try to track the next projectile as it flies up to attempt to crush us.
Through frustrating trial and error, which Bottlebrush interrupts with another two acorns, we discover that the nut needs to sit under the roots for a full second to fully charge. I only use the term charge because I don’t know what the red powder does, and after one second, it stops accumulating. Moving the acorn out from under the charging root, we notice the dust that floats around it immediately sticks itself onto the acorn.
Now the acorn is red, and we’re trying to be careful with it as we roll it to the edge. Having just come from the Vulpe dungeon and its two glacial pools, it seems prudent. I am unsure if the acorn is going to blow up in our faces. *Crack.*
“No!” Our choice to move slowly allows the boss to bat off another projectile, and we have a moment to track the shadow and see that it’s heading right toward us. Terrified we drop the acorn, and I take off like my life may depend on it, even flooding my muscles with qi to get as far away from the red acorn as humanly possible.
My decision turns out to be correct as a wave of percussive force takes me off my feet from behind. The energy produces a wave of heat that almost feels like it tickles my skin but leaves it tender and itchy. I sit up and look around, hoping to see Mur standing back up as well. Mur is behind another acorn on the balcony, and I praise the goblin’s quick thinking. The second layer of protection seems to serve the green guy well as he peeks back out. Without hesitation, he begins moving the acorn he hid behind into position. Bottlebrush chitters angrily below us.
>
As the new round charges, I glance at the place the two acorns’ collided. There is a black scorch mark on the floor and plenty of wood shavings.
“Jeff move fast,” I warn Mur and match my words to my actions by heaving the red nut out from under the charging roots. Together we lob it over the edge and run to the side to watch as Bottlebrush bats another one. The two objects cross in mid-air, and the one headed our way is off target, so we’re likely safe for a moment, but I keep one eye on it in case it takes a bad bounce. We stay to watch the collision, hoping to see the boss die.
The acorn collides with the boss, and not only explodes, but the red powder adheres itself to Bottlebrush’s fur. It looks like I was right. We now have a method to beat the boss. And not only did the acorn hurt it, but Bottlebrush is lying motionless after the collision. I can still see it breathing, though. So it isn’t dead, but it won’t be firing another acorn up at us. We rush back and repeat the process.
The second projectile hits just as the boss gets to its feet and shakes off its dizziness from the first hit. The second red acorn explodes, and the boss collapses again. I raise both hands and turn away, almost ready to begin cheering our victory.
“Chief.” Mur points down at the boss below. “No damage. Red stick, no blood.”
I fly back to the edge and groan as I notice exactly what Mur is talking about. There has to be something we are missing. Again, after the two pools in the Vulpe dungeon, my guess is other colors of powder. I run away from the edge again, staring up at the ceiling, at the knots that look like strange pictures almost. They are all over the space, spread throughout the entire alcove. I point to one nearer the edge, and we gather up a new acorn and begin heaving it over.
This time the powder glows yellow, and I hear movement from down below just as we finish the charging process. Once it completes, we move the newest projectile to the side, but I shout for a halt before we lob it down.
“Stop. Wait for rat-squirrel to shoot one,” I command in Gartuski, realizing that is the only moment it will be standing still.
“Got it, Uncle Dill,” Mur responds in English with a dramatized military salute. Who is Uncle Dill?
The boss takes a moment to shake itself off but then cracks another acorn with its tail. We launch ours over the edge. It’s a good thing too, because the boss’s accuracy is pretty good, and we need to duck out of the way of the bouncing acorn. I’m away from the edge and don’t hear an explosion so much as a pop. I rush back, confused.
Yellow liquid and powder combine into a gelatinous ooze that washes over the boss. The yellow mixes with the red powder and creates an orange. Other than a soupy mess, I don’t see the point of this charge. That’s when the boss starts pulling frantically, seeming to try to wrench its paw away from a point on the floor. The ooze there is less vibrant in color, and when I squint, I think it might have become crystalline. The rest of the goop slowly fades from bright to matte orange, and I watch as the boss begins attempting to shake itself free of the stuff.
I wonder if this stuff is permanent just as cracks begin to spider out due to a herculean pull from the boss. Guess not.
“Another one, and that root cluster.” We take off and pull up the new acorn to the area. This one creates a green powder that coats the acorn. Together we heave this one over the edge before the boss can break free of the orange crystal prison.
The acorn puffs into a green smoke on contact with the ground. A slithering mass of roots emerges from the smoke. Or maybe ‘vines’ is a more appropriate description, and those vines begin to bind the boss in place. At first, I hope they will squeeze the life out of the Rodentia like a giant snake.
I feel my anxiety crank up as I realize that wherever the vines touch on the boss creature’s trapped form, the roots die and remove the orange substance. The orange powder also vanishes as the roots become black husks, and the color of that fur returns to brown. The boss easily breaks out of what’s left and I groan.
“Another!” I shout as the boss chitters and sets up another projectile. I hear the crack and dive out of the way as this acorn ricochets left. I hear Mur grunt, and stand back up to find him picking himself up off the ground. His shoulder doesn’t look right and I gasp.
“Mur okay?” I ask, as I keep running to another acorn.
“Yes, Mur live,” he responds as he rushes to help me one handed. I can see green blood leaking from a massive tear in his chest, but we don’t have much time before another projectile will be coming.
We begin shoving this new projectile to a nearby root cluster. Why did that happen? Red and yellow made orange. Orange and green made nothing. Wait—not nothing; they make brown. The color of the squirrel. It’s the colors. You can’t return to brown. At least, that’s the only conclusion I find in my quick assessment.
What if the stun, solidifying glue, and vines are all the root symbols do? Hold the boss still so adventurers can kill it. With that sort of advantage, Mur and I can likely make quick work of Bottlebrush. But not with Mur injured! Still, if this one doesn’t work I better try to go down and kill the boss without my tribesman. We can’t keep dodging the acorns forever.
“Okay, back to red if this no stun,” I command as this acorn lights up blue. With my recent exposure to ice and my current information, I assume that this one will create an ice prison.
This one collides with the Rodentia right after he launches another acorn up at us. We shuffle to avoid that but see the moment of impact. A wave of water bursts from the acorn and washes over the entire lower-level. All but the golden-colored acorn on the lower level begin bobbing in the surf. I hold my breath, waiting for it to freeze, but instead see it start to pool and sit there. Guess it wasn’t ice!
Bottlebrush splashes around, looking furious, but luckily isn’t able to make a pile to launch more projectiles. Not the best news, but hopefully the red one combines into something deadly. Purple, right? We retrieve and move another one under the knot of roots to charge it red. Then we hurry to dump it over. At this point, Bottlebrush has given up on firing more projectiles and is screeching at us from the middle of the pool.
The red acorn splashes onto the water, and a percussive boom sprays out. A small amount of dust connects with Bottlebrush, but it’s hard to see because everywhere red touches starts to bubble. Almost boiling but not. Some sort of purple fog begins to steam off the water, and before long, everything below is occluded from view.
The screeching of the boss is cut off by coughs and spitting. The sounds of acorns bouncing off the floor and being knocked around by something stumbling below are apparent as well. Where did the water go? I turn to Mur, and he looks pale. I move to touch his shoulder, and he jumps and then points down below.
“Purple death.” He shakes with terror as he mumbles the words. “Must not let touch tribe.” Mur backs away from the edge. I don’t bother. The fog seems to be denser than the air and hovers in the space, not rising up to us.
The purple suddenly starts glowing in a swirling pattern, and I blink. Maybe I should back away. This could mean something is changing. I step back and simultaneously realize that the exit portal is open in the area below. It’s creating the light show, but how the heck do we get to it? Will the ‘purple death’ dissipate on its own?
Why wait?
I know that getting the combination back to brown neutralizes the effects below. So, new question—what color combines with purple to make brown? Yellow!
“Help me!” I move to the acorn and beckon Mur to give me a hand. Together we get it under the root knot for yellow charge, but my friend won’t go any closer to the edge, so it’s up to me to shove it over.
The yellow ooze bursts out as soon as the acorn comes in contact with the fog. Wherever they touch, something falls to the ground, disturbing the floating purple substance. It almost seems like the mist gets sucked into the remaining yellow sludge because a whirlwind of movement captures it all. Just under the spot where the yellow acorn fell is the most vibrant pile o
f brown soil I have ever seen.
“Mur, come over here. The fog is gone.”
“Chief defeat purple death!” Mur states in Gartuski, his grunts conveying awe and bewilderment. I smile and shrug.
“Let’s go grab the loot!”
Chapter 45
September 5th, 151 AR
Jeff Turle
We grab the boss’s whole corpse and its leftover acorns. I even take the pile of soil because it identifies as F-rank. I then turn to Mur and pass him a couple flasks of soup. I really need to restock on those. His cut is scabbed over, but needs healing, and his shoulder needs to be reset.
“Mur, let Jeff tug shoulder,” I bark at him. I wish the language had a bit more subtlety but Mur nods, and I think he might have understood it. I move over and tug on the joint, feeling it pop right across to the other side and sink in too far again. Shoot! I know it needs to get reset or the healing from the soup will take longer. Healing? I could try to use [Infuse]. Isn’t it a healing skill?
I push some of my Sun qi into the area and see a pulse echo out from the first drop. It slightly reminds me of my experience with Veronica, and I can see the misplaced bone and its socket in my mind’s eye. Around the bone is a type of fluid-filled sac, and I can see that the tightness of it and some ropy looking structures are what is pulling and holding the bone off its proper place. Could I somehow relax those using the qi?
I coax my first drop and then a second one into those areas, and wonder why Mur hasn’t gasped or reacted to my qi.
“Mur not feel?” I bark with my eyes closed.
“Feel what?” he asks, and I realize that it must be something about the difference in the [Paired Cultivation] and [Infuse] skills. The qi hovers near the dislocated shoulder, and I try to think about it soaking into the area. It does and that’s when Mur sucks in a breath.
“Shoulder hot!” Mur says. I yank on the joint and feel the ropy structures stretch and allow me to settle the bone in place. I then change my thoughts about relaxing the area and try to use the qi to heal it like I would in my own body.
