by Drew Jager
"What if they took you out of the Dungeon! You aren't strong enough to survive on your own yet, Sol!" He could tell she was on the verge of tears, and after he had gotten his laugh in, he stepped in.
"What you did was foolish, Sol. I know you were curious, but the Two-legs are dangerous." He chided the sulking Treant.
"Sol dangerous too..." He mumbled, eyes downcast.
Bel's look of righteous fury waned for a brief second, then she recovered. "Not yet, you aren't. Look at how easy the Lurker caught you, and even he has lost to the Two-legs!"
With this final blow, Sol's resistance shattered. He looked ready to start crying himself, though Will wondered if a tree even could, when Grizzly interrupted.
A roar rang across the room, and all three saw the Boss poke his head into the connecting tunnel from the Boss room. Griz stared directly at Sol, and he seemed to collect himself.
After another moment of silence, Sol spoke again. "Sorry."
"Go to Grizzly's room, Sol. Me and Bel want to talk, alone." He said to the Treant.
Sol shrugged, and headed towards the imposing frame of Grizzly.
She looked confused, but waited until he had left. "Is something wrong, what did we need to talk about?" She said, sounding worried.
"Nothing. I sounded like a parent though, right!? I bet it was super cool. Did you see how he didn't even argue! Hah!" He was laughing at his victory.
"I don't know why I ever told you about how the Two-legs raised their children. Was that why you asked? To look cool?" She said, only slightly smiling.
"It worked, didn't it?" He asked smugly.
She just rolled her eyes. "Only a little., Rockhead. You got lucky. You better hope Treants don't have a Teenage phase."
"What's a Teena-"
He was cut off as another shiver ran through the Dungeon. Another group had left without defeating the Lurker.
For the past few days no Parties of Adventurers had made it much further than the new Jungle room. A few had done decently, and gotten to the Flower room, before they too had to leave.
The sight of the next group piqued his curiosity, though. Of all the Adventurers, this group had gotten the furthest.
It was that Dwarf, the oversized Human, and the overly tanned one. Bel had told him they would be back, but he didn't expect them so soon.
I forgot how ugly they all looked.
"Oh! I think we may finally get to see Griz in action!" Bel said, spinning in circles.
He just scoffed. "They were dead on their feet last time, why would it be any different now?"
"Because, Rockhead, they've had all this time to prepare. I wouldn't be surprised if they had strategies to get through every room easily this time around." She said.
He grumbled at this, but what she said next perked him up.
"Although... We've had the same amount of time too, and have a few surprises of our own." At the last part, she flew off towards the Jungle room.
He felt his mood improve, and turned his attention towards the new room. The returning Adventurers had entered in a tight formation, and were searching for traps.
Something was off about the Party, though. "What's with their clothes? Why do they look so strange now? I mean, they were ugly before, but this is just sad."
All three now had strange patches of fur on their armor. Or scales, in the large Human's case.
"Can't you recognize it, Will? They made that armor from the drops from the Dungeon Monsters."
He felt his nonexistent stomach sink, then anger followed. "They wear the bodies of my Monsters, to come back and fight them again!?" He had started raising his voice, and every Monster in the Dungeon felt their blood boil.
"Calm down, Sweetie. This is normal for Dungeons, this is why the Monsters dropped the items to begin with. I know it's cruel, and barbaric, but this is how it is."
"How the hell did they even get that much material?" He knew for a fact they hadn't gotten enough for all three to wear during their dive. The large Human was practically covered in the scales of his Serpents.
"They bought it from other Adventurers, of course. Probably pretty expensive too, I wonder how they got it ready so quickly. They've only had a few days, but these guys are definitely the best geared Adventurers we've had so far." She said appreciatively.
He sulked even further at his Guides honest praise of the slaughter of his Monsters.
"Where is the bastard?" The large Human said. He remembered from their previous dive her name was Lana. He preferred Disgusting Mutant, but he would save that insult specifically for that one man.
"The other groups say it only attacks when we attempt to leave, so keep your eyes sharp." The Dwarf, Wren, said.
"Do you try to sound like a Guild Officer, or do you honestly talk like that." Lana said.
The man in the back, Michael, cracked a smile.
"Keep your eyes sharp, or I'll poke you with something sharp myself." He warned.
"Promise?" She replied automatically. Will couldn't help himself, and chuckled.
Then he berated himself for laughing at the mutant who was invading his home.
Bel, for her part, was swimming laps across one of the many pools on the ground. She had been counting out loud, and gotten to fifty-three before the Adventurers reached her.
They had slogged through the dense growth of plants, and were now trying to avoid falling into the pools of water.
"I can see that the water connects underground. You think there's any treasure down there?" The overly tanned one, Michael, asks.
"It's still the first floor, I doubt it." Wren replied.
"I guess. I don't think this counts as a normal first floor Dungeon, though. We all heard the Guild Officer speak about how quickly the layout changed."
"What are they talking about, Bel?"
She shook the water out of her hair, and smiled. "Apparently, you're the talk of the town, Sweetie. All that changing you did, without asking me, is being noticed. I. Told. You." She was perched on a floating leaf, arms crossed.
He mentally flinched at her condemnation, but recovered quickly enough. "No, Sweetheart, I meant Treasure."
"What about it?" She asked curiously.
He was starting to feel embarrassed. "Well... What is it?"
After a few minutes of laughter, at his expense, she replied. "Dungeons use Treasure to lure Two-legs into traps, or reward them for defeating a particularly hard part of the Dungeon. Usually, it's a pile of gold, or an Imbued Sword, or something equally useless." She was still grinning, but he was too interested to care about her teasing anymore.
"Can I-"
"Don't you even think about it. If you change even a single leaf over the next month, I'm going to start tearing down those statues you love so much."
He gasped. Not his life work!
"Message received. If you break those statues, I'm taking away your bed." She gasped in return.
They both had warheads locked and loaded, but the Adventurers broke the stalemate.
The Dwarf had fallen into one of the pools after staring at the ceiling, when he should have been looking at his footing.
Will laughed until he felt sick, and Bel wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Watch out. There's water there." Lana said to the soaked Dwarf.
Michael snorted, but pretended to cough when Wren whirled on him.
"No Treasure down there. Keep moving." He acted as if it was all intended.
The other two shrugged, and neared the end of the room. Trees, and vines, blocked their way. The door was 10ft away from them, but they would need to find a way through the dense overgrowth.
They didn't see what Will and Bel did, though. The only reason the way was blocked, was because one of the vines was actually the Lurker. It had placed itself directly in the path of the Adventurers, and none of them even noticed. They were so worried about what was above and below, they never checked right infront of their eyes.
Lana had started pushing the plants
out of their path, and was on a direct course towards the Monster.
What none of them noticed, however, were the two Dungeon Serpents slinking from a hidden tunnel in the wall.
When the two Serpents struck, both Party, and Crawl, let out a shriek.
Bel laughed at his response, but he was too engrossed in the fight to care. He had focused solely on his Mini-Boss, and didn't even notice the two Monsters sneak up. He felt a surge of pride for his Serpents.
"Yeah! Get the short one first!" He yelled towards the two Monsters.
Both had burst from the surrounding grass, and at his command, aimed for the Dwarf.
"Oh fu-" His curse was cut short as both latched onto a leg, causing him to crash into the ground.
The two Humans worked to remove the Serpents, but struggled to kill them without injuring their friend.
Foolish Two-legs. Where are you looking?
He was practically foaming at the mouth to see what would happen next, and it did not disappoint.
The Lurker, who had bided his time, slithered from his perch.
10ft of snake unspooled from the branch he was hanging from, and began gliding towards the Adventurers. Michael noticed his Mini-Boss first, and acted as Will expected.
He shrieked, then began stabbing wildly into the Serpent on his friend's leg.
He laughed as the Dwarf winced in pain from the Clerics wild thrusts.
"Stay calm, boy. We only have a moment, then the real fight begins." He was surprisingly calm for a man with two snakes immobilizing him.
Then he saw the one Lana had targetted was aleady on the ground, beheaded.
The spot where the Serpent had bitten the Dwarf was a sickly green color, but he was otherwise unscathed.
He had hoped for more damage to be inflicted, but sadly his Serpents just weren't potent enough yet.
The one Michael had been working on came off in pieces, and the Dwarve's leg underneath was soaked in blood.
Wren ignored the injury, and stood up to face the oncoming Mini-Boss. Then, promptly fell backwards, unconscious.
"Shit. It's you and me now, Michael. The venom must have been too much for him." Lana grunted, taking a wide stance to meet the Lurker head on.
"I can heal him, just keep that thing at bay for a minute." Michael said in a shakey voice.
Two-legs and Lurker clashed in a tangle of limbs and muscle. The Human was abnormally large, but her size only worked against her in this fight. His Mini-Boss coiled himself around her body, pinning her arms to her side. She had no way to reach for her weapons, and she shouted towards her team member.
"No... Time... Help." Each word came out breathlessly. His Lurker was far stronger than he realized.
"Yeah! Get em' baby!" Bel cheered from the side, pumping her fists in the air.
Michael looked up from Wren, and saw her nearly encased in the snake. The Mini-boss had coiled himself around her, leaving only the head exposed.
The Lurker had unhinged his jaws, and looked like he was about to swallow the ugly human.
Will was nearly in tears at the thought of his Monster swallowing the Adventurer, but the Cleric finally regained his senses.
He rushed towards the Monster, glowing ball of light in hand, and thrust his spell towards the eyes of the snake.
The light burst through the room, banishing shadows, and blinding everyone inside.
Will had no trouble seeing, though, and asked the important question. "What the fuck was that?"
"Language. What that was, was a spell. It's only a basic spell, so it didn't do much besides blind the Lurker. He was smart to do it, though. Look." She pointed towards the fight.
His Mini-boss was writhing on the floor, covering his eyes with his tail. The Cleric had shoved the ball of light straight into his face, forcing him to let the Two-legs go.
Cowardly Cleric... Let my Monster eat in peace.
After blinding the Lurker, Michael grabbed the ugly Human and pulled her away. He grabbed her by the hair, which looked very painful, and moved towards the collapsed Dwarf.
"Ow. Okay, you can let go now." Lana grumbled.
"You're welcome." The Cleric said breathlessly. Dragging her must have really took it out of him.
"Thank you." She looked sincere, but Will could never tell what the facial expressions of Two-legs ever really meant.
"Get ready, that flash doesn't blind for very long." As he said this, the golden eyes of the Mini-boss rounded on them.
Will could see nothing but hatred in his Monster's gaze, and it made him so proud.
What ensued next was a war of attrition. Every time the Lurker attacked one Two-legs, the other would beat it away. Chunks of earth flew through the air, thrown by the ugly Human, and the Cleric healed her whenever she was bitten or bruised.
In a one on one fight, neither would have lasted longer than a brief moment. Together, they just barely had the strength to stand their ground. Barely.
It wasn't until his Monster had managed to trip the ugly one, and grapple the Cleric to the ground, that Will knew victory was theirs.
The Lurker had unhinged its jaws again, and was ready to snap them shut over the skull of Michael. Then, a shard of ice pierced through the roof of his mouth.
His Mini-Boss hissed in pain, and blood flowed from the wound. The well-timed attack had gone through his mouth, and out the back of his throat.
Everyone watching knew he would not survive much longer with such a grievous wound. So, the Mini-Boss made one final lunge towards the Party.
The Lurker extended to its full length, and reached towards the Cleric, blood still pouring from his mouth. Leaving himself exposed only provided the other two the opportunity to strike, though. Another bolt of ice pierced his side. Then, a sword was thrust into his tail, pinning him to the ground. The fight was over, and the Lurker had lost.
As he lay there, bleeding out, Will put the full brunt of his focus on the Mini-boss. Bel flew over, and began gently stroking his head.
"You did so well. We are both so proud of you." She whispered.
Seeing the effort his Lurker had gone through, and the devotion he had shown, inspired him. This Monster deserved a name. It would be an insult to what this beast had gone through, all the pain it suffered for his sake, if he only referred to him by his species.
"You're the best Mini-Boss this Dungeon could have asked for. From now on, you are named Verne. You've earned this."
Verne raised his head to stare towards Will's Crawl, and was beheaded by Lana.
"Man! Talk about a wild fight. Good timing there, Shortstack." She yelled towards the Dwarf.
"I'm just glad you two didn't get swallowed before I could rescue you." He replied with a smirk.
"What now?" The Cleric asked, going through the loot Verne had dropped. Leaf green scales, and a fang long enough to act as a shortsword.
"We heal, then move on. The plan stays the same. We get back to the Boss, and if we feel ready, we kill the fucker." The Dwarf said with a stoney gaze.
Both Will and Bel ignored the Party.
"Why Verne?" She asked.
"I'm not sure. It just seemed right." He mentally shrugged, after witnessing the heroic Monster in action, it had appeared in his mind. He chalked it up to 'Dungeon Things', and moved on.
Bel just smiled, then nodded. He wanted to ask why that made her happy, but was cut off by a roar.
Grizzly's challenge reverberated throughout the entire dungeon, and he wouldn't be surprised if the town outside heard it as well.
His Boss was ready for his first real fight. Will couldn't wait to watch the Two-legs be crushed under his paws.
Chapter 20 - Insurmountable
"Sweetheart... I know you're upset, but this is getting ridiculous." He sighed. Bel was still sobbing over Verne. While it broke his heart for the first few minutes, it started to get old after the next ten.
"H-He... He just... He worked so hard!" She sniffed loudly, then blew her nose on the hem of her dress.
She had started sobbing after the Adventurers exited the Jungle room, and it had seemed to come from nowhere. One minute she was ready to watch the Two-legs be crushed by the Boss. The next, she was using Sol as a shoulder to cry on.
