Dungeons and Dalliances Ch. 130-139

"Maybe a mini-boss," Natalie said. "But if I had to guess, a full one."

"Everyone's ready?" Sofia asked.

The party agreed.

Natalie entered first, with the others slipping in after her. Having the encounter seal itself off with only a portion of the team inside would be disastrous, so they didn't dawdle.

"The mirrors mean something," Liz murmured. "Keep that in mind."

Natalie nodded. It was obvious enough. Like the patches of dirt for the dryad, which had acted as safe zones. Boss rooms often had some environmental factor. Natalie wasn't sure how the mirrors would come into play, but she would keep an eye on them.

There wasn't much to say, so Natalie advanced, hammer held at the ready. In preparation, Liz suffused her with the empowering buff, and that familiar wash of energy surged through her.

Entering the room, a glimpse of movement in her peripheral caught her eye. She spun, but saw only a mirror reflecting back what it should: her, with her weapon held at the ready. She hesitated. Had she imagined it? And if she hadn't—then had it come from the mirror itself, or behind it?

A second flash of movement made her spin the other way.

"Did you see that?" Sofia asked.

"If I had to guess," Natalie said, eyes darting across the room, "it's the boss."

"Inside the mirrors?" Sofia asked.

"That's what it seems—"

The shadow reappeared, and Natalie's gaze snapped to it. A hulking beast ripped out of the furthest mirror from her—the one positioned in the back of the room, closest to Liz and Ana. Natalie reacted by instinct: grunting with exertion, she hurled her hammer.

Through some miracle—since Natalie didn't have the best aim, much less when the projectile was a giant warhammer—her weapon hit the crystalline beast lunging from the mirror square in the jaw, just as it arrived at Liz. The huge stone projectile smashed into it, and the sound of splintering glass filled the air, as did a loud yelp.

The beast, deflected by the enormous projectile, veered away, momentum diverted. The bulk of the beast caught Liz on the shoulder as it passed, though, but its snapping jaws missed her. Liz, small and with little to no physical strength, went tumbling anyway. Her wand skittered across the floor, ripped from her hands.

[Prismatic Stalker - Lv. 2]

A wolf. Natalie spared a fraction of a second to identify what they were up against. A huge, six-foot- tall, twelve-foot-long, sleek, alien beast vaguely resembling a wolf. It was made up, like many of the creatures they'd found on this floor, of interlocking geometric shapes of glass, approximating a blocky sculpture. Where most of the monsters prior were clear and see-through, the wolf had glints of prismatic colors shimmering across its body. If she hadn't known the monster was a boss before, its elegant, sparkling composition made it clear. This thing was clearly stronger than the regular mobs they'd been fighting earlier.

Natalie's frantic hammer throw was enough to save Liz, but not stagger the beast. The wolf stood, shook its head to clear its disorientation, then faced Natalie and let loose a hair-raising growl. She had, at least, saved her healer and drawn the boss's attention—her job as the tank. But she also didn't have a weapon, now. Nor a shield. Her eyes flicked to her hammer, which lay a fair distance away, in the direction of the wolf.

Well.

Not a great start.

At least Liz was fine.

The wolf rushed forward, and the fight began in earnest. Natalie scrambled for her hammer, at the same time conjuring an [Illusion]—since, disarmed, magic was all she had. The rest of the team sprung into action too. Liz rushed for her wand, trying to re-arm herself just like Natalie.

Her illusion took hold, and it successfully distracted the [Prismatic Stalker]. It was one of Natalie's larger, but less elegant, creations, a mirage of her entire body scrambling toward her hammer, but placed several feet ahead of her. The wolf rushed for it, passing through the illusion, and Natalie skidded the last few feet, scooping up her two-handed hammer.

The wolf, realizing it had been fooled, kept its momentum—choosing to ignore Natalie rather than spin around. It went for easier prey. In this case, Jordan, who had been edging in from the side for a sneak attack.

Natalie cursed and scrambled forward, working up her hammer's momentum as she traveled, overriding her instinct to make a mad dash to save Jordan. That was the downside of delving with friends, much less—well, whatever she and Jordan were. Trusting that Jordan could take care of herself was difficult, regardless that she knew Jordan was more than competent.

Jordan weaved between rapid slashes of the beast's claws, then side-stepped a vicious lunge. Natalie arrived in the next moment, eager to take the monster's attention back through a vicious attack of her own. The gigantic stone block of her hammer crashed into crystal, and her arms reverberated with the impact, all of the momentum she had been gathering as she charged forward coming to an abrupt stop. The force behind the blow rattled both of them—Natalie, whose arms ached from the impact, and the wolf, who staggered away.

But this was a boss, so even a direct hit couldn't do that much damage. Shards of splintered prismatic glass flew away, leaving an indent in its rib cage, but the attack was far from a finisher. The beast snarled and turned on her, delivering a flurry of slashing claws. Lacking a shield, or an easy way to dodge, Natalie activated [Hunker Down]. The wolf's claws slammed into her, but instead of scoring gouges across her armor, came to an abrupt stop. She held [Hunker Down] for the full duration, the wolf growling in agitation as it failed to scratch her. With the opening her defensive ability brought, her teammate's own attacks finally crashed into the creature—daggers, a rapier, and ribbons of black energy.

Snarling, the wolf leaped backward, putting space between them. Then—to Natalie's surprise—turned and sprinted away, deeper into the arena.

Headed for one of the mirrors?

The monster had come out of one, Natalie realized. So why couldn't it go back in?

And what else?

The giant beast disappeared as it soared seamlessly into the glass, and Natalie understood at the same moment as Sofia. As the entirety of the team did.

"Behind us!" Sofia shouted, spinning to face their backline.

Exactly as the fight had begun, the wolf leaped through the mirror closest to Liz and Ana, having used the glass to teleport across the arena. Natalie finally understood the gimmick of the fight—the purpose of the mirrors. And it was devastating. Healers and mages oftentimes couldn't face off against even normal monsters. Jordan might be able to briefly hold her own, but Liz? Ana?

And this time, Natalie wasn't close enough to intervene—not even with a lucky hammer throw. Even with the team's quick reactions, nobody could save Liz as the giant beast crashed into her, gigantic crystal jaw latching around her torso.

4.29 - Prismatic Stalker II

One thing saved Liz from a serious maiming that even health potions would have struggled to heal. [Joined]. One of the two abilities tied to Liz's wand, that she and Natalie had activated the night prior and which had remained active through the day. An effect that linked their health and mana pools, so that they could each draw on them as necessary.

A giant crystal jaw clamped down around Liz, shook viciously, then tossed the girl aside—and Natalie dropped to her knees, crumpling in agony. Her hammer clattered from her, and she gasped as she barely managed to stay on her knees and hands. Liz's body went flying, but—in a shocking display—she scrambled to her feet, not looking worse for wear.

She and Liz hadn't had the opportunity to test [Joined], and it seemed Liz had instinctively diverted all the damage done to her to Natalie—or at least the huge majority. Natalie's vision swam as she desperately fought away unconsciousness. She wasn't the most durable of tanks, with no skills that boosted tenacity, only gear and whatever natural fortitude came with her class. So a direct blow from a boss was something even she struggled with. Maybe even the damage was amplified since it was applied to Liz, then transferred to her—so what defenses Natalie did have might not even have applied.

Energy suffused her, and Natalie gasped as Liz's first healing spell coursed through her. It staved off the immediate threat of passing out, but far from cured her.

The team, at least, acted as professionals ought to; they knew of [Joined] and [Link], and so despite being surprised at seeing their healer effortlessly shake off a direct boss attack, immediately returned to the fight. Sofia acted as the intermediary tank as Natalie dragged herself to her feet—nearly falling over again—and scooped up her hammer.

The party of four tackled the wolf themselves, and as Liz's healing spell settled—and a regeneration effect joined it—Natalie slowly worked her way into fighting order. She would be feeling that phantom bite for a while. Heals could only do so much; she would be waking up bruised tomorrow. Or, at least, should be. She didn't know how attacks given through [Joined] worked. Did they leave physical marks?

Finally back in fighting order, Natalie re-entered the frenzy. The brawl continued. Her blows weren't quite as powerful, flagging from the damage she had taken, but still plenty enough to draw the wolf's attention. The beast was quickly weakening. The wolf itself wasn't all that strong; its difficulty came from the mirrors. Against most teams, the ambush attack would have crippled their healer or mage. [Joined] had saved them, making the fight much easier than it would have been for most teams.

The wolf soared through the teleporting mirrors several more times, but the team naturally positioned themselves to mitigate the advantage the wolf could claim. A good delving team preferably made mistakes zero times, but never the same one more than once.

Natalie had the pleasure of landing the finishing blow, and it was a satisfying bit of retribution. The huge block of her war hammer caught the beast straight on the side of the head, and with its health whittled down over the past several minutes, the blow was actually lethal this time. Prismatic glass shattered, and the life of the beast went out all at once as its head exploded. Its sleek, crystalline body slumped down, skidded several feet, then started evaporating into strands of black smoke.

"Sorry!" Liz yelped immediately, rushing to Natalie. "I meant to split it more, but I gave it all to you. It's weird to use."

"Probably should've tested it before we needed to use it," Natalie grunted. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Better me than you." That was the point of a tank—to take hits for her team. She rubbed her ribcage, where a set of phantom fangs burned.

Sofia walked up to the two of them. "It completely mitigated the attack? So our healer is invulnerable as long as our tank is alive?"

"Not invulnerable," Liz said. "I felt the bond loosen. I couldn't draw on Nat's health that much again. We'd have to—um, refresh the spell. And I've got the feeling we can't, not for a bit. It has a cooldown. Though that's just a guess. It really needs more testing."

Though they didn't have proof, Natalie assumed Liz was right. The wand's effect couldn't be that strong—turning Liz invulnerable as long as Natalie was standing. Likely, [Joined] could only be refreshed once a day, or even less, and had a maximum amount of health that could be shared between them.

"Either way, I'm glad you're fine," Natalie said. "You can patch me up easier than you could yourself." If Natalie had been knocked unconscious, Liz could heal her, but the reverse was obviously not true. Natalie looked Liz up and down, seeing that she really was almost unscratched. "Crazy to see you get shaken around like that, then just get up, though."

"You can say that again," Jordan said. "I thought that fight was about to go a lot worse than it did."

"Yeah. It's a useful weapon," Liz joked, waving her wand around—though still sending concerned glances toward Natalie. Natalie really was mostly fine, though again, a hit of that magnitude would be leaving bruises in the morning. But it was a boss. That was about all that could be expected. Even with their huge upgrades, they couldn't effortlessly handle such an encounter. For that matter, having come out with only Natalie aching, they had handled it nearly trivially.

"So," Natalie said. "Boss loot. Any guesses where it is?" She looked around. The room was empty besides the large arena and the mirrors the wolf had been jumping through.

"Maybe it's hidden somewhere," Sofia said. "Under a panel or tile, or some such." She looked at Natalie. "You're sure you're fine?"

"Yeah."

Sofia nodded, willing to take Natalie at her word. She set off to start looking for the boss chest. The rest of the party did the same, though Ana stopped by the boss's corpse to pluck up the monster core.

Rubbing her aching ribs, Natalie joined them in the search.

4.30 - Prismatic Stalker Rewards

The initial sweep of the room left Natalie and her team confused; they found no traces of the boss's loot chest. There was a possibility that the encounter didn't have one, since anything could happen in the dungeon, but she found that unlikely, as did the rest of the team. Odds were higher that they were missing something. But a second look-through of the arena unearthed nothing, either.

Ana, eventually, was the one to figure it out. "Jordan," she said. "Come look at this."

Natalie turned from her own inspection to see Ana peering inside one of the mirrors. Jordan, who had been nearest her, walked over to join her. Jordan's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to identify whatever Ana was pointing at, then they shot up. She turned around, looked at the roof of the arena, then back to the mirror.

"Wow. Good catch."

"What is it?" Natalie walked over to join them, as did the rest of the team. She peered inside the mirror, seeing only the room and themselves reflected back.

"There. On the ceiling." Jordan pointed through the glass.

Natalie scrutinized the reflection. It was awkward through the mirror; Jordan's finger didn't line up perfectly. But her eyes finally snagged on the object of interest.

A small box, nearly camouflaged, hung by a rope from the ceiling. Natalie, surprised, turned to look at it in the real world—but saw nothing where it should be.

"Huh?" Natalie said.

"Invisible," Ana replied. "Except through the mirror."

"Tricky," Sofia said.

"How do we get it down?" Liz asked. All five of them were crowded around the mirror, shooting glances between the reflection of the dangling loot chest and where it should be.

"I can," Ana said. Gauging the location of the chest for a second, she withdrew her crystal ball. Magic hummed to Natalie's sense, and a moment later, a giant black tendril of energy whipped out. It slashed the air where the rope would be.

On making contact, the entire assembly blinked into existence, the invisibility effect dispelling. The box hit the ground with a loud thump, locks rattling and sending a wave of dust rushing outward. Tile cracked around it.

The team approached, excited to see what they'd gotten. As was becoming custom, Sofia finagled the lock open and popped the top. She reached in and withdrew their first piece of equipment.

Natalie paused.

***

Pet Collar

Rare

Lv. 2

Effects

- Minor increase to physical Prowess.

- Minor increase to physical Tenacity.

- Submissive. Declare an Owner. When obeying Owner's commands, Collar will slowly evolve. Demeaning and uncomfortable commands provide more evolution points.

- Hindrance-Free. Leash cannot be tangled in combat and reactively grows or shrinks.

Description

A thin black collar with a gold loop for attaching a leash. A silver nameplate adorns the front, currently empty.

***

The group stared in silence at the item in Sofia's hands. Sofia's expression was suspiciously blank.

"Seems like a great fighter item," Jordan commented, her tone deliberately professional—to the point of being obviously mischievous. "All yours, Sofia. Who do you want as your owner?"

Sofia looked slowly up at Jordan. Her face remained neutral. "And what," she said, an edge in her voice that betrayed her controlled expression, "makes you think I would wear this?"

"A rare? With prowess and tenacity boosts? That evolves? mean, I would take it, but tenacity is a waste on me. It's perfect for a fighter."

"So, Nat could use it."

"Nat already has the overpowered class," Jordan said dismissively. "Besides, I don't think she'd do well with orders."

"And I would?" Sofia said, a hint of a growl appearing.

Jordan shrugged—but wisely didn't respond. Her smirk was answer enough.

Sofia turned the venomous look to Natalie. "This is your fault."

"My fault?"

"Your class's doing."

"Sorry it keeps giving us amazing loot," Natalie said. "I mean, sure. It's weird. But two minor boosts? It's a good item."

"And fashionable!" Liz piped up.

Sofia turned the glare to Liz. Liz, who had been biting back a grin, wiped the expression away. Her eyes went wide, and she frantically waved her hands. "Sorry! Sorry! But, I mean, it is kind of funny. Isn't it?"

"No. And if you think it is, why don't you wear it?"

Liz's eyes widened even more. "It's a fighter item," she stammered. "I can't."

Sofia eyed her scathingly, then said, "It's not funny."

"Right. Totally isn't." Liz took a long, steadying breath, not exactly selling the words. "It's not funny at all."

"Hm," Ana said. "But it is."

Everyone looked at her.

"From an objective standpoint, it's humorous," Ana said. "Beyond that it's simply an unusual item, it's clearly geared for a fighter. For you. Considering your rivalrous relationship with Natalie, it appears to me as if the dungeon is deliberately taunting you. Putting you in a difficult situation. That's amusing."

The two girls stared at each other. Ana with her blank expression, and Sofia, who wasn't sure how to react. Ana had stated it too matter-of-fact.

"I'm glad you think so," Sofia finally said. "But it's not."

"If you want my opinion, I believe Natalie is the best choice," Ana said, "but since I understand that might make you uncomfortable, I could also be your owner. I would treat you fairly." She paused. "Insofar as the item allows. It does say demeaning commands provide more evolution points."

Natalie had no idea if Ana was being genuine or just teasing Sofia, and that made the situation even funnier. She couldn't help herself—she started laughing. Liz and Jordan joined her, with Liz burying her face into Jordan's shoulder to hide her face. Sofia sputtered and growled at them until they finally calmed down.

Even Ana's lips started twitching, though maybe Natalie imagined it. The girl really was hard to read. She had to be messing with Sofia. But Natalie couldn't tell.

"Oh, don't cry about it," Natalie said, wiping her eyes. "Here. I'll put it on for you." She stepped up to Sofia, then grabbed the collar out of Sofia's hands. Maybe from shock, the white-haired girl let Natalie do it. Natalie turned the collar around in her hands, figuring out how it worked. She unhooked it, then slipped it around Sofia's neck and clamped it shut. After situating it so the nameplate faced forward, she hooked the leash around the loop.

Smirking, Natalie patted Sofia on the shoulder, holding the leash in her left hand. "There. It looks good. Now, be a good girl and make me your owner. However that works. We're wasting time."