Taking a hearty swig of water, I point at Jade, who at least has the self-awareness to look a little guilty, "On the one hand, I applaud your ingenuity. On the other hand, I will judge you forever for coming up with it."

She fakes a cough to mask her shame, "Well...It worked. And I didn't want to risk missing because I'm only a little less awesome with bows and shit."

I rub my eyes, feeling a headache starting to form, but I elect to let the matter drop. As she said, if it works, it works.

Windy looks confused, "Errr...what did she do? I was busy trying not to die."

Angelus gives a slightly arrogant smile, "Your friend over there decided that her bow was better employed as a close-combat weapon against the adds."

"Can it, Chickenfeet, I will eat your bones!" Jade snaps, only provoking smug laughter from the healer.

"Heh. Nice," Windy gives her a thumbs-up, then gets to yanking her sword out of the monster's corpse. Once successful, it disperses in a stream of light, accompanied by a bassy bell toll, a brown-ish glowing blob left in it's place, forming into the shape of a long shard of slightly curved metal, with a Terrorstone grip at the fatter end.

"Look at that, a drop on the first kill. Excellent," I smile.

"What is it?" Windy questions, picking it up, "Hm. 'Unidentified Bronze-Tier Wand'."

"It's part of the Vacantsoul set for mages. Level 7 Bronze-Tier, one-handed magic weapon. Pass it here, I'll Identify it," I hold my hand out to receive the item.

"Uhh sure."

Clearing my throat, I hold the wand up, "<Lesser Magic Item Appraisal>."

 

 

Ah. The first use of my Monocle's active ability. Smells like money.

"Angelus, come here please," I beckon him over with my free hand, then pass the wand over, "As per the agreement. You can't use it yet, obviously, but you may as well hold onto it for later anyway."

Taking the wand in hand, he whistles, "Nice. How does this thing work, anyway? Any idea?"

"It uses your MP to fire a low damage magic attack. For comparison, most Staves are purely for amplifying Spellcasting, so pairing a Wand with a Focus will give you a ranged magic attack in exchange for slightly weaker spells," I explain, "Depending on the wand and your Class, this can either be a pro or a con. Of course, since this is pre-First Step gear, there's no class restriction on it either, so it's useful as a quasi-infinite ranged damage source for anyone who meets the 10 Imagination requirement."

"Hm. Alright. That's a lot of MP for how low the damage is, but I'll take the bonus Imagination," Angelus pockets the wand, "So this guy drops mage set gear?"

"Yeah, his only drops. There isn't a set bonus, and they aren't as good as the crafter variant you can make from the Schematics that can be rewarded for B and above Satisfaction at the end of the run. None of us are Enchanters though, so you'll just have to make do with that," I stroll toward the exit, chugging a really cheap health potion, enduring the awful taste, "Drink a potion if you need to, get the mining nodes and let's keep going."

---

 

The winding tunnel to the next boss is fraught with danger that by now is becoming somewhat mundane, a comfortable rhythm setting in, particularly with the efficacy which Windy handles the groups of Shards - it's enough that she only needs one heal to deal with a group of three while I kill a fourth and fifth.

We also have enough Imagined Riches to solidify an A rating once we reach the finish line, five out of the six a Miner of Jade's calibre can gather. While getting another likely won't make a difference to the first A clear reward, it will still give a better chance at receiving a reward beyond an armful of Terrorstone pieces. If memory serves, the amount of that is based on tens of percent too; So, happily, getting 80% will increase the amount we get.

The arena is dark, to put it mildly. Even with my higher than average perception for my level, it's difficult to see more than ten feet into the room with the aid of the ambient light given off by the Terrorstone corridor, as if the shadowy fog is resisting the illumination. Which it very well might be. Light sources within the room have their effectiveness cut dramatically.

Readying a lantern, I heft my sword onto my shoulder with the other hand, "Alright, Jade, come here a second please, I'll show you where to shoot."

"Mhm," Jade plods over and stands next to me. Kneeling down I align my eye-level roughly with hers then guide her bow arm, ignoring her fidgeting.

"Steady your aim, then fire off right...there," I align her aim with an off-center portion of the room, where Trophytaker is currently standing, if my memory isn't failing me, "Ok? Wait for my signal."

"Got it," Still a little uncomfortable from the physical contact, she nocks an arrow and draws it, ready to let loose.

Standing up, I address Windy, "Once she fires, immediately use Rush and run to it's position, he'll be stunned briefly, before engaging in normal combat. We have one minute to kill him, or one of us is liable to be decapitated before I can intercept him, so unleash hell. Same as the Vacantsoul, you take the left, I'll take the right so that Jade has clear space to fire. Same rules as the Shards of Terror, try and hit his weapons - except you Angelus, just do what you deem more important, blasting the shadow form or healing."

"Hurry up, my arm's getting tired," Jade whines.

"I'll drop the lantern adjacent so we can see it better," I brush her off, "On my mark. Three, Two, One. <Rush>!"

"<Rush>!" Windy follows my charge as the arrow flies past us, a barely-visible figure coalescing into physical form from the surrounding shadows. Once a few steps away, I dip my body low and set down the lantern, making it a little easier to differentiate the creature from the environment.

As promised and predicted, the fight is far easier, and although our damage is somewhat low, with all four of us laying into the little shite, it's paltry existence is extinguished seconds before it can recast Dispersal and fade from view. Nonetheless, the frenzied swinging of our blades has left myself and Windy momentarily winded from the exertion.

Congratulations, your party has defeated Trophytaker!

Awarding 2000 experience

Finishing off the first waterskin, I stow the empty leather sack for refilling later. Windy, likewise, takes a long draught of fluid from her own container.

Once more, a bell tolls, the shattered remains of its knives disintegrating into particles of light that slowly disperse the unnatural shadow in the room, revealing the sixth node by the entrance, and leaving a brown-glowing pair of leather gloves in it's place. Another drop, huh? Our luck must be good.

Picking them up, I promptly Identify the item.

 

 

"Yours, Jade," I call, and the loot gremlin dashes over, snatching them from my hands.

"Sweet. Hm, not a fan of fingerless gloves, and the colour is pretty bleh, but I'll take the sweet, sweet stats," Jade critiques, surreptitiously placing them into her inventory.

"Two for two on drops, can we get a three for three?" Windy questions, imitating a sports announcer.

Angelus groans, "You had to jinx it."

"We'll be going through again, don't worry. Last node over there, if you would do the honours," I point, "I should also mention that Trophytaker's is an Assassin-type set, so no bows, sadly. I'll look into making a better one when I have a free moment after we return to the city, ok?"

"'K," Jade nods, her jubilance a little deflated.

---

 

"Spooky," Angelus observes, looking into the final boss room.

Unlike the smoother, carved surfaces and uniformity of the previous areas, the arena is more akin to a natural cave, lined with stalactites and stalagmites, the opposite end of the tall room is dominated by the disturbing countenance of The Nightmare, standing vigil in front of an inky black pool, bubbling forth from a groundwater spout in the center.

It's hulking mass at first looks entirely formed of Terrorstone, but in it's idle motions, the flashes of faces and rotting flesh can be revealed amidst the pieces, one of it's fingers on it's left hand is quite clearly the fleshstripped leg bone of a person.

Standing this close, I can't help but feel a sense of deep unease radiating from the Pool of Desire. I'm not...afraid. Rather I feel something stirring in my flesh, and I can't put my finger on what or why. It's not happened before.

Pushing my discomfort aside, I turn to the group, "Remember, do not, under any circumstances, allow yourselves to be caught by The Nightmare if it fixates upon you. Take it through the Pool and let the rest of us attack the gemstone on it's back - this includes you as well, Angelus, now is not the time to be shy about your MP anymore, just try not to let me melt into the Pool."

"Understood," Angelus gives a mock salute.

"When you're ready, Windy, time to close out," I heft my sword up, ready to start running, "Save Rush for emergencies, just engage it normally!"

"By your leave, boss," Windy smirks, "Let's gooo!"

Once more, the two of us lead the charge, our backliners staggered out behind us. There is precious little that we can do however, so once I reach a suitable stopping point, I halt, letting Windy engage the boss by herself. Angelus and Jade join me in watching, as we patiently wait for thirty seconds to pass by. Odds are it'll fixate on Windy first, as the closest viable target.

The Nightmare's punches are as slow as they are powerful, and she's definitely kept my earlier advice not to try and match strengths with it to heart, hopping out of the range of it's swings well in advance, the barely sentient mass of magically charged rubble and corpses not bothering to adjust on the fly or attempt any sort of trickery.

"Two..one...Windy! Get ready to run!" I yell, having been counting down the time since we entered the arena. Sure enough, the creature stops it's wild punching within moments of the warning, raising both hands and clapping them together where Windy was only just standing, the sudden alacrity of it's arm movements startling her.

Expression hardening, she starts running around the monster, circling the Pool of Desire to a position opposite it. Slow and malodorous, The Nightmare turns to face her, arms still outstretched in longing, then slowly stomps it's way over, heedless of the obstacle in it's path.

Taking my own cue, I run forward, keeping close to it's rear as it plods closer to the Pool. Upon taking it's second step in, fully standing within the pool I run in after it, the unease I felt before amplifying greatly.

The Pool of Desire is corrupting you.

Resisted.

The Pool of Desire is corrupting you.

Resisted.

The Pool...

Wait, what? No, questions for later. Reaching the Terrorstone Gem is, admittedly, a little difficult given the difference in stature, but there's a moment where it hunches over and a moment it leans back while moving that give me the opportunity to get some stabs and chops in with the tip of my blade, so long as I jump for it.

Were I a more agile sort, equipped with a less burdensome weapon, I might well attempt to climb The Nightmare, but I have a somewhat irrational fear that prolonged physical contact will cause me to be absorbed instead of it's intended target. Or, perhaps that's a rational one?

Either way, it takes a fair bit of doing, but by the time it reaches the edge of the pool, parts of the stone construct fall away, a crack starting to form in the gemstone core. However, a portion of the inky black liquid snakes it's way along and through The Nightmare, reconstructing it with solidified black goop.

Immediately, I retreat from the boss monster, "Tankbuster incoming, don't let it hit you!"

Pulling back a girthy fist, the creature's whole arm flares to life with a dense magical aura, taking a step back, then a large step forward, the fist swinging up and down in a hammer blow directed at Windy. Confirming the telegraph can't be altered, the tank drops all pretence and sprints to the side, not stopping as she begins to circle around the Pool once more.

Heedless of it's victim's escape, the fist crashes into the stone floor, leaving a spiderweb of cracks and a pronounced divot as it pulls back it's arm into a neutral stance.

Perhaps realising where it's standing, namely, upon it's master; The Nightmare briefly forgets about us, plodding slowly out of the Pool onto dry land, letting the process begin anew.

"Woo, fucking hate these kinds of bosses~!" Jade cheers sarcastically.

Angelus looks at me inquisitively, "Didn't you say the Pool dealt damage if you stood in it?"

"It does, but for some reason, I'm resisting it?" I shrug, honestly just as clueless.

Although, having said that, I can feel that somehow, in some way, this is Jannis' fault. I can't think of a better explanation than this damn Title.

"Look at you, all special," Jade snarks.

I don't bother trying to argue otherwise, given the evidence of my own experiences.

"Damage phase number two, let's get back to it," I say instead, running back into the fray.

---

 

Congratulations, your party has defeated The Pool of Desire!

Awarding 2400 experience