The fights against the monsters on the second floor of the dungeon started getting faster as Liam corrected the mistakes Eri pointed out after each one. He was starting to get a good grasp on his capabilities and the combos he wanted to try out.
The regular monsters on this floor were the same as the ones on the last. The only difference was these ones were a level or two stronger. This helped Liam out as he started to get a feel for his Cleave ability being used with his Weapon Skills. The stronger the mantises were the more he really had to focus on where he was striking.
More than a few times he found out that if he struck at a bad angle the weapon wouldn’t cut through all the way. This was really testing his focus and perception. Not only that, but his Affliction combination was slightly weaker on the one or two level differences compared to the monsters on the last floor.
He was happy when he came to the Elite Floor Monster room and saw the same creature he had fought as a boss on the last floor. Thanks to it showing up as an E.F.M. he was able to retest the strategy he used on it. This time he was more aware of the lightning that it shot and ended up dodging all of its attempts.
By the time he reached the second floor boss room, he was able to level his Cleave and Veil of Shadow by one level each. His Epidermis Luminescence, Shade’s Corruption, and Weapon skills in his whip, sword, and spear leveled by two.
His understanding on harvesting the Twin Fanged Adders and the Static Clawed Mantises had also grown a bit as well. When he drained the Adders of their venom he was able to a bit more from them. Instead of a medium sized vial, he was able to get a medium and a half of a small vial of the venom.
The skin he was able to skin of the snakes had also improved a bit as well. They still came out crude, but there were less damages shown when he skinned them. The meat he butchered from them also looked better as well. He was also able to level his Cleanse Material again when he cleaned the meat from the venom he wasn’t able to fully extract from them too, bringing both the section and the skill from it up a level.
The materials he was able to harvest from the Static Clawed Mantises were also looking better. He made less mistakes when he harvested each part as well gaining a bit more parts than he had gotten on the last floor.
The Soul Orbs were still Flawed, though. That wasn’t due to him, but rather the level of the creatures he Soul Harvested. In between his fights he had used Devour to replenish his Spirit Pool. This had gotten his to fill it up all the way. And thanks to using it so many times he was able to gain a boon in the form of ten health and ten spirit pool increases.
He stood waiting at the edge of the second floor boss room and peered inside. He didn’t immediately enter, but assessed what was inside as he waited for his stamina to completely replenish.
The room inside was about as big as the boss room on the first floor and looked exactly like it as well. The area was spacious and for good reason. Inside the room, spread about were three Static Clawed Mantises and a mantis that was a different color than the rest.
This mantis had a white hue with some yellow mixed in around the head. Its legs and abdomen was a darkish pink. Around the area where the abdomen and the thorax thin petal like objects opened and closed giving it a flower like look. He assessed the creature to get a better idea of what he was up against.
“Electro Orchid Mantis. 200/200 HP. 120/120 MP. Level – 7.”
An Electro Orchid Mantis? Liam thought. This creature kind of reminds me of Tantalizing Orchid at the Fiddler’s Spider Web. Is her race based on this creature or only her looks?
That creature is a Lightning and Plant type bug creature. Eri informed. It has the same lightning spells as the other mantises in the room plus plant spells. They are a bit tougher than the Static Clawed Mantises and a bit more dangerous because they like to root their prey in place before paralyzing them.
Liam nodded as he continued to listen to Eri’s explanation of the creature.
Another thing you need to know about this specific creature is they are very territorial, especially around the same gender as it. Eri said. They do not like the same gender being around them nor around the opposite sex they keep around them. They don’t like the same gender as they are because they view the ones they keep near as both mates and food.
So, because I’m a guy it’s going to be very aggressive towards me? Liam questioned with a confused look on his face. That seems kind of like the norm for monsters doesn’t it? Also, they eat their kind?
For monsters that is the case yes. Eri started back up sounding a bit amused. They would be aggressive towards you, but not for the reason you think. Seeing as you are not the same gender as it is, it will view you as nourishment.
Liam blinked a few times as he proceeded to process what she just said. After taking a few seconds he finally said, That’s a female mantis isn’t it?
Yup. Eri replied with a slight chuckle.
Makes sense. I should have grasped that when you said she eats her own kind. Liam responded with a quiet sigh. Female Mantises were known to eat their mates back on Earth. Okay so my opponents are three Static Clawed Mantises and one Electro Orchid Mantis. All of them can use Lightning magic while the main boss can also use Plant magic. The roots can be tricky, but so can the Paralyzing effect caused from getting hit by the lightning. Hm.
Liam thought over his options. As he thought about the possibilities that could occur, he also thought about his previous fights with the Static Clawed Mantises. He hadn’t fought multiple at once before, so he wasn’t sure how well he’d do. He also weighed in what was more of the threat. The small group of mantises or the boss. While all of them together was a pain, he would need to prioritize which he needed to immobilize and take out first.
He felt confident that he could take on the small group of Static Claws, but not if he had to worry about the Electro Orchid. He nodded as he came up with a plan he thought was best. He would immobilize the Electro Orchid first then focus on taking out the small group.
He had a plan he wanted to try out. It was something he did while fighting against the horde of Undead after he had just evolved his starting class. If he could use his Shadow Step in tangent with his Back Stab and Crescent Spin then he would be able to gain another tactic he could add to his fighting style.
Feeling ready and having a plan he got ready to step inside. As he began making his way in, he switched his Haunted Bone Chest Armor, for the most recent chest piece he received back on the first floor of this dungeon. The Static Macrovipera Chest Piece.
The defense of the armor was weaker than his Haunted Bone armor, but he believed that the plus five percent to both Lightning and Paralyze resistances would help him in the long run in this fight to come.
After he stepped inside, he made his way as far to the left side of the room as he could while still being within distance of the Electro Orchid Mantis while keeping as much distance as possible from the Static Clawed Mantises. Once he got into place he started whispering his chant.
“Hidden within the dark, I call upon you to bind my target. Grasp them with the tendrils you possess. Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!” As soon as Liam finished the chant he felt the shadows that covered him reveal his location to the inhabitants of the boss room.
All four monster’s heads swivel and locked their giant eyes right on Liam. The Electro Orchid Mantis let out a predatory shrill and went to turn its body while spreading its arms out. However, before she could make a move, the shadow beneath her started to ripple for sending out tendrils towards her abdomen, neck, thorax, legs, and her claw like arms.
As soon as they tightened and yanked down, rooting her in place, she let out a panicked scream. This scream caused the threw Static Clawed Mantises to stop their approach towards Liam to look at her.
Liam smiled. He saw this opportunity and took it as he rushed towards the closest Static Clawed Mantis. As soon as he reached striking distance, his vision narrowed and zoomed for the joint that connected its left scythe-like claw and arm together. The grey-like Crafting Mana he was starting to familiarize himself with, covered his right Bone Talon Throwing Dagger. He repositioned it in his hand to make sure the curve of the blade was pointing up right before he swung his right arm up, slicing right through the joint with ease.
He felt the familiar Lightning Mana flare up around this Static Clawed Mantis and right before it let out the discharge, Liam Shadow Stepped away from this creature to reappear behind the one that was in the back. Without any hesitation, Liam Cleaved through the back right leg of this creature.
He Shadow Stepped once more before this Static Clawed Mantis could release the static discharge on him. He reappeared on the right side of the third Static Clawed Mantis and Cleaved through the joint of its arm, severing it entirely.
He repeated this strategy of using Cleave to slice off a body part of each creature and Shadow Step to get out before they could paralyze him in place. It didn’t take long as he was trying to go for speed in this fight against the three Static Clawed Mantises. His strategy was to take out the three before taking on the Electro Orchid Mantis. He wanted to test his precision while fighting at a faster pace than he did in the ones before this room. He was successful in majority of his attempts. The times he wasn’t successful were when the creatures made sudden movements right before he struck.
After he cleaved through the last arm of the last Static Clawed Mantis, Liam turned to look Electro Orchid Mantis. The female pink and white mantis looked angry. She jerked her body as hard as she could trying to free herself from her bindings.
Liam was a bit cautious with this creature. He knew what to expect from the Static Clawed Mantises, but with the Electro Orchid Mantis…he only had what Eri told him. This creature could use both Lightning and Plant magic. How she would use it was the mystery. The only he could do now that he was in the fight was continue with his strategy while adapting where he needed to.
He rushed in as fast and cautiously as he could. He wanted to take out any potential threats this monster had as fast as possible. The quicker the arms were taken out the easier the fight would be. As soon as he was within attack range, Liam activated his Cleave ability and went to strike for the joint that connect the right arm from the main body. However, right as Liam went to strike, a vine suddenly shot out from the ceiling, right for Liam.
Cursing, Liam used Shadow Step to appear on the other side of the monster. As he reappeared, he noticed the flower pedals around the abdomen and thorax flatten as static electricity suddenly bounced over the monster’s body. Liam jumped backwards to dodge the familiar defensive pattern the normal mob variants used.
Liam frowned after he created some distance from the monster. He was staring at the left side of the Monster and saw something that completely confused him. The discharge that usually followed and shot out never came. Instead, the lightning looked to be coursing down from her antenna to her abdomen. Liam wasn’t sure what was going on but considered that whatever she was doing was completely different than what he was used to.
Not wanting to chance anything close by, Liam aimed and threw his throwing daggers. Both Bone Talon daggers hooked right into the middle of the abdomen. Right after they dug in, Liam used his Mana Manipulation to pull them back to him. He threw them once more after they reached his hands. He decided to get in as much damage as he could this way while the creature was still trapped where she was. He wasn’t sure what she was planning to do since static arcs continued to course down her body.
He did feel something akin to a charge up but couldn’t figure out what exactly was being charged. If it was a Lightning strike then he would be able to dodge it using his Shadow Step, but if it was something else then…Instead of trying to come up with endless possibilities, Liam continued his onslaught of throwing his daggers into the creature’s abdomen.
He watched as he threw the daggers each time. He was aiming for the same spot with each throw but wasn’t successful each time. There were a couple of times he noticed one or both of the daggers hit the petals that had flattened and bounced right off of them like they were hardened metal or stone rocks.
The reason for him wanting to strike around the same area with these daggers was because of their special nature. The throwing daggers he was using were the Gravity enchanted ones. They had an effect called Weight Increase. With each successful strike on the target the area he struck would start to feel heavier. The same area being struck could also gain stacks, increasing the weight even more. The stacks only grew to eight though. So, while he was getting in some random areas and increasing the weight of the monster’s abdomen, he wanted to get the stack even more.
He had thought about using this on the creature’s arms, but he wasn’t sure how well it would work. So far the effects only became apparent if the attacks caused damage. If he wasn’t able to cause any damage then the effect wouldn’t activate. Instead of trying to cause damage around the thin arms that would need even more strength to create some damage, Liam decided to go for an area he knew he would be able to hit, the abdomen.
As Liam fought this Mantis, he learned something new. That new thing was creatures with multiple types of Magic could use them at the same time. As he attacked from afar, he wasn’t doing so while staying in the same place. He was moving around dodging the vines and loose stones falling from above him. He found it strange this creature was able to use her plant magic while having a steady stream of Lightning coursing over her body. He didn’t think it would be possible to do that, but then again he was still learning the possibilities of magic.
After a few seconds had passed Liam took a quick glance at the monster’s health to see where it was currently at.
“Electro Orchid Mantis. 143/200 HP. 91/120 MP. Level – 7.”
Going through with this tactic was slowly bringing the Boss’s health down. He knew it wasn’t going to drop quickly nor were his attacks powerful. So, seeing that the amount he had chipped away was around fifty-seven points within the time he had, he felt it was adequate. It was something he was going to have to figure out later on, but for now this was fine.
Liam jumped out of the way of another vine and rocks and then realized he was standing in front of the creature. As soon as his feet touched down, he felt a sudden shift change in the air around the Electro Orchid Mantis. The Lightning that was coursing down its body had stopped flowing. As the last bit of electricity disappeared around the petals, they started to quiver.
Liam wasn’t sure what was about to happen and was ready for anything. He didn’t want to start running in case the attack this monster was about to unleash was one that jumped around all over the place. So instead, Liam planted his feet firmly on the ground and waited.
Not too long after that, the petals suddenly started glowing and snapped open. As soon as all the petals were spread out in a blooming position, a very bright and blinding light engulfed the entire room.
Liam instinctively closed his eyes as he brought his hands up in the air to try and lessen the brightness. A noise entered his ears that sounded like something heavy was being dragged. He waited for a couple of seconds before slowly peeking an eye open to see if the light had disappeared and what that noise was. As soon as he did, he reactively jumped to his right to dodge a scythe-like claw that was coming down upon his head.
Liam blinked a few times. After seeing that bright flash he came to understand what the Electro Orchid Mantis was doing this entire time. It was gathering and charging Lightning in it’s petals. The stored up Lightning would fuel the petals so once when they opened they would create a solar flash like effect to blind the creature’s target.
It was an ingenious tactic in Liam’s opinion. It probably would have worked too if he didn’t have his Umbral Goggles on. As soon as the light had expanded from the Monster’s petals, he could feel the cold sensation the shadows that drifted off from his goggles had suddenly moved over his eyes, probably to help stop any blinding effects the attack could have made.
He wasn’t entirely sure because he did close his eyes when the light flashed and didn’t see what the goggles did entirely. That and he still had a couple of spots that floated in his eye sight. The kind of spots that appeared if you looked at a bright light for too long and lingered for a bit. Thinking about what the goggles might have done made Liam add it to a list of things he still wanted to test out. Albeit that would have to wait for another time.
Liam leaned backwards far enough to dodge a swift horizontal strike from the Electro Orchid Mantis. He threw his hands out behind him and pushed himself back up. He then jumped backwards just enough to dodge a vertical strike from the mantis’ other claw.
The creature didn’t let up on the attacks as it kept attacking with both scythe-like claws in a vertical and horizontal like fashion. Liam kept up with the monster’s speed, agility, and dexterity as he ducked and dodged, trying to get a good feel for the creature’s capabilities. As he did this, he kept an eye out for openings. There were a couple that he was able to spot. He didn’t know if they were intentional or not though.
Wanting to test it out, Liam lowered his center of gravity by bending his knees and hunching his upper body down low enough to dodge a horizontal strike. After he felt the air above him move with the weapon-like claw and saw it pull the other one above her head, Liam pushed forward off his feet and struck the middle of the creature’s thorax.
He didn’t stop there. As he attacked this area, he positioned his angle of movement to his right. As his daggers struck the area he hit, he activated his Cleave ability and aimed for the leg joint attached closest to him and dug one of his daggers right through it.
As the dagger connected with the joint, Liam could feel some resistance. This monster’s body was stronger than the Static Clawed Mantises that he had been practicing on. However, it wasn’t strong enough to stop his attack from going through.
The Electro Orchid Mantis let out a shrill of pain as its mandibles chittered. She twisted her upper body and went to strike him, but as the claws struck down, Liam’s body had dispersed into a puff of black smoke.
Liam reappeared on the other side of the monster and quickly cleaved through another leg, causing the monster to scream once more it looked off balanced.
Liam quickly jumped backwards as a coat of lightning sparked out from her antennas and down her body. After Liam landed he grew a smile as he looked at the monster’s health.
“Electro Orchid Mantis. 99/200 HP. 81/120 MP. Level – 7.”
“Almost there,” Liam muttered to himself as he prepared to rush in again.
As Liam leaned forward he felt something suddenly wrap around his legs, stopping his forward momentum. Liam let out a curse as he looked down to see vines wrapped around his legs from underneath him. He shifted his sight back on the monster and prepared himself for an attack but frowned as he saw the female Mantis wasn’t heading towards him. Instead, she was slowly making her way towards one of the dismembered Static Clawed Mantis.
“What the hell is she doing?” Liam questioned as he stared at her.
She’s going to try and heal herself. Eri stated.
“Heal herself?” Liam asked as he scrunched his brows. “What do you me…”
Before he could finish asking and Eri could answer, the Electro Orchid Mantis had reached the torn body of one of the Static Clawed Mantises. She reached her scythe-like claws out, stabbed down into the body with both, picked it up towards her head, opened her mandibles, and took a healthy bite into it.
“Oh…that’s what you meant,” Liam said as he felt his stomach swirl a bit.
He then saw the monster’s health gain a few points seconds after chewing.
“Electro Orchid Mantis. 105/200 HP. 81/120 MP. Level – 7.”
“Shit,” Liam cursed as he pointed one of his daggers towards the creature and chanted, “Radiant and majestic, we admire you in the night. Deadly and poisonous, many don’t know your terrible might. Caress my target with your light like a gentle kiss. Remind them why you’re as dangerous as the abyss. Epidermis Luminescence.”
The Electro Orchid Mantis let out a painful shrill as a flash of pale white light appeared around the bottom of her thorax near her abdomen. Small torn off chunks of Static Clawed Mantis spewed out of her mouth. She turned her head and gave what Liam could only interpret was an angry glare before she took another bite into her meal.
Liam looked at her health and saw that the damage caused from his Lunar affliction spell didn’t stop her from healing. Instead, the healing she got from eating her subordinate was barely healing over the amount of damage that was being done.
“Okay since that is not going to be enough to stop you,” Liam started to say as he readied himself to chant again, “Let’s add on the damage.”
“Hidden beneath and lying in wait, the unseen’s poison is never delivered late. Bellow out in a puff of smoke and slip into the stream. Corrupt the body, Corrupt the mind. Deliver the fear you wish to create. Shade’s Corruption.”
Liam watched as the female mantis opened its mouth to get another bite. As it did so, a puff of thick black smoke suddenly shot up and around the creature. Even though Liam couldn’t see the creature while it was within the hazy of black smoke, he knew it had inhaled enough for it to take effect.
Next to the Electro Orchid Mantis’ level were two Debuff icons. One was an arm with a shining bracelet over it representing the Epidermis Luminescence. The other was a puff of black smoke with red eyes peering through the middle of the smoke.
A smile grew on his face as he watched the health that the female mantis had regained started to drop. It raised a bit for a second but only to drop even more. It looked like no matter how much she tried to eat to regain her health back it wasn’t enough to keep up with the two affliction spells not only damaging her, but fighting each other.
As the smoke finally dispersed the Electro Orchid Mantis let out a pained filled angry scream while throwing its arms out to the side. It then whirled its head to face Liam and started making her way towards him with fervor. With one leg in the front and another in the back gone, she stumbled as she tried making her way over. Getting even more upset, she slammed her right scythe-like arm into the ground and pulled herself forward. She then slammed her other arm down and did the same after pulling herself forward giving her a little more speed.
Liam tried to move out of the way just to fail. He looked down and then remembered he was rooted in place. He looked around to see if there were any shadows close by and saw that one of the rocks that had fallen created a big enough shadow that he could use Shadow Step.
He went to use, but felt it fail as the shadows refused to take him in. Confused, a red notification appeared to give him an answer.
“Shadow Step has Failed. Cannot use Shadow Step when rooted in place. Ability level isn’t high enough to be able to get out of enemy snares, traps, or bindings!”
“Are you serious?!” Liam shouted before looked straight at the creature hastily and painstakingly making her way for him.
Every few seconds she would flinch as a pale white light flashed and a puff of black smoke escaped from her mouth. Liam worked his brain to try and figure out what he could do. He looked at her health and thought maybe the two spells would finish her off before she reached him, but the timer on them both were almost up, and she still had about fifty health left. By the time they wore off she would have at least twenty or thirty health left.
He needed to do something that would finish her off before she reached him. He worked his brain to try and figure out what he could do. He could use a spell to bind her, but then he would need to try and get free from the roots that bound him in place. He didn’t know how long this spell would last nor if he would have enough time to cut himself free from then. If that was the case then he would need to use an ability to attack her. One that would either pack a powerful punch and finish her off or one that would do damage while knocking her back some so he could throw some dagger to finish her off.
As he went through his list of abilities in his mind, one popped up. There was one he wanted to test out with his daggers. He had used it once, but it was with an object that was bigger and closer to him. A crazed filled grin appeared on his face as he realized he would be gambling with this. He was trying hard not to pull off moves that had no testing data yet in sticky situations like this, but he couldn’t help himself. There was a thrill to doing things this way. Not only that, but he kind of liked the idea of him being able to pull something out of his ass at the last second and this gamble would definitely be one of those.
Not wanting to hesitate, Liam pulled out his Moon Shadow Dagger and pointed it right at the monster’s face as she frenziedly clawed her way towards Liam. He took in a deep breath and slowly released it. As soon as he felt like he calmed himself enough, he started chanting.
“Hinderances and obstacles blocking my path, weighed down by the law of Gravity.”
Liam felt the mana start to cover over him as the Electro Orchid Mantis slammed another one of her scythe-like arms down and pulled herself closer. She was starting to get dangerously close.
“Reverse and move away from me.”
He then felt the mana start to wave off of him and cover the dagger. Another Scythe-like arm slammed down, her mandibles clanking louder as she sounded like she was cursing him in her own language.
“Allowing the way to be clear.”
The other weapon-like arm slammed down just inches away from him now.
“By the law of Gravity, I forcibly reject you.”
She pulled herself right in front of Liam, her eyes full of hatred and anger as she lifted her arm up in the air, mouth wide open with a loud shrilling war cry.
“Gravity Force Push!” Liam finished as he readjusted the aim of the dagger at the last second and watched it fire at full force right through the Boss’ open mouth and exiting out through her skull.
Liam watched, waiting for any signs that she was still alive. He pulled out one of his throwing dagger and tensed as the scythe-like arm started to move. However, instead of it falling down over his head, it fell to the creature’s side bringing along the whole body with it. A chime sound echoed in his mind as a notification appeared.
“Congratulations! You have defeated 2nd floor boss of the Crackling Cave Electro Orchid Mantis – Level 7!”
