Moral Reversal

23. GMO 3

After some thoughtful killing in silence, our party finally reached outside of the boss room. I stopped and started preparation for healing and the final fight. Others followed, and since I was in the front somewhere in the middle, I had become the leader of this cohort of ours without even realizing it.   

The situation was too gloomy for my liking, so I started the conversation.

Cookie - Does everyone know what kind of boss we are going to face past this door ?

Killer - Yes.

Glory - Yeah.

Kitty and Red - No.

Cookie - You guys know nothing at all ?

Kitty - Well, Killer said it was a big dog and had four tusks…!

Red - I don’t know anything at all.

Cookie - I have just seen videos, so it’s a second hand information. You want to try sharing some details ?

I said it when we were sitting in a circle, healing and eating to recover. I couldn't point or anything, but it was obvious who I was talking to.

Glory - Uhhm okay, it’s called Black Death Wolf. It has mainly three attacks, chomping down on us, releasing black orbs, and her claws. Her special attack is this black miasma she releases every 30 seconds. And yeah, stay cautious of her tail. She moves a lot, but if we can make her focus on just one target, she is predictable.

Cookie - It’s a wolf ? i thought they were dogs….!!

Kitty - Haha me too !

Killer - What ! for real ? how dumb are you two !

Red - Uhm…i also thought they were doggos….

Glory - Don’t make them sound cute ! and can’t you see in the logs it says shadow wolf….

Cookie - The notifications were annoying so i turned that stuff off…

Kitty & Red - Hahaha me tooo !

Killer - For real !!?

Then everyone got silent for a second, and then we all started laughing loudly for a minute. 

Cookie - Okay, so I will go first to make her aggro stable on me. Kitty,  make sure I don’t die. You guys jump in when you think it’s time. If anything goes wrong, we rush her from all sides, and whoever gets her aggro leads her by the nose so others can attack. Got it ?

Kitty - Yes sir.

Red - Yeah it seems simple.

Glory - That’s a pretty good strategy, and you sure do know a lot about this game.

Killer - It’s all fine, but can you really hold on ? She’s really fast, and your class is not really good at moving around, right ?

Cookie - It’s fine; she is a big target, and I can predict her movements.

Glory & Killer - Predict !?

Cookie - Anyway, if it looks like i can’t handle it, you guys can jump in. okay ?

Glory & Killer - Okay…

Cookie - Everyone ready ? 

Everyone - Yeah…

Cookie - Let’s go then.

We entered the boss room. And a big, black, ferocious looking wolf was already waiting for us at the end of the circular space. There were fires lighting up the area around us. And when her yellow, scary eyes met our presence, she looked at us like small little bunnies to be slaughtered. 

I went forward with my battered yet functional shield and started my hit and dodge or block dance with the beast. She was big yet a lot faster than expected, but the minute difference in her body language gave away all her attacks. Once I was familiar with her attack pattern and movement speed, it was just about keeping focus and not getting enough damage to get into the red health. Kitty was healing me with all her strength too. 

I was moving around, dodging, and attacking with all my focus. It was a bit harder to keep the same rhythm going than I thought. The big factor was that sometimes my mind was giving commands so fast that my hands just couldn’t keep up. I had played games before, and I felt somewhat similar, but that was for just a few seconds. This time it felt like I was making my brain and fingers work really hard, yet I somehow managed. To be honest, I actually felt exhilarating when I successfully dodged after attacking and moved away before her jaw or tail reached me. It was really fun.

_________________________________________

[ A conversation taking place in background that Jake couldn't hear. ]

Glory - That is impossible !

Killer - Yeah, how is he doing it !!

Glory - When we attacked five at once on that thing, we combined couldn’t hit her with more attacks than what he is single handedly doing….!! 

Kitty - He is really moving a lot; I can’t keep up….

Red - He is really something, huh !

_________________________________________

After basking in my excitement i felt like something was off, and then i realized what it was.

Cookie - Do you want me to be a dead cookie ? Is that your wish ?

That jolted everyone out of reverie, and they joined the fight Kitty released the breath she didn’t even know she was holding. It went really smoothly after that i ran around making the wolf come after me and blocking some attacks, the rest whittled her health bit by bit. We worked like a well oiled machine. 

At last the big black wolf died by a fireball released by Red_Lady and we cleared the dungeon. We all took some seconds to catch our breath and then everyone started talking at the same time about how cool it was or how amazingly we fought and i got lots of praises for some reason. I think they just wanted to make up for the fact that they almost left me for dead. 

There was pile of coins and materials where black wolf died, as a party leader only Killer could pick up the boss loot. So we earged her and she went jumping towards it. 

Kitty - What did we get ? What did we get ?

Red - it looked like a weapon !

Glory - Yes it was purple, i saw it. 

Cookie - What is it Killer ?

Killer - It’s a weapon…hmmm amazing…!!

Glory - Come on !! Speak up now !!

Killer - Okay ! Okay ! It’s a Light bringer staff ! and it’s an orange item !!

Glory - What ! That’s the rarest thing from this dungeon ! It can only be obtain if we….

Killer - Somehow broke the dungeon clear record !!

Kitty - Wow ! so cool ! 

Red - How is that possible ? Are you saying that no one cleared it faster than us since the morning !?

Glory - Yeah i checked the leaderboards and ours is only better by a 40 seconds than the last record. Someone else will probably break it sooner or later but that doesn’t matter…..

Killer - Yeah ! We got a fucking dungeon breaking reward !!

Cookie - What was that purple thing then ?

Killer - OH wait a minute….hmm it’s an armor ! 

Glory - Only knights and berserkers use heavy armor ! You did earn it, my girl !

Cookie - Guy ? 

Glory - Yeah right i forgot about that…..

Red - What’s the orange item ?

Killer - It’s a staff. And not just any staff; it adds +20 to every light spell. Plus, it boosts darkness resistance by 5%.

Cookie - So it’s practically made to fight against this dungeon.

Killer & Glory - Hmm you could look at it that way !

Killer - Why are you copying me !??

Glory - I am not copying you; you are copying me !! Whatever, who gets the staff anyway ? or do we sell it and split the profit ?

Cookie - Hnmm ? What do you mean ? Kitty is the healer, and this is practically the dream staff for healers.

Kitty - Yo….you are giving it to me ?

Cookie - What’s with you guys ? Whoever has a compatible class, gets the item. Isn’t that how it works ? 

Red - Yeah, I am the only mage, and my attributes are fire and wind. So it’s yours, Kitty.

Glory - You guys do understand how rare this item is right ?

Killer - That may be, but we don’t really need it. Kitty can use it. Here.

Cookie - No matter how rare it is, it’s still from the level 5 dungeon. Our goal is to reach level 10 today. Isn’t that right, Killer ?

Killer - Yess…