160 Tendrils everywhere (1/2)

”Does anyone have an aspirin?” Hera asked.

”Don't have one. But, like we have a healer, you know,” Alex replied.

”Yeah... I don't know how to fix a headache. I would need to figure out the cause first and then trigger the healing of the affected part, and honestly? I have no intention of touching on a brain with a five-foot pole,” Runir said.

”You measure a pole in how many feet are in it? How does that work?” Blue turned around.

”Nah, that's an old expression I learned with my mom. When she was little, they used foot, yards, and miles to measure distance,” Runir explained.

”That is true. If I recall correctly, a foot was about 30 centimeters,” Tom added.

”What's the point of that? It feels like they are being weird for no reason,” Blue scoffed.

”Well, you are not wrong with that. I think the US was the last place in the world to adopt the metric system,” Runir said.

”Yeah, but what's with the saying?” Alex asked.

”My mom used to say it when she meant that she would never do something. It's one of those old sayings that never translated after the change. Saying 'I wouldn't touch it with a 3-meter pole' doesn't have the same ring to it.”

”So no cure for a headache?” Hera asked.

Runir cleared his throat, ”No, sorry.”

”Ok, Can we keep going? These lights are messing with my head,” Hera asked. She didn't want to seem cranky, but it was hard to have fun when the lights kept blinking.

”Do you wish to return? It will not be an issue if we leave the dungeon now to challenge it at a later time,” Thomas said.

”No. We are close to the boss, right?”

”We should arrive in around fifteen minutes.”

”Then let's keep going. It's not hurting that bad. But before we do this again, I need some aspirin, and maybe some sunglasses,” Hera said as they kept walking.

As Thomas had said, the middle path was far from difficult. It was mostly a stroll through the forest. During the entire forty minutes or so they spent walking, the group only found 30 sprites, including the first group they've met. The only slightly complicated part was when they reached what looked like a dead-end, but the path was hidden behind one of the large mushrooms. Tom reminisced as they arrived at the dead end. Apparently, several parties he was a part of when doing the dungeon were unaware of this hidden path, and only after some time, he discovered its existence. Thanks to that discovery, he could bring a much smaller group to the dungeon and even fight alone in it as long as he left before triggering the boss.

”Are you well enough to talk strategy, Hera?” he asked, receiving a nod as a reply, ”Very well. The ruler of this land can appear in one of three different forms. First, it would be a gigantic sprite, like the ones we already faced. That beast will have multiple tentacles instead of those tendrils, be careful, for they are not merely glowing lights but scorching to the touch. That is the only attack it possesses, but the many tentacles can pose a difficult battle. The second monster is a powerful light spirit, angry at seeing its brethren stolen by the fungi. It will cast light spells around the area, trying to blind and damage us. Avoid staying in the same place for long, and if you see a floating light, look away as not to be overwhelmed by a bright flash.”

”Ok, which one is the strongest?” Blue asked.

”That would be the light elemental. Its spells are unpredictable and have a minimal delay before activating. If we feel the challenge to be too difficult, we can run away, and it will be unable to come out of its nest. That is applied to all three elementals,” Thom continued.

”And what is the last one? You only talked about two,” Hera asked while rubbing her head.

”The last one is somewhat of a tricky situation. It is the spirit of a tree, who once lived here. It can be reasoned with, and as long as we are able to fulfill its request. The wood spirit will be soothed. If not, the beast will attack, and we must fight it. It attacks by creating small plants to assail us. We must destroy all of them, so the main body appears. It will be a large tree that uses its roots and branches to attack us. We shall aim our efforts at its core, located by the base near the roots. Depending on the request, this can be the easiest or hardest boss.”

”The fight is that difficult?” Alex asked.

”Not quite. The request might be something like killing all the sprites or making all the mushrooms turning the same color using magic or something it gives us,” Tom concluded.

”In that case, isn't it better for us to just kill it?” Alex asked.

”We can receive some rewards from the request aside from what the dungeon gives. Sadly, I can't say what they are. The only time I've received one such request, the team was unable to fulfill it.”

Tom kept talking about the times he challenged the dungeon, discussing how each team he came with faced the monsters. Hera tried her best to pay attention, but her headache was still a problem. She would need something to protect her from the light if they were going to rerun the dungeon. Or some aspirin, at least. She knew that right now, the group was only waiting around because of her. None of them was tired. She took another gulp of water got up.

”I'm feeling better. Let's go,” she said.

”Are you sure?” Runir asked, staring at her.

”Yeah. Not 100%, but I don't think I can get to that point right now. It's better if we finish this and head back to the city to find something that could help.”

The group nodded and got up, heading deeper into the path. It didn't take long for the lights start to blink once more, this time even more rapidly than before. They faced another group of sprites, this time with 12 of them, but Hera wasn't even able to trigger her affinity sight spell. It required too much concentration, and she was already using most of it to keep on fighting. It took five minutes to kill all the monsters and continue to the last chamber.

Hera was already sweating with the pain and feeling restless. Part of her wanted to give up and go back right now. But it would still take another hour and a half to reach the city, not to mention going all the way back through the mushroom forest again. According to Thomas, after the boss was defeated, all the lights would dim and stop blinking. The best thing she could do right now was to finish the dungeon.