160 Tendrils everywhere (2/2)
The boss chamber was very different from the rest. Instead of the large mushrooms, there were several greenstone pillars spread around a circular arena. At a glance, the room was large enough to accommodate several basketball courts inside, with another set of four in the middle of the stone circle.
As they entered, a small sprite appeared from behind one of the pillars and moved to the center of the chamber. The light started gathering around it from all directions, as if thousands of tiny sprites were converging together. Looking back, Hera saw that the mushrooms stopped blinking and were now losing some of their glow. The sprite in the middle started to expand. In just a couple of seconds, the monster, which started the size of a cotton ball, had already gone past a watermelon's size.
”Shouldn't we start hitting it?” Alex yelled over the crackling noise coming from the monster.
”Not yet. If we don't wait for it to finish its growth, another will be created with the rest of the sprites,” Tom replied.
”Wait, are we fighting all the sprites inside here gathered in one?” Hera asked.
”Yes, but not the ones that moved around. We are facing the sprites that took residence inside the mushrooms!”
”And that is the easiest boss?!” Blue shouted as the sprite became a meter tall sphere and was still growing.
”Don't be afraid of its size, noble warrior. Its attacks are simple and easy to dodge. Unlike the other rulers, the sprite only has its tentacles to fend off invaders.”
”Those tentacles?” Alex gasped.
The sprite was the size of a hippo already, and the small tendrils had turned into a dozen of larger tentacles, each the size of a palm tree. Unlike the small ones, who only had the tendrils to the sides of its body, the tentacles came from all around. The lights stopped gathering, and the monster shivered, lashing out with all its limbs making that could reach the pillars of stone from the center of the chamber.
Hera activated her affinity sight. Even with Tom's strategy, any information she could get could help.
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Sprite Amalgamation (Eart...Fir...Wate...Win... Affinity)
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The element kept switching. Whatever that creature was, it could change its affinity. Or maybe it didn't have a fixed one since it was made of several different sprites.
”I can't see its element. It keeps changing!” Hera warned the group.
The tentacles slammed into the ground, making the giant spite float up. Alex used her wind cutter to slash at it from a distance. Hera flung a poison needle at it, hoping the poison would affect the creature. Blue triggered her [Taunt], making the monster go down towards her as two tentacles stabbed towards the controller aiming at her legs. The strength of each attack was massive. The creature was able to dig deep into the ground with each attack, but Blue was faster, taking a step back and hitting the tentacles twice.
”Hot, hot, hot, hot,” Blue shook her hands after hitting it.
”The beast is covered by a scorching heat. Careful with your strikes,” Tom said.
”How am I supposed to hit it then?” Blue asked.
Runir placed two barriers, one of each of her hands, ”Try again.”
Blue punched the tentacles two more times. The heat was still there, but she could manage to touch them without burning her hands.
”Yeah, that helps, but I really need to find smaller monsters to fight,” Blue kept moving from side to side, avoiding the tentacles that tried to stab and slam her.
Hera jumped away from one of the limbs that aimed at her, making it slam against one of the pillars in the area, cracking it with the impact. She moved behind it, throwing another poison needle at the creature. She still wanted to use the grease fire spell, but since Blue was so close to the monster, it still wasn't a good time to do so. As she hid behind the pillar, two tentacles tried to hit her, slamming the sides of the rock, cracking it even more. Hera took a few steps back to get away from the monster's range. She tried to push the pillar towards the gigantic sprite, hoping that it would be smashed under it.
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[All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start
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Even using her [All In] skill, it wasn't enough to topple the rock column. Changing tactics, Hera threw her chakram, tied up in Yarnball. Activating the poison reinforcement, Hera's weapon flew under the Giant Sprite before a burst of mana launched it upwards. The blade cut deep into the monster's underbelly, making it spasm uncontrollably and bounce around the pillars while its glow grew brighter than any of the mushrooms they had seen in the forest. The sudden increase made Hera's headache grew stronger, making it harder for her to keep her eyes open.
The monster's reaction surprised Hera, who just watched in awe as the giant creature crashed against the pillars. Her attack wasn't supposed to deal that much damage. The monster slammed against the cracked column that she was hiding behind, but Hera had to close her eyes because of the bright light coming from the sprite.
”Hera!”
”Watch out!”
”Move!”
Hera forced her eyes to open, only to be greeted by the falling green stone pillar about to crush her.