Chapter 331: Earthy Matters (1/2)
”Alright, this is the final boss room. According to the records provided by previous delvers, these stairs should lead to an open observation platform built on the highest peak of the tallest tower in the citadel.” Morris was explaining as he climbed up a circular staircase ascending towards the top of the dungeon.
”The boss is a large bird-type monster that uses Ice Magic, right?” Sera asked from slightly behind him.
”Yes. Supposedly, it's called a Glacial Dovekie, and it will descend from the skies as soon as we reach the center of the platform. It is believed to be a mid-Tier 3 monster in terms of raw power and abilities, but it has a few fatal weaknesses that lower strength parties can take advantage of. The big one is that it's vulnerable to flame. As an elementally charged creature, it naturally cannot tolerate an opposing element. Unfortunately, we can't really take advantage of this trait unless I get really lucky with my Summoning Magic.”
”Then, let's not depend too much on it. What was the other one?”
Morris glanced back at her with a wry grin. ”Despite its reliance on Ice Magic as its primary means of offense, it's known to have a comparatively limited mana supply that can be quickly exhausted in the midst of heavy combat. There have been a few recorded instances of parties of delvers simply hunkering down and weathering the assault until it was out of mana, and then killing it when it descended to fight with talon and beak.”
”I hope you aren't thinking about trying that method. Neither of us have any powerful defensive skills, and I doubt we could simply dodge everything.”
”While I did consider that strategy, I think our best bet is to try something else.” He stopped in front of a large door that likely led out on the rooftop boss room. ”In truth, when I was researching the enemies of this dungeon initially, I'd concluded that we would not be able to handle this fight without Mike's assistance.”
Sera frowned at him, but waited for him to continue.
”A fast, flying enemy capable of raining down a barrage of lethal magic is pretty much my natural enemy. I would be completely unable to contribute until it saw fit to descend. Even if I factored in your foresight enhanced archery, I couldn't see us killing it without a great deal of difficulty, and we certainly couldn't survive long enough to deplete its reserves. We would need some powerful ranged attacks to force it into a corner, figuratively speaking.” He explained while looking back at Mike, who was trailing behind the pair.
”I take it something has changed, then?” The Oracle asked.
”Yes.” He replied, a little hesitantly. ”For better or worse, my combat options have expanded dramatically with the acquisition of magic skills, and now I can see a path forward.”
Sera watched him for a few seconds before nodding. ”Alright, what's the plan?”
”I've been experimenting a bit with Summoning Magic over the last couple fights, and I believe I can summon a few monsters capable of taking the fight to the boss. Between your arrows and my creatures, I think we can force it down onto the platform, at which point I have a Bard skill that should hopefully give you an opening for the kill shot.”
”You think we can take it down with one good hit?”
”Despite its dangerous elements, the Glacial Dovekie is also fairly weak when it comes to defense. So long as you hit in a vital area, it will either kill the boss outright, or cripple it enough that we can finish it off in other ways.”
”Sounds like a plan. You ready?”
Morris grinned, feeling strangely exuberant. ”Let's do this.”
With that he opened the door and began advancing out onto the rooftop.
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Sera lagged behind for a few seconds, just long enough to shoot Mike a look. ”Do you think he's realized that he took over the party leader role yet?”
”He's got a problem with tunnel vision when focused on a task, so probably not. If it makes you feel any better, he probably didn't intend on taking charge, but just fell into it naturally.”
She shrugged. ”I don't really mind. He's better suited for it anyway. I don't have the patience for strategizing. After training with you, I've learned that I do best when I just focus on playing to my strengths.”
”Personally, I think you have what it takes to be a decent party leader, but you would need to mellow out a bit to really be successful.”
One of her elbows found his ribs in what would have been a painful manner if she had the strength to really injure him at this point. Without another word, she followed after Morris, leaving Mike to scratch the back of his head amusedly before doing the same.
They stepped out into the light of a mid-day sun, which once again brought home the fact that they were inside the strange dungeon realm, since it should already be late in the evening outside. With the exception of the sheltered entrance to the staircase, the rest of the rooftop was a bare expanse of white stone.
Roughly on level with their eyeline was the golden ring, which was slowly spinning around the tower. This close to the strange structure, Mike noticed that there were intricate markings covering its surface. Curious, he infused a little mana into his eyes to enhance his perception.
It quickly became obvious to him that they were arcane runes of some kind, similar in form and function to the ones coating the control pillar of his demi-realm. However, the complexity and sheer volume of the runes was on another level entirely. It almost felt as if he were looking at the contents of an entire library condensed into a single object.
He tried to make sense of the writing, but it was beyond him in a way that he'd never experienced before. With some effort, he could use his Communication Magic to make out bits and pieces of the underlying logic, but they were largely nonsensical to him, and he could only vaguely conclude that they were involved in something related to Space and Time.
[Could this be the means by which dungeons are formed and maintained?]