77 Chapter 77 (1/2)

Chapter 77

”Did the boss just talk?” Was everyone's immediate question, as the Terminus began moving slowly towards the exit form his lair. The honey badger, to the little creature's credit, continued to hold its ground, growling at the monstrous boss.

”I think the upgrade may have downplayed just how smart the boss would become.” James whispered, watching, waiting, to see how the fight would go. Obviously talking bosses was not a new thing in MMOs. Many final bosses in raids even had monologues which actually helped further the storyline. Heck, even Old Man Jenkins seemed to form slight words and phrases when people were fighting him.

However, the last thing James, and likely anyone else, expected, was for the Terminus, a monstrous mass of steel, leather, gears, and death, to start talking. What's more, the fact he spoke like a villain from a Sherlock Holmes film was just a bit too much.

Rue flashed James a smirk. ”You don't say.” The pixie waived her hand, making her popcorn disappear, only to be replaced with a box of sour gummy worms. She took one out and chewed on it blissfully, making a wave of hunger wash through James. Damned Pixie.

”The moment you activated that skill on the Terminus, it unlocked a specially generated AI for the boss monster. While all of your mobs generally have basic programming coded into them with simple AI, boss monsters have the opportunity to evolve even more. Old Man Jenkins has been slowly evolving, and with the latest upgrades in your research levels, should have reached a level of sentience which will open up new tiers of activities on the first floor.”

She grabbed another gummy worm, savoring the moment of explanation as James kept darting his attention from her to the Terminus. The T-Rex was almost to the end of the tunnel, while the entire raid party was glancing around nervously. They had heard the voice from within and were now feeling a little less confident. Especially because the Terminus was taking his sweet time leaving his lair, whereas he normally came charging out.

”As for the Terminus, by force upgrading him, you fully unlocked his AI, and he is now at his peak intellectual capability.” Big words for the pixie. For a second James was wondering if he had upgraded her intellectual capability. ”So now, you literally have a boss that is a proper sir.” She shoved a few more gummy worms in her mouth as she finished. Nope, it was definitely still his normal Rue.

”Alright, well, what exactly does that mean for the fight…” James trailed off as he heard multiple thunks erupt from within the lair. The Terminus was a few feet away from the honey badger, and had paused, choosing instead to raise his little arms, and launch a trio of his grenades from one arm.

The sudden grenades flying from within the layer definitely caught the adventurer's by surprise, and James couldn't help but chuckle as the tanks, and melee members let out slight curses and back-peddled away from the projectiles. Z had likely informed Skar's group of the AOE range on those specific weapons, and of the damage they could inflict even at maximum range.

At the same time though, James watched the red eyes of the Terminus flash, and it was almost as if there was a deep intelligence in the crimson light. A deep, evil, cunning mind. Without warning, the Terminus shot its head forward, clamping down completely on the poor honey badger before the growling mammal even had time to react. As if on que, the Terminus's inner core seemed to roar to life, and James could tell its Unique Trait, Terminal Fire, had been activated along with Big Head.

Big head was going to keep the honey badger out of the fight for 20 seconds and take away a quarter of its health bar during the entire time. At the same time, by activating Terminal Fire, an additional .5% of the honey badger's current HP was going to be chunked every second. It was a brutal combination, which was going to result in even faster HP drain of the poor, proud creature. It also went to show the Terminus was definitely on a whole new playing field, and that maybe, just maybe, James had made this a little too difficult.

But, then again, was he really to blame? He was just like the players in the aspect of he was still learning, and how could he have predicted the outcome of these new upgrades? This was just one of those moments in a game where the newest skills and equipment just happened to work together a little better than planned. James just hoped it wouldn't keep the Knight's away for too long, if, no when, they party wiped. Because as James watched the Terminus sit there lazily devouring the honey badger, he was certain the Terminus was going to win.