Chapter 42 - 42

When morning comes, Misha drags everyone out of bed bright and early to check out the market.

"You know it's open all day, right? They're not going anywhere. In fact, they live here." Char complains about being forced to function so early. She's got very little motivation to do anything at all until Mythryll mentions trying more items from their breakfast buffet.

The thought of food is all it takes to get everyone motivated and dressed, but Misha's constant poking if they close their eyes helps too.

"So first, food. Then fancy clothes, and maybe afterwards look for hot springs?" Cain suggests. There's a shower in their hotel room, but that hot spring tub was terrific.

"Sounds like a whole day to me." Mythryll agrees.

Today they try out a mix of French Toast, which they're informed is made without eggs, plus more fruits they can't identify, and blueberry almond milk milkshakes for breakfast. Because, why not?

Right in the middle of trying out new Elven fashions, the early groups begin to return from the dungeon, and the town is in an uproar. The dungeon didn't end in the transport room anymore. Instead, there is a treant boss where it should be and a bunch more monsters leading up to an Ogre boss.

With this news, they decide to cut their shopping trip short and see for themselves. They meet up with the crew from dinner last night when they reach the lineup at the portal.

"Couldn't resist cutting your vacation day short, eh?" The warrior chuckles.

"Don't blame you. How often does a dungeon get more bosses?"

Cain tries to use his new skill on the very first boss, thinking a caster-type boss might be pretty awesome.

[Requires Summon Epic Companion]

'Darn, I just need a higher-level summoning ability to make a boss into a summoned creature.' Cain thinks out loud.

The Dark Nymphs, with the help of Elmira's new magic damage enhancement aura, destroy the additional warriors. Even from the disadvantage of being slightly lower level, this is a fast-paced run.

Cain tries again on the Dark Elf priestesses a few pulls later.

[Requires Summon Supporter. Available at level 60]

"I can add the Dark Elven forces to my potential summons once I hit level 60!" Cain calls to the group.

"How great would that be? An extra warrior, or mage or rogue, whenever we needed one?" Char wonders out loud. "I wonder if we can dress them up since they'll be elves?"

Cain is about to say they're not dolls, but as a summons, is there really that much difference from a living, moving doll?

"We will have to see." is all he can tell the excited Shaman for now. Making both Mythryll and Misha, who have both been the target of her ministrations, giggle.

The Gremlins at the bottom of the ramp added to the selections for Lesser Golems, but the trolls all say, "Already known." The only thing that Cain can think of is that they must be too closely related to the trolls he's already using.

The Treant boss is massive, standing in a domed room a hundred meters across; its branches fill the roof.

"Watch out for vines, branches and whatever lives in the tree?" Mythryll asks, staring at the ancient-looking boss.

They send the golems forward first to see the reaction. Vines whip out, smacking into all four tanks and two of the lesser golems. That's good news; it's only got six vine attacks at a time unless it's holding back. Tree branches smash into the ground all around the room but can't reach the very edges where the party is hiding while the golems tear up the boss.

They're not doing much themselves, unwilling to risk getting 'squashed like a bug' as Elmira put it, so the fight becomes to watch the golems fight while the boss is out of range for most of the group's spells. Forty yards to the trunk is a bit too far, but any closer and they can get hit.

They eventually run out of patience, though. It is working, but with the run time and constant dying, it's slow. Now, they're doing a dance of sorts. Watch the roof for incoming attacks, watch the floor for vine attacks and step to the side when either comes.

It looks silly, but it is effective.

"Hey, I got a legendary drop from that boss!" Char cheers when it drops.

[Archmage Crown] adds 5 mana per second

"With this added to my gear, I should be able to sustain that new channelled lightning ability." she smiles, the crown turning into a leather dangly hair accessory with beads and bones on it.

As they step out of the room, they immediately feel small. The groups in front of them are all ogres and trolls. Cain tries the trolls again and gets the usual 'Already Known' message, but the Ogres add an option to his Greater Golem.

He doesn't plan to switch, though; the ogres are the cannon fodder of the group.

Being big is both an advantage and a disadvantage. They've got strength and reach, but Wasps and Dark Nymphs can more easily swarm them.

Ogre Mages are added to the Greater Golem ranks, though they're awful mages. They can cast fireballs. That's it. Fireball.

At the end of the dungeon is an Ogre boss. He's enormous, with an axe in one hand, a staff in the other and two heads. He wears what looks like a flattened frying pan as armour and a loincloth. He is the first Ogre they have seen with armour in this dungeon, though.

"You guys stay here; I'll try to use the Golems to turn him away," Cain says, rushing forward with his golems.

He instructs the Wasps to sting the heads, making the boss flail its arms around and block its vision. When the Troll tanks get behind it, they start taking turns bashing it until it turns around in anger, one head still watching the wasps and the staff holding arm trying to hit them.

From there on, it's smooth fighting. The staff side throws fireballs around, doing decent amounts of damage, but Misha quickly heals it. Cain's poison arrows seem adequate, but with so many attacks going in, it's hard to tell what is doing anything.

The Ogre drops with a tremendous crash, raising a cloud of dust, and they all breathe a sigh of relief.

[Level Up]

"And that's 50," Cain and Misha say at the same time.

[Summon Greater Golem] advanced to level 3 Defense Modifier Increased

[Summon Lesser Golem] has reached maximum at level 5

Cain summons a fresh set of both golems, finding he's got 12 Dark Nymphs now instead of 10, with his Summon doubling skill, and 6 Trolls instead of 4. A veritable army of Dark Fae.

"I got [Sanctified Ground] an area of attack damage skill!" Misha cheers. That's what she's been waiting for this whole time.. A proper damage skill that comes from being a cleric.