Awake, What the Hell is a Dungeon Boss?

- ORIS, DUNGEON CHAMBER 2 -

Darrel's eyes were glued to the sight of the large creature, the creature had a gray exoskeleton with shades of amber on the edges of each chitin plate on its body.

"Looks like the boss came out early," Greyan muttered then tightened his grip on his sword.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Darrel asked shakingly.

"That is a Greater-Webcrawler," Luca answered.

The creature's body gleamed in the dimly lit chamber as it pulled the rest of its body from its silky lair, the Greater-Webcrawler hissed at the party letting out drops of acidic saliva from its mouthparts.

"Ha! Let's see you survive this one Spell-less wizard." Greyan bellowed at Darrel.

Orimik took a step back, Darrel noted the Hobogoblin's intent and figured he might try to make a run for it. Luca on the other hand raised his shortsword to arms-length as he inched his feet forward slowly.

"Don't tell me you are getting cold feet halfling,"

Greyan noticed Orimik then gave him a scornful rebuke to agitate him back into the fight, the group all knew Greyan was not fond of pretty words, but he was still taking the steps to reunite the party in the only way he knew.

"Well, it's better than no feet…" Orimik muttered. "That creature is very venomous."

"Tch. Then stand aside coward!"

Darrel tightened the grip on his stave as the Greater-Webcawler continuously clicked its large mandibles, for a moment it sounded as though a bomb was about to off in his mind.

"Luca, get behind me," Greyan pointed at Luca who seemed eager to fight the monster. "I will take point on this one!"

Greyan stood in front of his party and the Greater-Webcrawler then tapped his shield with the hilt of his sword.

"[Leo-Mortis]!"

With a booming roar, Greyan's body flashed with a bright yellow light which then expanded from his body and enveloped all four mortals present. Darrel noticed the shining light around his body and a strange yet familiar sensation.

"I can move?" Darrel took a step forward and wondered what had happened exactly to him. "What was that ability?"

"Bastard," Orimik murmured under his breath as he walked towards Greyan and Luca. "If you knew all along, why didn't you just do it?!"

"Do what?" Darrel queried, but got no response.

"Eyes up!" Luca jumped between the two and then pointed at the creature with his shortsword. "It's coming."

The Greater-Webcrawler roared and charged at the party, Greyan quickly noticed the creature and immediately reacted by jumping in its path with his shield raised. The creature bashed into the shield, Greyan stumbled backward a few steps then stopped, and the Greater-Webcrawler hissed once more before lunging forward again this time peeling its mandibles apart.

Greyan held his shield up again bracing for the webcrawler's aggressive charge.

[Roooar!!]

The creature slammed into Greyan's shield once more pushing him towards the wall of the chamber, as Greyan struggled to keep the creature's mandibles from snapping his arm in two.

"Don't just stand there!!" Greyan cried out to the group.

Luca was immediately on the move as Orimik followed behind, Darrel held his ground still trying to regain his composure. The two rushed the Greater-webcrawlers undefended hindside and struck the lighter chitin around the creature's tail.

[Skriiieeeeek!!].

Having been struck on its weak spot the Greater-webcrawler screeched in pain, Greyan quickly placed his longsword between the creature's mouthparts as it screeched in pain then slashed sideways cutting off a pair of its deadly venom-filled mandibles.

The greater Web-crawler fell to the ground writhing in pain, its mouthparts spewing with venom and saliva.

After a fit of jerking, the Greater-webcrawler rolled to its side and raised itself back to its normal height as it gave off low screeching sounds.

"You should have stabbed it in the head," Orimik commented.

"Shut up."

The Greater-Webcrawler screeched with fury as leathery flaps suddenly appeared on the side of its head, as its long hairy antennae whipped around as though it were an elated fly, and a thicker liquid oozed from its slashed mouthparts.

"It's just standing there," Darrel stated. "Is it preparing for an attack?"

"Most likely," Luca responded quickly.

"Then why are you waiting for it to finish?"

The question seemed to short-circuit the group as neither of them had ever thought of that in a battle, at first it seemed foolish to think that way, but as each individual thought about it in a new light, the answer appeared in plain sight.

"What if we miss?" Orimik asked Darrel.

The Greater-webcrawler hissed then started to coil its mid-section, its chitin armor gave off a shiny glow and its remaining set of mandibles clicked with a metallic noise.

"Too late."

In an instant, the creature lunged at the party, Darrel could see it as its coiled body loosened sending the rest of it in flight towards them. Darrel noted how the webcrawler seemed to move in a snake-like fashion as it glided through the air towards them.

"Grr. [Drive-Revenge]!"

Greyan roared as his wooden shield gave off a bright amber hue like a bowl of magma, this time he opened his arms and crossed them right in front of his face with his shield arm placed in front of him.

The Greater-webcrawler crashed into Greyan's shield smashing through it and then clamping down on his bracers. Greyan's defense immediately weakened as he risked having his arm chomped off by the webcrawler, and the creature quickly overwhelmed him as it began to push him back.

"[Edge of Motion - Sprying-Volition]."

Luca triggered his own ability this time and for a moment Luca seemed to spring from his position to aid the struggling Greyan.

Luca plunged his shortsword into the webcrawlers mouth as he tried to help Greyan push it back, Orimik jumped into the fray stabbing the creature in its large compound eye. The stalemate had been initialized, however, it was only a matter of time until Greyan, Luca and Orimik faltered, and the Greater-Webcrawler seemed to know this as more of its toxic venom oozed from its mouth.

"The venom, it's burning my hand," Luca complained, but he clenched his teeth and continued to press his sword through the creature's mouth.

Greyan could not say a word, he was more concerned with the Webcrawler not biting his arm off, so far his arm bracer was holding, but he could feel the webcrawler's mandibles slowly piercing through it.

It was only a matter of time.

'All I need is one second to get a good grip,' Greyan winced as the Webcralwer grip on his arm tightened.

"Damn it all!!"

At that moment a large orb seemed to swing from one side of the Webcrawler's head and then smashed onto its head.

"Gaaaah!"

Shards of crystals scattered across the air, the attack seemed to have left a small dent in the webcrawlers thick chitin on its head. The pieces of crystal stuck to its head gave off jolts of shock as the webcrawler shrieked.

Darrel jumped back from the momentum of the initial attack as he looked at his stave with lament.

"Oh, now it's broken…"

The webcrawler tried pulling away from the party, but Greyan quickly gripped one of its mandibles then he plunged his sword through its lower head.

"Gaaaaaa!!"

The creature twisted and growled with three swords stuck through its head, the three individuals kept their eyes on the webcrawler as they each tried to catch their breaths.

Darrel watched with his party as the Greater-webcrawler finally stopped moving.

"Hahaha, I knew you would come through." Luca bellowed with laughter disregarding the burning sensation left by the webcrawlers venom on his hand.

"So that was a dungeon boss?" Darrel uttered slightly concerned. "Luca, we need to get that treated,"

"This? Nah it's just a small bruise. That man over there is one that needs treatment."

Greyan lumbered to where the webcrawler had fallen then pulled out his longsword from its head, from it spilled various fluids and a wet leathery pouch.

"The venom sack burst…" Greyan stated then fell on his bottom right next to the dead creature.

To create an antidote for any monster in Morland, it required a base anti-venom potion to be crafted by an alchemist and then mixed with the venom of the particular creature.

"We can't make an antidote."

"What there has to be another way…" Darrel exclaimed.

Suddenly a magic seal appeared on the wall behind them, the entrance to the chamber was forcefully opened from the outside and the guards from earlier came forth.