Return to Jorgaldur Volume I: the battle mage

Last boss (I)

He hadn't found as many spiders as golems or hellhounds, but more than slimes or worms, and enough to level up to 27. With that, he had unlocked the blessing Steel Fists, which grants 20% more strength, and was at 10, since it was one of Gjaki's favorites, who always demanded that he put it on her. Of course, he had blessed himself from the moment it had been unlocked.

Also, now he had available the skill Chainsbreak, which releases any immobilization with a hammer blow. Or as the game said, a brutal blow with the hammer capable of breaking the chains that impede movement. It had been an occasional use skill, so its compatibility level was only 3.

And he had raised Shred to 7, basically because he had been using it against the spiders precisely to level it up.

But those improvements didn't change the fact that he was in front of hundreds of cobwebs. And, probably, traps on the ground.

He decided to go in little by little, using Burning Walls to burn the nearby webs, and checking the ground with each step. He also was watching the ceiling, in case he were attacked from there, as the experience with the slimes isn't something that is easily forgotten. And for that reason, the ten spiders that slid with their threads above his head didn't manage to surprise him.

They were an easy target, so he weakened them with arrows and Javelin, and then received some with a Burning Wall and others with the axe. Boomerang was also useful, as was Shred. When they reached the ground, there were eight wounded spiders, which didn't last long.

He moved even slower, so the next groups of spiders were smaller, until a huge silhouette appeared. And seeing that it was moving, he backed away, leaving Frozen Walls along the way. Although the walls had little use in front of a spider that exceeded them greatly in height.

In the game, the last boss was noticeably more powerful than the rest, a boss for which you needed a group, and that he was facing alone. But he had to pass beyond that monster, since the words from the Oracle can't be taken lightly.

Each leg was four meters high, and on these was the robust body of the final boss of the dungeon, who looked in his direction with its eight huge black eyes.

He decided to retreat to the vicinity of the tunnel, both to be able to flee if needed, and to fight in an area that he had already cleaned, so there would be no reinforcements above his head. Although he couldn't know if the other spiders that could be in the cavern would approach or maintain their position.

The boss approached, breaking the webs that stood in its way without much effort, until it got in front of Eldi. Then, from its abdomen, it fired what turned out to be a cobweb that blocked the exit of the tunnel.

He didn't take long to react, placing a Burning Wall on the same spot, a wall that burned the cobweb slower than the others, leaving no doubt that the boss' web was more resilient. It is true that he couldn't go through the fire without burning, but it was better to have that possibility than to have no escape.

The huge spider tried to cover him with a cobweb, as it had done with the tunnel, but it was an attack too telegraphed to have effect on someone who, little by little, had been learning to study the attacks of their enemies to be able to foresee and counteract them.

Eldi decided to attack the legs with the axe, the only part within reach. Although before, he had to dodge Lethal Spit, which spews poison through the mouth, poison presumably more powerful than that of the smallest ones.

Walls weren't effective, because the spider could simply move the affected leg, but the blow of the axe was. He made a deep wound with Double Edge, but insufficient to cut the limb. He would need four or five to do it, maybe more.

But the boss was not going to let him be. It raised the leg, whose end was sharp, and tried to pierce him with it. Eldi tried to dodge it, but the monster used a skill with which it changed the leg's trajectory and ended up tearing his arm, breaking the armor and reaching almost to the bone. He had to heal quickly, and it was hard for him to endure the strong pain. Getting used to pain was something he hadn't achieved, although he had improved in his tolerance.

He had moved away from the leg that was attacking him, but another one took its place. This time he used Feline Response to escape, while throwing Boomerang against the leg, managing to damage it, but not enough to justify the energy expenditure of the use of both skills. He couldn't stand long like that.

Eldi took refuge under the boss, where the legs couldn't reach him easily, and started shooting arrows with fire. It was nearly impossible to fail, and the fire was hurting the arachnid. Maybe not enough, but he could afford to invest mana in weakening it a bit. When leveling up again and again, their reserves and regeneration had been rising with it, so now the mana wasted by each arrow wasn't so critical.

At first the spider moved from side to side to have his victim within reach of its dangerous legs, or to spit him poison, in addition to throwing cobwebs that Eldi had managed to dodge until now. But since it had failed to damage him, it decided to use its Smash ability, which basically consists of letting itself fall, raising its legs and leaving them parallel to the ground.

Too late the man realized what was happening, too late to use Feline Response, because the space he had to cover was too large for the little time he had. Thus, the body of the enormous spider crashed into the ground and against him, damaging itself slightly, and completely covering the place where the high human who had had the audacity to enter their domains had been.