Going big and going home!

"Girls, we have to kill these as quickly and efficiently as possible, we won't have the time to rest before fighting the boss and probably will have to fight the boss at the same time. The boss will probably take long to kill and there's even the possibility that he will call more rats during the fight. We need to focus on limiting the number of threats. Once things are clear, remain on your guard. Help each other, keep moving and give it all you have. It's the last line and we will have vanquished our first dungeon as a team!" he cheered. The three girls smiled to him. Cali was very engaged in her duty to her new king, Vesta enthralled by her powers and Sylvia concerned about keeping everyone healthy.

Everyone was checking their equipment, getting ammunition from inventory to put it in easily accessible pouches. Sylvia handed each team member a vial of the elixir that she and John had developed from her sap. Everyone took a good chug out of it, keeping the rest for later.

No time to try the usual tactics this time. The opening move was an all out ****. Sylvia fired a suffocating pollen bomb with the slingshot at the same time where the alpha was struck by a poison arrow, one other rat received a Magic Projectile and a third enemy a fireball.

The surprise was so total that they could receive two or three more attacks from everyone before being able to react. It was a four against four fight, but by the time the rats began to fight back it was already too late. John was almost in contact and was hit only once before finishing a were-rat of a hammer blow to the head (he had taken the hit because he wanted to use an aimed strike to the head, stopping him from dodging.).

As soon as the headless body hit the ground, a loud roar made the room shake. John was surprised by the sound but expected something like it.

"Keep going! Kill them quickly, don't get distracted!" he shouted as he stabbed the Alpha with his sword, trying to stop the enemies from rushing towards the girls.

The pile of junk metal began to move and something big appeared in the middle of it. A massive junk rat was buried under what John had thought was the loot pile. The thing was 13 ft tall and most of his body was covered with metal, even the shiny bits that John had seen were part of his body. The back of his head was an oddly shaped piece of golden metal, like if part of his skull had been replaced. With arms almost as big as John's torso, the ogre-like figure was terrifying.

Omega Junk Rat: unique creature, lvl14
The ultimate form of the junk rat species, this creature slumbers until disturbed. He does absorb bits of metal into his body, fusing them with his skeleton in addition to growing them by eating junk metal.
Hoarder armor: +50 armor rating on covered spots.
Ogre strength: attacks can cause crippling damage.
8000/8000hp

Some sort of rat-ogre? His fingers had big metal claws and his fists would cause a lot of damage with all the metal bits.
Sylvia was pouring magic into him, keeping him at full health while he battled the remaining two rats. Another had died of an arrow to the head, a fate that befell the Alpha soon after that. The last rat received a fireball and collapsed.

John didn't come closer to the creature, continuing to analyze it. The metal parts covered him like an armor on most of his anatomy, despite his hunched posture, head or throat strikes were unlikely to succeed and attacks for unprotected bit would have to be weak spot strikes, giving him penalties to dodge. On the other hand, he should be more impacted by lightning attacks, so charged strikes on armored parts could still give results.

"Cali, poison arrows on any weak spot you can reach! Sylvia, incendiary bombs, as many as you can! Vesta, once he doused, light him up! I'll try to get his attention and make him run around!" shouted John, leading a group through a boss fight was nothing new for him, even if he was not risking his life while doing so.

The boss was towering over them, but it was hunched, moving like a gorilla more than on two legs. John hoped that it meant that he would need to be motionless to attack. John needed to get the bosses attention, he wasn't much of a tank (a role that he needed to find someone for if he was going to do this more regularly), but he could kite the boss around if he managed to keep aggro on himself. A lightning Magic Projectile to the head would do that nicely!

skill lvl up: Magic Projectile lvl5, 10mp 90ft range.
Cast 1+skill lvl projectiles (6) on the target for 10 + (skill lvl x2 ) dmg (20) each. These projectiles will follow the target and can't be dodged, they will explode upon impact.

200 dmg ( 2 crits, elemental weakness +25% dmg)

It was the second time he had upgraded this skill during this dungeon. He had also reached lvl4 with Charged Strike and lvl8 in Kriegskraft.

Getting the aggro was a big success, the boss was already turning and running in his direction. John began to run away, drawing the monster away from the rest of the team. John could see from the corner of his eyes that the girls were perfectly executing his plan. It was a shame that the incendiary bombs were the ones he had the less of, he only had bought so much lighter fluid and other such products at the hardware store...

With his boots and Parkour John was fast enough to keep away from the boss, skipping away without being bothered by the garbage littering the floor. He often turned back just long enough to cast a Magic Projectile to the boss' head to be sure to keep the aggro. When Vesta finally unleashed a large fireball to the boss' back, igniting the flammable liquid, John became worried that it would make him turn away. But John had stopped running and the boss was eager to finally get his hands on one of his preys.

7160/8000hp

Of course John had no intention to stay long enough get a taste of it. John could see the health bar tick down from the flames and poison (Cali had managed to get a few arrows in). As soon as the monster was close enough, John cast a darkness infused Magic Projectile on the creature. It did less damage than the other ones, but it blinded it for a few seconds, giving John a chance for an attack. He had just the time for two aimed strikes before the beast would regain sight. First he stabbed the beast in his belly with a lightning Charged strike of his sword and then smashed his new hammer also charged with energy on the right elbow.

173 dmg (stealth attack, elemental weakness, charged strike, weak spot: bleeding.)

125 dmg (stealth attack, elemental weakness, charged strike, weak spot: crippled.)

John had slightly miscalculated, the monster struck him with his left arm as soon as the second strike landed.

-120hp

John flew backwards, landing in a pile of junk metal, his head hurting like hell. The plastic mask, designed for painting and keeping clear of chemical fumes while working had not resisted the blow. It was cracked and the breathing part broken in two. Removing it quickly, John got back on his feet despite the pain. The crippling effect had not handicapped him just by being backhanded. Already, John was seeing the golden and green tendrils of energy flowing from Sylvia to mend his bruised flesh.

6336/8000hp

The monster had stopped caring about John the second he had sent him flying and once his sight had come back he had begun to move toward the rest of the preys. Having a wounded arm made him move slower because of his way of walking.

"Girls, split up! Offer no clear target, stay away from him! HEY!! LOOK AT ME, BIG CHINCHILLA!! I USED TO HIT HARDER THAN THAT BEFORE GETTING MY POWERS!! CAN'T DO ANYTHING BETTER?" he shouted as loud as he could, casting a lightning Magic Projectile to get his attention.

120 dmg

Despite the damage the beast was still going towards the girls. They had followed his advice and split up, but having him moving towards them was making it difficult for them to fight effectively. John could see that almost half of Cali's arrows were bouncing off without any effect when hitting a metal part. Vesta's flames were more effective and at some points, John could see some metal bits glowing red hot after having been hit. After another spell, the monster was still focused on Vesta, paying no attention to anyone else.

The elf girl was slowly getting backed to a wall of the room and soon even running on a side wouldn't keep her out of reach. John focused on his options as he ran towards the boss, one was crazy enough to work. The back of the huge rat-ogre had lots of random bits of metal sticking out of it... John sheathed his sword and ran faster. Arriving behind the creature, he had switched his hammer to his right hand and jumped! The impulsion given to him by his boots was enough for him to reach the highlighted bits on the boss back, using Parkour to climb just long enough to smash his hammer on the gold skull of the beast while charged with lightning.

400 dmg (headshot, charged strike, elemental weakness, weak spot : dazed)

It was by an hair width that John managed to hit and slide back before the massive claw that was raised, closed on his head.

5237/8000hp

"Everyone! Everything you have, now !" he shouted. Spotting the burnt raw flesh on the monster's back, John got a handful of poison bombs out of his inventory and smashed them on it. Vesta was using her fire cone from both of her hands. Sylvia was occupied with finishing to heal John, who hadn't recovered fully from the first blow. Cali was taking her time, aiming carefully at the dazed monster whose golden skull was still crackling with sparks. She managed to land an arrow in his left eye, doing massive damage in the process. John had drawn his sword and taking hits at any uncovered spots he could find.

3689/8000hp

When suddenly the creature started moving again, he did not have time to react. The tail that John had forgotten was there, swiped his feet from under him and the beast smashed his fist on him. He had only enough time to raise his mana shield, (he didn't want it at the start of the fight to avoid losing all of his mana too quickly.) when the hit landed he felt a deep pain in his left shoulder.

-80hp (crippled)

Damn! This ate all of my mana and its already doing so much dmg? This would have almost killed me without the shield!

John had **** but to activate his bracelet's mana reserve and to cast his shield again as he tried to roll away.
Before he could get up or running away, the beast was ready to hit again. But as he raised his left claw he roared of pain rather than to strike. John saw the opening and got away from his reach. Cali had ran behind him and cut his tail off with the new axe that they had looted on the dead dwarves. Sylvia had somehow felt that John wasn't simply missing some hp, she had ran to meet him and was massaging his shoulder with magic energy. John could see the strain on her face, he was afraid that she would push her limits too far. As a nature spirit, John didn't know where her mana stopped and her life-**** started...

Without his mask, the smell of the burning flesh and trash was pretty nauseating, but he had to keep fighting. Things such as smells or even pain were often glossed over in video games. He opened the vial of elixir and drank it, making sure to splash some of the sweet, spiced liquid on his lips. He could feel the warmth filling his body as the liquid was going.

The beast was turning around now, trying to catch the two elves who were running around him. John used move on himself, pressing on his shoulder despite the pain as Sylvia was healing him. Soon, he felt something pop and the modifier that was stopping him from using his left arm disappeared.

"It's still weak, be careful!" warned Sylvia. John smiled and ran back into the fight, casting more Magic Projectiles while running. John shuddered at what would have happened if he had just entered the room instead of using game tactics.

2462/8000hp

The multiple poison effects, bleeding effects and burns were slowly draining his life, but so close to the end they should not slow down their ****. Blind from one eye and focused on the elves, the boss was ignoring John's approach. He made a motion with his sword towards the opposite wall of the room and Cali nodded to him, dragging her sister in this direction.

Totally unnoticed, John slipped in the back of the boss to attack with his sword. He had applied Venom to the sword and was using Charged Strike to hit.

376 dmg (stealth attack, crit, charged strike, elemental weakness, weak spot: bleeding, poisoned)

It stopped the beast right in his tracks, but when he turned back to strike back, John was already running away and all he received was arrows and fireballs to his exposed back and a Magic Projectile in the face. His life was dripping away, second by second. And finally with a last spell exploding in his face he fell dead on the ground.

"We did it!" shouted John.

1750xp

Quest complete: bounty hunter
15000$
400xp

Quest complete: monster slayer
Treasure chest
Precious item
400 xp

Achievement unlocked: tavern tale.
You and your group completed your first dungeon quest by fully clearing a dungeon of its monsters. It's something to remember, maybe bring a bard with you next time?
Rewards
A memorabilia parchment of your group slaying the boss.
Enough xp for everyone in the group to lvl up
A junk rat slayer medal for each member (no special powers, it's just a trinket)

Ding!
You reached lvl12
+20 hp
+20 mp
+5 stat points
+2 inventory slots
0/7300xp to lvl13

John could see that everyone else was one lvl higher than they were before. Sylvia and himself were lvl 12, Vesta lvl11 and Cali lvl 15. Sylvia and Cali had been robbed in a way, they must have been really close to lvl up already and with a few more monsters they could have received two levels. In fact John was pretty pissed that the xp from the quests had been counted before the achievement, he would have liked to get a leg up on the next level and he wasn't really far from leveling up anyway.

John checked his inventory as the girls were gathering the loot from the last rats they had killed here. In total he had gathered:

576 units of junk rat bones
43 litteral pieces of trash (random useless items dropped by the rats)
300 various food items
42 junk swords
37 junk spears
8 shard throwers
26 light junk armor
16 heavy junk armor
158 units of junk metal (on top of the ones looted in the real junkyard)
4567,62$ from normal monsters
2 (?) treasure chests
1 mysterious piece of gold metal (which was covering the boss skull)
3 books

"Come here!" said John gathering everyone into a group hug. "We did it! We beat the dungeon, killed the boss and got the loot. Now it's time for the heroes to get home for a well deserved rest!"

"I am happy for it to be finished. This place is horrible, I can't wait to see some grass and feel some fresh air again," said Sylvia.

"John, bring us back, I can't hold much longer... You promised!" begged Vesta, John didn't expect this, but (probably because of the suit) the effects of Arouse had barely worn off from her. He would be glad to solve her problem once home no matter what.

"You led us to victory. Strong, fast, wise and blessed by the gods and spirits with magic. We are blessed too to have such kind. It is an honor to fight by your side!" declared Cali.

"Cali, the pleasure is shared. Your are exceptional yourself and did more than your share of the work today. You all did very well and I am glad to have you at my side, but we really need to find a tank if we want to do this more regularly. I don't care that I get healed quickly, I'm getting hurt way too often," he replied.

He gathered everyone and used the skill to exit the dungeon, reappearing in the normal world in the middle of the junkyard. As soon as they arrived he could hear steps and voices.

"Yeah, some old stuff trashed and a hole in the fence. Probably some kids fooling around! Tell Bob to fix it before the night, hey wait..." someone was patrolling and talking in a walkie-talkie. John knew that he was too close and transported the group back in Arcadia before being discovered.