Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Lava Boss (I)

After the third lava attack, the huge serpent summoned its Minions, that is, about twenty Lava Larvae twice the usual size. Contrary to the behavior of the larvae that had been previously encountered, they immediately came out of the lava lake.

At the speed of a normal person walking fast, they would normally split into small groups, to attack each adventurer. In this case, they were all together in front of Goldmi, so the larvae headed in her direction.

Once again, the elf focused on the huge serpent, as she looked sideways at the battlefield. Soon, the larvae began to fall into holes with Icicles at the bottom. The corrosive power of the Tentacles competed with the fiery skin of the mana beings, while some hounds melted together with their prey.

Eldi attacked directly with Frozen Spears, while Gjaki did the same with daggers created from Blood Edge. They weren't as effective as the ice, but they had to share the mana cost. Fleeting Dagger was used to throw them each time she created a new dagger.

The goshawk collaborated with Wind Blades, while the lynx attacked directly. Her affinity to fire only allowed her to last for a few moments, so she continually jumped from side to side.

Soon, the first wave of larvae was defeated.

Eldi hastily filled the holes made with Mole's Power with Icicles, while Gjaki placed more Tentacles.

For her part, Goldmi had been adding different skills to the Wind Arrows to test their effectiveness. As expected, Piercing Arrows allowed the Wind Arrow to penetrate a bit more, but the end result wasn't as good as she had hoped.

She could also take the opportunity to shoot more arrows at the same point, thus making the wound deeper. However, unlike what would have happened against a living being, that didn't mean increasing the damage. For that very reason, she didn't gain anything by Holding the arrows to launch them at the same time.

Wind Dragon did a lot of damage, though slightly less than spending all that mana on Wind Arrows. Again, it would have been different against a living being.

The floor boss didn't care about the arrows already stuck, and let them distort its mana little by little. If it had been the real Lava Serpent, it would have dived into the lava to eliminate them. In that case, a single powerful shot would have been more effective.

For a long time, they continued with the same tactic. Goldmi attacked from range without letting her mana pool get too low. The others blocked the attacks with their bodies, thus reflecting part of the damage. They also took care of the Lava Larvae that appeared.

When the huge serpent's vitality reached 50%, it split into five. They were also huge, but not as big as the first. One went for Eldi, another for Gjaki, another for the lynx and another for Goldmi. The fifth stared at the sky, as it wanted to attack the goshawk. Sometimes, it would Spit Lava at her, but for the albino bird, it was child's play to dodge. She even allowed herself to cast Wind Blades from time to time.

As soon as the serpent had started to split, the four of them had separated.

Eldi used half of his mana to create Frozen Walls in the center, and left two small corridors that intersected between the Walls. They could easily pass through them, but their huge enemies couldn't.

The strategy was for the serpents to chase them and pass over the Walls. It was very important to coordinate so as not to cross two at the same time. In this way, the companions maximized the use of the power of ice against fire.

Eldi kept his mana to create more Walls whenever he could, but only once had he regained enough mana to be over 75%. The high human needed to reserve it for the last phase. He only used the hammer to Propel the larvae that approached him. It was a level 93 hammer that he had created specifically for that time.

He had hesitated to craft it, but Gjaki had insisted, and he had soon found she was right. Fire-resistant hammers were highly sought after for that dungeon floor.

He had seen several lower quality models selling for exorbitant prices. His may have been two levels lower than usual, but the quality made up for it. Besides, it could be more of a blessing than the opposite.

There were hardly any fire hammers of that level, so any user of that weapon wouldn't be able to get one unless they leveled up to 95, or got one custom-made. Added to the quality, Gjaki was sure that some adventurers sons of wealthy merchants or nobles would pay anything for the hammer.

Therefore, she had proposed to sell it at the auction. At first, Eldi wasn't quite sure, but he had no choice but to agree. Not only his two companions seemed interested in attending, but also some of the mansion inhabitants.

The larva shot out, and the hammer only reddened slightly at the moment of impact. It was more than enough to push them out of the way and damage them. If he had aim, they were even sent against a Wall or some Tentacles.

Gjaki would simply jump over or dodge them to the side. At the same time, she was hitting them over and over again with the fire-resistant whip, and added Stiff for more forceful blow. Sometimes, she would even use Grab to wrap her whip around one of them and send it against another. Now that the serpents had divided and shrunk in size, so had the larvae.

The whip had also been made by Eldi, and they were planning to auction it off as well. Gjaki had doubted if she'd ever need the whip or the hammer for someone, but she had soon dismissed it. If that was the case, she just had to ask Eldi to make another one. They weren't lacking materials.

The lynx was leaping at them as fast as she left them behind. She crushed them on impact and Shredded them. Once again, she executed her movements with such speed that the contact was extremely brief. It was just enough for her fire affinity to withstand the high temperatures.

As for Goldmi, she only exterminated the larvae that got in her way, with level 93 arrows. It pained her to sacrifice the arrows, but she needed the mana to continuously shoot the serpent with more vitality.

It was important to keep them as long as possible in that phase. If a single one fell below 25%, it passed to the next one. Going into that phase having dealt maximum damage would make the final victory easier and faster.