Markus O'Connor looked down at the half machine, half rat monster that sat facing him. It twitched unconsciously, and seemed anything but sane. The biggest surprise had come when it spoke to him, like a homeless man grovelling for booze.
The rat told him a little bit about the 'dungeon' they were in, which piqued Markus' interest. They were all over the news the previous night, and it seemed to him that a goose laying golden eggs had fallen into his lap!
"L-l-l-like I said. If you kill the other p-p-pioneers, you will earn Dos."
Markus ran a hand over his stubbled chin, staring at the two men he had tied to palm trees. He knew them well enough, not just as neighbours, but rival businessmen.
"How much per 'pioneer'?"
Markus fingered the pistol resting on his lap as the rats' machine side whirred loudly. He had learnt that it was a sign of the rat thinking heavily. The creature was too stupid to be negotiating on its own.
"200 Dos. We make a-a-a-agreement, yes?"
[Quest: Bring me their heads!]
[The secret Brine, Kruut, has asked you to bring him pioneers to kill. Any monetary rewards, such as Dos, or items that may be sold in the shop, will be handed to Pioneer Markus.
In return Pioneer Markus and his party shall not harm Kruut in any way.
Time Limit: Indefinitely]
Markus frowned at the display that popped up in front of his screen. Dos was so far, an unknown currency. The rate of conversion was getting higher and higher as time went on, it was currently at 1 Dos for 500 USD. An absurd amount. Any random person could exchange it for three quarters of a million dollars, with no questions asked.
It wasn't hard to tell that the markets were going to crash, and money like his wasn't going to mean as much anymore. But Dos could very well be the future. Whirring and metal clinks filled the silence as Markus stared at the rat.
The guards protecting them were nervous as they glanced between their employer, and the tied up captives. They were also aware of the power dynamic between the two. They were employed to follow Markus' orders, but killing a rich families son and butler? That was a whole other ball game.
Some of the guards were keenly aware of what the parents would do to find out where their son had gone, and especially what they might do if they found his killer.
"What happens to the Dos a pioneer has when they die?"
The rats teeth chattered and it looked up to meet Markus' eyes. He could see the same hint of greed in the monsters eyes that he saw when he looked in a mirror.
"N-normally, nothing. It would d-d-disappear. But the quest will grant that D-d-dos t'you."
Markus chuckled boldly, slapping the Brine on the back, nearly sending it sprawling. He waited until it pathetically crawled back onto the stool before grinning. Killing people almost a million dollars? Markus had done it for less.
"It's a deal."
[Quest: Bring me their Heads! Accepted]
His gaze turned towards the butler and kid, the former of which was glaring at him. If he was going to kill these two, he had to be careful. Word couldn't get out, and the guards around him would probably have to be silenced...
"S-sir!"
A guard shouted, waving his torch. The entire camp looked over, past the man, as a figure in a black cloak was sliding down the dunes towards them. Markus looked at the Brine suspiciously, but the rat showed no indication of knowing the unknown person approaching. They weren't a monster, as they moved above ground, and they were human in shape.
Was it a coincidence that something came at them the moment he accepted the deal?
James and the butler struggled against the bonds as they saw the approaching figure, a mix of fear and relief in their eyes.
Markus squinted at the cloud of dust being thrown up behind him, and ordered the guards to put their guns up. Handguns were drawn and aimed at the figure, who continued dune-surfing towards them.
He was about to tell them to fire when the ground shook, ever so slightly. Markus knelt down and laid a hand against it, and felt the shaking travel up his arm. He opened his mouth and looked back up but was silenced as something shot out of the ground behind the figure, screeching as it spewed lava from its mouth.
It reached up towards the sky as its body just kept popping out, the hardened carapace glinting under the moonlight. It might have looked majestic if it wasn't terrifying large.
The guards were visibly shaken as the monster seemed to be following the man in black, who was undoubtedly heading straight for them.
"Shoot him!"
The shots were deafened by the Lava Centipede's angry cries. Some bullets hit the sand around him, and others flew over his head as he ducked and dodged, a couple of them cutting through the black cloak. There was a spray of blood as one nicked him in the arm, sending the Centipede into a frenzy as it smelt the iron in the air.
Dustin ignored his wound and continued dodging, until eventually the guards started firing at the Centipede instead. Dustin just kept running through the oasis, stopping only when he reached the water. The Brine was hiding under a stool as the Centipede clawed its way into the camp, its enormous body pushing palm trees aside.
Markus and the guards were scrambling back, and his family were frozen as they watched it draw closer to the mysterious figure. Dustin stood facing the Centipede with his staff in hand, his hands moved slowly apart from each other, and the guards gulped at the warm feeling that surrounded them.
The centipede continued charging towards him, its thick legs sending chunks of hardened sandstone flying. A bright flash of light, and the roar of thunder broke loose as Dustin sent out his Storm Bolt, hitting the Centipede head on. Markus was blinded and deafened by the light, and fell to the ground, covering his head as his legs shook.
At the last second, Dustin threw himself out of the Centipede's path, and the Centipede tried to peddle itself to a stop before it went flying into the water. Ice petals on the floor had created a thin layer of ice, and the boss had no grip as its front half sunk down.
The water started to boil as the Centipede angrily spewed Lava, rearing its head up. Dustin could see a couple of its armoured plates at the front looking worse for wear, and fist-pumped internally. Whilst the camp was still recovering, he threw a knife towards the captives, cutting into the rope around the butlers hand, allowing him to grasp it.
The older man had been smart enough to look away, and was concentrated on cutting the rope away. Dustin let them free themselves as he summoned a shadow dagger in his free hand, charging towards the giant bug.
The Centipede was fast for its size, and was able to pull legs back the moment Dustins staff shocked them. Sparks went flying every time the metal and carapace connected, revealing the futility of his attacks. He had to hit it near the head, as it was where the outer skeleton had been weakened. It was also the most dangerous area, as the Centipede liked biting and vomiting lava.
Bullets were ricocheting off the carapace as the guards fired blindly, most of them still unable to see properly. He had to carefully dodge both the bullets and the angry boss, his staff taking a beating each time it bounced off.
Lei-Lei gave him encouragement in the form of lightning bolts, zapping the brittle areas closer to its head. Dustin would have loved to use his own Storm Bolts, but he had no time to stand still and cast spells.
The shadow dagger had a higher degree of success in slipping between the harder areas, but could only cause shallow cuts, as it wasn't long enough. The bosses' health was dropping slowly than a feather from Mt. Everest, making Dustin think of other ways to kill it. The quantity of attacks wasn't the problem, it was the quality.
Bosses needed strong abilities and weapons to kill. An army of level one pioneers throwing spears was worse than a higher level pioneer shooting a ballista.
The Brine was able to see fine through its mechanical eye, which scanned the oasis. Some of the guards were firing at the fight between the cloaked man and the Centipede, not caring who they hit. Markus was rubbing his eyes with one hand and feeling the ground in front of him with the other.
Kruut's vision was drawn straight to the area behind Markus, where his wife was huddling over their daughter. Half of his snout broke into a crooked smile, and his cogs began to turn. If they couldn't kill the boss, he needed to at least take whatever experience he could before they all died, and run away.
There would be more pioneers to bargain with in the future. His small form went largely unnoticed under the intense battle raging on as he crept closer to Markus' family. The little girl had been coddled close to her mother, but screamed out as the Brine came closer.
Markus turned when his daughter cried, and saw Kruut drawing closer to his family, a jagged knife in its outstretched hand. He quickly raised his handgun and shot at it, but the bullets seemed to disappear before they blow the rats brains all over the sand.
His hand shook as each consecutive shot resulted in the same thing. He could hear Kruut muttering something about the deal, and he thought back.
"A-agreement. You no harm Kruut, but Kruut harm you."
A vein popped in Markus' forehead as he remembered the clause. He shouted for his wife and daughter to run, but could see that their only escape route was past the enraged centipede.
The rat was scurrying quite fast towards them, and his wife dragged their daughter by her hand towards the fight. She screamed as a piece of loose rock slammed into the ground beside them, torn loose by the centipede, and caught the edge of her dress, sending her tumbling down.
The rat was close enough that they could smell it, but its knife swinging harmlessly above them. A hand gripped the rats neck and lifted it up into the air, squeezing the metal wires that entwined with the spinal cord tightly until it fell still.
Dustin completely ignored the secret quest pop up that it sent him, and slapped an ice petal onto its chest. Kruut trembled as it felt the cold biting deep, tendrils of ice crawling over its body. The thought of being frozen alive entered its mind, but Dustin had other ideas.
He bent back with the rat in hand, and actually threw it at the centipede. If Kruut had been able to open its mouth, it might have screamed, as it smashed into one of the Centipede's increasingly brittle plates, shattering it, and glancing off into the middle of the oasis' water.
The boss had lost its sense of direction, and dove after Kruut, intent on devouring whatever had attacked it. Unfortunately that meant a dip into the water as the entire Centipede became submerged.
Dustin waited until the notification popped up on his screen, and immediately opened it.
[Silent Desert Secret Complete. +400 Dos.]
He had been hoping for the boss kill notification to show up, but submerging it in water wasn't going to kill it.
Rather, Dustin had half expected it to happen, and calmly opened the store, searching for a certain Aeromancy Spell.
"You ready to zap it together Lei-Lei?" He said off the side, drawing the lightning spirits attention. She had been looking anxiously at the water, awaiting any sign of the boss emerging.
[Confirm Purchase [Y/N]?]
Dustin tapped yes and smiled at the bubbling water. He raised one of his hands in the air to cast a spell, and stood entirely still in that pose. Even as the Centipede burst forth from the water, screeching its grievances to the sky, he did not move. It used its massive body to propel itself towards them, intent on finishing the fight.
Whatever lava remained stirring in its stomach was ready to be released as it opened its disgusting mouth. Dustin looked up at the sky, seeing dark clouds part, and a vibrant energy fill his enclosed fist.
James was watching in awe as the night sky was filled with bright lights, all culminating in the storm clouds above them. His butler was busy cutting away the tight ropes binding him to the palm tree.
"Now!" He shouted, and Lei-Lei sent an arcing bolt of lightning at the Centipede, stunning it just at the waters edge. Dustin brought down his fist very slowly, and an audible hum shook the air above the boss. When the sound was beginning to hurt his ear drums, he quickly brought his hand down to eye level.
"Cloud Splitter!" Dustin shouted, and the sky exploded.