The way the Boss Crawler had already detected him surprised Aldrich.
It felt like within the Boss Chamber a Crawler had some special privileges. The lightning had become more destructive as he entered the Mana-film. The visibility wasn't that great either. Aldrich could only make out the blurry top of the hill. With the help of occasional flashes of light, one could see a silhouette of approximately 10 ft high rock. The distance was still out of the range of his Divine Sense.
Aldrich warily climbed up, eyeing the huge rock which had stood there like a menacing pillar of death. The thunder had seemed to resonate with the silence of that rock. And by the time Aldrich's Divine Sense reached the top of the hill; he had realized that something else shared this silence, too. Aldrich could see a person sitting at the top of that rock, looking directly at him.
Aldrich had noticed that the rock was not a natural one. The chiseled edges and the markings on it had almost confirmed its identity as a gravestone. A 10 ft. high gravestone. But an even more peculiar scene was of the man seated on it. Without approaching closer, Aldrich looked at the Boss Crawler. The appearance of the Crawler had differed by little from his expectations or as told by other Dreamers.
It was wearing a slouched hat, a blue flannel shirt, and brown trousers with leggings and boots. The 'rough and tumble' appearance had been a signature of old times. The Crawler would have looked completely similar to a normal man with its well-trimmed mustache if it weren't for that 'mark'. In the middle of its forehead, there was a hole. The hole was a finger wide and was like an oil pipe left open, reaching to the depths of the earth. If one were to throw a rock in it, the sound of impact at the bottom won't even reach the top.
But other, more important things had caught Aldrich's attention. Like its peers, a Stat window could also be seen over the Crawler by Aldrich. Aldrich had been just analyzing its Attributes and Skills when his eyes became wide. Without waiting for any reaction from the Boss, he turned around and ran for the Mana-film. He had left a gust of wind behind but, unfortunately, couldn't cross it. With all his momentum, he collided into the previous invisible but immaterial film and it bounced his body back.
[…
Generating Hidden Quest…
Hidden Quest: Survive the Boss Crawler for 15 minutes
…]
Luck didn't seem to favor Aldrich. The Hidden Quests, as their name suggested, were "Hidden". They could have popped out anywhere and anytime. They were of high risk and high rewards, as found out by unlucky encounters. But the most troublesome issue about them was they were inherently mandatory. Only some specific actions could have resulted in a Hidden Quest, in both Random and other Dungeons. As with Aldrich, marching in the Boss's Chamber alone was such an action.
"Shit." Aldrich cursed out, fumbling to stand up. And along with pain, the Stats of the Boss Crawler surfaced in his mind like a lost memory.
[…
Record of Boss–Monument of Buckey O'Neill
Status: Healthy
Level: 13
HP: 502/502
SP: 572/572
MP: 1090/1090
Rank: Rare
Attributes -->
Strength: 30
Defense: 30
Agility: 26
Vitality: 30
Perception: 35
Correspondence: 65
Active Skills -->
1. Riders of Death
2. Old Gambler
3. Mana Burst
Passive Skills -->
1. 10 miles shot
2. Adept Rider
3. Fearless
…]
Aldrich knew his Passive Skill Intimidation wouldn't work, but that wasn't the reason he had tried to run out of the Boss Chamber. The reason for his behavior, that seemed cowardly and shameless, had been flashing right in front of his eyes.
[…
The Boss Crawler has used Skill–Old Gambler
One Item from each would be locked for 15 minutes
Item locked (Boss Crawler): Blood Thirsty Sabre
Item locked (Dreamer): Oldest Change
…]
"Ah, young man! Showing your back without even putting up a decent fight? Tch, Tch."
Aldrich heard the words that had seemed to resound throughout the Boss Chamber. He turned around and could see the Boss that had been standing at the foot of the hill. It was holding a rifle on its right shoulder and smoking a cigarette with its left hand.
'.30 Krag?' Aldrich thought, remembering the rifle's name.
"What? Do you like it? I can give it to you. Haha."
Aldrich didn't like the way these Bosses had been given personalities and traits that resembled humans. The way it was gesturing to its rifle and puffing out smoke from time to time, Aldrich thought he could have even talked his way out of this situation. But in the past 35 hours, he understood the nature of these Crawlers.
"What a scary Mask? I knew something was wrong with it the moment I had detected you. This thing felt eerie and wrong, even to me. So I had to gamble a little. I hope you won't mind. Young men like you should gamble a little now and then."
Aldrich's mind was focused on the Hidden Quests time limit only. He would use the Return Stone the moment it would be over. He threw a grenade at the Boss and ran towards the hill, taking out his Daggers. Aldrich had decided to keep avoiding a confrontation with the Boss. With his increased Agility he could maintain a safe distance from the Crawler if he kept using grenades. Or so he thought.
Through his Divine Sense, he had monitored the action of the Boss. He saw the rifle shining with blue light and a visible bullet of mana was fired towards the grenade. The grenade blew up while still on its trajectory. Aldrich had to stop and threw out two more grenades. No way was he going to let it chase him so soon. But the Boss too had been thinking the same thing.
As soon as the grenades had left Aldrich's hands, two more Mana bullets were fired. The grenades blew up near Aldrich and the Shockwaves tore his skin. Because of his enhanced strength, he had managed to not be thrown back and lose his footing.
"You didn't even let me introduce myself? But I would have to say this game of hitting balls in mid-air sure seems fun."
Aldrich had already turned his way towards the top. The high ground had always been a sound tactic to hold one's ground. He hid himself behind the gravestone and threw grenades to keep the Boss at a reasonable distance. Even with his Daggers in his hands, he hadn't thought he could take on the Boss without depending on other Skills and Items. The only reason he had even entered this god-forsaken place was because of his Items. And now he couldn't even use his most reliable Item just after it came into existence.
Avoiding a constant barrage of Mana-bullets from behind, Aldrich somehow reached the top. Using the gravestone as cover, he threw many grenades at and around the Boss Crawler. The distance hadn't affected his aim at all. But the distance wasn't the only issue. The precision with which the Boss had been neutralizing each grenade couldn't have been copied by any known human on the Earth.
"Ah, young man! How many of these 'little things' are left? I am getting a little bored." Aldrich heard the Boss shouting and taking care of the grenades while climbing up at the same time.
"You seem too tired. You know, I know the perfect lullaby from my hometown. Let me put you to a pleasant sleep."
'Sleep…'
'Sleep…?'
Aldrich's mind jolted at hearing the word. He repeated the word over and over in his mind. All things had stopped existing for him for a moment. And only one question had been left that mattered.
"Why can't I remember myself sleeping at all?"
Frantically, he looked around. The patience he had been piling up seemed to run out. And even the verses were felt being erased out one by one. Such a terrifying thought had occupied his mind that he didn't even notice the surface of the gravestone rippling behind his back.
"Am I still dreaming?"
He couldn't remember a single dream since the time he had returned from that long sleep. He couldn't remember when was the last time he had slept nor could he remember thinking about it.
'Why… What's happening?'
His thoughts stopped by the way someone grabbed his ankle from behind. He turned around and saw that the Boss Crawler had come up behind him using some unknown method. He could see only a faint ripple on the gravestone before the wave had vanished. Aldrich felt himself rising, and he saw a brief look of malice in the eyes of the Boss. With unimaginable strength, the Boss smashed Aldrich into the gravestone.
CRUNCH!!!
Nobody could have known how many broken bones Aldrich had. And a fountain of blood had risen from Aldrich's mouth. He slid down along the gravestone, with his eyes looking in the distance, still in deep contemplation.
"Thought it was just a prop, huh?"
Aldrich didn't reply to the Boss's mockery. As the muzzle of the rifle was pressed against his temple, he closed his eyes.
BANG!