"That giant toad is so scary!"
"It just swallowed my friend whole. Luckily, he throw emetic at it, so it vomit her back"
"Stink... Stink... Darkness..."
"Are you okay? Want me to clean you up?" [Diana]
"I'm fine... Wait a minute?! Is that a mimic!? I don't want to get swallowed again!"
"Calm down!"
The sight of a Mimic caused the Female Adventurer to have a panic attack. She had just been swallowed by a giant toad, which happened to be one of the few dungeon bosses in this dungeon. According to the report and what the quest in front of us just said, it's bigger than your typical monster toad. Like this dungeon, it has a strong affinity for Earth Mana. It also has a strong affinity for water mana. It has Petrifying Claw, Petrifying Breath, and Petrifying Lick. Basically, it doesn't want its prey to escape, which explains all of its attack patterns.
"Alright, we are up" [Teliara].
"You can save your mana and energy. Just leave the giant toad to us" [JOATMON]
"Good luck" [Dana]
"Meow!" [Fie]
"Smell good? Now I want to try it" [Diana]
"I swear to Goddess, why is that aspect of Khamisah rubbing off on you?" [Dana]
"Hmm? I don't think it's Sister Khamisah's fault. I mean, I survived in the Aru village back then by eating nothing but small animals, so I guess that's where I got it from?" [Diana].
"I'm... I'm sorry" [Dana]
"Siti, please tell me a restaurant with the sweetest dessert afterwards. I want to let Diana indulge her sweet tooth" [Merlin].
"Same here. I'll pay for it as well" [Tiara]
"Really! I love you Master Merlin and Teacher Tiara!" [Diana]
"You know... let me take care of the bill..." [Princess Siti]
(Since she's always smiling, we've all forgotten her past... Better that than her suffering) [Teliara]
We all enter the boss room. The heavy earth door opens by a strange mechanism as soon as we pull the lever. Once inside, I see the giant toad, covered by rocks as its protective mechanism, happily swallowing a scorpion about half its size. The scorpion's stinger tries to sting the toad several times, to no avail.
As soon as it sees us, it immediately swallows the scorpion whole. From my perspective, it treats me scorpion like a candy, maybe the toad find the scorpion tasty, so it savors it before swallowing it whole.
In a single leap, it tries to cover the distance between us. The two sword-users, JOATMON and Teliara, draw their swords and begin to counterattack.
JOATMON quickly applies a fire spell to her sword, and with the aura on her sword, she slashes through the toad's front limb. Blue blood spurts out, and with it
"Blood Arts: Piercing Blood" [JOATMON]
"Do you think we are easy prey! Stupid toad!" [Teliara]
Teliara took a potion from her item box magic. She applies it to her sword and enhances it with her own mana. She slashes the sword several times. This causes part of the toad's muscle to spontaneously twitch. I guess the potion is some kind of muscle poison?
JOATMON's fighting style is similar to mine, no, more like the Doll Diana. She balances between overpowering her opponent with her sword and magic, similar to Doll Diana with her scythe and magic. As for Teliara, I have never seen Wandering Sage fight before, but a Sage gets the title Sage because of her wealth of knowledge. The way she slashes the toad, the way she analyzes every move and the way she calculates not only her next time but also her allies and enemies make her a reliable ally.
"That movement... JOATMON. She will try to lick you! Be careful" [Teliara].
"I see. I'll counter it. Ready to deliver the final blow" [JOATMON].
"On it" [Teliara]
And just like Teliara said, the giant toad tries to lick JOATMON. It fails as JOATMON quickly dodges it. In a fit of rage, it tries to petrify JOATMON with its breath, but
"This is your diaphragm and lung, and next to it is your heart!" [Teliara].
Teliara, skillfully maneuvering her sword between the toad's hardened skin, pierces it. I can tell that the giant toad is in excruciating pain, but there's almost no sound.
"Fiery Aura Sword!" [JOATMON]
And with a single slash, JOATMON put the giant toad in its misery.
"Strong. You two are truly worthy of your titles" [Tiara].
"Thank you for your praise" [JOATMON].
"Not quite yet. I'm sure Grandpa Sage can do better. If I am a sage now... I will..." [Teliara]
"What's with you trying to beat Wandering Sage?" [Dana]
"I mean, everyone has such high expectations for me, at first I was pressured by their expectations, but Grandfather Sage's word is the one that motivated me the most. In his word, he told me to find my own happiness without worrying about other demeaning words. So here I am, trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, so that one day he can pass away knowing that his only granddaughter is able to take care of herself" [Teliara].
"This is actually heartwarming. Here I think that... Never mind" [Dana].
"I won't say it. Even I can read the room" [Princess Siti].
"Do you?" [Dana]
"Huh!?" [Princess Siti]
And they argue again. I wanted to taste the giant toad with Fie, but they stopped me. Ohh... It looks really juicy. I wonder if I should grill it or season it? My plea fell on deaf ears as I can only watch Fie happily eating it while cooking it with his fire magic.