After a short break to recover some stamina, and resolving that they would share the booze and jerky once they got out, they opened the doorway that led to a pathway in better shape than the rest of the rooms, it seemed well preserved and there wasn't the risk of collapse of the structure, it was well maintained too, it had torches lighting the path ahead to a big door.
Beyond the door lay a vast, dimly lit forge. Massive pillars rose to support a cavernous ceiling, and some luminous stones distributed through the dungeon provided light, casting an eerie light glow over the entire room. Scattered throughout were more makeshift barricades and orcish equipment, but a massive, shadowy figure stood at the far end of the room, illuminated only by the light of the molten lava behind it.
[Runelord Orc - Hershfer lvl2 - Boss]
At the corners of the room, there were many cages with growling dragon hatchlings, the creatures hissed inside their cages, it seemed like they were ready to be sent somewhere. There were no lackeys nearby that could interfere other than the dragons, to the other side was a massive door, maybe that was the supposed route they should have taken if they hadn't taken an accidental shortcut to evade the fire.
'Ugh... level 2!?' Thought Raven.
The levels were introduced when the heroes started appearing. But they changed the world, it changed too much. Before you had to trust in your skills, your training, and luck, but now as long as you keep fighting you will eventually rise to a new stage, the difference between one level and another was huge. The orc was much bigger than the others, he was at least two or three heads higher than the others, and he was wearing a sleeveless plate armor protecting his chest. Instead of an axe, the creature had a war staff. The arms of the beast were full of tribal runes. And as soon as he noticed the uninvited guest he stood up from his spot and walked toward them.
"So, the rats have arrived" Said the orc in a language perfectly understood by everyone in the room.
This of course shocked all of them to the core. It was known that some monsters were intelligent, but they hadn't heard about a monster that could speak in the same language. Raven spat to the ground, this sounded like some weird sorcery, and she wasn't having any of it. Then something happened and the messages went crazy.
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[Runelord Orc - Hershfer lvl2 - Boss (Rare)]
The orc smirked... Was this his doing? Did he tricked them? Eruru couldn't wait to find out and commenced the battle against the rex monster, the master of this level.
""『Flare lance』!" She screamed as a fire javelin flew rapidly towards the enemy, it was a more powerful spell than her wind blade.
"Pathetic" Said the orc raising his staff and slamming it against the stone floor, the elf magic dissipated mid-air.
Eruru and Kayle gasped, they didn't expect that, but Raven and Thorsen got their guard up, the enemy wouldn't be defeated that easily. The enemy pressed this advantage and jumped in the middle of the party releasing a strong gale of wind that sent them all flying in different directions. Kayle got slammed against the doorway, losing his consciousness in that one hit, Eruru got lucky and landed on his bag of Kayle, Thorsen just got pushed a little using his hammer to hold his ground and the unlucky cat impacted the cage of the whelps, one of the creatures bite her shoulder.
Raven gritted her teeth as the pain surged through her body from the bite of the dragon whelp. The young dragon's jaws were strong, and its teeth sank deep into her shoulder, drawing blood. She could feel its growl reverberating through her bones as it tried to shake her like a ragdoll. Desperately, she reached for her dagger with her free hand and jabbed it into the creature's eye, forcing it to release its grip with a shriek.
"Get off me critter!" She rolled through the floor grabbing her shoulder where she had been bitten, with a glance she saw the dwarf facing off the orc, his hammer getting parried by the bulky war staff, and both of them dodged attacks and the orc seemed to be enjoying the combat, but he had magic to wield, with a snap of his finger a flame column began to flare under the dwarf who reacted with haste to evade it, launching an attack from bellow, his hammer almost reached the target.
Raven scrambled to her feet, wincing as the pain from her bitten shoulder throbbed with each movement. She could see that Thorsen was holding his own against the Runelord, but the orc's mastery of both physical strength and magic was proving to be a dangerous combination. The way the orc smirked between parrying blows and conjuring spells made it clear that he was toying with them. She knew they had to act fast... Kayle was out cold, Eruru was still regaining her composure, and the dwarf wouldn't be able to hold off the orc for long if they didn't intervene. The whelps in their cages hissed and snapped, some of them rattling their cages in agitation, but for now, they were contained.
"Elf now!" She screamed at the top of her lungs catching the attention of the orc boss who looked at the mage, he noticed she was just standing up, that moment of confusion made the cat smile, if he was intelligent he could be tricked, and he took the bait, as Raven got into position she cast again her signature spell "『Fire Butterfly Swarm』" Raven said under her breath, casting her spell. Tiny, flickering butterflies made of flame emerged from her hand and fluttered toward the orc, not powerful enough to hurt him, but enough to obscure his vision and annoy him.
The orc snarled in frustration as the fire butterflies danced around his face "Pathetic tricks!" he roared, swatting at the flames. But this gave Thorsen a brief opening. The dwarf lunged forward, his hammer swinging in a wide arc. The blow connected, slamming into the orc's side with a resounding metallic sound, if he hadn't been wearing the plate armor he would have been dead. But he kicked the dwarf sending him bouncing backwards, while turning around to the cat plunging his staff into her "Then you die first worm!"
"『Wind Blade』!" Eruru cast her spell mustering strength. But it was too late, the staff seemed to impale the cat "No!" She screamed at the sight of her teammate facing her doom, but then the cat smiled.
<<『Emergency Illusion』has been triggered evading a lethal hit!>>
The staff impaled the illusion and Raven rolled to the ground gasping for air, but alive, the surprised orc wasn't able to evade this time the Wind Blade threw at him, impacting him in the back, getting protected by his armor but causing pain "Gaaah!"
With a rush of adrenaline, dashed forward again, this time aiming lower. She slid beneath the warlord, slicing at the exposed tendons behind his knees. Her blades cut deep, and Hershfer roared as he dropped to one knee.
"『Double Impact』" Said the dwarf now pissed.
The stone hammer hit twice at the same spot where it had landed last time, this time making a disgusting creaking sound. But the creature refused to go down, at least not alone, his staff glowed with malice, and a sharp stone lance formed in the air, being thrown at the elf who got paralyzed by the tenacity of the enemy.
"Die scum!" Smiled the evil orc as he also struck at the dwarf who parried with the handle of the hammer,
Raven, still gasping from her narrow escape, saw the stone lance hurtling toward Eruru. Her instincts screamed at her to move, to save her, but she was too far and too battered to move. Time seemed to slow as the lance closed in on the elf, her wide eyes frozen in fear.
At the last second, Kayle, though dazed, pushed himself off the ground and lunged forward. He jumped and pushed the elf to the ground, both of them barely saving their own lives, both of them falling violently to the ground, but alive.
"Enough!" Eruru's voice rang out as she gathered the last of her energy finding enough confidence to go all out "『Thunder Bind』!"
Lightning formed on her hands and she released that energy towards the orc, who surprised by the use of a mid-tier spell got electrocuted and immobilized, if he hadn't been hit by Thorsen he could easily have dispelled this miserable bind, he tried to cast a spell to release the dragons but... the stone edge of the hammer connected with this face and everything went black for the creature.
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Eruru had received a bad hit on her face, Kayle's back was killing him, Raven gasped for air, and Thorsen had a nosebleed after the last impact also hit him hard on the face too, but they all had a smile on their faces, they had won.
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As Kayle began to distribute potions among the beaten members of the squad, Eruru approached the cages holding the dragon whelps. The young creatures hissed and growled, their small bodies bristling with aggression, but they were too young to break free on their own "What should we do with them?" she asked, glancing back at the group. "We can't just leave them here"
"Should we kill them?" Asked Kayle, receiving a disapproving stare from Raven and Eruru.
"For real?" Raven asked.
"Hey! They are dangerous! One almost tore your shoulder!" He countered.
The dwarf sighted "They are animals, and they are caged, it's different facing a beast in a fair battle, killing them right now gives no honor"
"Doesn't suit my taste to kill animals that can't fight back" Added the cat.
"Okay okay! It was easy loot! But okay!" Kayle complained but didn't press the matter anymore.
"It's okay Kayle, it's the right thing to do" Said the elf with a bright smile on her face.
Suddenly the dragons vanished in white flames. They were in peace.
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