It had been a week since they entered the dungeon. The party of four. Blood of beasts, blood of their own, left in their trail. They had already gone too far in, Arthur, Baro, Rosianna and Craft. It was a maze. A never-ending maze. They had become mentally defeated and physically exhausted.
"We have enough food to last us one more day; then it's onto finding out if we can eat these monsters... Haha.." Craft had said with an empty laugh.
All their eyes were soul-less. Their clothes were dirtied with blood. Unsure if it was their own or not. Circling around and around, I saw the same walls and the same monsters appearing over and over again.
"Let's rest for now." Baro had suggested, and he then sat down against the wall. The rest of the group did the same.
"Arthur, have you sensed anything unusual?" Rosianne asked, latching onto any hope of escaping.
"There's one spot, but every path towards it is blocked off," Arthur replied, thinking back to the beginning of the dungeon.
"I think it's best if we recap what's happened so far," Baro recommended.
"Yeah, that's a good idea; let's start from the beginning, then." Arthur had then explained every single event leading up to this point.
"We had entered the dungeon, walking down the steps into the depths of the dungeon. Another set of doors opened by itself as we came close. All four of us had entered, and just like that they closed on us, shutting us in. We've been walking around these corridors for..I don't know. It's probably been close to a week. Our only source of light is these torches on the walls, which don't ever get extinguished. Low-level monsters keep on appearing out of nowhere. The highest we've seen is a B-class monster. However, the issue is that they come in groups at random intervals. Pincing us always from either side. They must know where we are at all times."
"You believe these monsters can pinpoint our location." Rosianne looked at Arthur.
Craft had been mapping out a layout of this labyrinth of a dungeon.
Arthur looked at Rosianne. "No, but maybe something bigger is."
"Another monster?"
"Possibly. If only I could just destroy these walls, but they haven't gotten so much as a scratch on them."
"This is just a hunch, but what if this supposed monster is wearing us down, so we'll be easy pickings." Baro had proposed.
"That's one possibility, but the main question for now is: how do we get out of here and escape?" Craft replied.
"Magic stones!" Arthur exclaimed.
"What about magic stones?" Rosianne looked confused.
"Can't you use magic stones to blast through the walls? Won't they make your staff more powerful!"
"Ah! I see now! Imbuing my staff with all these magic stones we've collected would make it super powerful! Problem is..I don't have that amount of magic to be able to execute such a powerful attack."
"But I do!" Arthur had a big smile, pointing his thumb towards his chest, puffing his chest out. Rosianne then looked at Arthur stunned at his ego. "Never knew you had so much confidence in yourself, brown-haired boy."
Rosianne had taken each magic stone, infusing it into her staff.
"One use is all you get, Arthur; after any spell is cast, the staff will implode on itself. Good luck!" She handed the staff over to Arthur.
They walked over to where Arthur sensed a weird presence of magic. He then stopped and pointed, "Here! This is where I want to blast the spell. Rosianne?"
"What is it?"
"The best spell you know to blast open this wall, teach it to me!" Arthur spoke with resolve.
"Of course. Then mimic what I say; once you're ready, channel your magic into the tip of the staff; it should be a natural flow. Once the incantation is complete, it'll fire off an extreme blast. Me, Baro and Craft will stay far back. Now copy what I say: "
"Огонь, принеси мне свою величайшую волю. Гори ярко и быстро. Цепной взрыв!"
It took a few attempts for Arthur to pronounce, and remember the long incantation. Over the week, Rosianne had been teaching the language of spells to Arthur. He was still a novice but could make out some words.
"I think I'm ready!" Arthur pointed the staff forward at the wall. Closing his eyes, focusing all his remaining magic on the staff.
「Огонь, принеси мне свою величайшую волю. Гори ярко и быстро. Цепной взрыв!」
A small sphere of fire had slowly gone closer and closer towards the wall. It looked weak.
"Hahh?!?! Is that it?" Baro exclaimed.
"Wait for it and make sure you stay back! Arthur, run away as well!" Rosianne exclaimed.
Arthur slowly walked away, towards the others.
The ball of fire slowly inched its way towards the wall. It then came in contact with a wall, and within a split second, the wall had been destroyed, and the whole dungeon shook!
It opened into a massive room, with 6 pillars on either side. The ceiling had depicted pictures of strange monsters intricately carved with care. At the centre stood a great giant beast.
"Wait don't go in yet!" Rosianne exclaimed.
"Why?" Craft had asked.
"Look over there!" Rosianne pointed to the broken wall. Baro and Craft had looked surprised.
"Another ball?!?" The little ball of fire was slowly but surely making its way to the monster.
The monster was enormous. It walked on four legs, covered in dark green fur. It had red eyes and two great big horns protruding out of its forehead. Its teeth were sharp. It's heavy breathing like a strong wind. It was truly a behemoth of a monster!
"That's what the dungeon entrance meant, right?" Arthur was weak, now barely able to stand, he slowly pointed forward at the ominous creature. He then passed out, due to the massive consumption of magic.
"Rest now, Arthur." Baro had clutched his greatsword with one hand. "Let us handle the rest!"
The deceivingly small ball of fire had become closer and closer. An animal-like curiosity overcame this great beast. It had tilted its head. Lifted its forefront leg, inching closer towards it. It looked mesmerised by this small ball of fire.
Closer and closer, then the great monster touched it; with that slight contact, the ball of fire exploded, blowing off its enormous forefront leg! The heat was so immense that it instantly cauterized the wound.
Just then, the colossal monster had let out a huge, agonizing roar!
"RAGHHHHHHHAWWWWRRR!!!" The whole dungeon had trembled!
"Let's do this! Craft! Rosianne!" They all went running in, exhausted, but with an unyielding mindset to hunt this grand monster!