Seeds of Discordia

“What the hell was that!?” Artem questioned as he turned around to look at the others.

“It swallowed the EFM!” Ariyana shouted.

“Is that even allowed!?” Roman asked.

Everyone was confused and slightly panicked after what they had just witnessed.

Eri. Liam started as he tried calling out to her mentally. Is this the product of someone messing with the Dungeon? Is this common or what?

Eri let out a laugh that rang in Liam’s mind. While laughing she replied, You certain have a lot of interesting things that happen to you. No this isn’t because of someone tampering with the dungeon. However, this is rare. Sometimes Elite Floor Monsters change in the middle of the dungeon. It’s not a common thing to happen, but it has happened.

Liam let out a sigh of relief.

“Does this mean that the EFM has been defeated?” Blair inquired as she looked to Liam and Mercer for their thoughts.

“Hm…I haven’t heard of something like this happening before,” Mercer started as he tried to think.

“I think that Giant Albino Crocolisk has become the new Elite Floor Monster,” Liam stated.

“Did…did you just say…Croc…Crocolisk?” Artem repeated as he paled a bit.

“Yeah,” Liam nodded as he looked confused. “I was able to assess it before it retreated back into that hole.” Liam noticed Artem’s wide eyes and demeanor. “What’s wrong Artem? Do you know about the creature?”

“There were crocolisks back on my old world,” Artem started with a nod. “Nasty creatures. They have six legs to help them run easier. They can shift their skin to either hard scales for better protection or smooth scales for faster movement. They are agile and can move their bodies in ways you wouldn’t think they could.”

Liam’s eyes rose as he listened to Artem’s description of the creature.

“I have never seen one that size before though. The biggest I’ve seen came up to my chest,” Artem finished. “So, if that thing is a Crocolisk then we are in big trouble.”

“Do they hunt in packs or are they solo creatures?” Mercer asked, writing down everything Artem was saying.

“When they hunt they are solo creatures,” Artem replied. He then remembered something and added, “Unless you come across a mother with its babies. That’s the only time you will really see a group of them.”

“They sound like nasty creatures to deal with,” Ariyana stated.

“You have no idea,” Artem said. “I haven’t even mentioned the strength of its bite.”

“You’re not going to like what I’m going to say next them,” Liam commented, interrupting Artem before he could add more. “I saw its health. It has no mana, but it has five thousand HP.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped at Liam’s announcement.

“We’re going to have to be careful when fighting it,” Liam stated. “We need to find weaknesses and exploit them.”

Liam looked at Artem and then back at the others before saying, “This monster sounds nasty so we will have to try and avoid its jaw to prevent it from swallowing us.”

Liam let out a long sigh as he looked towards the ground. “To be honest this is going to be really tough and I’m not sure how this will go down.”

Mercer and Blair eyed Liam.

They noticed him narrow his eyes with frustration. Along with his narrowed eyes they noticed he was starting to breath a little heavier. Something was running through his mind and it was making him panic internally.

Before anyone could say anything, Avery placed a hand on his shoulder, bringing his attention out from his thoughts and to her.

“Take a deep breath and relax,” Avery said softly. “We can get through this. You’ve pulled through for us so far and I trust you.”

Liam stared into her eyes. Shifting from one eye to the other, Liam was able to noticed he was starting to freak out. His breathing had become slightly labored and his body was tense.

Taking her advice, Liam took in a deep breath. After reaching the amount of air he was able to take in, he slowly released it. His tense body slowly relaxed as he did this two more times.

As he did this he felt himself go into a small trance, allowing his brain to think of different scenarios that could happen.

Everyone watched Liam as his breathing calmed and evened out. As he slowly opened his eyes they saw something that made them hold their breath.

Liam’s eyes had a faint glow flash around his irises. It was pronounced enough to stick out and if they weren’t looking they would have missed each flash; but they were able to see it and it was amazing.

Artem was about to say something, until Blair raised a hand up to stop him.

After running through all the possibilities, Liam’s eyes returned to normal. He then looked at them and said, “I may have a plan that could work, but it will change throughout the fight depending on the different variables I don’t have.”

The others didn’t say anything so he added, “Again, this plan will most likely change. Unless someone has any ideas they want to put out now?”

Everyone shook their heads as they waited for the plan.

Liam let out a sigh before continuing, “Artem you will tank it, try to keep its aggro on you and kite it around, if you think you can hit it with your shield or mace then do so. If you cant then use your taunt ability. Blair, I want you to cast Gravitational Force Increase the moment we start to fight it. After that, whenever it looks like its about to snap its jaw around Artem or anyone else, try and use your great axe to knock its trajectory away or if possible close it before it can attack.”

Artem and Blair nodded.

Liam looked at the others. “The rest of us will attack from afar. Use any and all magic we have to try and find a weakness. Once when we find that we will use that weakness to our advantage. Ariyana and Mercer I need you to also keep our Defenders buffed at all times. I will call out when they need a heal. After they are buffed join us in attacking it.”

“Alright,” Ariyana and Mercer stated.

“If the room is big enough I want us out of range while we attack,” Liam started up again. “Once when we have a good look of the terrain we can adjust accordingly. Any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Liam could see they were on high alert and slightly tense. He knew going into a fight like that could cause some issues so he thought of a way that could help ease the tension. After a moment had passed, he remembered a very puzzling yet interesting thing about the creature.

“You know, I think this creature was someone’s pet,” Liam suddenly stated.

Everyone looked at him with a confused expression.

“What makes you say that?” Roman asked.

“It had a name,” Liam continued. “I kind of feel bad for it since the name was a bit…childish?”

“What was its name?” Avery asked.

“Binky. Binky the Giant Albino Crocolisk,” Liam answered with as much flair as he could.

The group stared at him, dumbfounded and silent.

This silence lasted for about a moment until Ariyana started laughing. Her laugh caused the others to start laughing right after her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ariyana said between laughs.

“That poor creature,” Blair added during breathes.

“No wonder it came in with a vengeance. I wonder if that was its owner,” Roman chuckled.

“Alright…Alright,” Mercer said, trying to get his laughter under control. “Let’s eat a buff bar and head in there.” Mercer then looked at Liam and nodded, giving him thanks.

Liam nodded back.

After they were ready they started for the open hole in the back.

The floor of the room was riddled with holes in some areas from the chunks of wall that had flown and crashed down. Water seeped through the closest holes, escaping into the darkened areas within.

The group walked cautiously, making sure the areas they walked on were stable enough to hold them.

After reaching the other side of the room, Liam peered inside to find a massive hole leading farther back.

His Dark Sight kicked in as he looked inside. There weren’t any monsters or hidden spots that he was able to see.

“It’s safe to go in,” Liam announced.

“How can you tell?” Ariyana asked as she squinted her eyes, trying to look inside. “All I see is nothing but dark.”

“One of my racial abilities is Dark Sight, which lets me see better in the dark,” Liam said.

“That’s helpful,” Mercer stated.

“You know I keep forgetting about that,” Roman said. “I’ve been able to see in the dark since the change and just think there’s a light somewhere.”

“It must be a Beastkin trait because I have it too,” Bair stated. “I also forgot about it being an ability.”

“Alright, since there’s three of us who can see, we’re going to have to guide the others through,” Liam instructed. “Let’s go.”

It took them a few minutes to walk through the cavernous hole, but once they got to an opening, they were amazed at what they saw.

The room was a giant dome shaped cavern with a slow moving river running along the back side. The floor and walls were made from uneven rock formations.

Upon further inspections, Liam was able to see divots of long claw marks along the walls. It was as if something was digging at them to make room. Along the ground had random holes here and there.

Random small Yooperlite stones were scattered around the walls, allowing the area to have some lighting, but not a lot.

On the other side of the river was a smooth rocky area with some pale white oval shaped stones.

The one thing that made them wary of the place though was the fact that Binky was nowhere in sight.

“Be cautious as we enter this place,” Liam started. “Watch your footing, with the ground being uneven in places and the holes scattered, it’ll make moving around and gripping the ground harder.”

Everyone nodded as they slowly entered the room.

As soon as the last person entered the room, the river started to ripple and swirl about.

A dark shadow rose up and exploded out from it, revealing the massive body of Binky, The Giant Albino Crocolisk.

Binky’s body had a slick white sheen to it as water rolled off its forty foot long body. Standing three heads taller than Artem, this creature was huge.

As Binky eyed them with its red eyes, Liam also took in every detail he could. He noticed spots where all the water rolled off were starting to harden and become jagged. As the creature shifted its weight, Liam also noticed the spots its claws were at dug into the ground with ease.

This is going to be one hell of a fight. Liam thought.

A long menacing hiss rolled out from the creature’s jaw as it readied itself.

Noticing the subtle changes in its body language, Liam shouted, “Ariyana and Mercer, get those buffs out now! Artem run to the right and taunt it! There’s some room to kite to the right. Don’t get too close to the wall and corner yourself! Blair get that Gravitational Force Increase going and do as we discussed.”

“Right!” The four shouted as they started to do as they were told.

“Everyone else, spread out and wait till Artem has it aggroed then start casting!” Liam continued. “Yell out if you find a weakness!”

“Got it!” Avery and Roman yelled as they both ran in opposite directions making room for Ariyana and Mercer to spread out after they were done.

Binky opened its jaws and let out a massive growl as it started to move forward.

As soon as Artem got close enough, he answered the creature’s growl with one of his own roars, making its eyes land on him.

As soon as he got its attention he started to run to his right as fast as he could, still keeping his eyes on the massive beast.

As soon as Binky turned its head to chase after Artem, a massive force shot down on it, slowing it down. However, due to its massive reach in legs, Binky was close enough to try and bite at Artem.

As Binky opened its massive jaws, turned its head, and lunged, Blair was within reach and slammed her great axe vertically up. The force of her swing was hard enough to push the top jaw, that was in clear view of Blair, shut and knocking its head back a bit.

Feeling the recoil of slamming her great axe against the scales, Blair winced and shouted out, “I wont be able to continuously hit it like that. I might have been able to knock it back, but it feels like I’m hitting a mountain!”

After firing a Shadow Orb at Binky, Liam replied back, “Alright. Use your judgment when to do that then. Don’t force it if it’s only going to cause harm. If you can, try striking the bottom part of the jaw and see if its softer there!”

“Got it!” Blair responded.

Liam raised his Moon Blade dagger and readied his Lunar Orb spell. After chanting it and shooting it, he waited for the notification to see how much damage the combination of shadow and lunar attacks caused.

 

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“Lunar Orb has successfully hit Binky the Giant Albino Crocolisk for 35 damage.”

“Additional 25 damage has been added due to lingering Shadow Magic on Binky the Giant Albino Crocolisk.”

---

 

Ok, it’s not much, but it’s something. Liam thought before turning over to look at the others.

“How is it going?!” Liam shouted out.

“Fire doesn’t do much, it has a resistance to it!” Avery shouted.

“Earth has some effect but it’s not a lot,” Roman called back.

“My Entangled Roots spell isn’t far enough along to bind its whole body and I haven’t tried any of my other plant focused spells yet,” Ariyana yelled out.

Liam turned to look at Mercer who had shot out one of his new spells, Ice Orb. As soon as it collided into it, Mercer turned and yelled, “Ice is its weakness!”

“How many know ice spells?” Liam shouted out.

“I do!” Avery replied.

“Ok,” Liam said as he started wracking his brain. A thought came to mind as he started thinking.

“Mercer, use another ice spell! Avery, after it hits use a fire spell!” Liam yelled.

Avery stopped what she was doing to look at Liam. She was confused at first, but then an idea appeared. Wanting to confirm she asked, “Do you think…”

“I want to confirm it,” Liam said before turning to Ariyana.

“You got it!” Avery and Mercer shouted.

Mercer started chanting again and formed an orb made of ice. Once he was finished, the spell flew as fast as it could and slammed into the side of Binky. The area that was hit slightly froze over.

Before a moment had passed, a fireball the size of a basketball collided into the frozen area.

Avery shouted with delight before informing, “Using fire on an ice spell will double the damage!”

“That’s great!” Liam replied back. He looked over at Binky who was hissing and growling at Artem as he jumped in to swing his mace at the creature before running back to dodge the massive jaw from gobbling him up.

Blair swung her Great axe right under its jaw, making it go up and miss Artem. A small amount of blood flew from the area the blade had struck.

Wanting to try something else out, Liam yelled out, “Ariyana use your Leaf Projection spell. Avery use another Fire afterwards. I want to see if Ice is not the only thing weak to fire.”

Ariyana nodded as she readied herself. She moved up a bit to get into range for her spell and started chanting, “Rustling from the trees while dancing in the breeze. Swirling as they drop, beautiful yet sharp. They may look light, but the force pushed upon them will make you question their might. Leaf Projection!”

Leaf Projection was a new spell Ariyana received when she got her Plant Focus Point to level ten. It was a spell that creates several razor sharp hard as metal leaves that are shot at a target.

As Ariyana chanted this spell, Liam watched, with his Mana Sight, green mana form around her body. The green mana then ran towards her chakram she held out and condensed into small balls that moved away from her weapon. Each green ball then transformed into sleek shiny leaves with sharp spiky edges.

To Liam they looked a lot like English Holly leaves.

After ten of them fully formed, they flew swiftly right into the same spot Mercer’s Ice orb collided into. As each leaf slammed, they sunk right between the lines of the scales.

Shortly after the leaves sunk in, Avery’s fireball slammed into them, catching the leaves on fire, allowing the flames to enter the open slits the leaves made.

Avery let out a very uncharacteristic squeal as she jumped up with a hand up. “Plant magic has a great damage addition when fire is used on it!”

Liam wanted to let out a laugh at Avery’s behavior but was taken aback when he heard a loud growl.

He turned to see Binky had changed its focus from the two defenders and was facing Avery.

With a shocking and unexpected turn of its body, Binky started for her.

Artem and Blair slammed their feet down, sucked in a breath and went to release their taunt ability, but failed as Binky’s tail whipped around and slammed right into them, sending them flying to the side of the room. Crashing hard against the jagged rocks.

Avery went to start running, but then tripped and fell to the ground as her right foot fell into a small hole.

As she lifted her head up she paled as she watched Binky open its mouth and lunged for her.