Chapter 32: The First Boss Attempt

The tank stepped forward before anyone else could continue.

"Enough. We’re already here." He looked toward the mage. "Drink a potion."

The mage’s jaw tightened. "But they’re expensive."

"So is wasting the entire run because you’re out of mana."

The mage exhaled through his nose, clearly unhappy, but after looking at his staff again, he reached into his bag and pulled out a narrow bottle filled with blue liquid.

Zion recognized it immediately—a mana potion.

He had seen mana potions in the reward catalog when setting up his loot tables, and even the basic ones cost significantly more than ordinary healing draughts. Judging by the way the mage turned the bottle in his hand before finally pulling out the stopper, adventurers were just as aware of the price.

He drank it in several swallows and grimaced before returning the empty bottle to his bag. Within a few seconds, blue light began filling the crystal on his staff again.

He flexed his fingers once. "That’s better."

The tank turned toward the doors.

"Then let’s go."

Zion forgot about the mana crystals. No one had reached the Floor 2 boss before.

Gareth’s party had turned back once Elias and June realized how much mana they had lost, while the other groups moving through the dungeon had either remained on Floor 1 or failed to make it this deep.

This was the first time Zion would get to see whether the boss room he had designed actually worked.

The stone doors opened. The party entered carefully, spreading only slightly as they looked across the room.

Shallow sulfur pools covered much of the chamber, breaking the available ground into narrow sections of stone. Yellow vapor drifted above the water, while jagged mineral formations climbed along the walls and created uneven shelves overhead.

Everything shared the same mottled yellow, brown, and green coloring as the rest of Floor 2.

The mage raised his staff and slowly turned in place.

"Where is it?"

Zion looked up.

The Tidepool Basilisk was directly above them.

Its body blended into the sulfur-stained stone so well that even Zion had to focus to make out the edges of its legs and tail.

It clung to the rock above the entrance with all four limbs spread wide, while its mottled scales almost disappeared among the mineral deposits surrounding it.

None of the adventurers had noticed.

Zion felt satisfaction settle through him. The camouflage was even better than he expected.

The tank moved several steps farther into the room with his shield raised.

"Stay together."

Lilith’s eyes moved slowly across the sulfur pools. Her hand drifted closer to her hip as she watched the water, but even she hadn’t looked high enough.

Above them, the basilisk opened its mouth. A sudden, pressurized stream of acidic water exploded downward.

The healer screamed as the tank reacted on instinct and raised his shield over the group.

Most of the attack struck the metal instead, immediately hissing against its surface and sending pale smoke into the air as everyone scattered away from the entrance.

"There!"

The swordsman finally looked up.

The basilisk released the wall and dropped onto a stone shelf across the room, its claws scraping against the rock before it settled into a low crouch.

The mage raised his staff almost immediately. His earlier frustration seemed to disappear now that there was something in front of him to attack.

A confident smile returned as fire gathered around the crystal and quickly expanded into a burning sphere, much larger than any of the spells Elias had needed against the slimes.

Zion watched the spell grow. That was a lot of fire, more than anything he had spent on the slimes before.

The mage’s smile widened.

"Got you."

He launched it directly at the basilisk.

The fireball struck its chest and exploded across the ledge, covering the entire creature in flames. The heat rolled through the room strongly enough that the healer raised one arm in front of her face while the swordsman stepped farther back.

Then the mage lowered his staff. His lips were still curved into a satisfied smile until the flames finally cleared.

The Tidepool Basilisk was still standing in exactly the same place.

A few scales near its shoulder had darkened slightly, but otherwise it looked completely unharmed.

The mage’s smile slowly disappeared.

"What?"

The basilisk stared back at him. He lifted his staff slightly as though he might cast again, then hesitated.

"Is it immune to fire? But the slimes were weak to it."

Lilith walked past him, lowering one hand to her hip.

"Does that thing look like a fucking slime to you?"

Zion burst out laughing. That might have been the best thing anyone had said inside his dungeon so far.

The mage’s mouth tightened as he turned toward her, and the swordsman threw her the same irritated look, but neither had time to respond.

The basilisk suddenly launched itself from the ledge. Its body hit one of the sulfur pools with a heavy splash and disappeared beneath the yellow water.

Everyone immediately turned.

The tank shifted his shield toward the nearest pool, while the healer backed closer to him and the swordsman moved away from the edge.

The mage raised his staff again and swept it slowly across the water.

"Where did it go?"

Several pools surrounded them. The surface rippled for only a few seconds before becoming still again.

Zion watched the basilisk move beneath the murky water toward another section of the room and felt his excitement return. This was exactly what he had wanted.

The slimes taught adventurers that fire was the easiest solution, and the boss punished anyone who assumed the same answer would continue working just because they had reached the end of the floor.

The sulfur camouflage had hidden its first attack, and now the pools had taken it out of sight again before the party had time to adjust.

He was finally watching the entire design work against real adventurers.

Even better, Lilith seemed to understand what he was doing almost immediately.