Chapter 168: Humanoid Road 33 – The Lesser Mind Flayer

“…We may have a… medium problem,” Reysha said, a deep night’s rest later. As much as she wanted to hurry, she had needed that time to gather herself and clean herself up. The other two had taken the chance to relax as well. It had become somewhat of a tradition between them, to do so in front of boss rooms. Not that this habit was exclusive to them. It was common for adventurers. “…We could even call it a large problem… A giant fucking problem might also be appropriate.”

“What is it?” Apexus asked.

Reysha’s red cat ears were lowered, an expression of pure misery and regret on her face. “I lost my bag,” she reported and held up her empty belt.

Nobody needed to guess when that had happened. Sometime during her desperate dive, the knot had loosened to the point that water resistance pulled it off her. Reysha had only now noticed, as she wanted to put on her armour before the boss fight. That armour, alongside her weapons and other equipment, were the most valuable things the group possessed. The glove that shot a grappling vine was of especially notable worth.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” Reysha exclaimed.

Apexus got up, but not to scold her. “We should have noticed.” Him and Aclysia had been swimming behind her, so anything falling off should have caught their attention. “I’ll see if I can retrieve it.”

“I’ll come along,” the metal fairy was already rising from the ground via magical flight.

“I’ll…” Reysha started.

“You’ve finally recovered and will wait here,” Apexus declared, thinking both as a worried lover and pragmatically. “If it’s a good way into the tunnel, you would do more harm than good.”

Reysha’s ears dropped a little bit further. “I really want dungeons that focus on murdering tasty monsters…” she complained, while the two air-independent party members returned to the saltwater.

It wasn’t overly difficult to find Reysha’s bag. Several minutes before the tiger girl had noticed its absence, the enchantments on the bag had succumbed to the external pressure and evicted all of its internally held items. Now it was a regular pouch, surrounded by equipment and miscellaneous items, all of it soaking in the saltwater.

Over a couple of trips, Apexus and Aclysia brought back all of the items they could spot. Smaller things such as her lockpicks had partly vanished in the crags of the cave and the duo didn’t even bother searching for them. A washcloth was both cheap to replace and readily available wherever they went. Getting the pieces of Reysha’s armour and her clothing out was more important. For the leather parts, however, the redhead decided they could spare themselves the trouble.

“Don’t bother with the armour, it's ruined anyway,” she sighed, inspecting a soaked piece of armour. Bringing it to her had taken about fifteen minutes and there was only so much each of them could carry on one trip.

Water damage was one of the silent killers for all kinds of equipment, but basic maintenance usually kept it from being the sole reason anything broke down. Soaking in water for several hours was a different matter. Soaking in water so salty that the ocean tasted sweet by comparison for that time was basically a death knell. By the time it was dry, the leather would be so brittle she may as well wear a dress made out of paintbrushes. Theoretically, she could have worn it until then, but it would be heavier than normal. Reysha was more comfortable betting on her ability to dodge than the defensive capabilities of her ruined leather armour.

“Ya know I like being naked, but can I stop ending up nude in all of the dungeons?” the tiger girl asked, while dropping the armour and instead turning to what she could save. Her clothes wouldn’t be the same afterwards, but the degradation of linen would be nowhere near as drastic as leather. All she needed to do was wash the salt out first. Luckily, the healing fountain was regular on the mineral level.

“It’s just been this and the last one,” Apexus pointed out.

“That’s 100 percent of the last two,” the tiger girl grumbled and then sighed. “Plus, the one you found me in! It has a tendency of happening.”

“I wonder how often regular groups suffer from that issue,” Aclysia thought out loud. “Darling doesn’t usually wear his robe, so it remaining in one piece is to be expected.”

“Still got one destroyed,” Apexus added in. “Volcano Tearer, and all that.”

“Correct,” the metal fairy nodded. “As for me, I don’t usually engage in physical combat. I suppose Priest or general healer garbs are below average in replacement rate. When it comes to the armour of physical fighters in general, your situation doesn’t strike me as unlikely to occur.” She took a short pause. “Albeit most people would carry more spare clothes than us, I reckon.”

Aclysia was correct in that assessment. Any party that set out to clear a dungeon had to commit to the dive for several days, if the dungeon was short, weeks, if it was a normal one, or even months, if the dungeon was particularly enormous. Guides could cut that time considerably, but combat, walking, eating and resting simply took their toll regardless of preparation level.

Weapons and armour put under repeated strain for such a stretch of time did inevitably get worn down and nobody was exempt from this. Bowstrings were worn down, magical focuses slowly lost efficiency, armours got scratched or dented, and clothes torn. There were three ways to handle this issue. One, by far the most popular for beginners with little funds, was power through the issue and improvise. Two, favoured by established groups that had more money available, was to carry spares. Three, the rarest, was to have a group member who specialized in repairing armour.  That wasn’t to mean someone apt at basic maintenance, all adventurers learned how to take care of standard issues by necessity, but something like field smithing. This last option was usually favoured by groups that were more aptly described as expeditions than parties.

Reysha just sighed again, her tail lethargically laying on the stone. “Stupid cat,” she mumbled to herself while washing out her clothes. “Water dungeons suck… Guess I’ll have to fight the boss naked,” she raised up her shirt. “If this also tears during the fight, I’d have nothing to wear after we get out. At least I still have this,” she looked at the wet glove on her hand.

“Be extra careful,” Aclysia reminded the tiger girl. “This will not be an easy encounter.”

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“I know, I know,” Reysha’s ears flicked as she wrung as much of the wetness from her top as she could. Then she handed it to Apexus to be stored in his bag. For the shirt to dry, the humid air of the healing room was no suitable environment. They needed to get outside for that. “I’ll channel my horniness for maximum performance.” Even if the bag situation put a damper on her mood, her overarching goal of the dungeon was still in reach. They were one fight away from a fully humanoid Apexus. The thought made the redhead’s heart beat heavy with excitement. “We know what we’ll face, we can do it!”

“I agree,” Aclysia nodded, feeling a hint of the same excitement.

Apexus just nodded, looking forward to the end of this segment of the journey. Reaching a goal was always satisfying.

About ten minutes later, they had made their final preparations and stood before the final barrier between them and the boss room. It was a stone gate, made up of two halves that shared between them a picture of an underwater monster with over two dozen tentacles. Depicted was a Depth Flayer, an elite monster rarely found in much higher-level water dungeons and sometimes even in the oceans of Death Leaves. Such a monster would have been far above the group’s current ability.

Apexus pushed against the stone with all his might. After about three seconds of deliberate force, the dungeon acknowledged his intent to enter and the stone swung inside magically. Lowering his hands, he stepped in ahead of his team mates and quickly analysed the boss room.

It was a pyramid-shaped room with a square base, four hexagonal pillars standing in groups of two at the back wall and, between them, was an altar. Simple grey stone dominated the design of the room. Grotesque faces were carved into the left and right wall, illuminated by bright stones embedded into their foreheads. Even more disturbing than those faces was the humanoid figure on the altar, lying on it in the foetal position.

It had thick, glistening, greyish blue skin and was so thin the blades of its spine poked out. Bony, dull protrusions covered its ribcage in numerous bumps. The creature quivered, before raising its head, the neck twisting in an impossible way, had it possessed regular joints. Three pitch black eyes, like those of a fly, stared at the trio. The mouth underneath opened wide, revealing a maw with countless short and sharp teeth. The boss monster hissed and rolled off the altar with viscous fluidity, as if its flesh had not been fully formed from the primordial soup.

The trio felt universally and involuntarily disgusted by their enemy. Standing with a heavy hunched back, the tall creature showed all of its unnaturally smooth skin and bony warts to the trio. Its four fingers and three toes were all elongated, with the last segment bloated, like a frog’s. Nothing about that thing seemed right.

When it hissed again, the disgust the group felt surged. It was a stronger kind of disgust than they had felt towards the slime-producing heap of meat that had been the last boss. A deeper, more thorough one, so intense that it threatened to goad them into a mindless assault. Something this unnatural had to be removed from the world.

Had they not been prepared by the guide; the group may have given into that feeling. The boss was a Laghast, a monster well known for its usage of beginner-level mind attacks. As the final challenge of the Drowned Altar, it fit the theme of unusual obstacles in many ways. Its arms parted wide, it waited for the group to attack.

Apexus calmly continued his stride. 

Clutching her dagger, Reysha moved to the left, while Aclysia hovered upwards to a height where she was relatively safe.

The Rogue kept a clear focus and a throwing knife in her right at the ready. They had only found both of her daggers and this single knife, but due to a lack of belt and sheath, she was confined to a single dagger. Her mind clear of thoughts. She waited for her opportunity to strike. Impatient as she had been to get to this point, recklessness was not an option.

While Apexus approached the boss, he ramped up his body temperature. Energy burned to increase his internal heat. Slime and liquid muscles became more reactive, easier to control and influence. Calm steps became certain ones, then a sudden sprint.

Screeching, the Laghast raised his hand. The noise carried an impulse of fear that Apexus was barely prepared for. It made him hesitate for just one second. Fast, faster than the slime had thought, the arm came back down and slammed the side of his skull. Head spinning, he fell to the ground.

The lanky limbs of the boss had a surprising amount of strength, as the Laghast demonstrated by immediately kicking Apexus’ chest. His ribcage dented in enough that he could feel the impact in his nucleus. Genuine pain rushed through his system, as he was rolled on his back. The boss was ready to stomp down and fully shatter his bones, but Apexus recovered before that could happen. Rolling to the side, he got on feet just quick enough to meet the next charge of the Laghast with open arms.

“Krrhhhrchr,” a broken noise echoed from the slime’s mouth, the plates inside rattling under the heavy impact. He remained standing, wrapped his arms around the Laghast’s chest and kept increasing his temperature. The heat was far above comfortable, even for the boss, and it hissed directly into Apexus’ ears. Intense disgust dwelled up inside the slime and it grew stronger the longer the sound lasted. All the while, the boss’ arms drummed on his back. The second the disgust grew too strong, when the wish to let go of this deep-sea creature became overpowering, he would be thrown to the ground again. Apexus clenched his teeth and held on. He wanted to expand his slime, but his instincts screamed no. The hissing continued.

Reysha planted one foot ahead of the other. ‘Just a bit longer,’ she mentally urged her partner. Circling around the pillars, she had successfully Sneaked outside the boss’ field of vision. Her presence masked, her breathing calm, her approach soft, she focused entirely on the wide-open back of the monster. Counting the ribs, she knew exactly where to plunge her knife.

With a sudden lunge, she bridged the remaining distance, the tip of her blade sliding accurately between the ribs. Thick skin and blubber were parted around sharpened metal. The hiss turned into a loud screech. Fear gripped Reysha’s heart and she let it spur her into pulling the knife back and hastening backwards. Blue blood spurted out, as the punctured heart beat once more.

Apexus let go, driven back by the same fear. Knowing what came next, it was an emotion adequate regardless of mind manipulation. The Laghast’s screech soon transformed into an enraged series of wild, unsteady noises, as it flailed wildly with its arms and stumbled after the fleeing slime. Its neck extended twice as long as a human’s would have, its short teeth uselessly snapping at the air. Apexus was out of reach and kept running towards Reysha.

Finally, the boss stumbled and fell to its knees. Blood still spurted out of its back. The noises ceased. Maw opened wide, the Laghast raised its shivering arms upwards, as if praying to a distant god. A second of complete silence, then the boss monster froze in its position. The trio convened at one spot of the room, waiting with baited breath.

With a wet crunching sound, tentacles exploded out from deep within the Laghasts’s throat. Gargling, it screamed in pain as its teeth violently extended outwards like that of an anglerfish.

And a wave of energy exploded from its now white skin.

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