Chapter 98: Bossrush pt. 5

After they finished their food, Kaius moved on to reinscribing his runic hymns as he sat by their bags in the little laboratory adjacent to the grand hall that held the menagerie of abominations. He decided to stick with thirteen casts of Explosive Arcane Dart. It was the best fit for the ridiculous regeneration of the abominations of this biome. He was curious if fire would work as well, or better, but unfortunately while his runic training had been intensive, it had also been equally focused.

His grasp of High Lothian was good enough to do simple modifications to the shaping of Arcane Bolt, but inventing entirely new spells was a bit out of his wheelhouse. He could only hope his class would provide some solution to that. Either through a knowledge skill, or an alternative method of learning new hymns.

Without Father, he would need to pay for runic tutoring. Not only would that be ruinously expensive, but finding someone who was skilled with both High Lothian, niche spell arrays, and formation design would be hard. Let alone the fact that anyone with that sort of skill set would have approximately zero desire to take on some unknown apprentice. Sure, they probably would if he spilled the secrets of glyph binding. Unfortunately, now that he had gotten an Honour for discovering the art, he had no doubt that there would be others. Training an established runewright in its use as a trade from hymns would be as good as handing away Honours on a silver platter.

He took a last minute check of his gear, making sure that everything was buckled tight and in place. Unfortunately, their brawl with the Lover Boy had left both him and Porkchop absolutely covered in gore. Blood soaked scale was not exactly comfortable, but there was no way he intended to back track to a rest stop before they had dealt with the final Champion.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts so that he could focus on the battle ahead.

“Ready?”

“Of course.” Porkchop replied.

“Good, let’s do this then.” Kaius said with a nod.

They set off, reentering the hall to be greeted by the still intimidating presence of the Guardian tree of flesh and bone that sat behind a warded wall of glass on the far end. He shuddered, watching the dense mesh of veins writhe across the floor of its enclosure. He was very glad that all they would have to fight was an ogre. Much more straightforward in comparison.

They pressed on, quickly approaching the far containment cell that held the feline abomination, Man Eater. Just like the last time, as soon as the cat-like creature saw them it threw itself at the glass wall of its prison, the half dozen of the bladed tentacles that sprouted from its back striking at the barrier like a scorpion’s tail.

Gods it was fast.

“Getting in there is going to be a bitch.” Kaius murmured, watching the way the Champion prowled at the edge of its enclosure, tracking them. “It’s going to be gunning for us as soon as the door opens.”

A low growl rumbled in Porkchop’s chest. “It can try. I’ll force it back. Give you some room to hit it with a few needles.” He suggested.

Kaius nodded, and stepped forwards to open the first door of the airlock. He could feel the Man Eater watching him, holding itself still as malice bubbled just beneath the surface. “Fucking cats.” Kaius murmured.

He yanked open the door, ushering Porkchop inside as he closed the door behind them. Shutting them in the airlock.

The Champion had moved, stalking forwards to wait a few paces away from the entrance to the enclosure.

“Be fucking ready, Porkchop. Those tentacles look vicious.” Kaius said, his heart rate rising in tandem with his aggression.

Porkchop simply growled, bracing himself by the door.

He drew his sword, leaning over his friend to spin the wheel that held the steel door locked. He leaned back, letting momentum and well oiled mechanisms slowly retracted the bolt.

With every clack of the lock, Kaius felt his tension ratchet higher. Round and round the wheel span, until it slammed home with a thunk of finality.

Porkchop roared, throwing his weight into the door, forcing it open. The Man Eater yowled, pouncing towards his friend. They met with a slam, Porkchop using his heavier weight and stocky build to push the creature back. It wasn’t easy, the bone tipped sinews that burst from its back striking like vipers as they plunged their dagger-like blades into Porkchop’s back again and again.

Kaius was already moving, barreling out of snapping off two arcane needles as he ran out of the airlock. The Man Eater reacted, noticing his assault instantly as it leapt back, flying through the air to land a full ten strides deeper into the room. It hissed, tentacles fanning out to vibrate in an impressive threat display.

Porkchop coughed, blood splattering on the floor.

What a great fucking start. Kaius watched the cat as his spells impacted the far stone wall, biding his time. A moment later they detonated, showering the room with shrapnel. The Champion jolted, head whipping back to investigate the source of the noise.

It was the moment he was waiting for.

**Ding! Explorer’s Toolkit has reached level 18!**

Gesturing towards the Champion, golden light spilled out from underneath his vambrace as he shot off another needle. It saw the light, leaping out of the way of his assault. This time staying focused through the sound of his spell exploding behind it.

“Fuck!” He called out. “It’s too fast. We need to corner it.”

“Then help me press the damn thing!” Porkchop said, rushing towards the abomination.

Kaius growled and chased after him, sword held in a flexible mid-guard. He eyed the flailing tentacles on its back. They were ruthless, and no doubt would be almost impossible to fully parry. They needed to come off.

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The Champion hissed, slowly backing away from them. Retreating into the corner. Then it flickered, blurring for a moment in a surge of mana, only for two ghostly clones to appear next to it.

**Ding! True Sight has reached level 16!**

As soon as Porkchop started to rapidly look between the ghostly copies in frustration, Kaius realised that he had seen through its deception. Something that it had no way of knowing.

“It’s on the left, but pretend it’s on the right!” He called, his voice shaking as he faked a frantic tone. “I’m going to bait it!”

Porkchop immediately focused on the right most illusion of the Champion, raising his hackles and letting out a deep growl as he slowly approached. Kaius raised his hand, aiming for the same fake, letting a faint tremor shudder through the limb.

Like all cats, it reacted predictably. Faced with a choice between a pissed off greater beast, and a man that looked like it was quaking in its boots? It chose to take out the weakest link.

All three howled, the beasts illusory doubles racing towards Porkchop, while the real Man Eater pounced.

Kaius grinned. “Gotcha.” he said with vicious glee, pivoting on his lead foot as soon as it left the ground. Burning motes poured out of his hand as he unloaded spell after spell towards the beast. It was moving too fast to aim carefully, so he substituted with volume, firing all but one of his remaining needles towards it.

It flailed, trying to evade.