Monster Lore Unlocked!

Boss Monster Encountered!

Gregor, Stag Lord of the Plains information obtained!

Gregor, Stag Lord of the Plains

Dungeon Creature - Beastkin Centaur

Rank C+ Threat level (Boss)

Best trait - Unknown

Preferred Method of Attack - Unknown

Known Drops: Unknown

Enter combat with or defeat Gregor to unlock more information.

—

It wasn’t hard to see the beast as it rose up from where it had struck the Runner’s group. Gregor was at least six feet taller than the tallest among them without his horns and just as much wider. He was at the height of the forest itself and wielding a spear the size of a small tree.

Myles didn’t need monster lore to tell him that Gregor was a threat or a boss, it was easy enough from his sheer presence.

“You have disturbed the plains and disrupted the balance!” the stag lord cried, slamming the butt of its spear into the ground. With the nearby runners stunned from the impact, Gregor made a show of picking up the nearest runner to examine before biting down sharply on his neck, shearing his head clean off. Death and danger gleamed within his eyes as he threw the corpse to the side with a flourish of blood and reared up, attempting to trample those that regained their footing. “I will restore that which you have broken!”

As he charged as was charged in time, Myles had no doubt Gregor would try to make good on his promise.

With the clash of steel and the smell of copper, the chaos of battle began again.

From behind Myles and his small band, more Runners answered the call of battle from the ruined city, wielding weapons and armor the likes of which Myles had never seen before.

How did they know to wait and when to come?

Was Gregor loud enough to be heard even in another biome?

Had someone called them? Directed them?

In the end, that wasn’t what mattered.

All that mattered was the danger before them, the heat of battle, and the voice that began organizing the throng of Runners.

“Fighters, front right leg! Aim for the knee!”

The voice was sure, confident, and most importantly, commanding. No one questioned the attack, and everyone responded like a fine-tuned machine.

The Runners flowed like a river, rushing towards the called leg and striking as they could. Myles got closer, adding what he could to the battle, but found himself outclassed by axes, long-swords, and spears as soon as he tried to make a cut.

The centaur’s legs were like tree trunks that had been covered in leather armor, and he couldn’t even get close enough to be of use.

“Mages, Rogues, and non-combatants, form a wall! Spread out from the tail and form a wall!”

Not wanting to be a liability, Myles backed off to join the line of others that kept the beast from circling back.

The [Monster Tamer] heard the screams of an ally and bones crack as Myles felt the wind rush past him as the beast kicked. Three nearby Runners were lost, slamming into trees in the forest behind them. For not the first time that night, he wished he’d found someone that could help Ashra. She would have been a huge help.

But he didn’t, and he couldn’t.

“Shrink the circle! Warriors, right leg!”

As one, the assembled Runners surged forward, driving spears and swords and arrows into the right leg. Blood flowed like water down its muscled leg, but the beast refused to yield a step. His spear rose and fell like a force of nature, sweeping across the field as people screamed before falling into a permanent silence. Blood flicked off the spade of his weapon as if it were nothing before it rose again for another strike.

“Mages! Archers! Ready your skills and finish the same leg!”

It was the same voice that called again, ordering the back line’s assault. Fire, lightning, earth, water, and other energy of all colors Myles couldn’t even begin to identify crackled through the air around him and raced like a bolt forward.

Blood evaporated, skin burned, and bone was exposed as the kneecap popped free of the weakened muscle, and Gregor stumbled forward into the swarm of waiting Runners.

An injury like that would have crippled Myles, but Gregor continued to fight, insulting their mothers, their families, and others as the battle turned. The ruined leg barely seemed to affect the behemoth, but the wear was showing.

Blood began to run from the ruined flesh as weapons cut at it, as maces slammed into the bone, as halberds and blades separated tendons from muscle. With a roar of pain, Myles watched as the muscles folded in on themselves, rolling up the calf and bunching like overstretched, ill-fitting socks.

“Back right! Excellent! Begin the Ballad of Battle!”

From somewhere within the horde, music broke out. A fast, upbeat tune that made Myles feel excited, eager. It made his blood flow and his bravery rise, bringing him the courage he needed to get back into the battle.

With the word and song, the assault moved as one, undeterred by the beast as the music played, as more Runner’s screamed, struck, and had their bodies shattered or broken.

Gregor might have been larger, a monster in his own right, but he was nothing compared to the blood lust of those on the battlefield. Fear shone in the boss’s eyes as he realized the turn of the tide, and Gregor tried to sweep back.

It was too late for that though.

The bones in his leg disconnected as he turned, and Gregor fell like a building. Myles cringed as the other two legs bent unnaturally with the impact, leaving him to flounder as daggers, axes, and swords tore at his final good leg.

“Finish him!”

This time, Myles found purchase as his dagger punched into the tough flesh and ripped a bloody hole through the tough hide. Myles didn’t stop there. He felt stronger, tougher, like he could take on the world as blood flowed from the wound, and his dagger dug in deeper, joined by spears and more as they ripped at the creature’s exposed muscles. Again and again, Myles pulled the dagger free of the wound and plunged it back into the gore, trying to fell the beast on his own as they had the advantage.

Then a cry erupted from the first group and silenced the music. With the silence, the spell of the Ballad of Battle broke.

Myles strength was gone in an instant, and he nearly choked at the blood caking his hands as he pulled back, letting the other, fresher weapons and Runners do the work he had started.

He starred at his hands, at the blood, at the weapon, then back to the flailing Gregor. There wasn’t anything more he could do. Had he done enough? Within himself, a voice almost dripping with pride replied to his unasked question.

You did well, Tamer.

Myles didn’t feel like he had, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it as a crunching shattered his concentration. Snippets of broken bone flew through the air as a mace crashed against the exposed bone, spider-webbing cracks along it that only grew deeper along the length of the large limb as the stag’s own weight finished the job for them as it fell back to the ground for a final time.

“Scatter!” the commanding voice directed again.

None argued as they every able body ran from the falling flank of the beast. With a deafening crash, Gergor had fallen for the last time and was swarmed.

“Attack the spine!”

And the Runner’s obeyed.

Every bladed weapon sought purchase between spinal bones, fumbling to strike a killing or crippling blow as the body thrashed.

“I will not be...”

A bolt found his eye with a wet thunk, sinking deeply from a lucky shot and ending his words before they could be formed.

The world shook for a moment, and the deed was done.

The body began to dissolve as the magic holding it was cut from its source. Motes of light danced like drunken fireflies in spite of the carnage, throwing light and beauty on a scene otherwise ghastly in appearance, glinting off of what was left of the viscera. Inch by slow inch, the creature returned to the magic that made it, and once the beast was gone, Inventory windows began to appear all around the plains as if a thousand bags of holding had been opened across the field at once.

Even Myles, who had struck only a few blows, was rewarded in more ways than one.

—

Combat Analyzed - Bonus Awarded for LV 1: Plains Cleared

Boss Treasure Distribution

50 - Silver Coins

1- Gold Coin

15 - Building Vouchers (Comfort Supply)

1 - Trophy: Gregor Defeated

1 - Dagger (Uncommon)

1 - Potion of Undoing (Uncommon)

—

Class Complexity Increased!

[Monster Tamer] Class increased to Neophyte 2!

Passive Skill - Dagger Master learned!

Ashra, Ambush Rabbit Princess has grown to accept you as her master.

Soul Bond complexity has increased from Simple to Tempered.

Your basic stats have increased.

—

It was more than he felt he deserved, but he wasn’t going to argue with the dungeon about it.

You deserve what you got. Be thankful.

It wasn’t comforting to have the voice of a warrior in his head, but he knew she was right. Maybe it was their growing bond or the grim reminder staining his hands and clothing, but he knew that it wasn’t going to get any easier, but hopefully, he’d not be so useless ever again.