This FF depicts scenes of violence and some cursing .

'' speech ''

[ thoughts ]

* sounds *

* * *

Once Curunir entered the last chamber he saw the last scorpion he had to kill to finish his quest. It was a huge glowing scorpion, much bigger than any scorpion he had ever fought and the glowing effect was strong enough to light up the dark chamber.

It was the first time in a while that Curunir could see perfectly well. There were huge boulders all around the room, which Curunir took immediately advantage of and hid before the boss could take notice of him. After he was sure he was well hidden he poped up his head a little and muttered his observing skill.

'' Observe ''

Info WindowNameGlowing KingLevel120Health22700/22700Mana2000/2000

[What the hell! How am I supposed to kill that thing?]

Just by watching the boss Curunir knew he couldn't beat it in a '' fair battle ''. He racked his braind to find a way to beat his next enemy but nothing was coming to mind.

[Even with Cry Strike I wouldn't be able to damage his carcass, at least not before my weapon's durability reaches zero.]

Should he give up on the boss? Do a suicide attack and come next time prepared with new buffs and equipment? That would be a waste for him though since by seriously try to beat his opponent he could get valuable information, like what pattern of attack the boss uses or if he uses any kind of special skills.

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Curunir's POV

I rack my brain to find a solution. This boss is not something I can face head on in a battle and come out of it in one piece. actually that monster could turn me to million pieces and don't brake a sweat. Wait.... do scorpions even sweat in the first place? I opened my bag and searched for something that could give me even the slightest hope, a little light at the end of the tunnel. Well there is still plenty of food left, not that it can help me in any way. My crafting tools are useless too. At some point at some point I thought of using the sculpting tools to dig and make some kind of trap, like a pit with spikes or something. That would be impossible and useless though. This thing is enormous and spikes can't bypass his exoskeleton defence so... yeah useless.

As for the impossible part... after some research I found out that scorpions can't hear sounds. They feel the vibrations around them. After some more extended research I learned that scorpion monsters in RR have the echolocation skill. The skill would activate once any kind of vibration accured inside it's area of effect. I am sure the boss has a high echolocation skill so I try to hide in a far enough place and don't get noticed.

Moving on... There is only one thing inside my tool box. Six little jars with different paint colors. I am watching the little jars and at the same the same time wonder why Caleb would even put them insede. Out of nowhere something like and electric current passes through my body. No my dear readers ( the few who still remain ) I didn't attacked, it was just a jolt of excitement that came along with a ( maybe ) really good idea.

* * *

I was finally ready to begin my epic fight. Everything was set and I was really excited. There was only one chance for my trick to work and that was because after the boss comes near me and I enter its echolocation radius, it would be impossible to use petty tricks and distractions. I stand out of my hiding spot ( barely ) and throw a rock at the direction of the boss. Before the rock even touched the ground I was already back to my hiding place. The rock hits the ground and like a flash the scorpion has already turned around facing the direction the rock came from.

* SCREEEEECH *

The boss dashed with a speed that didn't fit its enormous heavy body and only 5 seconds later I see the boss pass my hiding place from the right side and only 2 seconds later it.... crashed on the wall with all its force. I quickly move at the other side of the boulder and hide again, out of the boss's sight.

The 2 second stun effect which the boss got from the crash ended and it started moving again. It screeched even louder than before, showing how pissed it had become by the unatural event. The rock I had thrown somewhere at the left side of where the boss stood hit the ground and got its attention. Another loud screech and another mad dash only for the whole thing to come in the same conclusion. The boss crashed on the left wall with all it's might.

The plan had worked well till now and it was time for the last part to start as the rock I threw somewhere at the back of the scorpion hit the ground making the boss do a 180*. This time it ran even faster and collided with the right wall. The cavern shacked like crazy and loud rumble started. Now it was me that is dashing like a mad person to the other side of the cavern as the falling ceiling barely misses me. The stunned boss doesn't have the same luck as me and it gets itself trapped.

After the dust clears I head where the trapped boss is. The plan worked perfectly. Actually it had worked even better than he had planned. I make a note in my head to use such tactics again in the future as long as I am fighting alone or with someone I completely trust. It would be a waste to share such information with others.

:FLASHBACK:

I got the jars and the paint brush from my tool box. Painting and coloring were still at level 1 so I needed to do slow and carefull work. I slowly moved near the walls and started painting. What I painted on the walls was a humanoid figure with a sword in his right hand. The face was dark, hidden under a hood and the only thing you could see was two big red eyes. He painted the center wall, the wall that the scorpion would crash on in the beginning, last. His skills raised their levels by one and he could do more detailed work. After the first collition the boss would get a little dizzy and probably would't notice that the humanoid figures were fake so he didn't mind them not being decent.

Additionally the boss wasn't a monster with high intelligence as no monster under level 200 showed any remarkable tactics, unless of course it was a special type of monster with leadership stat like the smaller scorpions on the 4th floor. Then again their tactics wasn't anything serious, just more cordinated attacks and because of the ''morale'' their leader gave, they had higher resistance to mental attacks.

I collect 3 rocks and hide again behind a big boulder near the painting on the center wall. I close my eyes and focus. Succeding on the execution of the plan didn't mean certain win. On the other hand, failing the execution of the plan meant certain death.

:BACK TO THE PRESENT:

My plan really worked better than I could even imagine. A big part of the ceiling was at the top of the boss making it unable to move from its place. Its carcass was still undamaged but I don't have to worry about it. Even if the carcass is undamaged, the section between it's upper and lower carcass had a gap. A gap big enough for me to thrust my sword and do some serious damage.I am not losing any time and while I run forward trying maximize the force of my blow, I use my newly awesome skill.

'' Cry Strike ''

My blow lands perfectly and I can feel my sword going deep inside the boss's tender meat. The boss however didn't react at all though and it got me worried. Only to get a relieved face a second later when a window appeared stating I did bonus damage because my opponent was in a stunned state. Not wanting to waste this opportunity I use my skill another two times at the same spot doing enormous damage.

The life of the boss had dropped to 70% after the ceiling colapsed on it and with my three well done strikes I reduced it by another 16% dropping it at 54% life. Once again I use my skill but this time the damaged body couldn't resist my attack at all making my whole arm enter the body and making my attack reach even a deeper. I moved my sword horizontaly trying to do even more damage and hopefully accure a huge bleeding effect on the boss.

The most scary thing about bosses is their enormous health regeneration and that's why when groups of people fight against bosses, instead of using some super duper strong skill which the boss probably avoid or even worse counter, they try to maim the boss by hitting arms and legs. That way movement and dexterity of hands drop and it's easier to hit the boss. When they finally maim one of it's limbs the bleed effect counters the health regeneration and the boss dies faster.

The last attack reduced another 8% of the scorpion's life and by slicing with the sword deep inside the scorpion's wound it dropped another 4%. The life of the boss reached 42% and because of slicing deep inside it the bleed debuff finally took effect. It's quite strange really, you have to do so much damage just for the bleeding to take effect. I guess this is included to the 1% realism this games lacks?

I take my sword out of the boss's insides and check up on it. Only 10 durability remained and many cracks are visible on the blade. I repair it with my transmutation skill. Really convinient thing to be able to repair your gear during battle just with some loss of mana. Instead of repair it's more like magic restoration. After all I can repair anything, even magic items which only master or grandmaster blacksmiths can repair normaly. I could make some serious money just from this, not including that I can also use other skills to improve the quality of items. That is the thought for another time though.

To be honest, the whole thing feels quite anticlimactic. This is a really strong boss class monster at the end of a really difficult dungeon. No normal person can solo this dungeon, forget about doing it in the amount of time I did it. There was supposed to be some grand battle of fast speed attacks and execution of flashy skills and in the end only the victor would remain in triumph gazing at the lifeless corpse of his dead enemy.

I dismissed such thoughts and moved from the side part of the scorpions body to the front. There I start picking up some rocks from the part its head is supposed to be. Upon seeing me the scorpion unleashed its fighting spirit. Nothing I couldn't handle really but I got to admit it took me by surprise. It seems my image made it resist the stun effect and come out of it sooner.

It tried to free itself but the huge loss of life and the bleed effect had made it weaker. Even after it knew it couldn't free itself, it didn't stop trying, a good demonstration of fighting spirit, focus and ...willpower? No more accurate to say survival instict. I wonder, will I ever show such tenacity if I ever find myself in its place? Will I be able to ignore the pain and move forward? And even if I do, will I be able to succeed? Survive? What would be my thoughts at the time I watch at the face of my enemy looking at me from above? Spare me? Finish me? Give me another chance? what would be my feelings at such a time? Regret? Rage? Sadness? Weakness? Forgiv......... Fuck forgiveness!

No matter how hard I think the answer doesn't come. I don't know the answer. There is one thing I know though. Being at the scorpion's place sucks. A place where all your power is meaningless, a place where what you are is not enough. I don't want to be in such a place..... Ever.

'' I need to get stronger ''

My words are full of conviction. I know where I stand now. I stand at the bottom of an endless pit. I won against the boss, I succeeded my quest but in the end, I lost against myself.

'' Never again ''

I raise my sword and move forward. Once I reach the scorpion's face use my skill on its eyes destroying them and reducing its life even further. I continue to use my skill several times untill my mana reaches rock bottom and then, I start using normal attacks, thrusting my weapon even deeper than before, trying to reach and damage its brain and put it out of its misery. Soon enough the boss stops struggling and its life reaches zero.

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Chapter 10Chapter 12