In the start, I did not understand, what Eros said.

Then it hit me.

That wasn't a roar from a typical creature. This was a roar from the boss. Or, to be more precise, from a Trollhound.

“Are you sure that you want to fight the Trollhound?”, I asked Eros.

He turned to me, mad grin still on his face.

“The Trollhound is the strongest creature on this floor. I have been aching for a fight where I can go all out, and this is the one. We have to fight this monster”, he said, face full of anticipation. Anticipation for the fight to the death.

“If the Trollhound is so strong, do you really think that we should be trying to fight it. I don't want us to have an even bigger risk of death, just because of your will to fight a strong monster”, I said, trying to speak with a firm voice.

“No, no no. Don't worry. We can easily kill. It will just be a little harder than the other creatures on this floor”, Eros hastily said, desperate trying to make me rethink my opinion.

I could see, how much he really wanted to try out his skills against the Trollhound, and actually began thinking it over in my head.

Will it really be that dangerous? I mean, this is the boss for the first floor! It's, kinda supposed to be, the easiest of all the bosses in the whole dungeon. If somebody can't beat the easiest boss, they can't go onto the next floor safely.

I silently sighed.

I had really hoped for just a quiet stroll through the first floor while killing every creature in sight. But, really, who could have guessed that fighting off giant spiders wasn't enough for Eros? It certainly was for me!

“Fine, we can kill the boss. Let's just try to be careful, when we do it”; I told Eros, looking like I had admitted defeat.

“You're the best friend, a man can hope for”, Eros said, as he slapped my back with enough force to take my breath away from surprise.

I, again, sighed.

I bet, this is gonna take awhile.

And with that, we began the march towards the dungeon boss.

Before we could even try to kill this boss, we first had to find out where the hell it was. We didn't have a map, so that left us with one alternative.

Room-clearing. The bane of us.

Eros just wanted to kill the boss, without the effort of finding it, and I just wanted to be done with this dungeon, and go to an Inn.

Eros actually didn't silently complain about this, much to my surprise. He complained loudly.

“I almost wish we had one of those Necromancers”, Eros said. “There's a story going around that one of them made a very effective room clearing skeleton. You just had to wait a couple of minutes, and, BOOM, the whole floor-layout was in a neat map in front of you. If we see one, then he's going on our team”

“Sure”, I said, only half-listening to anything he said.

This complaining did come to an end quite quickly when we met some obstacles on our search for the boss. Those obstacles were the last pest, that we had not yet killed.

The Lesser Owlbears.

“And, I mean, if he gets some of the gold, why don't I get any?! Its as if he actually hated-”

We both hear a soft rumble, coming from the front. Eros immediately stops talking and puts on his serious face.

“Any idea what it is?”, I ask Eros while going a few steps back.

“Not sure. Could be a stampede of Wolfspider, the Trollhound we´re looking for… or it could be a-”

Eros is again cut short when we hear a roar coming from the front. The moss didn't light this tunnel up very well, but we could hear rumbles, as something charged this way.

“Prepare yourself”, Eros said, voice full of seriousness.

Aye, Aye, Sir!

I cast a strength and speed enhancement on Eros while going over to the side of the cave. If whatever was coming tried to charge through us, I was not gonna be standing in the middle of the cave.

The sounds of the charging beast became louder and louder, every second. I even began to see the outline of the creature.

It was big. Really big.

The creature ran further towards us, and I began to see the beast, in all its glory.

Heh. Almost looks like a be-

And, that's when I realized what the creature was. This bear-like creature with a head like an owl and feathers covering its entire body was, in fact, the vicious owlbear.

Well… shit.

“It's an Owlbear!”, I shout at Eros.

“I've noticed!”, Eros shouted back.

The Owlbear charged at Eros, not slowing down one bit, as it neared him. Not wanting my friend to be in any serious danger, I try to slow it down, a little before it came to a close-up.

I multicast Greater Entangling Vines on it five times, hoping that it would trip over from the sudden resistance. It didn't go exactly to the plan.

Sure, the vines sprang from the cave walls and surrounded the Owlbear, but it just powered through it, not slowing down on a single bit. I think it actually went a little faster after that. The Owlbear comes within fifteen meters of Eros, forcing him to dodge or get trampled.

He majestically jumps into the air, landing on the almost frothing Owlbear´s back.

´What the hell are you doing?!´, I wanted to yell, but no. I would get noticed if I did that.

The Owlbear stopped charging and began trying to throw Eros off its back. It would run around in a circle, jump a little, and even smash its back into a wall. Nothing threw Eros off though. He would just constantly reposition himself while holding on for his dear life.

All the while, I was trying to take it down.

The first spell, I tried, was Fireball. It has feathers, so it should quickly burn up. Right?

Seems not. The fire had an effect for a few seconds, but the other feathers would just automatically cover it, draining the fire for needed air. I thought about multicasting it thirty times at once, making the bear literally covered in flames, but I decided not to. I would need to get Eros off the Owlbear, without it just charging it him again, so it would just be easier to just find another to kill it.

Off to the next idea!

Wind slash? Nope! It doesn't cut through the feathers. How about Greater Earth Strike? Nope! It hit the Owlbear, but it just ignored it, like it didn't even happen.

The same results happened with all the other elemental spells. No effects at all. Maybe it just had a too high resistance too elemental magic? That means I have to attack with something that wasn't elemental in nature. It couldn't be Psionic. I didn't have the Psionic energy for it.

That leaves one thing.

I try to silently sigh but fail horribly.

Why did it have to come to this?

I begin Shapeshifting both of my hand´s fingernails into claws. In no time, they become sharp, black claws. I quickly overlooked them, making sure there were no flaws. When I find none, I smile.

I knew I could do it. Now, onto step two.

I cast the general enhancement spell, on myself. It feels like a thousand bugs crawling over me, but I try to ignore it, while also casting the speed and strength enhancement on myself.

Done. Now, to the hard part.

I look over at the Owlbear. It was trying to get Eros off by repeatedly throwing itself at the wall. It wasn't successful, though.

How hard can it be?

I silently charge out of my hiding spot, against the wall, towards the Owlbear. It doesn't notice me, being too occupied with an annoying pest on its back.

It does see me as I near it, but by then, it's already too late. I slide right under its neck while holding my claws towards the Owlbear.

The claws slide right through the neck, with no resistance whatsoever. It wasn't a clean-cut, of any kind, but it got the job done.

The Owlbear quickly bled to death, being unable to even move its body.

“Well, that was easy”, Eros said, getting away from the Owlbear corpse.

“Sure was. Now, shouldn't we call it a day? We have earned enough money for some time”, I asked Eros. He immediately looked at me like I was mad.

“You promised, and you are gonna stand up to your word. This thing was just the appetizer. I want the main course”, Eros told me firmly.

“Fine, Fine”, I said.

With the obstacle out of the way, we begin clearing the rooms yet again.

We continued our room clearing for another hour or two. We did kill a lot of the normal creatures, but we could never find the Trollhound.

That is until we heard it roar again. This time, it was close. Very close.

Eros began running forward, grinning from ear to ear. He had found the target, and he was locked on.

We quickly come to a stop in one of the rooms. It dark inside, but we can hear the sound of flesh being torn apart. Be it human or monster, I did not want to know.

Eros didn't immediately rush inside, so he must have decided that we had to plan the encounter for this one.

“So, what's the plan?”, I ask Eros. He wanted to do this, so he could plan it himself.

Eros took some time, before answering.

“Before we go inside, you have to enhance me. When we go inside, we need to light the inside of the room up. You will have to use those vines of yours, and fire them up with a fireball. You need to do this as quick as possible, as the Trollhound has Darkvision. I will then have its attention, while you cast spells against it when the opportunity hits. I don't know if it has any special abilities, so that will be the plan for now. You got all that?”, Eros explains in a hushed voice.

I nod.

“Okay, we go in three… two… one!”

With the plan set in stone, we charged in.

Right before Eros entered the room, I used all the enhancement spells. Even the general enhancement. You could see the improvements it gave Eros, as he nearly doubled in speed.

Right after enhancing Eros, I begin lighting up the room. I multicast the normal Entangling Vines fifty times, covering every wall, and the roof, in vines. I then multicast Weaker Fireball thirty times, hitting almost every vine there was.

That should light it up for some time.

Having lighted the room up, just enough to see, I finally spot this boss monster.

The Trollhound stood 4 feet tall at the shoulder, had short but powerful legs, and weighed at least 160 Kilos. The Trollhound’s skin was somewhat scaly, with patches of rough, greenish-black fur. Foul-smelling fluids ooze from weeping sores across the scaly skin, making my stomach turn. It had oversized jaws with a pronounced underbite, and its eyes were a dull, hateful orange.

It was biting chunks of an unrecognizable lump of flesh when I looked at it.

Eros decided that it was the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack, and began charging at it.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, it turned around to see who the intruders were.

When it saw us, its mouth began frothing.

It was mad.

It copied Eros´s charge, ooze flying everywhere. Where the ooze landed, though, a small buzzing sound emerged.

Better not get hit by that.

Eros and the beast collided. Eros swung his battleax towards the Trollhound´s neck while dodging a meter to the side.

It wasn't stupid though.

The Trollhound abruptly jumped up two meters in the air, finally landing behind Eros.

It didn't take a strike at Eros, though. It was smarter than that.

It wanted to take out the crucial piece in this fight.

The mage.

Oh, Shit!

I narrowly dodged the oncoming claw, seeing it coming in the last moment.

Eros was rushing towards us, but I had to defend myself in some time.

The beast readies to lunge at me again, while I begin channeling Wind Slash.

It lounges just as I finish my cast, making the spell only glance the creature's side.

It did distract it, though.

I quickly run towards Eros at breakneck speed, hoping that I had the time for it.

Looking back, I see the speed quickly gaining on me. I cast another Wind Slash at it, but, this time, seeing it coming, it skillfully dodges the attack.

Looking forward again, I see my goal in sight. Eros runs at the beast, nearing it faster than it nears me. He prepares a wide cleave, just as he passes me.

The Trollhound never saw it coming.

It opens its mouth to roar at us, but is unceremoniously silenced by Eros´s battleax getting stuck inside its mouth.

Its lower jaw falls down to the ground with a clunk.

The Trollhound was barely alive, and Eros quickly finishes it off.

“Well… now we're done with that”, Eros said.

“Yes, we are. Ready to get back to the mansion?”, I ask, with a smile. I was gonna enjoy the heck out of that mansion.

“Sure…“, Eros said, his voice turning into an irritated tone.

“What's wrong?”, I ask.

“I had some actual expectations for this fight! I thought it would be-”

I sighed.

It's gonna be a long walk home.