Mickey's spiked ball flew for Mauling Peter's head. Peter took the hit head-on, his head denting as black ooze seeped from his forehead and streaks of black ran from his orifices. The companion at Peter's side, the skeletal dog, lunged at Mickey only for Mickey's extra hand to smack it from the side when it got too close.

Good thing my hand-eye coordination is strong.

Mickey jumped back, pulling on his chain. The ball came back, and Peter stumbled—Peter really was as slow as he looked—all it implied was that being hit by him would be dangerous. The dog eyed Mickey and Mickey spun his chain in response, creating a barrier between he and the beast.

I've got the advantage. Peter's range is maybe 3ft versus my 6ft. So, the dog...

Mickey hopped back a few steps, conscious of the ruin's walls. The dog followed, looking from an angle to strike from. Mickey stopped the spinning and threw the spiked ball at the dog. It jumped in return, dodging the ball as it came from the side, and lunged at Mickey.

Mickey, ready, dodged, and the dog grazed him slightly. As soon it landed, however, Mickey's third hand pushed the dog against one of the walls, pinning its muzzle against the wall.

With the dog pinned and Mickey praying the wall would hold, Mickey whipped the dog with his spiked ball. The angle was awkward, but Handling made it work most times.

The dog rumbled and tried to bark as the ball splintered its bones. Behind Mickey, Peter let out a gurgling roar. Mickey swung his head around—Peter was coming, jogging at Mickey with his bone claws scraping the ground—it was probably his top speed. Mickey quickly took the spiked ball in his grip and started hammering away at the dog's neck, stealing glances at Peter between every hit.

Come on, come on—

Peter was too close—he was going to swing.

Gotta dodge!

Mickey jumped out of the way, throwing himself toward the floor. Peter swung wider than Mickey expected. His claws struck Mickey's abdomen—

Hold on! Block it!

Mickey's quick thinking made it so the claws struck the taut chain Mickey put between him and the claw instead of unguarded flesh. The claws and Peter, however, were strong. Catching Mickey by the abdomen and following through on swing, Mickey was propelled into the air, opposite the way he tried to dodge. Mickey fell onto the top of a wall, landing on his spine before momentum had him bounce and fall onto the ground.

Mickey gasped for air and flung his hand to his back—

"Damage Rejection!" he yelled.

The pain alleviating, Mickey got back onto his feet. Because of Damage Reaction's limited area of influence, he only fixed his spine—something he thought was surely broken—but wasn't able to heal his cuts from the fall.

There was now a wall between Mickey and Peter—he couldn't let Peter be out of his sight for too long. Mickey ran to the wall's side to catch Peter quickly, spiked ball already being spun. But when he crossed the wall, he was surprised by a sight—Peter was caring for his dog, rubbing his face against the dog's own, with his arms awkwardly limp and at his sides. As he rubbed, he seemed to be making strange gurgling sounds that almost sounded like an owner soothing his dog.

Seeing the pathetic display gave Mickey pause, but only for a second. Mickey ran behind Peter and wrapped the chain around Peter's neck, taking the ball in hand with enough length of chain to be able to spin it and bash it against Peter's skull.

Peter noticed and flailed. Mickey responded with forceful bashes on the zombie's skull, each bash sped up by quick rotations. Ooze sprayed out from the point of contact. Peter roared and swung his arms around. Mickey brought his body close to Peter's. The zombie's claws were too cumbersome—he couldn't hit Mickey at his current angle, and Peter was too close to the walls to actually be able to lift his claws in the right way to strike the dastardly Mickey right behind him. The dog, the zombie's best friend, tried to lunge at Mickey from over Peter's shoulder—a quick slap from the extra hand smacked the dog against Peter's head. Seizing the opportunity on the dazed duo, the extra hand grabbed the dog's head and bashed it against Peter's head as Peter screamed.

"Come on, man! Just die! How much ooze you've got in there?!" Mickey yelled as the black liquid sprayed his face with every crash of the spiked ball.

Finally, the dog's skull snapped off of its body, and Mickey quickly rammed it into the wall, splintering it further. With a sharp edge in hand, Mickey's third hand ran the bone into Peter's face, jabbing at his eye sockets with his friend's broken-sharp skull.

Peter roared his most pathetic roar—almost a cry—streams of black running down his face and nose. Mickey tightened the chain around Peter's neck as the third hand worked—maybe he could pop the stubborn head off. Peter, in turn, swung wildly at the wall with his claws. Mickey could see the walls shake—Peter was trying to bring down the walls so that he could swing at Mickey properly.

"Damn it, man! Just go down!"

Mickey changed approaches, recalling what he did with the spider. With the dog's broken skull in the extra hand, he jammed it into Peter's eternally open and loud mouth. The bone pierced through to the other side, almost stabbing Mickey. But from there, the third hand went wild, attacking Peter from the inside.

Peter's inner cavity was turned to mush, and only after did he stop moving. The only sounds that came from him were the gurgles of the ooze leaving his body.

Mickey released Peter to fall over the remains of his dog and threw the broken skull in his hand onto Peter's body.

"And we're done. Whew. That was scary for a second."

With Mickey's permission, Peter and the dog began to disintegrate, but right before they did, Mickey noticed a purple glow from Peter's chest. Curious, he reached for it, but just like the rest of the body, it disintegrated into black dust.

"Huh. That might be something to keep in mind," Mickey said as he followed the dust's trail into the sky.

His gaze went back to the floor. At his feet were some familiar gems and a ring. Mickey tapped all three of the items like usual.

***

Received:

Peter's Ring

[Necrotic] Skill Bit

3 EXC

10EXP

50EX-EXP

***

"Sweet. So just like the guide said, named monsters are bosses. And now I'm at 7EXC, and I've got some other stuff… I can't tell what the stats on Peter's Ring are, though… So I'll have to appraise that most likely… Hope it's not cursed...And what else can I confirm—oh, right, on the first fight, bosses give 10EXP. Yup. Got that. Great!"

Mickey, satisfied, stretched as he let out a breath of relief. He had a happy face on, but his face was still covered in ooze, and his clothes, stained by it. He wasn't bothered, however. He, with a pip in his step, walked over to the treasure chest Peter was guarding and opened it.

***

Received:

[HP]Skill Bit

1EXC

20EX-EXP

***

"That's a bit underwhelming, but the Skill Bit will be cool later! And I got my Excia!" Mickey stopped himself and looked around. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "It's kind of hard to distinguish between my inner voice and outer voice in here…"

Mickey chuckled to himself and left the ruins after a quick scan of the area. Sundown was imminent, and Mickey remembered the promise he had made.

***

Now Loading- Inter-Chapter Action

Mickey fought 64 Enhanced Laughing Bones

Mickey collected 28 vials of Bone Dust and 6 Funny Bones

Mickey Leveled-Up Twice! Mickey is Level 4!

Beastiary

Mauling Peter, Level 3 Named Damned

L1: A zombie with bone growths shaped like claws. Very slow but very strong.