The boss standing before him was clearly a shabernacky, but it’s physical body had undergone extreme mutations. First and foremost, was it’s startling increase in size! What should have been an especially annoying house cat, had grown to the size of a rhino. Purple eyes now glowed an eerie light, and it’s three tails crackled with electricity. The black fur coating it’s body had a metallic sheen to it that reflected the moonlight. The boss paced back and forth in front of John, yet it’s footsteps made no noise despite its massive size. Hauntingly quiet.

John’s hands twitched. His shadow bubbled and the five tendrils emerged, pointing at the boss. Each tendril ended in a sharpened blade that could slice cleanly through stone.. His eyes met the Shabernacky’s and his battle spirit that had been accumulated over the entire time in the dungeon grew from a spark to raging flame. The pressure emitted by the boss was lessened as his fighting spirit fueled his own aura and pushed back. His venomous blood lust surged while the two sized each other up.

Under the dimly lit moonlight, without eyes haven been enhanced through spirit energy, one would only catch glimpses of blows lit by the crackling electricity that amplified the Shabernacky’s attacks. The beast lunged at John with its claws drawn and sheathed in it’s magic. It’s course was altered by one of the tendrils that knocked it to the side when it was in the air mid leap. The boss snarled in agitation. How dare this hairless monkey challenge it? The shade of it’s eyes changed hue and became a bright neon blue. The conductive fur crackled with electricity as more spiritual energy was converted into magic and he released it into the environment. It was an emperor in this dungeon, how could this lowly sub-boss ever hope to usurp it’s throne?

The very atmosphere vibrated in excitement as the boss prepared it’s mighty attack. Acting on pure instinct, John used the shadow tendrils to lift and hurl his body out of the way just as the boss unleashed it’s magic. Raining down from the heavens, an arc of electricity struck down with impossible might! Even though he avoided the lightning strike, the thunderous boom caused John’s ears to bleed. Where the bolt hit was now smoldering, charred ground.

Getting to his feet John went into a panic as he lost sight of the beast who was somehow able to hide itself from all other senses if it desired. Even his aura field was useless when searching for the stealthy feline. He desperately scanned the battlefield when suddenly the Shabenacky landed a devastating blow to his left shoulder. What little control John had over himself was lost when the indescribable pain of electricity ran havoc in his body. The boss had left severely deep claw marks in his arm and the electric sheathed claws released immense energy into him. Luckily, the electricity had cauterized the wounds and only left behind charred flesh that was preferable to bleeding out.

Whatever was left holding John’s mind together and separated him from a mere animal was gone. He gnarled his teeth and growled at his foe. His shadow tendrils shook with fury and grew impossibly sharp when John flooded them with as much magic power as they could hold. Lashing out with surprising speed, two of the five tendrils successfully landed slashed deep wounds into the Shabernacky’s front legs. When the shadows cut into flesh, the ferocious spirit beast hissed in frustration. It’s stealthy movements would be hindered as it now limped when placing weight on it’s front paws.

Regardless, the Shabernacky had immense reserves of spirit energy to convert into magic and certainly wasn’t stingy with it. Blue eyes narrowed and it’s body crackled with electricity as spirit energy was converted into magic power. Once again, the air buzzed but John knew what to expect. He might have been little more than a rabid beast now, but his entire being was focused on one thing. Battle! He poured nearly all of his magic reserves into three of the tendrils and focused on increasing their size along with their density. The tangible shadows acted as cover for the spirit-man as he braced for the imminent attack. The air quivered just before lightning struck down from above! Both the boss and John were in a stalemate. The Shabenacky relentlessly poured magicinto the attack to maintain the lightning strike while John nearly emptied his entire reserves in an effort to reinforce his impromptu shield.

While his magic power was nearing depletion, his hunger for victory was nowhere near stifled. The boss continuously called down the wrath of the heavens upon John, certain this would be the conclusion of the hard fought battle! Three shadow tendrils blocked the unyielding magic bolt of lightning that descended from the sky. John held steady, locking his eyes onto the target before him. While casting this powerful attack, the feline was immobilized and had to maintain its focus to keep the strike active. John’s expression turned into a warped smile when he sent out the remaining two tendrils at the beast in a lightning fast attack!

The lightning abruptly ceased and a pained roar resounded for miles. The two tendrils struck directly into the eyes sockets of the Shabernacky and were currently burrowing themselves deeper inside. The boss howled in panic as it’s eyesight was stolen by the accursed challenger and his malicious shadows! John’s shoulders convulsed as he let out a fit of gleeful laughter as he diverted the magic in the three shadow shields away and redirected it to the two piercing shadow tendrils. Although the boss was extremely heavy, John had lodged his tendrils into the eye sockets and was now using it to lift the beast off of the ground.

The Shabernacky frantically shot out bolts of lightning but not a single one struck true. It used all of it’s magic power to call down powerful bursts of lightning but not a single attack landed. Having depleted itself of all it’s magic power, it let out a tortured whimper. Held up in the air it looked pathetic and John cherished what was now certain victory. Using another shadow blade he slashed open the feline's belly and it’s intestine fell out. He chuckled and began to slam Shabernacky's body repeatedly into the ground! The previously mighty boss of the dungeon, a weak spirit beast that should have been cannon fodder but managed to rise to the apex, was crumpled into a lump before John. Nearly every bone in its body was broken and it gushed blood into a pool on the battlefield below it. It was a testament to its resilience that it lasted so long under the crushing impact of its body hitting the ground repeatedly but now it let out a final dying breath.

The destroyed body of the dungeon's boss transformed into a blindingly bright blue light. The energy in its body was so potent that even Arther, who was observing close by, squinted his eyes despite his rank. John basked in glory when the energy filled his body and in that moment he felt whole. Soon after, he approached the tear in reality, which functioned as the dungeon's core, and reached for it. When his hand met with the tear he felt the magic emanating from it divert into his body. He wasn’t sure what changed about his own magic but had a vague awareness that his shadow manipulation underwent a qualitative change.

John took in a sharp breath and his eyes grew wide. Just then, his mind driven mad by the influence of the dungeon calmed. His hand reached into the crack of reality and he felt another hand grasp his own! The soft hand gripping his radiated divine power that restored him from insanity. His surroundings melted away and the woman's captivating voice washed over him and his body froze as all his attention was placed onto her words.