Vol. 14 - Ch. 766 - A Chance Encounter with Area Boss - Fight? No, Skip!

"That was terrifying."

Karua remarked with slight perplexion. 

That, it was. Well, only for the first time until you learn it was just a part of the tree shaped into the head. But, since this was their first advanced-dungeon monster battle, I decided to keep my silence and let them figure some of the stuff by themselves.

"There are quite a few peculiar categories of monsters here. Some power up by equipping an equipment, while others power up by cutting something off, or purging something. Though  «Tree-ger» doesn't have any such gimmick."

"Then why in the world does it shoot its head?!"

Lana retorted. A fine rebuttal, if you ask me.

"It must be to rattle the target. I can't think of any other reason."

Indeed, this could be the only one, otherwise it'd be just some incredibly bizarre gimmick.

"Anyway, this dungeon is crawling with tree-type monsters, so be careful to not fall prey to their tricks. There are even some who mimic trees, and will attack you the instant you approach any closer."

I decided to warn them beforehand.

"Let's continue our journey then. The longer we stay in one spot, the easier it will be to become a target."

"You bet. So, Karua, if you may."

"Hn. «Meow-nar»! «Summon Agent Cat»!"

Staying idle in a spot might not get you into trouble in some games, but that was a risque move in the «Dungeon Activity». In the game, you could just pop up the menu screen when you'd wanted to take a break, but we couldn't do that here. Reality was tough, wasn't it? 

We raised our vigilance, and promptly got on the move.

Most of the heavy lifting was done by Karua. Though the others also perked their ears to look for any possible encounter, easing some of Karua's stress.

I fetched a sports drink bottle on one hand, and a towel  on the other while calling out to Karua.

"Karua, do you want a drink? Are you sweating? Do you want me to wipe it?"

"Stop right there, Zephyr. I will take care of the sweat. Give me those items."

"Then I will help with sports drinks!"

"Huuh?"

But before I could do anything, Sierra and Lana grabbed the towel and bottle from my hand respectively. They approached Karua, and Sierra wiped the sweat while Lana carried the bottle as Karua sipped from straw. ......Something that I was supposed to do.

"Zephyr-dono, these sorts of things are better off done by the same gender."

"I understand the towel, but the drink?"

"Because eating is more effort than drinking while keeping vigilance."

...I don't know what to say. Even Ester reproached me. Wasn't this strange? I didn't think it's anything that serious. It's just helping a girl with a sports drink, no?"

"Nfufu. It's heaven."

"Keep up the good work, Karua! We're all counting on you!"

"Mfu. I will. Right?"

" " "Meow~!" " "

Karua was brimming with energy, and so were the black cats hanging around her feet. ...Well, I do or them, either was fine, I guess? Lana and Sierra could do that. 

"Mm~... Hn? Front, 1'o clock, something big... It's only one, but strong. Yeah, definitely strong. Warning!"

"Ah, it must be that. Hmm, I wasn't really thinking of challenging it today."

"Hey, Zephyr. What do you mean by "that"? Just tell me what it is."

As I was stuck pondering to myself, nodding, Lana objected with a peevish expression.

Uh-huh. Right, I need to explain it.

"I've already told you how monsters here have free-range movement, and how big each floor here is. There's one more thing—every floor has one particular monster far stronger than any other, called «Area Boss»."

They'd started appearing in advanced dungeons. I could feel everyone's attention turning to my explanation.

"You know how everyone’s first encounter with a BOSS happens when they reach the end of beginner dungeons. Then you make progress, and learn about the rare bosses, and afterward, the intermediate dungeon also introduced another type of bosses, the field boss that appeared every 10 floors, also of two rarity; «Guardians» and «Wanderers». Here in the advanced dungeon, you've debut of another boss category—«Area Boss». They, too, are also of two types."

The two sorts of area bosses in the advanced dungeon were called «Floor Boss», and «Irregular Boss». And moving further, the ultimate dungeon would introduce another set of bosses, called «Raid Boss», classified into «Titans», and «Legion».

"This sounds familiar. I think area bosses are the top in hierarchy of gien floor, but how are they different from the «Wanderer» type?"

"Great question, Sierra. You can think of them as sub-species of «Wanderers». Unlike «Wanderers», the area bosses can't traverse across the floors. You never know where they may appear on the floor, and sometimes, you don't even encounter them."

But, the good thing about them was they also dropped treasure chests much like field bosses, making them a lucrative target once you'd accustomed to the flow of advanced dungeons.

"Are they strong?"

"They've title of boss, that should tell you. They're comparable to an intermediate-high dungeon's rare boss. And they're not strictly solo fights either. If any monsters happen to pass by, they may also jump in the fray. It can easily crank up the difficulty, making it more difficult than any rare boss you've fought."

"That sounds so much. Isn't it unfair?"

"Zephyr, you know well."

"How do you know all that much, Zephyr?"

"Because I am Brave!"

"Haa..."

Sierra sighed at my response as she inquired, hurling her side stare at me.

Ahem, anyway. Now was not the time to joke around!

"There are enough strategies to counter them, like coming alongside other parties, so that they will keep other monsters from approaching while you fight the area boss. There's also monster-repelling items to scatter around that lowers the encounter probability."

"Do you have those monster-repelling items with you, Zephyr?!"

"Ah, no, I didn't bring them with myself. They're to avoid fighting with mobs after all, and I never planned for us to fight the area boss. I just didn't expect to run into one with such a low probability."

Honestly, if possible, I'd really love to fight it since they dropped advanced-grade rewards despite being only as strong as an intermediate-high dungeon's rare boss. 

It’s just that it was really hard to encounter them. Plus, if you keep thinking about them, the yokai that sense greed might latch on to you, further dropping your encounter probability! 

Well, there was Rina's «Monster Watch» or «Area Boss Search», a skill Kairi could acquire from her advanced job, to counter them.

"We're skipping it for today. I will prepare them next time."

"Alright. I will wait for it then, Zephyr!"

"You bet. Well, then again, there's no guarantee we're bound to encounter it with these hopes."

"Hey! You didn't have to curse it already!"

Only those who had faced it truly knew the terror of greed sensor Yokai after all. 

Anyway, we then took a detour to avoid the area boss, kept our battles locked to the regular monsters, gathered materials, and other resources before we reached our objective, the sharp cliff.

The journey had already taken a faint toll on everyone since this was our brand new adventure, but we somehow made it.

"We're here. Let's climb it."

"...Huuh?"

T/N - Missed Wednesday's update. Will update it tomorrow.