Perched on a foot of the abominable mechanical monster, one of the Gnomes exulted. If its language was not comprehensible, its thoughts clearly indicated what could also be guessed:
“Tremble before the omnipotence of Gnome engineering!”
Leaping to the ground, it bounced with the help of strange springs. In several increasingly smaller jumps, it found himself at ground level. Like its eleven other companions, it then made tools and DIY equipment appear out of nowhere, each assembling a few mysterious weapons.
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Gnome Engineer, level 5 [Rank F]
Hit points (HP): 135/135
Energy Points (EP): 64/70
Vigor: 35/35
<u>Abilities:</u>
Strength: 3
Agility: 4
Stamina: 7
Intelligence: 14
Mana: 1
Armor (natural): 0
<u>Description</u>: Enduring and particularly clever, Gnomes don’t seem very dangerous before you encounter their dangerous inventions…
<u>Attributes </u><u>(0)</u>:
<u>Skills</u><u> (5):</u>
Imaginary Sounds [F] (Magical Power) Allows everyone to hear sounds that do not exist and seem to originate from a specific point. Costs 1 Energy per second.
Detection (F): (Supernatural Power) Increases the probability of detecting traps, invisible things and points of interest.
Identification (F) (Supernatural Power) Allows you to discover the properties of a target, including the uses that can be made of it. [Identification can allow you to discover part of the history of the identified target.]
Trap Construction (F) (Natural Power) Allows you to build simple traps from a small amount of material.
Dodge [F] (Natural Power) [Get a 5% chance of avoiding a targeted attack. The higher the enemy''s Agility is compared to yours, the more the percentage will decrease.]
<u>Class Skills</u><u> (3):</u>
Gadget (F) (Natural Power) Allows you to quickly design small, useful but weakly durable equipment using a minimum of materials. The characteristics of the equipment will be more interesting with a high Intelligence.
Repair (F) (Supernatural Power) Allows you to restore resistance points to equipment or a machine using a minimum of materials.
Summon Tools (F) (Magical Power) Allows you to make tools and a minimum of materials appear out of nowhere for immediate use. Costs 5 Energy points per minute. The materials used will not disappear if the power is ended. [Nature of summons differs depending on the class]
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“What’s that?” Xicackna asked through the Hive Mind. “How come a D-level monster is in this F-level dungeon? What’s that!”
“It’s… it’s an optional boss, which means we don’t have to fight it to finish the dungeon… This type of monster can exceed the level of its dungeon…”
He suddenly steeled himself and gave his orders out loud:
“It’s not its size that should impress us! Apart from life, its characteristics aren’t that high! Half of you, eliminate the minions! The others and Xicackna, with me on the monster! Follow the placement instructions!”
Immediately, everyone’s ideal path appeared in windows, a side effect of the skill “Stratagem”. With her heart pounding, Xicackna followed Kol-Gaar into battle against the giant automaton.
As the Zcarbbs rushed forward, the steel giant began to move. It was extremely slow, but the distance it could cover in one step made up for this disadvantage. Before its enemies could reach the engineers, it was already blocking their path. A strange music filled the air, with unknown lyrics in gnomic.
The “Garden Gnome” struck the ground with its colossal fist. Although they tried to dodge it, two soldiers found themselves caught in the crushed area. They both escaped, one having lost 34 Hit Points, but the other having suffered a critical hit that made it lose 205 Points. In exchange, the monster suffered the acidic riposte of the twelve Zcarbbs inflicting 128 points of damage.
Against a monster as armored as them, it was better to use acid, which bypassed this protection. Unfortunately, this attack would not be reusable immediately. As the giant struck again, they defended themselves as best they could with their weapons, harassing it from all sides and collectively inflicting 45 points of damage.
“I can’t even scratch it!” complained Xicackna.
“Then try to reach the Gnomes! I didn’t do anything to it this time either, but at this rate, the vic…”
Suddenly straightening up, the artificial monster had just stretched out its hands in front of it and three rays of light shot out. One of the trios was dodged by its target but another soldier was hit, losing 19 Hit Points. Even capable of passing through its armor, the impressive ability had had however little effect.
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“Yes, victory is within reach!”
If the following attacks barely scratched the paint of the "Garden Gnome", the acid would soon be ready for a new devastating attack. Aiming at the damaged parts...
A gnomic cry burst out over the music, different from the one shouted during the previous attack. Suddenly, the mechanical monster''s hat lit up: lightning crackled around it. The monster leaned over and the hat tilted towards a target. Immediately, the lightning left the apparent headgear to dive on the soldier in the worst shape. It was immediately grilled and collapsed lifeless.
Xicackna, meanwhile, was successfully facing one of the Gnomes, when the others came to it support, bombarding her with small piercing projectiles. It was painful, seeming to pierce her chitin like nothing. Several of their devices fell to pieces in their hands and they struggled to repair it quickly. One of them was carrying a disturbing object from which flames were escaping…
The princess immediately retreated towards one of the guards, using her sprint, her sixth sense screaming at her to avoid this confrontation.
Seeing the Gnomes becoming a threat again, Kol-Gaar ordered his soldiers to first spit on the giant and then for half of them to go and eliminate these nuisances.
The giant struck again with its fist then, under the rain of blows from the insects surrounding it, pointed its hat at its next target. The warrior trembled under the lightning strike and smoked afterwards, but it came out alive. The fierce fight continued, the giant sometimes striking with its fists, always hitting at least a few warriors because of its size, or using its fingers with piercing rays. Some soldiers had clung to the monster and were holding on tight, trying to strike repeatedly in the seemingly more fragile parts of its metal skin.
The monster struck another soldier with lightning, who, barely surviving, moved away from the fight on Kol-Gaar''s orders. Then, the metal giant straightened up, pointing its fists forward and powerfully projecting a new word in Gnomish.
Immediately, the two fists detached themselves from the monster, flying into the air at lightning speed, as if projected by a trail of fire that allowed them to change direction. One of them headed towards Kol-Gaar and the other towards one of the soldiers in good condition who was massacring the Gnomes. The attack was so fast that neither one could dodge.
They both got up from this final attack with their shells dented and a hundred Hit Points less. If, in a duel confrontation, this attack would have definitely turned the tide of the fight in favor of the enemy, the adventurers continued to have the advantage of numbers here and all turned in the direction of the giant to rain down acid while the destructive rays rained down around them without, this time, hitting a target.
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GARDEN GNOME (D), Optional Boss, Level 21 Mechanics
Hit points (HP): 448/1000
Energy Points (EP): 25/100
Vigor: -/-
Fury: 3/15
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The monster''s steel was impressively hard to have resisted the acid so well, but it wouldn''t last forever... Aiming at the soldier far from the fight, the monster seemed to want to prove the opposite by knocking it down, then projected its rays against Kol-Gaar, seeming more and more to focus on the leader of the group.
Bursting out laughing, the prince rushed to the attack with a reinvigorated will: the wound had been slight and he had already calculated a victorious outcome.
The fight continued, fierce, the night illuminated by lightning and the rays of the giant who little by little succumbed to the ant-like assaults of the Zcarbbs... Well, especially during the phases where they spat their acid, but it was a fight well on the way to victory...
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GARDEN GNOME (D), Optional Boss, Level 21 Mechanics
Hit points (HP): 117/1000
Energy Points (EP): 2/100
Vigor: -/-
Fury: 15/15
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The giant lifted its fist from the ground, sticky with the greenish blood of a crushed Zcarbb. Inside the soulless monster, Xicackna had finally detected a spark of life, a pilot who animated this monstrous automaton. Her " Thought Observation" skill was still unable to perceive the thoughts of her targets enough to detect their environment through their senses, but she guessed that it must be observing dials or windows of the System and that it was panicking.
「クリティカルエネルギー！燃料切れ間近！」
「コアオーバーロード！余分なフューリーを排出！」<sup>[1]</sup></a>
The pilot’s thoughts were incomprehensible, cluttered with unfamiliar technical jargon. It seemed to have forgotten to equip its machine with a system necessary for prolonged fight, or something like that. Nevertheless, one thing was certain: it was finished.
“Spit!” Kol-Gaar ordered through the Hive Mind.
But its steel finally melting everywhere, the automaton was still functional. Its enormous hand advanced towards Kol-Gaar…
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GARDEN GNOME (D), Optional Boss, Level 21 Mechanics
Hit points (HP): 56/1000
Energy Points (EP): 1/100
Vigor: -/-
Fury: 16!/15
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Suddenly, the internal mechanism of the "Garden Gnome" exploded and the monster split in two, throwing the mechanical head and the pieces of the pilot it contained far into the air. The giant''s components melted, leaving a gigantic void inside its half body...
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Optional BOSS: GARDEN GNOME (D), Level 21 defeated:
Combat XP: 63
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Shared between the ten survivors[2]</a>, the XP from this hard fight was not very numerous. However, they were enough for Kol-Gaar and one of the soldiers (perhaps the one who received the XP for completion) to move up a level. A slight light surrounded them for a second, repairing their injuries and regenerating their points.
The prince, a satisfied smile on his lips, immediately attributed his point gained to one of his characteristics and began to think about the new skill he was going to acquire from the choice offered to him.
Suddenly, a loud noise was heard. On the side of the infinite cliff, it was suddenly torn apart by a large luminous opening. A colossus emerged from it, making the ground tremble with its incredible mass. Each step brought it closer and made it seem bigger.
At full speed, the Zcarbbs abandoned the remains of the automaton to hide among the giant grass.
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COLOSSUS (S), ??, Level ???
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Xicackna''s gaze fell on Kol-Gaar with such insistence and terror that, without telepathy or use of the Hive Mind, he understood her question.
“No, it''s not another optional boss: there are still limits in the System. It must be a natural danger: an element of the landscape that is best avoided...”
This did not reassure the princess who hid, trembling, invisible, against the prince''s side. The latter, also terrified, ordered the formation of a defensive wall around them by the soldiers. He knew that it would be useless if the immense thing attacked them...
The colossus let out a howl like thunder then lowered itself, its gigantic hands lifting the carcass of the destroyed Sub-boss. It let out new roars that made the earth shake and the wind blow.
Despite her terror, the princess perceived fragments of thoughts emanating from this nightmarish being:
“Damn it! My garden gnome! They broke my garden gnome! Dirty thugs! Really, what country do we live in that kids behave like this at night? I''ll slap those [Expression of insult] if I find them...”
<hr>
[1]</a> "Critical Energy! Fuel Out Near!"
"Core Overload! Evacuate Excess Fury!"
[2]</a> Information: Dead people do not gain XP…