Ultimate Level 1

Chapter 172: Trimming the Flowers

Chapter 172: Trimming the Flowers

“So we’re not going to fight this then?” Cordellia asked a slight hint of relief in her voice.

“Of course, we’re going to fight it,” Fowl replied with a chuckle. “Why would we pass up on a rare spawn?”

Max and Tanila ignored Batrire’s groan, taking in the sight before them.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Tanila asked quietly.

Max shrugged and pointed around the clearing. “It’s different than the others, but what really bothers me is the archway on the opposite side. This clearing is wider, all grass, and has a massive set of walls. We could try to go around it, but the trees and plants are thicker, and from what I can see, it might be harder to make it through the garden area. I’m not certain what other traps might be in the wild section.”

“Worse than that poison fruit?”

Smiling at their caster, Max nodded. “I’m not sure anyone else except Fowl might survive an encounter with one of those. The initial damage was a lot, and the damage it wanted to do over time was draining, to say the least.”

Fowl joined the two of them near the arch leading into the clearing. “Tell me we can win, and I’ll joyfully charge that thing.”

“I’d like to say it should be easy, but that lizard mage was pretty bad. This thing is almost twice as tall, and those teeth in its flower area are bigger than Cordellia. Those vines for arms look like they can reach a decent way from its body and have some thorns that might puncture your armor.”

“Bah,” Fowl scoffed. “I doubt that. Besides, fire has to hurt it, right? You two have that on a lock.”

“The real problem is if we have to get past it to go on. We could go back, leave the tower, and wait for the timer to reset,” Max replied. “Those are days of doing other stuff and not being in here. What’s to say a worse floor or boss doesn’t stand in our way? At some point, we need just to keep pushing.”

“Does anyone want my opinion?” Cordellia asked.

The group turned and saw their archer shifting side to side a little bit.

“Always,” Max said, smiling at her. You’re part of the team; share your thoughts.”

Cordellia’s jaw seemed to relax at Max’s words. “I know you’re stronger than you want to share, and I respect that. Still, a creature this size has to come with some problems. I’ve read a few reports, and often, the size amplifies the strength of a monster. Like that first rare spawn lizard we fought. It sent Fowl flying with one hit.”

Fowl started to chuckle and nodded, making a whistling sound and using a hand to mimic his flight.

“I have no idea how strong or tough something like this can be, but reports always mention how bosses for levels five and nine are typically this size. Those things hit harder than everything else. Can you and Fowl really take that kind of punishment?”

“I’ve got all my cooldowns for my defense skills. Batrire has hers, so that should provide us with some help,” Fowl replied. “Seth has his even, which should give us even more chances to survive. Damage will be key.”

Max’s halberd appeared in his hand, and he spun it around. “I’ve got the best weapon I can think of for this thing.” A glow of fire covered the weapon as Max enchanted it with fire.

Fowl raced at the creature, which started to roar once he was within thirty yards of it, the vines on its body extending about fifteen yards from its massive stem. They whipped around and shifted quickly, waiting to strike at the dwarf who was coming toward it.

Tanila, Batrire, and Cordellia were spread out slightly near the archway they had entered, trying to get close enough to attack while staying far enough away to avoid being attacked.

“It can’t move?!” Fowl called out as the creature seemed to wait, making the warrior slow down.

Max came to a stop from his charge a few yards behind Fowl and frowned. “That would be too easy!”

“Cast something and see!” Fowl yelled. “Better you than the others going first!”

Max grunted as he formed the tiniest firebolt and sent it hurtling toward the creature's stem. It impacted against the rough brown, black, and green exterior. Less than a second of fire burned before it went out, yet the creature’s flower head turned, two red eyes appearing above the mouth, locking onto Max. The eyes narrowed, and it roared, a barrage of seeds projected from its face area at Max.

His shield came up as he dodged to the side, seeds as large as a watermelon racing at him with sharp tips.

One of the seeds impacted his shield, while another caught his left leg. Knowing he couldn’t dodge it, Max twisted, trying to lessen the impact, and spun, still hearing a crunch as the seed shattered his femur.

[Regeneration]

Rolling and groaning from the damage, Max felt the healing spell of Batrire as his leg bone snapped together.

“Those are bad! Don’t get hit!” Max yelled as he jumped sideways on one leg, his other one almost healed enough to use.

Something under the ground began approaching, and Max’s sonar was warning him about it.

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At the last second, he dove and rolled, a huge, spiked root coming from under the ground where he had been, piercing like a knife through the air before coming upwards about ten feet and retracting back inside.

More movement came, and the ground around the clearing rolled and moved slightly.

Turning to shout, Max saw the archways where the three women were standing glow, a barrier now blocking the entrance they had come through.

“Watch out for roots!” Max yelled. Seeing Fowl no longer waiting outside the area he had believed was safe.

Letting his sonar keep him from getting impaled, Max saw the three women starting to run, roots coming up from the ground where they had been a few seconds before.

It takes a little longer… maybe the distance…

A roar and howl came from near the plant, and Max saw Fowl trying to block and attack the vines that whipped at him. The vines struck his shield with a force that echoed in a way impossible to imagine.

Fowl’s health bar was going down, and the impact of the blows was taking a toll on him. The force was impossible to imagine, and time wasn’t on his side.

“Going all in!”

Running toward the creature, Max felt half a dozen roots coming at him as he moved, each one a second or two late in skewering him, the massive flower obviously not anticipating him running full speed toward it.

A giant fireball grew in the air, and Max let it go when he was about ten yards away. A stone ramp appeared as Max made a dash for the last few yards, eyeing the thick stem that was at least five feet wide.

[ Fire Nova ]

[ Power Strike ]

[ Regeneration ]

[ Weakness ]

[ Evasion ]

[ Flurry ]

[ Berserker ]

Max’s vision shifted as leaped through the air, dodging an attack from a vine that had tried to strike him. The red tint of unbridled rage filled Max, and his halberd cut through the air with the speed and power of an impossible combination for most to imagine.

As Max landed on the ground at the base of the stem, five strikes swung in rapid success.

The first blow landed, cleaving through the stem and cutting almost halfway through it. Black goo spurt from the wound, the body of the plant swaying as Max’s blade cleaved partially through the massive stem.

Another attack came as he spun, using the momentum to cleave again. Over and over, the blade of his weapon sent massive chunks of the boss’s stem flying, soon leaving only a gaping hole from the initial assault of the attack.

His Fire Nova went off, burning the base, roots, and vines, trying to get near the man who was somehow overcoming its defenses.

A root came from underneath, and the combination of evasion and sonar allowed Max, even in his Berserker state, to dodge the attack, hacking at the attacking root and cutting it in half.

Unable to notice what was going on around him, Max missed seeing a fireball from Tanila and a few arrows from Cordellia impact the boss’s face, hitting its eyes and distracting the plant.

Time passed quickly, and Max was almost done with his attack when a vine hit him from the right, sending him flying across the field.

The red vision faded, and the pain of the attack he had just suffered flooded his senses, making him gasp and regret that action because his ribs were broken and impaled in his lungs.

A heal came from Batrire, followed by her new heal over time, helping to minimize the pain as Regeneration caused his bones to start moving back into place.

Roots were coming for him, and Max staggered to his feet, his right arm crushed and his left shoulder socket popping back into place as he moved.

The roots continued to come as he zig-zagged back and forth around the clearing, dozens of them coming after him from under the ground.

Each step for the first ten seconds felt like agony as the jostling of his body made the bones that were joining back together take longer.

Twenty seconds after hitting the ground, his body was healed and ready for action again, but his weapon was lying in the dirt, close to the boss.

Fowl was yelling curses, trying to do damage, his new weapon creating a bleed effect of black goo with each strike but none of that seemed to matter compared to what he had done.

Fire and ice continued to bombard the boss, and Max saw that Tanila was almost out of mana, with only another spell or two left at most.

“Seth!”

Fowl’s cry caught his attention as he saw vines wrapped around his dwarven friend, trying to pick him up, failing because of the skill that the warrior had engaged.

Time was running out, and Max couldn’t wait.

[ Haste ]

Like an arrow fired from a bow, Max moved across the clearing, his speed so fast that Cordellia struggled to believe his actions were real.

Snatching his weapon from the ground, Max used the only thing he could think of.

No more big skills… need to use momentum.

Racing toward the plant, Max eyed the injured part of the stem. The front half was torn apart, but the back half held it upright, somehow able to support the massive weight of the top.

The sound of seeds pelting the ground behind Max made him grateful for the decision to use Haste, the plant bombarding its own roots.

Now running as fast as possible and seeing the boss’s vines coming for him, Max smiled as he tested the spell.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

Seven yards from the boss, a portal was open for less than the blink of an eye, appearing directly behind the boss.

Somehow, Max’s brain was able to follow everything as the world shifted, his point of view no longer from before the creature but from behind. His eyes were still locked on the weak point of the stem.

Max planted his feet as he emerged from the portal and swung his weapon with all the speed and momentum he had. The blade delivered a massive blow to the stem, cutting two-thirds of the way through the remaining few feet.

A crack came, and the sound of horror and surprise emanated from above. The boss was shrieking at the realization of what had just happened.

Without waiting or giving it time to react, Max swung again and again, each strike destroying more and more of the remaining few inches supporting the boss’s upper half.

The stem began to lean toward the left, vines waving in the air as if trying to balance, but the weight of the top half was too much. Stress and overworked sections of the hardened and soft inside of the boss’s stem were at their limits, and Max’s final stroke severed it, sending the creature tumbling to the ground.

Fowl fell to the ground from about ten feet where the creature had been lifting the warrior up, his Armored Warrior skill no longer active.

Turning, Max saw the boss’s vines struggling to continue whipping around as massive torrents of black goo spewed from the base of the creature's severed stem, which was connected to its root system.

Unable to move, a horrible roar from the flower on its back filled the clearing.

“Go!” Max shouted at Fowl, struggling to get to his feet and limping a little bit.

Without hesitating, Max ran toward the boss, beginning the task of pruning the vines that were now aimlessly moving through the air.