DTK 32.2

AN: mislabeled chapter title

I stood next to Sandy above the boss arena on the third floor of the dungeon. She only had six mana left; she used four earlier. One to turn invisible and drag the Stormcaller set out of town; three to test her parry skill.

We left Gerald behind. He was still trying to convince his parents he wasn’t lying and that he was a noble; that didn’t mean he had to come with us to clear the dungeon every night. As strong as he was, he was still more of a liability than an asset in a fight.

He did loan us the metal stake that we tied the rope around the night before. He failed to mention the metal was recycled from something enchanted.

Half of it glowed with a purple light, while the bottom was flickering blue. It kept bouncing as I tried to stab it into the ground, stinging my fingers, but not enough to damage my Health.

“What the hell is it enchanted with?” I asked Sandy.

“Dunno. Maybe that rebound that’s on his armor?”

Gerald’s equipment was almost entirely enchanted with a buff called [Reflection.] He had detailed it to us. He failed to mention this stake was too.

“Maybe?” I asked, pushing the rod slowly into the ground instead of stabbing it in. It worked perfectly. I sighed with relief before pulling out the rope from my bag. “Any sign of the boss yet?”

Sandy walked over and peered over the edge.

“I don’t see him.”

I finished tying off the knot and threw the rope over the edge. Then I crawled over and scanned the forest myself.

There was nothing obvious below us.

I did one final check of my gear. My spider-web tied throwing needles were stuck in my belt; I had forgotten the enchanted scissors my mom had given me.

Stepping back from the edge, I activated [Always Prepared.]

Nothing happened.

“What’s up?” Sandy asked.

“Forgot my scissors at home.” I said. I had never recalled the [Always Prepared] chest. I forgot I was checking its range. With a frown, I reached out to the skill to store the chest. There was no confirmation at all. Then I resummoned it, and it fell down in front of me.

“Whoa.” Sandy said as the chest landed in front of me.

I pulled it open and pulled out the enchanted scissors inside, stuffing them into my belt before dismissing the whole thing again. The chest disappeared with an audible pop as air rushed to fill the space it had been.

It was good to know I could recall it from any distance. Not that I’d ever have a need. I wonder if I could store a person in it… maybe if I spent enough points leveling it up. I also had one of Sandy’s tiny knives in my belt to share her butcher vision.

“Okay. Let’s do this.” I said, grabbing the rope and descending the cliff side.

Sandy followed after. The forest was lit by moonlight, and I found myself nearly jumping at every noise in the forest. We came upon the place we had found the bear last time; it wasn’t there.

“Nothing invisible?” I asked Sandy.

“Nope.” She said.

We circled around through the trees until we found the monster at one of the rivers, drinking water. I didn’t approach it, instead analzying the monster closely. Last time we fought, it had projected an illusion of itself, pretending to be defenseless and sleeping. This time didn’t look any different.

Even though it ducked its mouth into the river, the water was undisturbed beneath it. It wasn’t real or drinking.

I touched the edge of the knife, sharing the vision from Sandy’s skill to see the monster.

It was standing behind a tree, lifted up to stand on two of its massive paws, half of its red line hidden behind the tree as it presumably leaned against it to stare down at us.

With the flick of my wrist and through an effort of practiced aim, I buried a sewing needle in its face. The string was wrapped around my fingers, manipulated with thread control. I turned and ran. The monster roared, leaving stealth, its illusion charging at us.

As I was running, I threw a wire sideways before running passed Sandy. It buried itself in a tree, creating a tight line of wire as I ran forty-five degrees behind Sandy.

Sandy stepped between me and the monster as I jumped over to the next side of the river, landing with a huff and pulling the two strings.

“Come on, bastard!” Sandy shouted at the bear, holding her giant cleaver up. It bored down on her, wildly swinging a paw, and I saw Sandy’s skill activate as her cleaver met it.

Fur and skin sloughed off the side of the bear’s arm, earning another monstrous roar from the creature and revealing muscle like bound cables beneath. The real force of the parry was directed at the monster’s chest, which exploded inwards like a cannonball hit it.

Sandy turned and ran. A half dozen copies of the bear followed in an instant, chasing her, as the boss itself turned invisible. She landed next to me on the river, falling to her knees under the weight of her armor. The river glowed.

The dozen copies of the bear exploded into ephemeral smoke as they impacted the line I threw forward to catch them. The monster itself activated my [Thread Sensing] as it touched the line, allowing me to perceive it fully despite being invisible. I threw another needle into it, landing in its neck instead of its other eye. It screamed, charging forward again. The needle popped free of the tree as the monster slammed into whatever ephemeral force held it back from the length of the river.

“It’s going to die.” Sandy said, looking toward the bear and holding up the cleaver.

“We can’t know that.” I said, even as I whipped at thread master. The loose wire on the ground pulled back towards me, then whipped around with the needle at the end as a weight. Lines of thread glittered in the moonlight along the monster’s leg fur. I reached out with thread mastery and pulled.

Blood flowed down the monster’s leg as it roared again.

“We can barely damage it otherwise!” Sandy said, standing like a batter at the ready. “One more and I’ll be straight through its chest.”

“You only have one parry left.” I cautioned, trying to pull the thread tighter. It refused to cut through the monster’s muscle.

There was a popping noise as the glowing light emerging from the river dimmed and the monster crossed the other side, swinging down on Sandy instantly.