Once the fight ended the group respawned at the entrance of the dungeon. “Well, that was not fun,” Karen commented as she looked at Alburet. “Why did you switch out priority?”
“Your health was really low while Fluff still had a good amount of life at that point. I doubted we could get you free before you died, so it made more sense to free Fluff.”
“I agree with him,” Marysue added. “I don’t think even if I had focused all my healing on you that you would have made it through. However, there is something to note. The boss kept with three tentacles even after people died.”
Gerald nodded, “So we should go in without any minions, then have Alburet summon and then copy Bob. That should give us only two tentacles during the fight, but still give us the extra damage.”
“Yes,” Marysue agreed.
“That means this fight will be easier for Necros and Summoners, if they know the trick,” Alburet mused.
“Okay, so we going to give it another go?” Karen asked.
The group started down the tunnel towards the Passionate Constrictor a few moments later. No vines or pollen attacks interrupted them as they walked down the path. They paused at the entrance to double check they were ready before they entered.
This time around the fight was much easier, with only the two vines to deal with. Marysue was right in that the boss didn’t add a third vine even after Bob and his copy were summoned, so Alburet summoned Stacia and Tiny as well to add even more damage in. With all the extra damage and with fewer vines to worry about the fight became trivial compared to the first attempt.
Once the plant died the center of the flower fell to the floor. “I think that’s what we loot,” Gerald mentioned as he went over to touch it. Everyone’s loot appeared in a window before them. They each got a Fragment of Passion for the quest as well as their new gear.
Karen got a new dagger with agility, Fluff got a new belt with strength, Gerald a new sword with constitution, Marysue a new helm with intelligence and Alburet a new set of pants with wisdom. Each of the gear had boosts of ten to whichever stat it gave.
“I’m really close to eighteen,” Fluff mentioned as they trudged back to the split tunnel.
“Same here, but for nineteen,” Gerald added.
“Still a ways to go for twenty, myself,” Alburet chuckled.
“I think you’re still in the lead for levels,” Gerald told Alburet. “When I checked the forums this morning someone had mentioned hitting nineteen an hour before I logged on.”
“I wonder if they’ll be in the immersion test?” Alburet said.
“Who knows?” Karen shrugged.
Chapter Twenty
They paused to have a spot of lunch and some tea at the junction of the three tunnels. Alburet filled in Stacia on what she missed during the first fight with the Passionate Constrictor. When he finished recounting the first fight, Gerald decided to give them the rundown of the fight coming up.
“Okay. The Shaman is going to have a number of Gnoll Warriors to aid him, along with two Gnoll Acolytes to help heal the Warriors. We have five minutes to kill the Warriors and the Acolytes, as the Shaman will be casting a spell for that time. If he gets the spell finished before he takes half of his life in damage, we will wipe. The Warriors and Acolytes form a line between us and the Shaman. No one can get past them and no spell will go by them, which means we have to deal with them before we can get to him. Once we only have one add left we can start in on the Shaman. We’ll have Stacia and her double Daze the Acolytes. That should stop the heals, which will make our job much easier. We will focus down the Warriors one at a time starting with the left most as we enter. Tiny, you take the first two on the left, so we split the incoming damage between us. The Warriors didn’t have any abilities during beta, so it should just be a standard tank and spank. Any questions?”
“Did I do well enough for my hug?” Bob asked.
Stacia laughed before she grabbed Bob and squished him into her chest, followed by her double sandwiching him. Karen joined in from one side. A mumbling could be heard as the women kept the imp pinned for a few moments.
Alburet shook his head at their antics, “You know, you’re only encouraging him.”
“Aye, master, but he did as best he could to help ya with the first attempt,” Stacia replied before she released Bob.
Gasping, Bob flopped to the ground clutching his small chest, “My heart, oh darkness what a way to go…”
Fluff giggled, “He likes to ham it up as well.”
Gerald sighed, “Were there any pertinent questions about the fight?”
No one had any so the group finished their lunch and headed down the last tunnel. The tunnel had the occasional vine growing from a wall or ceiling that waved gently as they went by. Ahead, they could hear guttural voices speaking in an unknown tongue. Slowing as they approached a bend, Gerald peeked around the corner before stepping back. “First set of trash, two Gnoll Warriors,” he told them. “Tiny, take the one on the left as we go in. Kill it first then come over to mine.”
The fight didn’t last long with them being able to focus first one, then the other Gnoll Warrior down. They looted the bodies and moved on. “After Gnasher and Passion, the trash seems a little dull,” Karen muttered as she flipped a dagger from hand to hand.
“Next set should be two Warriors and an Acolyte,” Gerald informed them. “Stacia gets to daze the Acolyte and one of the Warriors while we focus them down one by one.”
When they reached the next small room they followed his plan and were soon moving on again. The last set of trash had three Warriors and one Acolyte to deal with. Stacia dazed the Acolyte and a Warrior, while Tiny and Gerald grabbed a Warrior each. The others piled in on Tiny’s Warrior before going on to Gerald’s opponent. They then killed the third Warrior once Gerald brought it out of the daze. Finally, they killed off the acolyte with no issues.
“The next room is the Head Shaman’s room,” Gerald told them as they looted the bodies. “So stick with the plan. Stacia dazes both Acolytes while we focus on the Warriors. Once all the Warriors and one acolyte are dead we rush the Shaman. Tiny will take the two leftmost Warriors while I take the other three, focus his down then move on to mine. We have five minutes to kill them and take away half of the Head Shaman’s life. If we succeed it’s a normal fight once he comes out of the trance, with him casting as we try to kill him. If we fail, he summons both Gnasher and Passionate to his side. There is no way for us to survive all three of them.”
“He summons the bosses we already killed?” Fluff asked.
“Yea,” Gerald told her. “If we hadn’t killed them, then during the fight with the Warriors we would have vines to deal with as well as occasional knockbacks.”
“Ugh,” Alburet voiced as he shook his head. “Bad enough as it is, thanks.”
“Exactly. And here we are,” Gerald said, lowering his voice as they came to a bend in the tunnel.
They took turns peeking into the room. The room was the same size and shape as the rooms the other bosses had been in. A large bonfire in the middle of the room provided light. Warriors and Acolytes lounged around the fire. Beyond the fire, the Head Shaman was inside a blue glowing field dancing around a collection of stones and plants.
“The timer starts as soon as we enter the room,” Gerald told them as he got himself ready to lead the charge. “Everyone ready?”