Chapter 34 : Don’t Google This Rule

[The Leech King - Level 8] It's maw facing in Emma's direction, the Leech King inhaled sharply; treating her to the wonderful symphony of a jet engine ready for takeoff. Sever external sounds. Emma commanded immediately, the System cutting her artificial sense of hearing and returning her perception to blissful silence. Then, she immediately threw herself to the side as the faintest glimmer of light sparked in her opponent's jaw; not a moment too soon, as it turned out. "Dangerous," Emma whistled, as a beam of compressed air - or perhaps plasma - struck her starting position, carrying on beyond the boundaries of the arena and far into the distance. She'd already been wary of the massive maw, but that display only reinforced Emma's decision to stick to the sidelines as she closed the distance to the boss. As she came within arm's length, the Leech King shuddered, expelling a cloud of purple mist into the air; deadly for many but luckily harmless against her. [Poison resisted.] "Ew," Emma grimaced as Epitaph appeared, digging a furrow across her foe's abdomen. His body immediately began to glow red in response to the injury, and soon Emma began to glow in tandem. [-5 Anima -5 Anima -5 Anima] "A persistent drain?" Emma frowned as she continued to hack and slash, literally taking the Anima she lost out of her target's hide. Those wounds closed up just as quickly as she herself recovered; reaching the logical end result of two self-healing tanks with limited damage potential fighting; that is to say, amounting to nothing at all except a waste of time. The Leech King had already rolled over at this point, seemingly asleep from boredom even as his drain attack continued. "Um, is there a time limit for this?" Emma asked, whilst mentally requesting her hearing back from the System. "No, feel free to stay in that stalemate forever, for all we care." "Wonderful," Emma grumbled, searching for a solution as she absently dodged the latest spray of boiling blood to spurt from wounds that were already beginning to close. "Wait, boiling?" Realizing she had a solution at hand, Emma switched to a one-handed grip, this time cutting a shallower scar across the Leech King's belly. Before it could heal again, Emma withdrew a handful of holy tea leaves from her Inventory, shoving them into the open wound. She had to back flip immediately after to avoid a furious tail swipe, but the damage was already done. The Leech King was up and moving again, looking significantly angrier somehow, whilst the wound in its abdomen remained in place, pulsing with golden light. Turning its maw to the ceiling, the over-sized leech gurgled before spewing forth a tide of toxic green, a follow-up burst of compressed air scattering it in a perfect circle around the edges of the arena. Even as Emma looked on, the deadly substance settled into the floor, eating away at wood and paper alike. The four corners of the arena quickly crumbled and fell, leaving a cross shaped segment of twelve sections remaining. "There's the timer," Emma snorted as she charged back into the fray, not surprised that the Dungeon's overseer had been misleading in her reply. "There was no timer during your stalemate, so I never actually lied." Came the swift response to Emma's unspoken question. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Wolf, Ram and Heart: All attacks imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage dealt. Circle of Life: Increased affinity with animals. Decreased affinity with humans. Inventory Tea Kit (4/5th Bundle of Holy Tea Leaves, Kettle, Teacups, Matches) Sir Bearington in a Box (Sealed - Level 4) Add-Ons Music Player: Most of YouTube's hits, all in your head. Fast Travel Academia Mortalis Main Quests 404 - Answers Not Found Objective: Discover the cause of the mana surge that brought about the Apocalypse Reward: ??? Blood Borne Objective: Find your Mother Reward: ??? Cum Laude Objective: Reach the 10th floor of Scholomance Reward: ???, Save Point, Quest: Magna Cum Laude] "Great, it worked!" Emma cheered, happy to see that leaving Epitaph embedded as the boss fell had satisfied the prerequisites of her blade's new ability. Now, she had a formidable foe on call should the situation demand it, and that didn't even take into account her substantial gains in experience, having risen one level and made good progress to another; all that, and only halfway through the first floor of ten. "Truly, the Dungeons are the best place to grow in power."