Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds: A Dungeon Core Novel (Serious Probabilities Book 1) by Jonathan Brooks (interesting books to read TXT) 📕

bar of Health in her vision was blinking slowly, having settled down to approximately 10%.  The Creeping Fern was in a little better shape, though she couldn’t tell how much Health it had; what she could tell, though, was that many of its fronds and vines had been shredded from whatever the Regional Threat had done, and it was a mere shadow of itself as it sat about 20 feet away from the struggling-to-rise Cat.  Even as she watched, however, the Fern started to move, pulling in its remaining vines and consolidating them into brand-new fronds; when it was done, she estimated that nearly three-quarters of its previous size had been lost.

The recovery from the explosion of air over, the two monsters stared at each other for a few seconds (though to be fair, it was hard to tell if the Fern was staring), as they readied to attack.  The giant Cat was favoring its right foreleg, but it still managed to close the distance between the two of them within a second as it suddenly bounded forward, claws extended in preparation of attack.

Vines flicked out in response, acting almost like whips as they smacked against the Cat aiming for the plant.  Solid thuds were heard even from the distance separating the fight from the Heroes, and so was the sound of impact as the two became one frantically attacking mass of claws, sharp teeth, and green vines whipping around.

“Should we help?” Jeska ventured as the rest of her injury finished healing itself via another hastily swallowed Minor Health Potion.

“Maybe – but help which one?” her brother asked.

That was a good question, but it might be a moot point.  The two monsters were so entangled together that it was hard to pinpoint just one.  That, and the Health of the Regional Threat was steadily dropping to the point that if they just left things alone, it would die.

Of course, just as she thought that…tragedy struck.

Chapter 35

One moment, it appeared as though the Fern had the upper hand in the fight, and the next moment all of its vines suddenly spasmed and dropped to the ground, lifeless.  Worse than that, as the Tornado Cat Champion extricated itself from the tangle of vines and frond pieces, Jeska saw that it still had at least 5% of its Health bar remaining.

“Everyone up!  This fight isn’t over!” Jeska yelled, which caused some frantic movement all around her; it seemed as though everyone had been so focused on their own healing that they hadn’t been paying attention to the fight.

She did what she advised the others to do and got to her feet, and there was only a slight twinge in her leg that indicated that her healing was still ongoing and not yet complete, despite her Health being back to full.  Fighters – 4 of them, including her brother – passed in front of her and the others, their shields out and ready for the already-approaching Threat.  Rosara and the other Supports began to sing, strengthening Arcen and one other Fighter, which was good to know, as it seemed as though they could combine these Buffs together to really enhance a few people.

For her own contribution, Jeska used her Lesser Mage Shield on Arcen – which would reduce a small amount of damage; she had exchanged out her Ice Barricade for the Mage Shield onto one of her quick-use slots.  Every time she did that, however, it reset the cooldown for that Skill.  Fortunately, the cooldown was only 45 seconds for the Lesser Mage Shield, and she had done it as soon as she had seen the two massive monsters fighting.

What was also fortunate was that there didn’t seem to be a swirling of air around the Cat anymore; either its “tornado” ability only had a limited number of uses, or else that explosion had used it all up.  Nevertheless, the Regional Threat didn’t bother to stalk the Heroes anymore or play with them.  At a steady pace, still favoring its front leg, it walked towards them – which meant that it would reach them in seconds.

“Now!” she shouted, but it was relatively unneeded.  Jeska and all of the Mages unleashed their entire arsenal of ranged attacks, and orbs made of flames, sharp rocks, and ice shards slammed into the face and chest of the Cat – who didn’t even bother to try dodging.  Even with all 6 of them hitting the giant feline in a barrage, the red bar barely even moved. Jeska could tell they were doing damage, but it was so insignificant to whatever this thing’s Health pool was that it didn’t seem to matter.  At most, she thought they removed another 1% of the bar, but even when they added in some Fiery Explosions, it wasn’t enough to shift it down another sliver.

The explosions did make the Cat pause, though, as did a few of the dances and songs that the Support Heroes used on the deadly monster, but it was ultimately futile.  Jeska still had 5 seconds left on her first cooldown – her Ice Shard – when the Cat reached the line of Fighters.  With almost a lazy swipe of its claws, it raked across all 4 of them, slicing through their shields and armor like they weren’t even there, causing the Fighters to fly backwards.  One of the Fighters, Ralven, was shorter than the others and was ducking beneath the top of his shield; when the swipe raked across his body, it ended up decapitating him instantly.

As for Arcen and the other 2 Fighters, they flew backwards into the middle of the Hero group – which was fortunate.  Jeska looked back at her brother and saw that he was grievously wounded and would die if he didn’t get some help, but Kelty and the other Healers were luckily there to help him and the others, saving them with their Skills