The sixth floor boss was an orc king and his court. Sitting on his throne, the king had a small group of orc warriors just bellow and in front of the throne on both sides. Then there was a larger group of common orcs arranged in a long loop down the center. The common orcs all spent their time prostrating themselves to the king one by one while the orc warriors laughed at them. As soon as the commoners were done being mocked, they simply walked back to the end of the line, to wait their turn to be mocked again. The positioning of the orc warriors and the endless procession of common orcs being mocked felt familiar. It was almost as if the intelligence that controlled the dungeon, the mysterious dungeon core no one had ever reached, had created this as a mockery of the royal court above. There was even a staff wielding orc shaman near the king.

“That’s a lot of orcs,” I observe.

“They’re fairly weak individually, especially the commoners.”

“So it’s not just me, this feels like someone is making fun of the royal court,” I say.

“The dungeon core has a sense of humor, I guess,” the tank said with a shrug.

We were currently looking down at the “throne room” from the viewing gallery. Every boss room had a small area where events could be safely observed, but there were some sort of unbreakable windows that blocked anyone from interfering. The glass also somehow blocked magic, just like the walls and floors of the dungeon did, so no one could simply tunnel through the dungeon.

“So what’s the plan? Should I just toss a toxic cloud in there and hope for the best? I still have one more poison vial on me.”

“That’s been tried,” the female mage said, “But the shaman prevents it from working; he’s a really strong caster. The fastest way to clear this room is to kill the shaman quickly, then use area of effect spells to clear the room while the tank keeps the king busy.”

“So the most dangerous one is the orcish court wizard?” I ask wryly.

“The orc king is plenty strong, a mighty warrior, but yes,” the female mage gave me a look, “the shaman is considered the most dangerous orc in the entire room.”

“How would your team deal with them if I weren’t here?” I was curious, this floor boss was one that their team had defeated on their own.

“We all run to a corner, the two of us build a defensive ward,” the male mage explained, “and focus on blocking spells, while the elves go nuts with their arrows. The tank then keeps all the orcs away until their numbers thin. Sooner or later the shaman will come to us and that’s when we all rush him.”

“He can only break your ward at close range?” I ask.

“Yes, he does this “dispel” by slamming his staff on the ground. Cancels active spells and breaks wards, but it only works in a circle of about ten feet around him.”

That is how a staff based dispel spell looks, I think to myself. Much like the one the old court wizard had used, it works by creating a shockwave in the flow of mana. A ball of raw mana is gathered at the bottom of the staff, then a surge is formed by the compressive force of hitting the staff against the floor. How would the dungeon core know how a proper wizard spell works, I wonder, simply by observation and mimicry?

“Our way of doing it takes a lot of time, but is pretty safe,” the tank says with a rumble, “It depends on the fact that they always act predictably. The warrior orcs don’t lift a finger unless you attack them or until all the common orcs are dead. If we kill the common orcs first, we can use their bodies to make a barricade and make it easier to hold off the warrior orcs.”

Ah, ha, so the courtiers let the commoners die first; truly cutting political commentary. “I’m guessing the king doesn’t get off his throne and start fighting until the warriors are all dead?”

“That or the shaman, killing the shaman will piss him off. If he’s the last survivor he will go berserk and get about 50% larger and stronger, but even so, by himself he’s not much of a threat.”

I nod, then ask, “But if I assassinate the shaman, doesn’t it mean that both the king and the warriors will immediately attack instead of waiting their turn?”

“Yes, but can you assassinate him? Kill him right away?” The female mage asked. “He is standing in some sort of ward that blocks firebolts and arrows. When a high tier team kills the shaman first, they usually do it by rushing him with melee fighters...”

If he is using wizard spells, that must be a force ward, I think to myself. It would stop projectiles of all forms, including spells, but not living creatures simply rushing through it. Tricky to deal with, but not impossible. “Probably, but it will leave me pretty drained…”

“No no, our standard tactic is fine, slow and steady wins the race,” The tank argued.

“You could give us your poison vial,” the male mage suggests, “We’ve never done a toxic cloud spell, but we do know how to do an air ward, and gusts of wind. We could probably mimic your spell between the two of us.”

“If I keep the shaman busy he won’t be able to stop the toxic cloud…” I say.

“If that shaman manages to get within ten feet of our air ward and dispels it, we’d all die,” The rogue points out. “Remember dungeon creatures tend to resist poison better than we do.”

“I have a question,” Lance spoke up, “What happens if you kill the king first?”

“No one ever kills the king first, what would be the point? He sits there watching until the end if you just leave him alone,” the rogue explains.

“No one has ever tried it?” Lance asked.

“Not to my knowledge,” the rogue admits.

“What do you think would happen?” I ask him.

“Well if it were the real king, it would throw everything into chaos. I was just wondering, what if the dungeon wrote that into the encounter? Made it so the orcs start fighting each other or something as soon as the king dies?” Lance explains.

“If we test it, and that is what happens, it would be a very valuable piece of information,” the rogue muses. “A way to finish the sixth floor boss fight faster and safer would be something the Adventurer’s Guild would reward us for discovering.”

“You want us to risk our lives to test a wild idea that could end up giving us a bonus reward?” The tank asked. “Hell yeah, let’s do it then!”