Levi sprinted into the boss room and shouted in defiance, drawing the goblin shaman’s attention. It immediately raised its glowing staff, bones rattling as it began casting a spell.

Gremlin Two scampered in behind, gleefully clutching Levi’s dagger in both his spindly hands. For a moment Levi worried the overeager gremlin might neglect the plan and charge straight in, but his minion resisted the temptation successfully. Gremlin Two ran around the edges of the room with at least some attempt at stealth toward his planned position behind the boss.

While considering how to solve the problem of the goblin shaman and its glowing crystals, one thing came immediately to Levi’s mind. He needed a ranged attack.

His first thought was that he should have picked up a compound bow while he was in town. It may be useless in another few levels, but right now it felt like a glaring oversight. He didn’t even consider at the time that he may be in a situation requiring a ranged weapon. He was too used to using his sword abilities for everything, his long-trained instincts hadn’t yet fully caught up to the reality that he had almost none of his abilities or equipment here.

The first treasure room had contained only potions, enough to replace those he’d used, plus one of stamina which he tucked away for later use if necessary. But the swampier rooms of the dungeon contained one resource in plenty: rocks. Slimy, slippery, submerged in corrosive bogs, yes. Still, they were a perfectly good ranged weapon there for the taking.

Thankfully the bogs were diluted from the pure corrosive the first dungeon had contained, otherwise stepping into one would have been almost immediately fatal. At level 1 the dungeons simply didn’t have the capability of filling a large room with anything more potent. The bog only caused a minor health drain, painful but survivable.

With the help of a restorative elixir to recover quickly, Levi gathered several dozen stones from the collapsing-type footholds and sorted through them to find the most regular ones that fit decently in his hand. They were still a bit on the large size, but it didn’t take him long to adapt to their weight.

He’d taken a few minutes in one of the non-swamp rooms to practice his aim, and let Gremlin Two practice with his dagger, before they headed into the boss room.

Now, Levi ran around the room, dodging the goblin shaman’s flung spells, holding its attention while Two slipped into place for a sneak attack. Fortunately, though the room was murky and squelched underfoot, the ground was solid enough not to pose any environmental hazard. Only certain rooms in the dungeon had been filled with actual corrosive bogs, and the boss room was not one of them.

For now, Two only held his position and waited, lurking in the closest thing to shadow that could be found in the largely wide open room, staying behind the goblin shaman.

A blast of acid-green fire splashed off the wall beside him, the heat slightly increasing the discomfort of his many layers of clothing, but he’d ducked away in time to avoid being ignited.

Level 1+

(Goblin Shaman)

Health 103%

The whole time he was running and dodging, Levi counted. How fast the shaman could cast, how many spells he used, the patterns he cycled through.

He needed to finish the fight fast - the longer he took destroying the crystals, the more powerful the boss would become - but he also needed to survive. Even though these were only level 1 they still needed to be treated seriously. He’d learned quite vividly when the first dungeon nearly succeeded in killing him.

Immediately after the fire blast, the goblin started a quick follow-up spell, a corrosive mana dart that would deal ongoing damage. Two similar darts already stuck out of the walls, burning slow-growing holes into the rust-stained stone around them.

Levi dropped to the floor to avoid the dart, then stood in place long enough to hurl three of his rocks at three of the crystals across the room before springing back into action.

Two were solid hits, exploding the crystals in spectacular fashion. Shards of green-yellow flew in all directions, pinging off the floor and ceiling. If he’d been anywhere close to them, they’d have done serious damage. But their momentum died quickly, as unnaturally fast as their initial burst speed.

The third rock bounced off its crystal without fully destroying it, leaving a crack that leaked wisps of fading yellow-green light.

Then Levi was running again, switching direction and speed at random to throw off the shaman’s aim. Another blast of green fire splashed off the floor in front of him as he came to an abrupt halt just in time. He hurled a stone, shattering another crystal, evaded another attack, and kept moving.

Level 1+

(Goblin Shaman)

Health 108%

So far, Gremlin Two hadn’t made a move, apart from shifting his position to remain at the goblin shaman’s back as Levi held the boss’s attention.

But he'd been watching Levi the whole time, and when the shifting of locations left him in the blank spot of wall where the two crystals had already been exploded, he crouched slowly and picked up the smaller of the two rocks.

Levi was too busy focusing on the boss, trying to predict where each attack would be aimed. His current body was too slow to actually dodge, so he had to use his experience across thousands of fights to read his opponent instead.

Fortunately, the level 1 goblin shaman, even with his + status, wasn't able to conceal his movements. Levi could predict them almost flawlessly so long as he stayed focused.

Gremlin Two messing about with rocks in the background barely registered in his mind, insignificant compared to calculating his next step.

Level 1+

(Goblin Shaman)

Health 109%

Then the gremlin dropped the knife, grabbed the rock even though it was almost as big as his head, and ran across the room with it held over his head in both hands.

In that moment, Levi realized his plan.

"Wait, don't—" but it was too late.

Before Levi could stop him, the gremlin ran up to the nearest crystal and hurled the rock into it with all his strength.

For a moment Levi hoped his scrawny little minion would be too weak, or that the rock would bounce harmlessly off the wall instead...

...but he’d chosen the already-damaged crystal Levi hadn’t quite destroyed with his first throw.

The rock hit solidly and the crystal exploded, shattering outward with unnatural force. Gremlin Two was right in the blast zone, broken shards slicing through his tiny body. His health dropped by almost half in an instant.

"Stick to the plan!” Levi shouted, anger tinting his voice. “Leave the rocks to me!"

Gremlin Two wilted at the reproof and scurried back to grab the knife, squeaking apologetically. Pinkish gremlin blood dripped to the ground leaving a slick trail behind.

Levi had no time to deal with his minion’s misguided attempts at being helpful. The momentary distraction had given the Goblin Shaman an opening, and Levi failed to evade one of those corrosive mana dart attacks. It slammed into his side as he twisted, too late to avoid it.

The dart missed hitting anything vital, barely dropping his health, but its corrosive nature shifted his health regen into a drain, -4/minute. Not enough to kill him right away, but he did not want to be hit by any more of those.

Level 1+

(Goblin Shaman)

Health 112%

Fortunately, this time Gremlin Two did as ordered, remaining out of the line of fire and not trying to be helpful.

Levi moved methodically around the room in quick darts, breaking the remaining crystals from a safe distance while keeping an eye on the goblin shaman.

With no distractions he easily managed to evade any further attacks from the dangerous but ultimately still only level 1 boss.

Two minutes later he smashed the final crystal, then glanced at the shaman to see how they’d done.

Level 1+

(Goblin Shaman)

Health 138%

So it had been boosted by about a third. Levi could deal with that. If the crystals had been fully drained and the second form unlocked, judging from similar mechanics in other dungeons, the boost would have been closer to 300%.

Even with the delay and playing it safe, he’d blitzed through the challenge in record time. Most teams at this level, without much dungeon experience, wouldn’t have even realized what they were up against.

+38%, he'd consider them lucky.

Tricky part over, time for the fun part.

Levi stopped running, signaled to Gremlin Two, and charged.