Date: May 19, 2020? - 3:15 pm?

Location: Merrick? (C-rank Dungeon)

Other than the bird-type Dungeon which contained the harpy boss, there was also a type of Dungeon that had monsters resembling monkeys and gorillas. It was also a mostly wooded area with a stream that ran through the forest. If you continue to follow the stream, the water flowing through it gradually increases in temperature and you will eventually reach a hot spring. All along the stream and also around the hot spring are monsters that resemble monkeys made of stone. Despite their appearance, they are quite nimble and are capable of climbing trees.

The hot spring is also the location of this Dungeon’s Mid-Boss. The Mid-Boss is also a monkey, but is much larger. Whereas the common monsters are about four feet tall and have bodies made of some kind of gray stone, the Mid-Boss is about seven feet tall and has a clear, crystal-like body. Similar to the black owl Mid-Boss from the harpy Dungeon, this Mid-Boss also has its own gimmicks.

First, when Dungeoneers arrive at the hot spring, the crystal monkey is likely to cast a special type of magic on them. This magic, unless resisted, forces the Dungeoneers to mirror the crystal monkey’s movements. This can make it impossible for more than one Dungeoneer to be within striking distance of the Mid-Boss at any time. Also, although the movements are mirrored, it is generally to the advantage of the Mid-Boss for three different reasons. First, if he moves towards you, causing you to also move towards it, it can attack you, and because of the difference in size and reach, its attack may connect whereas yours will not. Second, even if you could reach it, the crystal monkey boasts high Attack Stats. Third, if you did possess a higher Attack Stat, the crystal monkey could either pick up one of the many boulders scattered throughout the area and throw them at you, or pick you up and drop you into the stream, drowning you.

This magic alone caused a C-rank Dungeon raid to fail, with the only survivor being a Dungeoneer with Magic Resistance that fled in the midst of it. However, a different Dungeon raid reported that the crystal monkey had another special trait. Even if you can avoid being trapped in its magic, after sustaining a certain amount of damage, the crystal monkey will then attempt to desperately latch onto the attacking Dungeoneer and then self-destruct. The resulting explosion’s force could not be accurately measured, but it had a blast radius of at least fifteen feet and left behind a sizable crater in the ground.

When attempts are made to clear this type of Dungeon, the major part of the strategy would be in party selection. If there are not at least three Dungeoneers with the Magic Resistance Skill as well as a base Attack Stat of at least 150, then they won’t even bother to try. This was seen as the bare minimum. You would also then need at least two Dungeoneers that possessed a Skill that was capable of either knocking back large enemies or at least greatly reducing their speed. With this, it was possible to have enough attackers to resist the first magic who could then damage the crystal monkey, causing the magic to be dispelled against the rest of the party. Then, the attackers, as well as other attackers, would work together in carefully bringing the Mid-Boss down, with the support Dungeoneers using whatever crowd control Skills they possessed. The crystal monkey glows right before it is about to start its self-destruct timer, and now it was just a matter of getting at least fifteen feet away for the next ten seconds.

This strategy was unneeded for this particular raid. An orange, glowing orb streaked through the forest, pulverizing several stone monkeys along the way. Then, it struck the crystal monkey, burying itself into its body. The orb then exploded with a brilliant flood of magical energy and the crystal monkey broke apart in hundreds of pieces before turning into black mist. Shortly afterwards, an identical orange orb flew through the forest and went into the hot spring and exploded as well, destroying the Empowering Stone located underwater.

The other monsters in the dungeon were life-sized gorillas that looked to be carved from orange-coloured wood. They were stronger than the stone monkeys but much less agile. However, due to their size, being surrounded by these wooden gorillas was a serious risk in many parts of the forest. If you do manage to navigate your way through the forest, you may find yourself at a large clearing at one end.

In the clearing was another life-sized gorilla, but it was not made of wood. In fact, it looked just like a western lowland gorilla with the exception of three differences. First, it wore what looked to be steel plate armour on its chest and shoulders. Second, it wore a golden crown adorned with rubies and sapphires. Third, it carried a wooden sceptre that had a crystal ball at its end. It was certainly a puzzling site for the first Dungeoneers that encountered it.

The armour on its shoulders and chest had incredible Defense. The Defense of its armour is so high, that there had not yet been any accounts of a Dungeoneer that could break it. Its golden crown also had defensive qualities. When Dungeoneers casted magic against the Boss, the sapphire would glow and dispel the magic. If it was a very powerful magic, the sapphire might also shatter after dispelling it. Also, whenever the Boss sustained any damage, one of the rubies would glow and immediately heal the injury. The ruby would shatter after healing a certain amount of damage. The crown possessed three sapphires and rubies each.

Finally, there was the sceptre that the Boss seemed to use in order to cast magic. The magic seemed to be earth or nature themed and would allow the Boss to move dirt, soil, stones or even the trees themselves. It could instantly move tons of earth or enchant the trees to cause them to attack with magically elongated and reinforced branches. The reinforcement magic on the trees makes this a lot more dangerous than it sounds as the trees could grab onto you and crush you with more force than a trash compactor.

However, from previous encounters with the Boss, it was thought to be a very non-confrontational creature. It does not attack on sight, and even when initially attacked or targeted by magic, it only forms a wall of earth between the two sides. It is only after persistent attacks that the Boss would use its magic offensively. And even then, if the party then retreats from the clearing, the Boss does not chase them. It is only after it leaves the Dungeon during an Outbreak when it takes on the level of aggression that is characteristic of Dungeon monsters.

Now, what did all of this valuable intel mean for this current raid? Nothing. An orange glowing orb flew down from the sky and went straight for the boss. When the glowing orb glot close enough, one of the sapphires on its crown glowed and then instantly shattered. The orange orb lost some of its brilliance when it was not dispelled and hit the Boss square in the chest armour, where it then exploded. The shockwave rocked the Boss back and one of the rubies on its crown glowed but did not shatter. Then a second orb came and a second sapphire attempted to dispel it but shattered after its failed attempt. The orb struck the Boss in its chest armour again and exploded the same as the first. A third orb came in, and this time the Boss attempted to bolster its defenses by erecting a giant wall of earth in the way. The orb easily penetrated the wall and the final sapphire shattered trying to dispel the orb. The third impact hit the same spot as the other two and exploded, this time causing the ruby to glow and shatter.

The Boss then enchanted the trees to also create a wall of branches that it further reinforced and filled in with a wall of earth that it enchanted to the limits, the crystal ball on the sceptre showing cracks from the intense use of mana. There were a few seconds of silence as the Boss hid behind its enchanted fortress-like wall.

This time, three orange orbs came at the same time. It spun around in the air on their way to the clearing, as if to showcase the fact that they could easily maneuver around the wall. However, they did not, and the three orbs came close together and struck at nearby points in the wall. There was a second of resistance before the wall caved in. The three glowing orange orbs broke through the wall and they all struck the Boss in its chest. The impact from the blow caused the second ruby to shatter. Then, the three orbs all exploded at the same time. The last ruby shattered instantly and the explosion entirely engulfed the boss in a fireworks display of orange light.

C-rank Dungeon Boss defeated.

Stamina increased by 50

Magic increased by 100 (Bonus Stat points gained due to Magic Growth Specialization)

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Near a busy intersection, part of the roads were blocked off as a partial barricade was formed around the C-rank Dungeon portal. A couple EA staff were present alongside the local police, and outside the barricade were a few journalists and camera crews who were waiting. They came to cover the situation live when the Dungeoneers first arrived and entered the Dungeon, but it has been almost two hours now and some were planning to leave for a bit to get a quick, late lunch nearby.

At that moment, a teenage girl wearing a double-breasted suit dress floated out of the orange portal. Her hair was a vibrant orange and topped by a plaid hat. Above her head there were also three orange orbs revolving in two separate orbits, two orbs in the inner one and one orb in the outer orbit. She landed on the ground and the orange orbs disappeared. The reporters there finally recovered from their shock and immediately raced towards her, smacking against the barricades.

“Haley, over here, over here!”

“Miss Star, please, a moment if you would.”

“Miss Star, a comment please on the articles that say you’re Merrick’s strongest female Dungeoneer.”

The police formed a wall around Haley Star as the reporters desperately tried to get her attention. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the Dungeoneers exited the portal but none of reporters paid them any notice. Boldly, or recklessly, one reporter hopped across the barricade and ran over to her. An officer tackled the reporter, but he still asked his question.

“Miss Star…could you please comment on how you cleared this Dungeon so quickly?” Another officer came over and they prepared to drag him away.

“Well…it was smaller than the other one.” Haley stopped to reply.

“W- which Dungeon was this one?” the reporter continued to ask, even as the police picked him up.

“It was the forest one. With the monkeys and gorillas.” Haley started walking again after answering.

“Miss Star, Merrick Daily here, do you think you could give us a quick five minute interview?” a different reporter asked.

“No,” she replied as the EA staff escorted her to a car.

“Can you give a quick comment on how well you think the EA has been handling the matter with Sierra Madrazo?!” a third reporter asked. Haley ignored the question, but one of the EA officials spoke up.

“The Earth Alliance takes the objectives of mutual international cooperation and mutual progress of humanity as its most important considerations. Rest assured that the matter with Miss Madrazo is being handled with that in mind.” The reporter was clearly unsatisfied by the non-answer. However, no other reporters were prepared to charge the barricade and the EA staff drove off with Haley in the back. Haley took out her smartphone as the passenger attempted to talk to her.

“Miss Star, do you need anything to eat or drink? You must be exhausted from rushing to clear that C-rank Dungeon.”

“No, not really.” she replied, somewhat absent-mindedly as she checked her messages.

“You must want to rest now, though. Do you think you can go through a debriefing later tonight or do you need more time?”

“I mean, we could do it now if you want.” She started texting a message to someone.

“I see. Do you want to go straight back to your hotel room right now or do you want us to take you somewhere else first?”

“The hotel’s fine,” she replied as she sent her message.

“Alright, we’ll arrange matters with the rest of your party and contact you when we’ll do the debrief.”

“Okay.” Haley stared at her phone, waiting to receive a reply.

They reached the hotel and they dropped her off. Less than an hour later, there was a debrief in one of the hotel conference rooms. Following the usual course, they started by asking the oldest Dungeoneer for a recap on the events. After hearing what he had to say, instead of reconfirming by going down the chain of seniority, they went straight to Haley.

“Miss Star, is all of that correct?”

“Yes,” she replied, still staring at her phone.

“So, immediately after entering, you flew up and immediately went towards the hot spring where the crystal monkey Mid-Boss was?”

“Yeah.”

“You defeated it and then you went for the Boss which you also defeated alone.”

“Yeah.”

“How did you defeat the crystal monkey by yourself?” the official asked, since none of the Dungeoneers actually witnessed it. They just received the notification that the Empowering Stone was destroyed and since they could leave the Dungeon, they knew she must have defeated the Boss as well.

“I shot one of my shooting stars at it and destroyed it.”

“...that’s it?”

“Um, yeah.”

“It didn’t use any of its magic against you?”

“Well, I was at least five hundred feet away when I attacked it.”

“But, you could still aim at it through the trees?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“I was above the trees.”

“...Flying?”

“Yes.”

“And you did the same thing with the Boss?” Haley suddenly smiled and started texting another message. “Miss Star? Could you please answer the question?”

“Hmmmm?” she said, ignoring him for the moment. One of the other Dungeoneers could be heard muttering something about kids these days under his breath, but no one chastised her openly. After she sent her message, the EA official asked his question again.

“Miss Star, could you please describe how you defeated the Boss?”

“The Boss? The fancy gorilla?”

“Yes, Miss Star.”

“Oh, yeah, the gorilla was a lot tougher than the monkey. Those sapphires in the crown really do dispel magic.”

“So, it was capable of blocking your attacks?”

“Well, it made them a lot weaker. I had to resummon one of my shooting stars two more times before all of its sapphires broke.” The whole room stared at her even more intently.

“And how many more attacks did it take to defeat the Boss?”

“One. Well, three. I was getting a bit annoyed by it and it also put up this huge wall made from the trees and the dirt. So, I used all three shooting stars at once.”

“Oh, I see. So you were able to split up the stars to distract it and deliver the final blow.”

“No, I sent all three straight through the wall.” The official’s straight expression cracked for a second.

“Oh, right, of course. The wall would have blocked your line of sight.”

“No, I could see behind the Boss.” The official looked like he was about to ask “how?”, but Haley continued. “So, I took it out using the three shooting stars together at once.”

“So, that last attack broke through its enchanted wall, hit the Boss and dealt damage quickly enough to avoid its health-restoring rubies to activate?”

“No, the rubies activated right away.”

“I see. Well, that’s really incredible, Miss Star. To think that your attack would take down the Boss from full health.”

“Yeah.”

“And that’s exactly how it happened?” the official asked, still doubtful.

“Yeah.”

“You didn’t use any other Skills to perhaps weaken it first?”

“No.”

“Did you perhaps discover a new weak point that allowed you to deal more damage?”

“Um, I don’t think so. Hmmm, well, maybe that’s possible.”

“Really?” The EA official looked to another staff member who was taking notes. “Where is the weak point? Perhaps it's based on some environmental factors? Tell us exactly where all your attacks landed.”

“Well, it might have a weak point somewhere on its chest. I landed all of my attacks on the centre of its chest armour and it did take damage whenever they hit since the ruby glowed.”

“...Could you please repeat that?”

“Which part?”

“The part about where you said the attacks landed.”

“The centre of its chest armour. That’s where I landed all the hits.” The EA official looked at the rest of the Dungeoneers who gave a variety of shoulder shrugs and head shakes.

“May I ask why you chose to only hit its armour?”

“I read that’s where it had the most Defense so I wanted to test myself against it. But, thinking about it some more, I guess it makes sense to have armour covering up a weak point.”

“So, that means you broke its armour?”

“Honestly, I’m not completely sure. I didn’t see through the last explosion that well. Some pieces definitely flew off but I’m not sure if I completely broke it. I’ll try just finishing it off with one star at a time next time.”

“...Is there anything else you’d like to add?” Haley thought for a moment as she continued to stare at her phone.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure?” The official put emphasis in his speech now. “Miss Star, nobody here is doubting the fact that you defeated the Dungeon Boss by yourself. We just want to make sure we have as accurate of an account as possible in order to help Dungeoneers clear this type of Dungeon in the future.”

“Hmmmm, well, I might have one more thing to add.”

“Yes?”

“Apparently the crystal ball on its sceptre can crack. I am not sure whether that’s because it used up all of its mana or because it used too much mana at once. It also might be for some different reason. Like, maybe its durability decreases after some of the jewels on its crown break.” The official struggled to maintain a straight face.

“...Anything else?”

“No, that’s it.” Haley smiled as she got another reply.

“Alright, thank you very much for that, Miss Star. Does anyone else have anything they’d like to share? Any changes in monster behaviour or Dungeon environment?” The Dungeoneers shook their heads. “Alright, well, let’s end it here, then.”