I might have been able to use my mana, but I couldn’t maintain it. I guess all of that would come with practice. Nolan was proud that I was able to tap into my mana, so I should be, too. I would give myself a pat on my back, but these baby limbs could only go so far.

Because downing that gelatin blob was a group effort, my EXP was split. Nolan said not to worry, there were more monsters to come. Fighting more monsters built character and confidence, and those were exactly what I needed to adapt to this new world.

Nolan planned on us tackling all four waves. He also went on to say that the final boss was part of the first wave, so we couldn’t do four waves of dungeon minions and then go back to beat the final boss. Because screw an easy ride! The rest of the dungeon was filled with scarier monsters than green slime and dodo birds. Even though we’d encountered our fair share of globs, we also had to face giant killer crabs, earth golems, fire beetles, and skeletons.

So yeah, plenty of opportunities to master the art of channeling and wielding mana.

And plenty of opportunities to level up. I’d reached level ten during our first wave and acquired [Meteor Strike]. I was planning on using the new skill for the big man himself.

At the end of our journey was our final boss, Figor. We stepped foot into his lair, the scene opening up like a circular arena for extra combat space. On the ground were carved out symbols and intricate runes that glowed an eerie blue, pulsing with energy. The torches along the walls were scarce as they began flickering and popping one by one. The air was thick with the stench of decay and the coppery tang of blood. In fact, the smell was worse here than out there.

Around the circumference of the arena were towering pillars carved out of the same stone as the cavern itself. It was then I realized where that nasty smell was coming from—it was the countless decaying faces on the decapitated heads staring down at us from those pillars. Those were Figor’s victims, their lifeless eyes glowing from the torchlights. A sickening feeling brushed up the back of my throat as my eyes gaped at them, until I pivoted my head and saw the bastard standing right there in the middle of the room.

Chains bolted from the ground rode up his forearms. At a glance, it looked like he was a prisoner in his own home. He had his back turned to us, so I couldn’t see his face just yet. But in terms of intimidation, he nailed it. The guy was tall, shooting over eight feet, dressed in a long tattered black cloak. His towering height made his slenderness more obvious, and when I went to [Inspect] him, I made a haunting discovery:

Fated to a life of gluttony and misery….

Figor exacts torment and torture to those who trounce through his domain.

[Mind Sever, Level: 30]

Nolan failed to mention that Figor was a mind sever!

Then again, how would he know, right? He did say that he’d never been to this particular dungeon. I wish he were a walking talking dungeonpedia expert, because as soon as Figor broke his chains and turned around, I had so many questions!

I half expected the squid head, but it didn’t mean that I still wasn’t grossed out by it. His flesh was pale purple, and his head was very bony with sharp angles. Those beady eyes looking at us forced me to focus my attention at the center of his face, where four long tentacles dangled where his mouth would be. He was covered in what looked like pimples along his skin, down to the tips of his facial extremities.

It was only after he turned around that I got the full effect of Figor, the final boss. The top half of his torso was huge compared to the rest of his body. His chest had deep concave pits, each one at least an inch wide. His bony hands were longer than my entire body, each slender finger tipped with sharp black nails.

Those same fingers curled around something that started to bubble right under his rib cage. It was a staff with ropes of flesh around it, continuing to grow in length. When he snapped it out of his side, the head of it began to form into a curved blade, much like that of a scythe.

As Figor’s deep-set eyes flicked from Nolan to me and back again, I could feel the air around us become denser, pressing against my skin in an almost physical way. His aura was undeniable, surrounding us with raw, predatory energy.

“Ah, the taste of fear is indeed sweet,” Figor’s deep and powerful voice echoed in the cavernous arena, each word reverberating through me. “I will savor it after I take your head and feast on your flesh.”

“Fear? Shit, he must be talking about you,” Nolan said, giving me a cheeky side eye.

Okay! Guilty! I wasn’t prepared for a scary first boss encounter!

It was so much easier hiding behind a computer screen where I could holler and whimper in the privacy of my own room. Experiencing this in real life was a different feeling entirely. His chilling voice felt real, the numbing sensation along my scales felt real, and that menacing gait toward us felt real!

All of a sudden more ghastly tentacles breached from his back, dancing along his sides as they extended to the floor. The tips of them curled inward as he hunched over, and then just like that, he beelined right between us! Hell, it didn’t even look like he ran the distance. After I step-dodged his swinging blade attack, I noticed that he had been levitating under that long robe the entire time.

Okay, I needed to tackle this big guy like Cathorga in Chaos Divide. Study his specials and his movements, and then go in for the kill.

Nolan might have had the same idea because he kept Scarlet holstered. Instead, he pulled out star knives from his inventory and tossed them at Figor. Figor then used a mind bolt to deflect them, and followed up with a wave of piercing psionic energy that put pressure on my mind like a vice. I stumbled back. The world tilted and distorted around me as I flew across the dungeon and right into one of the stone pillars.

“He has a barrier,” Nolan shouted, my slamming into the pillar suddenly making those faces on it shriek. The chorus of shrieking decapitated heads made it hard to focus on Nolan’s voice as he said, “Keep your guard up!”

Easier said than done when your brain feels like it’s being squeezed out of your ears. I gritted my teeth, focusing on my opponent. Through the distortion, I could see Figor fighting Nolan, Nolan keeping the distance wide by tossing more projectiles at him. Figor grew tired of his games and teleported right into his face, forcing Nolan to pull the trigger.

Ice shot, right to the gut!

It was a clean hit, except what happened after made me numb. Nolan suddenly dropped to his knees, clenching onto his stomach like he was the one who received the shot.

“Frail human,” Figor boomed. “Your physical attacks will only harm yourself.”

Oh, really?

I dashed right in with that sweet intel and summoned a heatwave into his back when he wasn’t looking. He was so distracted with Nolan that it was easy to sneak in and torch his skinny ass!

Hot dragon flames poured on his back, rolling up his towering height. He turned around to face me while basking in the heat that was doing damage to him, and then he tried doing that mind trick on me.

He must not have remembered that dragons had breath weapon resistance!

[Figor, HP 75%]

I didn’t stop there; I tried my hand on the new skill I got, [Meteor Strike]. Large chunks of molten rocks appeared above Figor’s head, glowing with heated intensity before raining down on him. They exploded upon contact, the shockwaves rippling through his body.

His sudden howl of pain echoed throughout the arena, his body swaying under the relentless assault. The flames were eating away at his life force, his health rapidly decreasing.

[Figor, HP 60%]

“No!” he roared, and then teleported again to escape my wrath. Slowly, my meteor strike continued to shave health points off of him, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from retaliating. When he stretched his arms out and curled his fingers into a fist, I braced myself to deal with whatever he had in store for me. His moves were powerful, but thankfully they were predictable. Except this one. He made it look like he was about to charge up a pair of psionic beams around his fists. Instead, his eyes flashed white, and suddenly, my entire body went stiff.

I couldn't escape as he cleaved my mind and explored me. He met not an ounce of resistance on my part, my willpower overpowered by his [Mind Weave].

Movement was out of the question, not unless he allowed it. I was a prisoner to his will. Feeling helpless in this tiny body was the worst, but worse than that was having a monster crawling through your thoughts, fishing through your memories, insecurities, and fears. It was a violation on the deepest level, his laughter echoing in the hollows of my mind as he unearthed my vulnerabilities, one by one.

“Is this what frightens you?” His voice was low, rustling through my thoughts. Gone was the usual booming arrogance, replaced by a patronizing whisper. “Being incompetent? An utter failure? Watching as the world continues to move around you, while your part in it remains miniscule. Lower than that even….”

Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through my body, turning my blood to fire. “You’re worthless, your pathetic aspirations nothing more than wasted space in this emptiness you call a life.” I whimpered, my eyes rolling back from the intensity of it. Figor was not just weaving his psionic energy into my mind; he was trying to take control of me!

“Is this how it will all end for you?” he taunted, his sickening laughter echoing around the lair.

I fought to regain control, mentally screaming at my limbs to move, to resist. And in that split second of terror, a single thought rang clear and loud over the chaos in my mind: I was not going to die here. Not like this, not to him!

He teleported to me and then used his powers to pick me up from the floor. When I was hovering in front of him, he wrapped his long creepy fingers around my body, his tentacle mouth beginning to water.

When my eyes perceived those writhing tentacles opening up to his circular mouth, I felt the barriers of his powers begin to break. I was fighting him, just not fast enough! He’d crack my skull open by the time I broke free from his spell. Luckily I came to this dungeon with a partner, a badass gunslinger at that!

Suddenly, I felt big globs of fish flesh spray on me, Figor’s head exploding like fireworks. Strangely enough, his HP hadn’t depleted from that fatal gunshot wound:

[Figor, HP 10%]

Despite that, Nolan had liberated me from his hold, both mentally and physically. I dropped on the floor on my feet, looked at the jackass and his dangling tentacle mouth holding on by a thread, and unleashed a can of [Astral Blast] on him!

Dungeon Complete!

Proceed to the treasure chest to claim your rewards.

Alright, we actually did it!