The cavern before the massive stone doors was silent, save for the heavy breathing of the team. They had thirty minutes. Zack sat apart again, leaning against a cold stalagmite. He closed his eyes, appearing to rest, but his mind was active, pulled into the System interface.
[Dimensional Storage]
5x Blue Cube (Defense) (5.0)
3.8x Blue Cube (Strength) (3.8)
3x Mid-Grade Healing Potions
5x Low-Grade Recovery Potions
45 Shop Points
He didn't hesitate. He mentally selected the cubes. 'Absorb all.'
The sensation this time was intense. It wasn't a gentle warmth; it was a hot, heavy rush that flooded his muscles and bones. His skin felt thicker, tougher, like it had been dipped in iron. His arms and chest swelled slightly with new, dense muscle.
[Stats Updated.]
Strength: 41.2 -> 45.0 (+3.8)
Defense: 40.1 -> 45.1 (+5.0)
He flexed his hand. The power was intoxicating. He was now halfway through the D-Rank stats. He was, statistically, a solid D-Rank (Beginner) Hunter in almost every category.
"Time's up," Emily announced, standing and sheathing her sword with a sharp click. She looked at each of them, her eyes serious but confident. "This is it. The Brood Mother. She's a D-Rank (Advanced) boss. She's big, she's tough, and she spawns adds. Lots of them."
Ben stood up, banging his mace against his shield. "Just another big bug to squash. Let's do this."
Maya checked her daggers one last time, nodding silently.
Emily looked at Zack. "Zack, you stay glued to me. Your job is to keep Ben topped off. If adds get past us, don't try to be a hero again. Just run to me. Got it?"
"Got it," Zack said, giving her a nervous nod that was only half-fake. This was his first real boss fight.
Ben walked to the massive stone doors. With a grunt of effort, he pushed. The heavy stone groaned against the floor, slowly swinging inward. A blast of hot, fetid air rushed out, smelling of rotten meat and sulfur.
They stepped inside.
The boss room was enormous, a natural cavern easily three hundred feet across. The floor was littered with bones—some animal, some undeniably human. In the center of the room was a massive, raised mound of dirt and chewed stone, resembling a grotesque ant hill.
And on top of it sat the Brood Mother.
She was monstrous. A Kobold bloated to horrifying proportions, easily twenty feet long. Her lower body was a swollen, pulsating egg-sac, while her upper body was heavily armored in thick, chitinous plates. She had four arms, each ending in wicked, scythe-like claws. Her eyes glowed with a sinister, intelligent red light.
"Spread out!" Emily yelled, her voice echoing in the vast space.
Ben charged straight for the mound, bellowing a challenge to draw her attention. The Brood Mother shrieked, a sound that grated on their bones, and lunged down the mound with terrifying speed for her size.
CLANG!
Ben met her charge, his shield groaning under the impact of her massive claws. He slid back ten feet, his boots carving furrows in the dirt, but he held.
"Damage, now!" Ben roared, bracing himself for the next blow.
Emily and Maya went to work. Emily unleashed a torrent of fireballs, aiming for the Brood Mother's unarmored joints. Maya was a blur of motion, dashing in to slash at the monster's legs before darting away.
Zack stayed back, watching Ben's health. He saw the Tank wince as a claw managed to find a gap in his armor, drawing blood.
Time to work.
Zack raised his hand. He didn't use his full power. He dialed his [Minor Soothe] back to about 50%.
A soft, steady green light enveloped Ben. The cut closed, and Ben grunted in relief.
"Nice one, kid! Keep 'em coming!"
The fight was going well. They had a rhythm. Ben tanked, Zack healed, Emily and Maya dealt damage. The Brood Mother shrieked and thrashed, but they were whittling her down.
"She's at 50%!" Emily shouted. "Watch for the spawns!"
As if on cue, the Brood Mother reared back and slammed her massive egg-sac onto the ground. It split open, and dozens of small, slimy eggs spilled out. They hatched instantly, revealing Kobold Hatchlings—small, vicious creatures the size of large dogs.
"Adds!" Maya yelled, peeling off the boss to intercept them.
"Zack, stay close!" Emily ordered, turning her fire on the horde of hatchlings.
They were managing. It was tough, chaotic, but they were winning.
And then, the trap sprung.
From the shadows at the very back of the cavern, behind the Brood Mother's mound, two massive shapes detached themselves from the darkness. They hadn't been there before. They must have been burrowed, waiting.
They were Kobold Royal Guards. D-Rank (Advanced). They were nearly as big as the Warlord they had fought earlier, heavily armored and wielding massive stone mauls.
"Ambush!" Maya screamed, spotting them first. "Two Elites! Rear flank!"
It was a disaster. Ben was fully engaged with the Brood Mother. If he turned, she would kill him. Maya was swarmed by hatchlings. Emily was the only one free.
"I've got them!" Emily yelled, desperation in her voice. She turned away from the hatchlings to face the two charging Royal Guards.
She was a D-Rank (Mid) Mage. She couldn't tank two Advanced Elites.
She cast a [Firewall], but the Guards just smashed through it, their stone armor absorbing the flames.
One Guard swung its maul. Emily tried to dodge, but she was too slow. The maul clipped her side.
CRACK!
The sound of ribs breaking was sickeningly loud. Emily screamed and was thrown across the room, landing hard and not moving.
"EMILY!" Ben roared, distracted.
The Brood Mother took advantage. Her scythe-claw slammed into Ben, knocking him flat. She raised her other claws to finish him.
Maya, trying to help, was overrun by hatchlings. They were biting her legs, dragging her down.
It was over. They were going to die.
Zack stood there, seeing it all in slow motion. The kind, scared Healer was about to watch his only friends be slaughtered.
Something inside him snapped.
The mask didn't just slip. It shattered.
"NO!"
His voice wasn't the shaky, nervous tenor they knew. It was a roar, deep and resonant, filled with a terrifying, primal fury.
He didn't run away. He didn't hide.
He ran to the center of the chaos.
He raised both hands high. He didn't hold back. He poured every single ounce of his 39.0 Spirit into his skill.
"[MINOR SOOTHE]!"
It wasn't minor. It was a supernova of emerald light. It flooded the entire cavern, blinding every monster.
It hit Emily, knitting her broken ribs back together in seconds. She gasped, air rushing back into her lungs.
It hit Ben, closing his deep gashes and restoring his stamina instantly.
It hit Maya, the small bites on her legs vanishing.
They all looked up, shocked, to see Zack standing there. He wasn't cowering. He was standing tall, his eyes burning with a cold, ruthless intensity they had never seen.
"Get up," he commanded. His voice was cold steel.
Ben scrambled to his feet, staring at the 'Healer' in disbelief.
"Zack... what...?" Emily gasped, sitting up.
"We don't have time," Zack snapped, cutting her off. He pointed at the two Royal Guards who were shaking off the blindness. "Ben, Maya, Emily. You three take the Guards. Keep them off me."
"Keep them off you?" Ben asked, dumbfounded. "Kid, what are you doing?"
Zack turned to face the massive Brood Mother, who was shrieking in rage at losing her prey.
He cracked his knuckles. Dark, swirling energy—his God-Eater aura—began to leak from his hands, visible for the first time.
"I'm ending this," he growled.
He didn't wait for their permission. He launched himself at the Brood Mother.
His 43.7 Agility was on full display. He was faster than Maya. He was a blur of motion that crossed the fifty feet between him and the boss in a heartbeat.
The Brood Mother slashed at him with all four claws.
Zack didn't dodge. He met the first claw with his fist.
BOOM!
His 45.0 Strength fist collided with the D-Rank (Advanced) monster's claw. The sheer force of the impact cracked the monster's chitin. He parried the massive limb like it was nothing.
He ducked under the second claw, wove around the third.
He was right in front of her bloated stomach.
"You like spawning things?" he snarled.
He drove his fist, wreathed in black flame, deep into her egg-sac.
SQUELCH-BOOM!
The impact was devastating. The sac ruptured, exploding in a shower of vile green slime. The Brood Mother shrieked, a sound of pure, unadulterated agony that shook dust from the ceiling.
Behind him, the team was stunned into action.
"Do what he says!" Emily yelled, shaking off her shock. She didn't know what Zack was trying to do, but he just saved them. "Take the Guards!"
Ben, still bewildered but trusting Emily, charged the two Royal Guards, smashing into them with renewed vigor.
Zack ignored them. His world was just him and the boss.
The Brood Mother, maddened by pain, went berserk. She thrashed wildly, her massive body slamming around the cavern.
A claw caught Zack in the side.
CRUNCH.
It hurt. It hurt bad. He felt a rib crack even with his 45.1 Defense.
He didn't even flinch.
He grabbed the claw that hit him, digging his fingers into the chitin.
"[Minor Soothe]," he whispered, casting it only on himself.
The green light flashed under his shirt. The rib knitted instantly.
He pulled himself up the monster's arm, climbing her like a tree while she thrashed.
She tried to bite him with her massive mandibles. He punched them, shattering one of the fangs.
He reached her head. She had four red eyes, glowing with hate.
"Nighty night, bitch," he whispered.
He didn't just punch. He placed both hands on her armored skull.
He activated his [God-Eater] aura to its maximum.
"[Devour]."
It wasn't a skill he usually used on live targets. It was messy.
Dark, purple-black tendrils of energy exploded from his hands, drilling into the Brood Mother's skull.
She screamed, but it wasn't a normal scream. It was the sound of her very life force being ripped out. Her massive body convulsed, shriveling visibly as Zack drained her.
The light in her four eyes flickered, dimmed, and then went out completely.
The massive, twenty-foot monster collapsed, dead, turning to dust before it even hit the ground.
Zack landed in the pile of dust, panting. He was covered in green slime and black monster gore. He slowly stood up and turned around.
The cavern was dead silent.
Ben, Maya, and Emily had just finished off the two Guards. They were standing there, covered in blood and soot, staring at him.
Their expressions were a mix of horror, awe, and complete confusion.
The 'scared E-Rank Healer' was gone. In his place stood a monster covered in the dust of a D-Rank boss he had just soloed in under a minute.
Zack wiped slime from his face and looked at them.
"We need to talk," he said, his voice hoarse.
[Reader's Note: Zack's Stats
Rank: E (Advanced) / (System Rank: D (Beginner) - Unofficial, pending full 50.0 )
Class: Healer / God-Eater (Mythical)
Strength: 45.0
Agility: 43.7
Stamina: 41.7
Spirit: 39.0
Defense: 45.1
(Note: Zack has not yet looted the Brood Mother or the Royal Guards. He is currently at a standoff with his team. )