Dungeon Novel: Chapter Thirty-One (Patreon)

Unbound was nervous. The forest theme, despite the river, would maximise the Fire mages effectiveness and he was hurriedly taking one of the explosive Undead to make a Boss of the fourth floor.

It was a large room with many, many small tunnels and side rooms threading through the Boss room. The explosive Undead was a large humanoid skeleton with large bone packs held within its ribcage and upon its back.

When Unbound started the process to make it the Boss those packs of bone started to grow larger and larger along with the skeleton. The originally six-foot-tall skeleton became eight-foot as the packs started to grow out of the skeleton, forming spikes from the shoulders and a bib structure from the bottom.

The bone reddened and grew thicker, the original bright white becoming a light red colour similar to a flame. The bone became thick enough to start to fill the gaps in between the ribs and spine. It became plate-like, forming a set of armour between its neck and ribs and along its limbs.

As the transformation finished an armoured skeleton with large explosive packs held within and on itself was revealed. It felt extremely dangerous and with a though Unbound created a Void elemental next to the Boss and ordered it to explode.

The elemental was torn through, its core crystal shattering under the force of the explosion released. The bone shrapnel was spread far and wide by the detonation, tearing through many stone columns and platforms that made up the room.

It was impressive destruction, the damage dealt by a destruction-oriented Boss that could only attack once was immense. The floor beneath the explosion was gone in a crater metres across and the Void elemental hadn’t had a chance, its crystal immediately destroyed.

Void elementals could only exist because in reality because of the crystal. Their connection to reality tethered completely by that core, without it the Void dissipated. The elemental was one of Unbound’s strongest defenders and it was instantly destroyed by the fulmination.

It was likely that the explosion cut through the Void cloak faster than the elemental could break the reality of the explosion, allowing the core to shatter. It was possible that invaders would have a way to defend specifically against explosions but Unbound had no expectations of an item or ability appearing for that outcome yet.

He respawned the Boss and the elemental that he placed by his core, as another thought struck him, he created three by the cave by the river on the third floor were his guests resided. In case the invaders were here specifically for one of them, which he suspected, he would then have defenders ready to take on the intruders.

The invaders were halfway to the river already and they had lost two more knights he absorbed the corpses that featured large dents in their armour and bodies. It was likely that they had fallen to earth elementals that were one of the most lethal elemental types Unbound could create.

The path that the invaders had taken was obvious, the many scorched and burning trees and molten stone that used to form an elemental body. It was a path of pure destruction and Unbound partially focused upon restoring it as he watched the invading party.

They were currently fighting several elementals and a Bone Tearing spider. The spider had torn an arm of a knight even as the earth elementals were hit with enough fire to crack the stone that they were formed from and gradually melt.

The fire mage was strangely specifically aiming away from the air elementals until one was knocked into the jet of flame by its fellow. The wind elemental died instantly as the air that formed it combusted, but its death caused a great billow of fire that caught two of the knights.

Many of the fights that Unbound witnessed gave him ideas for future mobs when he could buy advanced skills. The Creature fusion skill may be able to fuse a fire and air elemental that could use those explosions without harm to itself.

As the fight finished up, the knight who had his arm torn off had died making a total of five knights dead from the first three floors. The mages seemed fine despite the fire mage’s exhaustion from constant magic usage.

They proceeded further but differently from the previous invaders they went straight for the middle of the floor, going straight for the boss room on the third floor.

The group stopped at the river, the rampaging body of water a spectacular sight to behold and without any sort of concern at the obstacle, the space mage teleported the entire group across to the other side.

Watching the biggest obstacle on his third floor being avoided without any trouble Unbound mentally decided through his own affinity or through sigils he would prevent the manipulation of space within his domain. It irritated him to see such disregard for the features he put time and effort into.

The group had no knowledge of Unbound’s mental promises and continued through the floor. The defenders on the third floor did not pose a threat to the mages and the noble they guarded. The knights acted as living shields for the trio and as a physical threat in case of a defender that was immune to magical damage.

It was several minutes later that the group reached the boss cavern, the knights as the vanguard as they marched in. As they passed the threshold of the cavern Unbound formed a trap just inside the entrance to catch the unwary invaders.

Unbound created a set of the invisible hooks that were designed to tear out eyes from humanoid invaders.

In the boss room, the knights were remaining close to the trio as the fire mage illuminated the area, forming floating balls of fire in the air that were moving closer to the elemental boss waiting in ambush.