SpoilerI want to thank all of my patrons, including:KidoTreant BalewoodOrchamusElectric HeartAiden KingCrazySith87ShadowsmageSammaxAngeliightPreytorFenixPheonix14FndersAnd my many other patrons!

  Thank you guys; without your help I could never write as much as I do!

  If you want more to read, sider joining my Patreon! Or chey other inal works, Love Crafted (An iive story about a cute eldritch abominatioag things) or Stray Cat Strut (A cyberpunk magical girl story!) and amon Bun (a wholesome LitRPG!)

  [colpse]Chapter Eighty-Two - Casus Bellyache

  “Um,” I said.

  “That’s not the way it was,” Moon Moon said.

  All four of us stared up at the thing standing in the middle of the corridor. There was a bit more floor space here, the area widening inte square that squeezed back down into a corridor at the far end. If I stretched my neck I could see the door that resumably the exit and another device with arms and mirrors and suext to it.

  All that was set dressing for the thing in the middle of the room. Teall, nearly as wide, and with six legs that were nearly Broccoli-sized, the moood in the tre of the room like a gigantic gss guardian. Its body was a multi-faceted ball of gss, red veins running deep within and shifting about like a stingy va-mp.

  “Insight?”

  A Gss Horror, level 7.

  “That thing’s only level seven?” I asked.

  “Even dragons are only level o some point,” Amaryllis said. “A you wouldn’t want to fight them.”

  “Because they’re still dragons?”

  “And because they have mothers,” Amaryllis said. She shifted, still eyeing the monstrosity taking up a sizable portion of the room. “Hitting that is going to be hard. I ’t see any big weaknesses on it.”

  “Awa, it’s also tall,” Awen said.

  “We could focus on the legs?” I tried. “But it has six, so that’ll take some effort. Any idea what kind of stuff it do?”

  “At level seven it should only have four skills,” Amaryllis said. “Probably simir to the ohe gss golems had, but don’t bet on it.”

  “So, giant sers, it reflect spells and, uh, it make the ground turn into spikes? ’t remember the others.”

  “That’s the gist of it,” Amaryllis said. She twirled her little dagger around. “So, lunch?”

  “Huh?”

  The harpy rolled her eyes. “It won’t move until we get closer, the ones behind us shouldn’t reappear until we leave the floor and wait nearly a whole day. So we have time to sit bad rex a little.”

  “Well, um, alright?”

  It was a little strange, but I didn’t pin. Instead I fetched my backpack (and e) and brought it over to the sed corridor where we spread a b on the ground and got to eating. It was mostly hardtad cheese and water, but the pany made up for the bnd food. That, and it allowed my stamina and mana to climb back up to full before the fight, which would probably e in handy.

  “So, Moon Moon, how long have you been in the Best Pack?” I asked as I gnawed on some bread.

  “Very very long,” Moon Moon said. “Since I was born.”

  “Cool! How did you get your name?”

  “I like the moon,” Moon Moon said. He flicked a piece of cheese into his mouth and swallowed it whole. “Mmm, this smells nice.”

  I hat made perfect sense. “I like the way you name yourselves, it’s cute. Are all the drolls hat way?”

  “Yes yes,” Moon Moon said. “Except for the Pretty Good pack, they have silly names, like Brian and Matt.”

  “Ah,” I said. “The anthropologists in this world must have their ptes full, huh?”

  “This world?” Awen asked.

  I felt my smile grow a little stiff. “Ah-hah, nevermind. Um, so, has anyone figured out how to take out that big beastie?”

  “No,” Amaryllis said. “I hate how ill-suited my magic is to this kind of situation. I didn’t decide to bee a Thunder Mage only to be trumped by the first rge foe I e across.”

  “Yeah. My magio good either,” I said.

  “I still bite things hard,” Moon Moon said with a wag of his tail.

  Awen shifted a little. She had sat down with her legs folded together to one side, as if she were wearing a big dress instead of fy pants. “Awa, I think I have an idea.”

  “Oh, do tell!” I said.

  “The device aim its beam. I think it be used as a on, of sorts.” She fiddled with her bottle of water. “Um, I’m not sure if it will hurt it though. My uncle said that a lot of dungeons had solutions to their floors. Um, he said they were b and he likes hitting things better, but we try?”

  “We could always start the fight with that,” I said before taking a swallow from my own bottle. We only had a few with us. I didn’t think we’d be in the dungeon for more than a day at most though, so it would probably be okay. “Right, should we get going?”

  A bit of pag ter a all of ear aside around the sed interse just in case before f up o the room with the Gss Horror. Awen rushed over to the devid turned some of the rings a little. It made the ser-like beam of light move up and down. “R-ready!” she said.

  We all got ready in our own ways. Amaryllis ran a talon across the sparking edge of her magic dagger. I shifted the grip on my spade and looked up to see if I had clearao jump around with, and Moon Moo over double to sniff at his own crotch.

  I decided to not pay attention to the st.

  “Starting!” Awen said.

  I crouched a little, the muscles in my thighs and calves tightening as I got ready to move.

  The device A on clicked and ccked and the beam of light shooting across the room slowly moved and jumped and started until, finally, it ointing right at the gss horror’s core.

  The little red veins within wiggled and twisted like coiling she golem shivered.

  “Um,” I said.

  Cracks started to form where the red squiggles on the inside moved, but the gss horror was also starting to glow.

  “It’s buffing it!” Amaryllis yelled.

  Awen did something and the beam cut off, but it was too te. The horror shot forwards at a speed that nothing that size should have had. It raised e leg and Moon Moon had to roll forwards to avoid being pulped.

  I shot to the air, aiming from the golem’s body with my spade ready to spear into it.

  Three separate beams of light smashed into my chest from the legs on the side of the golem’s body I was on.

  I yelped as searing pain cut into my tummy and sides.

  The beams were painful, but they didn’t have any actual kiic strength to them, nothing that made my course ge. I crashed into the strud nded awkwardly on my hands and knees.

  My first instinct was to wind press a hand against the wounds in my sides. I regretted it as soon as I touched the sensitive skin there. “Burhrough my armour,” I muttered. “Rude.”

  Getting up on wobbly legs, I raised my spade high above my head, then smacked it dowhe cracks within it were close to the surface. Bits and pieces of gss sloughed off with every blow, but for all the damage I was doing, it was obvious that the horror had enough mass to take the blows without beiroyed.

  Then the horror stomped one foot to the ground and the wall turned into a bed of jaggedy gss spikes.

  I saw Amaryllis just barely rolling out of the way of a spike that would have skewered her. “Get off there!” she yelled at me.

  “Got it!” I said as I hopped off.

  The moment I was off the golem’s back a thundercp sounded out and I had to cover my ears to block out the sound of it. One of the horror’s legs cracked, a splinter running from its base to the joint where it ected to its body.

  “Nice wo--” I started to say, but Amaryllis wasn’t done. Another fsh of light, and a searirical beam smashed into an on the same side. Then a third and one of the rearmost legs burst apart into a million gssy shards.

  “Keep hitting it!” Amaryllis said. She anting, and her hair-feathers were pstered to her forehead by sweat.

  “I’ll try and distract it!” I called out as I moved uhe horror with my spade. “Moon Moon, smash those legs!”

  “Yes yes!” Moon Moon said as he rao one of the damaged legs and started gnawing at it.

  I had to keep the horror’s foe to give the others time t it down. I wove between its legs, smag eae as hard as I could with my spade while avoiding the gssy caltrops it had left behind when it summoned all those gssy spikes. “Hey ugly, I’m here!” I screamed up to it.

  Mog someone for being ugly was really, really bad, but this was more of a something than a someone, so maybe the insult would mostly nd at the feet of its creator. Still rude, but a bit less so.

  My spade made quite the cmor as I ba around. I must have caught the horror’s attention because it began smashing its legs around where I was standing. I felt myself grinning as I hopped bad out of the way of a leg, then skipped to the side to avoid a swipe. It was almost like a game, and even if it was a little risky, I was having quite a bit of fun.

  Then the horror’s legs glowed and a beam of magical light hit me square in the face.

  I screamed as I felt a searing slice pass from my o my forehead, the stench of burning flesh filled my senses and I had to y eyes against the tht light.

  “Broc, duck!” Amaryllis called.

  It was too te.

  Something, probably one of the horror’s huge legs, smashed into me a me flying back. The air was batted out of my lungs and I saw a wash of stars crossing my vision as I was thrown back.

  My flight ended with a jolt and what had to be the worst pain I ever felt as something pushed into my back.

  I blinked dumbly, trying to figure out just what was going on.

  That’s when I saw the gssy spike stig out of my lower abdomen. Just a handspan of gss, decorated in dark red liquid.

  “Oh,” I said.

  “Broccoli!” Awen said as she rao me. Gss was kicked aside as she came ao my side, theared at my chest with muted horror.

  “Potion!” Amaryllis screamed.

  That kicked Awen into gear and she started to fumble around her jacket.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  It didn’t really feel okay. It felt very not okay.

  “It was a fun adventure.”

  “You, you idiot!” Amaryllis screamed.

  The air began to whisper around, and the smell of burnt flesh faded to be repced by the ele tang of ozone.

  The room darkened, every shadowy er being a dark pit as a wind whipped around the entire arena.

  “You bastard!” Amaryllis screeched.

  White. Everythi white. There was a noise, but I couldn’t hear it over the sharp, painful ringing in my ears.

  When things returo normal Amaryllis anting, every breath sounding like a wheeze, her wings were limp by her sides and she was bent over double.

  The horror had a hole going through it from front to back, wide enough that I could have pced both fists in it side by side with room to spare. The gss round the hole was glowing, thin smoke p out of it.

  “Nice shot,” I said.

  “I-idiot,” she said.

  Awen pushed something against my lips. “Drink, please, please drink.”

  I smiled at her as I drank the potion, then the world darkened just a little.

  ***

  AnnouHello! Wele to Monday!

  I have a bunch of little things to announce.

  First! Love Crafted is done! I've begun to re-write it so that I try publishing it as an Ebook and so on a little ter, but the version that's currently up isn't too bad!

  Sed! I passed 500 patrons! It's, ah, kind of crazy? I don't think I'll be able to stay above 500 when the end on the month droop hits, but I'll try! This means I now, acc to my goal, o buy a doggo. I'm also obligated to post pics of the doggo.So that'll be my goal for September, to find a pup!

  Third! Since Love Crafted is done, I've begun to work on a ory called Give Me Back My Core! It's got an OP Md is a dungeon core fic... if you squint. It's been fun to write, but I won't be posting the first chapters until halfway through the month! Patreoo read it noarticipate in early worldbuilding discussions!

  Fourth. I'm pting removing my ission tier because it's kind of a time sink. I think I'll be repg it with a 'physical copy' tier, where joinis you a copy of whatever book I've most retly published, but in print. For now, that's just amon Bun One. But amon Bun Two should be ing out iember (From chapter 67 to 120), and Love Crafted soon after, and then Stray Cat... ah... yeah!

  Anyway, that's it for my looong AN!Stay Cool!