It had been a week since the party of four entered the dungeon. They left a trail of monster corpses as they kept walking endlessly in this confusing labyrinth. Of course, all of them had become physically and mentally exhausted from the frequent fighting mixed with the little rest they had.
"We have enough food to last us one more day; then it's onto finding out if we can eat these monsters...Haha." Craft spoke with an empty laugh tied at the end.
All their eyes were soulless and their clothes were dirtied with blood that came mostly from the monsters. They saw the same walls and the same monsters appearing over and over again as they traversed this seemingly mever-ending dungeon.
"Let's rest for now." Baro had suggested as he sat down against the wall. The rest of the group followed suit, wanting to also rest, even for a little.
"Arthur, have you sensed anything unusual?" Rosianne asked, latching onto any hope of escaping.
"There's one spot behind the walls, but every path towards it is blocked off," Arthur replied, thinking back to the beginning of the dungeon, regretting his decision to tackle this dungeon.
"I think it's best if we recap what's happened so far." Baro recommended.
"Yeah, that's a good idea; let's start from the beginning, then." Arthur had then explained every single event leading up to this point.
"We had entered the dungeon, walking down the steps into the depths of the dungeon. Another set of doors opened by itself as we came close. All four of us had entered, and just like that they closed on us, shutting us in. We've been walking around these corridors for...I don't know...close to a week, maybe. Our only source of light is these torches on the walls, which don't ever extinguish. Low-level monsters keep on appearing out of nowhere. The highest we've seen is a B-class monster. However, the issue is that they come in groups at random intervals, always pinching our group from both sides. They must know where we are at all times."
During their time trapped, Craft had been mapping out a layout of this labyrinth.
"You believe these monsters can pinpoint our location?" Rosianne looked at Arthur.
Arthur looked at Rosianne. "No...but maybe something bigger is controlling them."
"Could a larger monster be behind the walls Arthur was sensing earlier?" Baro asked.
"Possibly...if only I could just destroy these walls, but they haven't gotten so much as a scratch on them," Rosianne responded.
"This is just a hunch, but what if this supposed monster is wearing us down, so we'll be easy pickings?" Baro proposed.
"That's one possibility, but the main question for now is: how do we get out of here and escape?" Craft replied.
"Magic stones!" Arthur exclaimed as a bright idea came to his head.
"What about magic stones?" Rosianne looked confused.
"Can't you use magic stones to blast through the walls? Won't they make your staff more powerful? Something like...a huge bang!"
"Ah! I see now! Imbuing my staff with all these magic stones we've collected would make it super powerful! Problem is...I've exhausted the amount of magic I can use to be able to execute such a powerful attack."
"But I haven't!" Arthur had a big smile, pointing his thumb towards his chest and puffing it out. Rosianne then looked at Arthur stunned at his bravado.
"Never knew you had so much confidence in yourself, brown-haired boy."
Rosianne had taken each magic stone, infusing it into her staff.
"One use is all you get, Arthur; after any spell is cast, the staff will implode on itself. Right now, the staff is in a volatile state so be careful with it. Good luck!" She happily handed the staff over to Arthur.
They walked over to where Arthur sensed a weird presence of magic. He then stopped and pointed, "Here! This is where I want to blast the spell. Rosianne?"
"What is it?"
"The best spell you know to blast open this wall, teach it to me!" Arthur spoke with resolve.
"Of course. Then mimic what I say; once you're ready, channel your magic into the tip of the staff; it should be a natural flow. Once the incantation is complete, it'll fire off an extreme blast. Baro, Craft, and I will stay far back. Now copy what I say: "
"Огонь, принеси мне свою величайшую волю. Гори ярко и быстро. Цепной взрыв!"
It took a few attempts for Arthur to pronounce, and remember the long incantation correctly. Over the week, Rosianne had been teaching the language of spells to Arthur. He was still a novice but could make out some words.
"I think I'm ready!" Arthur pointed the staff forward at the wall. Closing his eyes, he focused all his remaining magic on the staff.
「Огонь, принеси мне свою величайшую волю. Гори ярко и быстро. Цепной взрыв!」
The staff had cracked. A small sphere of fire spewed out, slowly going closer and closer towards the wall. It looked weak.
"Hahh?! Is that it?" Baro exclaimed.
"Wait for it and make sure you stay back! Arthur, get back as well!" Rosianne exclaimed.
Arthur hurriedly walked towards the others.
The ball of fire slowly inched its way towards the wall. It then came in contact with a wall, and within a split second, the wall had been destroyed, and the whole dungeon shook!
It opened into a massive room, with six pillars on either side. The ceiling had depicted pictures of strange monsters intricately carved with care. At the centre stood a great giant beast.
"Wait don't go in yet!" Rosianne exclaimed.
"Why?" Craft had asked.
"Look over there." Rosianne pointed to the broken wall. Baro and Craft had looked surprised.
"Another ball?!" The little ball of fire was slowly but surely making its way to the monster.
The monster was enormous. It walked on four gigantic, muscular, horse-like legs. The body of this beast was shrouded in dark green fur. It had red eyes and two great big horns protruding out of its forehead. Its teeth were sharp. Its heavy breathing made a strong breeze. It was truly a behemoth of a monster!
"That's what the dungeon entrance meant, right?" Arthur was weak, now barely able to stand, and he slowly pointed forward at the ominous creature. He then passed out, due to the massive consumption of magic.
"Rest now, Arthur." Baro had clutched his greatsword with one hand. "Let us handle the rest!"
The deceivingly small ball of fire had slowly approached closer to the monster. An animal-like curiosity overcame this great beast. It tilted its head forward to the ground. Lifted its forefront leg, inching closer towards it. It looked mesmerised by this small ball of fire.
Closer and closer, then the great monster touched it; with that slight contact, the ball of fire exploded, blowing half of its enormous forefront leg into pieces! The heat was so immense that it instantly cauterised the wound.
Just then, the colossal monster let out a huge, agonising roar!
"RAGHHHHHHHAWWWWRRR!!!" The whole dungeon had trembled.
"Craft! Rosianne!" Baro exclaimed. They all went running in, exhausted, but with an unyielding mindset to hunt this grand monster!