Chapter 54: Master Of The Boss Monsters
The green lizard gave a subtle glance at the bosses who made an entrance.
He had yet to respond to their almost-mocking words, but he didn't say anything directly related to that.
He raised his voice and made sure they understood him clearly, "From now on, he is my master. Which means, he will be your master too. So, bow to him."
The green lizard was just excited to tag along with Pebbles, even if he didn't know much of his achievements.
In fact, Pebbles had very few achievements to boast about. It had only been countable days since he'd been born, so it was understandable that he was only able to do a few things...
...but the bosses didn't think of that.
They would only look at achievements and feats. Even those things were secondary. The primary would be strength.
And obviously, Pebbles displayed no aura. He didn't attempt to do so, sure, but the mask added another layer of concealment.
So naturally, the bosses would be skeptical.
The gigantic tree had eyes in the trunk and it swunted hard to look at Pebbles.
'A mask? To conceal strength?' the tree thought about it, but then shifted glances to look at the green lizard.
He stared at Pebbles as if he'd seen a god. The tree understood. Kyurn understood.
"Boss, is he perhaps a... dragon?"
The sparkles in the green lizard's eyes couldn't say more.
"Yes. Master is... a dragon."
Pebbles maintained the initial nonchalance, but he couldn't help but be bothered by the arrows of sparkles.
The tree then turned towards another one who wore a mask. It was the shaman, and she held a staff. Then the gaze fell at Azeth, who kept staring at all of them with an intent. His eyes told: "Try something funny and I will send you all to meet your maker."
But the tree didn't care. The aura emitted from Azeth was weak.
Kyurn turned to Pebbles and said some questionable stuff.
"I've seen very few dragons in my life."
His words caught everyone's attention, including other bosses.
"In fact, I've seen none. It's my first time encountering one, and I must say..." one of its branches pointed at Pebbles, almost as if he was pointing a finger, "I've never felt more repulsive than thinking of bowing to someone so weak."
The green lizard's eyes widened, and so did Azeth's and the shaman's, but Pebbles' eyes showed no reaction. It was partly because he lacked a bit of reflex and control...
Azeth had begun to growl, and he was ready to pounce at the tree.
Kyurn's last words saved him from the trouble.
"But there's one thing I'm certain about. Judging someone off their race and appearance is a crime punishable by the World Tree."
Azeth's growl ended, and the green lizard seemed to calm a bit. Pebbles' eyes widened only now.
"I'd rather trust boss. I'd rather bow than commit such a mistake."
And then the tree monster bowed before Pebbles.
Then came the turn of other bosses.
Mimasma had an irritating voice, but it was similarly innocent and naive, maybe curious as well.
"Weeeeee, new master. Mimasma gets a new master, weeeeee." And it crash-landed right in front of Pebbles' feet, sending dust to the sky. The first floor almost trembled.
And as dust settled and everyone calmed from their startled state, they found Azeth standing in between Mimasma and Pebbles.
In an attempt to protect, he had jumped right in.
Furthermore, there was a faint yellow-to-green barrier erected around Pebbles. When he turned right, the shaman's staff was pointed towards him.
They overreacted, and they knew that.
Mimasma, after bowing to Pebbles, started to levitate and approached Pebbles only to sit on his lap.
Seeing such a gigantic potato, anyone could be concerned. Pebbles could have had his lower limbs destroyed by the weight...
...yet, it was light.
'Interesting, does it have a weight manipulation skill?'
The crash landing and the slight tremor were surely because of its large weight, yet now it was as light as a feather... so Pebbles had just made a simple guess.
Well, before he could confirm it, Broody made sure the world knew him.
"Hmph, now now, aren't you grateful?"
A cheeky, arrogant, full-of-confidence voice echoed from the hamster that now stood on a slightly elevated stone from the ground.
The hamster had brown fur with patchy areas of yellow starting from his belly to his head, almost making him seem as if he was a blonde.
Naturally, there were weird gazes for his words, especially the green lizard, who almost face-palmed himself.
"Grateful? For what?" Pebbles couldn't help but ask.
"Hahahaha. Kahahaha. Grateful that you got the chance to become Lord Broody's master, don't you think?"
The hamster raised both his hands and placed them on his waist, and then stared at the ceiling while his belly protruded.
With each laugh, his belly jiggled, and Pebbles couldn't help but control his laughter.
"Yes, yes. I'm grateful. I'm very, very grateful."
Pebbles glanced a few times at the green lizard and also at the shaman. Both tried hard to control their laughter. As for Azeth, he was already judging the hamster.
"What a weirdo..." escaped his lips just under a whisper.
The hamster had sharp ears.
"W-what was that?"
The hamster bent forward and noticed Azeth, who hesitated a bit.
Then he jumped from the stone, rolled, and finally landed steady on his knees. It was almost like a circus show.
"Broody greets his master." He bowed to Pebbles.
"And Broody likes to make his first complaint."
"Hm?" Pebbles seemed interested.
"This lizard is abusing Broody. He called Broody weird. He racially indiscriminated Broody. Waaa... Broody wants justice..."
Pebbles' eyes widened as he further tried to control his laughter, especially when Azeth panicked.
"N-no, master. I didn't mean to. I just..."
Pebbles ended up laughing, "Hahahaha..."
"Fine, fine. Since he called you weird, from now on, you have every right to call Azeth a weirdo."
"Broody feels that is unfair..."
"Additionally, Azeth will listen to one of your wishes and try to fulfill it, as though he were following my order. Satisfied?"
"Hehe..."
"Broody satisfied." The hamster formed a fist with his right hand as two of his gigantic teeth became visible.
"M-master..." Azeth was on his knees as he faced Pebbles, and while he cried, the hamster was laughing and making evil faces, showcasing his win.
Pebbles liked such banter.
But it had to end, especially when the White Tiger approached.
It didn't speak much. There were no excessive movements. The only thing the white tiger did was... lower itself, lower its head just enough to touch the ground, and then stood up.
It turned around, trying to leave, but then glanced left and right once... and then walked near to the wall, just behind the shaman, and fell side-first.
It fell asleep.
"..."
Pebbles didn't say much. His throat had almost closed at the sight of such a large beast.
He could tell... this beast was strong. In fact, it was the strongest creature he'd ever seen... every fiber of his being was alert and warned him not to mess with the tiger...
Well, regardless, he had congratulations on his way.
"With that, you have officially become the Master of the Bosses, master... and the master of the dungeon as well."
Pebbles didn't say anything to the green lizard's words.
He just nodded as he was preoccupied with stuff...
Ding!
[Congratulations.]
[You have gained a title: Master Of Bosses [permanent].]
[Effect: +10 points for all stats during a fight with any monster classified as a boss.]
And then...
[Congratulations.]
[You have completed the 2nd Mission: Explore the Dungeon.]
"..."
'I did...?'