Dybbuk

I've always avoided fighting undead monsters as much as I could before today. It's all because my fighting style requires me to get up close and personal, which isn't a great idea when your enemy has skin that can poison you or can't even be hit with physical attacks. Sure, there was gear sold at shops near and in my hometown that could protect me like Ami's jewel is, but it was way too expensive! I wasn't exactly making lots of money just hunting rock monster crystals, you know.

But now, thanks to Ami's gloves, I can mow down zombies like nothing without any fear of ailments. The only question now is can they also take down a dybbuk. Unlike zombies, dybbuks don't have solid forms, nor do they themselves take damage even if the host body they're possessing takes a beating. At least, not without any special gear equipped that is. 

Smash!

"YEOOWCH! Hey! She hit me! She hit me!" one of the dybbuks cried as he clutched his cheek.

"What did you expect? She's with the witch. Of course she wouldn't be easy picking," the other dybbuk snarled as he cracked his knuckles. "Go for a goblin."

The other dybbuk let loose a maniacal laugh as he dove straight for a goblin king. The goblin's eyes rolled back as it took a few steps back, before it slowly began to grin.

"Hekhhekhhekh! Ah, feels good to have muscle again," the dybbuk possessing the goblin king squealed.

"Tch, I was hoping that could take him out. Guess the gloves need more firepower," Ami muttered under her breath. "Get ready! Here's where it gets tough!" she warned as the possessed goblin king and the other monsters all charged for us.

"The protection extends to my legs, right!?" I called out as I began spin kicking through the horde.

"Yup, doubly so since you're wearing my patented sneakers. In addition to being stylish, all come packaged with basic protection against attacks, undead, and magic, not to mention they increase speed and kicking power," Ami proudly huffed.

"You can put all that in them!?"

"Why would I not when I can? Oh, and they're comfy too, right?"

"You bet!" I smiled as I landed a kick on the possessed goblin king, sending him flying into a mineral deposit on the far wall.

"AHGH! TH- THAT HURT!" the possessed goblin king fumed as he picked himself up and grabbed his club.

The other dybbuk, meanwhile, was still standing there watching, keeping me on my guard as who knows when he'd try to make his move.

"Just a little more... LaNorne! To me!"

"What is it?" I asked as I leapt to Ami's side.

My eyes widened as she whispered something into my ear and slipped some gems into my hand. "I'll try it. If it works, it turns the whole tide in our favor," I nodded as I merged the gems with my gloves and charged for the possessed goblin king.

The possessed goblin king let out a deranged scream as it began flailing its club about madly, but I dodged to the sides and maneuvered around it.

"STAND STILL!" the possessed goblin king cackled as it's muscles began to bulge.

Here it comes; the dybbuk's most powerful ability, pushing the possessed body past its physical limits. I prepared myself, but ended up getting caught off-guard as the possessed goblin vanished from sight.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE FAST!" the possessed goblin cackled as it went in for a swing, landing a hit on my backside and sending me flying.

I could feel pain, but my armor had clearly absorbed a lot of the impact. Even better, I was flying right towards the other dybbuk, who didn't even look concerned at the fact that I was hurdling right towards them.

Once I was in striking distance of the dybbuk, I unleashed a punch as fast as I could at its head.

SMASH!

"Wh- WHAT!?" the dybbuk cried as it tumbled to the ground.

I quickly regained my footing as watched as the dybbuk began to glow gold.

"NO! IMPOSSIBLE! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!" the dybbuk cried as it disintegrated into gold light.

It had successfully been exorcised.

"Oi... What the hell!?" the possessed goblin king cried.

"NICE, LaNorne! The plan and enhancement worked like a charm. Now guard while I haul all this shit out!" Ami called out as a new wave of monsters appeared.

It was pleasing to see Ami had successfully managed to dig up three full treasure chests thanks to my support, but now came the really hard part. 

"LIKE I'M LETTING YOU LEAVE!" the possessed goblin king roared as he and the monsters charged straight for Ami.

I quickly rushed over and thinned through the lesser monsters, leaving only the possessed goblin king. Unlike before, his strikes were now much faster, but the thing about goblin weapons is that they're usually made of stone or wood.

Crack!

With a precise strike to the club, it slowly began to shatter, leaving the possessed goblin king completely unarmed.

"What!? You- BLUGH!"

Like with his buddy, I landed a clean punch on the head, however, there wasn't any golden glow. I guess that means the enhanced gloves only have an instant exorcising effect if you land a direct hit on the dybbuk's actual head.

"That's enough! I got everything in! Retreat!" Ami shouted.

I nodded and ran for the safety zone as the possessed goblin king slowly picked itself up. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" it shouted as it charged after me.

I easily managed to outpace it and reach the safety zone, however, that didn't stop it from violently bashing at the barrier with its fists.

"Hmm, certainly looks violent. Leaving him be might cause trouble for others or us if we didn't get the treasure we need and have to come back here. LaNorne, think you could land a more precise hit on the dybbuk's real body at point-blank?" Ami smirked.

"Wait, are you saying-"

"Yup, hit him right through the barrier."

I never actually knew you could do this, but then again, most monsters didn't just run up to the barrier.

Still in an enraged state, the possessed goblin king was unable to think properly, allowing me a nice stationary target to unleash a punch onto. With a battle cry, I unleashed my punch, connecting with the possessed goblin king's head, smashing it to bits, and exposing the skull of the dybbuk beneath.

"WHAT!? IMPOSSIB- AGH!" it cried as my fist connected with it and sent it flying. "No! My treasure! MY TREASURE! IT WAS MINE! MINE!" it wailed as it began to glow gold before disintegrating seconds later.

We had won.

Rumble!

As the ground began to shake, I noticed a lone hooded man with a long white beard slowly rising from the floor.

"Who's-"

"Get out! We gotta get out! That's the dungeon master. He shows up, you get out, otherwise it's trouble!" Ami cried as she used her magic to drag me into the elevator.

Once the doors closed, Ami let out a sigh of relief. "We're safe now."

"Who exactly was that guy?" I asked.

"A dungeon master. They're the ones that manage the dungeons and ensure treasure and monster levels are in balance. When one shows up, it usually means they need to reset the floor."

"So then-"

"Oh, it's only for lower floors like this. The upper floors can reset on their own. Really, the big danger is just not to be able to see what they're doing when they reset the floor, so even if the elevator got stuck, so long as the doors are shut, we'd be fine."

"What if they wouldn't work?"

"There was a documented case of that once, but the adventurer claimed the dungeon master used his power to open the elevator and get them out of the way. And in another one, the doors wouldn't close, so he closed them himself. They're not unfair by the sound of it. Though you can bet after the incident, I modified all the elevators to have better safety mechanisms to prevent such an incident from happening again."

I softly smiled and nodded as the elevator reached the ground floor.

"And now that we're home-free, time to check the treasure chests," Ami grinned as she floated the chests and the carts over to the reception counter.

"Seems you got a nice haul. Now, let's open the chests, shall we?" the receptionist smiled.

Ami released her magical hold on the chests, causing them to begin floating on their own as they lined up. All three were different colors; maroon red, dark purple, and light green. From what I've heard, a chest's color doesn't really denote rarity, but more so the order they were dug up in. That said, some claim that some treasures can only spawn in a chest of a certain color.

The maroon red chest opened first, revealing... a gold rock monster statue.

"Oh, that completes the request I've had for... 2 weeks now?" Ami shrugged.

The dark purple chest opened next, and contained... some gauntlets.

"Hmm, LaNorne, you ever used gauntlets before?" Ami asked.

"No, but if they're not too clunky, I could try testing them," I shrugged.

"A project for the lab. Now open up that final one already!"

The light green chest was the last to open and contained... a smaller version of itself?

"YES! I FINALLY GOT IT! I FINALLY GOT IT!" Ami cheered.

All I could do was tilt my head in confusion.

"I'll have your treasures packaged to go then," the receptionist smiled as the treasures slowly floated into a large brown wooden box.

"We just gotta get to the guild. Then we've truly pocketed all this loot," Ami nodded as we headed out. 

I nodded in response as I narrowed my gaze and cracked my knuckles. Lining the road leading out were 5 men staring at us, all with devious smiles plastered upon them as they eyed our treasure haul. 

Vultures, aka, scum that would stoop to ambushing people fresh out of a dungeon in order to steal their spoils. Seems the battle isn't over just yet.