Chapter 12

The sound of the rusted antique door opening echoed throughout the cave walls. As we entered further into the dark cave, the door behind us suddenly closed shut. I surveyed my surroundings. We are currently inside an island-like rock formation surrounded by water with many rock pillars in sight with no way out except the door we came through or towards a bridge on our front that also has an enormous locked door that can only be opened by defeating the dungeon boss.

"Be careful everyone, focus on repelling the tentacles while I deal damage to the head," Hecct warned.

"Tentacles! For real? You didn't tell me were fighting some Japanese abomination." Xeno exclaimed.

"I didn't tell you 'cause I knew you'd react like that. Now focus on the fight or we might get wiped."

"Getting wiped here is a small price to pay for a man's hopes and dreams!"

My impression of him is getting worse as time passes. The internet corrupted me enough to know what he was getting at. Good thing Clarissa seems oblivious to his innuendo. I have to remember to be wary of this guy. I need to protect her innocence from him.

Suddenly the earth quaked. An enormous sea creature rose from the depths of the water along with four giant tentacles. It uses its two tentacles to support its body by curling around the rock pillars in the area and the other two are used for battle and are equipped with a heavy spiked black armor-like exoskeleton. Its head has two large eyes, a massive, fanged mouth, and small spines or gills along its sides. It also has about 8 smaller tentacles all of which do not have that much reach. The creature roared as it slams the ground with its large tentacles for extra added intimidation points.

Kraken
Hp: 100%

Hecct suddenly rushed into the Kraken's head repelling and dodging tentacles while ignoring the damage of some that hit him while dealing damage to it, thus successfully aggroing most of the Kraken's tentacles. What a guy! His friend should learn a thing or two from him.

Hecct
Hp: 89%

Kraken
Hp: 91%

As if inspired by Hecct's heroic actions, we then proceed to stick to the battle plan and focused our attacks on the tentacles. At the same time, Hecct is attacking the head to retain the aggro all the while dodging and blocking the tentacles that came after him.

"Hyup"

"Firebolt!"

"Demonic Lightning Spinning Slash!"

I slashed the smaller tentacle close to me with my dagger, Clarissa fired a stronger version of the fireball spell at one of the large ones, and Xeno instantly sliced 2 small tentacles near him in half. Though I'm pretty sure he just did a normal 'Spinning Slash' weapon skill though, not whatever move he said.

All our attacks combined dealt high damage to the boss.

Kraken
Hp: 69%

Suddenly, I noticed one of the small tentacles managing to slither into Clarissa's blind spot and grabbed her left foot.

"Kyaaa!" she yelped.

She let out a cute voice that got me a bit distracted. Focus me! I don't have a single long-range spell and my weapon skill is nonexistent. I might just have to heal her instantly after she survives the boss's attack but the problem is that I am almost out of mana. Even though beginner-level spells like fireball and heal don't require much mana compared to intermediate spells like haste, I don't have that much mp left since I used up most of my healing on a certain someone who just keeps getting poisoned and hurt nonstop. I'm also building 3 stats priority, not just two so my mana pool is not that large compared to your average healer. This is a conundrum.

"Sheild Boomerang!" Hecct shouted.

As I was pondering my move, a shield flew like a boomerang and sliced the tentacle, setting Clarissa free. It completely broke the laws of physics and returned to him like some captain from a certain movie I know. I almost forgot about his weapon skill. Considering he was still aggroing the majority of the tentacles, that was a nice situational and surrounding awareness. What a nice assist while dodging the tentacles at the same time. He has a good affinity for leading and commanding.

"Tsk! so close! I-I mean good job nice save Hecct!" Xeno managed a 'nice save' in his dignity too.

You do know this is not an x-rated game right? The Kraken will only most likely throw her or slam her on the ground for extra damage, not whatever you were expecting to happen. This cannot go on. I don't want to fight this boss any longer than necessary or that guy might develop weird fantasies involving Clarissa.

I rushed towards the head while dodging every single tentacle that came after me.

"Be careful! Don't overextend" Hecct commanded.

I ignored him and continue to come close, suddenly the Kraken attacked me using one of its giant tentacles. I jumped sideways to avoid it and the tentacle slammed into the ground next to me, creating a small crater.

Bam*

Whew, that might have insta-killed me if it hit since I don't have much tankiness, only damage and mp for healing.

As the Kraken began to lift its giant tentacle, I immediately jumped at it and used it as a lift.

"W-what are you doing! That's crazy!" Hecct worriedly shouted.

I put my staff on my backstrap and equipped my two daggers from my belt on both my hands. I then ran towards the main body using the giant tentacle as a makeshift bridge and as soon as I deemed the distance suitable enough, I leaped toward its eye and used both my daggers to stab it for a critical blow.

"Roaaaaar!"

Kraken
Hp: 41%

The Kraken was enraged. It flailed hysterically making me almost lose my balance. I used both the daggers as an impromptu climber's gear to pull myself up and situate myself on top of its head for a more stable footing. Naturally, all the aggro went completely onto me, freeing everyone to focus on dealing damage and not minding the tentacles.

"Focus on its head!" I shouted while dodging the many tentacles coming my way.

They all focused fully on dealing damage while I prioritized keeping myself alive on top of the Kraken's head all the while maintaining my balance to not fall. If I fall here, it will be extremely fatal since I cannot move freely in the water. I received a few hits here and there from whip attacks of the tentacles but not enough to kill me since I dodged everything that could be fatal. I saw Clarissa channeling her current strongest and highest mana-costing skill. She probably held onto casting this skill for so long to find the perfect opportunity to cast it like this where all the aggro is onto me. This skill takes a long time to channel and the backlash of a canceled channeling will drain her mana so kudos to her for having this much patience. The thought of her listening to my teachings and applying them perfectly makes me proud to be her mentor.

After finishing the channeling, Clarissa cast her spell at the same time Hecct used his weapon skill.

They both aimed at the head of the Kraken.

"Sheild boomerang!"

"Flame burst!"

A shield boomerang and a ball of fire more than triple the size of a normal fireball hit its mark and exploded.

*Boom*

The impact of Clarissa's attack made me almost fall but I luckily held on.

Roarrrrrrrrr*

After a while, the Kraken finally gave its last death cry due to our fatal damage. It disappeared into red motes of light.

Kraken
Hp: 0%

Dungeon Cleared!

Sub Quest Cleared!: Dungeon Diving.

Main Quest Cleared!: Beast of the Sea.

Level increased to Lvl. 30

Level Increased to Lvl. 31

I got a bunch of quest XP and I leveled up 2 times from that. But sadly no rare or epic drops. Not even a special dungeon appeared for our efforts. Well, that's life you cant get what you want and always be lucky.

I fell into the water after the Kraken died but it took only a little swim for me to get back to my party. They greeted me with varying emotions.

"Novo! Are you alright?" Clarissa came running to me worriedly.

You know this is just a game right? She's getting too engrossed in this. To be fair, it is her 1st VR game so it is to be a bit expected.

"I'm perfectly fine," I reassured her.

"That was badass! I would've done the same but you beat me to it." Xeno suddenly called out.

"That was a bold move, but I guess you have the skills to back it up so it worked out in the end." Hecct chimed in.

"Yeah, I was quite lucky it turned out well."

"I'm quite positive that's not just luck. It takes a lot of skill to balance on top of the boss' head while dodging its attack at the same time. Do you have another main account?"

".....Kind off," I replied hesitantly

He seems to ponder for a while before deciding on something

"How old are you"? He asked curtly.

"Huh, I expect that question to come from your friend, not you," I said apprehensively.

Having realized what implications he just asked he suddenly became flustered, his face would have been crimson if CoA has that feature.

"Wha...Th-That's not what I meant! It's just that, I'm building a team to join the u20 tournament. If you're available and under 20 years old, would you like to join mine?" He hurriedly said.

"Sorry, already taken. I'd probably join you if someone hadn't already invited me to their team." I declined politely.

I'm not saying that just to be polite either, he's pretty skilled so joining him would not be a bad idea, unfortunately for him, Liz is my friend and I owe a lot to her for helping me return to the game I love. I wouldn't trade her for any team no matter how good they are compared to hers.

"I see... I guess I'll just have to stick to Xeno for my last member." he sighed.

"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" Xeno chimed in.

So my assumption is correct, he IS boosting that guy. To be fair though from what I saw from Xeno, he does have the potential to be very good at the game. His moves are not completely amateurish, though his overconfidence would be his undoing if he doesn't learn to be extra careful in fights.

"It's such a shame, but understandable. A support like you would be in high demand. It's rare to see a support that is also very skilled in melee combat since supports usually just stay at the back due to their low defense." Hecct praised.

"I get that a lot. I hope we both get through the elimination round. I would like to fight you in the main tournament." I voiced my inner thoughts

"I hope so too. Oh right, I'll give you guys this. I got it from the boss just now." he requested a trade.

*Hecct would like to trade with you. Do you wish to accept? Y/N

I accepted his offer then he gave me the loot he got from the boss.

"I don't really need it since I'm not a spellcaster, and it's only useful for early to mid-game so I can't trade it for my main account," he added.

I identified it.

Kraken's Staff (epic)

A staff that is said to have the power to call the power of the sea.

Wisdom + 20

Intelligence + 25

Mp + 200

Weapon skill Tsunami - Casts a medium-sized tidal wave that damages enemies that comes across its path.

Cooldown: 34 sec

Mp cost : 118 mp

A pretty good weapon for Clarissa, It also has a good aoe weapon skill too for us to grind faster. Though one major downside of it is its mana cost but Clarrisa's mp and int oriented build will probably balance it enough. I'll give it to Clarissa later so she can equip it after we exit the dungeon. It's a pretty good weapon, he could just sell it for a hefty amount of extra gold but he knows we will benefit more from it so he gave it to us. My respect for him is increasing.

"Are you sure we can have this?" I asked

"W-wait, we will give it to you in exchange for your cellphone numbers." Xeno chimed in.

My respect for this guy on the other hand is decreasing. It's not like you're the one giving us the loot you know?

"Don't mind him. Please take it, A friend list add would suffice though if that's fine with you guys." Hecct rebutted him.

The four of us added each other as we exited the dungeon cave. After a brief farewell, they both got on their separate ways.

"They're both very kind." Clarissa mused.

"Yes, they're both good people." I agreed.

Well, that is not entirely true since the other guy is a complete pervert........ But I guess he's not really a bad person so I can't complain too much.

We passed the time with little chats and me giving her the weapon while also suggesting tips to improve based on the dungeon run we had just finished until we arrived at the port city of Lallias. We then settled on the time we will meet the next time we play then eventually logged out with the promise to explore the port city together.