Chapter 141: Some Pig!
Groph-Maku, Sow of the Black Wallow
Monstrous level 8 Boss
Huge Tusks, Squealer, Cunning, Mean, Mighty Flatulence, Demonic, Cannibal
Spewing fire from the front end and noxious gases from the rear, the huge sow bore down on Ozzy like a freight train. He was finding it hard to stand upright, and was seeing double. One huge sow was bad enough, two was going to be more than he could handle!
Concentrating, he grounded the butt end of his weapon and aimed between the two images, hoping they merged at some point. Runt was shouting something, but he couldn't make out the words. He was just barely aware of Ben helping Suzette to her feet. Both were swaying unsteadily and bleeding from their ears.
The impact, when it came, knocked him backwards, sprawling in the churned earth. His polearm lay on the ground a few feet away from him, but it might as well be a mile. The world was spinning and he had trouble just pushing himself up off of the ground.
You have heard the Squeal of Groph-Maku, Sow of the Black Wallow.
You resist most of the effects. Vision, balance, and hearing are slightly impacted for the next minute.
Your strike against Groph-Maku is only partially successful.
Groph-Maku takes 190 Physical Damage and 55 Radiant Damage. 100 Physical Damage is negated. Health: 3855/4000
Groph-Maku impales you with one tusk for 300 points of damage. You negate 70 points of damage. Health: 3060 /3290
You are Stunned.
Neither Ozzy nor the pig had struck a true blow, but where Ozzy was stunned, the pig was only slightly wounded.
The sow quickly spun around and looked at the battlefield. Ozzy was close, and starting to get to his knees, but there were also two softer targets that reeked of The Light. They were barely able to stand. Which to kill? Groph-Maku shrugged. Why not both?
She trotted back to the stunned Butcher that was just pushing himself up on his hands and knees. Turning her back to him, she lowered her head and brought up both hind legs in a double kick that tossed him up in the air twenty feet to land in a boneless heap. She wasn't totally happy with the blow. It had been sloppy, hitting him in the chest and not the face. Still, her feet were huge and humans had these tiny heads. She was content with broken ribs and internal damages.
Whether alive or dead, he wasn't getting back up. Groph-Maku had fought many heroes and would-be heroes. This one was strong, but only Tier 2. She turned back to the other targets and begin her charge on the pitiful waifs of the Light. She was surprised to be hit by a spell of surprising power right on her snout, causing her quite a bit of pain and partially blinding her.
As her vision cleared, she saw that the two Light Mages were enveloped in a shimmering field, and the female elf with the staff was casting again. She endured the blow and began charging at the two.
Ben saw Ozzy go flying head over heels and winced. That was going to leave a mark. Then again, so was the spell that Suzette had just unleashed. His own spell, Guiding Light, was a small bonus to her chance to hit. But he didn’t have a long-range damage spell and with his head spinning, there was no way he could hit with his cross-bow. Guiding Light would increase her chance to hit. He had also cast Triage to heal a bit of her damage.
The Light-based cantrip that Suzette was flinging at the demonic sow was supercharged far beyond its base damage of 20. For each point of RAD, the caster could increase the spell’s damage and cost by 20 each. With her RAD now at 18, and her Sun Blessed Staff of Enhanced Light adding an additional point, her base damage was increased to 400 points and a mana cost of 400. The spells cost was adjusted downwards by -15% for her light affinity of level 3.
Furthermore, since it was a light-based spell, the staff increased her damage 10% per level of her light affinity. This brought the final spell to 520 points of damage per arrow at a cost of 340 points of mana.
You have struck Groph-Maku twice with Energized Solar Arrow
-Groph-Maku has taken 520 Damage.
-Groph-Maku has taken 520 Damage.
Groph Maku regenerates some of the Physical Damage done to her. Health: 2960/4000
Suzette yelled at Ben as she prepared to stand her ground. "Time to get the hell out of here, Ben. GO!"
Ben's habit of being stupidly heroic warred with years of working together and knowing when not to argue. He could have pretended not to understand what she was saying. Both of them couldn't hear worth a damn and were dizzy. But they were also passably good lip readers. Claiming to not understand her wasn’t going to work. Trust won and he sprinted away from Suzette, hoping he could loop around the sow and get to Ozzy.
Suzette quickly cast a spell, then stood with her arm outstretched towards the Sow, her hand forming a fist. The Ring of the Ram unleashed a bolt of force at Groph-Maku, knocking her back on her haunches. As she stood back up, another Ram's head hit her, and then another. Each one knocking her slightly back and killing her momentum.
Suzette saw the pig get up once again. She seemed to not be hurting it, but at least she was buying time. She tried to cast with the ring again, but it was resisting her. As the sow bore down on her she forced more mana into the ring and unleashed a final bolt of force, once again sending the pig backwards and sprawled in the dirt. Sadly, that was too much for the ring. It cracked and then broke into several pieces, falling to the ground.
"Shit. I was afraid of that." Suzette found herself standing twenty feet from a charging, enraged sow. She stood her ground, pointing the staff at the monster.
The huge pig was going to happily kill and eat the annoying light wizard. But sadly, the impact was not what Groph-Maku expected. No blood. No limp body with ruptured organs. No thrill as yet another enemy fell. Just a few wisps of shadows.
The scent was still there, though. The sow spun in a circle and spotted Suzette thirty feet away, running for all she was worth. Normally, she could have out-paced the pig, but with her balance thrown off the monster was sure to catch her. And would have, if Runt hadn't caught the sow across the left ham hock with a sharp blow of his cane, immediately slowing her down and causing her to squeal in pain. Turning, she spied the ex-minion, who was leaning on his cane, without a care in the world.
"Tut, tut, it's just sad. You were really something to look at in your day. All the pigfaces in the dungeon had pictures of you on their walls. But you let yourself go. Ate too many of your own young. You got FAT! Now you're just an extra-large serving of grade C porkchops."
Whatever skill Runt was using, it hit home, causing mental pain and then anger. To have a minion laugh at you? Horrible! Thoughts of killing the Butcher, of eating the little elf, all that was gone. At this moment all Groph-Maku wanted was a minion in her belly.
That was when Rolly and Squirmie hit her from behind. Runt took off running as soon as the ambush was sprung.
Rolly slashed at her legs, drawing blood. Squirmie dropped on her head and sunk all six talons into her, extinguishing one eye. The maddened sow reacted with a move that was unexpected. She farted.
Horrible gasses erupted from her rear, tainting and poisoning all the nearby air. Part poison, part acid, part something else. Rolly fell to the ground instantly ill and shaking. Squirmie’s wings began to dissolve as he tried to hold onto the pig’s head with all of his claws, and Rolly’s armor was pitting and liquifying.
The monster spun in place and head-butting Rolly. Squirmie just happened to be in between. Rolly was knocked into the mud and Squirmie came loose. As they fell, Rolly wrapped his arms around Squirmie. When the two-ton sow began tap dancing on top of Rolly, he did he best to protect Squirmie.
Runt ran back and was striking her repeatedly from the rear, but being ignored. The monstrous boss had someone down, and they were going to die.
Rolly might have been better off trying to get away, or fighting back and doing what damage he could. Instead, he rolled into a ball and protected his friend. It was a testament to just how tough Rolly was that it took several rounds for him to die. Runt saw the huge sow tear off a leg and swallow it, as Rolly's body disappeared and his tombstone appeared. He'd been expecting it, and ran for all he was worth. Groph-Maku limped in pursuit, her back legs barely usable, but healing fast.
Ben had managed to reach Ozzy. He cast Healing Fire twice, and followed up with Lay Hands. Ozzy regained consciousness, but didn't look good. Ben got in front of him, and spoke slowly, not knowing if Ozzy could hear or not. "Don't talk. Your jaw is probably dislocated. Rolly is down, the pig is up, and coming fast."
Ozzy stood and grabbed his weapon. He saw Suzette casting spells at the monster as it limped towards her. Each one hitting hard. But at 340 mana a spell, she was going to run out quickly.
The pig had dodged two of her spells, and was quick enough that it was hard to get a shot to its face. Still, the monster wasn't in good shape. It didn't regenerate damage from the Light-based attacks nearly as quick as it could deal with physical damage. Rolly had helped by donating a leg for a snack.
Groph-Maku let loose her horrible SQUEAL, but with far worse results. All four of her antagonists had their ears blocked. Runt had scurried from one to the next stuffing something into their ears. Their torn eardrums ached at the high-pitched sound, but no more damage was done, and most importantly, they were regaining their sense of balance as Ben's healing spells did their work.
She charged towards then, thinking she had their measure. The mage was out of mana, and what had turned out to be a paladin was still unsteady on his feet and trying to heal the Butcher. She didn't fear the Butcher, his slashes and gashes healed quickly. She'd killed and eaten far mightier. The little minion was a surprise, but no monster feared a minion.
Two shadowy hounds appeared, harrying her flanks. They did little damage but were distracting. The paladin fled to the left, the mage to the right. She lost sight of the minion as he moved into her blind spot. The Butcher did something unexpected, and threw his weapon at her at the last moment. It was a clumsy throw, and she barely moved to the side. She took two more steps, getting up as much speed as she could, but the Butcher wasn't there.
Runt expertly reached out with the hook of his cane and pulled one of the pig’s legs out from under her just as she was setting weight on it, causing her to trip and slow. Ozzy attacked her from the side where he had dodged. One arm looped over her neck, grabbing hold of one of her tusks with a gauntleted hand. The base of the tusk where it entered her jaw wasn't nearly so sharp as the rest of the huge, saber like weapon. And the Butchers hands were encased in dragon hide. The near hand grabbed her other tusk and he jerked her head down to the ground.
A pig has a much lower center of gravity than a steer and it's a lot harder to knock them off their feet. Ozzy spread his legs for leverage and twisted as hard as he could, flopping the huge sow on her side. Her large tusks made great handles and Ozzy could apply his full strength. Ben had one hind leg with his whip, but was getting thrown around fiercely. Runt threw himself at the other hind leg, having a far easier time than the courier
A fierce struggle began - the pig trying to throw off her attackers or roll over them. Ozzy held the front end, doing his best to prevent that.
Suzette ended it. She moved in on its blind side, pulled two sticks from her hair, and stabbed deep into the ruined eye with them. A heartbeat passed, and then Groph-Maku, Sow of the Black Wallow, descendent of the great Sow of Crommyonia, died and lay still.
Ozzy relaxed, and stuck a finger in his ears, carefully cleaning out the dried dung that Runt had stuffed in there. He moved around his friends, casting his Cleanse cantrip, and Ben followed up with his own spell, taking no chances on infections in shattered ear drums.
Suzette pulled out her hair sticks and cleaned them, "Wow, didn't expect that. I felt so useless with no mana, and that was the only weapon I had available. Guess she was down to a handful of health at the end."
Runt looked at her for a second, "Yep, that's surely what happened." He certainly wasn’t going to disagree with her.
Ben just whistled, and turned to look at the treasure chest that had appeared nearby. “My, that is always a nice sight to see.”
Ozzy leaned back against the body of the boar, missing the interplay between the others entirely. "Just glad it's dead."
A Mighty Victory!
You have slain Groph-Maku, Sow of the Black Wallow.
Each of your hunting party may claim 10 Core Skill Points and 500 Boss Experience.
The option to gain the skill: Demon Slayer has been added to the list of available core skills, for those who did not already have the option.
A lovely treasure chest will be available to give each of you a hero's reward.
You must choose where to place the body of the slain monster.
-If the body is butchered and sent to the dungeon, the Butcher's Guild will reward you with 5 Butcher's Guild Points.
-If the body of Groph-Maku, is sacrificed at the Shrine of the Huntress, the Hunter's Guild will reward you with 5 Hunter's Guild point each for slaying a Mighty Beast of Legend, and 5 additional Hunter's Guild Points for slaying a descendent of Echidna.
Runt looked at the carcass of the sow, "I'm thinking the dungeon is pretty well stocked at this point and 10 is more than 5." The rest of the workers agreed with that wisdom. They moved to the treasure chest. Ozzy explained to Runt how rewards would appear after slaying a boss.
The little butcher was excited with the thought of gaining a possession that was all his own.
Runt opened the chest and received a set of Pan's Pipes made out of a heavy, dark wood. He hesitantly brought them to his lips and surprised everyone by playing a complicated tune. It was a sad tune that evoked some emotion in them, a longing for something they’d never have. He stuck them in his pouch and stepped back.
Ben was happy to get three small, blue prisms and a spool of fine wire.
Suzette got a necklace. The chain was a braided silver rope with a large green gem set into a broach. Small gold sparks could be seen moving inside the gem if you looked closely, "Pretty. I'll take jewelry any day of the week."
Ozzy got a large adze, and a pair of heavy leather boots. The boots were made from a dark pink leather. The Adze was obviously made for someone of his STR. The handle was of Iron Wood and the head was made of Dwarven Steel. It was four times as heavy as the weapons Ben and Suzette were using, "Interesting. At least it won't break." He stuck it into his belt.
"We can just leave this chest. Hopefully Rolly and Squirmie show up at dawn and can come claim their stuff." Ozzy, Ben, and Suzette each had their own worries about how things would go for the two of them.
Ozzy bent and picked up the Boar, "Let's go make a present of this to Artemis and then head home."
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