We managed to go all the way down to the tenth floor pretty easily, especially since there were quite a number of Dungeoneers around on these floors.
The only problem was that all the monsters on the past nine floors have just been Rats, Rats and more Rats.
I know they can breed like crazy but damn, I’ve already gotten sick of seeing them. Heck, I’d even settle for a Goblin or something instead of just more Rats.
“Mistress, it’s a boss floor,” Katsuki informed me helpfully as we reached the bottom of the stairs to enter the tenth floor.
Great, I bet the boss is going to be a Rat monster as well.
Someone else was already fighting the boss and there was another group of six Dungeoneers waiting outside for their turn.
All of them nodded at us in greeting but said nothing, preferring to keep to themselves instead.
Not totally unexpected, since you wouldn’t know if the people you meet in the Dungeon are going to die the next minute so it would be pointless to get attached to anyone here.
Then again, there are worse places to pick up girls than in a Dungeon I suppose.
We settled down to wait our turn for the boss fight ahead.
This was the perfect chance to do some equipment maintenance so I took out the steel sword and my Storm Bow to do a quick check on them and to also apply some oil on the blade.
Since Odeta was only relying on her fists to fight, she did not need to worry about doing any equipment maintenance.
On the other hand, Katsuki had gone ahead to lay out an entire arsenal of throwing knives, needles, darts and even three large throwing axes on the ground. Where the heck was she hiding those?
She even brought out a bunch of daggers of various designs including a pair of stilettos, a flip knife, a tanto and even what looks like a smaller version of a Kukri.
How?! Were they all under her skirt?!
She laid all of them out in neat rows on a mat that she placed on the ground in front of her like she was opening a roadside stall.
She then took out a vial of clear liquid that she carefully placed to the sude before putting on a thick pair of gloves to uncork it.
The fact that she was carefully dipping the needles in the liquid and placing them on a belt meant that liquid was most likely poison.
Well… Katsuki carries a vial of poison on her… Good to know.
The door to the boss room opened and the next team went in, looking more determined than afraid.
Ironically, my [Heed Thy Call] boon started playing some elevator music in the background while we were waiting.
I finished oiling my blade and put it back in its sheathe while I left my bow out so that I could carry it with me later.
I wasn’t planning on using it but better to have it and not need it than needing it but not having it.
It didn’t take long before the doors to the boss room opened up again, meaning it was our turn to fight it.
We got up and entered the boss room together, the fog wall appearing behind us and locking us inside until we defeat or get defeated by the boss.
And guess what? The boss was a Rat type monster too, surprise, surprise.
This Rat was wearing half plate armour that covered the top half of its torso while a misshapen helmet rested on its head with a single feathered plume attached to the top.
A tower shield was strapped to its left arm while it wielded a halberd on its right, the Rat managing to swing that weapon around with one arm like it weighed nothing.
[Name: Dungeon Rat Knight
Stats:
60 Strength
40 Dexterity
200 Endurance𝒐𝒱𝓵xt.𝒞𝗈𝑚
80 Magic
Skills:
Leadership (Tier 1), Martial Skill-(Shield Proficiency (Tier 1), Polearm Proficiency (Tier 2), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 2))]
Oh, so this was what an early boss for a D rank Dungeon looks like… I think? Hard to tell when I don’t have anything else to compare it to.
All of us got into our own positions to fight the boss even as it started growling at us.
Well… It was pretty weak so any of us could have beaten it but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t get hurt from its weapon.
Even with our stats, we’re not impervious to blades after all.
Odeta took the front as our vanguard, meeting the boss head on.
Katsuki tried to flank it while I remained behind as the support and mage.
The Rat Knight raised its tower shield and charged at Odeta, only for it to be sent skidding back when Odeta punched her fist at its shield.
The shield held firm though there was now an imprint of her fist on its surface.
The fact that it managed to remain intact despite Odeta’s punch was already an impressive enough feat. Either it was made of some really tough material or Odeta was holding back.
Katsuki threw a few throwing needles at the Rat from behind, causing the monster to let out a cry of pain when the projectiles embedded themselves in the back of its neck.
It tried to turn back to face my maid but that simply provided me with an opening to cast my magic instead.
With my hand outstretched, I used [Spark Strike], shooting out an electrical bolt that struck the monster on the side of its head with enough force to cause it to stumble.
The electricity also caused it to be stunned momentarily, giving Odeta enough time to get past its guard to punch it in the chest and send it flying towards the wall.
The Rat Knight let out a squeak of pain before it dropped back down onto the ground, half slumped over.
I thought that would be the end of it but surprisingly, it was still alive.
The Rat stabbed its shield and halberd into the ground to leave them standing upright, freeing its hands to undo the straps of its chest plate that also had a very obvious fist sized dent in the metal.
The armour crashed into the ground heavily, even throwing up a small dust cloud on impact, showing that it was definitely made of some tough material.
I wonder if I should take it with me later?
The Rat Knight picked up its halberd and shield again before letting out an angry squeak, as though daring Odeta to try what she did again.
Odeta accepted the challenge and rushed the Rat Knight again, aiming to try and punch the shield once more in order to break it.
However, she was forced to stop and back off when the Rat Knight pulled back its halberd and thrust it in her direction as she got into range.
The Amrap narrowly avoided getting skewered by the tip of the halberd with inches to space and she would have reengaged the Rat had it not swung the weapon down in an arc to prevent her from doing so.
Now Odeta was forced on the defensive as she did not have a weapon that she could use to parry the bladed end of the halberd and she definitely did not wish to have the risk of having her limbs cut off.
The Rat took advantage of its longer range and started concentrating its attacks on Odeta, aiming to at least maim her in some way before it moved on to us.
Naturally, neither Katsuki nor myself was going to let it do that.
Katsuki tried to throw a few throwing knives in its direction but the Rat learned quickly that it could block her attacks with its tower shield. Her knives thus ended up bouncing off its surface harmlessly aside from a few scratches on its surface.
On my end, I shot out another [Spark Strike] at the Rat Knight but it somehow knew the magic was coming before I could fire it, allowing it to leap out of the way to avoid it.
Just as I was considering if I should just use my Storm Bow to shoot at it, the Rat suddenly convulsed before falling down to its knees while vomiting and retching violently.
Oh yeah… I actually forgot that Katsuki’s needles were coated in poison… Guess its effects finally kicked in.
Odeta stopped backing away from the Rat and cracked her knuckles, “Wahahaha! Thought you’re so tough with that stupid spear thingy aren’t ‘cha? What now? Are you gonna try and stab me again? Can’t do it can you? That’s what you get for looking down on us!”
She then lifted her foot up and stomped down hard on its head, splattering its head on the ground mercilessly.
Eww… Odeta… Why did you have to do that? Now I need to wash you again… Could you please not do that to those Rat monsters? They are really disgusting to clean off, you know?
Don’t just take advantage of the fact that I’m a Hydromancer to do this!