บท 32: Conversing with a monster
"Let's get this over with!" Tom shouted to encourage himself as he moved forward. But, as soon as he stepped out of the corridor, the air around him changed.
"Just look how ugly you are," Tom said, stopping as soon as the boss monster ahead noticed him. For some reason, he could stand at the end of the corridor for hours without the boss noticing him, but as soon as he stepped inside, the monster's attention would be drawn to him.
"Just look at yourself," the monster replied, raising its perfectly human-looking body. Once fully on its feet, the only thing that made the boss any different from an actual human or an avatar was its height.
The boss monster of the forty-seventh floor was as high as three adults standing on top of each other's heads.
'Is that it?' Tom thought, surprised to the end of his wits. 'How is its height going to threaten me? Heck, even the last monster had some claws, and others had some weapons! What is this thing going to do? Sit on me?' he thought, puzzled beyond recognition.
"You little..." the monster spoke up, clearly angered for some reason.
"Huh? Can you read my mind or something?" Tom asked while leisurely resting his weight against his spear. With its blade pushed into the stone floor of the room, his weapon could serve as a perfect support for a standing person.
"Your face tells it all," the monster replied before stretching its arms forward. "Well, if you underestimate me, it will only make things easier," it added before clasping its hands and slowly spreading them apart.
Only for a line of pulsating fire to appear between its palms.
"So you are using magic to fight!" Tom shouted in surprise as if he just discovered some kind of natural law that would allow him to make billions on just the patent rights alone.
"It would take an idiot not to realize it. What are you so happy about?" The monster asked, even going as far as to put its spell on hold rather than casting it right away.
'Is it interested in the conversation or something?' Tom thought, trying to play the entire situation in a cool way.
While it wasn't impossible to meet with an intelligent monster, this kind of encounter was pretty rare. Outside of the strongest bosses at the very bottom of each of the dungeons, meeting an intelligent monster often meant two things.
First, a boss monster of this kind would often leave some kind of item behind. Of course, it would be the weapon the boss used most of the time, but there were some rare instances when a skill tome would be left behind after the fight.
Secondly, every intelligent monster was believed to be at least two to five times as strong as a normal monster of a given level!
In other words, despite its lackluster appearance, the humanoid monster that Tom now had to face was far stronger than it should be.
'It wouldn't be a bad idea to go and reset the dungeon,' Tom thought while making sure his spear could come out of the floor with a single pull.
For a moment, he seriously considered the option of retreating.
'But I don't really have the time to do all those floors all over again!' Tom complained in his thoughts, weighing the pros and cons of every possible decision he could take right now.
"Hey, I know we are supposed to fight, but can you answer some of my questions?" Tom spoke up, blessing his earlier decision not to use the private capsule.
Whether the monster would agree to his request or not, it would be pretty dangerous to engage in talks with it if anyone were to learn about such fact.
"Huh?" the humanoid monster shook in surprise, almost losing control over the string of fire dancing between its palms. "And what kind of questions could that be?"
"Well, the first one is obvious," Tom said as he put a wide smile on his face. "I don't really want to fight with someone as strong as you, so how about you just let me pass?"
As daring as this question was, it was the most important one. Given how potentially strong this boss was, Tom wasn't happy to risk his only remaining avatar fighting it.
"Are you out of your... No, nevermind," the monster took Tom by surprise once again by changing its mind mid-sentence. "That won't do. Also, I'm quite interested in how strong you are. This spear of yours... It's giving me some strange vibes. How about you tell me about it in exchange for me answering another question of yours?"
'What?!' Tom froze in shock. 'Is it actually interested in conversing?' he asked himself, trying to make any sense of the situation.
'Fuck, just what the hell is wrong with me,' Tom's mindset suddenly changed. 'I allowed the situation to sweep me along with it,' he admitted to himself as his face darkened.
"This is a thunder-releasing spear. If the attack is executed perfectly, it will release an electric attack that will deal massive damage to the target," Tom explained while forming a plan in his head.
"Oh, and how did you get your hands on it?" the monster added another question. But before Tom could answer, it raised both of its arms while still keeping the fire string dancing between his hands. "I'm sorry, now it's your turn."
"The question I will ask now will be my last," Tom announced as he pulled out the spear from the floor and stood ready for any incoming attack. "What will happen if someone manages to reach the bottom floor of the dungeon? I mean, reach it and defeat the guardian that protects it?"
Tom's question wasn't random. This information had a price tag attached that could easily give one a ride to the top hundred richest people on the planet. But Tom wasn't interested in the monetary benefits of the answer.
After the insanity he encountered back in the dungeon managed by the other Online Hub, he already formed a guess as to what awaited people at the end of each dungeon.
"I'm sorry, but this is a question you will need to find the answer yourself," the monster replied while shaking its head in regret. "I can't tell you the reasons, but I would die for real if I dared to cross that man's orders," it added after a moment. But then, rather than going in with its attack, the monster raised its head and looked at Tom. "I refused to answer your question, so how about you ask another one?"
'What the hell,' Tom cursed in his thoughts. He even had to fight off the desire to just rush at the monster for betraying his expectations. 'This is too good of an opportunity to just let it go to waste because of my anger,' he scolded himself before spitting on the ground and looking up at the monster's handsome face.
"Tell me then, what does it mean to be an origin mage?"
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