Manticore (Doors of the Dreamer, Chapter 8)
Recklessness
Author’s note: For the month of July I am challenging myself to write and post one chapter a day every two days with minimal planning and outlining. You can read the first chapter of Doors of the Dreamer here.
“Level doesn’t really matter, it’s gear that changes your stats.”
“Alright Mr. Max Level, hand over some legendary items then.”
“You wouldn’t be able to equip—That was a joke.”
“You’re learning.”
David and Lance were resting in the last room of the first floor. David took a drink of water and checked his phone.
“How are your supplies?” Lance asked.
“Should be fine.”
He had used one mana potion and nothing else. The previous four rooms of the dungeon had proceeded much as the first. David cast his blessing spells, Lance walked in, everything died. Next. Even when they reached the trap room, Lance told him to wait and began crossing the room following a path only he knew. In under a minute, he reached the other side, pulled a lever, and said “It’s safe now.”
“In the game you wouldn’t have even been allowed in this dungeon.”
Lance shrugged. “When you’re ready we’ll head down. Two or three more rooms, then the boss. Stay focused.”
“Yes, sir.” David saluted.
They descended to the second floor. As Lance predicted, there were three rooms before the boss. A room of skeletons and fiends that Lance cleared in a matter of seconds, another trap room that Lance already knew the solution to, and a room with wraiths. They floated up out of the floor, screaming. For a brief moment, David thought he would be able to help in a more tangible way. Wraiths were incorporeal, and in Doors of the Dreamer, only certain skills belonging to certain classes could damage them. To David’s surprise, wind cutter was apparently one of those skills, and Lance made quick work of them.
The boss room was a long hall dotted with marble pillars and burning braziers. At the far end, a manticore slept on an elevated platform. Manticores had the body of a lion with gray fur, the face of a man, and a rat-like tail covered with long spines.
“Good, it’s not a wyvern. Flying bosses are a bit tricky for my build.” Lance turned to David. “The one thing you need to watch out for is the quill attack. It will bristle its tail, then shoot two volleys of quills from it. You should hide behind a pillar. If you get hit, you’ll be poisoned.”
“I know, that’s what the antidotes are for.”
“It launches those things with enough force to pierce armor. You might be in so much pain you’ll want to use a health potion first. Don’t. The venom will kill you faster than you think.”
“Okay.”
“Otherwise, same as before—”
“Buff and heal, got it.” He gave Lance a thumbs up.
Lance nodded, then retrieved and drank an agility potion and an attack potion. “When you’re ready.”
“Blessing of strength. Blessing of fortitude.”
The knight walked confidently into the hall. David followed him about halfway in, then ducked behind a pillar. He needed to be at least this close for his spells to reach Lance.
When Lance was maybe ten paces away from the manticore, he swung his sword and opened with the usual.
“Wind cutter.”
The skill slashed open the thing’s face, wounding its right eye. It jumped to its feet, tilted its head to see its opponent with its good eye, then let out a painfully loud roar. Lance stood his ground, two hands on his greatsword. David expected him to charge in immediately or loose a few more wind cutters. In Doors of the Dreamer, damaging a monster’s eye had no meaningful effect in most cases—only a handful of enemies, such as living armor, had any concept of “body parts” in the game—but in this world, Lance had given himself a significant advantage by half-blinding the manticore. Even so, perhaps because this was a boss, he waited. David noticed how big the manticore was—it towered over Lance, with paws big enough to cover his face and then some.
The beast took this pause as invitation to strike, swiping at Lance with its claws. Each time, he stepped back to avoid the attack. This dance continued for a while, but the manticore grew impatient. With a growl, it raised its paw and swung down hard, intending to crush its opponent. Lance thrust his sword to meet the attack.
“Wind cutter.”
As the greatsword pierced the manticore’s paw, Lance twisted his whole body to swing down. The skill ripped through the monster’s foreleg, spraying black blood. It recoiled. Lance pressed his advantage, aiming for the head. But the manticore, with surprising nimbleness given its wounds, bounded over Lance, perched momentarily on the pillar David hid behind, then flung itself at its opponent. Lance threw up his blade, using it as a shield as the manticore crashed into him. Across the room, David realized with a start that Lance was now pinned by the manticore’s good leg.
“Heal.”
Nothing happened. This was his first time needing to use the skill—Had it not taken effect because Lance was not actually damaged? Or was he too far? He didn’t have time to think it through. He dashed out from behind cover and got as close as he dared.
“Heal.”
This time, he felt a gentle warmth rise up from his core and pass through his arms. The spell had cast, but Lance was still struggling to get free. Then the manticore turned its head and fixed its gaze on David. Its face may have been humanoid, but its eye was black like a crow’s and devoid of anything resembling human thought. This was the eye of a beast—no, a demon, David realized.
The manticore’s tail bristled. Its quills stood on end. He had to get behind something. He turned to run to the pillar. It was too far, he wasn’t going to make it. And what would happen to Lance? Would he be safe directly beneath the manticore? David looked back.
Lance had somehow escaped and was flying toward him. David heard words he did not comprehend at first.
“—Equip tower shield. Get down!”
The first barrage of quills struck with a rapid series of thuds. Lance was standing over him, holding up a massive rectangular shield with both hands. The second barrage hit. Lance staggered a little under the violent force of the impact, but held fast.
“Buffs?” David managed to ask. He had lost his sense of time and had no idea how close they were to the two minute timers on his blessings.
“No need. Get back to the pillar. When I give you an opening, smite it.”
Lance ran forward, swapping shield for sword, and David scrambled to his feet. He sprinted back to the pillar, careful not to trip on the quills—roughly the size and shape of bananas—embedded in the floor. Lance and the manticore resumed their dance, but the monster was slowing down. Soon, Lance’s patience was rewarded. The manticore put too much weight on its wounded leg and stumbled forward just enough for Lance to shove his sword into the thing’s chin. It reared back, roaring, forcing Lance to let go of his weapon.
“Now!”
“Smite!”
Light exploded into the manticore’s head, forcing it back down and sending it reeling.
“Unequip chimera greatsword. Equip chimera greatsword.”
David blinked as the weapon in question disappeared from the manticore’s chin and reappeared in Lance’s hand.
“Blood rush.”
Lance leaped forward as the skill took effect and slammed into the manticore’s head, stabbing through its remaining eye and burying the blade deep in its skull. The beast roared and thrashed about, stumbled, fell, and was still.
For a moment, there was silence. Then David let out a whoop and pumped a fist in the air.
“Nice kill! I would never have thought of that unequip-equip thing you did. That was so cool!”
“It only works at close range,” Lance said flatly. “What you did was reckless and unnecessary. You only need to heal me if I ask for it or I’m visibly wounded.”
“Hey, all I could see was a manticore’s ass. I didn’t know how damaged you were.”
“Fair enough. And your recklessness distracted the boss, which allowed me to get free. Just be mindful of your positioning.”
Two wooden chests lined with gold had appeared on the platform where the manticore was sleeping. David ran over to open his.
“I think there’s legendary drop in this one,” he said, putting his ear up to it and knocking on the wood.
“Unlikely.”
His loot was, as might be expected, mediocre. Some potion crafting materials, low-level gear for a different class, and, strangely, some socks. Lance explained that real-world items sometimes appeared as drops. At Lance’s suggestion, David checked his phone and found that he had leveled up. A new spell was available to him: aegis. According to the app, aegis would surround its target with a barrier that granted a degree of physical damage mitigation. He was unsure what that meant in practice, but clearing the dungeon and unlocking a new skill had put him in a genial mood.
“So how do we get back out?”
“We walk.”
David raised an eyebrow. “All the way back to the door?”
Lance nodded and David shrugged. Thankfully, it wasn’t that far of a walk. As they neared the entrance, Lance stopped and turned to David.
“You should drink a mana potion. There may be monsters waiting for us.”
“Couldn’t we just run back inside?”
“Not once the door closes. You can’t open the entrance to a dungeon for a few days after the boss is killed.”
David downed a mana potion while Lance pushed open the doors enough to poke his head out.
“I don’t see anything, let’s go,” he said after few seconds.
They exited onto the street and the entrance closed behind them.
“We should have time for a few more blocks,” Lance said.
“How long were we in there? Feels like—”
The sound of clopping hooves reverberated between the buildings. David shot a look at Lance.
“I thought you said there were no horses.”
The sound stopped, then resumed with greater speed. Lance grabbed David’s arm and pulled him behind the door. He was about to protest when Lance pointed. Frowning, David peeked around the door frame. Down the road was an intersection. A dullahan was crossing it, coming their way.