New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

The Grippli had barely enough time to snap his head toward Astaroth, where his eyes met a fist. The punch took him by surprise, as he had not expected the dark-skinned elf to be back on his feet so fast.

On impact, two things happened. The first one being the frogman's head snapping backward, his body soon following. The second thing was all the bones in Astaroth's arm shattering.

His body wasn't built to deliver a blow at high speeds like this with his bare hand, and the force behind it, plus the toughness of the boss' body, exploded his bones like a pinata.

After the Gripple flew away and impacted the tree line, Astaroth's arm went limp as he grunted in pain. But he had no time to suffer.

"I'die! Pin him down, my meld is almost over!" Astaroth shouted, raising his remaining arm.

A familiar white orb formed in front of it, as he infused with all the Aether he had collected over the last four minutes of combat. It was much more than what he had gathered against the Ape King.

He had yet to figure out why, but this dungeon was much richer with Aether than outside, and the further in they went, the denser its presence became.

His Moon Beam was currently primed at ten thousand percent and had stopped going up after that. He surmised it was as strong as Aether boosts could go, but it was no small number.

His Moon Beam was twenty times stronger than it should be, and that attested to how Aether was stronger than mana.

I'die hurriedly cast many successive Grasping Vine spells, wrapping them around the Grippli, trying to lock him in place. They were barely holding on.

Astaroth didn't wait for the frogman to get out, and released his spell. The milky white beam rushed forward with a deafening buzzing noise as it ripped the stone under it to shreds.

*-112'875*

"Nooooo!!" the boss screamed.

"I'm not dying alone!"

As the Moon Beam finished, Astaroth cast a last spell before his melding undid itself, casting Moonlit Sanctuary. It covered the entire room, affecting every player in it.

The Grippli lunged forward, its health at 1 HP, refusing to die. It aimed directly toward Astaroth, which had almost just killed it, rage oozing off of it.

"Die!"

It pulled out the dagger embedded in its chest, trying to stab the pesky Ash Elf with it, but a flying projectile intercepted the dagger.

Athena had shot an Impact Shot, aiming to disarm the boss, but was only managed throw the attack off course. It was more than enough to save Astaroth's life though, as the weapon swished next to his limp arm.

The last HP it had dropped to zero when its body ran into Astaroth's and bounced off. Taking the dagger out had stopped the berserk effect and put it in a weakened state.

In this state, its body was much less sturdy than Astaroth's, and the impact did no damage to the player. The frogman dropped to the ground, drawing its last breath.

*Ding!*

*Congratulations players! You are the first group to clear the first stage of the Jungle Maze dungeon! May your good fortune keep up, as you attempt the rest of this dungeon!*

With this announcement, the party members dropped to the ground, the adrenaline finally wearing off. They were battered and exhausted, but they were grinning happily.

They had completed the first boss fight!

It would usually take a group twice as large as theirs to even attempt a dungeon of this level. The maximum party size for a dungeon was twelve players, and many forum pages recommended always filling the party.

Dungeons were no laughing matter, and attempting them while under manned was considered suicide for most players. But this party was not 'most players'.

Silent got back up after a few seconds of heavy breathing, heading to Astaroth. His arm was still broken, and Silent could see the pain on his face as he tried to play it cool.

Silent Light sat next to Astaroth, still showing his stoic face.

"Let me take a look at that arm."

"Sure thing, doc," Astaroth replied.

The priest hovered his hand over the broken arm, sending healing magic into it. Astaroth could feel his arm tingling, as the exploded bone pieces went back into place, and the pain subsided.

But he was still unable to move the limb. When he looked at his status screen, he understood why.

Physical Condition: Broken Arm (Recovering: 30 Minutes)

'So fixing it doesn't mean I can automatically use it again. Huh. The more you know,' he thought.

He took a mental note to always be careful about things like these in the future. Losing the use of a limb in a dangerous situation could spell disaster if magic couldn't instantly restore it.

"You'll have to excuse me. I do not have the Restoration spell. You will have to wait for the full timer for your arm to work again," Silent said as he got up and walked to the other party members.

He checked all their conditions, but didn't heal any other, since the passive regen from being out of combat would take care of it. Once he was done with his round, he sat back down and chugged a mana potion.

Astaroth looked at Phoenix, asking her silently why she had not taught him mana breathing, through the private message function.

She replied she wasn't stupid enough to teach the kid something that wasn't meant to be taught to her in the first place. She added that the kid couldn't keep secrets that well either, and that he would most likely post it on forums after.

Astaroth nodded his head at her, acknowledging her wise decision, before he laid on his back to look at the sky.

'It's so peaceful here, now that the boss is dead.'

They then heard a dull thud in the door's direction. A large treasure chest had appeared just before the door, and it was glowing.

'Ahh, yes. Loot,' the party members all thought, their eyes shining with avarice.

They all wondered what goodies this tough son of a frog would have dropped.