Chapter 4 - First Boss

'Power Strike!' Micro thought as he smashed in the skull of another Zombie. He had made his way to a small park by Spikes house and grinned as he climbed onto the equipment (the platforms that lead to slides and is basically a small fort) and out of reach of another one. His superior DEX allowed him to dodge around the slow creatures and weave around the equipment out of danger. With Spike and Sugar on standby on the roof of the dining pavilion, he was getting some serious grinding in, both stat wise and loot wise.

After noticing the money and tooth from the first Zombie, the boys realized just how broken this ability could be. If he could get money from defeating these creatures, he never had to worry about money! He instantly dumped the drops into his inventory after making a slot for loot, and it pleased him greatly that money had its own little section on his stats screen. It made him even more happy when he discovered he could set loot to auto pick up so he wouldn't have to do so in the middle of a fight or risk missing anything.

As for stats...well

Micro Chip

Lv 11

HP (342/400)

MP (147/400)

STR 17 (Due to the level ups and fighting the Zombies with brute strength)

VIT 15

DEX 15

INT 33

WIS 24

LUK 8

CHA 9

Bonus Stat Points: 27

He decided to wait until he could think about his choices more before assigning his Bonus Points. Didn't want to waste them. He was also happy the few times he got bit didn't even leave a mark on his clothes. One less thing he had to worry about explaining to his mom.

Not to mention his Power Strike and Blunt Weapon Mastery went up as well. So did Observe but not as much and he noticed it didn't have any extra benefits so far. Maybe it had to do with not Observing different things?

Power Strike (Lv6)

Active (MP Cost 10)

Putting all your strength into an attack to drastically increase damage

+60% damage to attack

Blunt Weapon Mastery (Lv10)

Passive

Your skill at using blunt weapons

+20% damage while using a blunt weapon

Sadly he couldn't just spam Power Strike for every attack or else he might run out of MP...though he wondered why a physical attack took MP. It must be because his magic is fueling his muscles…He briefly felt a weird buzz and realized it was probably the notification that a stat increased going off.

Finally, adding to his already decently powerful set up of Blunt Weapon Mastery and the occasional Power Strike, he had gained a title after he killed about 50 or so Zombies.

Apprentice Undead Hunter

You have a talent in exterminating creatures of the undead!

-30% Increase Damage to Undead

-30% Increase Defense Against Undead

-Plus 5 to all Stats When Fighting Undead

Needless to say that was instantly equipped. He was curious as to what else he could get.

'Power Strike!' A zombie was turned to dust as he sandwiched it between his bat and a pole. He allowed himself a small grin as he saw that there were no other Zombies around.

"Huh," he muttered and saw his two friends approaching. "Spike. Do these barriers usually run out of enemies?"

"No," Spike said as he flexed his clawed hand. "Usually it's endless."

"Well maybe this is a sign that we should get out of here," Sugar said worriedly. "So maybe we should…" That was when the ground started shaking.

"What the?!" Micro shouted as they looked toward the woods near the playground.

Rising above the trees, a large figure started forming. It seemed made up of rotting flesh and was growing to the size of a large building. When it finished, it was the shape of a human and let out a bellowing roar.

Legion Zombie

Lv 30

HP 15000

MP 0

When Zombies in the area feel threatened by a powerful enough enemy, they unite to form this beast. They are slow, but hit hard.

Special Perks

-Immense Strength

-Immense Stamina

-Immense Durability

"What is that!?" Sugar yelled.

"I...I don't know," Spike stammered. "This has never happened to me before. I've never seen this thing."

"It's a Legion Zombie apparently," Micro said. "It is level 30. I think it might be time to get out of here!"

Spike nodded and held up his hand to dispel the barrier...only for nothing to happen.

"What...why isn't it working?!" Micro stared at a new screen in front of him and gulped.

"Guys...I think my new ability is screwing with us."

"What do you mean?" Sugar asked as the creature began lumbering forward.

"Well you know how you can't run from boss encounters in games?" His friends stared at him.

"You don't mean…" Spike said. Micro nodded as he read the pop up.

Boss Enemy Nearby

Cannot Escape Instant Dungeon

"Meet our first boss." They turned toward the beast just in time to dodge one of his fists. Micro quickly pulled up his party menu and sent an invite to his friends.

"Is this really the time to test out the ability that stuck us in this situation!?" Sugar called out.

"According to the tutorial I did you guys can have access to certain parts of my ability as well as gain experience as a group," Micro said. "If we have to fight this thing anyway…"

Micro felt another buzz go off as he guessed his wisdom went up again for his logical thinking and he sidestepped another fist. The Legion Zombie seemed to currently be focusing on him, probably since he was the one who slayed the other Zombies.

While the fist was still at his level he thought 'Power Strike' and used it three times in a row. He growled when he saw it barely made any major dent in the creature's health.

14897/15000

'I can barely do anything,' he thought annoyed. 'I need to think of something…'

He got notifications of the other two joining the party and saw Spike look up to where the health bar would be.

"That's a lot," he muttered as he readied his claws. With a growl he shot forward and raked his nails along the creature's ankles.

14698/15000

"Still not a lot…" Sugar said as he dropped the bat in fear. "How are we going to…?"

Micro ran in and grabbed his friend, knocking him out of the way as a foot nearly crushed them. As it stood, Micro found his foot crushed.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" He pulled his foot free and was thanking Gamer's Body for not letting his bones actually break. Though he did watch his own health drop significantly.

HP: 214/400

The Legion Zombie was reeling back for a punch to strike the two downed boys when a fireball courtesy of Spike struck its face.

"Over here corpse breath!" He shouted. The lumbering beast turned its attention to the Draco Kin as Micro took in the HP bar.

13602/15000

'That did a decent chunk!' Micro realized. 'Maybe….does that mean magic would do more than physical?'

He looked down at his hand and remembered what Spike told him about magic.

'Focus...and imagine…' Micro looked up in determination.

"Micro," Sugar started. "What're you thinking?"

"I think I know the best way to combat this thing." With that said he looked at his current MP. It had been a few minutes so he regained some.

MP: 143/400

"Let's try this!" He raised his hand and imagined a arrow of pure energy shooting toward Legion. He grinned when suddenly a bolt hit the beast in the chest.

MP: 138/400

13549/15000

'That wasn't nearly as good as Spike's attack.' He looked at the skill window that popped up.

Skill Created!

Magic Arrow (LV1)

Active (MP Cost ? Min 5)

Create a bolt of pure magic that shoots through the air. The amount of magic poured into it is up to the caster. The more magic, the more damage

'So I need to add more magic to it,' he smirked. He had a large magic pool when it was full so this would come in useful. Micro began focusing a larger chunk of his magic into it. 'Magic Arrow!'

A much larger arrow shot from his hand and soared through the air, slamming into the lumbering giant's chest.

MP: 108/400

12999/15000

Micro smirked at the increase in power and even more when Spike caught onto what he we doing and stopped focusing on slashing at Legion. With the beast now distracted by Micro he focused and took a deep breath before launching an even larger fireball than the one before slammed into the beast in the back of the head.

10742/15000

The boys had a brief moment of celebration that they figured out the best way to fight this thing. The moment ended when the Zombie swung its arm along the ground, sending them all across the ground. Micro stared up at his health

HP: 22/400

Fear started welling up inside of him before the Gamer's Mind beat it back down. He looked around at his friends and saw Spike was a bit scratched up but relatively fine. His health bar was only slightly damaged. He saw Sugar a distance away and noticed his health bar was down to a sliver. The Legion Zombie was about to bring its arm down on him when Spike and Micro both launched large shots at him and got his agro. Spike continued peppering him with smaller ones as Micro made his way over to Sugar, who was patting his chest like he couldn't believe he didn't have any broken bones.

"Is...is this what you mean by some of your abilities extending to party members?" He asked. Micro nodded, biting his lip on whether he should tell Sugar how close he came to death. "I….I need something sweet."

Reaching into his bag he pulled out a green lollipop and put it in his mouth. He smiled and sighed before pulling the candy out and looking at it confused.

"Why do I not feel sore anymore?" Micro didn't answer. He was looking at his friend's health bar as it was slowly refilling.

"Sugar," he started. "Can I see what other candy you have?" His peppermint haired friend looked confused but figured Micro must have a reason. He reached in and pulled out some more lollipops.

"Mostly I have these," he said showing a few green and purple lollipop. When Micro cast observe on them he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Seems Bayonetta has the right idea about lollipops after all."

Sweet Tooth Green Apple Lollipop

A lollipop made by the Sweet Tooth candy corporation. It's green apple flavored.

Heals: 200 HP

Sweet Tooth Grape Lollipop

A lollipop made by the Sweet Tooth candy corporation. It's grape flavored.

Restores: 200 MP

Micro quickly grabbed a couple of the green and purple candies and popped one of each in his mouth. With a grin he watched both bars begin to regenerate. Dropping the rest into his inventory he turned to see the Legion Zombie failing to hit Spike who got in the occasional slash here and there in addition to his fire balls.

5418/15000

Micro couldn't believe it. They almost had the thing beat. His smile left when he saw Spike was having trouble conjuring any more fireballs. Micro channeled his energy and sent a small volley of arrows into Legion Zombie's skull.

"Get the purple ones to Spike," he said as he took of running, firing a few arrows at a time to keep the thing distracted. When he felt the lollipop was small enough he bit down and chewed up the rest and felt the remaining health and magic charge flow through him. In addition to his natural regeneration, he had a good bit of his magic and health back.

HP: 222/400

MP: 260/400

Micro turned to face the Legion Zombie and he held his hand out.

"Come and get me buddy," he growled as he focused all of his energy into this shot. He was about to shoot it toward the monster's head but smirked as he remembered a meme that actually might prove useful here. "You know you were a threat…"

He sent the large magic arrow flying. It tore straight through its target, the creatures kneecap. Micro finished as he watch the beast fall to the ground.

"Until you took an arrow to the knee."

The Legion Zombie still had some health left…

450/15000

But that was soon finished off when Spike came up behind and sent a fireball into the thing's brain. It slowly faded away, leaving behind the typical drop of money as well as a book and a bunch of red potions, all of which were dropped into Micro's inventory as he pulled open his alert menu and was greeted with a satisfying screen.

You have gained 4 Levels!

"What the?" Sugar and Spike both said. Micro looked over and saw they both had the same screens, though Spike's only said one.

"Looks like you guys got that benefit to," he chuckled. "We can discuss this later. I think we should get out of here first."

Spike nodded as he raised his hand.

In the real world version of the pro, night had fallen. Riding along the paths on her scooter was a girl about 15 in a leather jacket with a orange shirt underneath and a pair of jeans. Her maroon hair was tucked up into her helmet and her skin was lightly tanned.

"Mom's gonna kill me when I get home," she muttered. She was with her friends and lost track of time. Thankfully she knew a shortcut through the park.

She was just coming over a hill when she saw three boys appear by the equipment. The world around them seemed to shatter before fixing itself. She was so shocked that she lost control of her scooter and went off the path into the bushes. She was pulling herself out when she heard them talking.

"That was insane," one voice said. "I don't know if I ever want to do that again."

"I get what you mean Sugar," another voice said. "But you know why at least I have to do it."

"Hey, I'll follow you in Micro," the third said. "If only to pull your butt out of the fire if you encounter another of those giants."

"Thanks Spike. But I wouldn't have succeeded if not for Sugar's sweets." There was a pause and the first voice spoke again.

"Fine!" It said. "I can't let you do this alone. So, what's with this whole level up thing? How does it work for us?" The voices were getting further away and the girl tried to pull herself from the bush.

"We'll figure that out back at Spike's. As far as I can tell as long as you are in my party you can…." And that was the last she heard. She finally freed herself from the bush and brushed herself off. The boys were nowhere to be seen.

"What was that about?" She wondered. "And why were they acting like they were playing some game?"

{Written by Twistedphoenix1}

{Edited by SpedaHooves/KenKanekiTheCat/Me}