42 Conquering Mini-mini-Bosses

"Every Gob is worth the chance. Would you be alive if no one gave you a one? Your canine like teeth and frightening glare scares the hell out of practically everyone who looks at you! Why do you think the other mer refused to talk to you. Don't forget the fact that you literally eat people, either!" the man yelled, waving his arms in the air. "But, what would you do if I decided you were too savage to live because of your race and appearance? It would be unfair and cruel!"

"Thats not the point, you're grasping at straws! They were afraid because Isonei was first. It's not like I was the only one in the group who ate fresh corpses either. The fact of the matter is, we both decided to be civilized and were hired for a job, so we didn't kill each other. It's not like I ran up to you, hissing like a jackass, begging to be struck through the brain with a spike."

"But they lived in these tunnels for probably their entire lives, how are they supposed to know any better without aid?"

"They live with other people too, dumbass, look at Dhetta, I'm not saying kill everyone, you just give too many chances!"

"KKKKKSSSSSSHHHHHKKK!"

"Could you please get off me?"

"SEE? Why the fuck are you reasoning with a proto-Gob? I once watched one try to eat its mother, and this one obviously isn't any different! End it already!"

"RRRAAAARRRRRGGH!"

"Odd, I told you, it doesn't know any better!"

SHUNK

"And its so fucking dumb, that it impaled itself on one of your spikes, Trafaul. Good idea, give it a chaaaance," he mocked.

"It still deserved one!"

"Whatever."

...

"So... are you gonna eat that?"

"That's disgusting, Odd! You're getting proto-Gob sludge everywhere!"

"It's nutritious, so what if it's a little messy? Not like I have a spoon or napkins here. Anyway, I don't make fun of you for your weird penis or the fact that you starve yourself because you're a vegetarian, so don't make fun of me for my eating habits."

"It's natural, my species is one of many with a retractable-"

"Enough! Ugh," he shuddered to himself. He didn't even want to think about it.

-conversation between Trafaul Lepisosteiformes and Odd Meirvere, 2109 FE

******************************************************

It took longer than Odd would care to admit it before he realized he was being stubborn for no reason.

Trafaul was here, so Odd let him lead the way, fight some Gobs, turn others to their side.

He would just stick to the shadows, let him lead, and escape if he needed to. He had an OP affinity that made him practically invisible to most.

That's what he told himself hours ago, at least.

"More, more, more, more!" a little proto-Gob cackled in laughter, he acted as a shadow beneath Odd's leg.

The Gob was pointing out the fact that another proto-Gob and two kobolds had joined their raid. The creatures crawled through rat-like tunnels, popping out of the floor, sides, and dropping down from above.

Odd had no idea how far rumors of their presence had spread, but the trickling of new members to their force was good. It could be worse, they could be ambushing them instead.

The little proto-Gob kept jumping up and down and Odd had to smack it away as it was getting too close for comfort. The damn thing kept trying to hump his leg or something. The living ghoul didn't care about it, its name or anything else about it. He had far more pressing matters on his mind.

He did note that it was interesting how the proto-Gob was the only one who didn't join the other younglings in chaotically running into battle. The title, [Energetic Anomaly] was probably the reason for its unique actions, but he just wanted the thing to leave him alone.

A part of his mind initially felt a sense of kinship to the little thing, but that thought was squashed by how annoying it was.

The little bugger wouldn't leave his side and had even picked up two pieces of broken spears to hold in a reverse grip, mimicked how Odd fought.

Energetic? Ya right, more like a worshipping, annoying hanger-on anomaly.

"Hey friends, would you like to travel with us too?"

And there's Trafaul again, "making friends." Part of Odd was annoyed at the process and just wanted to fight.

The other part admitted that he was 100% right and he would have died if he fought through these tunnels with the same mindset that he attacked goblins around Cripclaw Keep.

If he hadn't let Trafaul gather allies, he knew he would have been forced to sprint back to where they came and attempt to swim to safety.

"Traitorsss!" "Bloodsss!" "Intrudersss!" "Fffoods!"

The usual cacophony of hissing followed. Odd would have thought that they had been warned of them by now.

Nearly like all the other previous dozen times, a quick brawl commenced between the two groups. This time, however, Trafaul's group was large enough that the leaders on the other side were brought down in an instant.

[Body] rose from 2.6 to 2.7

[Speed Affinity] rose from 2.3 to 2.4

Odd grinned and wiped his blades clean.

"Do you think he's an idiot?"

The living ghoul scoffed and looked to his newest friend, Dhetta. The T3 kobold was leading one of the groups they ran into and chose to surrender to Trafaul's persuasion techniques without a fight. She was surprisingly good company and a sense of sanity that Odd enjoyed.

It wasn't like he was attracted to her, Dhetta was equally as ugly and gangly as any of the other kobold menaces. She just wasn't an idiot. And that, was a breath of fresh air.

"That's right!" Trafaul shouted. "Break the chains of oppression, there's no need to fight, just because someone is stronger than you! Your life is your own!"

"I can't tell, sometimes," Odd remarked. "Sometimes he seems reasonable, while others..."

"He claims this isn't a war band."

"Mhm," Odd answered. He really had nothing to say.

In theory, diplomacy should be a simple walk. Trafaul though, whether intentionally or not, had been giving the impression that others should stand down and follow him. It didn't take long for their journey to turn into a full-fledged revolt, with the fishman as a new boss.

Or at least that's what the natives of the area thought. The joining stragglers brought some of the rumors that had been spreading throughout the cave system. Odd figured it wouldn't be long before these token resistances would stop and they would all turn to their side when they came upon them.

It wasn't what he had in mind when they popped up underground, but Odd was forced to admit that this method of crossing the tunnels had a sense of simple, genius. Forming a revolution was better than trying to silence all of the stray rats. It wasn't like the stronger enemies would sit in "boss rooms." That would be plain retarded.

However, the greater part of him was paranoid. He was still afraid of the matrix of connected, glowing gems. The conspiracy theories of what could be happening in these tunnels was putting him on edge, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it.

Worse come to worse, he would try to run away on his own when the real owner(s) of this place came to kill them and use Trafaul as bait.

Maybe there was something to be said about travelling with other males and Cirrha was right? She claimed a woman would take care of him and he would for them. In this instance, Odd wouldn't care much if the spikey fishman took an fatal blow . The only reason he stayed with him was because he was powerful and Odd was pretty sure he wouldn't intentionally harm him.

"That way next?" Trafaul questioned a white kobold. "Thanks, I guess we can talk to him and ask for his help. I don't want to fight him though, its not like I'm taking over the cave."

"Whatever you sssshaaayyy, bossss."

Odd rolled his eyes for the nth time during recruitment speeches.

"FRIEND!" Trafaul yelled as they walked into a large cavern. It was decorated with lights along the lower sides, but a giant crystal rested in the center of the domed ceiling.

[Eyes of Providence] activated

Name: Electricity Converter

Intent: Converts power from another source to raw electricity and sends it upwards.

Odd had no clue what this place was made for. The little gems were just junctions, but they suggested use for a ritual. He decided to ignore it for now and watched Trafaul in his element.

"Who the hell are, kck kkck," he hissed. "Who are you and why have you formed a war band?"

[Eyes of Providence] activated

Name: Ratsar

Titles: [Scion of Melicier Peak]

Race: Minotaur(Kobold Varient), T3 ELITE

Paths: [Bullheaded], [Greed], [Indecisive]

[Stats]:

Body: High T3

Mind: Low T3

Soul: Low T1

Charge Affinity: Mid T3

Earth Affinity: High T2

[Special Conditions]:

Soul Drain: The target's soul is constantly shredded, sending some of the energy to junctions nearby.

'Soul magic. Where's mother when I need her?' Odd thought to himself as he caressed his necklace.

Odd had a pretty good idea that necromancy was involved in whatever situation he was stuck in. Any ritual that had to do with damaging souls usually did. It just reinforced his paranoia and was all the more reason to get the hell out of Dodge.

Too bad he didn't have a map. Maybe their was a treasure chest with one that this ratotaur thing was guarding?

Pushing away his idiotic fantasies, Odd hoped his fishy acquaintance could turn this enemy like some of the others.

He would be more than happy to leave the weird minotaur alive so the owner(s) wouldn't be alerted, but...

Aparrantly that was as wishful of a dream as a map that marked where everything was. It looked like they wouldn't have much of a choice.

It was interesting to note, however, that the creature had two of the same paths that the other kobolds all shared, [Greed] and [Indecisive].

The Connection called it indecisive, but Odd was starting to feel it actually meant schizophrenic and crazy. Just watching these kobolds hiss and twitch back an forth was unnerving, but watching a red eyed, horned, muscular and furry, ratlike monstrosity jerk and jump, as if from tourettes, was more than a little unsettling.

Or it may have something to do with the killing intent that filled the air. Odd didn't need his skill to know that this thing was strong enough to crush him like a proto-Gob.

"War band?" Trafaul questioned. "We aren't a war band. My friend and I are just trying to get above ground."

"You need followersss to get above ground?" Ratsar, the whiskered minotaur slammed a hoof down, creating small cracks on the surface.

"Well, they just came with us, you know? We really are harmless, can you please just tell us where to go?"

Ratsar chuckled, the booming deep sound echoed in the cavern, "So you need to take denizens of, kssshhk, Melicier to leave?"

"Friend, why are you being difficult, we just-"

"New boss, are we going to take him now?"

"NO, that's not-"

The minotaur roared and a half dozen proto-Gobs dropped to the ground from his killing intent while the kobolds shuddered.

Odd looked over his shoulder, nodded at Dhetta, kicked off the hero worshiping proto-Gob away from his leg, and darted towards the left edge of the group while Dhetta covered the right. They positioned themselves for an ambush as Trafaul was encouraging his war band to "fight against this injustice!"

A bull was expected to charge, especially with his affinity, but Odd was still surprised by its power. Cracked formed in the ground, limbs went flying and the broken proto-Gobs exploded into goo, covering the path it just blazed.

Trafaul yelled out no and shot out a spike, but Ratsar ignored it as he lifted a glowing hoof into the air.

[Charge Affinity] obviously meant more than charging like a bull.