Chapter 426

Aranor P.O.V.

The boy’s luck strikes once more, an ettin. Those two headed behemoths are some of the most straightforward floor bosses, not only that but depending on the type it might be a perfect match up for him as well. 

“What type?” I ask as we all head towards the source of the previous bellows. 

“Hybrid.” the scout answers.

Well, the boy’s luck doesn’t seem to be quite that good, a pure mage would have been an ideal match-up for him even if it is the most dangerous ranked version by the Adventurer’s Guild, and for good reason.

“Do you think the hybrid is a better match up or the warrior?” I ask the prince. 

“The mage would have been the best.” The prince agrees with my own assessment. 

Ettins are basically dual classes in the same body. This might initially seem like two warrior classes or two mage classes would be far inferior to a warrior and mage combined in the same body but that’s not always the case. Each type of ettin has its own niche.

Two warrior classes might seem to have a lot to complement each other at first but that is a clear example of short sightedness. A pure offensive berserker combined with an indomitable guardian can cause a world of issues. This combination is however the easiest ranked by the Adventurer’s Guild for the simple fact that a group of five or more has a much easier time containing it. 

The mage is on the other side of the coin, two mage classes. Nobody out there underestimates this version, the creature can have one head channeling massive spells while the other pumps out continuous casts, multiple different types of mana and most dangerous of all spell overload, despite its humanoid body this version retains the monster ability to cast magic in the same way Ajax does allowing it to fire dozens of spells at once . While this version is by far the most fragile and fights against it always end in under two minutes it almost always causes casualties.

Finally there is the hybrid. It is more of a misnomer however since unlike a true hybrid like Ajax it doesn’t have to sacrifice the physical or the magical getting the full benefit of both. Both the warrior and mage half of the creature would be a balanced version of the class unlike the extremes the classes take with the other variants. It’s biggest strength come from the augmented magic it casts to empower the physical attacks, much in the same way Ajax fights. 

“I think the warrior would be harder for him to fight, though not by much.” The prince answers the question. “Inside the dungeon at least.” 

I agree with him that it's close, I’m not sure what being inside or outside the dungeon has to do with anything. Despite being only level one hundred and ten the ettin will have Ajax beat in all stats, it will come down if Ajax can overcome that gap with his skill and Skills. 

It's not long until we catch sight of the creature, we can clearly see it on the other mountain peak as it wanders aimlessly. “Do you want to fight it on the side of the mountain or in one of the valleys?” The ranger captain asks.

“On the side but low enough that I can jump down to the valley below without wasting too much mana.” Ajax answers instantly, I can see his eyes tracking the creature so intensely I wouldn’t be surprised if he trips over a rock.

“I cloaked us.” I nod towards the mage. “We can get much closer now before it can find us, no closer than a hundred yards though, it will sense the disturbance in the mana at that range.” 

Unlike the warrior type the hybrid isn’t encased in armor but all of its vitals are covered. The creature is easily thirty five feet tall and in its hand is a massive bone club that is easily fifteen feet long, a direct hit from that would be enough to seriously threaten anyone present here, even me. 

As we slowly descend down the mountain's side I see Ajax break off a chunk of rock from the ground. Smart, he’s analyzing the terrain to see how to best use it, at least I hope that’s what he’s doing and he’s not just going to chuck it at the floor boss.

“This is perfect.” Ajax says as he takes in the small flat area between two peaks. “We’ll start the fight up there and finish it here.” 

Looking at where he is pointing I notice that halfway up to that mountain road there is a tree branch growing out of the side of the mountain. The initial walkway isn’t all that wide so I am expecting the fight won’t stay there for long but I can see what he is planning.

We are two hundred feet from the boss when I see Ajax freeze mid step. “Is …” 

“What is it?” I ask concerned since I haven’t noticed what changed. 

“Is that staff something we can take outside the dungeon?” Ajax asks as he points towards the boss. 

My instinct is to instantly tell the boy no, everyone knows that the body of a floor boss can never be taken outside the dungeon but then I stop and replay his question in my mind. ‘The staff’ , the ettin is one of the few floor bosses that actually uses weapons or equipment and in very rare cases people have been able to take some of those outside the dungeon. 

I instantly focus my [Sense Mana] on the staff and I am shocked to see that it can indeed be taken outside. It seems like a moot point since like most items wielded by floor bosses it's simply not something any humanoid can use. Regardless I still use my Epic [Item Appraisal] on the weapon bound to the creature's back, if nothing else the gem the size of a small cart is going to be worth a lot. 

Ritualist Ettin Staff
 

Can transform the Stamina of the users into mana at a 3:1 ratio.

Acts as a focus for the caster.
Allows multiple users to power the spell with a 75% efficiency for all outside the caster, limited to ten casters and one user at most contact must be maintained with the staff.

I instinctively swipe by hand around my mouth to make sure I’m not drooling. The staff is a treasure! Being able to transform mana to stamina is okay, not particularly great if it's 3:1 but not bad. Allowing eleven mages to power one spell with only a 25% loss for ten of them is great, even the best combined spells by people who have trained together for decades only have a 70% efficiency for all involved. 

If that was it the item would be an interesting curiosity and most likely broken down for parts since it would be more useful that way. But squirreled aways in the item description are those four little words ‘acts as a focus’. The staff would handle the strain of any spell channeled through it, with the size of that crystal I have no doubt that it could handle a 100000 mana spell, the best I my own mana channels can do with my longest cast slowly pulling the mana through is 10000. That makes it priceless!!!

“How am I going to transport something that big?” Ajax’s words bring me crashing back down to the present. From the looks of some of the rangers I can tell I’m not the only one who inspected the staff. “It’s got to be forty feet long. Doesn’t matter, an issue for later, though I should take care not to break it.” 

Before any of us can even question his words Ajax quickly pulls out his bow and goes to stand behind the rock. “Looks like this is as far as it wants to come so I’ll shoot it from here and get it to follow me back. Can you drop the illusion I don’t want to attack from inside it just in case it counts that as help.”

Still in shock all of us pull back as the illusion drops and we all feel Ajax start to summon up his mana for a powerful opening shot but that’s not what I’m focused on now.

“If he kills it by himself the staff is his.” The prince’s voice marks the start of the argument we all knew was coming from the moment we inspected the staff. 

“That’s-” The ranger captain doesn’t get more than a word out before he is interrupted. 

“He will be head of landed ducal House, this is his boosted delve and he is fighting a floor boss more than twice his level alone.” The prince’s voice is cold. “If he kills it alone the staff is his.”

“What’s so special about the staff?” Arianwyn asks.

I take a brief moment to explain. ““WHAT?!”” Both her and Elara are shocked, as well they should be.

“What if we have to intervene?” I ask, there is at least a 50% chance Ajax won’t be winning this fight. I need to lay the groundwork.

“You can take the staff, in whatever condition it is.” I am very much surprised the prince is willing to concede the staff. “And you pay Gryndor ten times the cost of the materials.”

I almost choke when I hear that, the amount of high quality wood and the gem stone would be at least ten thousand gold coins. The staff is surely worth the one hundred thousand but the deal is to pay that much regardless of the condition of the staff.

“Done.” Elara says before anyone else has a chance. 

“Elara…” Arianwyn is a bit shy as she tugs on her friend’s hand, the royal family is in no position to be paying out such a sum on a whim. “That might be a bit too much.” 

“My family would buy, we’re in a position to take that bet.” she says with confidence. “Though I doubt we’ll have the chance to claim it since Ajax will kill the ettin, I’m sure of it.” 

I turn my focus back to Ajax as he finally releases the arrow, I am surprised at how little mana is there compared to what he usually puts into his opening shot. To no surprise the mage half of the ettin senses the arrow in time and the arrow hits a shield right it front of one of the two heads and stops dead before falling to the ground. An instant later one of the ettin’s eye balls bursts in a shower of blood. 

“RRRRAAAAGGGGHHHHH!”

“AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!” 

With a bellow of rage and one of pain the battle begins as the ettin charges after Ajax who is already lining up a second shot while also retreating down the mountain towards the valley.