They moved towards the boss's room entrance next. On the way, they took care of any stragglers and a few patrols, but nothing caused them any issue. Having a healer reduced any downtime between fights, except for occasionally waiting on mana. While having a tank, with or without a shield, made the fights easier since the casters could attack it without worry.

  Standing before what Alex assumed was the boss's entrance, they rested a bit. He wasn’t actually one-hundred percent sure this was it, but he was pretty sure. After all, the last time he came here, he was unconscious and thrown into a cage.

  Once they were ready, Derek led the team into the room, with Alex trailing behind, sword and staff in hand, just in case. The room looked exactly as it had before. It was empty except for several large fires scattered throughout the room.

  They immediately saw the boss sitting on its throne.

  Kobold Chieftain (Level 7)

  Kobolds are a race of lizard-like monsters that prefer to live underground. They're aggressive and devious, known for traps and ambushing unsuspecting adventurers who stumble into their territory. This specific variant of Kobold is a Kobold Chieftain. Chieftains are the leader of their respective tribes and usually the strongest individual in their group.

  Hmm, it doesn’t have a name like the one I fought. This one feels more.. generic? I guess this is the usual boss here. Alex thought to himself.

  The Kobold Chieftain was similarly dressed to Zhiva, wearing a robe and staff.

  Upon entering the room, the Chieftain stood up, clearly knowing it was being challenged. It didn't speak as Zhiva had, but was definitely angry, judging by the sounds it was spewing at them all.

  Alex had warned them that the dungeon boss was a strong earth mage who would prefer range. So Derek had immediately started charging towards it, while Sarah and Sam had launched their ranged attacks.

  Alex planned to sit back and watch, only to interfere occasionally when needed.

  When Derek's charge began, the boss had started to cast a spell. Earth spikes were materializing in the air around it. When five appeared, the first one launched itself towards Derek. The spike came faster than he expected, but he was able to mostly dodge it, only taking a scratch along his tricep.

  The mana bolts and fireballs from the rest of his team had started to hit the boss, but the damage was clearly minor. The force of the spells did throw off the Kobold’s aim for the next two spikes, though, causing them to miss Derek by a wide margin.

  Once in range, Derek attacked with his sword, bringing it down with two hands in a cross slash from left to right. The dungeon boss deflected the blow with its staff and quickly channeled mana into a wall between them, pushing the warrior away.

  Losing their line of sight on the boss, the party shifted to the left. Sarah ran closer to Derek to heal his small wound, while Sam went farther to the left, so that he could continue attacking the boss. His fireballs had started to get through its scales if they hit the same spots, but they weren’t doing much. He would probably run out of mana before he did any serious damage to the creature.

  “Sam! Are you able to condense your fireballs more? Increase the force of them and the heat,” Alex yelled out to him. “Make a larger one and compress it down. It’ll make them more durable. You could even try to ramp up the heat by giving it more air through it.”

  I’m curious if he can get a mana manipulation skill. My [Celestial Control] said it's an advanced form of it. So stands to reason there must be a standard version.

  “Sarah, you might be able to do the same with your [Mana Bolt], or even focus your healing more to speed it up.”

  “On it,” Sam yelled back.

  “I'll try,” Sarah mumbled, Alex barely hearing her.

  This feels like raiding in an online game. I used to call out commands and direct the flow of battle. Being a nerd and studying the boss fights had its advantages. He chuckled while he watched them fight.

  They had moved around the stone wall and reengaged the Kobold. Derek lunged with his sword, attempting to stab it into the boss. But at the last moment, it shifted, causing his sword only to pierce its side, missing anything vital. Even with the miss, the wound still did its job, weakening the boss and causing its blood to spill out.

  Hissing in anger and pain, the creature launched two more spikes, one at Sam and one at Derek. The warrior slashed the spike from the air, like a baseball player hitting a home run. He then followed up and lunged with another slash that caught the boss across the arm, biting into its scales and drawing more blood.

  Sam put up his [Mage Barrier], causing the spike to deflect away from him, only slightly gouging the shield. Alex saw him retaliating with his fireballs. They looked smaller, though, and were hitting the boss with more impact than before.

  Sam was able to do it a bit; it's clearly improving his fireballs. Alex thought as he watched Sarah. He hadn’t seen anything different with her spells yet.

  Since the earth spikes failed to stop the intruders, the boss then slammed its staff into the ground. It triggered an earthwave that rushed out, knocking everyone back. Its opponents thrown to the ground, the Chieftain let out a roar and channeled its mana into all the broken pieces of stone lying around. They all rose from the ground and started bombarding the team.

  Alex, deciding to help a bit, raised two earth walls near his new friends, giving them cover.

  Derek had already taken a few strong blows from the rocks and limped behind the barriers. Before reaching them, he had jumped in front of Sarah, protecting her from a few of the stone projectiles, relying on her healing to keep him on his feet.

  While Sam had been able to deflect most with his Mage Barrier, it had shattered before he got behind the wall. He took a heavy hit to his head, blood now dripping down his face.

  After the assault ended, Derek ran back towards the boss, while Sarah ran to help Sam.

  The boss seemed to need a moment to recover after its last attack, its shoulders slumped from exhaustion. This gave Derek time to close the distance again.

  They’re doing pretty well. You can easily tell Derek has combat experience; he doesn't hesitate or show fear. He knows what needs to be done. Alex thought while watching.

  Sam is casual as hell, even in a fight. He’s definitely a gamer, and he instantly picked up on that mana manipulation to improve his spells. He's a natural. And Sarah.. It's clear she’s scared, but you can also see her determination to help. She doesn’t want to be a burden on others.

  Wait… since when can I read people this well? I’ve spent my entire adult life alone. I usually can’t read people worth a shit, but it feels so much easier now. Is it the stats? Maybe increased perception?

  They’re a good team, though. I’m impressed by how they’ve done in this dungeon. It's weird to find all three of them in my caving group, of all places. A healer, a tank, a mage, and then me, a hybrid. Their personalities work together well, too. Alex considered how astronomically low the chances were that they would all come together so easily.

  Derek had made his move; he avoided a point-blank earth spike and retaliated with a [Power Strike]. He timed it perfectly, taking the arm off the boss, its staff clattering to the ground.

  Sam ramped up his Fireballs after Sarah got him back on his feet. He pumped more mana into them and tried to condense them as much as he could. The fireballs were visibly harming the boss now, and not just with the force, but even with the fire.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Everyone had healed enough for now, so Sarah had resumed throwing more Mana bolts at the boss. It wasn’t to the same effect as Sam's, but Alex could see her Mana Bolt had been manipulated a bit, allowing them to do more damage.

  The boss knew it was losing, and Alex could see its desperation to stay alive. Derek was a constant threat, while the other two distracted it with their magic. They weren’t able to deal a decisive blow, but they were whittling it down, while Sarah kept them all going. But Alex also knew his team's mana was low; he could see it on the party interface.

  The Chieftain, feeling cornered, shattered the ground under Derek and lifted it, throwing him farther away. After that, it summoned a massive earth spike, larger than a normal kobold, and threw it at Sam. The spike shattered his new [Mage Barrier] that he had put on, and tore a large gash out of his side and arm.

  The boss, then picking up the staff with its other hand, lunged forward at Derek and slammed it into his chest. The blow was devastating. The Kobold had wrapped the head of the staff in rock, turning it into a stone mace.

  A massive wound opened on Derek’s chest. He was bleeding out and probably had a few broken ribs. Sarah tried to assist him with her Mana Bolts, but the boss was in a frenzy and completely ignored the damage she was doing.

  Before the boss could bring its staff down on Derek again, Alex had summoned an earth spike and launched it at the Chieftain. His attack pierced right through its leg, causing it to stumble. Again, Alex didn’t want to kill it, only assisting a bit when needed. But he wanted them to finish what they started.

  When the boss stumbled, Derek was able to roll away, though he grunted loudly from the pain, blood freely leaking from his chest. Still on the ground, but close enough to the boss, he swung his sword at its leg using his [Power Strike] again. It sliced the leg cleanly off.

  The chieftain now had one arm and one leg and had fallen to the ground. Sam had resumed throwing fireballs at the boss, but he was slower and weakened, so it wasn’t as many. Sarah was directly behind Derek, pumping her [Mend] spell into him.

  The boss was finished at this point. It was severely wounded and crippled. After taking the leg, Derek went for the staff, preventing him from lifting it again. Stepping on the creature's arm to pin him down, he ran his sword through the boss's chest, killing it moments later.

  You have slain Kobold Chieftain(Level 7)

  Experience and SP gained

  Congratulations, you’ve reached level 8!

  +6 free stats points gained

  Awesome, I leveled up. I’m a bit surprised I did, honestly. Soloing Zhiva must have gotten me farther into level 7 than I realized, Alex thought, as he watched Sarah tend to their wounds.

  They all leveled up to 5, also. She had quickly checked on Sam after Derek was stabilized.

  “Good job, you guys, I barely had to help,” Alex told them.

  “You saved our asses both times you did help, though. Thanks for that.” Derek still had a hand on his chest even though the wound was mostly healed. He clearly still remembered the pain.

  “Yeah, bro, thanks for the assist,” Sam added.

  Sarah nodded. “ Yeah, that Kobold was beyond us; we couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “No worries, that's what a team is for, right?” Alex said with a smile. “After you guys are healed up enough, let's get some loot! And don’t forget to check the boss's equipment too.”

  It took a bit for Sarah to get Derek and Sam healed enough; she had to wait for mana after making sure they were initially stable before fully healing them.

  Once Sam was good enough, he checked the equipment from the boss.

  Ring of Intelligence (Uncommon)(★)

  A basic silver ring, created to improve the user's mind.

  +1 Intelligence

  Mages Robes (Common)(★)

  The common clothes of a mage.

  Staff of Channeling (Uncommon)(★)

  This staff strengthens the wielder's spells by a small amount and helps with their concentration when using spells, making them less likely to be distracted during a cast.

  +1 intelligence +1 wisdom

  “Not bad loot," Alex said, looking over the boss's items. “Let's open the chest before deciding who gets what.”

  The group walked over to the Gold Chest, and Alex told Derek to open it. They saw five items inside.

  Shield of Fortitude (Uncommon)(★)

  A tower shield that contains the fortitude of a mountain. Highly durable and increases the user's resistance to being knocked back or moved against their will. +2 Toughness

  Wizard’s Cloak (Uncommon)(★)

  A cloak imbued with mana. The user can channel mana into it, increasing their resistance to magic attacks.

  +1 Intelligence +1 Toughness

  Healer’s Wand (Rare)(★)

  A wand grown from the branch of a tree infused with life mana. This wand slightly reduces the mana cost of support spells.

  +2 Wisdom +1 Intelligence

  Guard's Platemail (Common)(★)

  A guard's platemail cuirass, combining a mixture of plate armor and mail to provide protection.

  Boots of the Kobold Kings (Rare)(★)

  Boots created for Kobold Kings. They are lined with Kobold scales, providing some protection, especially against fire and earth magic. The boots decrease the noise caused by the wearer's footsteps.

  +1 Agility, +1 Perception, +1 Endurance

  Sam whistled loudly at the loot, and Derek nodded his agreement. At the same time, Sarah was clearly staring at the wand.

  “That’s all for you guys to split. I don’t need anything,“ Alex said before sitting on the Kobold's throne while he waited.

  I need to get me one of these. He thought, admiring the stone throne he sat on. It wasn’t as intricate as the one Zhiva had, though. That throne had been in an entirely different category.

  It only took them a few minutes to divvy up the spoils.

  Sarah got the healer's wand and ring of intelligence.

  Sam got the mage's robes, wizard's cloak, and staff of channeling.

  And Derek made out like a bandit, getting a shield, chestpiece, and some rare boots.

  “Now we’re twinsies,” Alex said to Derek, showing him his own boots.

  Derek just shook his head at the nonsense, smiled, and said, “As long as we don't get matching tattoos next, I’m fine with it.”

  “The boots must be a specific drop that comes from this dungeon. It could be worth trying to get a few more pairs when we have the time.” Alex continued.

  Sam nodded, “I’d definitely like to get a pair at some point. They’re pretty good boots, man. Sexy too.”

  “Yeah, I would like some too if we can,“ Sarah added.

  Alex stood up and walked towards the exit. “Let's get back to the cave. We can rest inside for a few hours before we go deal with the asshole.”

  It didn't take the party too long to get back outside. Once they returned to the cave entrance, they discussed sleeping arrangements.

  “There are some small areas back there, we could easily turn into bedrooms, but I’d rather not spend the time doing all that tonight,” Alex said, looking around the cave entrance. “Let's just lie over there in that small area, and I'll make some earth walls to box us in. We can all share for tonight.”

  “Yeah, that's a good idea for now. I’ll gather up some brush, tree limbs, and dry grass we can use for bedding to lie on. You can also use the earth magic to raise us off the ground a bit, making some kind of beds,” Derek said, clearly having done this before. “After Chad is taken care of, we might want to look into skinning those wolves we left, too, or finding new ones. Their furs would make good blankets, or even armor pieces for warmth.”

  “Damn dude, I’m glad you're here. The only survival thing I know is that you don't take a shit where you sleep, and that you need to dig a hole for it. That’s about it,” Sam said with his usual smirk.

  “Alright, alright, let's get this done and get some rest. We only have a few hours until sunrise. I’d like to be there at dawn,” Alex said, chuckling along with Sarah at Sam.

  An hour later, they had gathered enough padding for the beds, while Alex had created the walls and beds using stone and soft dirt.

  The night passed quickly for the group. They were all tired from the dungeon and the stress of their day. Alex was the only one who had trouble sleeping. He just didn’t feel tired and kept wondering about his race, class, the dream or vision, and that voice.

  He even spent a bit of time practicing his mana manipulation. It always felt soothing to him, something that came naturally, like breathing. He wished he could learn more about his new changes. They felt important.