"We're coming up to the seventeenth floors entrance so I believe it prudent that I ask you not to use those flames unless I specifically say otherwise Alex." Finn said in a way that made it clear that this wasn't up for debate.
I nodded "I wasn't planning to anyways with so many people being involved in the fight. I was going to be relying on my trusted partner here to chip at the beasts ankles." I said with a smile as I patted my holstered weapon.
Finn nodded "The configuration we were going with before you joined us was Tiona, Tione, Lefiya and Riveria with Lefiya and Riviera being the main damage dealers with their magics but I think we can swap you in with Tione's place as a physical fighter. That good with you?" he asked after explaining the plan and I grinned.
"Not a problem." I said eagerly.
With that settled I left my big bag with those not participating and slipped on my helm/mask.
"Creepy." Lefiya commented when I did.
I chuckled "I didn't make it to be pretty but to keep my head protected without messing with any of my senses or stopping me from drinking a potion if I needed to." I said honestly.
"You mean that mouth there's not for show?" Riveria asked surprised.
I shook my head and moved my jaw so the hinge of the mouth moved to open up "Nope I can't eat with the teeth but the mouth opens and closes easily in case I need to drink a potion. Admittedly I could have just made the teeth less predatory but it seemed like a fitting aesthetic choice given the rest of the design." I said as I moved my jaw again and the hinge shut tight again.
"And the ears?" She asked intrigued.
"They work like normal ears and funnel sound from all directions into my actual ears. The appearance was merely to take advantage of the increased hearing that pointed ears have over my round human ones. Before you ask about the lack of eyeholes that is because the inside here is transparent so I can see perfectly normal." I explained happy to share my own genius.
"Fascinating, You've managed to create a form of head protection that not only doesn't impede you in any way but also completely removed any weak points that could be targeted in normal head pieces. If it wasn't so unnerving I'd suggest to Loki that we make a commission for something similar." Riveria said thoughtfully.
The conversation ended there as we walked into the massive chamber that was the entirety of floor seventeen, the boss arena if you would. It was almost entirely made of stone with the exception of the left most wall that was made entirely of shiny crystal and even had a fancy nickname [The wall of sorrow]. It was where the monster rex spawned from which was why it had that name as it was the stopping point for adventurers for the longest time until the boss was final overcome.-
True to form the massive room started shaking when we walked in and the crystal wall began to crack and lose pieces of itself as the dark skin and hair of the massive Goliath appeared from behind the stuff. The Goliath was for lack of a better description a dark skinned human scaled up to about seven meters tall with Black sclera and red irises. The mouth was also bigger than normal kinda like the titans from attack on titan now that I think about it.-
"GRAAAAAAAAH!" the monster roared as it freed itself from the crystal wall all while glaring at us.
"Gimme them ankles!" I yell as I burst forward weapon drawn towards the slow moving giants legs.
The monster swipes a fist at me but I just jump up and onto it's fist which it did NOT like. The other arm comes at me while the arm i was on shook a lot to try and shake me off but all this size and strength didn't mean the monster moved fast at all. In fact I'd say it was just barely slow enough for me to handle so like high level three round about.-
The rest of my temporary party didn't just sit back while I did my job, which in this case was make a nuisance of myself while the mages chanted their spells. Tiona was grinning from ear to ear as she rushed in with me but while I went high she was at the monsters ankles with her Urga. The thing had very tough skin and tendons so even her strength only allowed her to cut the tendon of one of the legs with a full on slash.-
"GRAAAAH!" the monster roared in pain as it fell over which was not an oppurtunity i missed.
I kicked off the tough flesh of the things arm when it started going down and held my weapon sideways.
A sound not unlike a sledgehammer hitting a brick rang out as my weapon slammed into the Goliath's nose. The recoil took me by surprise because for the first time ever I hit something that didn't move when I hit it which means I got moved instead. Blood shot out of the monsters nose and it's eyes lost focus as it's mind got fuzzy from the head trauma.-
"Back!" Tiona called to warn me to get out of the blast radius of the mages.
I heeded the warning and ran out of there the moment I hit the ground from my recoil induced fall.
Both elves finished their chants at the same time and two waves of white frost one smaller and one much bigger shot forward and struck the monster freezing it solid.
"Heya!" Tiona immediately leapt forward and smashed her blade into the frozen monster which shattered it's now brittle form.
A wave of thick black smoke poured out as the the magic stone and a single large tooth fell to the ground alongside the leftover frost. Everyone stared as the smoke rapidly flowed through the air and sank into my body. I couldn't help but shudder in pleasure at the unbelievably thick and high quality smoke filled me more that even a month of grinding had accomplished before this trip.
"That's the good shit right there!" I exclaimed with a laugh as I holstered my weapon.
The fight wasn't very long but as anyone who has ever fought before can tell you they so very rarely do last all that long. Even less so when the opponent is outnumbered, out strategized and outgunned by a large amount. Honestly the only purpose I and Tiona served were as the distraction while the mages chanted their magic which was basically guaranteed death for the goliath that couldn't dodge.