Chapter 123: Boss’ra?
The blue flames in Kurt’s hands warped the air as they roared outward in a sweeping wave.
In a bid to defend himself, Zoro slammed his palm into the ground and a tree erupted upward, curving into a dome that caught the blast.
Fortunately for Kurt, fire and wood was never a good combo. The fire was already eating through it, wood blackening and splitting as the dome went up in seconds.
Zoro saw this and cleared it, leaping away and landing clean several meters from the burning dome.
Kurt was already moving through the smoke, the second wave building in his hand into a growing inferno that he aimed forward.
Roots tore out of the earth in response, coiling upward to intercept mid-air, and fire met wood for the second time.
The collision split the dirt in a scorched trench between them as a shockwave blasted out and kicked dust across all of them.
Jerry yelped. "Maybe we should all—!"
"Stop!" Sam spun on Kurt, eyes wide and furious. "He’s not an enemy!"
Using the cover of smoke and dust, Kurt had already circled Zoro, predicting he would jump back from the burning roots, which is exactly what he did.
This put him directly in Kurt’s path, where a punch wrapped in flames and the yellow glow of strength aura was coming for his face.
Suddenly, Kurt’s whole body flared blue and he left the ground before being telekinetically catapulted clean through a tree behind the group.
"Ow," Kurt said, blinking at the sky and rubbing his head.
Sam stood with both fists raised just below her chin, each eye burning with a single star. "Sorry!" she yelled. Then, immediately added: "But also, not sorry!"
Kurt sat up slowly and dusted bark off his coat. "What the bloody hell, Sam?"
"You don’t listen!" she yelled, fists still curled tightly beneath her chin and eyes still glowing. "You never listen!"
He walked back from where he’d been launched, cigarette somehow still intact, and sighed. "Alright, love. I’m listening."
Sam lowered her hands, the glow fading from her eyes. She pointed at the dark-skinned figure with the bone mask and pointed ears. "This is Zoro." She gestured to Kurt. "And Zoro, this is Kurt."
She took a breath, voice steady but still edged with anger. "He’s the reason we’ve made it this far. He’s been driving off monsters and keeping us safe."
"Very safe," Jerry added immediately, nodding twice.
Morra hummed from somewhere behind Kurt. "She’s not lying. Tree-boy’s been playing shepherd for a while now," she said, with an idle tone.
Kurt turned back at her slowly. "And you didn’t think to say that before I lit him up?"
She smiled. "Where’s the fun in that?"
Cassandra had moved forward while this exchange happened, blade still drawn but lowered as her eyes remained on Zoro. "He hasn’t attacked," she said. "Not once. Even when provoked."
Zoro tilted his head at the tone, as if he understood the intent if not the words. Then he did something small but deliberate...
He took one step back, away from Sam, away from all of them. It was a clear gesture of non-threat.
Kurt exhaled slowly. "Fantastic. We’re making friends with dungeon monsters now."
Jerry raised a hand. "In our defense, it started with fruit."
Kurt stared at him with one eyebrow raised. "So I just got dropped into a death savannah, found you lot alive — which, great by the way — and now you’re adopting wildlife?"
Sam huffed. "He has a name!"
As if understanding, Zoro pointed at his own chest. "Zoro’kai," he said with a low voice.
Quiet settled over all of them, and Kurt looked at him, then at Sam. And back at him again. "Zoro," he said finally, more to himself than anyone.
"Yes," Sam said, and something in Zoro’s posture eased.
"Great," Kurt muttered. "Zoro it is."
Morra pulled both hands into her pockets. "What is it with humans and misunderstandings?"
Her voice was all it took. Sam, who had almost let herself forget that Morra was standing there, flinched, and her eyes found her properly for the first time and narrowed. "Okay." She pointed. "Your turn. Explain that."
"She also has a name," Kurt said. "Morra."
Sam frowned. "Forgive me for not remembering the name of the Reaper who tried to kill us all to get to you."
"Believe me, love, it’s all under control." Kurt glanced down at the glowing brand on his palm. "She’s under control." He looked up. "Trust me."
Sam looked at Cassandra instead in a silent appeal for something more reliable than Kurt’s word, and Cassandra met her eyes, and gave one short nod.
Then she sheathed her blade. "From the looks of things, you were already heading for the boss territory," Cassandra said, stepping forward. "Let’s not waste any more time."
They moved together after that. It was far from comfortable because there was still tension running through the group. But they moved regardless of it.
Zoro took point again, and the land responded to him in small, quiet ways. Like the grass bent differently around him, and the air settling when he passed through it.
Kurt walked just behind Sam, watching the horizon, the sky, the terrain, and after a minute of silence he finally tried to strike up a conversation as he called out, "Sam."
Sam slowed down but didn’t turn back, she was clearly still pissed and he didn’t blame her. Though he wasn’t exactly sure the reason for it.
Whether it was because he left her, or because he acted brash without thinking not too long ago and let his emotions get the better of him, or both.
"Sam," he called again. "Are you mad at me?"
She finally glanced at him, expression full of disappointment. Then she looked forward again and kept walking.
She finally turned back. The glow in her eyes was back, and whatever was on her face wasn’t anger exactly, it felt more like disappointment, and it landed harder for that.
Then she turned back to the road and kept walking.
Kurt came up beside her. "Yell at me. Call me an asshole," he said. "Because I definitely was one." He paused. "Sam, I’m sor—"
Zoro suddenly slowed down, his shoulders tensing up. Kurt also sensed it. The heavy, oppressive presence. They had made it, the boss’s territory.
Kurt crouched briefly, brushing his fingers against a wide-set, deep displacement in the soil that accounted for serious weight. "Tracks," he said.
"Big?" Cassandra asked.
He didn’t answer right away. Just stood there for a moment then finally he spoke. "...Big."
"Boss’ra," Zoro said quietly.
Morra’s smile widened. "Now this is interesting."
Ahead, the land dipped slightly into a wide clearing. Except it wasn’t a clearing. It was a graveyard with broken trunks and uprooted trees.
Deep gouges carved into the earth like something had dragged its body across it repeatedly. And at the center... something moved slowly.
A massive shape rose from the ground itself. At first it looked like a hill. Then it shifted, and the "hill" unfolded into a spine of jagged bark.
A long head lifted, revealing eyes like hollow knots burning green from within, and a towering colossal body followed.
It was a bloody T-Rex, but this wasn’t flesh. It looked to be made of wood?
Its limbs were thick trunks twisted into muscle. Roots coiled and flexed beneath its frame, and each step sank into the earth with a deep, resonant thud.
When it exhaled, spores drifted into the air like ash.
Behind, Jerry’s voice came out as a whisper. "I’m guessing that’s the boss?"
Everyone stopped completely, paying no heed to Jerry’s question as they were awed into silence by the sheer presence of the creature.
Sam’s eyes widened slightly. "Sly-rak," she said under her breath. "A-rank."
The monster slowly turned its head and looked directly at them, and Cassandra’s grip shifted on her blade, a gleam of delight crossing her eyes.
And then the system chimed in Kurt’s head.
[Sub-System Quest Update]
[Defeat the Dungeon Boss: Sly-rak]
[Reward: +30 Points]
Kurt read it, dismissed it, and rolled his neck until it cracked. He settled into his stance and looked up at the thing with the burning green eyes.
"Never been much of a dinosaur guy," he said, eyes finding Sam’s. "More of a panda lad, really."