“That’s not a regular fire elemental.” Aurexion called out as they were heading towards the floor boss. “This is good for us.”
“Are there differences?” Evelyn asked interested.
“Before floor two hundred and fifty you can get one of two types of fire elementals as floor bosses.” Aurexion explained. “The first is the regular elemental, the one that can spawn below floor one hundred. Its flames are the stronger of the two. The second is an ifrit.”
“What makes them special, especially if their flames aren’t as powerful?” The prince asked.
“First thing is that besides a core they move around in their bodies they also have an initial body shape.” Aurexion continued. “The core can only be moved inside that core shape unlike regular elementals who can hide their core anywhere as long as it's connected to their body.”
“This just sounds like it's a weaker version, why would it only show up after floor one hundred if it's weaker?” Ajax asked.
“That's where the downsides end.” Aurexion pointed out. “Unlike regular elementals that need to be connected to their element to control it, ifrits can command their element from range as well.”
“We always thought it was something to do with the floor theme or the level of the elemental that let it do that.” Evelyn commented.
“Ifrits also handle adapting to the floors they are on much better.” Aurexion didn’t comment on the knowledge Gryndor had about floor bosses. “Now for a fire ifrit the adaptation to a fire themed floor will be similar to that of a fire elemental, the same can be said about an ice type floor. Not much that can be adapted to if it's already a very good or very bad fit. Other floors however can make a big difference. Earth floor for example you can see magma being adapted the longer it stays alive, metal floors will have it turn almost entirely into slag if left alive long enough to gather and melt enough metal.”
“This one won’t have much time to adapt.” Ajax commented as they were already heading over to kill it.
“No but the changes to the floor will mirror the floor boss.” Aurexion pointed out. “You’ll see a more harmonious injection of Fire Mana added, sure everything will still dry out in a few months if we’re still here but both the plants and the animals will slowly gain Fire Skills before the Fire Mana becomes overwhelming and eventually starts weakening them.”
That was good news for Ajax who was hoping to use the floor for training and the plants as reagents, the longer they remained viable the longer he would have to practice.
“Any way to damage that preset body shape?” The prince asked, he was aware that along with Evelyn and Ajax he would be the main threat to a fire elemental of such power as everyone else was too physically inclined.
“Same way as you damage your body.” Aurexion said. “You just have to do it in a way that can actually hurt an elemental, a metal sword slashing through won’t do it. Also their shape is still fluid, you’ll be able to tell what the shape is since all the fire it generates will seem to come from where that shape ends.”
“So if we say cut off an arm it won’t be able to hide its core there even if it still generates flames in that direction.” Evelyn was taking mental notes.
It was easy to know why humanoids didn’t know all this information. With the number of different floor bosses and the low numbers of groups delving above level on hundred in the dungeon the information on individual floor bosses was already limited, doubly so considering the teams that did delve that deep were secretive with information since it could always be sold and that they had the power not to be questioned on the whims of even important scholars.
“That will work but for a fire ifrit you have to consider them as always having high high regeneration as long as there is something they can use as fuel to burn around them.” Aurexion pointed out.
“Doesn’t Mana count?” Ajax asked, he knew even elementals used Mana and despite their Mana pools being naturally exceedingly large they still could be depleted.
“They can summon flames from their Mana but not regenerate their body.” Aurexion explained as the floor boss came into view. The shape of a scorpion made out of flames being obvious. “And remember their body is fluid but there is some rigidity depending on the element. Fire is one of the most free ones but not to the level of Air and Water. If you can pin down the body it will hold for a few moments.”
This last point mostly applied to Evelyn who was the only one amongst them who would be casting spells big enough to immobilize something that size in an instant. Ajax and the prince could both cast something large enough but they wouldn’t do it at the drop of a hat, it would be a slow growth that would give the ifrit time to adapt.
Unlike the satyr the ifrit wasn’t specifically aided by the rest of the floor, sure the animals and plants weren’t attacking the elemental, more running from it, but its presence did trigger their fight or flight response so that meant a few running away from the walking flames did feel trapped when the group of humans and dragon came upon them so they attacked.
The group split into two, Ajax, Auraxion, Evelyn and the prince would be going after the floor boss while the other three would be keeping everything else from joining their fight while also keeping an eye on them in case any of them needed a physical champion to help them out of a tight spot.
“Ifrits naturally mimic the body habits of the form they have but they are not bound by them.” Aurexion continued with his advice. “If the tail moves to sting you can be sure a column of fire will be launched from it, unlike a normal tail however if you do manage to trap it it can still release a flame jet from the side of the tail.”
Much like Aurexion had mentioned Ajax could already see the ifrit had made some adaptations from the surroundings. The ends of its pincers were made of molted mud with an outer layer of burning bark. Unlike a normal elemental the ifrit would actually have some weight behind its pincers if they were to snap someone.
Being the fastest of them all, the prince was the first to make a move. He dashed in quickly for one the floor bosses hind legs and with an ice rune activating cleaning took the leg off attracting the ire of the ifrit.
“It's also not stupid.” Aurexion called out. “Destroying the core is the only way to kill it, it also knows not to move the core to an extremity since if it's cut off it will lose most of its body.”
The leg that was cut off was however still full of Mana causing a large explosion of flames that took the prince by surprise and forced him to launch himself away with a second wind spell.
The floor boss showed its intelligence by quickly snapping its tail to try and fry the prince. Where the initial sting missed the mark however the follow up coiling motion wasn’t something the prince was expecting and it caught him by surprise. Aurexion dived quickly and grabbed the prince out of the way feeling the intense flames against his scales.
The elemental’s advantage of not being physically tangible also meant that Aurexion could use his scales as a shield for the others since he was much larger and more flame resistant.
Everyone’s attention was quickly drawn to Evelyn as she started to chant, channeling more Mana than any of them. Intent on not letting the floor boss interrupt her Ajax quickly dashed towards the head of the scorpion. It was a dangerous move considering it would mean being trapped between the pincers but since it acted like scorpion Ajax wondered if the core would be placed where its brain or heart was
“I see the core.” Ajax’s guess was right but as he moved to dash in and smash it, a wall of conjured flames spewed out the scorpion’s mouth as the pincers moved in from either side.
Ajax tried a last ditch effort before backing off pulling his short spear out of the spacial ring and using it like a javelin with Ice Mana [Augumentation] but the strike was intercepted by a piece of burning bark the boss had moved to its head. The power of the strike shattered the wood and the Ice Mana did some damage to the head of the scorpion but the core was still intact and being moved away.
Not willing to get so close to the main body of the scorpion just yet the prince took another approach. He knew the restraints wouldn’t hold for long but a few quick water whips did manage to snare the large flaming scorpion.
“Intresting.” The prince muttered as he watched in fascination not only how the water whips actually damaged the main body of the scorpion slowly as before they started to boil but he also got a front row seat to how the body of the scorpion shifted to free itself.
Evelyn had also finished her chant by now and launched her spell. A jet of water moving to slice the scorpion in two. “I’m cutting it in half.” She called out, they were all aware now of what would happen with the half that didn’t have the core after the fiery explosion of the leg the prince cut off so they all backed off and gave the floor boss a bit of space.
Despite moving its core away from it head the floor boss still kept it in the font half of its body as evidenced by the massive wave of fire that exploded from the tail half of its body. Evelyn wasn’t prepared for the power of the explosion but thankfully the others three were keeping an eye on her and one of them was close enough to pull her back though the speed at which she was pulled out of the way had undoubtedly given her whiplash.
“Now get the core!” Aurexion called as he did something Ajax hadn’t even considered.
Cut in half the scorpion was about a third the size of the massive dragon who just belly flopped on top of it. Sure the flames and body weren’t physical but the core was. By landing on it and crushing everything beneath his own body Aurexion forced the ifrit to move to core to the edge of his body where it wouldn’t be crushed by the dragon landing on it.
“Quickly!” Aurexion growled as the heat of the flames now surrounding his body intensified and were starting to get through his scales while the floor boss was also covering his claws in magma intending to ground the dragon.
Ajax and the prince wasted no time as they dashed around the dragon looking for where the core escaped. It obviously wasn’t in front of the dragon or behind as Aurexion tail trashes would have destroyed it already so it had to be one of the sides.
Ajax spotted the core for the second time but this time there was nothing to get in his way as the floor boss was too busy dealing with his bond sitting on it. Taking his long spear out Ajax had no problem using Ice Mana a second time this time his strike cleanly impaling the core and carrying on until it hit scales of his bond and released a wave of Ice.
The power behind the ice was a little uncomfortable and it would bruise the muscles beneath the scales but Aurexion wasn’t bothered at the moment as the ice provided some much needed relief to the area where after the flames tried to roast him.
With the core destroyed and the ifrit dead the rest of the body didn’t explode, the Mana instead dissipating and leaving them as the winners.