Symbiotic: Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The cavern stretched vast and unnatural, lit faintly from the glow of the single light in the distance of the city sized cavern. Sara pressed forward, spear in hand, armor flexing silently, her Sporesight cloud extended to its full hundred feet. The air was thick with shrieks and glittering wings as wave after wave of Crystal Crawlers swarming to block her path.

She fought in rhythm: Infect, heal, consume, advance, repeat. Each swarm dissolved in her Infectious Cloud, their bodies collapsing into shards. She let her spore cloud absorb them, microbes flooding back into her network, keeping her topped up for the next wave. Her armor’s Mindveil pulsed faintly, aiding to shield her mind from the psychic scratching of the Crawlers.

But then the cavern shook and a shockwave slammed into her Mental Defenses.

A roar tore through the air, a vibration felt not heard, a psychic quake that slammed into her defenses. Sara winced, clutching her head as the pressure clawed at her mind. Even from across the cavern, the Crystal Devourer was reaching her. Its presence was overwhelming, its voice a weapon. Mindveil working overtime to her rescue as she ducked behind the mental protection of her Mycorrhizal Shield, helping keep her focused even as the mental pain spiked within her.

She gritted her teeth, forced her focus forward, and pressed on. Swarm after swarm fell before her, feeding her network, keeping her strong. At last, through the chaos, she saw it: the glowing Crystal Spire, and the monstrous guardian that stood beside it. The Crystal Devourer, massive and godlike, a two story insect fortress of jagged crystal plates and shattering mandibles that dwarfed the large spire it guarded.

Sara steadied herself. She had a plan. She would hold back, keep her distance, and pepper the beast with Infested Cloud Strikes. She would keep killing swarms, feeding her network, and wear the monster down bit by bit. Distance was her friend, and her enhanced speed would help her keep it.

She launched spores from afar, lancing Infested Cloud Strike into its carapace. Cracks formed, shards splintered, even as she defended herself from its Mindspike of a Roar. The Devourer was fast, but she was faster, and able to keep it at a distance. It was working.

Then the Devourer bent low, mandibles snapping, wings folding in. It devoured the fallen Crawlers around it. Shards and corpses vanished into its maw, and its crystalline plates pulsed brighter, cracks sealing, vitality restored.

Sara’s heart sank as she watched the monster undo all her hard work in mere seconds. "Gods. Is this what it's like to fight me? How annoying!" This wasn’t just a battle of damage, it had just become a battle of resources. Every swarm she absorbed fed her, but it also fed the Devourer if it got them first. It was able to restore itself and heal its damage just like she could. Playing it safe meant she could never outpace its regeneration.

She struck again from range, spores lancing into its armor. The damage was real, but the monster roared, slammed its body into the ground, and absorbed another wave of Crawlers. The cracks she had made sealed almost instantly.

Her Sporesight flared, showing her the truth: attrition would not win here. The Devourer was too massive, too relentless, too perfectly adapted to feed on its own army.

Sara inhaled, topped off her strength with a quick heal, and left dozens of swarm piles untouched behind her as emergency reserves. Then she lowered her stance, spores blazing around her, armor glowing faintly green.

No more holding back. No more distance. “In for a penny…”

She surged forward, rushing through the storm of Crawlers, her spear leveled at the monstrous guardian. The cavern echoed with her charge, spores trailing like comet fire.

The Crystal Devourer raised its head, mandibles clicking, wings spreading wide. Its roar was a psychic quake that rattled the stone.

Sara didn’t flinch. Just raised her shield and continued to rush in. She was done playing safe. This would be a battle fought up close, with everything she had.

And she was ready.

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[Identify Activated]

[Dungeon Boss: Crystal Devourer]

Type: Apex Monster (Dungeon Boss Variant)

Tier: 3 – Enhanced Raid Level

Disposition: Territorial Hostile

Description: A colossal, Godzilla‑sized Crystal Crawler mutated into the apex predator of the cavern. Its body is a fortress of jagged crystalline plates, wings that thunder like collapsing stone, and mandibles sharp enough to split boulders. It guards the glowing Crystal Spire at the heart of the dungeon, commanding endless swarms of Crawlers. Its presence radiates psychic pressure, gnawing at the minds of all who approach.

Statistics:

• Body Force: 46

• Body Speed: 28

• Mind Thought: 42

• Mind Knowledge: 44

• Soul Self: 35

• Soul Sum: 35

Abilities:

• Crystal Swarm Command — Continuously summons and controls waves of Crystal Crawlers to harry intruders.

• Crystalline Slam — The Devourer rears up and slams its massive body into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocks back enemies within 50 feet and deals heavy blunt damage.

• Shattering Bite — Mandibles clamp down with immense force, piercing armor and dealing devastating single‑target damage. On a critical strike, the bite can fracture armor and render it useless.

• Psychic Scream — Emits a mind‑breaking pulse, inflicting stun, confusion, and Mind damage over a wide radius.

• Shardstorm Wings — Wingbeats launch volleys of razor‑sharp crystal shards, piercing armor and disrupting formations within 30 foot range.

• Devour Essence — Absorbs Crawler Swarms that it has summoned to restore vitality as a self heal. Providing limitless access to healing over time.

• Carapace Fortress — Reduces incoming physical damage by 30%; crystalline plates regenerate over time.

• Soul Rend (Rare) — Direct Soul attack that bypasses physical defenses, draining spiritual resilience.

Durability: Extremely High (self-healing, self‑repairing crystalline armor)

Weakness: Unknown

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…… She was not ready!

“Weakness Unknown. Thanks for the huge helpful boost of confidence, System!”, she growled as she continued forward, Swarm after swarm of seemingly endless Crystal Crawlers dropping lifeless behind her.

From behind the Crystal Devourer, she saw Swarms appearing as if from thin air, and groaned as she realized that even her plan to finish off all the Crawler Swarms to at least end their needle like Mind attacks was doomed to fail. Not only could the Devourer devour swarms to heal itself, but it also spawned those very swarms it needed.

Powerful. Some might even call it overpowered. But then, those people probably weren’t in a regenerating 3001 person fungi party! “Ok. Head to head it is. No Dollar Store ripoff of my Mycorrhizal network is going to send me packing… Let’s see what we’re made of, little buddies!”

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The cavern shook as the Crystal Devourer loomed, wings scattering shards like storms of razors. Sara’s Sporesight pulsed, her plan clear: stay back, keep feeding on swarms, pepper the monster with Infested Cloud Strikes until it broke like the rest.

But the plan was unraveling. Every swarm she killed became a race to consume before the Devourer devoured in turn, its cracks sealing faster than she could make them. IT was healing faster than she could damage it at a distance.

She gritted her teeth. “Fine. If slow won’t work, then fast will.”

Brimming with confidence, she charged. Her spear flashed, spores blazing, her armor flexing as she darted in close. She traded blows, dodging between its colossal strikes, her shield’s Spore Linked Guard reflecting fragments back. For a moment, she felt unstoppable.

Then the monster reared up, crystalline plates shifting, its massive belly exposed. Sara saw an opening and lunged/ Cocky, overconfident.

The Devourer slammed down.

A Crystalline Slam, timed with perfection, its full weight crashing onto her. The cavern thundered as she was flattened beneath it instantly, crushed beneath the godlike insect.

Darkness.

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Sara awoke at the Dungeon Entrance, spores flickering weakly around her. She gasped, shaken, the memory of being squashed like a bug BY a bug still raw. She sat up in shock. Then frustration at the sudden overpowering loss, and at the endless miles of tunnels she now had to race through again just to get back to the fight. A fight she had just lost. And lost tellingly.

She knew she’d dealt the Devourer hard blows, and her spores had raced to dig deep. But she had watched those wounds heal themselves and armor reseal. She knew she had left no lingering injury. Yet the Dungeon Boss had felled her with one well timed strike. A strike that was as much her fault as its success. She’d seen what the Devourer wanted her to see. A feint. A false weakness, a trap that she charged right into head first. She knew she wouldn’t fall for it again. But could she even win? Against that monstrosity?

Self-Doubt crept in. An old friend she hadn’t seen in days. As her mind constantly spiraled around her one last failure and not the hundreds of successes that had gotten her there.

She had been defeated.

But then the System chimed.

[Regrowth Complete]

Stored Biological Samples Consumed: 5 (Greatworm Tier 2)

Stats Enhanced.

Energy flooded her network, growth surging in leaps. She blinked at the numbers, stunned again by how her evolution cascaded. Stats feeding network, network multiplying stats, each layer compounding into power.

Gasping at the thickness of the mist of spores around her, she called for more information. “Core Stats please.”

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Updated Core Stats (Commander Bonus 400%)

• Body: (36) → 144

• Force: 36 → Effectiveness 400% = 144

• Speed: 42 → Effectiveness 400% = 168

• Mind: (32) → 128

• Thought: 38 → Effectiveness 400% = 152

• Knowledge: 32 → Effectiveness 400% = 128

• Soul: (40) → 160

• Self: 40 → Effectiveness 400% = 160

• Sum: 40 → Effectiveness 400% = 160

Free Stat Points for allocation: 2

Defenses:

• Physical Defense: 144 (+20 Armor +20 Shield) = 184

• Mental Defense: 128 (+20 Armor +10 Shield) = 158

• Soul Defense: 160 (+20 Armor +10 Shield) = 190

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“Oh my,” Sara couldn’t help saying in her best George Takei impression as she took in her stats as well as her new Network Capacity max of 4000!

Sara flexed her hands, throwing a few shadow punches and feeling the speed and force coursing through her veins. Her network thrummed, stronger than ever. She set her jaw, spores blazing brighter.

She had seen its power. Seen its abilities. Seen its tricks. This time, she wouldn’t be caught off guard.

Summoning her Mycorrhizal Armor, Spear, and Shield, and checking to make sure her health and microbe pool were ready, she launched herself forward, sprinting through the tunnels, her new speed carrying her like a storm. The fight awaited, and Devourer thought the battle done.

It had no idea that it had only just finished Round 1.

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Racing through winding tunnels and switchbacks, her Speed and Thought levels allowing her to move and react faster than she had ever thought possible before, Sara made surprising short work of the journey that had taken many hours before. “This must be what it feel like to be a hummingbird!”, she giggled as she darted around, able to turn and adjust angles at inhuman speeds.

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The small snaking tunnels opened suddenly into the vast, city sized chamber once more, the air thick with the shrieks of Crystal Crawlers and the oppressive hum of the Crystal Devourer. Its massive form loomed at the far end, wings glittering like jagged glass, mandibles clicking in anticipation.

Sara stepped forward, spores flaring. Her Infectious Cloud surged outward to setting in its 10 radius around her while her Sporesight expanded out to a 100 foot radius. She rolled her shoulders, plate armor settling into place with a soundless thought. Her spear and shield were ready and her network thrummed with hunger.

Activating her Commander buffs, Bolster. Rally. Empathic Coordination. She felt her Soul Sum stutter as she locked 15 Sum into the abilities. But the boosts were oh so worth it as she felt her Attacks and defenses enhance and her regenerations improve. She broke into a sprint, feet pounding against the cavern floor, spores trailing like comet fire. Her eyes locked on the monstrous guardian, every nerve alive with fury and determination.

“Round two… Fight!” she shouted, voice echoing through the chamber as she charged headlong into battle.

The Devourer roared back, a psychic quake rattling the stone, and the clash began anew.

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The cavern shook with every slamming movement of the monstrously massive Crystal Devourer, its crystalline wings beating storms of shards into the air, and peppering her with a hundred glass needle cuts, its mandibles snapping with the force to split stone. Sara launched herself forward, spear gleaming, shield ever adjusting to impose itself between herself and whatever danger her Sporesight spotted heading towards her.

She dodged between its colossal strikes, weaving through the shockwaves of its Crystalline Slam and the snapping arcs of its Shattering Bite. Fast as she was, she couldn’t avoid everything. Her shield’s Spore Linked Guard absorbed part of the damage, reflecting fragments back into the monster, but often she had to trade blows, risking a heavy hit she could heal from in order to stay close enough to strike.

Her spear became a blur. Infested Strike empowered Rapid Jabs peppered the Devourer’s carapace, each thrust burrowing spores deeper. Infested Cloud Strikes lashed out between movements, and her Infectious Cloud gnawed at the swarms that dared to close in. She poured energy into her spores, invoking Acidic Energy Conversion to burn through the crystalline armor, watching cracks spiderweb across its plates.

Every ability compounded. Spore Lance let her spear strike true even when distance opened between them, piercing through the air with thrusting fungal jets of Infectious power. Piercing Resonance drilled through the monster’s armor, each thrust digging deeper. Infested Thrust added relentless damage over time, spores burrowing like living drills into the Devourer’s body. All the while, her amazing new Mycorrhizal spear continued to help restore her vitality and her network with the small but steady absorption of Symbiotic Recovery.

But it was never simple. The swarms kept coming, shrieking, glittering, feeding both combatants. Sara circled constantly, pulling them into her Infectious Cloud, consuming their remains to keep her microbe capacity full. She had to kill and absorb them before the Devourer could devour them, a constant race for resources.

Minutes stretched into eternity. For nearly half an hour, the battle became a brutal contest of lost and regained health pools. The Devourer slammed, bit, and roared, healing itself with every swarm it consumed. Sara healed, consumed, and struck back, her network burning through microbes as fast as she could replenish them.

It was a battle of wills, of wits, of endurance, and of Strategy. And, in strategy, Sara held the edge.

Slowly, the tide shifted. Every engagement, every strike, every burrowing spore added a little more damage over time. The cracks in its armor widened. The infections compounded. The spores reached deeper, ripping away at sinew and muscle from the inside. The Crystal Devourers regeneration stuttered, slowed, and was overmatched.

Sara’s relentless assault began to outpace its healing.

The Devourer roared, wings shattering the cavern air, but its vitality was slipping. Sara pressed harder, spear flashing, spores blazing, armor glowing faintly green. She had broken the balance. The wounds continued to pile up.

From here, it was just a matter of time. And not screwing up.

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Sara’s Sporesight flared, her network screaming at her that if she slowed even for a heartbeat, the monster would summon more swarms, devour them, and heal. This was the moment. No hesitation. No retreat.

She lunged forward, spear blazing with spores. Rapid Jabs hammered into one of its massive wings, each thrust burrowing deeper, Acidic spores gnawing through crystalline veins. The wing ribs cracked, splintered, and then tore open in a shriek of shattering crystal.

Sara dove through the gaping hole, spores trailing like comet fire, and landed hard on the Devourer’s back. The monster thrashed, mandibles snapping, wings beating in fury. Never in it’s existence had something challenge it before, let alone dared to climb onto it and claim dominance. Shards exploded around her, slamming into her armor. She raised her shield, Spore Linked Guard reflecting fragments back, but still the blows came. She winced, spammed Repair Self, forcing her body to knit together even as the monster tried to tear her apart.

Her spear became a drill. She drove it down into the Devourer’s back, Infested Thrust burrowing spores into its thick crystal plated armor, Piercing Resonance cutting through crystalline armor, Acidic Energy Conversion burning deeper. The Devourer shrieked, its psychic roar clawing at her mind, but she held firm, her Mindveil pulsing to blunt the assault, Repair Self snapping her back into the moment when her mind fogged.

Unwilling to admit defeat, the Devourer slammed itself against the cavern walls, trying to dislodge her. Sara clung tight, stabbing her spear deep into its armor for stability, spores anchoring her grip. She stabbed again and again, each strike tunneling further, each infection spreading wider. The Devourer’s regeneration faltered, its carapace cracking under the relentless assault.

She could feel it now, the creatures core. A pulsing crystalline heart, glowing with stolen energy from every swarm it had consumed. She screamed, driving her spear down with everything she had, spores erupting in a flood of infection.

The Devourer convulsed, its roar breaking into a shattering wail. Its wings collapsed, its mandibles splintered, its body crumbled beneath her.

Sara stood atop its back, spear buried deep, spores eating away the muscle and bone beneath her. The monster shuddered once more, then fell silent, its massive frame collapsing with a cavern shaking thud.

The Crystal Devourer was dead.

Sara exhaled, chest heaving, her armor glowing faintly in the aftermath. She pulled her spear free, spores retreating back into her cloud. Around her, silence fell. The Devourer defeated, the endless shrieking of Crawlers gone, the cavern still at last.

She had won.

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*Ding* [Your party has killed a Crystal Devourer (T3)]

1000 Experience being divided evenly among your party.

Error: Party size (3001) exceeds limit. Negligible experience gained.

Current Experience to next level: 526.45 of 1000]

*DING* [Experience Gained For being the first Challenger Party to Defeat Dungeon Boss: Crystal Devourer (Tier 3): 200 Experience]

*DING* [Experience Gained For being one of the first 1000 Challenger Parties to Defeat a Dungeon Boss: 100 Experience]

Current Experience to next level: 826.45 of 1000]

*DING* Ownership of Crystal Cavern Mines awarded to Highest Contributor: Sara Bloom

*DING* All members of Mycorrhizal Network party awarded +5 Free Stat points for allocation.

ERROR: +5 FREE STAT POINTS REWARD NOT APPLICABLE FOR PARTY DIVISION

CORRECTION: +5 FREE STAT POINT REWARDED TO HIGHEST PARTY CONTRIBUTOR, SARA BLOOM. REMAINING PARTY (4000) REWARDED +25 SYSTEM CREDIT EACH

*DING* You have gained 100,000 system credits.

“I love the smell of Dings in the morning!”

“…”

“…”

“Wait.”

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