Chapter Thirty - Big Toad

The big room took a solid hour to clear.

Dharti's lure spell was invaluable at getting the frogs and toads to come out of hiding so that we could shoot them dead, but a few were either too far or too stuck to feel the call. Or so Eldur said.

In any case, it was our job to kill all of them, which meant it was our job to check out the entire area, combing over it for enemies, and dragging those we found to a central location where we could dump the bodies for easier pickup.

The E-rankers that would come in after us were going to have the fun job of dragging the bodies out through the portal entrance. Fortunately, they had wheelbarrows.

Unfortunately, I didn't, and I ended up covered in mud and frog blood before the hour was up.

"I need six showers," I complained darkly when I returned to the others with the last body.

Erde chuckled. The bastard barely had mud on his boots. "I can hose you down, if you want. No promises that the water won't be cold though."

"I'll be fine," I said.

"Don't waste magic on little things like that," Eldur said, though there was no bite to it. "Speaking of which, the next room is an easy clear, then it should be the boss arena. So, everyone top up. And yes, even if you didn't use a single spell. Better safe than sorry."

Topping up meant drinking from a small juice box. The same sort that Eldur had pointed out in the company fridge back at HQ. I hadn't tried any then, but when Sol handed me one (fresh and very cool thanks to one of those wasteful uses of magic that no one complained about) I shrugged and pulled the tab open at the top. It was pretty similar to the kind of juice box I'd had in elementary school. It even had little apples on the side.

I took a sip, then felt a jolt run through me.

"Tasty?" Terry asked.

"Is this magic?" I asked.

"Yup! Hella magic," Terry said.

Eldur breathed through his nose. "They're made from portal-grown fruit with portal water and a heap of vitamins and minerals that are supposed to help with magic-absorption. During the mixing process, they pump it full of even more raw magic. They're meant to top off your inner magic reserves."

"Is it dangerous?" I asked.

"Are energy drinks dangerous?" he asked.

"... I mean, yeah, they are," I said.

He chuckled. "There's your answer, then. In moderation, they're fine. Remember not to take more than two a day, and if you do take that many, skip a day. I know that as a newly awakened D-ranker, you're probably starved for magic all the time, but it's best to take things in moderation. In six months, with weekly portal runs, you'll find that your reserves will have grown by half and you'll be able to handle more spellwork."

"It's so boring," Terry said. "You can't do magic-magic for ages and it suuuucks."

"I have a question," I said. Eldur gestured for me to ask. It seemed like we were taking a bit of a break, which was fine. "Why are we taking this now? I did see Dharti and Terry and Sol use spells, but that's it?"

"Ah, because some bosses can steal magic from the air, and from you. If you're topped up, it takes them that much longer to hurt you," Eldur said. "Don't worry, not this boss. However, better safe than sorry. And we do want the medic topped up, as well as our artillery here." He pointed a thumb at Terry.

Terry seemed particularly smug about being called that, which... you know, that was fair. I'd be pretty proud to be a one-woman artillery piece as well. Being compared to a walking mortar or something had to be good for the self-esteem.

"What's the boss like?" I asked.

"Big toad," Terry said.

The others shrugged, which I took to mean that it was a good enough description.

So, after drinking, we tossed our trash down next to the heap of bodies, because there were no laws in portal worlds, not even for littering, and then we headed out.

The next room was a joke. Six frogs, all of them atop this large rocky outcropping. There was a switch-back path that slowly led upwards and towards the top of a hill. The frogs were guarding that path. Some were larger than those we'd seen so far, but not by much, and while they might have been tougher, it was more of a 'two shots instead of one' kind of deal.

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Then there was a trip up that winding hill, which legitimately was harder than the fight with the frogs.

"Boss is right at the top," Eldur said. "Terry, on my signal, hit it hard with a stun. Erde, Sol, CC with water and ice. I'll ground it with mud. Then we let Dharti finish it off. Newbie... sit back and watch."

"Sure thing, sir," I replied.

We made it to the top and I was happy that my legs weren't burning too much. A week into serious training and... yeah, I didn't have much to show for it yet. Stupid cardio taking weeks to build up.

I was thinking sour thoughts as we arrived and entered the boss arena.

The boss was a large toad. That wasn't a lie. What felt like a lie was the scale of it. The toad was the size of... maybe not a sedan? A golf-cart? Yeah, that was close. It was the size of a damned golf cart.

"Riiiiibit," the boss roared.

"Hello!" Terry said. Then to us, "Cover your eyes!"

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my hands over my headphones a moment before there was a flash so bright I saw the veins in my eyelids. Surprisingly, it wasn't that loud. Loud, sure, but more 'nearby thunderstrike' and less 'cannon going off in your ear.'

The boss roared, and I opened my eyes to see what was going on.

Its eyes had gone white, and it looked like its entire front was flash-burned. Not deeply, but enough to darken the skin a little.

"Now!" Eldur shouted.

He stomped a foot down, raised his hands, and the ground around the massive toad shook and shivered, long, muddy tendrils rising up to grip onto the boss' feet.

At the same time, lashes of water spawned in the air and struck the boss from three directions, then flash-froze in place, covering the huge toad in fat plates of ice.

I figured that was it. The stun, the muddy ground, the water and ice holding it in place. All that was left was the coup de grace.

Then the boss leapt.

Ice sheered off, taking some skin with it, but not slowing the boss down so much.

The boss came back down and landed in our midst with enough force to make the ground shake.

I jumped back, brought up my gun, and squeezed the trigger again and again until it clicked empty. The boss now sported twenty-one holes in its thick hide, and the fact didn't seem to bother it so much.

"Shit!" Sol said. He threw his arm up, a shield of ice appeared between the boss and Erde... then the toad's tongue snapped out, whip-fast, broke the ice, and punched Erde in the gut.

He went rolling back, right out of the boss arena, though fortunately he stopped before going off the edge.

Terry didn't waste a moment, she was suddenly by the boss' side, scythe-arm unfolding to plunge into rubbery flesh, then there was a snap-sizzle and enough electricity to fry six horses speared into the boss.

That wasn't quite enough to kill it, but it did send it spasming to the ground.

"Damn," Eldur said. He gestured upwards, and several rocky spikes rammed the boss in the stomach.

Finally, Dharti moved out and simply touched the beast. It stilled, then slumped.

"I will tend to Erde," she said before turning and running back.

I looked around, then reloaded out of reflex, letting the empty mag clink to the ground.

"Eww! My arm's all slimy!" Terry complained.

I laughed, more out of surprise and panic than from humour, but... Erde was standing up with some help from Dharti, and the boss was dead. It had only taken a few seconds at that.

"The after-action on this one might be long," Eldur said. "That was too close."

"Yeah," I said. I thought the fight was over before it began. This might've been a good reminder not to underestimate portals just because I had the backup of a full team of people that seemed to know what they were going. "So... we leave, now?" I asked.

"Nope," Terry said. She was wiping the gunk of her arm-blade with a tissue. "Now we wait for like, three hours while the E-rankers clean up. It's hella boring. But hey! Portals have lots of ambient magic, so if you wanna practice your cantrip, now's the time!"

***