Before he could revel in how close his combat level was to increasing, he felt himself get hit from behind as two large claws gripped his shoulders.
He was pinned to the ground before he could get a spell off, and the sudden transition from looking at a blue screen to having his face shoved into the dirt was too jarring for him to mount any sort of defense.
He was helpless, and he thought he was done for at that moment. The armor and his helmet felt like they were gone as he was fully exposed to his enemy.
The weight pinning him to the ground was removed nearly as quickly as it had come on, though.
Jacob slowly rolled over with a groan to see his brother standing over him with a large raptor-bird pinned to the ground at the other end of his pitchfork. Looking up into his eyes, Jacob could see a smile of derision on Caleb's face.
Caleb spoke up first, "You were looking at your status window, weren't you, little brother?"
While his smile seemed to be a bit mocking, Jacob could hear concern and a bit of worry coming from his older brother. More than that, his entire demeanor seemed to give off reprimand rather than ridicule.
Jacob frowned slightly as he dropped his eyes and replied, "I'm sorry, Caleb. I should know better than to let my guard down. I was just excited to see how my levels have increased."
Caleb shook his head as his smile faded and said, "It's not me you should be sorry to. You forgot your whole team was standing right over there, and you didn't stop to think about asking for a lookout. Hell, Mira is right there," he said as he pointed to a bored-looking girl sitting in the tall grass, "she just watched the bird take you down because you simply ignored her presence. Stop taking your friends for granted, especially right before a big boss fight."
"I was about to put a knife in it," Mira added, holding up the throwing knife she had already drawn. "Your brother got there first."
At this point, Oren and Thomas had approached while Bran watched from a distance, and Sera knelt down to make sure Jacob was okay.
Before Jacob could reply, Oren spoke up, "Forget that," he said as he was looking at Caleb with narrowed eyes. "How exactly did you bridge the distance between you and Jacob so fast? You were basically right next to Thomas and me on the other side of the golem."
Oren motioned to the golem that was a bit off towards the grass where Bran was obsessively wiping down a scratch, trying to see if it would buff.
Jacob looked over and scrunched his eyebrows before looking at Caleb with a questioning look.
Caleb, though, seemed more confused as he scratched the back of his head with one hand and replied, "Well, I just stomped the ground and rushed over here when I saw the bird attack. I didn't think much of it, but it did seem so much closer earlier."
Thomas grinned when he heard Caleb's reason and spoke up, as he had an idea of what happened. "Go ahead and check your status window; I think you just gained a very useful skill."
Caleb looked at Thomas and nodded before looking around to check his surroundings, then staring off into space briefly.
Seeing how Caleb seemed to be completely distracted, Jacob realized why his earlier blunder was such a bad mistake.
It was quite obvious from the outside when someone was looking at their system. Caleb was still standing right in front of him, but his attention was clearly somewhere else.
Jacob turned his attention toward the grass while his brother checked his new skill, making sure nothing else was getting close to them.
Apparently, Jacob had been doing the same thing without even considering how it looked to a beast searching for an easy target.
Sera finished checking him over and sat back on her heels.
"You're fine," she said. "Though you could have saved us a bit of worry."
Jacob nodded as he pushed himself up from the ground.
"Sorry," he replied, looking from her toward the rest of the group. "I'll ask someone to keep watch next time."
"You probably should," Oren said. "Especially once we're through that gate. Outside the dungeon could be even more dangerous, especially when we travel through wilderness areas. I would suggest taking your brother's advice."
Caleb's attention returned to them, a pleased look on his face suggesting Thomas had been right about the skill. However, Oren raised a hand before the older farmboy could share what he had found.
"We can talk about that after we're done here. First, we should make sure everyone knows what we're doing."
That caught Bran's attention as well, and he finally left the scratch on the golem alone to join the conversation.
Oren looked toward Jacob.
"You've seen this thing fight before," Oren said, "and you've made something to deal with its miasma. But we still need to know if that light works well enough before we commit to fighting it."
Jacob nodded, glancing down at the gauntlet.
"It went after the mage when she tried to clear the air last time," Jacob said. "I doubt it'll be very happy with me once I turn this on."
"Then stay where we can get between you and it," Oren replied. "If you start flying around or move off to the side, tell us first. We can't protect you if we have to keep figuring out where you've gone."
Jacob opened his mouth, then closed it again.
After what had just happened, he didn't really have much room to argue about making himself easier to protect.
Thomas looked toward Bran before adding his own thoughts.
"Keep the golem close enough to help us, but don't send it off after the boss by itself. If it hits as hard as Jacob says, we might need the golem to take some of the pressure while we get our footing."
Bran nodded and adjusted his grip on the scepter, still treating it with a bit of reverence.
"And don't assume it's looking at the golem just because the golem's hitting it," Thomas continued. "Watch where it's turning. If it comes toward you, give us room to get in its way."
Caleb glanced toward the construct, then back at Thomas.
"I'll stay close to you, then. It's been working well enough so far."
Thomas gave him a grin.
"Just make sure that pitchfork stays pointed away from me and towards the boss."
That got a short laugh from Caleb, though Oren waited until they were finished before speaking again.
"As always, if Sera says we need to pull back, then we pull back. And if Jacob can't keep the miasma off us, we can't afford to stand around trying to prove we can fight through it. If we die trying to prove ourselves, then we fail, and it's basically for nothing. This fight is for nothing but to check on our teamwork and progress."
No one seemed particularly interested in arguing with that. Especially since they all knew it was senseless to risk their lives for little to no payoff.
Jacob looked over his friends, feeling a little more settled now that they had talked through what they were about to do.
The earlier floors had been easy enough that he had started treating this like another training session, but he still remembered how quickly the swamp had become dangerous for Carlos's group.
His earlier blunder also proved that he was becoming complacent. He had to mentally correct himself and listen to his friends. They were in this together, after all.
He turned toward Mira.
"Would you keep an eye behind us while I check the gate?"
She stood up from the grass and gave him a small nod before moving to where she could watch any enemies approach.
The boys also fanned out and took position in case the boss entrance had any special conditions due to the dungeon break.
Sera took up a place between everyone to provide enhancements and healing if needed.
With his back taken care of, Jacob stepped toward the shimmering surface.
He reached out with his free hand, expecting the familiar feeling of passing through it. Instead, his palm met something that felt almost solid.
Jacob frowned and pressed a little harder.
The surface gave beneath his hand, but only slightly, as if something on the other side was pushing back against him.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Caleb asked, looking over his own shoulder from behind Jacob.
"It didn't last time," Jacob replied without looking back.
Before Jacob could pull his hand away, a blue screen appeared in front of him.
He heard someone shift behind him, followed by Bran quietly reading the first line aloud. Apparently, he wasn't the only one seeing the notice.
It appeared as a large screen over the entrance to the gate that was visible to everyone in the dungeon who was close enough to see it.
System Notice: Group detected pursuing the Big 3.
Hidden Condition Met: Delve during an activating dungeon break.
Optional Challenge Available: Upgrade the dungeon boss.
Boss Rank: F+ → E-
System Note: Defeating the upgraded boss will satisfy the boss-kill condition of your Boss-Kill quest. Additionally, killing the upgraded boss will stop the dungeon from breaking.
Accept Boss Upgrade?
[Yes] [No]
Jacob looked over at his companions with furrowed brows. He noticed immediately that they each were considering the upgrade, as he himself was.
The only person who hadn't lost their discipline as the screen appeared was Mira, as she was diligently stalking the grass to catch any intruders.
"Well," Caleb was the first one to speak up, "it seems we're all considering actually risking our safety for this one. I know some of us are just excited to complete one of the big three, but we also know what it means to stop the dungeon break."
Thomas nodded his head with a fierce determination in his eyes while Oren rubbed his chin, both obviously trying to figure out if they actually wanted to support the upgrade.
"I think we could do it," Thomas said after a moment. "Especially if Jacob's light works the way it's supposed to."
Oren glanced toward the gauntlet before nodding slowly.
"We've still got plenty left after getting through the floor," Oren added. "But an E-rank boss is going to be quite a bit different from what we've been fighting. I know our strength as a team has essentially trivialized this dungeon to this point; I'm willing to admit that, but jumping a rank is not as easy as it sounds."
That seemed to be where everyone was getting stuck.
Jacob could see that they wanted to accept, but no one seemed particularly eager to be the person who actually made the choice. Even Caleb had gone quiet after bringing it up, looking between the others as if he expected one of them to settle the matter.
Bran rested a hand against the golem while Sera considered the notice for another moment.
Then she looked at Jacob.
Oren followed her gaze, and before long, Jacob realized that everyone was waiting for him to say something.
He let out a short breath.
Apparently, being the one they looked to for decisions also meant being the one who had to agree to make a dangerous monster even more dangerous.
Before answering, he looked past them toward the grass.
"Mira," he called. "Come over here for a moment. Thomas, would you keep watch while we talk?"
Thomas nodded and turned toward the grass as Mira made her way back to the group.
"What do you think?" Jacob asked her, gesturing toward the notice. "Everyone else seems interested, but you haven't said anything."
Mira glanced at the screen before looking back at him.
"I'm fine with either."
Jacob waited for her to continue, but she simply stood there watching him.
"Even with the upgrade?" he asked.
She nodded.
"If you think we can handle it, I'll fight it. If you don't, we can leave it as it is and take the easy kill." She replied, "Just remember, you're the leader of this group because we all chose you. I, for one, trust you, and I think the others do too."
That hadn't made the decision any easier, though Jacob supposed it was a reasonable answer. She was willing to trust his judgment, just as the others apparently were.
Looking around, he received a few smiles and nods of encouragement. He hadn't realized that they really viewed him as the leader. He had figured taking the 'leader' position had just been a formality.
He looked down at the gauntlet and flexed his fingers.
His mother had confirmed that it produced the light they needed. He had also watched his friends fight their way through three floors, working together well enough that they had barely needed to stop.
The boss would be stronger, but they hadn't reached this point by barely managing to survive each encounter.
Still, Jacob knew that being confident in an enchantment wasn't the same as having already tested it against the creature waiting beyond the gate.
He considered that for another moment before looking back at his friends.
"I trust the enchantment," he said. "And after seeing how we've fought together today, I trust us to handle it."
Oren stopped rubbing his chin, giving Jacob his full attention.
"That doesn't mean we are going to forget what we just talked about," Jacob continued. "If the light isn't keeping the miasma off of us, we have to pull back. The quest still isn't worth getting someone seriously injured, or killed."
Thomas glanced back long enough to give him a firm nod, and the others voiced their agreement.
With that settled, Jacob turned toward the notice once more.
His hand hovered over the choice briefly before he pressed it.
They would be fighting an E-rank boss today.
Glancing back at the group, with all eyes on him, Jacob gave everyone a nod before taking a deep breath and stepping through the now-passable portal.
His friends followed right behind him into the depths of the swampy mire.