The Warden Of Floor 1

The Warden Chap 10

Age: 10

Level: 4

Location: Fenward Dungeon — Boss Room On level 1

The doors creaked open slowly, grinding along ancient stone tracks. A gust of cold, dry air rushed out, thick with the scent of decay and iron. The boss chamber yawned before Valen like the throat of some sleeping giant — vast, circular, and lit only by faint red crystals embedded in the cracked ceiling.

He stepped inside, and the doors groaned shut behind him.

There was no going back now.

His boots echoed as he crossed the chamber. The floor was carved in concentric circles, battle markings etched into the stone — sigils of binding, damage wards inactive, and something older still, something wrong. In the center stood a raised platform of shattered obsidian, jagged and split like a broken altar.

No monster in sight.

Valen's grip on his sword loosened slightly.

“So that’s it?” he muttered, half-laughing. “All that buildup for an empty room?”

A familiar chime flickered in the air:

Warning: Boss Entity Dormant.

Trigger Condition Required.

“…Figures.”

Valen circled the platform, eyes narrowed. Every instinct in him was on edge, but no immediate threat presented itself. He crouched, brushing his fingers along the obsidian — still warm.

A crack hissed.

The stone beneath him pulsed.

Then shattered.

He dove back instinctively as something surged upward — massive, skeletal limbs wrapped in half-rotted flesh burst from the platform, dragging free a monstrous figure. Its frame was hunched and bound in chains of rusted iron, eyes glowing a hateful red.

Boss Identified: The Bound Warden

Level 7 – Cursed Undead Sentinel

Status: Enraged. First Strike Imminent.

The air ignited with pressure.

Valen didn’t move fast enough.

The Warden's iron fist smashed the ground where he'd just stood, sending shards of stone and magic scattering in all directions. A glancing wave of force struck him and flung him back across the chamber.

He hit the wall hard. The wind shot from his lungs.

—Tougher than anything else I’ve fought.

He scrambled to his feet, coughing.

The Warden turned toward him. It moved with a dreadful grace — heavy, deliberate, no wasted motion. Chains still clung to its limbs, but they didn’t slow it. The red fire in its skull blazed brighter as it raised one massive, jagged cleaver carved from fused bones.

Valen grit his teeth.

“I don’t care if you’re level seven.”

Quickdraw — Activated.

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He dashed forward, blade flashing upward in a streak of silver. The tip of his sword struck the creature’s leg — and bounced off with a sharp clang.

No damage.

“What?”

The Warden responded with a sweep of its cleaver. He barely ducked in time. The wind from the swing carved a deep trench into the floor behind him.

Instinctive Parry — Successful!

Damage Reduced: 40%

Still, the shock traveled up his arms like a lightning strike.

Valen backpedaled, breath ragged. He scanned the creature, trying to find an opening. Its bones were thick. Reinforced. Its body glowed faintly with dungeon glyphs — a protection spell?

Can’t brute force it. I need a weak point.

The creature charged.

Valen dodged left, Momentum Slash into its flank — but again, no damage.

It’s covered in a shield… no — a ward.

He needed to break it.

He ducked behind a pillar as the Warden struck again. The stone cracked under the force.

The boss paused, then tilted its head unnaturally, as if listening.

Boss Pattern Adapting: Predictive Combat Engaged

“Great,” Valen muttered. “It learns.”

The pressure was mounting. His mana was low. His wounds from before stung worse now — his arm still hadn’t fully clotted. And the Warden showed no signs of slowing.

But he wasn’t done yet.

Skill Chain Activated: Momentum Slash → Precision Slash

Targeting Weak Point: Inner Joint — Left Knee

Valen shot forward, this time angling under the swing. His blade struck the inside of the Warden’s joint, sliding beneath the thick plating of bone. It sparked. The boss let out a bone-rattling roar.

Weak Point Hit! Barrier Integrity: 92%

Still not enough.

But he saw the reaction.

He could hurt it. He just needed to survive long enough to chip it down.

----------------------------------------

Minutes passed like hours.

Valen darted, slashed, retreated. Again. Again. His movements became sharper, more instinctual. His breathing slower, more focused. But the Warden was relentless. Cleaves that could crush boulders. Stomps that made the ground quake. Red light spilled from its body, flickering more violently now.

Valen stumbled.

He was running out of stamina.

His sword drooped.

The boss surged forward one last time, cleaver raised for the finishing strike.

Valen stood his ground.

Quickdraw — Ready

Instinctive Parry — Primed

Final Gambit:

He waited until the last possible moment.

Then he moved.

The blade came up, impossibly fast — not at the Warden’s weapon, but at its eye.

Critical Strike! Weak Point Hit! Barrier Integrity: 45%

But—

The Warden grabbed him mid-strike.

Massive fingers closed around Valen’s torso like a cage. Bones cracked. Breath gone.

He screamed — not in fear, but fury.

And the screen flickered.

Warning: Vital Threshold Reached

Auto-Defense System Locking In…

Unknown Skill Activated — Origin Power (Locked Behind Mana Core)

The world blurred.

The Warden paused.

Something old stirred inside Valen — something wrong and ancient. For a moment, his sword burned with white light.

The Warden dropped him and staggered back.

And just like that, it was over.

The boss retreated to the centre of the chamber, growling low, as if afraid.

Valen lay there, gasping, broken but alive.

And smiling.

He grabbed the one and only healing potion out of his bag he saved up for by doing chores as he drank half and poured the rest on the damaged areas he was able to move in about 30 seconds

“Should I continue fighting or should I run, my stamina is almost back to full, but I have barely any MP”

As the boss was already leaving, he decided to attack it

“It’s scared of me, now is my chance”

“His defences are low if I take down its legs, I’ll be able to win this”

He ran to the boss and activated Overdrive, Raged cleave quick draw momentum slash and precision slash

Critical Hit Barrier weakened 3%

Valen roared, eyes burning, as he spun and struck again — a horizontal slash fueled by pure fury and momentum. The blade tore through the Warden’s midsection, shattering ribs and snapping the final chains that held its magic intact.

Barrier Shattered. Direct Damage Applied.

Boss HP: 11% → 0%

The Bound Warden let out a low, disbelieving groan — then collapsed.

Its body crumbled inward, red light bleeding from its hollow skull as it slammed to the floor with a deafening crack.

The room fell silent.

Then—

BOSS DEFEATED

EXP Gained: +200

Level Up! Valen – Level 5

+2 Strength

+1 Dexterity

+1 Endurance

New Skill Unlocked: Echo Step (Active)

Rare Item Drop Acquired: Warden's Bone Sigil

Unique Drop Acquired: Bone Sword

Valen stood panting, blood dripping from his lip, knees shaking.

But he was smiling.

The overuse of Mana caught up to him and passed out