Chương 27: Apparently, You Change Belts Before the Boss Dies

Matt sat at the fold-down table in his trailer, coffee in hand. On the laptop screen, a reminder sat in the middle of next week. @RookDelves THE EBBING OF TIME AUCTION LIVE NEXT WEEK That was the event. The potion that could rewind a human body by ten years. Billionaires, corporations, sovereign funds, and probably several people whose names Matt had only ever seen attached to buildings were going to throw absurd amounts of money at it. Matt intended to watch. But that was next week. Today was Tuesday.

"So I have a week." He glanced toward his Cinderfall notes. CINDERFALL BASIN Ember Hounds — understood Ash Stalkers — understood Cinder Spitters — understood Ignite — manageable Regular farming — comfortable Boss Clear — NO Matt stopped at the last line.

"…Right." He had arrived at Cinderfall treating every new pack like a research project. That phase was over. He was farming the place now. And if he planned to stay here until Rook's stream, there was one very obvious piece of unfinished business.

"I should probably fix that." Matt closed the planner.

"Boss first." ◆ His normal Cinderfall equipment went on without much thought. Foundry Longsword. Backwater Wall. Flasks. Portal Scrolls. Combat Belt. Matt's hand stopped over the drawer. Fortune's Harness sat inside. Golden lines shimmered faintly across the twenty-thousand-dollar Unique Belt. Matt looked at it.

"No." First E-rank Boss. He was not starting the fight by voluntarily removing combat stats. He closed the drawer. Then opened it again.

"…Wait." Something from the earlier Magic Find discussion returned to him. Matt sat back down and searched. boss magic find gear swap The results were immediate. Common. Accepted. Embarrassingly common. The System checked Item Rarity from the Delver landing the killing blow when the monster died. So the established method was exactly as stupid as Chloe and Ethan had explained before. Fight normally. Get Boss low. Change Gear. Kill Boss. Matt stared at the screen. Then at Fortune's Harness.

"…That counts?" Apparently. Completely legal. Completely normal.

"That somehow makes it feel worse." He put Fortune's Harness into his Inventory rather than wearing it. If the fight became comfortable enough near the end, maybe. If not? The belt could remain twenty thousand dollars of unused optimism. Matt opened the public Boss guide. THE CALDERA WARDEN Cinderfall Basin — E-Rank Instance Boss The image showed a massive humanoid construct of black volcanic rock, somewhere between twelve and fifteen feet tall. Orange magma glowed through cracks in its chest, shoulders, and head.

A huge war hammer rested in both hands. Matt studied the basic mechanics. Molten Hammer. A wide physical and fire attack. Slow, heavily telegraphed. Caldera Slam. Hammer impact followed by delayed volcanic fissures. Then— CINDER MARK Periodically targets each active party member. After three seconds, the marked location erupts and becomes persistent BURNING GROUND. DROP CINDER MARKS AT THE OUTER EDGE. DO NOT COVER THE CENTER. Matt scrolled. The party warning explained why the Boss had such an irritating reputation.

Each Delver received a Mark. Four people meant four permanent burning zones every cycle. Matt read it twice.

"…That sounds like everyone else's problem." He was solo. One Mark. One patch. Much easier to organize. Matt continued. CALDERA RISING At 50% Life, the outer edge of the arena permanently collapses into magma, reducing the available combat space. Repeats at 25%.

"So put the fires outside." He looked at the phase threshold again.

"…But not too far outside." The disappearing floor could remove old hazards for him. Poor placement could also leave the remaining arena boxed in. Matt smiled slightly.

"That's annoying." Good mechanic. He checked his loadout one final time. LEVEL 11 Maximum Life: 555 Fire Resistance: 75% Cleave — Multistrike ACTIVE COPY SLOTS Anchored Step Quick Frame Overmuscle Passive Points: 2 Nothing obviously needed changing.

"Boring." A beat.

"Good." ◆ Cinderfall's Gate plaza was already active when Matt arrived. Boss Runners were easy to recognize now. Light storage, extra Mana Flasks, movement-focused equipment. People who looked at an Instance terminal less like tourists checking a map and more like commuters waiting for a train door to open. Matt joined them. The list refreshed. Instance 418 — 31/64 — Boss Defeated Instance 421 — 17/64 — Boss Alive Instance 423 — 5/64 — Boss Alive Matt focused on the last line.

"There." At the neighboring terminal, a young Ranger reacted at almost the same moment. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. A heavily armored Warrior beside him leaned closer. They had seen it too. Matt selected the Instance. The other two moved. Race. Blue light swallowed him. ◆ Cinderfall formed beneath his boots. Black basalt, red sky, heat shimmer. An Ember Hound turned toward him. Matt was already moving. Leap Slam carried him over the pack.

A Cinder Spitter fired from farther up the path. Matt landed behind a basalt pillar, broke line of sight, then continued forward. He didn't waste Mana jumping across every stretch of flat ground. That lesson had already been learned. Windrunner Boots handled the easy sections. Leap Slam handled the places where physics was inefficient. A winding route descended around a huge shelf of volcanic stone. Matt looked up instead. There. Reachable. He jumped. Leap Slam carried him onto the upper shelf.

Another activation cut diagonally across the ridge. Two combat zones disappeared beneath him. Far below, the Ranger followed the normal route. The man looked up. Matt reached the edge. Jumped. He sailed over the lower path and landed well ahead. The Ranger threw both hands up. Matt grinned. Then kept running. His Mana remained comfortably above half. Better. A few minutes later, the terrain opened into a massive crater of glossy black volcanic glass. Matt slowed at the entrance. No one else. Boss Alive.

Mana nearly full. Life full. Flasks ready. Fortune's Harness still safely packed away. Matt smiled.

"Two for two." Ashfield. Now Cinderfall. He had won the race. The actual fight was next.

"Now the part that matters." Matt entered. ◆ The center of the crater cracked. A low grinding sound rolled through the arena. One slab of obsidian rose. Then another. A huge shape unfolded from the floor. Orange light burned through fractures in black stone armor. The Caldera Warden reached down and tore an enormous war hammer from the cooling volcanic glass. The System responded. THE CALDERA WARDEN E-Rank Boss Life: 100% The construct roared. The arena shook. Matt raised his sword and shield.

"Yeah." The Warden towered over him.

"Definitely E-rank." The hammer rose. Matt waited. Slow. Obvious. Then— Molten Hammer. The weapon swept horizontally. Matt stepped outside the arc rather than spending Mana. The hammer passed. Recovery window. Leap Slam. He crossed the gap, landed beside the Warden's leg, and attacked. Heavy Strike. CRACK. The Boss shifted half a step. Matt retreated. The next attack came vertically. Caldera Slam. The hammer hit the floor. Red fissures spread through the obsidian. Matt moved away from them. Nothing happened.

For half a second. Then fire erupted from every crack.

"Delayed." Good. He adjusted. Another opening. Heavy Strike. The Life bar dropped steadily. Not fast. But it moved. Boss Life: 84% A red circle appeared beneath Matt. CINDER MARK 3… 2…

"There it is." Matt ran toward the edge of the crater. Not the absolute edge. He picked a section he expected to disappear at the first phase transition. One second. Leap Slam. Matt launched back toward the center. BOOM. Fire exploded behind him. A circular patch of Burning Ground remained on the obsidian, roughly ten feet across. Matt looked back once.

"…Yeah." Then the hammer came at him. He raised the shield and moved. The second Mark came later. Matt placed it in another outer section. Plenty of safe floor remained. The Warden reached seventy-five percent. Its pattern changed. Molten Hammer swept past Matt. He immediately stepped forward to punish the recovery. The Warden reversed. The hammer came down. Matt's eyes widened.

"Ah." Quick Frame. The world sharpened. Matt twisted aside as the second attack smashed into the ground beside him.

"Right." One attack had become two. E-rank. He resumed the fight. ◆ Four burning patches covered the outer ring by the time the Warden reached half Life. Then the Boss stopped. Matt backed away. The Warden raised its hammer with both hands. Hammer down. The entire crater convulsed. CALDERA RISING"Oh." A wide ring around the outer arena glowed red. The glass cracked. Collapsed. Magma surged upward. The safe combat area shrank. Matt immediately looked toward his old Cinder Marks.

Three of the four burning patches were gone. The floor beneath them no longer existed. Matt smiled.

"… Nice." Then the Warden attacked. ◆ The fight changed immediately. Before, Matt had space to solve each mechanic individually. Now the mechanics started competing for the same floor. Cinder Mark. Move outward. Caldera Slam. Red fissures crossed his return route. Matt changed direction. One side was Burning Ground. The other was about to erupt. He hesitated half a second too long. Burning Ground. His boot crossed the edge. IGNITED Heat climbed his leg. Matt continued moving. The Warden was already there.

Molten Hammer. Too late. Backwater Wall came up. HIT. The impact drove through the shield. Matt staggered several feet. His UI flashed. LIFE: 555 → 258 His eyes locked on the number. Then another notification appeared. LOW LIFE LIFE REGENERATION: 147. 6 / sec Matt's mouth twitched.

"There it is." The Warden lifted the hammer again. He did not stand there admiring the regeneration. Matt moved. The next strike clipped the shield instead of his body. He created space. Life Flask. His Life bar surged. Three hundred. Four hundred. Above half. The Low Life effect shut off. A few seconds later— LIFE: 555 / 555 Matt exhaled.

"Still absurd." Then he went back in. Not because Backwater Wall made him invincible. Because it had bought him the time to stop being in the wrong place. That was enough. ◆ The Warden dropped through the forties. Matt stopped reacting late. Molten Hammer. Move. Heavy Strike. Caldera Slam. Watch the fissures. Cinder Mark. Choose the floor before the countdown ended. A later Slam sent a physical shockwave through the arena. Matt felt it hit. Burning Ground waited directly behind him. Anchored Step. His boots locked.

The shockwave passed. Matt stayed exactly where he was.

"Good." Heavy Strike. The Warden's Life fell again. Boss Life: 25% The hammer rose. Matt immediately backed off. CALDERA RISING The crater shook for the second time. Another ring of floor collapsed. Magma climbed. The available arena became uncomfortably small. Matt looked around. Existing Burning Ground. Open lanes. Warden. Remaining safe floor.

"…Okay." Another Cinder Mark appeared beneath him. He placed it carefully into one of the few unused corners. Matt returned toward the center.

"Solo is definitely easier." The Warden swung. Matt ducked.

"In exactly one way." There was barely enough room left to use Leap Slam casually. Matt started to activate it once— stopped. The landing point was Burning Ground. He ran instead. The Warden's hammer missed behind him. Better. Movement Skills were useful. Movement Skills were also very efficient ways to arrive at bad decisions faster. He preferred not to repeat that lesson inside magma. ◆ Boss Life: 12% Movement appeared at the crater entrance. The Ranger. Then the Warrior. They had finally arrived.

The Warrior looked at the Boss bar. Then at Matt.

"You got here fast!"

"So did you!" Neither entered the arena. Matt appreciated that. He had already done nearly the entire fight alone. There was very little reason for them to turn the last ten percent into an argument. The Warden attacked again. Matt moved. Heavy Strike. Boss Life: 10% He checked Life. Good. Mana. Good. Flasks. Enough. The Warden missed a Caldera Slam. Long recovery. Matt's eyes moved toward his Inventory. Fortune's Harness.

"…Maybe." Not yet. He handled another Cinder Mark first. Placed it. Moved. The Warden swung. Missed. Another recovery window. Matt backed away.

"This is a terrible time to change equipment." He removed his Rare Combat Belt. His defensive values shifted downward. Then Fortune's Harness went on. ITEM RARITY: +50% The Warrior stared.

"Are you MF swapping?"

"Yes." The Ranger looked genuinely offended by the concept.

"During your first clear?" Matt kept watching the Boss.

"…It's just a belt." The Warrior laughed.

"That was not the part I questioned." Matt tightened his grip. Fire Resistance remained capped. Backwater Wall remained on his arm. But Fortune's Harness was not helping him survive.

"Okay." The Warden moved. Matt lowered his stance.

"Now don't get hit." ◆ Molten Hammer. Quick Frame. Matt moved outside the first attack. The follow-up clipped Backwater Wall. Life dropped. Regeneration started. Caldera Slam. The remaining floor filled with red fissures. Matt did not Leap. He waited. Fire erupted. A narrow safe lane opened. Matt ran through it. The Warden was still recovering. Overmuscle. Strength surged. Heavy Strike. CRACK. Boss Life: 3% Matt stared at the bar.

"Of course." The Warden raised its hammer. Matt waited for the commitment. Then— Leap Slam. He crossed directly over the descending weapon. Landed behind the Boss. Turned. Heavy Strike. CRACK. The Foundry Longsword drove through the glowing fracture in the Warden's back. Orange light flashed white. The construct froze. Its hammer slipped from stone fingers. Then the entire body collapsed. THE CALDERA WARDEN DEFEATED A second notification followed.

CINDERFALL BASIN FIRST PERSONAL CLEAR COMPLETE Then— LEVEL UP Matthew Hayes has reached Level 12. And beneath it— Passive Points: 2 → 3 Matt lowered his sword.

"…Twelve." Three Passive Points. He looked at the number. Then closed the notification.

"Tomorrow." The Warrior called from the edge.

"Nice clear."

"Thanks." The Ranger wasn't looking at Matt. He was looking at Fortune's Harness.

"Did the belt work?" Matt turned toward the Warden's remains. System light began gathering.

"…We're about to find out." ◆ Mana Stones came first. A substantial pile, followed by Crafting Currency and several Normal Bases. Then blue light. Magic item. Another. Two more followed. Matt raised an eyebrow. Then yellow. Rare. A second Rare. A third. He stared at the pile.

"…Huh." No Unique. Still—"That looks better." The Ranger stepped closer.

"Fortune's?"

"Maybe." Matt scanned the three Rares. A sword with poor base damage. Gloves with decent Life and Fire Resistance, but not enough to replace what he already wore. Boots with Movement Speed and weak defensive rolls. Nothing he wanted to equip. Everything worth selling. Matt looked over the glowing pile.

"It worked."

"One Boss?" the Warrior asked. Matt stopped.

"…Yes."

"That's not data." Matt looked at Fortune's Harness.

"I know." The Warrior pointed at the fallen Warden.

"E-rank Boss, too." Matt slowly looked back at him. Different Rank. Different loot baseline. No control. No comparison kill without the belt. One sample.

"…Right." The experiment had somehow become worse. Matt looked at the pile again.

"It still looks better." The Warrior laughed. Matt frowned at Fortune's Harness.

"It worked." A pause.

"Probably." His logistics brain objected immediately.

"Statistically, that sentence is irresponsible." The Ranger nodded.

"Now that sounds right." Matt collected the useful Bases, Crafting Currency, Mana Stones, Magic items, and Rares. The obvious junk stayed. Then he pulled a Portal Scroll. Snap. ◆ Cinderfall Camp appeared around him. Late morning sunlight, trucks, Delvers, the familiar Gate plaza. Matt took several steps. Then stopped. Something felt wrong. He looked down. Fortune's Harness was still around his waist. Silence. Chloe's old warning came back with uncomfortable clarity. Wear the belt. Get a good drop.

Start wondering what might have dropped if you had taken it off. Matt stared at the golden lines.

"…No." He immediately removed Fortune's Harness. Combat Belt back on.

"We are not doing this." A Delver walking past gave him a strange look. Matt ignored him. The Unique Belt went into Inventory. Only then did he continue toward the market. ◆ Matt sold the Mana Stones, then carried the Rares, Magic items, Crafting Currency, and potentially useful Bases back to the trailer for proper evaluation. Inside C-87, he set Fortune's Harness on the desk.

"You did your job." He looked at it.

"Maybe." Laptop. New spreadsheet. FORTUNE'S HARNESS TEST LOG Dungeon Run Type Boss / Farm Item Rarity Modifier Magic Drops Rare Drops Unique Drops Estimated Value Notes First row. Cinderfall Basin Caldera Warden Boss +50% Item Rarity Magic: 4 Rare: 3 Unique: 0 Matt added another field. SAMPLE SIZE: 1 Then— RANK-MATCHED BASELINE: NONE He stared at the screen. That was irritating. Finally: CONCLUSION: Looks promising. Statistically useless. Matt nodded.

"Perfect." His eyes moved toward the corner of his Status. Level: 12 Passive Points: 3 Three points now. He could spend them. Not today. There was no emergency left to solve, and three points weren't going anywhere. Matt opened his calendar instead. Rook's livestream reminder still sat in the middle of next week. He had cleared Cinderfall Basin. That did not mean he had finished with it. Useful experience. E-rank Bases. Crafting materials. Boss loot. And Fortune's Harness had exactly one terrible data point.

His phone came out. Matt: Cinderfall boss down Ethan: LEVEL? Matt: 12 Chloe: Nice. Ethan: LOOT? Matt: swapped Fortune's before kill Silence. Then— Ethan: YOU DID WHAT Chloe: On your first clear? Matt: yes Ethan: MONEY HAYES HAS BECOME LOOT HAYES Matt: no Chloe: Did it work? Matt: sample size 1 Ethan: COWARD ANSWER Matt: correct answer Matt smiled. Then added: Matt: also different boss rank so no valid baseline A few seconds passed. Chloe: Good. Ethan: THE BELT WORKS Matt: you are the problem Matt muted the chat.

Then updated his planner. NEXT WEEK THE EBBING OF TIME AUCTION UNTIL THEN CINDERFALL BASIN Level: 12 Farm Craft Test Fortune's Harness Get stronger Matt looked through the trailer window toward the distant red glow of the Cinderfall Gate. He picked up Fortune's Harness. Looked at it. Then deliberately set it beside—not on top of—his Combat Belt.

"I'm going to need a larger sample size." His gaze shifted to Level 12. A small smile.

"Might as well get Level Thirteen while I'm doing it."