A massive shape burst through the corridor entrance with the grace of a freight train having a seizure.
Eight feet of pure muscle and fur, knuckles dragging against ancient stone as it swaggered into the chamber like it owned the place. Which, considering the decorative brown stains covering most surfaces, it probably did.
The gorilla fixed its beady eyes on Zeph and let out a roar that shook dust from the ceiling. Then it reached behind its back with one enormous hand.
'Oh, you've got to be shitting me.'
The creature's massive fist came forward in a pitching motion that would have made a major league baseball player weep with envy. Another brown projectile rocketed through the air with deadly accuracy, spinning end over end as it hurtled toward Zeph's head.
He was already moving before his brain fully processed the attack.
His enhanced agility kicked in like rocket fuel, launching his six-foot-nine frame sideways with fluid grace that defied physics. The fecal missile whistled past his ear, close enough that he could feel the wind of its passage and smell its... distinctive aroma.
'This is not how I imagined my first boss fight going.'
The gorilla didn't pause. It reached back again, apparently possessing an unlimited ammunition supply, and launched another steaming projectile. Then another. Then a rapid-fire barrage that turned the air into a brown storm of biological warfare.
Zeph moved like liquid shadow, his body flowing between the projectiles with movements that shouldn't have been possible for someone his size. Dodge left, duck low, roll forward, leap back—each motion precise and economical, wasting no energy on unnecessary flourishes.
'At least the speed boost is working,' he thought, narrowly avoiding a particularly large specimen that left a crater in the wall behind him.
But he couldn't keep this up forever. Enhanced or not, continuous acrobatics were draining his stamina. The gorilla, meanwhile, showed no signs of running out of ammunition or enthusiasm.
Time to go on the offensive.
Zeph drew Phantom in one smooth motion, the absurdly wide katana sliding from its sheath with barely a whisper. The blade caught the blue light from the hieroglyphs, gleaming like liquid mercury.
He sprinted straight at the gorilla.
The creature's eyes widened—apparently it hadn't expected its opponent to charge directly into the shit storm. It reached back for another projectile, but Zeph was already inside its guard, moving with inhuman speed.
The katana flashed in a horizontal arc aimed at the gorilla's midsection.
The creature proved it wasn't just a one-trick pony by dropping into a crouch that sent the blade whistling over its head. Then it exploded upward in an uppercut that could have caved in a car.
Zeph twisted away from the punch, feeling knuckles the size of dinner plates brush past his ribs. He used the momentum to spin completely around, bringing Phantom back in a reverse grip slash that should have opened the gorilla's throat.
Should have.
The creature caught the blade between its palms with a clap that rang through the chamber like a gunshot.
'Well, that's not good.'
They stood frozen for a moment, locked in a contest of strength that Zeph was obviously losing. The gorilla's muscles bulged as it began to squeeze, and he could hear the faint groan of stressed metal from his katana.
Then the gorilla grinned, revealing teeth stained an unfortunate brown color.
It opened its mouth.
'Oh, hell no!'
Zeph abandoned his grip on Phantom and threw himself backward just as the gorilla spat a stream of liquid waste that would have drenched him from head to toe. The creature roared in frustration, still holding his sword, and hurled the weapon across the chamber where it clattered against the far wall.
'Great. Now I'm unarmed against King Kong's less hygienic cousin.'
The gorilla charged, moving faster than something that size had any right to. Zeph backpedaled, hands spread in what he hoped looked like a defensive posture rather than barely controlled panic.
When the creature swung a haymaker that could have punched through concrete, Zeph didn't try to block or dodge sideways. Instead, he dropped flat on his back and kicked upward with both feet.
His enhanced strength drove his heels into the gorilla's solar plexus with the force of a pile driver. The creature folded in half around the impact, its charge turning into an uncontrolled stumble that sent it crashing into the wall.
Zeph rolled to his feet and sprinted for his sword, scooping up Phantom just as the gorilla recovered its balance. The creature turned toward him, eyes blazing with fury and humiliation.
'Round two,' Zeph thought, settling into a proper combat stance.
This time, he didn't wait for the gorilla to make the first move.
He exploded forward in a charge that covered the distance between them in three impossibly long strides. The gorilla reached back for another projectile, but Zeph was already inside its reach, Phantom sweeping upward in a diagonal cut aimed at the creature's shoulder.
The gorilla tried to lean away from the blade, but Zeph's enhanced speed made the attempt futile. The katana's edge bit deep into muscle and fur, drawing a line of crimson across the creature's chest.
The gorilla roared and swung a backhand that would have decapitated a normal human. Zeph ducked under it and flowed into a spinning slash that opened another wound along the creature's ribs.
For the next thirty seconds, the chamber became a whirlwind of steel and fury. Zeph moved like his life depended on it—which it did—dancing around the gorilla's increasingly desperate attacks while landing cut after precise cut.
His enhanced agility let him strike and fade before the creature could retaliate. A slash across the thigh, a thrust toward the shoulder, a horizontal cut that barely missed the gorilla's neck. Each wound was shallow but accurate, designed to wear down his opponent rather than deliver a killing blow.
The gorilla, meanwhile, grew more frantic with each failed attack. It abandoned its ammunition-based strategy entirely, relying on brute strength and raw aggression to corner its elusive opponent.
But brute strength was useless if you couldn't hit your target.
Zeph flowed between the creature's attacks like smoke, his movements becoming more fluid and confident as he adapted to his enhanced capabilities. This was what the System integration had given him—not just better physical attributes, but the coordination to use them effectively.
The end came suddenly.
The gorilla, bleeding from a dozen wounds and growing sluggish from blood loss, attempted one final, desperate charge. It lowered its head and rushed forward like a battering ram, arms spread wide to prevent Zeph from dodging to either side.
Zeph waited until the last possible second, then leaped.
Not sideways, not backward, but straight up and over the charging creature. His enhanced agility carried him in a perfect arc that ended with him landing behind the gorilla as it crashed into the wall where he'd been standing.
The creature turned, confusion clear in its eyes.
Phantom took its head off in one clean stroke.
The gorilla's body toppled forward, hitting the stone floor with a wet thud that echoed through the chamber. Blood pooled around the massive corpse, mixing with the less pleasant stains that already decorated the ancient stones.
Zeph stood over his fallen opponent, breathing hard but uninjured. Physically, at least.
Mentally was another story.
'I just fought a gorilla that threw shit at me,' he thought, staring down at the decapitated corpse. 'That actually happened. My first boss fight in a new world was against a creature whose primary attack strategy was biological warfare.'
He wiped Phantom clean on a relatively unstained section of the gorilla's fur and sheathed the blade with practiced efficiency. The tutorial dungeon had tested his combat abilities, but it had also tested his sanity.
And he wasn't entirely sure which one had taken more damage.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard the sound of stone grinding against stone. New passages were opening, leading deeper into the temple complex.
His PP counter read 1,891 and climbing.
'At least I'm getting paid for this trauma,' he muttered, stepping over the gorilla's corpse and heading toward the newly opened corridor.
Behind him, the creature's blood began to glow with the same blue light as the hieroglyphs, slowly being absorbed into the ancient stone.
The tutorial dungeon was far from over.