They were in a small island of calm, if you could call it that, as the horde split its focus between the two parties. Darius used his larger shroud to physically push back and keep the area around them clear. Whenever anything pushed forward and tried to break through, Beor crushed it into a bloody mess.

Josh glanced over at Mary's group. They had their backs against the wall of the dungeon, and they seemed to be trying to build up a defense by piling up monster bodies in front of them. At a glance, he could see that all four of them had their own personal shrouds, and they all seemed to be more experienced in combat than his group. Or maybe it was just that all of them had actual [Combat] classes and the experience with them. Ruth had a powerful class, but still wasn't used to it. Darius had a class that was half [Crafter], and he normally ran a [Healer] anyway. Beor was definitely experienced, and the highest level besides, but his class was better for single opponents, and watching him fight, Josh thought he was more used to fighting humanoid enemies.

Josh himself probably had more combat experience than anyone else here. But he was stuck in a [Utility] class, with a stat distribution that seemed more like a madman's fever dream than a clear build. If he was in one of his favored classes, even at the early tiers, he'd be able to contribute much more to this fight. Josh could do a lot of damage as a Samurai or Hunter. At higher tiers, like an Honored Shogun or Whispered Hunter, he could handle most of this horde by himself.

But no. He was still stuck in a stupid [Crafter] class. He was nothing but a Stonecrafter.

...a Stonecrafter surrounded by stone.

He slapped his hand on the floor of the cave. “Instant Crafting,” he said. He felt the magic touch the tools on his belt—hammers, chisels, picks and small shovels—and applied those tools to the ground. Instantly, a hole appeared in front of him, a couple feet wide and an equal amount deep. It wasn't much, but it surprised the horde, which fell into it. Their charge was broken, and the defenders were given a moment's reprieve.

Ruth, never one to pass up an obvious opening, threw her last grenade at the little pit. It exploded, showering everyone in blood and gore. Josh considered that a small price to pay.

He grinned, studiously ignoring the taste in his mouth. “I've got loads more where that came from!”

“Good,” Darius said. He primed one of his own grenades. “Because we're going to need everything.”

At first, Josh assumed he was just talking about the horde in front of them. They had managed to cut it down by quite a bit, and wondered why Darius was so worried. Sure, they didn't have an easy road to go on, but he thought they could clear out the rest. At the very least, they'd thin the horde enough to regroup and retreat without fear.

Then he realized that monsters were jumping out of the river and joining the fight. He immediately recognized them as otters, despite the vibrant green fur and bright red barbs on their tails.

Lutrinae Battler Level 27 Monster Otter Battlers! Unlike most monster titles, these guys match up almost perfectly with the class that shares their name! You do know the Battler class, right? Well. You'll get a good idea of how it works soon enough.

The Battler class was hard to get to with the world's current crop of bloodstones. It was still popular, though, because it was a powerful generalist class. It was the backbone of the physical [Attacker] classes, able to use almost any type of weapon as long as it was intended for direct combat. It truly shined as a foundation for higher-tier classes, but on its own it was powerful and versatile.

On its own, Josh wouldn't think much of it. Facing a human Battler could be annoying because of their broad array of abilities, though never much worse than that. The problem was that the System had specifically called out this monster as being at least as strong as a class. That was rare. Furthermore, it was almost twice the level of some of the other monsters. Josh and his friends were level 35, but he still wouldn't want to deal with more than a few at a time.

There were a dozen of the Battlers on the field already, and more were crawling out of the river even as he watched. They didn't have time to wait to see if the tide slowed.

“Ruth, do something about the otters,” he barked, in what he thought was an admirably calm voice. He threw out another [Empty Chop] to get some space. “Darius, how are you on mana?”

“I can last a couple more minutes,” he said shortly. Josh could see the sweat on his forehead, the strain on his face. It wasn't easy holding up a shroud for this long, even if you had the mana for it.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Good. Get ready.” He raised his voice. “Oi, Mary!” She didn't hear him. With all the gunshots echoing through the cavern, they were probably all lucky they hadn't gone deaf yet. “MARY!” She looked up, and he jerked his thumb back to the tunnels. “Gonna need a fighting retreat!”

She threw a glance his way, confusion evident on her face. Then she turned and saw the otters. She shouted a curse that would have made her aunt wash her mouth out with soap, and then started throwing her own grenades. She and her team started moving towards them, clearing a path aggressively. They could afford to take a few hits, because they had a [Healer] with them.

Josh crushed another runestone, boosting his maximum mana, and started breathing in the mana of the air to refill it. His [Meditation] skill was still low-level, but the bigger problem was that the magic was thin down here. He needed to have as much as possible in order to get them out free and clear, and he wasn't sure he could manage that.

At least Darius and Mary were holding back the horde reasonably well. Ruth was smashing two or three monsters with every swing of her comically oversized hammer, the gravity rune glowing off and on at the exact right moment to make the maximum impact.

Darius, meanwhile, was standing there with his arms outstretched as if he was physically holding up the walls. The monsters threw themselves at his glowing shroud, screeching and screaming with every attack. He flinched at every hit, and he was sweating buckets, but for the moment he was holding.

Beor was... not doing great. Even Josh had been doing better than him, before he stopped using his [Empty Chop] to conserve mana. Josh didn't hold it against him. Beor's class was specialized for fighting humans, or at the very least individual monsters. He had no ranged attacks to reach past Darius' shroud, not even a long spear. He had a complicated expression on his face, and Josh suspected he knew all this, but was angry at himself anyway.

Josh was dragged out of his thoughts by an especially loud screech, and his head whipped towards Ruth's group. One of the new companions was beset by one of the prairie dogs, and was stabbing it over and over with a pair of knives. The other three in the party were busy with their own fights. He didn't think they had noticed the danger. While it would only take a second, that might be too long.

They were close now. Josh weighed the risks, then threw out an [Empty Chop]. It sliced off the monster's head, freeing them to run back towards the tunnels.

Josh and his party let them run in first. Once they were through, he shouted and pointed. Beor and Ruth ran immediately, disappearing into the tenuous safety of the tunnels. Josh moved to follow.

Darius didn't.

Josh ground his teeth. “Danson! Retreat, soldier!”

He shook his head. “I'll hold them off!” He was already breathing heavily, and Josh doubted he'd last another five minutes even if he had an hour of mana left.

Clearly, something was going on here. Darius needed to talk to someone about how quick he was to place himself in harm's way, even for a [Defender]. Josh had neither the time nor the patience to deal with it right now, though. He grabbed Darius by the arm. “No sacrifices!”

Darius tried to shrug him off. He failed. “Just go! It's the only way!”

“That wasn't a request!” And then Josh physically threw Darius down the tunnel.

Josh hadn't put any points into Strength. But he was big, he started with a decent score in the stat, and Darius was a twig.

The shroud broke like glass, and monsters crashed down on Josh like a wave. He was in the tunnel a moment later, and he slapped his hand onto the wall. “Instant Crafting!” he shouted.

There was a pause. Because of course there was a pause.

As Suricatta Leapers flew through the air, as Pholidotan Rollers spun across the ground, the stone of the tunnel rearranged itself. Blocks cut themselves from the walls, then flew in front of him and locked into each other like some sort of intricate puzzle. In moments, the tunnel was blocked off completely, leaving only Ruth's rune light and the screeching of the monsters for company.

Josh collapsed to his knees. His mana was at zero. If he hadn't been at max mana, if he hadn't used that runestone, if the tunnel was just a little bit bigger, it wouldn't have worked. They would all have been overwhelmed.

“We...” His words failed. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths. Once his mana ticked up a point, it felt less like his soul had been used as a dish towel. “We need to get out of here. They have to have a few burrowers. They'll be able to dig through the stone.”

“Agreed,” one of the newcomers said. “The farther away we can get, the better.”

He was in the back of the group, which made sense considering how big he was. Josh was actually surprised he had managed to fit in the tunnel at all. “Yeah, let's go.”

He struggled to his feet, and the eight of them started back through the tunnels towards town. Mary gave him a shoulder to lean on, which he appreciated.

He had plenty of questions, but one dominated. “Who are you two, anyway?”

“Oh, where are my manners?” the huge man said. “I am Hou Zheng. By the spirits, it is a pleasure to meet you.”