Victor stepped up to watch the other three archways. Cawthorn perched on his shoulder. “My mage, we are in danger.”
“I know. A seemingly empty room full of bones directly across from me sets off alarms when all we’ve done is encounter skeletons. The fog is menacing but if we can’t see it whatever is in there probably can’t see us.” Victor noted.
Cawthorn lifted his wing to whisper into his ear. “The issue is the metal door. Behind it I can hear the clattering of metal.”
“Halfway boss.” Victor said.
“What my mage?” Cawthorn asked.
“It’s some kind of mini-boss or a captain leading part of the dungeon. That’s why I’m so concerned. We can’t open that door if any of the other rooms still have enemies.” Victor whispered back.
Serena stood up and came over. “The corpse across from us what is it?”
Victor looked up to Cawthorn. “There’s a huge giant snake skull. I can investigate further if you want my mage.”
“Don’t. I don’t want you to accidentally activate whatever is in that room.” Victor told him.
Emilie stopped healing Jenora after she reached full health. “What does Cawthorn see?”
“There is a snake skull about your size across from us. The fog room we don’t know and behind that door something dangerous definitely is moving around.” Victor paused. “I will be right back.” Victor ran back up the stairs grabbing the remaining spears and brought them back just as Jenora started standing. “We need to secure those doors before we do anything else.”
“Let’s do it. The longer we are here, the longer something can go wrong.” Emilie nodded.
The group made their way over to the metal door. Two large circular metal door knockers provided an easy way to blockade the door with the spears. Jenora slid the spears in quietly and lightly let the door knockers slowly slide back into place. Everyone held their breath not merely for the awful air but for the intensity of the footsteps. Chains and broken glass scraping across the floor toward the door before slowing, as they clanked closer the group could make out better what they really were. Massive hooves like a horse caused the ground to thud inches away from the door before stopping. After a few moments the sound shuffled away from the door. The entire room stepped away to the empty room with the crushed skeleton and vaporized ooze. “What room are we doing next?” Victor asked.
“We have to check the bone room first.” Emilie nodded. “If we don’t it might animate or stop hiding when we do something else.”
Serena added. “I’d say both of you should give speed boost to Cawthorn and let him look in the room.” Cawthorn silently nodded.
After both cast speed boost he took off and flew across the chasm around the room in front of them. He noticed several things quickly returning to relay them to Victor. “The room has bars on the ceiling and tubes leading to the fog room. The snake skeleton is surrounded by normal skeletons.”
“Can skeletons exist without a head?” Victor asked.
“No, and I like the way you’re thinking.” Serena added.
Emilie insisted. “Well spit it out.”
“The room isn’t triggered by a creature entering it, it’s some trap. The two of us can shoot at their heads until nothing remains. We won’t get any experience but we can avoid that giant snake monstrosity.” Victor explained.
“Caw caw hah, my mage is the smartest mage in all of Verdan.” Cawthorn proclaimed.
Jenora added. “Even if it’s a pressure plate as long as we don’t step on it it’s not an issue. Serena can you inspect the entranceway for traps and then the two of you can destroy the heads of all the skeletons you can see.”
The three of them walked over toward the room slowly around the barred metal door stopping just beyond it. Serena knelt down and began scraping the ground with a dagger. The gentle drag could barely be heard until the sound of ‘plink’ as it hit a plate. “You’ve got to be joking.” She traced a line to the wall. She whispered. “This plate covers everything but the corners of the walkway. It weighs too much to lift so I can’t disarm it.”
Jenora gently pressed her blade into the stone. “Guide it.” Serena gently pressed forward until it hit the crack. She motioned for her to angle it down. The blade scraped against the massive stone tile as its tip finally reached underneath it.
“Push down slowly.” Serena noticed four springs as soon as she got an half an inch from it. “Hold it there.” She reached in with the blade of her dagger and cut a spring one and then the other. She left a throwing dagger in that spot to hold up the stone. “We need to go past the foggy, misty, smoky room and do the same thing.” The entire group backed slowly around the area back to the first room.
Jenora wanted to comment. “When we walk past I am going to stop in front of the fog wall. After we pass by we won’t do anything for at least a few minutes. Be prepared to fight in close quarters if something comes out.”
Emilie added. “I really don’t like this. It almost feels safer to fight whatever is in the bone room. Whatever is in the fog room could trigger the bone room.”
“You could be right.” Jenora scratched her head. “Thoughts?”
Serena shook her head. “The skull of that snake is almost as large as me, and larger than Emilie. If it attacks us we could have a tough time. I don’t think that’s the right call.”
Jenora sighed. “She was right before I’ll give this one to Serena. Let’s get going. Emilie stay in the corner after we pass by I will stay between you and the fog.”
“Fine, as long as you are focused on me here it’s fine. I’m Vitality boosting myself for this though. Vitality boost.” Emilie shrugged.
“I think that’s fine. No matter what happens don’t step on the plate.” The group approached the archway with the fog seeping from it. They stood back and Jenora cast “Barrier Shield.” She stood in front of the archway as the other three passed by. She recast “Barrier Shield” backing away from the entrance. They stood there on guard, weapons out, ready to lunge for any monster that emerged, yet nothing came. Serena repeated the process again on this side lifting up the plate with Jenora’s blade a short distance and slicing the springs. “Okay, we need to crack this stone plate. Hold this position and use your mace to break it.”
“Won’t that set it off?” Emilie asked.
“Not if we leave it elevated like it is.” Serena nodded and Jenora pulled out her mace crushing part of the plate. The two of them pulled the rubble off. Jenora took a step forward avoiding the springs and cracked the plate again moving the rubble to the corner. “The mechanism seems to run to the fog room.” Serena looked up and noticed the lines on the ceiling tiles. “We should destroy the heads quickly.” She stood up and immediately started shooting arrows at the head of the large snake.
Victor joined her. “Jolt” He cast it repeatedly and arrows kept flying. The head slowly crumbled beneath their ranged assault. “I’ll do the right side skeletons you do the left.” Victor began blasting away and he couldn’t seem to consistently nail them in the head taking multiple hits to connect each time. As far as they could tell it seemed that all of the heads had been destroyed. “I’ll need a moment for mana.”
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“That’s fine I need a moment for stamina.” Serena nodded. “Are we going to check the fog room?”
Emilie shook her head. “That is a really stupid idea. We have no idea what it is.”
“Yeah but it could attack us from behind.” Victor pointed out.
Cawthorn added. “With some vitality boosts I am willing to investigate on behalf of the Stars of Verdan.”
“Uhg so be it I’ll do it.” Swordie spoke aloud for the first time.
“The book talks too?” Emilie asked. “Does your actual sword talk?”
“No, not yet.” Swordie replied.
“Oh my instructor can speak again. Does your flammable self have some idea of what to do here?” Victor asked.
“Nothing in this area will be capable of burning me much less damaging me. Attach a rope to me and throw me in the room I will relay what I sense to the student holding me.” Swordie replied.
Jenora pulled out a rope. “Are you sure you want to risk such a valuable artifact to check a room? It could be destroyed.”
Victor looked her dead in the eye and blinked once. “Yes.”
Victor with all his strength flung the now roped up Swordie into the room. Swordie could be heard hitting the wall of the room then the floor. It wasn’t far to the end of the room. “I do sense a single creature. The creature is within glass. To remove this fog someone will need to close the hole at the top of the glass. I determine this room as safe provided you do not destroy the container for this creature.”
Victor stepped forward. “It’s my book, he’s my mentor. I’ll go first here.” Victor entered the fog and suddenly felt a far worse version of the acrid air in the entire area brought him nearly to vomit before he regained control of his body. He stepped forward slowly with his hand out. “Where am I going Swordie?”
“Left three steps. Step up on the ladder. Close the glass container.” Swordie answered. Victor took three steps and tapped a ladder with his foot. He lifted his leg reaching a step ladder and took two steps up. He reached up and felt a piece of glass he pushed on it. “It is time to reel me in my young friend.”
Victor pulled him back and returned him to his belt. “Thank you. I appreciate your assistance.”
“To be entirely honest I just felt like you would be here for a very long time discussing the fog or I wouldn’t have prevented the incredible waste of time and indecision the teenagers seem to have when encountering the unknown.” Swordie manifested eyes to roll.
“We’re mortal, come on now that’s not fair.” Victor protested quietly.
“Fine, I prevented the incredible waste of time and indecision mortals face when encounter anything unknown.” Swordie rolled his eyes again. “Either way the fog should dissipate soon.”
Just as Swordie said that the fog at the highest level of the step ladder did begin to dissipate. “It’s safe.” Victor called out. A massive Fungal Ooze the height of victor and ten times as wide around. As he turned back in front of him the fungal ooze gurgled causing him to slip off the step ladder.
Serena caught him effortlessly. The fog thinned with her still holding him. “Huh.” She lifted him up and down again. “You’re taller than me but really light.” She let him down.
Victor tried to play it off though his mind was racing from the fall. “The giant ooze in a vat surprised me.”
“What is this?” Jenora walked over to a wooden table covered in mold with a book that seemed completely untouched by the ravages of time.
“It appears to be my compatriot. A book.” Swordie noted.
Emilie tilted her head disappointed. “Are you going to be annoying? I really don’t feel like dealing with you if you are going to be annoying.”
“You may be annoyed or annoying but I can be both. Can you?” Swordie noted.
“I am not annoying!” She shot back.
“That is debatable.” Swordie answered.
“Hush, listen to me for a moment.” Jenora held the book bound in bone and animal skin open and began reading. “Here in this lab I seek eternal life to continue my work. Life everlasting may come only through undeath but my research must not stop. I will become undead so my research on the modification of biomes may continue. I will use these oozes to reclaim the great deserts. Earth elementals may also be able to reclaim the great divide. If I should fail these notes provide the ability to replicate my work in this lab over the course of several years to restore some biomes lost to mortals. If only I could figure out how to deal with the creatures used after they modify the area.” Signed Loche.
“This place is some kind of laboratory for an undead wizard.” Emilie practically hissed. “The Goddess would demand we destroy it. Perhaps that is why we were trapped here.”
“That book has to be valuable.” Victor noted.
“It’s written by an undead. We should burn it here and now.” Emilie insisted.
“If an undead could save lives would you kill it before it could?” Victor asked.
“YES! An undead saving someone could only be for their own machinations. Try to save them yourself and if you can’t the Golden Goddess may have willed their end.” Emilie angrily insisted. “Devils, Demons, Undead all of them and their work deserve the pyre.”
Jenora put her hand on Emilie’s shoulder. “Emilie we should at least see how much it sells for. It’s possible the gold will help the church to such a degree that the Goddess deemed that the right course of action.”
Emilie scoffed. “Fine, we can at least see its value. If it isn’t worth thousands of gold we burn it, but the mage carries it since he’s the one who wants to keep it.”
Research Tome of Loche acquired.
“I cannot support book burning.” Swordie noted.
“Fortunately you don’t have hands.” Emilie smirked.
Swordie paused. “It appears you have bested me.”
“Besting a book isn’t a difficult task.” Emilie smirked.
“For now.” Swordie answered ominously.
“We have a task at hand.” Victor spoke up. “Is there anything we need to do before we enter the locked room across from us?”
“We’ve cleared 6 rooms so far. One more on this floor and 2 more floors of 4 rooms each means we have a long way to go. We should only stop for a few moments to regenerate any mana and stamina used then we head straight in and whatever comes we face it.” Jenora reassured them. “We’ve got to deal with recovery and decide boost spells.”
Emilie explained. “I don’t think I should use a boost if that room contains a dangerous monster. Passive regeneration on Jenora should work well. I will try to throw in barriers but if I have to drop the passive spell and start healing more directly or especially if I have to use my Instant Spellcasting skill. I can only use it once an hour at the moment on the spells I have. I have Pure Heal which is a circle spell that normally I’d never use because it takes 100 minutes to draw the circle. It will fully heal a target. If mine was higher rank it would also remove some debuffs. I will not use this on anyone unless I see you nearly dead.”
Serena explained her double dash skill. “I won’t use Double Dash unless it’s absolutely required. If I do I need immediate help. I won’t be able to move after it.”
“I’m ready.” Emilie nodded.
“Me too, my mana has fully refilled.” Victor nodded back to her.
Serena nodded pulling out her mace. “Let’s do it.”