The swarm of Labrador-sized crabs was easy enough to deal with, especially with how much shallower the water had become this deep in the cavern.
The team allowed Maria to have some fun roasting the crustaceans alive and then was forced to pull James away, lest he crack them open to have a taste.
It wasn’t so much that monsters couldn’t be eaten. There were entire dungeons left open because of their ability to produce so much food, after all. But to stop in the middle of a dive for a snack was considered a rookie mistake.
Taking the risk of becoming vulnerable to add stat points was one thing. It was acceptable, since more power was always needed in their profession.
Leaving the fragrant aroma with tears threatening to fall from his eyes, James rubbed his brow. His headache was getting worse. He briefly considered whether he might have gotten sick, but with his VIT rising, it was unlikely. It was common knowledge that even low-level Awakeners like him would stop getting sick from basic illnesses.
From the corner of his eyes, he spied the others looking haggard, too. The fights so far had not been particularly taxing, even the giant crab one. And ever since they had found a way to deal with the Whip Seaweed, the tension had lowered considerably. But, inexplicably, they still got more and more tired as time went by.
Before he could bring up the problem, another field of plant monsters opened up, and he put it aside for the moment. Ezekiel smiled, happy to directly contribute to the team’s victory, and cast his debuffs, bringing the Seaweed’s mobility and reaction time to almost zero.
“This is almost too easy. It feels like we shouldn’t be able to simply walk up to their main body and crush them like this.” Lauren groused, even as she hacked at the bulbous center that housed the Seaweed’s ‘mind’ and mana stone.
“It’s almost like getting free levels. I’m not complaining, though.” James was not one to turn down an easy power-up, so he pushed his mana into his fists and pulped the monsters, eliminating half a dozen by himself.
By the time they were done clearing the path, he had achieved another level, bringing him up to fifteen. His leveling speed was enough that it would take him to his goal of reaching G-rank earlier than expected. James knew they weren't supposed to face such challenging dungeons, but the benefits made up for the dangers.
Putting one point in STR and one in VIT, bringing them to thirteen and ten, James took a deep breath, feeling a bit better with the additional stamina provided by his stats.
“Guys, I think we might have a problem.” Ezekiel called, looking even paler than normal. The boy was sweating, and not because of the exertion. His hands glowed a bright white, signaling his usage of a healing spell.
Gradually, he returned to a healthier complexion, but if anything, he looked even more worried. “We are being poisoned.” He finally revealed, stunning everyone into silence.
It took James’ brain a few seconds to reboot, until he finally realized what the younger boy had said. Then, he understood why he had been flagging so much after not doing anything exhausting. Why his head was hurting so much.
“What the fuck?! Is there another monster? Are the Seaweed poisonous? Why didn’t Miss Walker tell us??” Lauren rambled in agitation, moving closer to Ezekiel so that he could heal her too.
The White Mage obliged, casting his healing spell over the Rogue and clearing her of any poisoning in a couple of minutes.
“Go ahead, Maria. I just raised my VIT, so I can take it for a bit longer.” James said when the redhead looked at him questioningly.
“This is a cave.” Daniel stated in a tone of realization. “It’s pretty common for there to be dangerous gases in the air. We should have checked before entering.” Even as he spoke, he opened his pouch, taking out a field testing kit. He picked one slip of paper among many and lifted it up as high as he could, which was almost to the ceiling, considering his height.
The paper immediately changed color, going from a pale yellow to a dark blue, confirming Daniel's suspicion. "That settles it. We're in an environment saturated with dangerous gases. We're getting poisoned just by breathing this air."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"We can't just leave the dungeon.” Maria pointed out, rubbing her temples as Ezekiel’s healing spell washed over her. “You know why we have to clear it, and we should be getting closer to the Boss room. If we make it there, we can exit the dungeon and rest before returning tomorrow to clean it up. We have enough allowance to pay for a night out here.”
James clenched his fist, feeling the weight of the decision that lay before them. “We can’t ignore that these gases might also affect our performance against the boss. If we’re weakened, we’re vulnerable. And that could turn out to be fatal.”
Ezekiel chimed in “I can periodically cast a healing spell. It won't directly protect us, but it should reduce the rate of poisoning and improve our condition over time. But it’ll also eat into my mana reserves.”
“Then we better make it quick.” Lauren said, her eyes sharpening. “If we clear this dungeon fast enough, we can limit the drain on Ezekiel’s mana and our own health.”
“There is also the problem that if Ez has to keep healing us, he won’t be able to debuff the Whip Seaweed as easily. Taking one mana potion is fine, but more than that can be hazardous.” Daniel commented as he was being healed.
“Look at the bright side.” Interrupted Maria, a tiny flame dancing on her finger “If this poisonous gas was flammable, we’d already have died in an explosion the first time I cast a fireball.”
James paled even further, not having thought of that possibility. We really should have checked before coming inside. We could have died in so many ways… Wait, is that why Miss Walker didn’t say anything?
“I think I might have figured out why there was nothing about poisonous gas in the papers.” He said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Think about it. We know our teacher usually moves through the shadows, and even if she ever comes out, her stats are high enough that this level of poison wouldn’t affect her even if she spent a year here.”
The looks of realization his teammates wore told him that they understood precisely what he meant.
“Basically, the biggest danger in this cave comes not from the faulty information the Guild which held rights over this dungeon had, but because the one person we can trust forgot we are not nearly as strong as she is?” Lauren’s face was a mix of amusement and incredulity, as if she couldn’t really believe it.
As amusing as the situation might be, and James was sure they’d tease Miss Walker enough to drive her up the walls, they were still in a more challenging environment than they had first believed.
"Alright, look." Ezekiel began "I can keep us going for a bit longer with my healing spells, but if we're going to do this, we need to be efficient. I say we go for it. If we face the boss weakened, it's going to be dangerous, but we're a good team. We can pull it off."
Lauren nodded, her eyes showing newfound resolve. "I agree. This mission is too important, and the rewards are worth it. I don’t want to turn back now. If we appear as too weak, it could reflect badly on the Initiative.”
Maria grinned, the little flame on her finger burning brighter momentarily. "Well, if you guys are in, then I’m in. Let’s just burn that boss down and get out of here."
Daniel hesitated, his gaze flitting to the blue-stained paper still in his hand. Finally, he folded it carefully and placed it back into his pouch. "I say we go for it. We're prepared, and now that we know what we're up against, I think we can take it down quickly."
James felt a sense of pride looking at his team. "Then it's settled. We're moving forward. Ezekiel, conserve your mana for healing and only use the debuffs when absolutely necessary. Daniel, keep up the good work. Maria and Lauren, let’s save most of our mana for the Boss. And let’s make sure to communicate; we don’t know what kind of tricks the it might have."
As they pressed on through the poisonous cavern, their spirits were high despite the palpable tension in the air. They encountered three more groups of Whip Seaweed, though luckily, they were not in large enough numbers that Ezekiel was forced to debuff them.
Without his help, the fights took much longer, and they risked getting injured a couple of times, but through perseverance, they managed to defeat the monsters.
“It’s a run against time, but if we hurry too much, we risk getting hurt, and that would mean even more healing than what Ez already has to do to get rid of the poison. We are between a rock and a hard place.” James said, looking deeper into the cave, where he felt the first stirrings of another wave of crabs.
“You are so weird.” Lauren chuckled, shaking her head. “Why are you smiling like a loon if it’s so dangerous?”
“It’s fun.” The Thakinetic shrugged. “Now prepare yourselves, there is another wave of crabs coming. I count at least a dozen.”
“Oh, oh! Let me have a shot at them first!” Maria was already gathering her mana in front of her, a fireball forming. As soon as she spied the first of the monsters, she sent it forth, a bright trail following in its wake.
The explosion was almost deafening and it sent the crabs flying back, clattering noisily against each other and slowing their advance down.
Taking advantage of the moment of confusion, Lauren and James shot forward, turning their skills onto the unprepared monsters. Their spiny armor was strong enough to withstand a couple of blows, but eventually, it cracked, and nothing could protect the soft interiors from the Awakeners’ wrath.
They battled with the creatures for a while, being forced to temporarily retreat behind Daniel when they managed to finally use their numbers advantage to their favor, one sharp claw almost grabbing James’ arm as he was busy pummeling another crab into a gory mess.
The monsters were big enough that their movements in the cave were at least limited, and they couldn’t charge in a single line. Because of that, with the help of Daniel’s skill and Maria’s occasional disrupting fireball, James and Lauren were able to whittle down their numbers, until only three remained.
“I’ll take the central one.” The Tank yelled, his shield glowing brightly. His Bash proved its worth once again, as it managed to crush a crab beneath it, which Daniel ended with a couple more blows.
Lauren disappeared in mid-air, only to reappear behind the leftmost crab. With a heave, she pushed from beneath, turning the beast belly up, and she buried her knives into it, ending its struggles with a screech.
With his mad grin still present, James decided to go for the more straightforward tactic and simply evaded the crab’s pincer, entering its space. A powerful right hook sent the beast scuttling back, but he didn’t allow it the time to recover, hitting it two more times until the rock-hard shell broke. One last punch blew its brains out, putting an end to the fight and gaining him another level, bringing him up to sixteen.