While the dungeon's center was estimated to be in the middle of Prospect Lake, Team 0 needed to defeat the Boss and ensure that every monster was dead, since leaving even one around in the middle of Brooklyn was unacceptable.
That meant conducting a complete, thorough sweep. And more than that, doing so in an obvious manner.
As James and the others exited Mr. Robinson's van, he gave the assembled reporters a wary look. They had been instructed by Miss Walker to avoid speaking with them directly, if at all possible, and if they couldn't get away in time, to simply answer that they were there to do their duty.
While people loved a good, flashy celebrity, and since Awakeners were the most interesting people around, they usually ended up being popular, the AA tried to keep its agents to a strict policy of professionalism.
They had a few heroes of their own, which they regularly trotted out for PR campaigns, but mostly, they operated like any other government agency.
Which explains why it's so useless in the public consciousness. The Guilds make sure everyone knows it's their people who cleared a dungeon, going so far as to pay for ads whenever they conduct a major campaign. The AA has to rely on journalists having integrity.
As Team 0 approached the entrance to Prospect Park, the scene was chaotic. The area was cordoned off with police tape, and officers were busy keeping the crowd at a safe distance. The fog that enveloped the park was thick and unnatural, limiting visibility to a few feet beyond the entrance. It was an eerie sight, the familiar greenery of the park now shrouded in a ghostly mist.
James scanned the area with his senses and was relieved that no other Awakener seemed to be nearby, but he kept his focus up, his eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation. The reporters, eager for a scoop, shouted questions at them, their cameras flashing. James remembered Miss Walker's instructions and kept focused, leading his team past the media frenzy.
He gave a nod to the police officers, who lifted the tape up to allow the team to pass and got a "Good luck" back from the pair. They walked for a minute, until they entered the park proper, and stopped to have one last look around.
Despite having only walked a few hundred feet, the chaos behind them was almost completely gone. The atmosphere was tense, the usual sounds of the city muffled by the dense mist.
"The fog is definitely not normal." Maria observed, eyes scanning the murky depths of the dungeon in search of any monster.
James grunted in agreement. “It doesn’t hinder my Awareness, luckily, but it makes things a bit blurry. There is magic at work here, beyond what we should expect as an environmental effect."
Daniel took a deep breath, steeling himself for the unknown challenges ahead. "Let's make sure we stick together. No one should go off alone, as the fog could easily disorient us."
When no one added anything, they gave one last check on their gear, strapped on their masks, and finally walked in. The world around them immediately changed. The visibility dropped drastically, the path ahead barely discernible. The sounds of the city, already dimmed, completely faded away, replaced by an oppressive silence.
They walked forward cautiously, taking the same path that had brought them to the water fountain where they had fought against the Radiant Guild team.
It took only a little while before James felt something weird ping Awareness. In a way, it was similar to what that first Treant had been like, seemingly appearing from nothing, but this time, it truly did.
It wasn't that the creature was already there and then woke up, igniting its mind. No, what James had just witnessed with his mystical senses was akin to a monster being born from the same fog that surrounded them.
Immediately, he called out "Fog monster! It's coming, Three o'clock!"
His teammates immediately turned, weapons at the ready. The fog swirled and condensed, forming into a shape that was both ethereal and menacing. A being emerged, its body seemingly composed of the very mist that enveloped the park. It was a creature of shifting, swirling vapor, its form changing and undulating as if it were part of the fog itself.
The Elemental moved towards them, its body expanding and contracting like a living cloud. James, reacting instinctively, lunged forward, punching with all his strength. His blow, however, passed right through the Elemental, as if it were nothing but air.
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He was confused for a moment before his MIND quickly supplied all he knew about incorporeal monsters. "It's immune to purely physical attacks!" He shouted, retreating as he felt its focus on him.
The being, seizing the opportunity, released a wave of mana, grabbing hold of the surrounding fog and condensing it into a choking mist, trying to squeeze the oxygen from their lungs.
Luckily, Team 0 was equipped with state-of-the-art gas masks, allowing them to easily weather the attack with little trouble, though not without discomfort.
Maria, her eyes narrowed in concentration, stepped forward. With a muffled shout, she raised her hands and unleashed a blazing fireball into the monster's heart. The fire cut through the fog, dispersing it and revealing, for a single moment, the being's core.
The mana stone glinted in the firelight before immediately being covered again by the fog, which angrily roiled, swiftly reforming into the ghastly being.
Lauren jumped in, her knives flashing with great speed as she tried to cut directly into the stone, but only found more fog, leaving her frustrated and forced to step back. "I can't hit it!" She exclaimed, dodging as the monster lunged towards her. Ezekiel, his eyes focused, cast a spell. He unleashed a debuff, a shimmering bolt of energy that washed over the monster. To everyone's relief, the spell took effect, its movements becoming sluggish.
James seized the moment. It was evident that the creature did not know how to deal with having been debuffed, so he leaped forward, channeling a dozen mana points in his fist and unleashing it all in one massive wave, dispersing the fog again like a hot knife through butter, but this time also disrupting the monster's form causing it to shudder and falter.
The creature let out a soundless cry as its form began to dissipate, the fog that composed its body unraveling under the assault of James's mana.
Seeing that his tactic had worked, he did it again, unleashing another wave of power. The monster's form broke apart wholly, its body dissolving into the mist from which it had formed, the mana stone dropping to the ground softly, the noise hidden by the already returning fog.
The team paused, catching their breath, as the Elemental's remains faded. They looked at each other, relief evident even with the masks hiding their expressions.
The soft ding of a notification broke James from continuously scanning the surroundings. [Congratulations! You have defeated a Fog Elemental - Sprite! You have earned 915 EXP!]
The amount was decently generous, especially considering that they could employ much better tactics now that they knew exactly what the creature was.
"An actual Elemental!" Ezekiel exclaimed, sounding quite surprised.
Yeah, I would be too, if it wasn't literally the lowest form possible. We shouldn't be here for too long if it's all Sprites. They are annoying to catch, to be sure, but between me and Maria we can reliably kill them, while they don't have a lot of ways to hurt us, considering they can't ambush us and our masks prevent suffocation.
"Elementals can manifest in a wide range of power, and Sprites are the weakest of them all." Daniel commented, thoughtfully looking at his shield. He was likely thinking about how to better combat an enemy whose primary mode of attack was indirect, but James had complete faith he would come up with something.
"Might the Boss be something stronger?" Maria asked, still carefully scanning their surroundings, ready to unleash fiery retribution on any Elemental that tried its luck.
"If I remember correctly." James interjected, easily remembering all the relevant information thanks to his enhanced MIND. "After the Sprites, there are the Mephits, which would be much more annoying. They become able to hurt others physically, and their control over their element is much, much greater. Beyond that are Knights, but those start at F-rank, and we would already know were we in the presence of one. The dungeon’s rank would be higher.”
Man, it sure is nice to remember everything you read once without having to force yourself to memorize it.
"That means we can't rely on conventional tactics." James continued. "These Elementals are a different kind of enemy than what we are used to. We'll need to adapt and use our magic more effectively."
Maria nodded, her hands still glowing from the mana she had prepared. No one told her to disperse it. "I'll focus on using my fire magic to disperse the fog. It seems to be their weakness."
Ezekiel chimed in, "I'll continue to debuff them. It looks like my magic works on them, even if it's less effective than direct attacks."
Daniel lifted his shield. "My defensive skills should work just as well if they try to do anything more that choke us out. I can enhance my shield with mana, which should block most of what Sprites can do, and I’ll see if I can hit them with Bash.”
Lauren sighed frustratedly. "I have the feeling this dungeon will not be easy for me, but I'll try to see if I can come up with something. If anything, attacking the mana stone directly should still kill it. I just need to figure out where it's hidden better."
James patted her shoulder encouragingly before he started walking forward on the path again, their little meeting done. It was important not to stop too often, otherwise they'd never get into the rhythm, which would mean taking much longer than they should, and with all the eyes on them for this specific dungeon, they couldn't afford to.
Team 0 advanced cautiously through the dense fog, their senses heightened and their nerves on edge. The air was heavy, charged with an eerie stillness that belied the danger lurking within the mist. They were a tight unit, moving with purpose and determination, each member ready to react at a moment's notice.
As they neared a particularly dense cluster of trees, the fog around them began to churn violently and James felt two Sprites forming, their forms swirling and shifting in the thick mist. He alerted the others, and the team braced themselves, ready for the impending assault.
The first Elemental surged towards them, its misty form billowing and expanding as it approached. Maria reacted instantly, stepping forward with confidence. Her hands glowed with a fierce energy, the air around her crackling with heat. With a shout, she unleashed a torrent of flames directly at the Elemental.
The second Elemental, undeterred by the fate of its companion, moved in swiftly to attack. Daniel, quick to respond, stepped forward, his shield raised. He maneuvered himself between the Elemental and the rest of the team, erecting a glowing barrier against the creature's advance.
"James, now!" Daniel shouted, holding the Elemental at bay.
James, seizing the opportunity, focused his mana, feeling it roar through his limbs with an intense surge. He sprinted towards the Elemental, his fists glowing. The air around him hummed with the force of his mana, a palpable force that seemed to repel the very mist around him.
As he neared the Elemental, James leaped into the air, his fist cocked back, ready to strike. The Elemental, preoccupied with breaking Daniel's shield, only turned towards James at the last moment, but it was too late. He unleashed a devastating wave of mana directly into it with a roar.
The fog bulged, straining for a fraction of a second, before it was violently ripped apart, dispersing in short order, the monster dead before it even realized it was in danger.
“This shouldn’t be too difficult." James finally said, a satisfied grin firmly in place.