The hallway ended abruptly after about a hundred meters or so, feeding into a cavernous hall as it did. The smooth stone of the hall’s domed ceiling rose to a few dozen feet at its highest point, and the floor was a clear circle about the same in diameter. Three other hallways led into the same hall, neat little squares cut into the stone of the side opposite us.
A ring of torches, the same as the ones that lit the hallway, cast their glow over the eerily empty hall, but the three other entrances were unnaturally dark, enough that we couldn’t see into them at all; as if the shadows within drank up the light entirely.
“Spooky,” I said with a smile on my face, surveying the hall. I had known what to expect, but Najam’s words hadn’t quite done the ominous air of the hall justice. Our group was still in tight formation, and I gripped my pole tight as I awaited what was to come.
The pole, which Gyda had bluntly – but correctly – identified as something that didn’t really fit with my style, was something I should have abandoned, by all rights. It was a hindrance to my strength, as it was, but something about the way in which Lionel wielded his greatsword called out to me, and an idea had been gnawing at my mind since his fight. An idea that required the pole.
Not long after we’d stepped into the hall, a rumbling shook the ground. The group tensed up, and from behind me, Galas summoned his spirits in preparation. There were three wolves made up of the same wispy smoke as the little girl from earlier, Angel. Their forms looked as incorporeal as ever, but the ferocious jaws they sported, and powerful Flux that leaked off their bodies told me that underestimating them would be a fatal mistake.
There was a faceless woman, too, clad in flowing robes of cloud and holding a staff in her hands. She would be the healer, according to what Najam had told me.
Lionel and Gyda tightened their grips on their weapons, Ren unsheathed his dagger, and Najam nocked an arrow in his bow as the group prepared. And a few short moments later, the source of the shaking finally revealed itself. Or rather, revealed themselves.
For it was not one singular monster that was causing the rumbling, but the combined footsteps of hundreds upon hundreds of zergies. They flooded the room in an instant, and yet seemed to continually pour out of the hallways still.
I shuddered as I got my first real look at the beasts. They were grotesque things, not much bigger than the short goblins of so long ago, with ball-shaped heads and no facial features aside from a mouth that seemed perpetually drawn into a malicious grin. Within which glimmered rows of tiny little teeth, fatal pearls that gleamed in the torchlight.
Dusty orange skin stretched over their sinewy limbs and body, covering their stout little legs and long, thin arms. The three fingers at the end of each limb transformed into black claws that seemed dusted with some strange white dots, like stars in the night. The claws were like little daggers, and they clattered against the stone as hundreds of the beasts surrounded us, their creepy smiles chattering endlessly.
There was a tense and loud impasse that lasted all of a brief moment before Lionel raised his greatsword up high and yelled a great warcry. The sound spurred both sides on, and our group immediately and seamlessly assumed what Najam called ‘battle formation,’ as the horde finally descended upon us.
The formation was simple enough; Lionel, Gyda, Galas, and I formed a loose diamond, with Lionel at the point, Gyda and I at the sides, and Galas a straight shot behind Lionel. The formation provided each the space they needed to fight, while protecting our backs from flanking attacks. Ren, in the meanwhile, had a much looser position. He was free to move in and out of our diamond, with the objective of keeping the inside of the diamond clear, should any beast manage to slip through the gaps. And if he wasn’t needed in the center of the diamond, he was free to flit around the battlefield, helping out wherever he was needed most and just generally killing as many of the monsters as he could.
Najam and Tara were placed a bit behind Galas, almost backed up into the hallway behind us, where they stood poised to let loose a barrage of arrows and magic at the monsters. Without, ideally, hitting any on their own side.
As the zergies moved on us, I was immediately met with a semi-circle of five of them. They all simultaneously jumped at me, their fangs bared and gangly arms spread and poised to rip at me. I responded with a wide swipe of my flaming pole, holding the thing near the bottom to increase my range as much as possible. And also because I was finally attempting my newest idea.
The idea was simple, really. Instead of wielding the pole like a pole, a style that felt clumsy and awkward to me, I would wield it like Lionel did his greatsword. Obviously, the pole wouldn’t have the heft nor the sharpness of his blade, but that was fine by me. I was confident I’d eventually be able to compress flame enough to form a blade capable of cutting, and until then, I was fine simply bashing heads in. And I didn’t want heft, either; I had fire, after all, and that was much better in my eyes.
The five beasts that leapt at me were all swept away by my pole, surprising me with their weakness. The one my pole hit was engulfed in flame on one side, the heat wrenching out a terrible scream from the wretched thing.
Quickly settling back into the groove of fighting, I felt a mad grin tug at my lips as I pulled out all the stops, letting Flux flow unfettered through and out of my body. Fire ringed around my feet, creating a circle that scorched any that ventured too close. I swung my pole like a bat, with the glee of a destructive child lighting my eyes. My free hand blasted out flames and lobbed those little bombs of mine at whatever poor creature was closest to me.
The world faded away as I slipped into my blazing dance, dozens of dying and aflame monsters falling at my feet every minute. I wielded my flame like a second limb, letting it become a part of my movements in a way that I’d never before. And best of all was my pole; no longer did it hinder my movements, making me second guess and consciously work through my attacks. No, now it felt natural, like an extension of my body. Every swing elicited a beautiful bliss in my veins, my every movement faster and smoother than the last.
Still, I had nowhere near Ren’s grace, nor even Lionel’s skill with his blade, but I was finally on the road to reaching it. I could finally see how to get there; now, I just needed practice.
And practice, it seemed, was one thing I would get loads of in the dungeon. Despite felling what must have been hundreds of the beasts within the hour, it seemed like I’d barely made a dent in their numbers. Thankfully, they’d stopped pouring in by then, but the massive cavern was still packed with the orange blight.
Not that I was complaining, though. The fighting wasn’t very difficult, and I was thoroughly enjoying bashing and burning the zergies. The scorched smell of the burning monsters was pungent, but in the chaos of the battle, I hardly noticed.
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Instead, I focused on staying alive, on moving faster, hitting harder. Burning hotter. My improvement over the course of the hour that passed was tangible; the swirling flame around the length of my pole had gotten hotter since I’d begun, and I was getting better at wielding it by the minute.
Still, despite all my improvement, I was far from perfect. I took my first wound about a quarter past the hour mark. I stepped out too far from the formation, in the haze of my bloodlust, and a zergie managed to slip past me and leapt onto my back, its three claws raking deep across my skin.
I bit back a scream as the pain blossomed on my back, stinging like a hot poker against my skin. I whipped around and brought my pole down on the monster’s head before it even landed on the ground. The thing’s skull couldn’t handle the force and crashed inward as the flames caught onto its upper body. It was dead before it hit the ground.
I was still surrounded by the monsters, so, despite the roar of pain on my back, I gritted my teeth and whipped around again, the fire around me blooming with deeper hues as I channeled more and more Flux out of me. The sudden increase in heat pushed the monsters back a few steps, granting me a moment of reprieve. I knew better than to waste such an advantage, and so, despite the daunting prospect that was Reviving, I prepared for one as I shot a glare at the beasts.
But, before I could go through the process, I suddenly felt a pleasant tingle all along the three gashes on my back. It was the strangest feeling; like a Revive, but without the pain. I could feel the Flux flowing into me – instead of out, for once – and, more strangely, I could feel my flesh stitching itself back together.
Within moments, the wound was gone, taking its stinging pain with it. But I banished the utter confusion that reigned in my mind, as the zergies had finally gathered their courage and leapt through the ring of fire around me.
With my survival on the line, I threw out all other thoughts and immersed myself back in the fighting. I moved with a new ferocity, my eyes alight with the bloodlust of a predator as I jabbed and swung with my makeshift flaming greatsword. Swirling columns of flame tore through the legions of zergies, leaving charred and broken bodies in their wake.
In the hours that followed, I slipped up a total of seven more times, and each one resulted in the claws of the zergies tearing deep through my skin. Of those seven, three were taken care of by what I eventually realized to be Galas’ summoned healer spirit. The other four I dealt with myself, fighting through the painful Revives for the sake of efficiency. With six other people to look after, Galas’ healing spirit could take a while to get to me – and often, I didn’t have the time to wait.
Despite their seemingly endless numbers, the zergies went down at a noticeable rate under the constant attacks of our group. At just a bit past the three-hour mark, the last of them finally fell to a quick swipe of Lionel’s greatsword, leaving the cavernous hall suddenly silent save for the heavy breathing of the people gathered.
Sweat plastered my scarlet hair to my forehead as I finally took a breath, letting the tension seep out of me. As I did, I took stock of the battlefield. The place absolutely reeked of death and rot, the sickeningly scorched smell of burned flesh mingling with the rest. Not a spot on the ground could be seen, either. Every inch of the floor was covered with dead bodies, their blackened blood painting the ground and much of our clothing and armor.
“Well, that would seem to be the end of the first round,” Najam finally said after a moment. Broad smiles immediately broke out among the group as we all relaxed, and Gyda gave Lionel a little nudge.
“How many didcha get?” she asked.
Lionel gave her a triumphant grin. “332,” he said.
Gyda visibly deflated at that. “321,” she said glumly.
“Ha!” came a derisive laugh from Tara in the back. “405,” she said proudly.
“Wait, you guys were keeping track?” I asked in bewilderment. I could hardly imagine doing that; the mental capacity required to count the beasts killed while fighting was far beyond me.
The group chuckled good-naturedly at my confusion. “No, no, the dungeon board does it for you,” Najam explained.
“Oh? Really?” I asked in surprise. I brought my finger up and touched it to the side of my head, the way I’d seen Najam do more than a few times, and as I did, the holographic screen popped up again.
********
Bow Hawk Party (2000):
Ruby: 302
********
A wide grin settled over my face as I saw my number. A small part of me was upset that I didn’t have the highest amount, but realistically, I understood that there was little chance for me to compete with the likes of Gyda and Tara and Lionel. They were seasoned adventurers, after all. The fact that I was only twenty away from Gyda was impressive enough.
“What about you,” I asked, turning to Ren. “What’d you get?”
Ren gave me a small, knowing smile. “Probably less than you. I don’t really have the skillset for battles like these.”
I grinned, having suspected as much. It was a fair point, after all; Ren’s style didn’t favor killing lots of monsters fast.
“Pff, all I’m hearing are excuses,” is what I said, though. There were few things that I was better at than Ren, and I wasn’t about to let this one pass without bragging a little. “I got 302,” I continued, puffing out my chest.
Gyda whistled at that. “Damn, that’s better than I thought you’d do,” she said. I flushed a little then, having forgotten that they would hear me, too. Bragging to Ren was fine, but I didn’t want the rest of the group to think I was a show-off. After all, they hadn’t seen how many times Ren had effortlessly outclassed me in almost everything else.
“Seems like you’ve gotten the hang of your pole there, huh?” Lionel asked, oblivious to my thoughts. “I saw the way you were swinging it; looked like you were using it less as a staff and more like a…” Lionel trailed off there, seeming unsure of what exactly I’d been trying to use it as.
“Sword,” I finished for him, nodding as I did. “I think I’ve settled on what kind of fighter I want to be. I want to be the kind of fighter that Gyda is. A berserker, I think, is what Najam said.” Gyda nodded at that. “I’ve been a brawler all my life, more or less, so that just seems like the easiest path. And I’ll use my pole like a longer and lighter version of a bat, at least until I can make flame around it capable of cutting. I’m not exactly sure yet how I’ll use my flames with my fists, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon enough.”
Gyda seemed elated at that. “That’ll certainly be interesting. Flame berserkers aren’t common, but I’m sure they’re many great ones out there. And I’m sure you’ll be just like them soon, Ruby.”
I smiled warmly at that, but before I could thank her, the ground suddenly rumbled again. As it did, the immense number of carcasses – 2000, exactly, if I was reading the dungeon board right – suddenly began to break apart into little fluffy dots of white. The glowing dust rose upward toward the ceiling, like snowfall reversed. Within moments, the floor was once again left spotless, with not a trace of the great battle that had just taken place.
Najam and the rest grimaced as they saw the strange phenomenon. “Looks like the second round is about to start,” Najam said. “Just two more rounds to go, and then it’ll be the mini-boss fight.”
Ren and I nodded, knowing that he’d added on the last bit for us.
Moments later, the rumbling came to a stop, and a tidal wave of zergies once again burst through the darkness of the three hallways. I grinned and clenched my pole, flame flaring up all around me again. According to Najam’s information, the zergies of this round would be stronger and faster than the first, and the zergies of the third round even more so.
But I was hardly cowed. In fact, anticipation and excitement swirled in my veins at the thought; I couldn’t wait to test myself against the stronger enemies.