Derek groaned in pain. James grabbed one of the health potions from Ian and poured it down Derek’s throat. His arms were covered in many lacerations and his body was starting to bruise all over.
“Try not to move. Everything should be fixed soon. Some of your skin may be a bit tender but it will wear off by the time we have to deal with the spiders,” said James.
“I’ll see what I can do,” said Derek. “It is getting a little easier to breathe now. I think I broke a rib or maybe cracked it. I can feel my insides and some outsides adjusting and rearranging.”
“I was dumb, and you were lucky. The boss was crazy for a minute there until we could finish it off,” said James.
“You finished it off,” said Ian. “We didn’t do much towards the end. If James hadn’t been with us then Derek would have very likely died and so would the rest of us.”
“Then it is a good thing he is with us,” said Naomi.
“You don’t get my point. We just used one of our four remaining health potions and I expect he might need some more soon if this fight was a test of our future expectations,” said Ian. “So how are we going to get through this?”
“Because we have to. Or else we will die in this crumbling dungeon,” said James. “I will concede that I haven’t been as attentive and focused as a should have. I had hoped we could get through this floor and the others without much problem until later, but I see now that I need to set forth the plan right now instead of slowly uncovering it right before we jump to the relevant floor. This should make some things easier, and you only need to ask for me to reexplain something. Understand that some of these plans may need to change but I know you all can get through it.
“Our first priority is to get to the 25th floor and with some luck and our collective experience so far we can deal with the drake and then get out of here. Before that though we have the next floor. To deal with the spiders we will take the best route I know and trap the path to make things easier for ourselves. We will need to use the metal from the minotaur boss and the skeleton boss I have collected so far along with some wood to repair Wes’s shield. If we boost his survivability then ours jumps up as well. And if it doesn’t get fixed then I expect it will break before too long.
“To kill the 20th-floor boss we will need to deal with its fire and keep it away. Ian will be in charge of dealing with burning teammates but should generally save up mana for the 21st floor. That floor will be cold and a rather dangerous walk if you are not careful. The main obstacle and really only obstacle will be the environment itself. Once that is done we will be required to fight in similar conditions through a castle on the mountain. If we can get through that we get a break and a simple puzzle floor. After resting we will have two more left. The 24th is a treasure hunt floor where you will have to climb rocks and avoid some enemies. After that, we have the battle with the drake. Simple right?”
“You make it sound so easy, but I know it won’t be so what is the catch? What will be the hardest parts? What are you leaving out?” asked Naomi.
“The main part is I have no idea what to expect when it comes to us against the drake. I have some theories but there is not much I can do to help everyone until we fight it. The second hardest that I won’t be able to control as well as the 21st and 22nd paired floors. It will be very cold and get harder the longer we stay on the floors. We will want to go quickly but not rush,” said James. “Oh yes. I almost forgot. Ian I would like to have your panthera out with us during this time as well. It may be very useful in some of the fights and now that we aren’t in the enclosed maze it should be able to fight with us easily.”
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“I do have my panthera in my soul space. How did you know that?” asked Ian.
“I watched you ride it into the dungeon encampment this morning,” said James as soon as the question arrived.
Ian complied with James’s request and brought the pet out of storage. The panthera walked around and looked up at its owner. There was silence in the cleared boss room.
“We do have a time limit waiting around here so we should get going and start prepping those traps. I can show everyone where we might find the stuff we need.”
James led the way to the 19th floor now that there were no more questions. Once everyone was gathered back up on the floor he directed them to gather the items. Naomi was set on gathering shrubs and moss for the caustic smoke trap while Wes and Derek gathered the items for the trip wire trap. In the meantime, James worked on craving wood for Wes’s shield and Ian melted the weapons down for the same purpose.
The process went by quickly for James as he worked. In only a few minutes he had the wood ready for the shield. Ian finished liquefying the metal and protected his hands with mana as he shaped the metal back onto the shield. James carefully slid the wood back onto the shield and they let it sit and cool down. He inspected the finished product, and it turned out the same as the previous attempts. The enchantments Strength of the Minotaur and Bones of the Knight were on the shield now.
The rest of the floor continued as normal but with a few added changes. Derek was a little slower as he recovered from the lasting effects of his injury, but it was made up for by Kira. The panthera took on the spiders once trapped and dazed. It followed Ian’s instructions very well and assisted in taking down the monsters efficiently. James guessed that this loop was one of their fastest clear times yet.
After clearing the initial spider humanoid monsters, they were on to the boss. The queen wielded her hex magic and James focused on stopping her. With the extra manpower brought by Kira, she and Ian were able to take on the mini spiders on their own. That left room for the others to step in elsewhere.
Some slack had to be made up for with Derek not quite at full power yet, but they fought on. The spider queen swung at Wes, and he held up his new shield awkwardly. He hadn’t quite gotten the hang of the new weight and the changes to his body brought on by the enchantments.
To kill the spider queen Derek needed to step up. In between casting spells, the queen used her sharp spider legs to fight against his blade. Each of them was like a sword unto itself. He could only block throughout and rarely strike when Wes gave him the opportunity to.
Derek knew he had to keep his focus and stay on his toes. The spider queen was a formidable opponent, and he couldn't afford to make any mistakes. He cast swung and swung, trying to wear her down and expose a weakness. But the queen was relentless, using her spider legs to slash and hack at Derek's defenses. He struggled to keep up, feeling the strain on his muscles as he fought to keep her at bay.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Derek saw an opening. This was facilitated by Wes and the others fighting around him. The queen had overextended herself, leaving one of her spider legs vulnerable. Without hesitation, Derek lunged forward, driving his blade deep into the queen's leg. It came clean off and dripped with blood allowing more openings to the others.
James and Naomi opened fire on the bleeding wound before Derek came in close again. He drove his sword into the spider queen’s belly and upwards with a twist. The spider queen let out a high-pitched shriek of pain, collapsing to the ground. Derek stood over her, panting and sweating, his blade still embedded in her body.
"It's over," he said, panting. "The spider queen is defeated."
They regrouped and rested before tackling the next floor. Another half a potion was used between them all to recover from the scrapes and cuts they had gained. When they were ready they tackled the 20th floor.
Their progress was steady, and James’s guidance kept them together without overusing their sparse resources. A few hours later they were back on floor 23.