Dylan activated his new card, and a Phantom Archer materialized in front of him.

He ordered it to take out the lizard that was shooting at them from the top of the waterfall, but before the phantom could act, he knew he’d need to protect it. His archers had powerful enough attacks, but they were slow to fire and relatively fragile. If it got mauled by a spider before it could charge its shot, the card would be wasted.

Mist roiled around the phantom’s bow, and Dylan stepped out from behind the hut to guard it.

“Alice, I’m gonna try to kill the archer. Can you help me keep the spiders off?”

“Yeah.” The Blacksmith nodded, readying her newly acquired sword.

While she looked out for any spiders coming from the holes in the walls around the huts, Dylan focused his attention on the battle to the front.

He watched as Sara pulled Mark inside one of the now empty structures; unfortunately, its door had been damaged when the lizards had charged out, and she couldn’t get it to fully close behind them.

Dena and Rowan had reached Chester and Jaiden. The Earth Mage was just ducking behind the Guardian and his shield. The lizard on the waterfall, having lost Dylan and Alice as targets, had chosen to aim its next shot at her. An arrow crashed into the shield as Jaiden manipulated the ground around Chester to keep the remaining lizards from taking advantage of the brief distraction.

For a moment, Dylan thought his phantom would get the chance to shoot unimpeded, but then a lizard who hadn’t been caught up by Chester’s Taunt rounded the corner of the hut to his left.

Shit, Dylan thought. He needed to block it before it could interfere with his archer. He stepped forward, nothing to protect him but his Mana Shield, and placed himself between the oncoming lizard and his fragile phantom.

When he’d crossed the stream, he’d briefly considered whether his role in the battle would be a human shield. At the time, it was because his hand hadn't provided him many other options; he just didn’t expect that after he finally drew something actionable, he would still come back to the same idea.

The lizard before him had a sword in one hand and a dagger at its waist. Dylan’s mind slipped back to his fight during the combat trial. He remembered how he’d been able to bluff the lizard that had chased him by moving the illusory cards in his hand as if they’d been an attack. It’d been unintentional back then, but Dylan wondered if the same tactic would work here. Both the monster he’d faced then and the one charging at him now were of the same kind, after all.

He decided to try.

He lifted his arms to guard against the monster’s sword and willed his cards to rush forward. His hand could only exist within three feet of his body, so by the time he took action, the lizard was practically on top of him. He gritted his teeth and braced his feet for the force of the impact of the creature’s sword against his Mana Shield.

Fortunately, Dylan’s quick thinking paid off. The cards struck toward the monster’s head, and as it flinched back, the power behind its own attack weakened. The blow slashed across the shield, causing the air around Dylan to spark with energy. His feet held firm against the ground.

Behind him, he felt the air thrum as his phantom loosed its misty arrow.

Taking advantage of the abortive strike of the lizard before him, Dylan stepped forward to kick at the monster. At the same time, he feigned another attack with his illusory hand. Once again, the lizard dodged away from the cards, helping him connect with the creature’s knee.

With the monster off balance, Dylan risked a glance at the top of the waterfall. The phantom’s arrow had done its job. He couldn’t tell if the lizard was dead or just down, but either way, it gave the party room to breathe.

Now that Rowan was there to help Chester clean up the remaining lizards that were out in the open, Jaiden and Dena rushed to the huts.

Dylan continued his skirmish with the sword-wielding monster in front of him, and while he would have loved to order the phantom to kill it, he doubted he could provide a clear shot. He commanded the archer to attack the spiders instead.

By the time a new turn came around, the Mana Shield was nearing its end. The hits he’d taken had become progressively more serious as the monster had begun to realize that his cards weren’t a threat. Using them to strike at the lizard now barely caused anything more than a visual distraction. One that it was fast learning to ignore.

Dylan almost breathed a sigh of relief when he chose to draw a new card and saw a Mana Spike. He activated an Intermediate Energy and pulled the new card into his hand. He was just about to play it when the lizard before him dropped to the ground. A sword in its back. He looked up to see Alice pulling out the blade and nodding at him.

“Thanks.” He nodded back and finally had a chance to take a more careful look around the cavern.

Chester was dealing with the last pair of lizards that remained from their initial charge. Rowan, finally recovered from his earlier use of Elemental Cleave, stabbed a glowing sword through the back of a spider that was besieging the hut that Sara and Mark were hiding in. Dena had once again attracted and began to dodge around a considerable number of the arachnids, and Jaiden was currently channeling her mana at one of the spider holes behind the party.

Alice had just turned around, rushing to help guard the Earth Mage, and his phantom had killed a newly emerged spider before it could make it to the site of the battle.

Dylan could almost believe the group was finally beginning to gain a measure of control over the fight.

If he didn’t look at the monsters coming across the stream.

Even without Dena being close enough for her music to affect their speed, the mass of spiders were still struggling to cross the water, but the few surviving lizards were already rushing out of it.

Dylan ordered the phantom to switch its target to the charging monsters before they added more chaos to the group’s fight. At the same time, he played the Mana Spike, its streak of energy diving down to kill one of the lizards directly.

Next, he played his last remaining Intermediate Energy card, preparing himself to activate his second Mana Shield should he need to put himself between the monsters and the archer again.

As he watched, Dylan felt his mind split and chose to draw another card. Another Mana Spike.

Seeing the card, he was torn on what to do next. He had two energy and no more cards that generated it. He wanted to play the Mana Spike to eliminate another of the charging lizards, but his current shield was close to shattering. Playing the attack spell would leave him needing to wait another fifteen seconds for the next turn before he could generate and play the new shield he had in his hand.

At the same time, it was now the third turn since he’d summoned the Phantom Archer, and the fight would last long after its duration expired. He wanted to use the Phantom Rally that he’d been holding since he’d first drawn his hand to keep the archer around longer. It needed two energy to activate, and if he played either of the other cards in his hand now, he couldn’t guarantee that he’d be able to afford to pay Phantom Rally’s cost when he needed it.

A shout pulled Dylan from his indecision. Chester had issued another Taunt. He wasn’t close enough to capture all of the new lizards, but about half the creatures changed the direction of their charge to target the Guardian.

Three were left to freely attack the rest of the party.

The Phantom Archer fired, taking one of the monsters through its left eye, causing it to crash to the ground.

Dylan felt wind on his face as a figure flicked past him. Rowan. The swordsman ran up to intercept the remaining two lizards, but before Dylan had the chance to be relieved, the feeling of an incoming crisis shot through his nerves.

He turned to look in the direction of the waterfall, only to see another two bow-wielding lizards taking aim at their party. One had already fired, the arrow streaking toward Dylan. He had no way to stop it, no time to react. He tried dodging to the side, but it was too late. All he accomplished was shifting the impact point from his heart to his shoulder.

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With a flash of light, the arrow shattered his shield and smashed into his leather armor. Luckily, the shoulder it hit wasn’t the one torn open by the welf before the Tutorial; the armor was still intact. Luckily, the failing shield had dissipated enough of the force for the armor to catch the arrow, preventing it from doing more than scratching Dylan’s skin.

But now, he was defenseless. Without taking another moment to think about it, he played the second Mana Shield and ordered his phantom to target the lizard archers. One of the creatures was aiming at Chester, but the one who’d just shot him seemed upset he was still alive. Dylan watched as it nocked another arrow, clearly intending to fire at him again. He directed his own archer to focus on that one first.

Now able to see the creature attacking him and with more time to dodge, Dylan dived behind one of the earthen huts as the lizard released its shot. The arrow slashed through the space he’d just been standing in before lodging itself into the ground. He took a breath before ducking his head out to check the situation only to have another arrow try to slice across his cheek. Flickering ripples washed through his shield.

The monster’s shooting was fast. Dylan had time to see its vestigial arms pass up an arrow from its quiver before he had to duck behind cover again.

A moment later, his phantom fired, and then, no more arrows came his way.

A new turn came; he drew a card. Phantom Soldier.

As Dylan watched mist begin to condense into another arrow on his archer’s bow, he stepped out from behind the hut. His eyes followed the arc of the projectile as it took the other lizard in the neck, but just as it fell, another of the creatures stepped out from behind it.

How many of those things are there?

He ordered the archer to continue firing before ducking behind the hut again as he saw the new monster aim its bow in his direction.

This time it wasn’t a near miss. The arrow took an extra second to arrive, but when it landed it wasn’t where Dylan had been standing. Instead, it passed straight through the Phantom Archer’s chest.

Shit.

It wasn’t fatal, but the injury wasn’t light either. Due to their nature as phantoms, Dylan had noticed that his summoned creatures were capable of continuing to fight after receiving blows that might cripple others. His archer could still shoot, but another hit like that would probably make it dissipate.

The phantom began to gather another arrow from the mist, the force of the last blow having interrupted the condensation of its previous attempt.

Dylan gritted his teeth and rushed out from the hut. He couldn’t let the lizard keep targeting his archer. Even if he once again became a human shield, he needed to buy enough time for the phantom to get its shot off.

Placing himself in the lizard’s line of fire, Dylan braced himself to take another arrow. When it came, it smashed into his shield. The force pushed him back a few steps as mana flickered wildly around him.

The shield held, but he estimated that he could only take two more hits. At most.

He looked up at the lizard to see the second arrow already coming.

He inhaled and once again felt the impact.

As the third arrow was placed on the lizard’s string, the phantom fired, but just before its shot could reach the monster, the lizard also found the chance to release. As the creature dropped, its arrow flew toward Dylan. He wanted to dodge, but if he did, the phantom would be destroyed.

The impact was swift, shattering the shield. An arrow once again dug into his armor, this time piercing an inch deep into the skin just below his right armpit.

Dylan let out a pained cough as the force of the blow almost knocked him over.

His mind split, and he almost forgot to draw.

When he looked at his new card, he played it immediately. Basic Energy. It was just what he needed. He pulled the Phantom Rally card into his hand and activated it.

A warm light burst from his archer, its duration both renewed and then doubled. He now had ten more turns to command it.

“The spiders are coming!” Chester called.

Dylan looked over to see the vanguard of the flood of spiders emerging from the stream. The arachnids had been chasing them since they’d entered the cavern, and now they’d finally made their way past the water. There were no more lizards he could see left alive, but the mass of spiders was more than enough of a concern on its own.

Chester and Rowan had both retreated to the huts with the rest of the group. Jaiden was still closing the holes behind them while Dena and Alice helped guard her in their own ways.

Dylan rushed over to stand with the rest of the group, commanding his archer to follow.

When he arrived, he joined in a frantic battle.

There were more spiders charging at them than Dylan had imagined. The party’s only saving grace was that crossing the stream had spread the creatures out. Instead of a tsunami, they faced a series of smaller waves. But even with that minor relief, everyone was serious, and everyone struggled.

Chester did his best to keep as many of the monsters as he could under control with his Taunt skill, and Dena pulled away most of those he missed.

Rowan sliced across the battlefield as if he’d become his sword. He no longer carried the easy grace he’d displayed when dispatching the creatures during the first encounter; now, the Blade Warden’s eyes flashed with death and determination.

Once she finished collapsing the last nearby spider hole, Jaiden began to focus on using the earth to help control the movements of the monsters, making sure the group didn’t get overwhelmed.

Alice guarded in front of the hut that hid Sara and Mark. Her sword slowly building a barricade of monster corpses.

Dylan had the archer target any venomous spiders he saw. After a few turns he found the chance to play a Phantom Soldier and sent it to help Alice.

Whenever the group seemed like it might be overwhelmed, Rowan or Chester would use Elemental Cleave or Retaliation to give everyone a brief moment to breathe.

When Dylan summoned a third phantom, another archer, his mind began to feel the strain of being pulled in too many directions, but he persisted. He found the chance to play his second Phantom Rally, and prayed that the fight would end before its effects expired.

Sara, who’d been observing everything from the hut, shouted out to the group, “I don’t think they’re going to stop coming! We need to leave!”

Dylan glanced around while commanding his phantoms and saw that, while there were fewer spiders than there’d been at the beginning, they just kept coming. After the party had survived the initial flood of the creatures, they’d continued to filter in like a steady stream. One that showed no signs of abating.

Currently, the party only had small difficulties in dealing with them, but without being given any chance to rest, it was inevitable that fatigue would eventually kill them.

“She’s right. We can’t go on like this,” Chester said. “We should start looking for an exit.” He glanced around the room. “Maybe they’ll stop attacking us once we leave the room. Sometimes challenge dungeons work like that.”

“And if they don’t?” Rowan asked.

No response.

“Maybe Jaiden can collapse the tunnel entrance?” Dylan suggested.

The Earth Mage fired a Stone Bullet at a venomous spider and then took a breath to think. “Every tunnel between rooms so far has been about the same size. It should be possible to bring it down.” She paused, eyes glancing at something in the air before her. “But I’m not sure I’ll have the mana for that by the time we get there.”

“Then let’s start moving,” Chester said. “If you don’t have enough mana, then we’ll guard the tunnel entrance for you while you meditate. Should be a decent enough choke point.”

Without further discussion, the group began to push their way across the room.

The only other way out of the cavern was the ramp that led up to the waterfall, so that was where they went.

On the way there, Dylan summoned another Phantom Soldier and felt his mind begin to crack. He ordered it and one of the archers nearing its time limit to run out and try to lead some of the spiders away from the group.

It was all he could do to keep moving until he felt the archer die, releasing a part of the strain he’d been under. But it worked. The phantoms lured enough of the spiders away to let Chester open a path with Retaliation. The group rushed to the bottom of the ramp.

Once they began to ascend, the fight became a little easier. Despite being able to climb walls, most of the spiders mindlessly funneled themselves together to chase the group up the ramp. Being packed so tightly, Rowan was able to decimate them with an Elemental Cleave.

At the top of the waterfall, the group found the corpses of the lizard archers and a narrow passage that followed the stream.

“Let’s keep going,” Chester said. “If they don’t stop following, we’ll have Jaiden try to collapse the passage.”

No one wasted any more breath, and the group ran down the tunnel.

Surprisingly, the spiders didn’t follow.

They ran for another few minutes before finally reaching what looked like another room. Cautiously, Chester peaked inside, and then he let out an audible sigh of relief.

“It’s the second set of challenge doors.” He turned to look at the rest of the party and smiled. “We’re clear.” He paused. “But just to be safe, let’s stagger our meditation.”

“I’ll watch first,” Dylan said. “I’ve only got a couple minutes left on my cards, but if I let my deck go, I won’t be able to resummon it until after I finish meditating.”

“Got it,” the Guardian said. “I’ll watch with you.”

While the two stayed near the entrance, the rest of the group moved to sit in the middle of the familiar semicircular room. When Dylan could no longer maintain his deck, Chester told him to go rest.

He sat with the others, exhausted, and began to meditate. He still began by focusing on regenerating his mana. The cards in his deck were severely depleted and need to be restored, but without mana, a full deck would be worthless.

Dylan’s mind sank deep into his consciousness, senses closing to the world around him. He’d almost bottomed himself out again by maintaining his deck for so long. He focused on the mana around him, pulling it through his veins, integrating it into his breath.

Despite the chaotic situation preceding it, his meditation had never gone so smoothly before. He’d never felt so connected to the energy around him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” A shout from Rowan broke through Dylan’s peace. Interrupting his state of mind.

He looked up to see the redhead pointing his sword at Mark.

The Herbalist was standing in front of his challenge door, hand on its glowing symbol.

“I’m not letting you force me to challenge a deeper door! I can’t do it!” The boy’s voice sounded a little frantic.

The room shook, the air itself vibrating. The other four doors melted into the wall that held them as the door in front of Mark was carved deeper. The glowing plant symbol brightened and grew until it covered the entire door.

Mark had started his challenge.

Dylan felt his heart beat in ears. He scrambled to check his mana.

[Mana: 53/101]

Not enough.

Monsters were coming, and he couldn’t summon his deck.