After the drama-filled moment ended, the others expressed their excitement at the unexpected boost to the party’s power. Ozen in particular seemed to have completely turned around in temperament. No more did he appear gruff and bothered by Dharen’s very presence. Instead, he seemed definitively grateful to have him along. Then again, who doesn’t love having an ally that can supplement their own power?

Dharen observed the trio as the group made its way out of the entrance hall in which they had appeared. Erik took the lead, pulling slightly ahead of the others and checking for traps and enemies. Serah held a bow at the ready, an arrow nocked loosely against it. Though she did not pull it back in order to avoid damaging the bow unnecessarily, it was clear that she was ready for a fight at a moment’s notice. In the same fashion, Ozen also appeared to be prepared for battle. He had removed his axes from the loops at his side once again, his fingers flexing on their hafts tensely.

Watching as he brought up the rear, Dharen began to gain a greater understanding of his fellows. It was clear that the group had spent quite a lot of time working together, as there was an unspoken communication and ease with each other that clearly relayed the common trust between them. Without a word, they had separated into their various roles; Erik as the scout and guide, Serah as ranged support from within the safety of the middle of the group, and Ozen the guard beside her. With Dharen bringing up the rear and watching for unseen dangers, Serah would be safe to weaken the enemy and protect her allies with her Second Chance ability - even from otherwise deadly attacks.

Yet, despite their obvious practiced nature, there was a slight jumpiness to the group. They seemed feverishly alert, even. Every noise that came from the dungeon around them forced them into honing in on it passionately. He couldn’t help but wonder what they had gone through to create such heavy nervous energy.

They trekked through a wide hallway, the soft light of the wall-crystals providing barely enough light for the group to see. Of course, Dharen did not have any particular issues with the low light anyway - his night vision was significant enough to allow him to pierce the low-light conditions. Erik pulled back to the group, gesturing for them to stop.

“We have two rooms up ahead, everyone. One has the door blown off its hinges. The other still looks pretty sturdy. Whoever among us is the hardiest should be the first to press into the room.” He gave a meaningful glance at Ozen and Dharen, clearly implying that they should choose that role among themselves.

Deciding to take this opportunity to create some goodwill, Dharen volunteered himself for the position. He knew that the others would be grateful for his courage, and he was not particularly concerned about being taken by surprise and killed before he could react. He had a massive amount of Vitality after all, and could likely take quite an obscene amount of punishment compared to the others in the group. Despite his confidence, he put on a calculated expression. The others watched as Dharen readied himself with great resolve, an inkling of nervous trepidation just barely visible on his countenance.

Dharen loosened Restraint from its place upon his back, pulling it into a readied position with both hands. He allowed a steely determination to cross his face, then sidled up to the entrance to the first room. With a rush, he burst through the doorway and took in the room. The wake of his passing stirred a heavy cloud of dust, forcing him to momentarily choke on it before swallowing it down in a gulp of dust filled air. He quickly relaxed his grip on his warhammer upon seeing that the room was unoccupied by enemies.

Though not unoccupied entirely, he mused, as his gaze lit upon a strange skeleton in the corner of the room. It hid behind a number of small pieces of furniture, as if its owner had attempted to hastily barricade themselves behind the littered chairs and tables.

Unfortunately for the skeleton, his efforts had plainly been in vain. Putting aside his current status as a skeleton, much of the makeshift barrier had been splintered harshly. A few of the pieces had been sturdy enough to survive the onslaught relatively unscathed, but they were few and far between. In a similar manner, many of the very bones of the corpse had been shattered into dust and fractured harshly. Brutal application of blunt force had done quite a bit of work on them.

The coast clear, the remainder of the group entered behind Dharen. They took in the room as well. Serah approached the remains, kneeling down to examine them. The others waited as she pored over the battered bones. A few moments later, she rose to her feet once more.

“I’m not sure this was a human.” Serah said. The others looked at her questioningly, prompting her to point to a number of bones. “The bones of the forearm are overly long, while the legs are stunted in comparison. Someone with these proportions would be significantly smaller than average, in addition to their hands hanging nearer to the ground than is possible for a human.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Dharen looked at the skeleton again. Previously, he had only assessed the damage inflicted on it, assessing the situation that appeared to have coincided with its death. In his eager analysis of the circumstances around and leading to its death, he had missed a few details of the skeletal structure of the remains. He nodded, both impressed with Serah’s quick analysis and disappointed in his own failing.

“Do we know anything about where we are?” Dharen asked.

“You must be newer to the Fifth Floor than I thought.” Erik laughed. “The quests that are given from the noticeboard typically deal heavily in unknowns. It is very unlikely that you will be able to glean much information from what is given on the notice itself. The only indication we have is the difficulty level assigned to the quest. Without that, we could very well find ourselves in an impossible situation after challenging something far above our pay grade. So, unfortunately, we know very little beyond the name of the target and the proposed difficulty of the mission.”

Dharen nodded, resolving himself to being left in the dark for now. “So, we are looking for whatever killed this creature then?”

Ozen grunted in affirmation before responding. “Let’s get a move on. We’re burning through my buff, and I still haven’t been able to try it out yet.”

Upon exiting the room, they attempted to make their way past the sturdy metal door that blocked the adjacent chamber. However, they were unsuccessful despite all of their efforts. The door was built of sturdy material, weathering the pressures of both time and physical exertion alike. The group continued, pressing onwards through the dark hallway.

It wasn’t long before a light rumbling sound began to echo across the walls. Dharen slowed, the others doing so as well. With a practiced gesture, Erik indicated wordlessly that he would go on ahead to investigate while the others lay in wait.

Erik slowly crept off into the darkness, his mottled gray cloak blending into the flickering shadows. Meanwhile, the others waited somewhat nervously. Each of their senses were sharply attuned to their surroundings, causing them to tense in response to a variety of rather normal stimuli.

Dharen watched with narrowed eyes, contemplating his allies’ actions. He grew ever more suspicious that there was more going on than a simple quest. The harsh juxtaposition between the obvious degree of practice that the group demonstrated and the apprehensive air that filled the hall made that clear.

He was broken out of his musings by the faint sound of footfalls. Erik made his way back out of the darkness, reconnecting with the group. He motioned for them to come closer.

“There’s three monsters ahead about fifty meters from here. Not ones I’ve seen before. They look to be made of metallic spheres interlocking and spinning against one another to shape themselves into various different creatures. Likely, they are a similar race to the target. Orbels.”

The others, otherwise at a loss as to the monsters’ identities, merely nodded in response. They began to move as a group, loosening their weapons from the sheaths and loops at their sides. This time, Ozen took the lead; he was clearly eager to test his increased Strength despite the group’s overall anxious ambience.

Dharen followed him from just behind, while Erik and Serah brought up the rear. As they approached, the rumbling noise grew ever louder; the clamor of metal against stone a conspicuous disruption of the otherwise silent tunnel.

Finally, they encountered the enemies. Just as Erik had described, they were strange metallic mockeries of various creatures. On the left was a panther-lookalike fashioned out of a multitude of metallic orbs. In the center was a metal wolf, and to the right was an undulating worm of spheres.

In the moment that Dharen was taking in the strange appearance of the creatures, they attacked. The orbs that touched the surface spun with surprising speed, propelling the monsters across the stone with a deep rumbling. Dharen stared with surprise as the spheres rolled frictionlessly against one another, allowing the strange creatures to maintain their form while moving at a blistering speed.

Ozen met them with a charge. His dual battleaxes flared with an intense flame. The fire seemed to undulate with glee as Ozen let out a growl of anger, causing them to grow brighter. He met the lead creature with a sharp swing of his axe smashing it to the side and into the wall. The others quickly followed and split into several pieces, leaving Ozen alone and marveling at his own power. He started sheepishly after realizing what he was doing, before steeling his expression.

“Just so you don’t take credit for my strength: I could smash these things aside in my sleep. I don’t need your boost to my Strength to defeat these rabble.”

As he spoke, the monsters that had been smashed against the wall began to fall apart. They fell into a pile beside the wall, glittering metal spheres of numerous sizes littering the ground. Then, they began to roll towards one another as if drawn by an invisible force. The others let out cries of surprise as the three metal creatures pulled themselves into one.

The beast shifted fluidly, moving from one form to the next. Finally, it settled on being represented by a now-larger worm formed of spheres. With a length that was now many times larger than displayed previously, the worm’s body undulated fluidly. It snapped its tail against the stone, fracturing portions of the rock into dust and debris.