Brom and Kenzie both had their heads on a swivel as they searched for more danger. Malcolm helped Shane move the gorehound off him and Harvey ran back to Brynn. The floating sword began orbiting Brynn. Kenzie called out, but not too loudly, “Loot the bodies. We need the footing.” Everyone reacted immediately to her command and in moments the gorehounds were misting away into motes of light.
Shane stared into space for a moment looking at the Party information, then moved to Brom, “Dude, you’re hurt.” He reached out to place a hand on Brom to cast Mending Touch when a mouthful of dagger teeth and nastiness clamped down on his forearm. The weight of the beast pulled Shane off his feet, and he once more found himself prone on the ground, although this time, his stomach had caught one of the arching pipes and he was doubled over. The pain of the bite was ferocious, and he cried out. The attack was so sudden that the rest of the party, even in their hyper aware state, missed it. The gorehound savaged at Shane’s forearm, driving its fangs into the leather bracers, and puncturing through to what felt like hitting bone. The pain was tremendous, and Shane continued to scream in pain and fear.
The party’s shock only lasted for a moment as both Kenzie and Brom reacted. Each had a clear line of attack from either side of the monster, and they acted almost in unison. Kenzie’s spear took the beast in its side, sliding between two ribs, while Brom’s great sword took a far more brutal approach as he brought it around in a devastating overhead slice. As Kenzie pierced its lung, Brom’s attack bisected the beast’s spine. It died instantly.
Unfortunately for Shane, in death, the beast’s jaws locked, and the dead weight dragged at his severely wounded arm. As the gorehound dropped, Shane once more cried out as his arm seemed encased in fire. Brom dropped his sword and grabbed at the thing’s head, attempting to pry its jaws apart. Through gritted teeth, Shane spat, “Just fucking loot it!”
Understanding dawned quickly on Brom’s face as both he and Kenzie looted the beast which quickly devolved into motes of light and vanished. As soon as the teeth were gone from the wound it began to bleed profusely and Shane, with assistance from Brom, rolled over and sat cradling the wounded limb. Seeing everyone focused on him, Shane almost yelled, “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got this, keep your eyes on the fog!”
At his words, Brom picked up his sword and moved closer to Brynn while Kenzie moved to the space Brom had been and knelt next to Shane with her spear pointed out towards the small eddies of fog. Malcolm looked a bit stricken from the encounter but was putting on a brave face. Brynn, however, looked angry. Her sword continued to hover in a tight orbit around her, but also included her brother, and Harvey who was still clutched in a tight embrace. The little bear looked innocuous but had a steady eye on the surrounding darkness. Her voice even, Brynn’s gazed shifted around nervously, “I absolutely hate this, and I am so mad right now.” She almost pouted, “You just have no idea!”
Over his shoulder, Brom replied, “I know, Princess. I am so sorry. This is far more than I expected. That goes to you all, I’m sorry I insisted on this.”
After applying his spells on himself, Shane stood, testing his arm. He had been able to heal fifteen of the twenty-two points of damage he had taken. He waved the arm around and tested his grip on his sword, finding that the pain was gone but that there was a slight stiffness in his arm. So, the healing takes away the pain, and I can function almost normally even though I’m down hit points. Weird. Shane cut his thoughts short and checked that only Brom was injured. He cast about looking for danger and finally laid a hand on Brom’s shoulder, casting mending Touch.
“Thanks man. You okay?” Brom glanced back at his best friend with worry in his eyes.
“Yeah, I’m good. I can’t heal myself for another thirty minutes though, so if I get injured, I’ll have to use my medical supplies and get HP back using my skills instead of spells. Although I have a Mass Heal available still that could do some good for me, I’ll save that for if more than a few of us get hurt.”
“I don’t want to get hurt at all.” Brynn added.
“I won’t let you…” Brom and Harvey said in unison. “…be harmed.” Harvey finished, while Brom gave the little raggedly looking bear a contemplative look. Shane thought Brom still did not trust the bear completely. Harvey, meanwhile, just looked up at Brom with a cute smile, “Jinx!”
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Brom shook his head and turned his attention back to their surroundings. Kenzie began barking orders even as she gave a worried look at Shane who mouthed, “I’m okay.” And gave her a wink. She let out a huff of a breath and took the lead, this time with her shield out. The new marching order swapped she and Shane, then with Brynn and Malcolm and then finally, Brom in the rear. They pressed on.
As they walked, or more specifically, picked their way over the constant obstacles, Malcolm made an observation. “Aside from Aether, these things don’t give out anything but Silver. The Chatterwights only gave Aether and copper. The Wolfen had armor and weapons as well as Aether and varying amounts of coins. I wonder what controls that? I mean, I get we’re in a dungeon and I assume the larger Aether and coin rewards are because each monster type is tougher. But why did the Wolfen give such good rewards and these things don’t really give much in relation?”
Shane replied, “Does it really matter?”
“Not now. I mean not while we’re squishing our way through a dungeon, but after? I think it might. At least in terms of rules. The System obviously has rules for controlling levels and skills and spells and everything else, so what is the rule on loot? How is it calculated? What are the variables that state what each creature is worth overall?”
Kenzie snapped back, “Can we can the chatter about rules and stuff until we’re out of here and somewhere safe? Keep your mind on the here and now.”
Malcolm opened his mouth to apologize just as two more gorehounds rushed the group from the front. Kenzie flourished her spear and another wall of spears appeared in front of her which impacted both gorehounds directly in their faces. A sweeping motion caused a glowing image of a giant spearhead to speed past both monsters again cutting deeply into their backs and shoulders.
Not to be left out, Malcolm cast a series of Eldritch Bolts, each one hitting their mark. Shane managed a few swings of his sword and within moments these too were dispatched. The bodies were quickly looted, and the crew moved on. The group moved for nearly an hour, encountering, and killing another seven gorehounds until they finally found themselves in a large clearing that seemed to be a corner of the overall dungeon. This one was free of pipes on the ground and the fog was little more than a faint sheen on the floor. Here, there was a simple metal door on the wall.
Malcolm exclaimed that this must be the door to the next level. There were sighs all around with Bryn complaining that they were never going to get out. Kenzie stood watch as the others sat against the wall. The last fifteen minutes were the hardest and both Brom and Kenzie suffered quite a bit of damage. Shane spent a few moments expending his healing spells on them both. Unfortunately, even all his spells combined were not enough to get them back to completely full health. The group decided to stay in place for another hour. Shane’s spells all had a thirty-minute cooldown before he could cast on Brom and Kenzie again which would bring them back to full health, then another thirty-minute wait before they went through the door. Shane wanted all his spells to be off cool down before confronting whatever was behind the door.
Most of the group spent the time keeping watch, although no other attacks came. Malcolm immersed himself in the Help files of the System trying to learn as much as he could, while Brynn sat on her backpack and rain jacket so she would not get any of the muck on her clothes. No one had the heart to tell it was far too late for that as everyone was covered in grunge, blood, and general nastiness. Harvey looked especially raggedy as there was no way to clean him.
“Damn.” Brom muttered. His tone pitched so that he did not scare anyone. It was a disappointed tone rather than one of alarm.
Shane looked over, “What’s up? You good?”
Staring into space, Brom answered with a sigh, “Yeah, it’s just that I’m like an ass hair away from level six. I was hoping to hit six and level up before we fought the next thing.”
Shane nodded in understanding while Brynn said, “Well, maybe the end of the dungeon is on the other side, and we’ll be done here. Then you can go fight an easy monster to get to level six.”
Malcom, from his seat on the floor piped up, “I don’t think so. We still haven’t fought the dungeon Boss. I don’t think we’ll be able to leave until we do.”
Brynn pouted, “You can just shut up, Malcolm Reed. I don’t like that idea. I like mine much better. Why do you have to be so mean?” She leaned onto Brom’s shoulder and glared at Malcolm who sat bewildered.
“What? Wait. What did I say?” He looked to his sister for support.
Kenzie gave him a small smile and shook her head. “Bro, you are in desperate need of some tact.”
“What? Tact? Huh?” He looked from Brom to Shane, completely lost.
Shane chuckled, “Dude...” He knelt next to the teen and quietly said, “Once we’re out of here, you and I can have a chat about girls.”
For the next ten minutes, Brynn continued to glare at him and even Harvey pointed a shrewd eye at the young black teen. But soon after, they had all eaten, hydrated and healed so there was no more reason to wait. They lined up in their original formation with Brom in the front and Kenzie in the rear. Brom placed a hand on the doorknob and glanced back over his shoulder. “Ready?” At everyone’s nod he said, “Here we go.” And opened the door.