It had been a long time since Exill exchanged anything beyond a light greeting to Grundle, the gruff bald mercenary who had been his partner briefly over a year ago. He traded a firm handshake with the man and stood aside as Envy prepared to speak. In all the time that had passed, it appeared she had taken over the role of de facto party leader and everyone stood attentive to her words.
“Standard formation. The Witchdoctor will cast supporting magic from the rear.”
“Wow, you can Heal and cast magic? Is it because you are blessed? How can I become a Witchdoctor too?” The young grey furred wolfman, who had a streak of silver white on his forehead fawned over him, holding his palm high up in a rough attempt to inspect his Card. Exill humoured the energetic Wolfman and summoned his Card.
“Wow, he is the same age as me! Does he call you big sis as well, big sis?” Feroy avidly turned to Envy.
“No, but he should.” She lightly scratched Feroy behind the ear, and lead them out into the street.
They stuck together as a group and the other pedestrians gave them a wide berth, making the short distance walk to the Labyrinth Tower rather pleasant.
“How have you been holding up.” Grundle asked, his quiet gravelly voice barely audible over the din of street vendors hawking their wares.
“A lot of things happened, but I’m good.” It was the understatement of the year.
“I heard how you have your own Clinic now, with a pretty apprentice on top. You’ve moved up in the world, while that cockroach Mattan is still stuck in Sundry Inn.”
Exill didn’t know it at the time, but Grundle had a long standing rivalry with his former roommate Mattan, nicknamed ‘Sundry’s Cockroach’. There was a soft relish in the tone of the gruff mercenary, causing him to reflect on all that had happened over the past year.
They arrived at the Labyrinth tower, queuing up under its cool shade. Bola the Vendor barked a short greeting, as well as Samson the dwarf grill vendor shyly waving him hello. Being surrounded by all these people who welcomed him on this bright sunny day, Exill found himself slowly unclench his fist. Soon, they were waved through by the Royal Guards at the entrance, and Envy immediately fussed over the hard boiled leather armour covering Feroy’s torso.
“I warned you to tighten the straps.” The Vampire pulled hard at the buckles covering the Wolfman’s arm, causing him to yelp in pain.
“You’re pinching my fur!” Feroy winced in pain.
“Your precious fur won’t protect you from a piercing mud fly if you don’t tighten these straps.” Envy was unforgiving while checking his leg buckles as well. After a minute, everyone was prepared and partied up, then they slipped into inky black portal leading to the Abyss.
Feroy hefted his spear and took formation to Envy’s right while Grundle also readied his spear and covered her other side. This left Exill to bring up the rear.
“Four Goblins.” Feroy’s ears flickered in response to some echoed sound, and his moist brown nose tentatively sniffed the air.
“I’ll take the two in the centre, while you guys engage the flanks.” She beckoned with one finger to Exill and drew him closer, “Support me.” She simply instructed.
He nodded in response, feeling the change in dynamic quite refreshing. It was nice to take the backseat for once and just follow instructions. The Goblins were lightly armoured foes, and a few shards of ice magic would suffice.
Envy readied her sword and shield, and advanced on the enemy with Feroy and Grundle covering her flanks. Exill channelled mana to his fingertips and shot two consecutive ice bolts at the goblins that were her opponents.
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One shard of ice embedded itself in the goblins shoulder, while the other slow moving projectile narrowly missed its waist. However it was enough to distract the enemy for Envy’s mithril shortsword to cleanly decapitate the opponent.
“Hey! We might even reach the second floor today, Big Sis!” Feroy enthusiastically fussed over the Goblins, checking they held nothing of value.
Exill had never reached the second tier of the Labyrinth, but it was rumoured to be an old stone staircase that led deeper into the Abyss, where stronger monsters resided. You had to traverse seven caverns to reach that point, and it was a difficult enough task for the average party to wade through gradually increasing number of monsters.
Mercenaries often reached that point, back in the days when entry into the Tower cost a fee. However parties rarely ventured that far nowadays, since it made no sense to take such risks. Exill stood idly by, wondering how Envy would respond.
“We will see.” She simply stated.
The next cavern was filled with a flock of five harpies and the team as a whole let out a sigh of exasperation. None of them had ranged skills, and Exill was without his shortbow. The Harpies harrowing attacks and their sharp talons made progression risky and difficult.
“Use your wind magic and let’s move on to the next chamber.” Envy instructed, and he inwardly agreed with her assessment. She motioned Feroy to cover the rear and they stepped out into the wide open-aired chasm, from which the unsettling crimson sky was visible.
“Is this where you encountered the Spirit?” Feroy asked in an awed tone while Exill channelled wind magic into a vortex around them.
“Yeah… kind of.”
They cautiously crossed the open ground to the cliff-face on the other side, a furious vortex of wind stymying the Harpies attempts to dive at them. After a minute or so, they successfully slipped into the large crevasse to the angry shrieks of condemnation from the flying monsters.
“Let’s go.” Envy tugged at Feroy, who had turned to admire how easily Exill had overcome this obstacle. Even Grundle shook his head slightly, which was high praise from the gruff mercenary.
The next cavern was a gravelly arena, filled with boulders of various shapes and sizes. Envy motioned them to stop at the entrance, an unsettling sensation at the pit of her stomach. There were no apparent enemies to face, and it was too quiet, too barren.
“I’ve encountered a room like this before… let’s turn back.” She whispered, and yanked the eager Wolfman’s armour, to keep him from venturing forth.
“Why? What did you fight?” Exill asked, flipping through his handbook for monsters he hadn’t encountered yet in the lower strata, which were few and far between.
“Rock Serpent.” Envy answered, and at that moment, an unassuming pile of rocks slowly unravelled to reveal a six meter long serpentine monster that looked like segmented boulders. The Party quickly retreated to the passageway, and Feroy leaned over the Witchdoctor’s shoulders as he searched for its entry.
Rock Serpent: 5-8 meters long. A rare monster that appears alone in the lower strata and in pairs in subsequent levels. A pale cream coloured python-like ambush predator that clads itself in sheets of rock to disguise itself as a pile of boulders. Its skin secretes a substance that is commonly used to etch Mithril weapons for enchantment. Recommended Strategy: Cut off the head with an Adamantium weapon. Mithril weapons can be used in combination with a Wizard casting earth magic to forcibly shed its skin. Contact with its bile can cause severe burns. Average Harvest: 500 Denars
The entry included a rudimentary diagram of where to harvest the bile sacs along multiple points of the body, emphasizing the dangers of puncturing it, and using an Adamantium knife to avoid damaging the blade.
Envy must have recognised the temptation in his features because she furiously shook her head even before he had a chance to speak, “I’m not going to let you ruin my sword for that.”
“If you are fast in decapitating it, most of the damage should buff right out.” It was a severe understatement, and everyone knew it. Envy quickly fired back:
“Then what will you use to harvest the bile sacs, Feroy’s knife?” She pointed to the Wolfman’s steel blade, which would immediately disintegrate on contact with the Rock Serpent’s skin.
“We will use your weapon. It’s a shortsword, it will just become a little shorter.” Exill was teasing her at this point. He had no intention of fighting the Rock Serpent and was quietly pleased that Envy treasured the first sword he had crafted.
Envy flicked his forehead in annoyance, realising he was jerking her chain from the surface emotions shared through their party connection, and led the party back to the surface. Their delve had lasted just over an hour and they had nothing to show for it. It was apparent from everyone’s expression that an adamantine blade, no matter how small, was high on the priority of their next purchase. To walk away from 500 Denars was no easy feat.
“Let’s go again.” Envy stated, her amber eyes tinged red with passion.