Compared to the first time Siora had seen Owin, he looked both more human and more formidable. His armor set, while not intimidating, made him look stronger. On top of that, the variety of scars that covered every inch of exposed skin revealed his haggard experiences. The way he held his favored knife was effortless, like an assassin or soldier with years of experience. He was more muscular and more confident.

And she was scared.

The three foot, purple haired goblin stood in the doorway. He looked like an idiot with his hair sticking out from the ear holes of his helmet and strands nearly poking him in the eye. He had too much hair for a helmet. And still, all she thought to do was run the other direction. It was like being scared of a child, but what could she do against such a creature?

Nikoletta was as arrogantly confident as ever. She glowed with luminous buffs and smiled at the opportunity to face Owin. It was her who had started the whole thing. If she hadn’t tried to kill Owin, who knows what would have been different.

Before their encounter on the ramp, Siora would have said she could handle Owin. In fact, she had told Veph that exact thing. Together with Nikoletta, there was no chance a little goblin could win a fight.

After seeing the way he moved, she knew he had become a monster. He was often clumsy and didn’t seem to think beyond instinct, but he was faster than anyone she had ever faced. He was fast and his instincts were usually sharp.

She wanted to become a Shard Hero. Instead, she was going to die.

***

Watching Nikoletta glow only reminded Owin that the lich bone would shatter from any luminous damage. Was it possible to fight Nikoletta with one hand and Siora with the other?

No, probably not. He placed the knife back in his belt. Wands were an option for weapons, but the charges were low and overusing them would take chunks from his health, which could be painful enough to let the Void Nexus heroes kill him.

The Incandescent Blade would really be the best option, but without Shade, Owin had no way to draw the sword. It was too big to pull from his back, and too inconvenient to fumble with while two heroes stared at him like he was a helpless child.

There hadn’t been many chances to punch with all his strength since he finished his chitin armor set. With solid crab chitin over his knuckles, how much more damage could one of his punches do?

“What did you do to Cod?” Siora asked. Being the smarter of the two, she stalked to the side, near the wall. Her glowing sword was still visible, even in his limited peripheral vision.

“He’s gone.”

Light flashed around Nikoletta. A luminous layer formed over her armor, making it difficult to even look at her. Her mace and eyes still glowed with her Luminous Surge ability, as they often did.

Siora took a few more steps to the side, just far enough to cause Owin to take a step back to keep them both in his view.

“The next floor is isolated,” Siora said.

“I’m not going to the stairs until he’s dead.” Nikoletta actually smiled.

Owin smiled back. “I was just going to let you go out the exit.”

“And now?” Siora asked.

“I’m going to have fun with it.”

They had spread out more than he had hoped, but what better way to open a fight than to reminisce about his time with Ernie and Katalin?

Owin grabbed one of the metal grenades from his bag and threw it straight at Nikoletta. His dexterity was high enough that he didn’t need to worry about missing. It was almost as if the grenade guided itself directly to Nikoletta’s chest. She brought her free arm over her face and swung the mace, hitting the grenade before it struck. The explosion caused her to vanish in a cloud of smoke and bubbles.

Owin sprinted through the doorway and leapt at Siora. Her expression hardened and abilities flashed that Owin didn’t recognize. Soldiers were still a mystery.

His fist met the edge of her shining blade. It melted the end of the chitin, pushing in slightly. Owin kicked, hitting her in the cheekbone with his boot.

Siora forced the sword down, throwing Owin to the metal floor. He landed and jumped back as she swung twice with incredible speed, only managing to cut through the water.

Nikoletta stormed through the smoke and bubbles. Her luminous armor was gone and red burns covered her neck. “Stop fooling around.”

“Attack together,” Siora said.

“On my lead,” Nikoletta said as she advanced.

“Together means together, dammit!” Siora ran forward, but not fast enough.

Nikoletta had left herself open. Owin sprinted and made it look like he would jump. Nikoletta committed to a strong horizontal swing, which easily passed over Owin’s head. He kept his momentum forward and punched Nikoletta’s armored kneecap. Metal buckled and she let out a cry as she fell to her knees. The luminous light glowed brighter as she swung, even while collapsing.

The mace hit the side of Owin’s helmet and pushed him into the hole where he had gotten the mana crystal. It was quiet for a moment. But being below meant the stairs were open.

Owin grabbed the other metal grenade and threw it out of the hole, aiming for the doorway. There was a cry and an explosion. He jumped out to see Siora near the door with her hand pressed to her face.

“No more running,” Nikoletta said.

Owin hadn’t noticed he had jumped out right in front of her. Another swing should have hit the back of his head. Instead, he felt something move on his back.

“Get it off me!”

Siora sprinted over, sword at the ready.

Owin slipped to the side, letting Siora pass, and positioned himself between the Void Nexus heroes and the door. What was Nikoletta worried about?

She had dents in her armor that hadn’t been there before. A scratch had appeared from the top of her head, through the buzzed hair, down to her ear. It leaked blood quickly, but a spell forced the wound close. Nikoletta touched Siora and fixed the burns on her face, leaving a scar over her cheek to join the ones that Artivan had given her back in the Great Forest.

Owin saw a little spike in his peripheral vision. He turned, but it remained where it was. Little red spikes appeared on the other side. He used Examine and grinned.

The active Crab Chitin armor set draws on the lives of crabs and crab mobs. It sprouts legs and claws to assist in the wearer’s protection.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Note: If arms or claws are damaged, molting and regenerating takes significantly longer than molting a piece of armor.

Nikoletta stood and pushed weight into her injured leg. Despite the dented metal, she managed to stand, probably after forcing the broken bones back together.

Owin walked back to the doorway and got into a stance that would let him sprint or jump as needed.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to kill us.” Siora flourished her blade, sending a stream of bubbles to the ceiling. She took a few steps away from Nikoletta. “What happened to that?”

“What happened to Veph’s bounty?”

“She wants you watched. Everyone thinks you’ll become dangerous.” Siora pointed with her open hand. “Look at you. Dangerous.”

“You both hunted me first.”

“And you killed our friends first. Your honorable old man cut my friend in half. You threw a hammer at a defenseless wizard. You aren’t better than we are,” Siora said.

“No. But I am stronger.”

“You’re going to kill us just to prove you’re stronger?” Siora kept pacing to the side, trying to get to a point to flank him.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

Nikoletta took her first step forward. She winced as she placed her left foot, but her mended bones held. “Stop toying with him. There’s nobody to say he didn’t die on the isolated floor. I’m done pretending he has earned the right to live.”

Siora pressed her lips together but said nothing.

“Try to kill me.” Owin stuck his hand in his bag and felt around. Admittedly, he had too much and the round bottles all felt the same.

Before he could find one of Ernie’s grenades, Siora dove in and stabbed. Owin leaned back, letting the glowing sword pass right over his chest. She planted her foot to stop herself from sliding into the wall. As she pulled back, Nikoletta’s glowing mace swung from above, forcing Owin back another step.

Immediately, they moved through the doorway and attacked in sync. It hadn’t seemed like they actually worked together as a team, but they had more experience than he had thought. Owin brought up his arms and blocked anything he couldn’t dodge. Even while moving as fast as he could. The glowing sword melted pieces of chitin while Nikoletta’s mace battered him and threw him off balance.

Owin backed into the wall, ducked under a mace swing, and felt Siora’s sword singe his skin. A crab claw appeared from his back and clamped around the glowing sword, though the chitin immediately started burning.

“Get off!” Siora kicked Owin.

His crab claw let the sword go as Owin crashed into Nikoletta’s legs. The mender swung her mace over Owin’s back, smashing legs and claws that he couldn’t even see.

He was better than this. Artivan would have scolded him for getting pushed into a corner. He wrapped both hands around Nikoletta’s shin and cast Discharge. Just like against Malacoe, the lightning arced and spread through the water, but the brunt of the attack went right into Nikoletta’s leg. The same leg she had just healed. A cry escaped her lips as lightning coursed up her body.

Owin clenched his jaw as some of the spell shocked and burned him. As soon as his mana was gone, he slipped past Nikoletta toward the stairs and exit. Siora shoved the mender aside.

“After all that, you’re just going to run?”

“Never.” Owin sprinted back at her, pulling the lich bone from his belt. He jumped and smacked the knife against Siora’s raised sword, letting himself be carried overhead. He landed and pounced just as she turned.

Her skills with a sword were obvious, and she was already a better soldier than the last time Owin had fought against her. Since that fight in the hobgoblin’s village, Owin had also gotten better. A lot better.

He moved so much faster that by the time Siora turned and started to move her sword into position, Owin already had the lich bone in her neck. He didn’t tear or twist, he simply let her collapse backward.

“No!” Nikoletta charged.

Owin left the knife in her neck and jumped away as the mace passed through the water.

Nikoletta’s jaw clenched as she stepped over Siora. “I’ll send you back to the Abyss.”

Owin grinned as he felt through his bag. He pulled out a health potion and set it on the ground. He reached back in and pulled out one of Ernie’s percussion grenades.

Nikoletta glanced at the grenade and advanced. “Demonic tricks won’t work on me.”

He threw it, she blocked, and it still exploded. The blast knocked Owin back and caused Nikoletta to fall on top of Siora. The grenade had been bigger than he had expected. He rolled back, grabbed the health potion, and ran at the heroes. Nikoletta was just starting to sit up as Owin punched her directly in the nose. Blood spurted into the water.

Owin popped the cork and poured the health potion into Siora’s mouth as he tore the knife from her neck. Before jumping away, he smashed the glass bottle over Nikoletta’s cheek.

Nikoletta cast healing spells on Siora and helped the soldier to her feet. Blood hung like fog in the water surrounding both Void Nexus heroes. Siora’s eyes were glassy and she kept her free hand pressed against her neck.

Nikoletta touched her nose. It visibly snapped back into place with bruises forming over the bridge of her nose. Some more blood leaked out.

“Do you have more tricks?” Nikoletta asked.

“Can we just go?” Siora asked quietly.

Nikoletta lifted her mace and chanted something Owin didn’t understand. Luminous flames erupted from the mace, turning it into a torch. She adjusted her grip and wiped blood from her nostrils.

Siora staggered to the side. She sighed and removed her hand from her neck. She checked for blood, and despite it being clean, she wiped it on her leg.

“Your mana must be low,” Owin said.

The luminous fire continued burning in the water, causing the whole room to shine. Nikoletta stalked forward. “I’m putting an end to this.”

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade popped into existence directly in front of Nikoletta. He stuck out his arms to stretch and was greeted with her flaming mace.

As soon as she started her swing, Owin pulled out a wand and cast Arcane Blast. Siora, who was still mentally distant, took the spell to the side of the face. She cried out as she fell into the metal wall.

Shade hit the floor. “I thought we were going down to the sixth floor.”

“Not yet.” Owin set his bag and the lich bone knife aside.

“Ugh. Fine.” The skeleton got to his hands and knees and crawled toward Siora as Nikoletta advanced on Owin.

Owin let her get close before he moved. Her swings were angry and predictable, allowing him plenty of time to dodge. A few small missteps resulted in glancing blows on the chitin armor, throwing Owin off his balance. Each time, he recovered quick enough that her slow swings failed to deal any serious damage. With each pass, even when he dodged, the luminous fire burned, but it did nothing special to goblins so it was damage he could ignore.

Shade helped Siora to her feet and guided her to the exit. When she was close, she protested and turned, only to be shoved into the black doorway.

“Coward!” Nikoletta’s onslaught became sloppier as she looked to the door.

Owin took the opening to jump directly up, punching her in the jaw. Nikoletta was lifted off the ground and smashed into the ceiling. The mace fell from her hand, losing its luminous flames, as she bounced off the metal panel. Owin caught the mace and waited for her to land on the ground in front of him.

Blood streamed from her mouth as she stood up and spat out a tooth. “Drop my weapon.”

“This? The thing you tried to kill me with even when you knew I was a hero?” Owin turned the mace over. “I could give it to Shade and unsummon him. It would disappear.”

“I don’t think I need to be involved in this.” Shade pressed himself against the wall near the exit. “Don’t even look at me. Pretend I’m not here.”

“Give me my weapon.”

“Take it.” Owin held it out.

Nikoletta glared. She spat out another gob of blood and whatever else was floating around inside her mouth, then lunged and tried to snatch the mace.

Owin jumped to the side and swung. He lost his balance in the motion, but still managed to bring the mace around with enough speed to hit her in the left knee once again, buckling the metal even more.

Nikoletta cried out, fell, and tried to cradle her knee.

“You’re out of mana.” Owin dropped the mace. “Stop while you’re still alive.”

Nikoletta pressed her hand against the wall and stood on her right leg. Blood leaked from her armor on the left leg.

“Actually,” Owin picked up the mace and walked over to Shade.

“No. Leave me out of it.”

“Hold this.”

“Owin.” Shade stuck his hands up. “I don’t know what you’re doing and I don’t want to be part of it.”

“Take it.”

Shade sighed and took the mace.

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade and the mace vanished in a puff of gray dust.

“You’re a monster.”

“I know.” He placed his bag back over his shoulder and fixed the wands and knife in his belt. “Tell Veph to leave me alone.”

If Nikoletta was dumb enough to move to the sixth floor while injured and out of mana, she deserved to die. If she went outside, there would be someone who could help her. Owin walked down the stairs and stopped, taking one more look at the trembling mender. She glared and limped with the support of the wall.

Owin smiled and stepped into the void nexus.

Ocean Dungeon

Sixth Floor