While he was entirely focused on fighting, Myrsvai picked up some stray thoughts from Suta. The abyssal familiar was too busy thinking about how Owin fought Pantopoda.

Thalgodin covered himself in abyssal fire and spun, shedding roasted spiders. He landed firmly beside Myrsvai, who was also covered in abyssal flames to keep the wave of spiders at bay.

“Is this enough?” Thalgodin asked.

Pantopoda was immobile, leaning against the wall of stone after Thalgodin had cut all of the queen’s legs. More spiders continued to pour out, but it appeared there was no other move the boss could manage without reaching them.

“It is. Once Suta focuses, he will finish the fight.” Mrysvai could sense the familiar somewhere in the chaos. Their fight had been dragging on as they continued pushing off waves of spiders. Even with the abyssal flames, they could be overwhelmed, as Mrysvai was earlier until Thalgodin came to his aid. The spiders had piled on until some were reaching him without getting burned.

That was a flaw in his defenses that he would need to examine, when he had time.

“What do you need me to do?” Thalgodin asked.

Myrsvai tapped his staff on the ground, sending a beam of magenta light into the shadow-like swarm of spiders. A violet light flashed brightly, as if answering Myrsvai’s call. Spiders exploded outward, followed by a blossom of blood from Pantopoda.

“He’s performed a critical injury. Dive in and see if you can assist in the kill.”

Thalgodin beat his wings once, then jumped over the sea of spiders and vanished into the swarm. His abyssal flames continued to burn, leaving a trail of dead, floating spiders in his wake even as their dark forms appeared to snuff out the fire.

Myrsvai leaned on his staff and waited. There was nothing else he could do unless Suta was unable to finish the kill. A few buffs could help, but there shouldn’t be anything stopping him.

The top of Pantopoda split open, sending a massive cloud of blood into the water. The spider swarm surged, flowing back toward their queen. Thalgodin appeared out of the cloud of blood, carrying Suta in his many arms. The neural demon landed gently beside Myrsvai and set Suta on the ground.

“Well done,” Mrysvai said.

Suta punched his bloody fists together.

It had been a hard fought battle. One they would have certainly lost if Suta didn’t use spells. His full power was still hiding, but they would find it soon. They would need to in order to beat the champion.

As much as Myrsvai loved the martial arts that had helped Suta process their battle against the Husvrina Hero Company, he really wished the familiar would abandon the fighting style. His instincts were all in the wrong places and his use of spells was sloppy.

Still, he was using spells and was showing promise.

Suta glanced up at Myrsvai.

“I didn’t mean it negatively,” Myrsvai said.

Suta nodded.

He knew what Myrsvai meant. They practically knew everything, especially now that they frequently shared a channeling link.

“Are you interested in the chest guardian?” Thalgodin asked.

The swarm crawled inside the spider queen’s corpse and vanished, leaving the area feeling suddenly very bare. Suta waited until he was sure the spiders were gone, then shook parts of the corpse until something fell out.

Excited.

“Suta found something good. We’ll see what it is. If he wants, we can fight the guardian.” Myrsvai opened his map and looked over the area they had already been. “I see no sign of a secret on this map. We will have to ask Owin if he found anything. Based on what we’re seeing, I suspect we aren’t far off the floor boss, meaning the chest guardian must be out of the way.”

Suta sprinted back over and held out a breastplate.

Kraken Mail Breastplate

Master Magical Item

The Kraken Mail armor set is formed of abandoned armor from fallen heroes throughout the bottom floors of the Ocean Dungeon. Only 1 of each piece can be worn. Acts as normal armor unless the hero has acquired the complete set.

Note: Armor piece binds upon first touch.

Note: Current Kraken Mail set - 1/8

“Good find, Suta.”

“May I assist?” Thalgodin asked.

Myrsvai nodded and turned, letting the demon undo his current breastplate. It had served him well for a long time, but it was nothing compared to a master piece, even one without an active effect.

Suta passed the breastplate over and let Thalgodin fit it. The armor shifted over his chest, adjusting itself until it was truly a perfect fit.

“Will you allow a copy?” Mrysvai asked.

Suta shook his head.

“Consider it. Armor would be beneficial, especially if you continue using your fists.” Myrsvai smiled. “Before our second shard, we’ll ask Owin what he thinks.”

“He wears armor,” Suta said.

“He does.”

The familiar chittered. Annoyed thoughts found their way into Myrsvai’s mind.

“I’ll leave it for now.”

Suta nodded quickly.

“Chest guardian or floor boss?” Thalgodin asked. He adjusted his grip on his battleaxe and looked over the spider bites along his arms. “I may need to be sent back soon. I do not think I will survive two boss battles without recovery time.”

Myrsvai looked over the information he had for Thalgodin. As the summoner, he was able to see current health, mana, and any cooldowns. He was healthy enough, but Myrsvai understood what he meant. He was under leveled for the eighth floor, and wouldn’t survive against a stronger enemy.

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“If I send you back, how long before you are capable of upper floors?”

“A year, perhaps. If you train me on the lower floors, that time will cut down. The gods have limited what we can do within the Abyss, as I am certain you are aware.”

Myrsvai nodded. “Help with the chest guardian and I will send you back.”

“I can find another for you to summon, if you are interested.”

“I have an idea for the floor boss, actually. A swarm of untamed.”

Thalgodin grunted and continued on, leading the party into the hidden parts of the map. “An interesting idea, though foolish. How long can you maintain that?”

“If I let Suta take a break before I go to the next floor, I could keep the untamed summoned for two minutes. Perhaps three, depending on what I am able to snare.”

“Two minutes, if they are engaged with the boss, would be sufficient. If you are looking for madness, I recommend a swarm from the Cackling Wastelands. Frantic Demons would rip a boss to shreds, though it raises the danger for yourself. A swarm of Blood Demons from the Fighting Pits would be a safer option as they will always battle the strongest being in the area. I assume a swarm of Blood is less deadly overall, meaning your two minutes would be less effective.”

“The Cackling Wastelands is going to be the best option.”

Suta walked in front of Myrsvai and stretched his arms out.

“You can’t protect me the whole time. You will need to help beat the boss. You’ll know if a demon turns on me. I may tame one during the fight if things go well.”

“I would not waste the mental energy on a Frantic Demon, especially when you are limited in your mana.” Thalgodin folded his wings close to his body as he walked.

“Do you know any Frantic Demons?” Myrsvai had never summoned one before. The only one he had truly known from the Wastelands had been Bastronum, who was a Mirth Demon, which were considered the opposite of the Frantic Demons. Unfortunately, Bastronum had died a long time ago.

“I do not. The Plains of Awakening are far from the Wastelands. The Soundless Forest borders the Plains on every side, and we rarely travel through that silent hell.”

“Yes, of course.” Myrsvai closed his index. The map wasn’t helping all that much. If he returned to explore secrets some day, then he would find the trench’s map to be more useful.

“Punch, punch, punch.” Suta said, smashing his fists together. Most of the spider queen’s blood had drifted off the filthy wraps he still kept around his hands, but the act of punching his fists together caused a plume of blood to lift off and pass right over Myrsvai’s face. He tasted the sour, somehow spicy blood of Pantopoda and fought his face to stay neutral.

“Oops,” Suta said as he let his arms drop to the side.

“Let’s find this chest guardian. Perhaps we can have some of Owin’s luck when it comes to finding an armor set.”

***

Shade yawned, which felt dramatic. Owin watched the skeleton as he stretched, yawned again, and seemed to look at Owin out of the corner of his eye socket. They walked quietly through the dark eighth floor, through the trench toward the stairs. There couldn’t be too much left. They had made it back to the fork where Shade had picked right, so Owin immediately led the next direction where a light shone on the rock wall in the distance. It seemed to be far off, but he knew they would be there before long.

Shade yawned again, stretching his arms out.

“Do you need something?” Owin asked.

“What? Me?”

Owin sighed.

“You sigh a lot.”

“I know.” He stopped walking and looked up at Shade. “What is it?”

“I just want you to notice me.”

Owin pressed his lips together and stared at the skeleton. “I can’t really tell when you’re joking and trying to be annoying or if you actually mean it.”

“Mean what?”

Owin sighed again.

“See?”

“I know.” As soon as he started walking again, Shade started poking Owin through the soft spots of his armor.

“Did you know your chitin is broken?” Shade’s bony finger jabbed into Owin’s ribs.

“Yeah. It broke when Sloswen slammed me into the ground.”

Shade grabbed his shoulder with surprising force. “Someday, they won’t be able to do that again.”

“Why?”

He flicked Owin’s ear. “You’ll see.”

“Will I?”

Shade stuck his fingers in his eyes. “Better than I can.”

Owin rolled his eyes. “Stop acting like you can’t see all the time.”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you. I don’t have any eyes.”

Owin sighed again, which earned him another ear flick from Shade. They explored a few small paths that branched off, but nothing led far. Before long, the light shining on the wall of the trench was bright enough to remind Owin of the first floor of the Ocean Dungeon, back when the sunshine actually reached the ocean floor.

“Did you know there is a fish with a light on its head?” Shade put his arm over his head and dangled his gloved hand in front of his face. “It uses the light to eat fish.” He loudly chomped.

“How does it eat fish with a light?”

“I don’t know, Owin. I’m not a fish expert. I just know fun things.” Shade chomped a few more times before letting his arm drop. “Why do you think I know things? I make up at least three quarters of what I tell you. Probably more, honestly. I can’t stop lying.”

They rounded the bend in the path and abruptly stopped.

“Now, I don’t want to say that I’m a genius beyond comparison, but I feel inclined to guide you in that direction.” Shade put his arm on top of Owin’s head and let his gloved hand dangle.

“I see the cetanthro, Shade.”

The stairs and exit were tucked into the back, just in front of the shimmering boundary wall. Just beyond where they stood, the trench opened to a circle with its own yellow-tinted boundary wall, giving the area the obvious appearance of an arena. The yellow barrier opened like a doorway just in front of Owin, allowing him entry inside. There was no way to reach the stairs without first defeating the boss, but it wasn’t like Owin had any plans to run away.

Directly in the center of the arena was the single ugliest thing Owin had ever seen. The cetanthro was about twenty feet tall with mottled brown and red skin. The boss had a wide face with a mouth that hung open, giving it the appearance of something rather stupid. Long, thin teeth protruded from its scarred lips. Just above the huge mouth were tiny beady eyes, and in between those eyes was a stalk that held a glowing light at the end. The arena cast some light on the rock walls, but the majority of the light Owin had seen from far away had been the boss’s.

It was the single most muscular creature Owin had ever seen, and he could see just about everything since the boss only wore a flimsy loincloth. Every muscle was well defined and clearly visible. The fish man’s legs were each multiple times bigger than Owin, and its arms were bulging with oversized muscles.

“I know I don’t have a penis, but . . .” Shade leaned his elbow on Owin’s head. “Do you think that thing has one?”

“What?”

Shade flopped his other arm in front of Owin. “You know. Do you think that thing is packing?”

“Packing what?”

“Oh, uh.” Shade pulled his arm back. “Let’s not taint that innocent noggin.”

“I’m confused again.”

Shade grabbed Owin’s shoulders and pushed him toward the arena. “We’re not talking about penises anymore. Get that huge thing out of your brain, you pervert.” He shoved Owin through the doorway.

As soon as they entered, the doorway vanished, leaving them trapped in the arena with the muscular boss.

“Finally, a challenger,” the cetanthro said.

“Challenger? No, I’m just here to watch,” Shade said.

The fish looked at the skeleton as if noticing him for the first time. “Get out of the way.”

Shade gave an exaggerated bow. “Yes, your majesty. Don’t want to get in the way of that thing. Right, Owin?” Shade winked, closing a full eye socket.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” He was already casually walking away, following the edge of the outer barrier.

The cetanthro grabbed a chain off the ground in front of it and yanked. The ground rumbled as a massive metal ball slid over the arena ground, leaving a furrow where it pathed. He pulled on the chain again, causing the ball to swing through the water before crashing back to the ground. The collision echoed through the entire floor.

“Wow, he looks strong. Probably because of that huge hog,” Shade shouted from the side.

“Nimble Hog?” Owin asked quietly.