I started running away from the mages.

The more space that was between them, the easier it’d be to get out of the way. The Unine didn’t turn well while it was charging, and since I was probably the second fastest one there, I didn’t mind leading it on a chase for a bit.

That also gave me time to sheathe my sword and cycle through my inventory to get out an air crystal. The Unine was earth element, so giving my sword the air element temporarily would make cutting the monster easier, though I wasn’t going to try to break the harness again.

I pivoted on my right leg and used Shadowstep to get on the monster’s back. It was normally not a great place to be because the monster stopped abruptly, knocking Brute off of its horn. I had to grab the fur on its back to keep from getting knocked off. Because I needed it to try what it did next. It tried to roll over.

I targeted Brute with Shadowstep and got behind him and out of the way of being ground by that harness. I looked at Gall, then back at the monster as I ran towards it. ”LOCK IT DOWN!”

Gall was already on it and a chain broke out of the ground and pinned the Unine back to the ground as it was getting back to its feet. The monster roared and strained against the chain. It couldn’t break it, but it could shimmy out.

Garlin saw what I was doing and beat me to the monster, slashed at the base of its neck, before having to dance back.That left an opening for me to make a nice cut that started leaking black blood. It was fast, but it was enough that we’d win eventually.

The monster got far enough out of the chain that it was able to sprint out, so we weren’t going to have any more easy hits. It began to watch us warily as we circled it. Each of us looking for an opening in the other’s defenses. Gall was hitting it in the side with spells, but even at Tier Five, he wasn’t going to break through that things hide anytime soon.

Nyssa had gotten Brute and taken him to Cass for direct healing. A Healer could do their job a range, but they were a lot more effective when they could touch someone.

The Unine was focusing almost exclusively on the two of us, not letting either of us get close enough to do more than put scratches on its claws.

At the rate we were going, we’d be in this dance for an hour before it finally died. I glanced at Garlin. “How high can you jump?”

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The Anubis danced away from another swipe. “Ten feet from standing, more if I’m running.”

“Do you have an evasion skill?” I tried stabbing it, only to have my sword knocked away. My answer was a glare. Of course he had an evasion skill. That was something almost all Speed classes had. I’d just wanted to be sure.

“Can you jump at that thing so that it gets up on its hind legs to swipe at you?”

“Why?” The Anubis looked confused.

“So I can kill it.” I grinned as I took a few steps back.

“How..?” The Anubis took a few steps back too, leaving the monster to begin to pace.

“Easier to show you.” I nodded at it. “If you can evade it, the worst case is we’ve just tired it out a little faster.”

It looked like Brute was almost patched up. We could tank it and slowly whittle it down, but we already knew that Brute’s gear wouldn’t hold up against the monster. The next time that horn got him, it could be in a worse spot.

“Okay.”

That was all the warning I got before the Anubis charged. I waited until he started to jump, then targeted him with Shadowstep. The skill cost 160 mana and this was the third time I’d used it, so I wasn’t going to be able to use it again until I regenerated some more mana. But, that put me right in front of the monster while it wasn’t expecting me to be there. Its focus was completely on Garlin as it reared up on its hind legs for what it thought was an easy kill.

Except Garlin blinked away as I stabbed it in the chest, reducing it to dust.

Cass started cheering as Garlin walked over to me shaking his head.

“Didn’t think that would work.”The Anubis bent down and picked up the crystal and item drop. “Potion of Diamond Skin.”

I held out my hand and he started to give me the potion.

“No, I want the crystal.” I nodded at the item in his other hand. I could see the look in his yellow eyes that he knew exactly how much that crystal was worth. It wasn’t something that would be converted into energy. Crystal extractors would pay half a million All to extract the diamond material from it, but summoners would pay even more for it. Compared to anything else we could find in the Dungeon. What usually would be worth one-hundred-ten All was easily worth over five-thousand times that.

“I just want the trophy.” I looked over at the others to see if anyone else was going to object. I didn’t see any resistance coming from Nyssa or Gall. Brute was still out of it and Cass looked like she was hoping there’d be a fight.

Garlin must have realized that the others weren’t going to intervene either. So far whoever wanted to pick up the crystals kept. They were only worth a few hundred All and once we reached the fifty-first floor, we’d be getting crystals worth over four thousand each. He reluctantly handed over the crystal, which I placed in my CB.

I nodded at him, then looked over at Cass, who looked very disappointed. “Can he keep going?”