Tarn stepped into the room, turning the metal wheel of the door until it screeched shut with a painful whine. Pulling his hands away, the entire door then slowly faded from view, leaving only cobblestone and mortar behind. His heart was pounding, but he allowed himself a small grin of satisfaction.
Yarex was on the other side of that impassable wall and was now forced to run his own gauntlet through the Axe. Taking a deep breath, he turned to see what this new dungeon had waiting for him.
This initial room was perfectly square in its construction, the walls made of the same common stone construction that Narsol had said would be present throughout the Axe, with blazing torches providing light. A pair of barred doors lined the far walls, leading to rooms B1 and B2, Tarn assumed.
In the center of the room the rest of his team was already standing above a large pit, which took up the majority of the chamber. Tarn could hear hissing from its interior, but the pit was too deep to see within from this distance.
Taking a few steps toward the pit, he quickly saw what had the others’ attention. Moving through a floor made of fine, crimson sand, a group of large snakes waited within, thin tongues flicking out as they slithered back and forth. The depression in the room looked to be about seven or eight feet deep. Enough that they could jump in relatively safely, but not climb out quickly.
“Doors on other wall won’t open, Boss.” Lash looked up from the snakes for just a moment, then turned back to the reptiles. “Snakes – Lash saw many of these with mages.”
“I tried to shoot at them.” Isca held up her wrist launchers, shaking them to show her frustration. “My gem would not allow me to use my abilities.”
“You must defeat them inside their arena.” Narsol indicated the reptiles with one wave of his hand. “Only then will the Axe allow you to proceed.”
“Not surprised by that,” Tarn said, peering in at the snakes further. The center snake was largest, while the rear trio had hooded heads that suggested to him some sort of spitting attack. A subtle pattern of axes ran through their scales, as the torchlight shimmered across their surface.
Axes again, very cute.
His interface confirmed what he suspected, the combat would have to be himself and three others. He took a moment to look at the close, confined setting as he considered his options. This was the first room of the dungeon, and things would likely only get harder from here.
“Okay, folks. Narsol, Lash, and Urthin. You’re up.” Tarn held his hand out to the ladder at the farther end of the chamber. “Let’s get down there and get this done quickly.”
Lash excitedly jumped forward, while Narsol followed closely behind. Tarn could see the frustrated looks on the rest of the team and took a moment to appreciate again how lucky he was. They wanted to be in the fight.
“Everyone will get time in combat,” he said with a smile, taking an extra moment to acknowledge Bog. The orc looked back at Tarn as if he had forgotten her birthday. “Plenty of blood to spill here, I am sure!”
As Tarn turned to follow, Urthin’s hand came gently to his elbow.
“We use Narsol immediately?” The monk’s whisper carried a verbal raised eyebrow. “Do you trust him now?”
“No more than I did before, Smiley.” Tarn kept his voice quiet as well. “But I know what to expect from you and the others. I held Jen and Aryo back, but they’ll be in the next one. We need the experience working with them. Can’t have Yarex taking one of the kids down in one shot.”
He smiled, it was both a joke and a legitimate concern. The Axe was not like the Sword. The Sword Dungeon had funneled them where it wanted them to go, using Tarn’s own team as a tool to free itself from the Progenitor’s yoke. But the Axe was a funnel, a maze that only went to one place. A final battle against an adversary, with the blood from the fight going to feed the Axe itself.
He was certain the dungeon was not a place to keep his team safe, it was an opportunity. A place to train for the final confrontation, and to learn to work together.
He followed Urthin down the ladder, watching as the room above them became gray and misty. With each rung the pit grew more substantial, the hissing of the snakes louder. With each rung the world above him became more grayed out, his companions losing color and becoming blurry. As his boots touched the sand of the Axe’s chosen battlefield, he turned his attention to his opponents.
No more than ten feet away, the group of snakes were frozen in position. Tarn could still see the flickering of their tongues as they held their poses, with a shaking rattle coming from the largest of the serpents, standing alone in the center of the chamber. Its emerald scaled hide rippled with muscles, suggesting to Tarn it might be twice his size in length.
The creatures hissed and swayed as they stared across the sandy divide. His interface brought forward a new request for his attention, his first hint at how combat worked here in the Axe.
//Axe: Select Spawn Points
At this point, Tarn was no longer surprised when a new system or wrinkle was added. In this case, he was greeted by a simple 4 by 3 grid. The snakes took up one half of the grid, with the Constrictor occupying the center square of the front row. Directly behind it was the Aesculapian snake, with a Spitter flanking on either side.
Okay pretty basic then. Using his mental interface, he moved Narsol’s portrait into the center square opposite the Constrictor. He directed Lash directly behind Narsol, where he could heal and support with protection. He then placed Urthin on the left wing and himself on the right.
Seeing a flashing {Confirm} indication, he focused on it and was rewarded with a sound resembling a blade being drawn.
//ENEMY INITIATIVE BEGIN
Tarn felt his muscles tense as the still-time enforced itself upon him. Over Narsol’s shoulder, he was able to have a clear view of the action. The larger constrictor went first, choosing not to attack Narsol but rather to execute a “Protected” ability on the smaller, hooded snake behind it.
//Guard – any attack against the Protected target will instead be sent to the caster. Requirement: Line of sight.
Great. The snakes had their own tank, effectively. Tarn quickly checked the constrictor’s stats.
AP : 100
Innate: Regen (10 AP per pulse)
It was beefy, and the small regen each round would take the edge off any damage they did. The tactics suggested the Aesculapian behind it was going to be the real pain in the ass, but it was completely surrounded by the other serpents.
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On either side of the hall, the two hooded snakes reared back in unison, each sending a stream of green spittle straight forward. The viscous fluid landed on his armor, sliding down the arcane barrier. Tarn felt the burning sensation as it did so, as if the snake’s venom was seeping into his skin.
As Urthin and Tarn were both struck, they each took 10 AP damage and gained a [lesser muscle poison] status effect.
[lesser muscle poison] Target takes 10 AP initially, then 10 AP whenever they perform a combat attack. Duration: 2 rounds.
Note: Stackable. Additional stacks increase duration but not damage.
Healer, it hurts when I do this.
Tarn chewed the inside of his cheek as he read the description. Lesser implied there was a greater version, which he’d hate to see. They’d be taking more damage every time they attacked their enemy. Fortunately, both he and Urthin had strong burst damage moves. Hopefully they could take the Spitters down before too many stacks were added.
The tiny snake in the middle raised its head, as its alabaster body seemed to glow from within. Opening its mouth wide, it bent its head toward the ceiling and released a fine, silver mist. The cloud floated above the other serpents for a moment, then floated down to be absorbed into their scaly skin.
//Scale Shield
All allies within a 20 feet radius of the Aesculapian gain a stack of Scale Shield each round. This shield absorbs 10 AP of damage (including damage over time). If the Support Snake is defeated, this status effect is instantly removed.
Requirement: Line of sight
Notes: Stackable. May only be cast as the first action in combat.
As the final ticks of the red timer of the snakes’ turn slipped away, Tarn focused on the situation at hand. He had to admit, the snakes were well synergized to support each other. The Constrictor soaked up the damage, the Aesculapian minimized any that got through, and the Spitters dished it out.
There had to be a weak point though, and Tarn already thought he had found it.
//INITIATIVE SHIFT
“Everyone hold!”
His interface turned green while Tarn’s mind was still working on the problem. He had an idea, but he needed to find out if he could execute it. If he had an answer it would come through Urthin, so he first needed to get the other two moving.
“Narsol, tie up the big one!” That one was obvious, the orc was positioned right in front of the massive Constrictor, and it was guarding their real target anyway. Narsol nodded, and a golden pyramid of energy stretched out around him. He’d use his next pulse to taunt the Constrictor in some way, using those strange cubes of his.
Okay next up, he needed to set the stage. He knew the gremlin was preparing his
“Lash, don’t heal! Use whatever area of effect damage you have – the best one. Just drop it where it will hit them all.”
“Got it Boss!” The gremlin made a comical thumbs up motion, then his eyes glassed over as he consulted his interface. As the seconds of the first pulse ticked away, it was time for Tarn to do the same.
Moving into his pulse-Link menu, he scanned Urthin’s abilities until he found the one he wanted. He knew the Monk was poised and ready to act, with only an eyeblink left in the first pulse. Anyone else would have fidgeted and asked questions, even Isca. But Urthin wasn’t anyone else.
“Smiley, shroud, but hold back until I shoot.” Tarn said calmly, as he made his choice. Finding just the right ability to link with had taken all of his own pulse, but it had been worth it.
Urthin quickly phased into the shroud, vanishing from their sight. The snakes couldn’t hit what they couldn’t see – but as Tarn had noted from their descriptions, they couldn’t help what they couldn’t see either.
He put his hands out, feeling the firmness of the bow come into his hands. Pulling the string back, a crimson arrow materialized out of the arcane material. Tarn found a circular indicator appearing within his vision, showing exactly the impact radius of his newly created ability. He adjusted it left and right with his mind, until the very edge of it captured all four snakes but left Narsol free.
With a grin, he fired.
//SHROUDED CLOUD (Ranged / Pulse-shifted Captain)
Linked: Bowshot x Shroud
The Pulse-shifted Captain fires an arrow at a targeted location within 60 feet. All enemies and allies within the area of effect gain the [shrouded] status for two pulses.
Line of sight. That had been the key. Tarn watched with satisfaction as the [guarded] status fell from the Aesculapian, and the [scale shield] from all their opponents. Without being able to see each other, the snakes would be unable to target each other for at least two rounds.
Lash’s attack flew over Tarn’s head with a cackling cry, as a stream of three orange-colored chickens were launched across the battlefield. The hens appeared to be expanding as they tumbled, like balloons filled with too much air. Once they arrived above the collection of invisible snakes, they exploded into a series of multi-colored eggs, that rained down to the ground below.
//CHUCKA-CHICKEN (Ranged/Trickster)
The Trickster tosses a group of chickens (1 per 2 levels of Trickster) over a target within 60 feet. All enemies within a 10-foot radius of the target will take between 10 and 40 AP of damage from falling eggs.
Mages like cows, mages also like chickens. Mages strange.
While all of the serpents fell victim to Lash’s attack, the tiny Aesculapian bore the brunt of the damage. With a surprising shriek, the white creature collapsed to the ground and began dissolving into its arcane components within seconds.
From there, the remaining adversaries fell quickly. While both Tarn and Urthin felt the sting of the [lesser muscle poison] after each of their actions, they were able to bring down the spitters by the end of the round.
With its larger health pool, the Constrictor was able to hold out for the round against Narsol’s weaker damage output, but it was not able to make much of a dent in the orc’s Obelisk structure, let alone damage Narsol himself. Once initiative shifted back again, the final snake was struck down by a backstab from Urthin.
The room shimmered and shifted as their final enemy was defeated. The sand that had been covering the floor of the pit was whisked away by an unseen wind, and then the pit itself began to raise out of the floor. As the four of them found themselves level with their smiling teammates once again, Tarn’s interface was filled with new gold-colored text.
//ROOM [A-1] COMPLETE
//Enemies defeated: 4 // Blood awarded: 300
//Available paths:
[B-1: Redeem]
Leads to: [C-1: Combat]
Leads to: D1, D2
[B-2: Combat]
Leads to: [C-2: Combat]
Leads to: [D3]
//Choose next path: ??
Tarn looked across the room, for the moment ignoring the back pats and congratulations being offered around the team. At the far end of the chamber the two identical doors still stood, both barred shut.
More combat, or a redeem? Well, we have 300 Blood.
The interface’s question continued to flash at him in his mind. The Axe Dungeon, he assumed, would wait patiently for his answer. Yarex would not, though. Every minute they waited raised the chance their opponent would get to the end of the dungeon before they did.
“Narsol!” Tarn had to shout a bit to be heard over Bog’s loud congratulations. “This redeem room, how much will 300 blood buy us?”
The orc twisted and shifted around the others as he made his way to Tarn, as if he did not want to touch anyone.
“I cannot say with certainty.” Narsol shook his head. “We went to two redeems in my time there. Each occasion there were three items we could acquire. The cost ranged from 100 to 1000, and appeared quite random. I do recall an option to spend a small amount of blood to reset the offerings, though our leader did not make that choice.”
Tarn rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. B2 led only to C2, and they were both combats. While they needed combat to gain blood, who knew how many redemption opportunities their route would afford them. He wished for some way to see more details on the route, but the Axe Dungeon seemed pleased to dole that data out very slowly.
Better now then not at all, he thought as he selected the [B1: Redeem] option. The door on the left of the wall gave a slight click, while the door on the right began to fade altogether.
“Come on people,” he shouted back to the group, before turning and headed towards the now unlocked door. “It’s time to go shopping.”