Host: Dark Raven [LVL 16]

Stats:

* HP: 90/90

* MP: 0

* WILL: 10/10

* STR: 10

* PER: 20

* SPD: 55

* CHA: 5

Skills known:

* Wing Buffet (Grade E)

* Peck (Grade F)

* Dive (Grade E)

* Roar (Grade E)

* Hide (Grade E)

Current Spirit Cores: 40

DELVE NOTIFICATION:

REST: CONCLUDED

SAFE ZONE: NULLIFIED

The hybrid team continued their advance into the depths of the Festering Den proper once their 12 hours were up, packing up their modest camp and following the narrow corridor that led into this strange new temple. Tara insisted on taking the lead, and Ethan wasn’t about to complain—his bird form wasn’t exactly suited to these narrow, twisting stone passageways that formed the labyrinth they were descending into.

At a few chokepoints, the Minxit ordered the group to halt, her ears twitching wildly. She proceeded to check the walls and floors, brushing them gently with her tail or feet to reveal some small contraptions hidden behind secret compartments and trapdoors.

“Traps!” Ethan said. “Now we’re in a real dungeon.”

“Indeed,” Klax replied as Tara went about dismantling the insidious-looking devices—repeating crossbow machines and what looked like gas pits, mostly. “The ancient architects who created these Delves did so knowing that their job was to test the faithful, as well as provide a home for Argwyll’s less than reputable citizens.”

Ethan nodded at the strange hieroglyphs and mosaics painted on the walls—those depicting Grumlets at prayer, huddled around strange, eight-legged idols and altars.

“Looks like the little critters really made this place their own,” he said.

“It is the way of the Delve dwellers,” Klax confirmed, wiping his paw over a few of the cobweb-covered etchings. “Those trapped here begin to form a strange appreciation for the more powerful monsters within. In time, this appreciation becomes fascination, and pretty soon…”

“You’ve got a buncha monster cultists worshipping the big boss of the Dungeon,” Tara finished, cracking her fingers and giving a triumphant swish of her tail. “All done here, folks. Let’s do this.”

A few more passages of winding stone awaited them, each one lit only by the flickering red orb that Fauna had summoned in her hand. As they rounded a few corners, the light seemed to jump around energetically, as though its bearer were tossing it to and fro in a little game. She wouldn’t admit it, but Fauna was just a little bit more excitable now. Ethan didn’t mind if she played around a little. She needed a bit of recreation more than he did.

Finally, Tara nodded towards an opening that led into a larger chamber with a pit in its center—one that looked to be at least ten meters deep. From their vantage point, they could see into the pit and watch its inhabitants as they sat, waiting.

“Eight legs… and one creepy-looking Grumlet. Looks like those hieroglyphs were doing a bit of foreshadowing for us.”

Enemies Identified:

* Giant Swamp Spider: x6

* Grumlet Magus: x1

Giant Swamp Spider HP: 30/30

WILL: 25/25

Ethan’s [Appraisal] couldn’t identify anything about the Grumlet mage sitting among the spiders below—probably because he hadn’t yet upgraded the skill, and the creature was hiding its stats through magic. This was, after all, the first mage he’d truly met in this world besides Fauna.

And his appearance didn’t exactly inspire anything in particular. He sat there, a furrowed, conical hat atop his brow, simply staring at the web-spinning spiders around him.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“What’s… what’s it doing?”

“Looks like it’s… praying,” Fauna whispered.

“Who cares what it’s doing?” Tara murmured back, readying her shortbow and nocking an arrow. “This is the way to the bottom floor, I’m sure of it. To get there, we’re gonna have to go through them.”

“Stealth?” Ethan inquired, readying his [Hide] ability already.

“It will be tough in here,” Klax mused. “Fauna? Think you have a spell of Darkness you can whip up for us?”

The Hopla glanced at both her comrades and didn’t say anything at first. When she then found Ethan’s face, he gave her a conspiratorial wink.

“Hey, remember you’re super special magic awesome.”

She stared unblinkingly for a few seconds before nodding, flashing him the smile she had before.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m ready.”

“We move out as soon as the cloud of Darkness envelops the brood,” Klax said. “Everyone ready?”

“Ready!”

“Go!”

The next few minutes occurred in a flash—Fauna’s fingers dripped with oozing, living darkness that snaked its way down to the pit of the mage and his spider pets, covering them in an inky black cloud. The mage jerked up, suddenly furious, and heard nothing but the sound of arrows flying through the dank air and embedding themselves in one of his spiders nearby—killing it instantly. As he flew to grab his staff, something large and quick knocked into him from above, sending him sprawling on the ground and clutching the bloody gash carved into his arm.

Damn it! Ethan thought as he took to the ceiling to go in for another [Dive] attack. I can’t make full use of Dive without an open sky above me. This little guy must be packing more health than the rest.

Still, it made sense to focus on the mage—clearly, he had the most power in the group. So, as another spider perished under the steel tips of Tara’s arrows, Ethan flew in for the kill, aiming his beak right at the Grumlet mage’s neck.

“AHHH!”

The scream wasn’t his. It was shrill, hoarse, and pained—and it belonged to a girl.

Fauna…

Ethan’s eyes caught the sight of her being pushed by five new Grumlets who had just entered in behind them. She fell to the base of the pit and would have probably snapped her neck if Ethan hadn’t flown to catch her on his back. Meanwhile, Tara was engaged with three of them above, each one slashing at her with a vicious, rusted broadsword.

“Ethan!” she shouted down. “Kill the mage!”

Through his host’s eyes, Ethan saw exactly why she was more concerned about the magic user than her own safety. He saw the bubbling energy gathered in the mage’s hands—viscous green ooze that he was readying to fire at them all. Around him, his spiderlings charged, more than willing to protect their master.

SQUISH!

The mage’s eyes went wide as he heard one spider die beside him. Then another. Then another, and finally he heard the raspy breath of the wolven hunter who had come for him.

With a single punch, Klax sent him flying back against the far wall. Meanwhile, Ethan dealt with the two Grumlets who had charged him and Fauna, intent on finishing the Delvers who had fallen for their trap. A quick [Wing Buffet] sent them both rolling back, snapping their spines against the walls of the pit and allowing Ethan to follow up with a quick slash of his iron claws that ended their miserable lives then and there.

Above, Tara had managed to fight off her attackers. One Grumlet fell, quickly followed by his friend, both of them slashed brutally across the nape of their necks.

That girl’s one badass assassin… Ethan couldn’t help but think.

A scream from Fauna behind him brought him right back to the battle, however. She’d brought up a shield around both of them right as the mage had finally managed to fire off his spell. The cloud of Darkness disappeared, and now the world of the labyrinth was bathed in an otherworldly green light—something that tore through the walls themselves, sending bricks and stonework crashing down on the scattered team of hybrids.

“He’s bringing this place down!” Klax called out as he ran for Fauna’s shield. “Tara! Come on—we’re outta here!”

The Minxit gave a huff of indignation as the walls collapsed around them, jumping down to catch Ethan as he flew with all his speed towards the only opening he could find above—a hole just big enough to squeeze through with his charges.

Just before they managed to flee the broken battlefield, however, a shot rang out against the din of the fallen walls.

They looked back to see an arrow embedded slap-bang between the eyes of the Grumlet mage.

“Tara the Minxit ain’t gonna leave a target alive,” their catgirl companion said. “‘Specially not a little bastard like that.”

Ethan’s flight took them into another series of interconnected chambers—only this time rooms which were more organic than composed of the stone walls that characterized the rest of the ruin. The surfaces of these much wider rooms pulsed as though alive, each one lined with grey polyps the size of a baby elephant down them.

A sudden notification then buzzed into life before Ethan’s eyes:

[Delve Challenge: HORDE]

Completion Bonus:

* 300 Spirit Cores

* 2x Random [UNCOMMON] loot

[Time Until Activation: 10:00]

“Shit…” Tara muttered. Her companions seemed to share her annoyance.

“Oh… on Ethan’s first dungeon… why does our luck have to be so bad?”

“It is the way of the Delves,” Klax snarled. “They exist to test the faithful. Perhaps the Delve itself knows that Ethan is the Archon. If so, it is giving us its all.”

Ethan took them down into the center of the organic room, feeling the mushy, pulpy grey matter of the ground stick between his steel claws as they met the surface. He could guess what was about to happen here.

“Horde…” he said aloud. “So, like a swarm of enemies, right?”

“Swarm is correct,” Klax said as he checked the room for possible defensive choke points. “We have to survive against a veritable army of this Delve’s choosing. Judging by the state of the environment…”

“…it’ll be spiders,” Ethan finished.

“It will be spiders.”

“Fuck!” Tara spat. “Hordes are the worst kinda challenge. Stealth basically doesn’t work. Not when there’s fifty dudes all looking for a piece of ya.”

Context, Tara…

“Well—I have my shield,” Fauna said. “And Ethan has his Dive attack, right? We could attract them to us as a distraction while Ethan takes them down.”

“It might be the best way,” Klax agreed. “I don’t like the odds of us splitting up. Especially not with the number of those egg sacs all over the place.”

“Can’t we just destroy them now?” Ethan asked.

“Won’t work. It’ll do nothing but start the Horde challenge. The Laws of the Delve are sacred and unbreakable, at least not with Argwyllian magic.”

“So our only option is to deal with it,” Ethan said.

“Yup,” Tara replied as she stretched her legs and craned her neck. “That’s pretty much it. But hey, on the bright side: there’s a juicy 300 Spirit Core reward and some random loot in it for us.”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” Ethan laughed.

He took up his position at the apex of the organic room, trying to avoid looking at the pulsing polyps around him that seemed to beat with greater intensity now, as though they too were waiting for the challenge to begin.

He spent a few Spirit Cores on upgrading his host’s health and SPD—with the latter taking up at least 50 of the Cores he’d acquired from the last mob alone to upgrade. The Grumlet mage had been worth a whopping 120 though, so he’d have to thank Tara for that kill shot later. Stats really did end up costing a lot when they passed 20. But then again, he’d be in Spirit Core heaven soon if all went well here.

HP: 92

SPD: 60

Both speed and distance would only increase the strength of his Dive bombs. He could do this.

The question was: could his team?

“Ethan!” Klax shouted up as he and the others stood back-to-back in the middle of the chamber below. “Are you ready?”

“Ready!” he shouted down.

“Then… let’s do this.”