30.
Santi took in the smooth polished stone, the mirror finish reflecting the light as they got closer to it. A wide platform in the middle of a land bridge across a chasm, forcing the dungeon goers through it to advance. The fact they had taken a small ledge downward to the path they were now on was a hint that finding the secret tunnel wasn’t necessary. Duncan had helped them by shaving time off of their journey.
Torches ringed the platform, scores of them fighting off the deep darkness of the cavern and giving everyone a clear view of the runes etched into the stone. Each one was carved and filled with silver, a supernatural light pulsing through them. The entire platform screamed bad vibes, every ounce of his cautious nature saying don’t get on that platform.
It was the only way deeper into the dungeon though. Duncan was perched on the edge right before the platform, his eyes sweeping about, searching and analyzing. Santi copied him, looking for any hints of what was about to come at them.
“So, this place is definitely going to suck,” Bo said. He shuffled his pack and clenched a club tightly.
“Oh, fuck yeah. Hundred percent a trap,” Tank said. He smiled widely and clapped Santi on the shoulder.
“You ready to start carrying, bud?”
“Just stay alive.” Santi stepped out onto the platform and held his breath. Nothing changed. The torches continued to flicker and aside from their breathing it was silent. Santi worked his way closer to the center, Duncan slinking around the side while Bo and Trevor walked right behind him in a delta, with Tank in between all of them.
“Where is it?” Trevor hissed, tension in his voice as he hunched over, looking around frantically as they reached the center of the platform.
“Chill, just be ready to…” Santi was cut off as something came dropping in from above. His spell forms warned him and he had enough time to cast [Gust] behind him, throwing his three allies backward even as he dove forward.
It landed silently and Santi felt as the air was sliced apart where he had been standing. There was no hiss or whistle of claws sliding through the air, just the eerie silence and the feel of the creature blocking the airflow.
Santi rolled to his feet and slashed back at it, his morph blade a comically overlong sword. It tore at something, but all sound had ceased. There was nothing in the air but a stillness, even the harsh rasp of his breath smothered by it. Santi looked at the creature and took it in.
It was a shifting form, mostly humanoid and made from slick stone. Shadows crept and danced around it, blurring the edges of its form as it towered over them. Gemstones glinted where eyes should have been and its four arms swung about in silence, Trevor and Bo racing away while Tank rolled hard toward the edge of the platform.
Duncan sprinted and disappeared as Santi jabbed at it twice, clipping the edges of the behemoth and sending pieces of stone to fall to the ground. Santi lured it closer to the center of the platform as the behemoth followed him.
Earthshadow Elemental lvl. 60
Santi tried to call out, but no sound crossed the platform. Something was off about that, this type of monster shouldn’t have any type of sound magic. Its presence didn’t seem to control anything related to sound either, it was big and strong and the shadows danced all around it, edges forming and slashing at Santi like blades.
Nothing to do with sound though.
He looked back at the glowing runes. They were brighter now, nearly luminescent against the stone. He turned and slashed down at a rune, the blade slicing through stone like butter, the rune cracking apart with a thundercrack and a bolt of light. Sounds flitted through immediately for a brief moment, shouts and cries and the rumble of stone on stone. Then the bubble of silence reaffirmed itself and Santi was forced to leap back as a fist hit the ground in front of him.
Stolen story; please report.
Trevor struck a leg from the back, his club rebounding off the thick leg like it was made of rubber. Bo hit the opposite leg with the same lack of effect, his mouth twisting in a silent curse. Tank was rotating around, getting further away from the monster, but Santi thought that if the giant monster landed a hit that it would be the end of them.
While the giant elemental spun on the two bruisers, Santi sped about, slicing at each of the runes. Tank watched what he was doing and started to do the same. Slamming his mace down on the runes and cracking the delicate runes. More and more sound filtered in and Santi yelled at the two men, trying to organize them. Half his words were stolen, not traveling the distance needed.
Santi stopped attacking the runes and leapt back at the elemental as Trevor was flung backward from the close impact of a Volkswagen sized fist. Bo stumbled, frozen as the elemental turned to give Bo all its focus. Santi formed the morph weapon into a large hammer, a pick emerging from one side and slammed it into the creature's knee.
The strength boost from the jacket and the full increase of the crown showed out and a fist sized piece of rubble went flying as its leg buckled and it fell. Santi was forced backward as the elemental spun, backhanding at him. [Air Shield] popping in a burst of wild winds, sending pebbles and pieces of stray rocks spraying out.
Santi avoided the actual hand, but the wake of its passage caused him to fall back on his back. The elemental rose up and towered above him, form sheathed in blurring waves of physical shadow. Duncan appeared, blade in hand and he caught Santi’s eyes. There was a moment of hesitation, the space between heartbeats, then Duncan was stabbing.
Skills appeared, shadow clones and a second dagger appearing out of nowhere, both blade shearing apart stone like it was butter. The creature went rigid and shook, chunks of stone falling free to hit the ground. Santi got back to his feet and sprinted away as Trevor and Bo both stepped up, attacking from either side to alleviate the pressure on their boss.
Tank broke the last of the silence runes and sound filled the platform again. Trevor used some type of skill that coated his weapon and he broke the elemental’s foot in half, the sound of stone cracking splitting the air.
“Keep its attention!” Santi yelled at the cousin duo as he skidded to a halt. He sprang back toward the elemental, leaping with all his considerable strength up and toward the creature. He rose up and over the top of the monster’s head and began his descent. The hammer whistled through the air and Santi roared a challenge toward the high level monster as he splintered its head.
Gemstones popped free and landed on the platform with the sound of chimes in the wind. It staggered and stumbled to a knee, before surging upward again even as Santi landed awkwardly.
“Fuck!” Santi spat as he leapt forward into a shoulder roll and passed between the elemental’s legs. Trevor and Bo attacked from different angles and Tank jumped forward and struck the same knee where Santi had already hit it. Another chunk of rock came splintering off of it and then Bo hit it a second later in the same spot. The knee cracked and split like rotten timber and the elemental crashed to the ground.
Santi circled with the others as the rest of the group fell on the elemental like a pack of wolves. Hammers and maces chipped and cracked stone as it flailed about ineffectively. It was a big monster, but it was easy to fight as long as they stayed ahead of its wide swinging hands.
Until it stopped swinging its hands. It slumped down, slate cracking and splitting to fall like rain. The shadows deepened and strengthened, pouring out of the wide cracks in its body. The entire body crumpled, leaving nothing left but the silhouette of its body.
“Oh, that’s not great,” Santi muttered as he raced to grab Tank, dragging the healer out of the way as the elemental sank into the platform, swinging across the stone like it was water, leaving the encirclement like it was nothing.
Duncan stuck again. A blur against the polished stone as he intercepted the fleeing elemental, tangling with the creature and the elemental burst free from the stone. It was missing an arm and staggered about wildly, striking out in every direction as Duncan rose out of the stone on the other side of the platform. He was covered in sticky shadow, covering every inch of him as he strained to consume the piece of the elemental he had just truck off of it.
“That’s fucking creepy,” Tank said. Santi could only nod in agreement as he cast [Gust] and watched as the elemental fragmented, ragged chunks of its arm broke off to fly off the platform.
Its remaining arm became a spear and it struck out, stabbing through Trevor’s gut in a burst of movement. The man screamed in pain and Tank was rushing toward him even as Santi cast another [Gust] shoving it back and away from the wounded frontliner.
Tank grabbed Trevor and dragged the stunned man away as Santi got close to the wounded elemental. It thrashed about, thinning and growing hazy as extra limbs shot out of its body. Bo hit it from behind with some type of crushing skill that broke another piece of the shadow off.
Santi stabbed it through the middle of its torso, and twisted the blade. He formed hooks on the blade and ripped the sword free. The creature was dying slowly, breaking apart slowly as Santi continued to cut and rip free pieces of its body. It didn’t die quickly, taking minutes for Bo and Santi to kill it.
An achievement popped in his feed as Santi slumped down on the platform. He was tired, sweat slicking his shirt as he stared at the stain where the shadow had been.
“That wasn’t too bad,” Duncan wheezed, his features still strained. Tank was bent over Trevor, still working to keep the man alive. Santi shook his head, the Apostate’s naked desire for power blatantly apparent to all of them. Even Bo shook his head as they waited for Trevor to get back up.