The lair entrance was interesting. There was a building not far from my apartment. It looked abandoned from the outside yet inside was anything but. There were guards. Dozens of them. They were on every floor and outside of every door. The entrance to the lair was three steps down the basement stairs. The familiar swirling black entrance was the same as always. I felt the run-down building around it was more ominous.
“This is the most dangerous lair first year academy students will face,” Coach Liv stated, blocking the way down the stairs.
"Dangerous is an understatement," Yui remarked dryly. "These shifts from hot to cold are dangerous, and the beasts that awaken with each shift are even more so."
"We've prepared as best as we can. So let's just be safe, follow your training, and hopefully we all come out the other side," Signore Barducci remarked as he adjusted the strap of one of his sword sheaths.
Coach Liv nodded solemnly. "Any questions before we go in?"
“What’s with all the guards?” Rober asked.
My Handler answered, “This building is in the heart of the city. They are here to keep civilians out. They are also here just in case of a Lair Break. Not that one is expected.”
That seemed to satisfy everyone. “If there are no other questions, let’s get to it.”
“You ready for this, Belov?” Al asked, from his place next to me.
I laughed. “Ha, you know I am ready, comrade Alphonse. The real question is, are you ready? Ready to lose to me. I am certain I will kill more beasts and mutants than you will.”
Al barked a laugh. “Ha, in your dreams.”
I narrowed my eyes and growled, “Who needs dreams when reality is so much better.”
It was finally our turn to enter. In lockstep, we took the steps down into the lair.
Welcome to the Hazardous Laboratory Lair . . . Heroic presences detected . . . difficulty rating increased. A timer has been set for each floor. Reach the next floor before the timer expires. Good luck!
I saw red numbers flashing in the corner of my periphery reflecting 06:00.00. Thankfully, it hadn’t started counting down yet. I ignored the timer and started looking around. Stone walls surrounded us with a torch to either side of double doors leading out of the room.
“Six hours,” Coach Liv said, nodding to himself.
Beau added, “The layout is different as well. No way of telling just how big it is.”
My Handler nodded next to him. “I get the feeling the timer will start as soon as we leave this room.”
Coach Liv nodded his agreement then lifted his head to address the team. “Listen up, the lair has set a timer for us to complete this floor. I believe, as soon as we open that door, the timer will begin. Mister Belov, I want you to scout ahead, but be stealthy about it. I don’t want you getting ambushed again. Beau, Robin, and Rober, I want you three leading the way, shields at the ready, understood? Everyone else, standard formation. Now let’s go.”
The shadows around me reached out and wrapped me in their embrace, instantly obscuring me from sight. Sounds were distorted, muffled, as I pulled the handle of one of the double doors and I saw the timer flash one last time before it began counting down.
I barely opened the door and was forced to dodge back as a burning arm almost as large as my body ploughed through the opening.
Without hesitation Robin blurred across the short distance, her shield clanging as it deflected the arm, before Yui appeared next to her a second later, swinging her curved sword through the air and cutting off the arm. The arm burst, spewing liquid fire in every direction. Han quickly extinguished the fire with his Water Manipulation before turning a jet of water on the gap in the door.
There were a dozen or more screams of pain from the other side of the opening.
“Rober, Beau, get up there and open the other door,” Alphonse barked as an impossible wind began swirling and lightning crackled along the ceiling through clouds that weren’t there a moment before.
Rober and Beau obeyed and moved in with remarkable speed, prying open the other door, and were met with a towering beast that looked like an elephant-folk but grotesquely deformed. Its massive arms shook with flames, and its trifurcated nose seemed almost alive as it grimaced at us.
With the doorway wide open, Alphonse gestured with his hands, and the maelstrom he had summoned rushed through. The crash and roar of the lightning and howling winds made me cover my ears as Alphonse used his powers to unleash a fury of destruction upon the mutants. The wind was so powerful that it threw the creatures against the far walls, and lightning repeatedly struck until the mutants were little more than smouldering smears as a stench of roasted flesh filled the air.
“Save some mana for later,” Coach Liv warned.
Alphonse’s shoulders sagged as he let the storm fade, the mana expenditure of the spell obviously taking a toll. The team quickly moved into the hall to clean up the four remaining fire mutants. Al’s storm had already done the heavy lifting, so after one or two clean strikes, they were dead and mostly dissolving into the air.
Coach Liv spoke up, “Okay, let’s try that again. Mister Belov, if you please.”
I disappeared into the shadows once more, moved into the hallway and the temperature increased. I crept along the long passage, mindful to check for traps as I went but finding none. Eventually, I reached the end of the hall and a T-intersection. I carefully peaked around the corner. There were maybe two dozen fire beasts to the left. A quick glance at the opposite side revealed a dozen more. I frowned and quickly retreated back to my team.
I found my companions quickly, they looked somehow . . . worse than I left them. Their clothes were torn and singed, their exposed skin blackened. They were battered, bruised and some of them even bleeding, but Alphonse and Yui were healing the injuries.
I reappeared and asked, “What happened?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Some of the mutants came back to life,” Coach Liv answered. “What did you find ahead?”
I wanted to ask more about that, but the mood seemed to dictate that I just answer the question. “The hall continues for about a hundred metres then into a T-junction. There are dozens of those things to either side of the intersection.”
Coach Liv nodded and grunted. “Alright, job well done. Beau, Robin, Rober, you heard him. Everyone else, standard formation. Let’s go.”
I stepped into place next to Plvoer. “What’s this about them coming back to life?”
“About a minute after you left, six of the beast corpses oozed together, forming three new beasts. If you thought the mutants were hideous before . . .” Plvoer paused to shudder. “Anyway, they were tougher to defeat, but we managed with only a few minor burns for our troubles.”
That did sound unpleasant.
We continued in silence, every step guarded and watchful, until we reached the intersection. We had almost reached safety when an unnatural chill enshrouded us. The temperature dropped so swiftly that we could almost see the ice crystals forming in the air about us. Then suddenly we were surrounded by a dozen grotesque creatures, their eerily kin-like faces and multiple glacial appendages bearing down on us.
I drew my shadow element blade and lunged at the closest beast, unsure if my attack would even affect its frozen form. I felt a chunk of ice break off as I struck, but its body seemed too thick for anything more to happen. I shifted tactics and slashed at the creature's legs instead, grinning as one good strike shattered the limb completely. I picked up my pace, taking out three more legs before the beast was unable to stand up any longer.
I moved back to its neck and struck two quick blows, sending its head crashing to the ground in a shower of ice shards. Another powerful slash saw its body breaking apart and falling limp to the floor, leaving only seven more of these icy monstrosities to take down.
I turned to engage the next monster, only to see that my team was handling them. Plvoer used his special skill to climb walls and his bow and arrow to shoot at the monsters while they were distracted by the bearkin sibling's taunts. Yui and Alphonse moved with elegance and precision as they ducked and dodged around the ice mutants’ limbs to land precise strikes, which sent chunks of icy flesh flying everywhere.
Han uttered a few words under his breath and, as he gestured with his hands, layers of rock began to form around the room, each layer serving as a bullet that shot towards the monsters with terrifying force and left large cracks in their ice flesh.
However, it was Sam that was the most effective. He raised his hands, and with a few words of incantation, fire began to shoot from his palms, melting everything it touched. The ice monsters screamed in pain as their bodies melted away into nothingness.
We burned through several minutes of the timer before the ice beasts were eliminated. Again, most of the bodies dissolved. I had a feeling these would form together just like the fire corpses did. It would be better if we destroyed the corpses now.
“Sam, burn the remaining bodies,” Alphonse ordered, surprising me and taking the words right out of my mouth.
We took an extra minute to let Sam finish the task.
We reached the T-intersection and found the three or four dozen fire mutants frozen solid. It meant we had a clear path beyond them. We just needed to know which way to go.
“Belov, go right, we’ll wait here,” Coach Liv ordered.
I nodded, reactivating my Shadow Cloak and disappearing from view. I moved quickly down the hall until I caught the scent of more of those ice beasts. Not wanting to risk trying to sneak past them, I returned to my team.
I gave Coach Liv the report, and he nodded, “Good, check the other path.”
Once again, I vanished into the shadows and began down the path to the left only to retreat when the temperature swung the other way. I raced back to the intersection to find my team fighting more mutants.
Coach Liv charged into the creatures, his axe chopping down one mutant after another. I didn’t get to watch Coach Liv fight much in the Rodent Bog Lair or even in the Hunter’s Run Lair. But seeing him now, the bearman was a savage. He swung overhead, and his axe cleanly bisected one of the molten creatures. That was impressive on its own, but then he stepped through the split monster and pressed into the mob.
Each swing of the axe cut through a monster's molten flesh, lopping off limbs left and right. He then twirled around, sending one of the creatures flying with a powerful kick. And with one final heave of his two-handed axe, Coach Liv decapitated two additional monsters at once and sent their fiery heads rolling.
Signore Barducci was no less a sight to behold as he attacked with his weapons with a flurry. As he switched between his weapons, he spun around with two spears in hands, sending flaming liquid blood flying as he struck down two monsters at once. Then he drew his blades and gracefully slid them through one monster and then another before withdrawing both of his weapons and continuing forward without missing a step.
Beau, like my Handler, used multiple weapons, switching between throwing axes and a two-handed scimitar that lopped off entire limbs with each mighty blow.
“Robin, left! Rober, right! Han! Douse them again! Both sides!” Coach Liv barked as he chopped into another monster.
Han raised his hands, and with a twist of his wrists and a chant, he sent a stream of water into the air above the mutants. The mutant's fiery skin cooled and then started to crack as the water hit them and they screamed in pain. The noise was staggering to my sensitive ears, like screeching cats and scraping chalkboard.
Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t able to do much with his fire spells, so it was left to the rest of us to manage the battle.
Yui and Alphonse worked in tandem, their quick movements and sharp strikes complementing each other. Yui sliced at legs and arms to disable the fire mutants, and Al snaked in with his rapier to skewer the creatures as they tried attacking her.
I tried getting in close to the monsters, but found it was much too hot to get close enough to do any good. Instead, I joined Plvoer in a support role. He fired his arrows, pinning feet or peppering opponents to distract them while I threw flechettes and Shadow Caltrops. The caltrops were the most effective as they slowed the enemy down and gave Robin and Rober more time to manage the flow of the fight.
Thirteen more minutes passed off the timer before the last mutant died. Coach had taken several gashes that had gotten through his leather armour and Al limped where he’d gotten stabbed by fiery claws. Yui chanted while her spirit dance drew in the healing energy that would heal both of them. The rest of the team killed the corpses that didn’t dissolve, making sure they wouldn’t rise again to attack.
Then I was on the move again. The hallway to the left had several closed doors and eventually dead-ended. There were thankfully no more of the fire mutants. Although, as I returned to my group to report, I had a feeling that if the temperature changed again, there would be a dozen ice beasts waiting for us.
“Okay, we should go left first. We need to check whatever is behind those doors,” Coach Liv suggested. “Everyone, we need to make a decision. We either need to wait for the next temperature change or go now and hope to get through one of those doors. If we wait, we’ll be wasting time, and who knows how long it will take to find the way down to the next floor? If we go, we risk the temperature changing and those beasts popping up all around us again.”
“We wait,” Alphonse decided confidently. “It hasn’t been too long between temperature swings. I’d rather wait and take out the ice beasts safely than risk them spawning around us again.”
It seemed that was the only opinion needed. The rest of my group agreed, and that was the end of it. It was lucky that it only took two more minutes for the temperature to swing back to cold, and we were off. And just as I predicted, there were frosty beasts waiting for us. Not being ambushed made a big difference in clearing the creatures out and taking far less damage overall.
Throughout most of the fighting, I felt useless. I could fight one of the beasts on my own and successfully take it down. But if there were two, I had to run to the safety of the group and hope Robin and Rober took the beasts on. Meanwhile, Al and Sam decimated the beasts with Lightning and Fire. The same would happen the next time we faced off with the fiery beasts, where Al and Han’s water magic would take them apart.
The fighting ended, and we moved as a group for the doors. Hopefully, the way down was waiting for us behind one of them.