For the third time since we entered this dungeon, we found ourselves in a tunnel leading us around and down. It was beginning to feel like we were walking through a set of hamster tunnels leading from one large open hamster cage to another. There was nothing to lead me to believe the next room down would be much different than the ones we had been in before, so we just moved onward, always staying in formation in case of attack.
"Anyone wanna take bets on what is next?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"Not really, I'd hate to guess something really bad and be right. And being a bit superstitious, I would hate to guess something really easy and jinx us." Rutherford said.
"Surprise, surprise, the cleric is superstitious," Vokin said, a smile creeping into his beard.
"We can't all just walk around knowing we're too short to be reached by regular monsters." Rutherford jabbed back.
They looked at each other for a moment and both laughed. As we continued walking I listened for any sounds that might mean something was coming to attack us. I noticed I had another message to look at, and again it looked like I had leveled up.
Level Up!
You have earned enough XP to advance to the next level. You are now level 33! Continue to work hard and push yourself to gain more XP to continue to level up. As a human, you now have 5 attribute points and 2 skill points to distribute as you see fit.
At this rate, I would have to sit down and look at the new skills soon. There were still a few from level 2 I hadn't gotten yet, but I wanted to look at the level three skills as well. I decided to wait on the attributes this time since we were already moving, turning my thoughts instead to the joy I would feel when we finally found this Shadow Beast and I put it down. Walking on with the team and making some small talk we finally found the end of the tunnel, this time, however, there was a large set of double doors blocking the way. Huge rings were hung on the door about where a doorknob would be on each of the two doors. They looked old and patinaed, as though no one had touched them or cleaned them for many years. I looked to the others who all nodded their readied ascent, grabbed one of the handles, and pulled. And then pulled again.
"Really? Why would you have handles on this side if it's a push?" I said, my frustration rising.
I pushed on the doors and they creaked open to reveal a large room similar to the others, but in this room, there was a raised platform at the opposite end of the room. It felt a little bit like a rock show had been going on here with some kind of green glowing lights around the outside of the room and all over the stage, and smoke was billowing lightly across the floor of the room. On the raised platform that looked like a stage was a huge beast cloaked in shadows. Its face was hidden in the darkness but it was impossible to miss what it was. With the legs of a bull, the body of a man, and the head of a bull fully equipped with horns the minotaur standing across the room looked incredibly formidable. It had to be at least twelve feet tall, and its hands rested on the bottom of a giant two-headed axe that rested on the stage turned upside down while it waited.
Suddenly the lights changed and some pointed up directly at the minotaur. It pulled its great axe up and began to play it like a guitar while it sang out a song.
"Are you reeeeeeeeeady? Are you reeeeeeeady? Are you ready to roooooooooooooock!" It sang in a high-pitched vocal range that would make any metal singer on earth jealous.
"Seriously? Heavy metal minotaur?" I said, feeling a little disappointed.
Apparently, it heard my disappointment and it grunted. It turned to fully face me and its hands began to glow. It strummed down over the axe heads again and this time a powerful wave of sound was sent out. And while it was a musical sound, it was so loud that we all had to cover our ears and we were driven to our knees. I actually took damage from just that soundwave being sent out.
"Oh no....he's a....Bardbarian, isn't he?" I said
"WHAT?" Vokin shouted. "I Can't hear ye, I think that soundwave did damage!"
I just rolled my eyes, hit myself with a Minor Heal, and pointed at the minotaur. Vokin nodded and got his axe and shield back in position for battle. The others had gathered themselves as well and since some couldn't hear, we had to go on instincts. Everyone knew where their main positions were in the pack so we formed up and charged again.
The minotaur smiled at us and stood tall.
"Now, now, it's great that you wanna rush the stage, but you need to stay back because it's time for me to PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!" The minotaur said and sang the last word as it strummed down the axe again.
I saw it coming and jumped in front of everyone casting Dragon Shield. The Shield formed around us and moved with us as we ran. I saw the soundwaves making the shield shake and then it started to crack. We picked up the speed and rushed the stage the minotaur was standing on. He moved to stand on his right foot and kicked out at the shield as we came up to him. He managed to shatter the shield and we jumped through where it had been and piled onto him. He managed to stay up while myself, Rutherford, Vokin, and Zephyr landed on him, but when Aeolith bowled into him, he finally went down.
Just as he went down though, his eyes began to glow red. I got distracted looking at them and everything came rushing back at once with my sadness and my anger, that I didn't notice how much stronger he got all at once. He kicked out with both feet and launched Aeolith off of himself and back to the floor, off the stage. He grabbed Rutherford and tossed him back as well. Then he grabbed Vokin and me and tossed us off as well. Tristan and Randal had wisely stayed back instead of rushing him. Zephyr had been the one to really do the most damage, he was still attached to the minotaur's arm with his teeth and was scratching and kicking at him while he stood up.
The minotaur punched Zephyr in the stomach so hard we could hear the ribs crack and he let go of the arm.
"NO!" Randal cried out as he knocked an arrow that was glowing.
The Arrow streaked to the minotaur and hit it in the neck. The minotaur screamed and began tearing at its neck where the arrow had struck. I looked back at Randal with a questioning look.
"Acid arrow. Sucks when it first goes in and releases the acid." He said smiling.
I looked back in time to duck as it swung its axe at us. It made a second swing and I cucked again, this time rolling to the right and coming up with a light breath to its side. It sizzled as it hit its side and the shadows started smiling out of it. But it held on and turned to me with its giant axe.
"Hey, beef patty, over here! I got buns that I'd live to ground you up, cook you, and put you on." Vokin shouted taunting the minotaur.
The minotaur turned to face Vokin, its axe raised. It seemed to get even angrier than it was before. It stepped forward and swung the axe, faster than it had done so far. Vokin got his shield up in time but was still sent flying back. Rutherford rushed up on its left and smashed his hammer into the Minotaur's stomach. It bent in half over the hammer and was tossed back into the wall behind the stage. It was smashed into the wall so hard that dust flew everywhere mixing with the smoke and creating a thick cloud we couldn't see through.
"Nice hit Rutherford!" I said.
Out of the smoke rushed the Minotaur at a speed so fast that I could barely follow and it shoulder-checked Rutherford. He was tossed off the stage and landed about thirty yards away and rolled another ten yards. He glowed yellow and stood back up slowly, clearly healing himself. That left me. I stepped up to the plate and focused on the minotaur. It glowed green and flinched, then looked over at Tristan. Apparently, he had seen an opening to cast a Drain on the enemy. Bad move as the minotaur turned its rage on him. I couldn't let that happen, so I too took advantage of an opening. Grabbing my sword with two hands and dashing forward, I swung out with my sword using Powerful Blow and sliced right through the monster's left leg. An explosion followed and blew the minotaur off of its...foot and back into the wall.
Again it came rushing out of the smoke, this time a trail of blood streaking out behind it. He reached me and punched me square in the face. I flipped end over end until I rolled off the stage. Sweet mother of mercy that hurt! I was seeing stars for a second. I could see poor Tristan go flying off the stage as well next. I pulled myself up and saw that one of my eyes was swollen shut. I cast a couple of Minor Healing spells on myself and it opened back so I could see. Randal was up on the stage still dodging like a maniac as the minotaur swung its fists at it. Fortunately, the loss of a leg kept it from kicking at him as well, but it was mad as hell and doing its best to hit Randal, who was nimbly dodging every single punch it threw his way.
As impressive as that was, I was pretty sure the minotaur had used some berserker rage ability and would have way more stamina than Randal did. I rushed over to its side and sliced at it again. This time in the arm. The arm was blown off and the minotaur let out a heavy metal scream that blew both myself and Randal back. We landed off the stage and the minotaur jumped after us. Now with one arm and one leg, it raised its remaining arm over its head about to smash us with a hammer fist, when a blur rushed ant it and tackled it back onto the stage. Rutherford had shoulder-checked it back for what it did to him. Vokin came running up on my right.
"Sorry we were out for a moment, Rutherford had to heal us," Vokin said.
Zephyr came up on the other side of me and rubbed his head against me and purred. I smiled, then hopped back up on the stage with Vokin and Zephyr and saw Aeolith climbing up as well. I nodded to Aeolith as we ran at the minotaur. It had Rutherford in its one remaining hand and was throwing him off the stage again. Aeolith bit down on the minotaur's arm and it was using all its focus to keep her from getting to its face. Vokin used his axe to cut deep into the Minotaur's stomach. It barely seemed to notice. But it couldn't ignore my sword cutting across its neck as I jumped onto its back.
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Its arm went limp and Aeolith started pushing him backward. It landed squarely on top of me and all the air went out of my lungs. The body was quickly pulled off of me and I sat there for a moment catching my breath. Blood was all over the stage and smoke was still coming from the walls. The lights would move periodically from the stage to the floor, then they would circle the room, which I had not noticed happening during the fight, then they would come back to the stage again. I looked around and saw everyone on their feet, which made me feel grateful. Rutherford was taking care of the last few little injuries the team had, and he came over to me. He placed his hands on me and the light suffused me and I felt better instantly.
"Well, that was not as tough as it could have been since there were so many of us," I said, letting my head lull back as the magic finished healing my injuries.
"True. But I bet I could have taken him," Vokin said.
"You? The only reason you would have taken him is because of how far down he had to look to find you. He'd have tripped over his own feet looking so far down." Rutherford jabbed back.
"Better than you could do having to hide in the back to heal while the rest of us took him on ourselves," Vokin said.
"Well, next time I'll just leave the first guy to get tossed out on the ground where he was and just go deal with him myself for you," Rutherford said.
"Sure, if that armor doesn't weigh you down first," Vokin replied.
They both laughed again and slapped each other on the backs. I finally stood up when my stamina had recovered fully and I got up. I went over to look at the axe and realized it was special. Unfortunately, it was also about twice the size of a regular great axe.
Item:
Bardbarian Great Axe
Item Type: Weapon
Durability: 1026/1500
Attack: 95-150 damage
Item Quality: Well Crafted
Item Rarity: Rare
Description:
The Bardbarian great axe was forged specifically for this clash of classes. It is an axe in every sense of the word. It can be played like a musical instrument or can be used to deal devastation and death.
Not a bad weapon, if someone could wield it or was a bard and a barbarian at the same time. It likely was only worth something as scrap, but we would try to take it with us. Rutherford was going to have to carry it for now because its blades were too big to fit into anyone's bags of holding. Aeolith could carry it to a town to be sold once we got out of the dungeon.
We gathered together again and, seeing no reason to stay here again, began to move toward the tunnel that lead down again. What none of us noticed was the body of the minotaur twitching on the floor. The blood surrounding it began to slowly move toward the body. As more and more blood gathered together it began to move faster and faster. The arms and legs were pulled toward the body as well and began to reattach themselves, skin knitting back together across the cuts until the body was whole again. It stood up and looked over at us with hate in its eyes. It saw its axe in Rutherford's hands and lost control. It pulled a dagger from its belt and charged. It took us a moment to realize what the sound was, and by the time we realized it was too late. We turned around and saw the minotaur looming over us, still moving forward, and it rammed the blade of the dagger, which at its twelve-foot height was more like a short sword, into Tristan's gut.
Tristan made a shocked and pained face and placed his hands on the sword. The minotaur growled and snorted and ripped the dagger back out of his stomach. We all stood there for a moment in complete shock. I watched Tristan fall and saw Rutherford drop the axe and rush over to him yelling. Vokin ran in front of me with his shield raised and began blocking blows. Zephyr and Aeolith tried to jump on the monster from the side, and all I could do was stand there. Tristan wasn't moving in Rutherford's arms. He was trying to use healing magic and it wasn't taking hold. He looked up at me and yelled. I couldn't hear what he said at first, my whole world swimming for a moment and everything sounded muted. Rutherford kicked out at my foot and brought me back to the moment.
"Dammit, Callan! Get your ass moving! I can bring him back, but you need to get in there to keep the minotaur off of me while I do it!" Rutherford yelled at me.
I finally came back to myself and nodded. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked over at the minotaur. It had killed Tristan. He would pay for that mistake. It had Aeolith on one arm and Aephry on one leg while striking at Vokin and taking arrows from Randal. I saw its eyes glow red and it suddenly seemed to get more mass and roared. It punched Aeolith in the stomach and sent her sprawling, then kicked out at Zephyr and tossed him aside as well. Another mighty swing from its axe tossed poor vokin aside as well. Randal again was put on the defensive. I could feel my anger rising and suddenly I was seeing red. Something inside me snapped and I could feel the change. I screamed out and could hear my blood pumping faster and faster in my ears. I felt power streaming through me as the blood rushed faster and faster. The minotaur and Randal actually stopped fighting and stared at me.
"Come on you bastard! Time to take your medicine!" I yelled and rushed to the minotaur, moving faster than I had ever moved before.
The minotaur roared back and leaped to meet me. We struck back and forth exchanging blows with our weapons. Even though the beast was almost twice my size I took his blows against my sword without blinking and struck back. We moved faster and faster until the others were just standing aside and staring at us, not willing to try to jump in for fear of being struck. Blow after blow was blocked by each of us, the rage running through us both, blinding us to everything except the battle at hand. Blood continued to pump through us as we struggled to be the one that would land a substantial blow. Finally, our weapons struck and when I turned to remove my blade it slid over and got caught under one of the curves of his axe and we couldn't pull them apart easily so we stood there in a stalemate pressing back and forth.
It snarled down at me, having the height advantage to be able to press down while I had to hold it back. My vision flashed and I struck out in the only way I could think to. I threw myself down and under his blade with enough force that I slid underneath him, using the stuck blades ad a point to push off. As I slid under the beast I kicked straight up between his legs and into his rocky mountain oysters. The minotaur let out a screaming mewl of pain as it let its axe fall to grab at its tender bits. This let my sword break free and I ripped it across its inner thigh as I scrambled to get out from under its feet. That leg gave out as not only the artery was cut, but the secondary explosion that came with fighting these shadow-infused creatures, tore the muscle as well and it fell to the side.
Seeing an opening now, Aeolith jumped in as well to start biting and clawing at its other leg to try and keep it down. I stood to my feet and moved toward the minotaur. It grabbed for its axe and as it held the weapon I could see the blood start to go back into the wound on its leg.
"Oh no, you don't!" I said, leaping to attack again.
My cooldown had elapsed so I charged up a Powerful Blow, this time though I infused it with Dragon Slash as well. I had never done this before, but I was acting on instinct as much as thought right now. I cried out with an angry bellow and struck down at the minotaur while bringing the force of my blow and my leap down on it at the same time. It managed to get its axe up to block and as the force of my blow hit the axe it exploded into fragments. The concussive power that was released from the combining of those forces plus the magic leaving the destroyed weapon, combined with the explosive force of the light magic caused a visible sphere of force to expand outward throwing Aeolith, and me back about fifty yards, while simultaneously trapping the minotaur under the brunt of the force with nowhere to go but into the stone floor. Blood shot from every orifice on the minotaur's body at the same time as the force proved too much for its Constitution to handle and its insides were turned to liquid in an instant.
The red in my eyes slowly started to fade away and I could no longer hear the blood rushing in my ears. Suddenly I felt pain all over my body and I checked my health bar. I was down to less than twenty percent of my health and it was flashing. I had some wounds, apparently, that were still bleeding as my health was still trickling away and there was an icon of a drop of blood under my HP bar. I looked over my body and noticed at least a dozen shallow cuts and two not-so-shallow cuts. I quickly started casting Minor Heal on myself until I saw the bleeding effects fall off. Then I remembered what was happening and tried to get to my feet as quickly as I could, but all I could do for the moment was lay there and groan in pain as moving sent a streak of blinding pain through my chest. Something was definitely broken and Minor Heal wasn't going to fix it. Rutherford came over a moment later and slid to a stop on his knees next to me.
"Don't move, Callan, I'll get you healed up in just a moment. I just need to drink this mana potion." He said, looming over me and taking a vial from his pouch, yanking the cork out with his teeth, spitting it across the room, and downing the blue potion.
"Tristan...go help Tristan..." I tried to tell him.
"Tristan is fine. That's why I need this potion. The Revival spell takes a ton of mana. He is back and I healed his wounds. He's resting right now.
"The....minotaur," I said, it was hurting to breathe now.
"Is dead. Like dead, dead." Rutherford replied as he laid his hands on me and began healing.
The light washed over me and the healing took effect. It felt like a warm blanket covering me and making me feel better instantly. The pain to breathe eased as something popped back into place in my chest. I winced slightly as this happened, then felt nothing but relief.
"You took a pretty bad beating there, Callan. You almost died from that blast too. Pretty sure that's what killed the minotaur." Rutherford commented.
I lay there and let Rutherford finish healing me before I tried to get up. He moved to help heal the more minor wounds on Aeolith, Zephyr, Vokin, and Randal next. Soon the whole party was back to full HP. I went to check on Tristan who was still laying there resting. He seemed to be unconscious still.
"How long will he be out?" I asked Rutherford.
"Not too long, I would think. His body just has to come down from the shock of death. He should be moving around find in no more than thirty minutes or so." Rutherford replied.
"Have you brought many people back like that?"
"A few. I've been a part of dungeon raids before, that is most commonly where it happens. It has to be done quickly or the soul leaves this plane and there is nothing that can be done. You usually have about an hour before it won't work. It is not a fun process. I don't like doing it, but I will for anyone here. You have my word on that."
"Thank you, Rutherford. I don't know what I would do without Tristan."
"You'd move on. None of us here are worth losing you. I know you're attached to the boy, but you have to remember that we are all here to protect you, so you can do something about this world. We are not even close to as valuable as you are."
"I don't see it that way."
"We know. And we love you for it, but it doesn't make it any less true. None of us can defeat the shadows as you can. So we need you to do that. Just try to remember that the next time you go all rage monster and attack a creature twice your size."
"I'll try to remember that next time," I said, chuckling slightly.
I sat there with Tristan until he came to.
"Glad to have you back with us buddy," I said looking down at him. "How are you feeling?"
"Wha-what happened?" Tristan asked.
"Oh, not much. Just you dying." I replied.
"Yeah? Sorry about that. I didn't see it coming. Next time, if you would call out duck for me?" Tristan asked.
I laughed at that. I smiled down at him.
"I'm so glad you are ok."
"Thanks, Callan. But I'll be alright. And I'll be more careful next time."
"Good, you had better. I'm not ready to lose you."
He hugged me and we stood up to get ready to go. We gathered around and snacked on some rations to build back up some energy. We had been in here for quite a while now and were beginning to feel the fatigue. But we had to go on. The shadows were waiting for us, and I could feel that we were getting close.