Lifting a scaled foot out of the muck and settling it back down resignedly again after realizing there was no dry place to put it otherwise, I girded my resolve. While unpleasant, we should get through this floor just fine and probably with a certain amount of disappointment because of the level difference. I watched the rest of the party sort themselves out and settled my wings more comfortably. I would need to watch everyone for rot afflictions and leverage my keen eyesight to support our scouts since their sense of smell would be ruined at least.

“Everyone be on your guard. Swamp levels are notoriously tricky, and we can expect everything from poison, swarms, pitfalls and potentially Rare creature spawns. We will be looking for a temple of some sort for the mini-boss,” came from the front as Chad shared from his interface.

“Sounds delightful. You heavy ones wanna shift any of your gear before we move forward or you ok getting armpit deep in this muck?” Reev offered to the group, eyeing Chad and Engli’s full plate and various carry sacks.

“I’ll be fine but Engli will take you up on it,” was Chad’s response. Reev passed me by with a fist bump and a quick “this is fun Mav” as he went to unburden and redistribute the lion’s gear. That settled I swept my gaze over everyone one more time checking for issues. The poignant reality that it was, I would have to most closely watch over myself and Shad as the two level zeros in the party.

We set off single file away from the entrance into the mangrove tree-riddled and cattail-laden floor. I could hear Chad squelching up front and was glad that Reev could roam free of the formation to support Night and Scree. Five minutes in and I felt Engli pop up a barrier shield around us and Kiaralongh signal for Samir to prep some fire. Pulling out an acid vial, I saw Scree winging back from the left with a decent-sized swarm on his tail.

“My turn! Fire Break!” Samir gleefully flung the spell between Scree and the insects and immediately the smell of charred bugs wafted over us while their husks floated down to join the peat. “Awww. That was too fast. Let’s go.”

I smiled at her antics and replaced the vial as we continued on, tracking that Shad had taken the very brief stop to harvest some bogbean, popping some in their mouth and stowing the rest. Seems like they were actively working on holding up their end of the bargain. We would encounter quite a bit of material on this floor that was harder to find around Helmsword because of the climate difference.

Continuing on, our next obstacles came and went in much the same way as the first. As a group we were too strong for this floor to challenge us. Night lived up to her professed trap finding, Engli’s shields keep smaller critters at bay, Kiaralongh chopped the shit out of anything Chad funneled to her that got through the shield, and Reev came back with other creatures' blood splattered here or there on his armor every once in a while. Our biggest struggle came when Chad tumbled into a sinkhole he attempted to hop over because he tripped on a mangrove root.

At what I assumed was day’s end, we searched for a dry strip of land large enough to house us so we could rest. There was no such strip, or patch, or jut of land. So we continued on. The smell, the oppressive heat, and the slog started chipping away at my mood and I could tell Shad was struggling as well. “We need to stop and rest Chad,” was my exasperated rebuke to our Tank.

“What? Why? I can’t see anywhere we could remotely settle and it’s safer to keep going Mav,” was the startled and indignant response.

Kiara turned back and roughly grabbed Shad by the chin to inspect their eyes, startling the elf into unsheathing their dagger in defense. Before things could escalate, Kiara just as swiftly let go and strode purposefully my way. Handling me the same, she reminded us, “they are zeroes and this biome is pernicious. Engli needs to monitor and heal them more often. Shad, do you have any mana skills? You’re stamina is shot.”

Looking back at Shad curiously with everyone else, I saw them smirk and shake their head in the negative. “Yeah, no, not a wink that would help here. I’ve Analyzed seven different plants that Mavrich could probably turn into something useful, but we’d need space and time for that to happen. And I only collected a few since I don’t have the time or experience to be wandering about.”

Nodding, Kiaralongh turned to me next. “How stocked are you on stamina and mana potions?”

“If we all get to the fifth floor we need to pace our stamina potions immediately, but we should walk out with dozens of mana potions remaining,” was my instant response. I had churned out mana potions in the last four days, but didn’t have as many stamina portion ingredients on hand.

Briskly accepting the reality, Kiara continued, “Fine. We need to stop every glass or two to heal them and let their stamina build for a quarter glass. It won’t hurt the rest of us and could give Scree more time to range further out to try to find the temple. We should expect more swarms on the breaks.”

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“I disagree. The weak sauce can post up on Engli and Rakshasa so we can keep moving. I have mud in my joints and midges in unspeakable places,” was Chad’s rebuttal.

“Offer your own companion pretty boy, Rakshasa is no mount,” Samir growled in response, enlightening me that I wasn’t the only one with fraying nerves.

“I’m a little too tall to play knight on either of your companions,” I broke in while motioning at my eight-foot-tall frame, expanding my wings to their full glorious span and pointing at the gear strapped to me in various places.

While I was doing this, Shad tossed Fergie onto Engli’s shoulder and moved to their mid-back to clamber up. They kept getting stuck in the mud and eventually everyone stopped arguing to watch them try hopping up over and over and over again. They were like a tiny dog trying desperately - and repeatedly failing - to bring their favorite toy onto the couch. What none of us expected was what happened next.

“FuUUUUUUU”

Shad was pulled under the mud as Samir, Reev and Kiaralongh darted forward to converge on the location of their shriek. Engli had whipped around, bit into their lower arm and was trailing their rapid path deeper into the marsh. Exasperated, Chad uselessly tried to Taunt whatever had ahold of the submerged elf while Fergie hissed and chattered from Engli’s shoulder.

“I need a target! Pull them up Engli!!” was Samir’s not so sage advice that would leave the elf one arm less and suffocated no doubt. Fortunately the lion ignored her and continued allowing Shad to be dragged under the muck while keeping their arm secured in their mouth.

“Bah, enough! Grasping Roots!” cracked out as Kiaralongh’s skill triggered thorned roots to rise out of the water carrying a very constricted elf. Watching in disgust as Engli released their arm from their maw, I saw a black and red snake twined around the elf like a Maypole ribbon. The swamp snake’s teeth were also embedded in Shad’s ass, and I quickly checked my interface to see if that was going to have a more poisonous outcome than the standard for an open puncture wound exposed to decayed plant matter, fish carcasses and fetid swamp water. What I found did not match with what I was seeing and I decided that I could mention it to the group later.

As soon as the swamp snake cleared the water Samir pierced it multiple times with Ice Shard after Ice Shard to avoid injuring the roots or the elf. Kiaralongh had the roots pull Shad back over to us as the snake slowly released its stranglehold on them. Teeth were still firmly embedded in their ass though.

“Hold on friend,” Reev whispered to them while pulling a blade to disentangle them. I couldn’t tell through the mud, plant matter and snake corpse just how injured they were and they seemed to be struggling until Reev touched them so that was a good sign. Night crashed onto the scene at that moment, wild-eyed and furious, absorbed the tableau and sprinted to where Shad would eventually land.

“Swirling Vortex.” I watched as Samir’s water and air-based skill power washed the muck off Shad, though it did look somewhat painful. The vortex was followed by the green glow of Engli’s Verdant Spring embraced them as soon as Samir’s skill ended.

“fuck. ow. fuck. ow. thanks. fuccccccka,” was whimpered out as Reev diligently cut away the last bits of the now very stiff serpent and pulled the head, and atrociously long teeth, off of Shad’s rump. I rubbed my own haunch in sympathy. Watching Shad shakily clamber down out of the roots and stand with righteous suspicion in the water again, I turned to Kiaralongh with a burning question, “So, did Chad do that on purpose?”

“What! I wouldn’t….,” he started.

“Absolutely,” Kiaralongh confirmed, brooking no argument. She settled her hatchets into their hip holsters and thoroughly inspected Shad’s arm, ass and rib cage. Satisfied, she marched into Chad’s space “Don’t demure, it's fake and we all see through it. You offered up Engli like a pony after insulting Mavrich and Shadark. Get your priorities straight or get out at the end of the level. Got it?”

“Fine. Sorry Mav. Samir can you get Shad onto Engli so we can go already?” was Chad’s dismissive agreement.

"Engli, Shad will need another pass once your cooldown is done," Kiaralongh requested of the lion.

Shad watched the whole interaction from a very still place which gave me chills of foreboding for Chad’s future. Bending down, they started pulling their scattered gear that had snagged and broken free in the drag fest out of the water and mud. They didn’t comment at all, on any of it. Night head-butted them to get them to pause, which worked and earned the wolf a few moments of some fingers through fur for reassurance.

Samir waited warily by Engli for them to finish, and once the elf stiffly strode up to them she offered cupped hands for a boost onto the lion’s broad back. “Thanks.” Vaulting up with the aid to a much different result than the last attempts, Shad gently patted Engli’s shoulder and scooped up the still agitated ferret, Fergie.

I was not excited about being correct - they were indeed oil and water and we were seeing the beginning of that combination.