Sam waited until the others were up on the staircase, and then followed, acting as the rearguard. This was just as well, seeing as the cyclops started hurling large stones and other projectiles up at them, trying to dislodge them. Sam batted the smaller ones away with his mace, and he shattered the larger ones, expending a bit of energy each time. They were safe for now, but he would eventually run out of power, seeing as the staircase was incredibly high. He doubted that the monsters would just stop either. They looked like the sort of creatures that would pursue their prey to the end.
Sam looked back, and saw that three caster cyclops were rapidly approaching, and they started to weave a spell together. The canyon started to rumble, and something stirred at the bottom. A serpentine head, wrought out of molten rock, emerged from the stygian depths of the canyon, and roared.
It rose up to its full height, easily multiple miles, and looked at them with a baleful gaze. Summoning such a creature had taken a great toll on the monsters, and they collapsed to the ground. A moment later, tendrils of lava reached up and grabbed them off the rope bridge, pulling them down into the waiting maw of the snake. They had evidently neglected any safety measures with that summoning.
It bit down once and then swallowed, the outlines of the monsters vaguely visible within its gullet. It had been awoken, and now it was hungry. However, the large number of cyclops available for it to sink its teeth into distracted it from its intended target, which was Sam and the others. It lashed out with more of its tentacles, and pulled screaming cyclops down into the dark. Sam and the others ran as quickly as they could, and eventually reached the top of the canyon, looking down at the smoking ruin that the hanging city had been turned into. The snake looked up at them again, and smiled.
“Gaea awakens, mortals. Soon she will be here, and you will all pay for your hubris.” It said, before crumbling away in a shower of quickly cooling rock, falling to the bottom of the canyon.
Sam looked at his companions in shock. He had not expected the snake to speak, let alone threaten them.
“Is it weird that I want this Gaea person to step on me?” Jeffrey said with a grin. Sam flashed him a withering glare, and then snorted at the out of pocket statement.
“Gaea? Isn’t she the Greek god of the Earth?” Eduardo asked. “Has the arrival of the System brought her to life somehow?”
“I think you're right, “ Sam answered. “If that snake saw her as some sort of authority figure, then I am scared to think of how powerful she would be. However, we still have a task to complete. What did we get from those treasures?” He asked, looking at the packages.
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The others set them down, and Sam moved over to them. He organized them in size, and they started to open them. The first one was a large crystal of a strange golden substance, which upon analysis, was revealed to be a concentrated orb of credits that would give its user 5 million credits. This was quite a lot, even to them, and Sam quickly used it. Unfortunately, it could not be divided between them, but he would put in the faction coffers when they got back.
The second item was a single Large Essence Orb, and they collectively decided that it should go to Addas, as the lowest leveled among them. At his level, it would not make that much of a difference. After the man returned, with a smile on his face from having allocated his stat points, they cracked open the next package, which was about half the size of a human body. Sam watched as a shining suit of silvery chainmail slid out onto the ground, complete with a full helmet and a chestplate. Sam quickly analyzed it, and grinned as he read the description.
Superior Chainmail Half-Plate
F-Rank Armor
The peak of mortal crafting, this armor is made out of mundane materials that have had every last drop of potential squeezed out of them by a masterful smith. It provides superb protection against slashing attacks, with good protection against other attacks of the same rank. It is enchanted with basic System granted enhancements, which include various utility features such as auto cleaning and equipping.
Armor Skill:Bolster
Upon use, the wearer will gain significant power for the span of a single minute, after which they will take an amount of damage equal to a tenth of their health bar.
It was a magnificent suit of armor, and Sam had to stop himself from rushing forwards to take it. Before he could say anything however, everyone looked at him pointedly.
“You need to take it, Sam,” Eduardo said.
“What? But I’m already so far ahead of the rest of you. You need to catch up.”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Diluting your strength will only end up making our faction weaker. As we gain access to ever more potent sources of power, your individual strength will rocket above our own, as it should. Besides, the armor is F Rank. You’re probably the only person here who can even wear it,” Lao explained.
Sam nodded and picked up the armor, ready to prove everyone wrong. As he lifted it, he realized that it was extremely heavy, weighing over a ton. If it was a struggle for him to lift, then it would be downright impossible for everyone else. Sighing, Sam put the armor on, trying to hide his obvious happiness from the others. He started running through his mace forms while wearing it, and he found that it made his movements a bit slower, but not by much. The defense that it offered was worth it in comparison.
Sam handed off his previous set of chainmail to Addas, who put it on. The man had only been able to get a set of leather armor from George, who had run out of materials, but now he had his own chainmail suit. It was a bit heavy for him, but it would suffice. It wasn’t like he needed a lot of speed given his fighting style.
There were three more packages to open now, and they did so quickly as to not be still around if any more of the cyclops came calling. Sam had already encountered them far away from the city, which meant that there were probably more of those cities scattered along the canyon. In any case, even if they were being paranoid. They were all excited about what the treasures would be, and they wanted to open them quickly.