Mason and the others cautiously approached the pool. With so many enemies, he was worried that the chaos would be too much and he couldn't protect the others—especially Rebecca.
But he knew he had to learn to trust her. She was tougher than she seemed, and ultimately, he needed her help.
He dropped a combination of deadly and snare traps in front of Blake and Seul-ki, then moved closer to his foe. The cavern expanded beyond the end of the maze, and there was a slight drop leading down towards the ramp that led to the pool they had very little cover. Mason and the others ducked down to watch, Mason waiting until he was sure that Blake could see the creatures.
“Are you in range?” he asked.
“Yeah. I think. Ready whenever.”
Mason glanced at the others. “Everyone ready?”
They all nodded their heads, and Blake’s eyes glazed as he focused. He reached back and took Seul-ki’s hand as a strange energy shimmered in the air above him.
Mason drew back his bow. The air around Blake grew thicker, more oppressive, than faded all at once. A sizzling purple line slashed across the nearest Sisters, searing flesh and bone like a scalpel. Two dropped, sliced almost in half, a third screamed as her arm slopped to the wooden floor.
Mason led with a Power Shot, blasting another Sister from her feet then continued loosing at the others at top speed.
The corrupted creatures shrieked and turned towards the party, red light oozing from enraged eyes as they opened distended jaws and howled. They were mostly humanoid, a bit like Calypsa herself save for their bodies seemed composed entirely of the barkskin armor with no flesh underneath. With the glowing eyes and zombie-like mouths, they were suddenly rather more horrific looking than he’d expected. But he just kept on shooting.
Two of the creatures in the rear had their own bows and drew them, loosing arrows right back at Mason. Both struck a translucent purple shield and dropped to the ground.
“I could do that all day,” Rebecca grinned, “keep taking them down.”
Mason was getting far too used to that shield. But he didn’t waste his chance, loosing a Crippling Strike at the nearest Sister then following with a string of basic arrows.
The creatures were nearly on them now. But not with enough numbers to be a problem. Then Mason heard a growl to his side.
He nearly grabbed Rebecca and leapt aside before he saw Calypsa step ahead with spear raised. A black and red ball of fur and claws flew from what looked like a hole opened in the wall, and Calypsa skewered it on her spear. The ball unraveled and screeched, resembling something like the offspring of a panther and an armadillo—albeit with a spear sticking through its chest.
“I’m fine, druid. Focus on the Sisters.”
Mason nodded, dropped his bow, and moved forward with his sword and Claw. The remaining Sisters had arrived, their fingers extended with claws, their mouths slavering and fanged. Mason activated Predator’s Strike and took the head of the first to reach him.
“There’s something coming out of the pool!” Blake hissed, clearly concentrating on some kind of spell.
Mason didn’t have much time to worry about it. He dodged and side stepped two more arrow-peppered Sisters, slashing at their arms and faces as they chased him back down the ramp.
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“That’s right,” he taunted, “stay on me. Come on down for a little dance with Mason.”
The three remaining Sisters hissed and charged. He cut a hand from the first and backstepped down the ramp to avoid two vicious bites. He heard Blake’s shout.
“Watch your back!”
He turned and leapt sideways just as another panth-adillo roared right past him.
“Calypsa, incoming!”
He could hear more activity down towards the pool, and knew it was time to get more aggressive. The remaining Sisters attacked but this time he didn’t try to withdraw. He jammed his Ranger’s Claw straight into the open mouth of the first, then twisted and opened the throat of the second with his shorter blade.
It fell into him, still biting and clawing, and he pushed it off with his elbow before kicking it back. Predator’s Strike re-charged, and he spun with a single movement to damn near cut the last Sister in half.
Calypsa and Rebecca were holding off and dealing with the beasts, so Mason turned back to the pool. At least six, no, seven sisters were climbing out of the water…
“Shit.”
He heard at least one more beast behind him but he had to trust the others. They could handle it. He went for his bow, then dropped his traps ahead, and started shooting.
Power Shot and Crippling Strike were back and he used both instantly. Some of his shots missed but he didn’t care or slow down. The string thrummed again and again until the sound of it bounced off the walls and drowned out the shrieks and roars in Mason’s mind.
The Sisters hit his traps, sending small explosions of thorns into their ranks and bringing at least two down. But they were still coming.
Mason heard Rebecca cry out and forced himself to stay on target. Then he nearly turned and attacked when he felt something come closer before smelling Seul-ki’s perfume. Her hand touched his back.
“You have one minute. Use it wisely.”
She was enhancing one of his powers, he realized, and was about to look to see which before he saw every power and every stat was lit up with purplish color.
It felt like Seul-ki poured a pot of coffee down his throat, dumped him in an ice bath, then gave him a shot of cocaine. He dropped his bow, drew his swords, and ran towards the Sisters.
The creatures blurred in Mason’s mind and vision until they resembled gnolls. Suddenly he was back in his tutorial, alone and clueless and trapped with terrifying monsters in every direction.
He roared and slashed his Claw at the first flesh in range. He spun away from the charging bites and raking hands and chopped anything that moved. Predator’s Strike cut through a creature’s waist like butter and arced right past, a blue-tinged aura following the blade’s path. He kicked one of the Sister’s straight to the chest and heard ribs crack as it shrieked and bounced down the ramp.
Mason felt like a superhero, a God. The Sisters were slow-moving children attacking a lion, and he spun from target to target clawing them apart.
Then it was over, and he looked back to the others to find them safe and watching him, a handful of bloodied panthers prone at their feet.
[You have defeated a dungeon encounter - Sisters of Chiros with Corrupted Panther ambush. You have gained group experience.]
Seul-ki’s power ended, and Mason sagged at the loss of strength and speed. His arm pulsed with waves of pain, and he glanced to find his elbow bone sticking through bloody flesh. The blood loss was making him light headed, and he slumped down to the closest rock.
The others were coming forward with concern in their eyes and Mason decided to cut them off.
“Calypsa, can you cleanse that pool?”
She nodded, balancing her bloody spear on her shoulder as she walked to the edge of the foul waters.
“You’re hurt.” Rebecca wiped a few strands of hair from a sweaty forehead, big brown eyes all concern as she looked at Mason’s blood-dripping arm.
“I’m fine. Seul-ki, that boost was amazing. You think you can give my regenerate a small, single boost? Might speed us up.”
She nodded and wordlessly touched his arm, sending another spike of cold power down his spine before Regenerate went purple.
“God damn I could get used to that,” Mason muttered. Blake smirked.
“Try not to, brother. One day we’ll be charging per use.”
“Uh huh.” Mason closed his eyes as he literally felt the flesh on his arm knitting together. When he opened them he saw Rebecca staring at the wound with wide eyes. “See?” he grinned. “I always heal.”
“The waters are cleansed, druid.” Calypsa returned with eyes shining a little less than before, but otherwise no worse for wear.
“Good work.” Mason gave the room a cursory glance, noticing the blood and corpses scattered everywhere. “That goes for everyone. That was no easy fight. I’d say we make a damn fine team.”
The others all beamed in their own ways. Blake with a dramatic flourish, Rebecca with a brilliant smile, Seul-ki with polite tolerance.
“Now if you’ll just give me a minute to stick my bones back in, we’ll see what’s down that ramp.”