The Crypts - 10 Person Mode
Slatewell Safe Zone.
The landing on the second floor of the Crypts led to a long set of stairs which the Crusaders took until the they reached the bottom. They saw a familiar scene once they made it. Eight hallways surrounded the open, middle area and each of the coffins had eight latches sealing them shut. So, began another round of clearing and harvesting.
"Here we go again." Brick muttered.
The team chose a hallway at random while everyone avoided crossing into the light. However, unlike the five person mode, the Monsters began to crawl out of their coffins in the chosen hallway the moment the Crusaders set foot down its length instead of letting them reach half way.
"What the Hell! They aren't human!" Brick shouted as the first wave of Monsters approached them.
Jut focused on the closest one, and it was indeed, not human. It looked human with two minor exceptions. The Monsters had pointed ears and were more slender than the Human ones. He pulled up one of the Monster's information just to be safe.
Elf - Monster Stone Rank
The Elf Monsters weren't any harder than the Human ones. There was a slight difference that added a challenge to the wave, however. These Monsters could cast magic. More than once a party member had to dive out of the way to avoid getting hit by a fire ball or a spike of ice that flew at them.
The Crusaders had no issues cutting down the Elf Monsters and reaching the end even with the new challenge. Instead of running into a dead end as they expected, they found a wooden door. Jut moved to the door. With only a slight hesitation, he pulled the door open and braced for anything to happen. After nothing did, he gestured to Brick.
"After you, my good sir." Jut bowed slightly.
Brick bowed back to Jut. "Don't mind if I do, my good sir." Brick held out his hand, his fingers pinched. He dropped an imaginary coin into Jut's hand.
Jut smiled and pretended to shine the "coin" on his sleeve.
The reaction of the Beastly Five was mixed. Sky chuckled while Mike rolled his eyes. Roxy seemed delighted while Diana face palmed. Creek Shadow looked confused.
Isabelle facepalmed as well and when the two elves saw each other have the exact same reaction, they both laughed as they followed Brick into the room.
The new room was large and square. It was made of the same stone walls and floor the rest of the dungeon seemed to be craved from. There was a floating ball of light on the high ceiling that made it so Isabelle could put her lantern away. Each wall had a lot of alcoves in it. Instead of coffins, the alcoves were filled with egg sacks. The eggs looked slimy and were balloon shaped with small pock marks in them. They would pulse every few seconds.
As soon as the last team member crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut and thick metal bars shot down to cover it. It was clear they weren't getting out.
"Well, shit. Be on guard team." Jut called out.
One by one, the egg sacks began to burst. In their place, fully grown spider Monsters were left behind. Each was one of the colors of a Mana Chip and had a matching glow. Their clear carapaces reminded Jut of brown recluses, especially the Earthen colored ones.
"Spiders! I fucking hate spiders!" Both Diggy and Mike said together. The pair made eye contact, chuckled nervously, then focused on the fight that was about to start.
Brick stepped forward. "Semi-circle formation with the tanks on the outside. Jut, add to the ranged fighters' power. Creek Shadow, want to take Main Tank?"
The team followed the orders, falling into position. Jut kept an eye on the Monsters, allowing himself to be in the back, his wand at the ready. Creek Shadow stepped forward and took up the middle position.
Creek Shadow stepped forward with a wide, wicked grin. "With pleasure." Her own Battle Cry followed. She proceeded to curse at the Spider Monsters. The words weren't the worst the others had heard, but they still made more than one of the Crusaders look at her in surprise or shock.
That was when the run took a turn for the worst. The few Crusaders that were caught off guard by Creek Shadow's words weren't looking at the Monsters. This caused many of them to not be ready for when they had one of the spiders, who just so happened to be out of the tank's Skill's range, land on their heads. The rest of the spiders jumped down all at once and rushed the team trying to get to Creek Shadow.
It was utter chaos and clearly none of the Crusaders knew how to handle it in this new team set up. So many mistakes were made all at once and back to back, it would be hard for the team to catch them all without reviewing their Lore.
Creek Shadow waited until the front row of spiders to reach her before she attacked. Her axe began to glow a blue Jut recognized as Magical Strike before she swung it. The blade sank deep into the nearest spider, nearly bisecting the green arachnid.
Joy darted forward to strike a blue spider that would reach Creek Shadow before she could get her huge axe back up. Yet, the Fae woman did react in time. Creek Shadow yanked her blade up. The crescent shaped back edge flew back and struck Joy in the shoulder. The blow made Joy stumble backward a few steps. The friendly fire would not have been so bad if Creek Shadow had not panicked after striking her teammate. She turned fully towards Joy, an embarrassed look on her face.
"Oh. My bad, Joy." Creek Shadow said, waving her hands in front of her as if to ward off the mistake.
Sky ran forward to help Joy. He had learned a new healing spell recently on advice from Isabelle. While it wasn't equipped and was still Normal Rank, the single cast spell would remove a bleeding debuff. The problem was that the spell required him to touch his target. The flow of Monsters was so heavy on Creek Shadow that Sky got ran over by a few spiders before he could make it. Both Sky and Creek Shadow were taking damage very quickly.
This, too, would have been fine. Diggy stepped in and swung his axe through all of the closest Spiders and Brick shouted his own Battle Cry to draw the Monsters off them. Yet, Diana had a spider on her face and she stumbled into the path of Diggy's blade on its back swing. As a Stone Ranker deals damage to a Stone Rankers that isn't the red line of Rank Disparity, his blade cleaved right through the front of Diana's neck. Blood sprayed everywhere as the archer fell backward, her hands flying to her neck.
Jut turned to help Isabelle deal with the spider that was on her face. His wand blast decimated the spider without hurting her. This allowed the healer to do her job. However, watching Diana get decapitated made Isabelle miss the healing spell she was aiming at Joy.
The Crusaders almost took the fight back, but almost was not success. Diggy managed to shake off his blunder and kept fighting. Brick kept aggro well after his Battle Cry overrode Creek Shadow's. Enough so that he was able to step forward and help the girl out of her mess. Mike was at Brick's side, keeping pressure on the Monsters Brick was tanking.
Joy, however, was bleeding from her arm and it wouldn't stop. This slowed her down and she wasn't killing the spiders as fast as she normally could. By the time she reached Sky, who was under three different spiders, the Roc-kin was covered in finger sized punctures and his health was falling quickly.
Roxy, who had a spider land on her at the start, had successfully handled her own face hugger and joined the group again. The problem was, she was poisoned. It made her movements sluggish. This allowed the damage she was receiving to accumulate even further.
Slowly, the Monster's numbers started to fall. As soon as there was only a hand full left, the panic began to fade and the team felt like they had the fight completely under control. It was too late for Diana, whose body had already faded, despite Isabelle's attempt to reach her before she bled out.
Mike looked up to check the higher levels of the room. He didn't hate spiders like Diggy did. He was more scared of them than anything else. As he had fought many of the beasts in the wild, albeit in small numbers, he was able to keep himself together. However, seeing a giant spider the size of a great Dane and as wide as a fully grown cow was enough to crank that fear into overdrive. He pointed up and his words shook.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"G-g-guys! L-look!"
The thing about eggs, they usually mean that the something that laid them was likely close by. The creature crept across the ceiling, pulling its massive bulk from the top most alcove. Each of its nearly translucent legs were a different color of magic. The front pair were Stone Metal grey. Each step it took sent a small wave of colored energy, the metal pair leaving behind puncture marks. The Spider reared up and hissed at the team.
"Crusaders! Ranged attacks!" Brick shouted.
The call had Jut and Isabelle aiming and firing their wands. The weakened Sky was slower on the uptake but joined in, too. Jut pulled up the Monsters name as he kept firing.
Spider - Elite Boss Monster Stone Rank
The multiple rounds of energy bolts splashed across the Spider's body, causing small wounds. That didn't stop the monster from jumping down at the team. This caused everyone to scatter to avoid it.
Once there was room, Diggy waited. Just before the giant spider hit the ground and could attack the team, he charged. A slight glow appeared around his short yet stout frame as he slammed into the creatures body with a thump. His momentum carried them both into the nearest wall. With a sickening crunch the Spider's carapace cracked and green ichor sprayed all around.
The Minotaur merchant took a step back and levied all of his might into a downward strike that severed the nearest leg he could reach. The water blue appendage bounced away, leaving spots of ichor behind. Then Diggy went to sever another leg.
The Team wasn't idle either. Jut had swapped out his wand for his spear and lunged forward after Diggy had first stepped back after his Bull Rush. The tip sank deeply into the bulbous body. Isabelle had turned to healing anyone who was still injured, specifically Sky at first. Joy and Brick had closed in and took their turns striking at the Monster.
The four remaining Beastly Five members were in awe as they watched the original Crusaders dismantle the boss Spider in a matter of moments. The Monster tried feebly to retaliate, but the Adventurers didn't let it. Soon, the newest members hopped in too and unloaded what they could.
When the group stepped back, Mike was still striking the spider. "I hate spiders! At least when you are this big, I wont miss!" Over and over again, he struck at the corpse.
Roxy carefully walked up behind the enraged human and set a hand on his shoulder. "Mikey. It's dead."
Mike was breathing hard, his mask of fury slipping then fading away. "Yeah. We got it."
"Alright. That was a shit show." Brick said with a shake of his head as he wiped his blade clean.
"Agreed. Let's loot these corpses and look for anything we can harvest." Jut added.
Sky, who looked sheepish, stepped forward. "I...we...we're sorr-"
Jut shook his head and quieted the Roc-kin with a wave. "Not now, Sky. As we always do after a dungeon run, we will discuss what happened after we are finished. All of us have stuff we will need to work on after this. Let's get to it and keep going."
The room was cleared and the atmosphere was heavy as the nine adventurers exited the room and walked back down the hall. Jut noticed that only six of the eight lights from above were lit but didn't pay much mind to it. It was likely a gimmick to make the run scarier or something.
On the walk, Diggy nudged Mike. "You did get'em though. I saw you hack that red spider in half while it was in mid-air. Great kill, man." His words made the other man smile weakly and nod in thanks.
The team was mostly despondent as they chose another hallway to go down. The Monsters that approached were not elves. Jut pulled up their information as their charge began.
Fae - Monster Stone Rank
These Monsters all had red skin, wicked sharp teeth, and serrated claws at the ends of their hands. Past that, they were just like the Elf and Human Monsters. On top of the few minor physical differences, they were also more vicious when it came to physical attacks and they used a little bit of magic which was unexpected.
Something the team noticed during their fight down this second hallway was how much slower they were getting it done. Neither Jut nor Alex could tell if it was because they lost Diana or if it was because the fight between them and the Fae monsters took longer because of their more direct fighting styles. Either way, it wasn't good.
When they finished the hallway and approached yet another door, Brick stopped and looked back. "So, is this the new normal now? Clear hallways then rooms with Monsters? Not exactly that much different."
Jut shrugged and the rest of the team was noncommittal. "Likely so." Jut said, uncertain. "Only one way to find out."
Through the new door, the team found and identical room but no spiders. Instead they found scorpions, both the club tails and hammer arms.
Better prepared and with Brick leading as main tank, the team was able to take out the smaller scorpions easily. Just like the Spiders, there was also a giant, boss Monster. This battle was much harder but less devastating to their team. At least, that was until they discovered this boss had a special trick.
Brick was on a roll, blocking and deflecting hits from the massive hammer arms the Boss had. He was even able to take the stinger to the chest and his armor stopped it. However, the Boss' carapace was much more sturdy and hardly anything seemed to pierce it. The ex-solider braced himself and let the stinger hit his chest again. As expected, the object didn't go through the partial plate mail.
That's when the tip started to glow. A bight, white light emanated from the stinger.
Jut looked over just in time to see a massive blast of white colored energy tear through Brick's body, blasting through the back of his plate mail chest piece and right into Sky. Once Diggy and Creek Shadow stepped forward to tank, Isabelle tried to use her From the Brink Spell. It discharged, but did nothing. It was a waste the daily use, and Brick's body still faded away. Sky's body disappeared just after. No one commented on how the smell of burnt feathers lingered on the air.
"What the Hell?" Isabelle shouted as she backed away from the spot where Brick had been a moment before. "Since when does a scorpion Monster have a one shot kill blast like that? It's an Elite Boss, just like the Scorpion Den, right?"
"I don't know and it is. We just have to deal with it." Jut said. "Creek Shadow, take over as main Tank. Let's regroup and stay away from that tail tip."
Jut did his best to keep his fear and frustration from his voice. Yet, it was clear everyone else still felt it like he did.
They managed to take out the Monster. When the tail sped at Creek Shadow, she dodged to the side and wrapped an arm around its shaft. Diggy followed up and chopped through the thick limb with a single strike, spraying bug ichor all over the new Tank. From there, taking down the Monster was easy enough.
Looking around at the now seven person group, Jut sighed.
"Do we press forward? Or end the run here?"
Joy shook her head and smashed her fists together. "We can't give up that easily. Let's keep going."
Creek Shadow, still nervous from her earlier miss use of her shout, shrugged. She was still dripping ichor with each step. "I say we end it here. Without Brick, how are we supposed to take on both of the Bone Horrors at the end of the run? I also want to bathe. Even if there won't be any of this stuff left on me after we get out of here, I will need to scrub. It's disgusting."
"I say we end this latest disaster." Diggy added. "I agree with Creek Shadow. We are down a healer and a tank. Even if Isabelle is good enough to carry the run, we can't have her using her potions before the final battle and she used one of her big heals already."
Isabelle didn't respond but her face did turn a bit pink. She felt shame at wasting the amazing spell's charge like that.
"No. We should go as far as we can. I don't want to give up yet. We need to get revenge on this Dungeon for that bull shit." Realizing her words, Roxy looked embarrassed. "No offense Mr. Diggy."
Diggy chuckled. "None taken and I agree. It is bull shit."
"I say we continue, too." Joy said with more confidence than she felt. "At least until we can't continue anymore.
"What's your call, Boss?" Mike asked Jut. Everyone turned to look at him too.
Jut hesitated, thinking it over. He finally landed on a decision. "I say we clear as much as we can. While the experience in here is lower than our in the real world, it will be at least a week before we will be able to run this mode again. We might as well take advantage of it. Let's not waste any potions or consumables though. Let's just see how far we can get "
The team was not enthusiastic about the order, but no one argued. The remaining seven adventurers chose another hallway.
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Out in the lobby, Diana, Sky and Brick were all seated at a nearby table.
Sky was moping and Diana was pissed. She was upset that she let Creek Shadow's vulgar words distract her more than anything else.
"Cheer up, guys. Shit happens." Brick said with a tight grin. He felt just as frustrated as they did, but at least they were in the Dungeon and no one would actually die.
"We didn't mean to waste your time..." Sky pouted sourly. "It makes sense we would mess it up as we couldn't even make it through the five person run on our own."
Brick's palm slapped the Roc-kin's back playfully. "Enough of that. Let me tell you about the first time we died in there." Brick then started to recount their first attempt at the five person mode. Diana and Sky hung on his every word, their frustration dimming as he spoke.
Over the course of the next hour, members of the team reappeared, starting with Jut and ending with Isabelle. Soon all ten were crowded around the the small tables.
"Well, that was shitty. I say we go and get lunch. My treat." Jut said, standing as soon as the Elf Healer reached the table.
Mike spoke up, looking disappointed. "That's it? We're getting lunch? You guys aren't going to kick us out of the guild or something?"
Creek Shadow covered her face. "It's all my fault. I tried to be a bad ass but I messed everything up instead."
Brick and Jut looked at each other briefly. It was Brick who answered.
"Hell no. Mistakes happen. That's why we chose the dungeon as our first run as a guild. That way, we can learn and grow before we head out to where death is permanent."
Isabelle, Joy and Diggy all gave their own encouraging nods as they rose.
"No worries, newbs. Let's eat lunch and we can pick apart our run and learn better for next time." Joy said as she offered Diana a hand.
Diggy bowed his head sheepishly. "My bad, Diana. I didn't mean to take you out like that."
Diana shook her head and waved her hands in disagreement. "No, no. It was my fault. I walked right into your swing." She gave Diggy a large smile. "You had great follow through. To chop through so many enemies and still take me out means you had a lot of power behind that attack."
The group made their way towards Radiance, chatting merrily. Despite the total wreck of a run, their spirits were high and rising.