“Two more tunnels left here,” Wyn said, standing with his arms folded. “The far left one and this one. Second to the right.”
“I went through that one,” Marcy said, pointing to the far right tunnel, “and it was a bust.”
“And mine had a chest but still not the way through,” Cedric added. “So yes, that leaves these two.”
“You had a bad feeling about the far left one, didn’t you?” Wyn asked. “That’s why you changed your mind at the last minute?”
“He’s just neurotic,” Marcy said.
Cedric shot her a harsh look. She failed to suppress a laugh.
“Well, I’m trusting him,” Wyn said. “I’ll try this one.”
Wyn held his spear at the ready and walked through. Wanting to not enter too far, he stopped a few feet in and waited. He turned around and shrugged to Marcy and Cedric.
After a few seconds a mushroom shook itself out of the entrance, and red dust fell to the ground. Stone bars shot up from the ground separating the group again, and Wyn quickly stepped further back into the tunnel a few feet to avoid being impaled.
“Damnit,” he said. “I thought I had it. This is wasting our time!”
“It’s a step forward,” Cedric said. “Now we know the other tunnel is the correct one. We just need to focus and take care of the mushrooms quickly and efficiently. Get ready.” He raised his staff, and the topaz gem began to glow with a pale yellow light.
A mushroom began to form in front of the veterans and by the bars, rising from the ground. It was fiery red, thin like the yellow mushroom and had cap armor similar to the orange one though not as large as either. Overall, it was a bit short, maybe four feet tall. While it was smaller it looked more dangerous than the other colors. It moved fluidly as it rose from the ground like a flickering flame, and smoke trailed from its head like dark, dirty hair.
Then another identical mushroom rose directly in front of it.
Wyn was only a feet away, the bars separating him and everyone else. The red mushrooms were facing Marcy and Cedric and weren’t focused on him. They didn’t even acknowledge him at all. He was thankful, too, because the heat they gave off was immense. He felt hot even with the bars between them and a few feet back. Direct combat would be difficult, and both Marcy and Cedric were better equipped to face them anyway.
“Earthen Trap!” Marcy said, nearly yelling. She bent down and placed her hands on the ground, palming the stone floor. A large magic circle appeared and covered the ground between her and Cedric and the two flaming mushrooms.
Cedric raised his staff and pointed it at the mushrooms. “Come on, you bastards!”
Wyn began to yell out but stopped himself. What would he even say? They were two veteran Climbers who had likely been in similarly difficult situations and managed themselves just fine. They weren’t his soldiers and he wasn’t their captain. He needed to let them handle it themselves and stay on guard for his own safety.
He turned and looked down the tunnel to see if any other mushroom had formed like before. All he saw was an empty cave path lit by mushrooms on the wall and ceiling. During the last attempt to find the exit one formed on Marcy’s side of the bars, so he figured another could be here, too.
Taking a deep breath, he began to slowly walk, staying vigilant so he could strike quickly.
A loud clap echoed off the walls, like a heavy rock suddenly slapped against stone. He turned quickly and stabbed with his spear. There was nothing there, though he saw what caused the noise.
The two mushrooms had charged Marcy and Cedric but were now caught in a rock-like prison. Chains made of stone held them in place in various areas - their necks, arms, legs, and torso were all shackled. The spell Marcy cast held true, and they tried to writhe and free themselves but weren’t able. Flames erupted from their heads and bodies, licking at the magic chains but were seemingly useless. The spell was strong, and apparently too much for these weaker enemies.
Cedric stepped forward to the two mushrooms and extended his staff, arcing his body back away from the heat and partly covering his face with his free forearm. “Forked Lightning!” He yelled, casting a spell.
Instantly lightning burst from his staff, multiple arcs flying out in multiple directions. It pierced the mushrooms and the rest of the tunnel, too, jolting out wide. The electric bolts bounced around the tunnel entrance, looking like lightning caught in a bottle.
The two mushrooms froze in place as lightning coursed through their body, their flames expanding before snuffing out. They dissolved in a pile of ash just as the lightning spell dissipated around the cavernous room.
Two of the bars lowered just like before, the one in the middle staying still.
“Your turn,” Marcy said, yelling down the tunnel.
Wyn knew what that meant. His heart raced, excited but nervous. They easily dealt with their enemies - would he be able to handle himself just as easily?
He turned, focused back at the task at hand. He knew another would be showing up but didn’t know when or where. It shouldn’t be long. Strategies bounced around in his head about the best way to combat these flaming enemies.
His spear’s reach afforded him some distance, but there wasn’t much room in the cave tunnel to maneuver his position. He could keep backing up to the bars but would essentially trap himself. That would be a death sentence. Trying to skirt around the enemy could be possible but the room was much narrower on the sides, not to mention he ran the risk of being burnt.
Ranged attacks would be best, like how Cedric and Marcy handled it. Unfortunately Wyn only had two means of ranged attacks: casting Ice Shard or throwing his dagger. He was never one to throw his secondary weapon, and the odds of it harmlessly hitting the flaming mushroom with the hilt or flat of the blade was far higher than an actual pierce with the tip or cut with the edge. That left his spell, but it was an ice spell. How would that be effective against a flaming enemy?
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Maybe Cedric could identify his new dagger quickly through the bars. There was still a chance it held some effect that could help him. But would he even be able to use it correctly? He barely knew how to use his spells, and he spent time with Daniel telling him exactly what to do to even get to his current point. If he relied on it and it failed, the dagger itself could hurt him, or he’d be burned alive by these fiery creatures.
About twenty feet in front of him he saw a mushrooms shake it’s dust to the ground, and a red flaming mushroom began to emerge. It was writhing like the others in its formation, the incarnation of living flame.
Wyn quickly thought about how the magic would react to each other. Hopefully the elements didn’t interact too much - it was magic, after all, and his spell could hopefully overcome the typical idea of ice melting under fire. The monster forming in front of him was magic, too, though, so that theory was highly unlikely.
He looked at his simple spear. The Magic Weapon spell had wore off a good while ago. Would a standard metal spear point and wooden shaft be enough against magical flames?
The mushroom was almost fully formed. Wyn quickly brought up his left forearm and checked his mark. Lucidity had recovered some mana but not that much. He had just under half remaining, and the thought of using it for testing theories didn’t sit well with him.
He had only one option left. If he could quickly strike the flaming monster, position himself for attacks and defenses fast by moving away to avoid the heat and fire before they overwhelmed him, he’d stand a fair chance.
He opted to use his Speed Up skill and hope for the best.
The mushroom finally finished growing itself into its final flaming form, and locked its beady, smoking black eyes on him. The effect was unsettling, like a demon formed directly from one of the deep layers of hell and rose as a perverse fungus.
Wyn decided it was time. The more this was drawn out the worse it’d be for him. He still wasn’t exactly sure how to engage the skill, but he hoped it was similar to his spells - say it with intention, and the mark did the rest. “Speed Up!” He yelled.
A soft red glow began to envelope him. It was much duller than his Arcane Aura spell and red instead of white, but still obviously magical. A rush of what felt like adrenaline overtook him. He did not have the same feeling with the protective spell. They were obviously different, but it was striking how this skill made him feel.
The mushroom began to move towards him in a hypnotic pattern. It was beautiful, almost like a dance, as flames licked out of its core body in swirls. There was no weapon in its hands, and Wyn could hardly tell if it even had hands. But it didn’t matter with this enemy, as being too close would bring about scathing heat and burns, and any direct contact would be dire.
Worse, what other kinds of magic did it have? Could it cast spells or throw fire at a distance or was it strictly a close ranged combatant? Wyn had no desire to find out. This monster needed to be killed fast.
Moving his feet to reposition, Wyn felt his legs pulse forward much quicker than he thought. It was jarring, and his body matched the quickness when he awkwardly shot himself forward. He lightly jumped back and forth, then swished his spear in the air, testing his new ability with a few movements. To his satisfaction and surprise, he was moving at a greater speed than he imagined, able to move his weapon and body faster than ever.
The red mushroom began to hop down the cave, frolicking like a child. It was strangely unassuming, like it was playful rather than trying to kill him. The flames were not harmless, though, and Wyn could feel the heat rising as the monster came closer. Using his newfound speed he pierced his spear forward, aiming in the middle of his enemy. The weapon lashed out quickly, but his body was adjusting to his new speed. It was invigorating, though Wyn had no idea how long the skill would last. He needed to be prudent.
As the spear tip lunged out, the entire metal head went into the monster. Wyn didn’t quite know what to expect. He felt as though he would’ve been surprised whether the monster was gaseous like fire without a true physical form or had a solid body that only radiated fire. Thankfully for him the latter was true, as he felt resistance in the torso give way to his weapon. When he pulled his spear free the monster jerked, obviously damaged by the attack. He was glad he could hurt it but hopped backwards as the heat was nearly too much to bear even being several feet away.
The spear head was barely glowing red as though he quickly exposed it to a fire, which in a way, he did. Wyn could also see the end of the spear’s shaft was discoloring, and he figured too many attacks would char the wooden portion of his weapon making it useless.
This further emphasized the importance of dealing with this enemy quickly. If he stalled too much, he’d be weaponless and then burned to death.
Wyn took several more strikes against the enemy as he seemingly flew around the cave tunnel, moving like a whirlwind. The monster returned his movements in kind, slinging small globs of fire at him left and right, though Wyn was moving too fast to be hit. His theory was unfortunately right about the monster having more abilities, and long ranged ones at that.
Still, it was truly a beautiful fight, like two dancers playing the role of fighters on a stage.
Thankfully the red mushroom was slowing down, the spear strikes working to kill it. It was oddly shrinking in size, the flames dying out and reducing both their intensity and heat. The tallest flames coming off its head weren’t even reaching Wyn’s waist.
He was close to finishing it, and was glad. The fight felt like it was raging on, though it couldn’t have been thirty seconds - Wyn’s speed increase made it feel as though he was speeding through time. It didn’t help that he felt like he was fighting in a furnace, and several patches of holes formed in his robes from stray streaks of flame.
He sidestepped once more around the monster, repositioning to its back for a better strike. As he did, the mushroom leaped towards him in a desperate maneuver. It lashed out with a fiery hand to cut him or punch him, Wyn wasn’t sure which. But the contact would be awful regardless.
Wyn was able to cut it down with a large slash, but the body of the mushroom kept rushing towards him. It struck him directly in the hip and leg, and he gasped from the initial impact. The mushroom lost its flames and turned to dust, but not before scorching Wyn’s waist and right leg down to his shin. He yelled in pain, his robes singed and pants underneath completely burned away exposing his leg.
Wyn patted the smoldering embers, hoping he could put out the fire before it caused worse damage. It felt hot and ached, the cool cave air torturing his new burn. Not to mention each pat caused sharp pings of pain from his leg to his brain.
This was his fear. Injury at this point in their climb would not just be detrimental to finishing the floor, but could cause a permanent injury. Would his healing be able to address severe burns? What if he passed out from pain before?
The spear clanged to the ground. Wyn dropped to the cave floor soon after, the pain unbearable. He had been hurt before, but nothing like this. It wasn’t normal fire but magical fire, if that even made a difference. He was afraid to look at his leg but decided to anyway. It was important to know the extent of his injuries, if he could heal completely or if he’d be dealing with something far worse.
The skin was charred and swollen, and who knows what the muscle and tissue was like underneath. When he tried to bend his knee it felt as though he was being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles, and he couldn’t move it much at all.
At least he wasn’t bleeding. The burned skin cauterized whatever deeper wounds he had.
Wyn took a deep, shaky breath. This might be the end. Regen was a powerful spell, but he didn’t know its capabilities or limits. The thought instantly crossed his mind that he might lose his leg if he even survives.
What in the hells did he get himself into?