Music: The Shimmering Sands - Assassin’s Creed Origins
Mariline, after making preparations and convincing her family that she would go instead on a dungeon while her dad recovered, was now in front of a door with nine tally marks, which should indicate that only nine people died here, so it may be categorized as “easy”... or that just only nine people ever tried this dungeon.
Mariline’s equipment:
* The Sekhem scepter
* A black crocodile leather explorer armor focused on being lightweight for mobility and running away, mostly focused on protecting arms and legs where gold was used to reinforce it. With Mariline’s name engraved on the back protected by a cartouche which protects against magical influences
* In the same armor was encrusted in the left arm with a wooden and golden Ankh inscribed with a healing spell and in the right with a wooded Djed for strength and stability
* Golden BA earrings with the form of falcons for strength and preservation of the body. Which Mariline can charge them with extra magical energy to have at hand to absorb back later.
* The Usekh-t Egyptian collar / pectoral is made of gold and carnelian beads. Associated with freedom and protection
* A golden tiara with the Udjat eye, a symbol of protection, health, and physical comfort
* A big detachable explorer's bag in her lower back for medicine & food provisions, reinforced with gold and made of black crocodile leather
* Mariline had braided her long hair into a ponytail and had Lotus blossoms on each side of her head and the end of her braid. She had instructed them to shine brightly if an enemy came unnoticed to alert her and blind them to give her time to react.
* Color-coded painted wooden rods inscribed with spells and have them hanging on a hook on her left in the belt so they're easy to use at a moment's notice.
Also, she had provisions carried on a crocodile with further tools:
* A plastic water barrel, for water manipulation
* A three meters golden rod to touch the ground before advancing looking for traps.
* A red cape with golden decorations on the borders and some carnelian gems. Useful if the climate is harsh or if she needs a makeshift rope or blanket. Also doubles as a towel.
* Binoculars to look for details and traps in a position where she doesn’t need to move
* A tactical Mirror to see in the corners and strategize
* Many other trinkets and ritual tools
Her team:
* Two crocodiles, one on the back and one on the front, the heavy hitters
* A dexterous antelope and a healing hawk further on the front acting as traps detectors
* Three jackals for both controlling other enemies and anti-take-over tactics or help the crocodiles in close-quarters combat
* Two healing hawks
* Three lightning falcons for ranged support
Her active curses:
* Being burned with the fire of Sekhmet for those that attack her from far away
* Incur the wrath Sekhmet to be smitten with anything connected with Sekhmet, like her scepter
* Exorcist the dead and spirits that try to harm her
* A counter-curses curse to revert it if anybody tries to curse her
So she opened the dungeon, and what she found was two blue crystal statues of Geb, god of the earth and harvest, on a ledge and a small decorated fence made of the same blue crystal, with a lotus in the ceiling giving light.
From the fence, there were stone stairs going downwards
“This... this is not what I expected to find in an Egyptian dungeon… is this lapis lazuli?”
I don’t think my family was related to Jewelcraft... but jewels supposedly could contain nature spirits... no.. it is too much of a stretch for that to be the connection… What could be the connection to my family then?...
She got closer to the statues to examine them
“Everything is very pretty…”
No! no! Focus! What do I know about crystal dungeons?... The one in Fate Labyrinth was partially made of crystal.. so they could have crystal traps.. also crystal golems… and a Fake Dragon Golem! If there is a frigging Dragon Golem I am dropping everything and running for my life!.. I hope there are fairies instead… scratch that!… there are no fairies in Egyptian Mythology…
Ugh! Whatever! Let's continue...
So the group started going down the stairs.. they were carved from the cavern stone itself, not carried from somewhere else, it was the same stone.
Also, part of the cavern was sculpted to look like bricks.
The group reached a camp that must be done by someone else before, it looked like somebody had made a bonfire there.
It was near a stone column, which seemed inscribed and painted with hieroglyphs talking about the legends of Geb and also about Atum, the finisher of the world, a creation god...
Why does this area feel familiar? It’s a weird feeling…
They continued left and there was a curve that leads to the right
Why does this curve feel familiar?...
Anyway!... Time to use the tactical mirror...
And so she got it from the provisions’ crocodile and looked through it in the corner…
More stairs down and a big purple crystal to the left and one big lapis lazuli on the right.
Also, there were an increased number of lotus blossoms that reflected their light on the crystals, making a beautiful scene.
I think my theory that this dungeon focuses on Jewelcraft may be on point.. too much focus on crystals in this dungeon…
So.. Egyptian Jewelcraft... I remember Lord Melloi II talking about it...
The relationship between magecraft and jewels dates back to Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. So basically, it’s about as old as human history itself, taking root in Gemcraft illusions. From the beginning, jewels were the symbol of royalty, and from the perspective of various forms of alchemy, they were used to preserve youth and health.
So, illusions or alchemy could be the key here...
And it is clear that this dungeon focuses on lapis lazuli… so maybe it is used to ward off evil or insects.. but it was also used as a cosmetic… and is heavily related to beauty and princess Nefertiti…
And this dungeon is beautiful…
Music: The Battle of Krokodilopolis - Assassin’s Creed Origins
They continued going down until they reached three big purple crystals and a crystal tree, an acacia, made of lapis lazuli.
And there they were, their first enemies, two black bulls
“Enemies at sight! Engage but leave one of them alive to study”
The bulls roared, it was too loud and the shockwave stunned us
A shockwave roar attack?!
“Don’t stay there, go go!”
And so the crocodile on the front was the first to act, followed by the three jackals, the antelope retreated to Mariline’s side, as instructed before, and her healing hawks and lightning falcons dispersed in the area.
From deeper into the cave two hawk healing birds come to support them.
“Falcons! Focus on the healers first!. First-line, focus on keeping the bulls too occupied to send roar attacks or any other ability”
One of the bulls tried to concentrate and light started to appear between his horns, but a Jackal jumped and landed on its back and bit him in the neck, the bull panicked and lost its concentration.
The enemy hawks were bathed in lightning until they died. And only one of the bulls was alive, heavily harmed and panting...
“Now jackals take over him!”
They concentrated and in seconds now it wasn’t fighting anymore.
“Hawks! Start healing him. Now... I want to know more about you... Show me all that you can do. If you need a target, pick the crocodile”
The crocodile looked back at me and looked betrayed
“What?! You’re the most sturdy of us. Besides, the hawks will support and heal you”
And the bull got closer to the lapis lazuli acacia, concentrated and the tree started to grow slowly…
“So you can make lapis lazuli grow?”
The bull moved its head up and down
“Can you make it grow faster?”
The bull moved its head from side to side
“I see… Can you do it with other crystals or gems? Like that purple one?”
It shook its head
“No then...Okay… We need to watch out for anything made of lapis lazuli then”
So that is the key in this dungeon... The concept of “Beauty” then?...
“What more can you do?”
And it roared, sending a shockwave
“Ye-Yeah I saw that one before... it indiscriminately stuns everybody and may attract more enemies in the area..”
Then it chose the crocodile as its target and began forming light in the center between its horns.. and then sunlight was directed to the crocodile blinding it...
“I see.. so giving the sunlight you must be associated with Apis, the herald of Ptah...”
It shook its head
“Not Apis? Mnevis, the divine bull of Atum-Ra, then?”
It affirmed with its head
Then it moved to the crocodile again and made a cut with its horns, then the crocodile became a little small, and it angrily hissed.
Then the crocodile concentrated on it again and the cut was healed and back to its original size.
“Did-Did you steal the KA when you harmed him and give it back to him?”
It affirmed
Of course, it is gonna be a vampiric bull!... Of all things!
“Can you give the stolen KA to somebody else?”
It affirmed
“*sigh*... okay… so this dungeon is probably filled with vampiric bulls with multiple abilities… that when they damage anybody not only can heal themselves but also others… just great!”
So the group continued down, but now instead of stairs the ground seemed sculpted like bricks.. to form a road.. and the cave started to become more decorated with even gems engraved in the paintings on the walls...
Beauty.. beauty.. beauty... What can you do with it?
And a tripwire appeared in the middle of the road.. and the hawk and antelope at the front stopped behind it.
“Really? An obvious tripwire? And from those holes in the walls I bet two spikes are going to come from, one from each wall… this is such an obvious trap… definitely sus…okay.. antelope jump over the wire but be very careful, then with the hawk keep exploring ahead for a bit looking for more traps”
The antelope looked back like saying “Who do you think I am?” and gracefully jumped over the wire… landed on the other side…and the floor rotated over a central fulcrum sending the antelope down a pit…
Mariline facepalms
“I told you to be careful… *sigh*... well-played dungeon… well-played putting a double trap… okay… hawk at the front, I want you to slowly check how sensible that floor is”
And the hawk slowly flew over the floor.. nothing happened.. then partially put his weight on it and it inclined slightly...
“So it is very sensible then…”
She got the three meters golden rod from the crocodile backpack and slowly poked the floor to see how it works and opened it a little to see what is under the pit
Inside, she saw lapis lazuli spikes at the end, the antelope unharmed, shivering and balancing over dead bodies impaled there.
“*sigh* You are a very lucky or a very skilled antelope, one of the two”
There are some bodies there…They seem to have an armor and scepter like me… probably members of my family that died there… I could reanimate them to fight for me…No no… I am still not okay with that part of my family… still… nobody deserves that type of death and be left in a pit to rot… I am gonna reanimate them to take them out of there and give them a proper burial…
She went back to the provision’s crocodile to get her cape
“To all birds! I want you to use the cape to get the antelope out of there”
Meanwhile, I am gonna reanimate the bodies as mummies so I can bury them properly back home…
“Awake to life; behold, the earth is bright! Nephthys has favored you, you being renewed daily in the night-time. Nephthys has favored you and you shall not lose your house of joy. Come, let us lament Osiris since he is far from us. Rise, rise in the morning now that you are a mummy, for you are far from your house. Nephthys has favored you, and you shall not lose your house of life. Awake to life!” she chanted
Magical linen bandages appeared wrapping parts of the bodies and now the bodies started to move…
Creepy…
The antelope was back with the rest and stayed with the crocodile that was at the front of the formation.
“Ok so to get you guys out of there I need to open this more, probably one of you gonna need to hold the floor open while I use the cape as a makeshift rope to pull you out, one at a time”
So Mariline pushed with the golden rod and rotated the floor, then one of the mummies stretched to get a hang on it and opened it until it was vertically…
Then at the back, where most of Mariline’s spirits were located, the ceiling came down smashing them.
“WHAT?! It killed most of my spirits! And destroyed my provisions! It was a triple trap?!”
The crocodile, the bull, and the jackals were dead and disappeared, leaving behind the broken provisions and the water barrel broken on the floor, where the water was spreading…
And on the other side of the pit, many bulls with some healing hawks and a bunch of flaming swallows came from a curve at the end of the corridor… flaming swallows with a divided tail, small horns… their heads and back made of lapis lazuli… their belly and neck made of gold.. and they looked angry.
“You have to be kidding me! It was a quadruple trap! It had four stages!”
Think! I need to think fast!... I am in a very bad position.. I only have a crocodile, an antelope, lightning birds, and healing hawks...Wait! the pit!!
“Keep the floor vertical no matter what!” sheI ordered the mummies
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With the floor vertical, the pit was open and the bulls cannot reach Mariline on the other side. They grunted, annoyed.
The flaming swallow rapidly moved and tried to go after Mariline's head, but she took a wooden rod wrapped in a thin net which inscribed was one of the two black magic spells the family had and trapped them in a magical fishnet. They dropped to the ground on Mariline’s side.
The crocodile and antelope were after them.
“No, crocodile use the spilled water and shoot ice stakes at the healing hawks. Falcons focus on the enemy hawks and then on the bulls on the other side. I got the swallows”
And while the crocodile and the falcons took care of the others, Mariline with her scepter and the antelope killed the trapped swallows her curses activating since they tried to attack her.
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Music: Born of the Sun - Assassin’s Creed Origins
After taking the bodies out of the pit, Mariline got home, buried them properly, rested a few days, and got new members to fill her team, new provisions, and went back to the dungeon.
“I haven't advanced at all in that damn trapped corridor! I am sick of it! You falcon! While we are outside the dungeon, so it can’t possibly do anything to us, you will cut that wire and then come back to me, so the spikes can come from the wall and fix the floor in place, then we add wooden tables just in case. And that's it!”
So Mariline got outside the dungeon, and the falcon got inside to do as ordered.
She waited outside for a while… then heard the same sound when the ceiling came down, then the echoing sound of something made of crystal touching the ground, multiple times, and then the falcon screeching loudly…. she waited….the falcon didn’t go back to Mariline…
“*sigh*.... there were even more traps…”
They got into the dungeon and saw the spikes holding the floor in place, Mariline checked with the golden rod and it didn’t move.
They put wooden tables over them to safely cross over and continue walking.
They reached a curve to the left with big purple and lapis lazuli crystals.
Why does this feel so familiar? It is a very weird feeling... What am I missing?
Mariline used the tactical mirror and saw that the brick road continued down… and even bigger purple crystals can be seen at the end.
She went down with her team and saw that crystal lapis lazuli spheres were there, that was what came down when you activated the wire, making you run and go down the tunnel.
The tunnel opened into a big cavern where there are very big purple crystals and lapis lazuli acacias.
There were some bulls that started the fight with a roar, and even more bulls and enemies came there, flaming swallows and big white and green spotted horned serpents also came… totaling fourteen bulls, six serpents, and seven flaming swallows.
We are outnumbered!
“Fall back to the tunnel! Jackals control some bulls to cause chaos and give us time!”
And they hastily made it back to the tunnel where they originally went down while they heard the controlled bulls make shockwaves stunning the enemies from coming after them, but they weren’t going to last…
Now their advantage on numbers is mitigated and we can fight a few at a time in the tunnel… Wait! We have the high ground…
“I want the crocodiles in front of the formation, use the water barrel and make an ice barricade with spikes, jackals after them, jackals control the swallows that will come at us”
The swallows came after them… then the jackals concentrated… but it did nothing… the jackals looked back to Mariline as is asking instructions.
“They can’t be controlled?! Falcons! Focus on the swallows, all against one at a time, and hawks on healing the falcons, then the crocodiles”
Many roars were heard… and they came… the bulls came in a stampede against them...
Mariline got the fishnet spell in her left hand.
“Hold!”
The swallows and the falcons were fighting in the air, keeping them out of their way.
Further beyond, the bulls were still coming
Remember your training… Use their power against them…Wait for the right moment... Strike at the last minute…Maximize the chaos in our favor…
“Hoold!!”
The bulls were near, and from the higher ground, Mariline could see three lines of bulls coming after them very close to each other... And had a clear firing range to whatever bull she wanted to send a spell...
“Hooold!!!”
They were very close to the barricade…She prepared the wooden rod to cast the fishnet spell.
“NOW!! Smash the barricade against them with everything you got! Jackals control the ones in the back of the first group and make them kill the others!!”
She concentrated and cast the spell in the middle of the bulls' stampede; they fell down and the ones behind couldn’t pass over and smashed into them and fell, dividing the stampede into two, seven bulls in each group.
The crocodiles smashed the ice spike barricades against the first three bulls killing them and then charged against the other bulls, and the jackals controlled those behind.
They died quickly…
Then while in the back the bulls were stuck, and the serpents passed between them and got closer to the crocodiles.
They started hissing menacingly…
“Jackals! Control the snakes and make them kill each other!”
The jackals concentrated, and the serpents started to kill each other.
Meanwhile, the last swallow was killed.
The serpents were killed and the bulls were easy prey trapped there, using the jackals to make them kill each other.
After resting for a bit the group went down to check the area… big purple crystals came from the ground and there were some barley spirits around and lapis lazuli acacia trees with a big light lotus on the ceiling… The place looked like a small garden.
Why does this feel so familiar? The big purple crystals in that position seem familiar…
She explored the area and looked at it from different angles... then imagined it only focusing on the crystals and without the barley and crystal acacias.. and her eyes went wide.
“No way! This is the Academy Crystal Cave from Elden Ring!... No! That can’t be!.. But the entire structure of the dungeon matches perfectly… What the hell is going on?!”
----------------------------------------
She cleared all the sections of the Academy Crystal Cave and was now in front of the fog gate to the boss… or should be… instead there was a big stone door…
The arcs.. the columns.. match perfectly with Elden Ring fog gate before the boss…if there was any doubt before, now there isn’t any… What the hell is going on?!... And after this door is gonna be a boss fight?!
First... The only thing separating me from a possible boss is only a stone door..a big door but only that.. let’s go back home and seal the dungeon…
Okay... I need to know what is on the other side… especially since after that is the elevator that goes up to that tower within the Academy of Raya Lucaria…
In Elden Ring the boss there are those two crystalians…. but the dungeon so far wasn’t filled with Elden Ring enemies… nor did Elden Ring have that corridor with traps…so I should prepare for the worst in case I really cannot return after starting a fight with the boss…
What is the worst that I can imagine in a crystal dungeon?... That damn fake dragon golem from Fate Labyrinth… I really don’t want to fight that!... but if after going inside I find it… I better prepare and think of strategies against it…And in case the crystalians are there it should be a lot easier since I know how they fight…
Hopefully, I can go inside, take a peek at whatever is there and go back home to prepare…
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Music: I Walk on Your Water - Assassin’s Creed Origins
It is time… I prepared for a month and made a lot of strategies…
I wanted to take a bigger team with me but dad warned me about a hostile takeover and how bad that can end…
I changed antelope and hawk for 3 more lightning falcons, it will probably be better for a boss fight…
Okay… it is just a quick look and then I go back home to prepare… just a quick look…
And so Mariline opened the big door and peeked inside…
Tcht! I don’t see the boss… nor the crystalians… I only see the entrance to the elevator with a hand puzzle door like those in the labyrinth and instead of the statues, there were two big inscribed obelisks and four columns around…
So Mariline used the binoculars to check the inscribed obelisks
It talks… about the Heliopolitan creation myth where he created himself and sat on the BENBEN, the first mound of earth over the primordial waters…
That is not useful… I already know from the first column near the entrance and the bull that this dungeon is related to Atum…the animals related are the serpent, mongoose, lion, bull, lizard, and ape… so the worst possibility of a dragon is still there…
…..
…..
…..
*sigh* I am gonna need to go inside…
And so Mariline got inside the boss area with her team…
“Oh! An explorer! My apologies, but you are a little early for dinner”
WHAT?!
Inside, on the right was an enclosure wall decorated with funerary hieroglyphics and paintings, the inner sanctum of the dungeon, was surely the sarcophagus, the curses, the treasure, and funerary offerings were there.
On the left…there was what could only be described as a minotaur… a minotaur with a broken horn and lapis lazuli crystal hair… over a cooking bench with some tables, chairs, and bags of flour, grain, nuts, fruits, and pots of honey around… he was kneading ancient Egyptian bread…
And near him there were some beehive-shaped ovens with fire in them and even in one bread was cooking, there also were cooking utensils around…
“You can talk?!”
“Young explorer, of course I can talk”
What is going on?!
“Ehmmm… then you are not somebody I need to fight?”
“Unfortunately… we will need to fight because I am the guardian of this place… but take a seat, we can fight after a meal, no need to be impolite about it, right?”
This is so weird! First, you have a meal with the boss and then you fight it to death?
“...yeah, right…sorry, this… is not what I was expecting…”
“Oh! don’t worry about it! Happens all the time hahahahaha!” it says while hitting his pectorals
Also, since when do Minotaurs are part of Egyptian Mythology?
Author note: Since the Coffin Texts apparently since I got it from there, so around 2100 BCE. Almost all creatures and spells I use come from the Coffin Texts, Pyramid Texts, Papyrus of Hunefer, Papyrus of Ani, the Hieratic Papyri, or books or papers from Egyptologists. They are great because they have the entire range, from expected creatures and spells to unexpected and very obscure ones, goofy and even Lovecraftian creatures. I am trying to respect as much as possible what was written they did and what abilities they had, like this “minotaur” that can talk, is polite, and likes to bake bread.
“I have a question… are you a Minotaur?”
“Minotaur?… I am sorry but I don’t know what that is… but I can tell you that I am a bullman of Atum! Yes!” it said very proudly
A bullman? Ah! right! He can talk! Then I can ask him about the labyrinth!
“Sorry, but I have another question… if you are guarding this…area? tomb?... then you must know about the labyrinth, right? Do you, by some chance, know what this is all about and what is behind the last door? Do you know why our ancestors did all this?”
He moved a hand to his chin and started talking
“Hmmm… that is a good question… Why do intelligent species do the actions that they do and the decisions they decide?… If I am allowed to theorize, I would say that there is a hierarchy of needs.. and people first start satisfying their more immediate physical needs…like baking delicious bread to eat!...then satisfy their security and safety needs… like me guarding the tomb of my master…then to satisfy their need of social interaction… like having dinner with good behaved strangers and knowing more about them…”
What is this?!! A philosophical minotaur?!... Why is everything with my family so weird?...*sigh* This is how boss battles are gonna go?... What is next then? Philosoraptor?
This is so stupid! Where did all my effort to face a dragon go? They just killed the tension and flushed it down the toilet. Give it back!
Can this world just make sense and not be weird?
“I see that you are a good listener, I like you, little lady. It is a shame my master ordered me to fight all explorers, maybe if you had a way to control me I wouldn’t need to fight… Oh! I need to turn around the bread.. yes, this will do”
That comment is super sus! Did it try to lure me into trying to control him to not fight? Does he have a reversal takeover ability?
I need to get back on track, he already confirmed that we are gonna fight to death…
“I am not gonna eat anything! I already saw through your trick!”
“OH! You know… most explorers do fall for that one… It seems you are better than most then... well… this is gonna be an interesting fight!”
And a staff materialized in his hand, then he took a stance to fight…
It really was a trap!
So that’s how he plays this? He wants you to use your jackals to try to control him so he reverses it and controls them instead… and with the jackals, he can control the rest of your team.. so you need to fight the boss plus your team…
No! Wait! He wanted ME to control it... if it is reversed then I become controlled... It is an insta-lose scenario!
What is this?!! If you make only one bad decision it is game over! I want to complain to whoever designed this! The difficulty level is too sadistic! And it is my first dungeon! It is like my tutorial! Dammit!
And then he jumped, landed to our left, then jumped again and landed hitting a column close to the door, the column fell and broke, now blocking the entrance door.
Fuck! The first thing he does is block the escape route…
“All birds! Spread! Falcons attack. Hawks heal who you can. Jackals go after him. Crocodiles protect me”
And the first to act were the jackals that went after him, when the first one got close, it jumped to bite the bullman, it sidestepped to the left, moved his staff to the right, and smacked the jackal from behind sending it far away from him…
When the other two jackals got close he used the same strategy and was getting close to me while the falcons were shooting lightning at him, but he could evade some of the shots.
The crocodiles put themselves between Mariline and him. They opened their mouths menacingly but the bullman used his staff while jumping to propel himself over them and landed near her.
“Got you!” the bullman said
Mariline moved to his right to get close to the crocodiles and turned her head slightly to the right.
He positioned, adjusted his footing, and put his left hand forward near the end of the staff, while his right hand was near the other end, a thrusting position, where you use the leading hand to guide the staff and slide with the other to do a very powerful thrust directly to the head of your opponent.
He was waiting until Mariline was close to strike
Not yet… I need to time the moment…
Mariline keeps running in direction to the crocodiles
And when his right hand tensed…
Now!
“Sunshine!” Mariline said
The flowers in Mariline's head shone with the stronger light they could produce, blinding the bullman and making him miss the strike.
And since the bullman tried to attack her, the curses on her activated, but they weren’t enough to exercise the boss, he only looked like it was slightly harmed.
You thought that you were the only one with tricks? Ha!
Mariline adjusted her scepter and made a swipe at his legs, making him fall forward and land on his head.
“Now crocodiles! Get his legs”
And the crocodiles took to opportunity to trap his legs in their strong jaws
That's it! It is over!
“Jackals come here and get his arms”
Meanwhile, the falcons took the opportunity to plaster him with lightning, partially burning him.
And Mariline prepared her fishnet spell to further trap him there.
At that moment, the bullman closed his eyes to concentrate, and from the earth spikes impaled the crocodiles, killing them.
“He can manipulate the earth! And he is not bound by the curses to not modify the dungeon!”
The bullman got up and he looked pissed.
“Now you’ve done it! You’re the first explorer to make me get serious in a long time!”
This is bad! He has a complete advantage in the dungeon now, just being on the ground is a problem with him… I need to think of something! Fast!
Wait.. that final door that goes to the elevator… if the dungeon starts with one of those… then that door should also mark the end of the dungeon…
And if it is like the crocodiles then his earth manipulation range is not very far away…
It is a risky tactic, but I am out of options…
Mariline reinforced her legs and started to run towards the elevator door.
The jackals got near him, he turned around, concentrated, and spikes from the ground impaled the jackals that were almost over him, killing them.
Mariline got to the door, put her hand and then two fingers
“Don’t ever think you can escape!” the bullman shouted
Mariline crossed the door, got from her belt a wooden rod painted purple, and positioned herself looking back towards the door.
The bullman concentrated and the floor changed, a protrusion launched him flying towards the door and Mariline.
Now… Mariline was on the other side of the door, if her theory was correct then she wasn’t restricted by the curses of the dungeon anymore…
Not yet… I need to time it perfectly so he can’t possibly evade or do anything…
The bullman was flying to Mariline and was getting close to the door…
Almost there!...
The bullman started to pass through the door and was getting ready to use his staff to hit Mariline.
Now!
Mariline used the wooden rod to cut through the air creating an Imaginary pocket dimension, the bullman without a way to modify his trajectory got directly inside it, then Mariline closed it…now the bullman was sealed…
That’s it! Finally!
“Huf….huf….huf…”
Mariline was panting and tired, she was resting her weight on one of the sides of the door.
Then the falcons and hawks came to Mariline
He completely ignored the birds and resisted the lightning or was too strong to begin with… if there are more bosses after this they are not gonna be easy… I wasn’t really prepared to fight a boss yet…
Now she looked back to where the elevator was supposed to be in Elden Ring… but instead, it was broken and many rocks seemed to have fallen and cover the vertical hole
Those are a lot of rocks… Did the tower collapse?... I am gonna need to clear the rocks… I need to know if the dungeon stops here or if the Academy of Raya Lucaria is on the other side…
Now that I think about it…. the shortcuts that my family normally uses in the labyrinth… they are like Elden Ring catacombs… and the cave my father had taken me for my first dungeon fight… didn’t it look like Groveside Cave?
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And so Mariline took her time to rest, investigated the conquered dungeon, got what she could from the inner tomb, and excavated the rocks…
“Now this is the moment of truth! Hawk, get the hook and properly tie it on the top!”
She passed a thick rope with a hook to a hawk which flew to the top.
“Now, just in case I fall down, I want you falcons to have the blanket ready if you need to catch me”
Ten falcons were flying with Mariline’s blanket stretched and gripped between their claws.
The hawk came from the top and flew down.
“Is it ready then?”
The hawk affirmed with its head
Mariline pulled from the rope multiple times to check it, then she started climbing followed a few meters below by the falcons and the blanket.
She got to the top.. positioned herself and started looking around…there wasn’t any mist… so she could see clearly the world around her…
“*sigh*... things have just become a lot more complicated…”
Author Note: You will probably note some inconsistencies and missing context for some things. That's because I decided against info-dumping everything in the first three chapters and adding them later on in the form of flashbacks and explanations when it becomes relevant. That way the story could advance faster to this part, in my mind all of this was part of the first chapter, but it got too big so I needed to cut it down...