Going down the rocky steps to the second floor, the rumbling that had permeated the Troll Caverns kept increasing in intensity. Blue crystals dotted the walls and roof of the stairway as the only source of illumination, which paired with the ambient humidity to heighten the cold sensation. As the four people group finished descending, they walked into a clearing as big as the final first floor one had been; a subterranean river could be seen at the distance.
“Wait behind that rock,” said Diana, pointing to a wide pillar-shaped formation a few steps in front of them. “I'll go with Amy to scout ahead.”
“Alright,” said Kyle, leaving his position next to Ilaria. The later, whose eyes had been glued to the column-like rock, noticed the rest moving around and stepped forward, following Kyle.
“How is dating a rogue like?” asked Ilaria, now that they were waiting alone. Her eyes were looking around the stone walls and roof, taking into account the patterns and angles of contact.
“It's different,” answered Kyle. “I'm still getting used to it myself.”
“I hope Amy isn't giving you trouble,” said Ilaria, smiling.
“Not at all; she's good,” said Kyle, letting out a laugh. “It's much better than dating random girls; for sure.”
A few minutes later, Diana contacted them through party message. The river was narrower than it appeared at first glance, dividing the room through the middle. There were six trolls and four otterflies in total, distributed evenly between both sides. Other than that, there were several pillar-like formations dotting the room, useful for taking cover. The exit was at the other side of the room, so they needed to cross the water at some point.
“Ready?” asked Kyle, preparing to run.
“Yeah.” Ilaria smiled in anticipation.
The first troll trio had been just turning the corner, behind the next closest formation. Kyle engaged them first, pulling then towards the arch between the pillar and the wall. Ilaria–who had moved to take cover closer–set herself behind the tank; working the trolls one at a time, waiting for the signal.
The mage heard the squeak before seeing it; an otterfly turning around the pillar, coming at them from behind. And being impaled by a pair of daggers, one after the other. She fireballed it as it fell, not taking any chances with the winged menaces.
“Next one incoming,” said Diana, as she ran for her daggers. Amy had been in charge of watching the second otterfly. She couldn't use party chat, though; the other rogue relaying what the elf shared by Private Chat.
Kyle was more than able to withstand the trolls in his current position, so Ilaria focused on the space around Diana. Before the catgirl could get her daggers back, the other otterfly came from behind; flapping its wings as it descended on her, with its claws ready to attack.
“I don't think so,” said Ilaria, letting a fireball go. She was rewarded by the squeak of her foe, as it was pushed back. Diana turned around with daggers in her hands, jumping the otterfly and slashing it into a short lived bloody pulp.
With the flying monsters out of the way, Diana went around the pillar to kill the trolls one by one. Their physical resistance didn't help them, the catgirl only aiming for their weak points in an efficient and ruthless attack.
After finishing the trolls, they regrouped to discuss the strategy going forward. It had been easy so far since the rogue's stealth had guaranteed they wouldn't get surprised by the otterflies. Crossing the river would make noise and alert the monsters on the other side.
“We could use Amy to cross from one side of the cavern while we go through the other side,” said Kyle, not sounding very confident.
“I'll do it if you want me to,” said Amy. “Even if they surround me I wouldn't die; I think.”
“No need,” said Diana, leaning on a pillar. “We can just cross in group and take them on. Two otterflies won't be much trouble for Ilaria.”
“If you say so.” The mage didn't expect to be put on the spot, but thinking about it, she had been surrounded by otterflies in the date dungeon. And she had been able to kill at least a pair of them before being attacked.
“I think, no, I'm sure I'll be able to deal with them.”
----------------------------------------
And she did it.
For the river crossing, Kyle went as the vanguard, followed by Diana in stealth, and then Ilaria and Amy holding hands. The later guided the mage as they crossed, letting her focus solely on the possibly incoming enemies. The water was clear, letting them see the gravel bottom. It was cold but shallow, the downstream current barely perceptible through their boots.
Ilaria noticed the shimmer of blue butterfly wings at the distance, coming from different directions, before Kyle warned them of the approaching trolls. Well, the mage didn't need to be concerned of those, Diana and Kyle were plenty enough.
The warrior was already out of the water, preparing to engage, when Ilaria made her first shot. It had been only a Force bolt, since she wasn't that confident in her aim from so far. The squeak confirmed the direction though, earning the otterfly a Fireball to the torso.
A tug from Amy reminded her of her second prey, the mage turning her glance and giving it a welcome Fireball. She knew it had been good without watching it, turning and shooting the first one again. After three Fireballs each, the otterflies fell in a heap of fire, still at a couple meters of distance. When Ilaria got out of the water, the trolls had already been done.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
----------------------------------------
The rest of the second floor was comprised of similarly big openings, following the river downstream. The exits switched sides as they advanced, forcing them to cross the water once in each one. The trolls were practically an afterthought, but the number of otterflies increased as the river got wider, Ilaria not able to kill them all before engaging in combat as for the first one. They still progressed steadily, only having a couple incidents, before getting into the final opening, which contained the boss room door.
“I'm sorry; I wasn't thinking,” said Amy, with downcast eyes, as the group stood behind a pillar at the entrance of the opening.
“Don't be; that bit of experience is nothing to be concerned about,” said Kyle, trying to be encouraging.
In the clearing just before, they had to fight seven otterflies at the river crossing. Diana and Kyle tried to engage a few to lessen the pressure on Ilaria, but they could only lure a pair. The mage was able to kill three, which left two of them free to do a pincer attack on her. She steeled herself for the clawing–she knew it wouldn't kill her but she mourned her dress–when Amy threw her daggers, making them reel from the impact. After that, Ilaria could finish them with Fireballs, making the rest of the combat effortless.
Nevertheless, there was a reason why Amy wasn't participating in combat. If she was in the party, they wouldn't get experience from the trolls because of the elf's current level. But receiving a non-party member assistance in an instanced dungeon meant voiding their current room's experience.
“It's done; don't beat yourself about it,” said Ilaria, tapping Amy in the shoulder as the elf often did.
“Actually, I think it's time for you to join us,” said Diana, smiling widely. “Trolls aren't relevant experience-wise; otterflies are much more valuable. And here there are twenty of them; we could use another damage dealer.”
“Are you sure?” asked Amy, looking at each member of the party in turn.
“Yeah,” said Ilaria, holding Amy's gaze. “I don't think we can do it without you.”
----------------------------------------
The first half of the cavern was quickly cleared by the now four people party. Since the two rogues could deal with any incoming otterfly, Ilaria was free to experiment with bounce shots as she assisted Kyle. She quickly realized that–even in a rocky opening with suitable surfaces all around–they still needed to be in sync with each other. Aiming without a line of sight was only possible if she knew where the enemy was at that particular time. That being said, she had already internalized her partner's troll tanking movement pattern, easily killing them from behind the tank's cover.
After taking out the trolls and otterflies in groups of three or four at the time, it was finally time to cross the river. The twelve trolls and ten otterflies from the other side would come at them at the moment they stepped into the water. Which didn't mean they would all engage at the same time, since they were dispersed around the cavern.
The group prepared in their usual formation, Kyle entering the water first, and making a splash in the process. The river was deeper here, coming up to the warrior's mid-calf, which meant over the knees for the rest of the group. Ilaria could feel the coldness seeping through her clothes, the river's current making the advance harder than it had been upstream.
The first trio of trolls got to the river before Kyle had finished crossing. He engaged one, the rogues taking on the remaining pair. Thankfully, every member of the party had at least five levels over the trolls, making them little more than an annoyance.
Ilaria, who remained in the back, was in charge of scanning the battlefield for any blue wing sighting. As she restarted her surveillance after checking on her party members, she noticed two groups, of three otterflies each, appear from behind pillars in opposite directions. She shot a fireball to the middle of each group in succession–each trio flew close enough for the attack to get at least one of them, even at a distance–being rewarded with the unmistakable squeak.
The otterflies accelerated their approach after being attacked, going for Ilaria, who was still in the middle of the river. She kept shooting at both groups in sequence, glancing at Kyle from the corner of her eye. He was already out of the water and engaging another troll group.
I hope the girls are getting ready to help.
The mage took out one otterfly from each group before switching to Force bolts. They wouldn't do as much damage, but they were quicker to shoot, and they could at least slow them down. Just before the otterflies reached the edge of the river, the two rogues came out from stealth, using their daggers to get them down.
“We'll take care of them,” said Diana, as she engaged the rightmost pair.
“Get out of the river,” said Amy, laughing as she took on the remaining group.
“Yeah, I'll do,” said Ilaria, covering the distance to the edge.
Once on land, the mage went forward, getting in her usual position behind Kyle. He had finished half of the troll group by himself.
“Welcome back,” said Kyle, glancing at Ilaria from the corner of his eye. He then proceeded to Shield bash the remaining trolls one after the other, giving Ilaria a line of sight to finish them.
All the remaining enemies of the room were already approaching them from the front, five trolls and four otterflies. Ilaria extended her arm, topping Kyle's hit points in preparation for the battle. The mage was confident of their chances, she and Kyle being used to worse number disparities in the date dungeon.
Ilaria started shooting the flying enemies using a combination of Force bolts and Fireballs, to slow their approach while concentrating her firepower in a single target. While she did that, Kyle was pulling the trolls towards the opening between a rock pillar and a wall, the mage following him sideways, a few steps behind.
Once Kyle settled into his intended position, the trolls weren't any problem anymore. From the otterflies, Ilaria had taken out one, the others still following her.
Anytime now.
As Ilaria turned around the pillar, the otterflies squeaked and dived down. The rogues were back.
“Sorry for the wait,” said Amy, as she engaged one foe. Diana took another, leaving one for the mage.
“Alright, lets finish this up,” said Ilaria, spamming fireballs towards the last otterfly.
----------------------------------------
“Did you enjoy it?” asked Diana to Amy, once they had mopped up the remaining enemies.
“Yes. I had forgotten how it was to play in a party,” answered Amy, smiling. “Thank you for having me.”
“Don't say it,” said Kyle. “You helped us a lot.”
“Yeah.” Ilaria didn't know how to feel about Amy joining the party on a permanent basis. But she looked happy; it couldn't be a bad thing.
“Shall we?” asked Diana, grinning as she pointed towards the golden door in the far end of the room.
“Are we ready?” asked Ilaria, not having any idea of what to expect.
“Normally we wouldn't, at our current levels,” said Diana, still grinning. “But we have Amy now. If we use potions, we might do it.”
“Then that's a no,” said Kyle, laughing.
“Okay, okay,” said Diana, smiling as she stored her daggers. “It's kinda late anyway. See you tomorrow!”