DAY 280

Looking around at his party companions as they stand together in the grassy clearing, Grizza allows himself to feel a moment of pride. It had taken a lot of long, hard work to get them here - both in the literal sense of 'here' being 'halfway through Floor Four' and 'here' as in 'working as capable, interlocking team members'. The crystals were a large part of it, of course. Such a large part that it had lead to their new party name, 'The Rough Gems'. Roxxy and Flint practically sparkle in the eerie blue glow of the floor these days, the crystals studding their arms and shoulders, reflecting the light of the bioluminescent moss and fungi covering the cavern ceiling.

Roxxy still had her original lightning-aspected crystals in the back of her hands, of course, but now there was a whole line of others tracing up her limbs. White gems for light generation. Pale blue gems for generating wind or ice. Even a few dirty brown ones, which doubled her natural control over earth and stone. Flint, the party's other earth elemental, looked much the same while Cinder and Ashley were a little more one-note. Unfortunately a series of experiments had shown that the intense heat generated by the magma elementals would eventually crack most magical stones implanted in their bodies, rather explosively so for ice-aspected crystals. Only fire crystals could manage to survive in their igneous forms, and so they had split up the party's entire supply of that kind between the two of them, turning them into powerhouses of flame when they entirely cut loose.

But gods, had that been an expensive phase of experimentation. For months the team had snapped up every wand they could find in the local market, even going so far as to barter dungeon loot with other parties for wands which they had recovered. There had been a surplus of such weapons initially, especially since Lollyp's rewards from Floor Two often offered such things in a low-tier form. Learning to properly deconstruct those wands for their gems and modify them so that they could be triggered directly through an elemental's willpower had led to the loss of a few of those items though, and even more had been destroyed trying to implant them into the hotblooded members of the team. Even after they were successfully implanted, it still took quite a bit of training for the elementals to learn to use their new abilities, and on many weeks the party had barely made even a single delve into the dungeon itself, instead spending their time in the training yard.

But finally it had all paid off. No longer did the earth elementals have to run up and punch every monster they faced. No longer did the magma elementals have to throw chunks of their own bodies in order to fight at range. Even the team's healer concerns had faded, now that Flint was equipped with a pair of health-regenerating gemstones, in case Grizza ever took a hit as the squishiest member of the party. And the evidence of their growth lies around them, as a ring of smoldering shade corpses lay about the clearing, slowly turning into smoke. It's with a smile on his face that the Mage congratulates his team. "Incredible! They didn't even land a single hit - there's teams of Experts who can't lay claim to that level of dominance!"

Cinder laughs at the praise. "Experts? Hells, I bet if we got ourselves proper Challenger ranks now they'd call us Masters! Or maybe even Supremes! What's a Supreme Pyromancer called? I bet it's something cool like 'Fire of the Heavens' or something like that, right?"

Grizza keeps smiling, but does his best to tamper expectations down just a little. "Well, it's not all about sheer power, you know. Combat experience still counts for a lot, and we haven't earned a great deal from repeating Floors Two and Three over and over these past few weeks. If we could clear Worthy Dungeon, that would certainly earn us quite a bit of respect. Although..." As his voice fades out his smile goes with it, and Roxxy steps forwards to put a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong? I mean yeah, some of the lower floor bosses do sound pretty scary, but I bet we can do it! Eventually."

"Yes, but..." The drider sighs. "To be honest, I rather feel as if I'm becoming the weak link in this party. Even if we had more wands to go around, I can't use so many pieces of magic gear like you do - swapping wands in the middle of a fight and preparing a spell is far slower than you elementals simply flexing your magical muscles. And even if we pick up our rate of dungeon attempts, I'll still likely be an Advanced rank for some time to come. Even moving through that tier to Expert within a year would be considered quite fast, you know. You four might soon become strong enough to fight the Terror of Floor Seven, or the Master Mimic of Floor Eight, but I have doubts I'd be strong enough to last even five seconds against foes like that."

Ashley gasps, his tone sounding almost insulted. "Hey! You're the boss, the brains of the operation! And maybe that's not saying much given that the rest of us don't have brains, or any of that other weird meat stuff, but it was your ideas that got us this far. I don't see us moving on without you, so if we gotta stick to the upper floors for a while to get you promoted, then that's what we'll do!"

Roxxy nods along with the magma elemental, although she does have a question of her own. "To be honest, I don't know what's keeping you from just getting your Expert training right now, really. I mean, other than the paperwork and all that stuff."

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"A lot of people ask that sort of question, but it's not actually a matter of paperwork. Or at least, not entirely." Grizza falls into a natural mode of conversation as the party begins moving again, having long gotten used to needing to explain the ways of the world to the still-naïve elementals. "At very low levels, it is true that most of a Challenger's skills are basics which could be largely learned on the training field. Although even then nothing truly compares to having at least a little bit of field experience. As magic becomes a larger part of a Challenger's toolset though there really is no replacement for actual combat." The man gestures at Roxxy's implanted crystals as a counterexample. "For you, generating and using elemental energy is second nature. For most of us however, focusing and casting a spell requires intense mental effort. Casting a spell in a few seconds may seem like quite an accomplishment - but it's not useful if a flying axe can kill you in half a second."

Flint shrugs his massive shoulders. "So...what? The Association wants a record of you having cast a spell a thousand times to be sure you're good at it?"

Grizza chuckles. "Nothing that specific. But it is like a form of muscle memory, and...well, there's different theories, you understand. Some sages suggest that the emotional states triggered by combat ease the formation of such instincts, others say it's a matter of the body chemistry created by stressful conditions. But it seems indisputable that someone's who's fought in combat has magical reflexes many times superior to those who have fought in the training yards alone. And there's no point in trying to move on to more complex spells before you've mastered the basics - if it took me five seconds to try and cast an arcane missile, attempting to cast, say...an arcane beam, a more advanced form, would take the better part of a minute and I'd be likely to do it incorrectly at the same time."

Roxxy murmurs as the party comes up to the sunken bridge marking the crossing to the boss arena island at the center of the floor. "Suppose this floor gives you a lot of target practice at least, with all those bunnies and stuff." Looking around at the flowing water, she raises her voice. "Hey, Slooshy! You in there?"

After a few moments, part of the river extends into the air and takes on a form similar to a woman's head. "Yeah? Whatcha want?"

"Are you gonna give us trouble when we try to cross?"

The water elemental tilts her head. "...Can you drown?"

"Well, I can't. But Grizza could, and drowning him would be like...bad."

"It's kind of our gig, though...you'd still have four party members left, anyhow."

Grizza speaks up in his own defense. "Slooshy! I know we haven't talked in...quite a long time, but are we not friends?"

The elemental turns to look at him. "...You beat me up in a fight and then made me take you to my boss, so that you could beat him up in a fight."

"...Yes, but it all worked out in the long run, didn't it?"

Slooshy thinks that over for a bit. "Hrmm...maybe if you pay me a toll? That sounds like something a bridge-guarding monster might do."

The Mage rubs his chin. "Well, perhaps...but what do would a water elemental charge as a toll?"

"Gimme some of your water!" As Grizza begins to move his hand towards the canteen at his side, Slooshy shakes her head. "Naw, that drinking water is boring plain stuff. Gimme some of your water!"

"Uh..." The drider turns to look at Roxxy, but the earth elemental has nothing for him but a shrug. Wildly hoping that he's not misreading the request, the man cautiously walks up to the edge of the river...and spits at the elemental. It would have landed on her approximate chest, but Slooshy actually ducks forward quickly to catch it in her mouth.

"Ah, now that's a unique taste! Not much though, gimme some more?"

"...If you insist, bridge-keeper." Wondering if he's the only one who finds this odd, the drider spits at her several more times, all of which manage to land on her face thanks to her quick reflexes. "...Does that prove sufficient?"

"...This time! But if you come back 'round these parts, you better be ready to pay double!" With that said the elemental disappears into the river once again, and Grizza finds himself sighing deeply as he moves to insert the token that will raise the bridge.

"...I think this is one secret dungeon tactic we will not be telling the other Challengers about. Let's move on to the boss, shall we?"

Once the bridge has made its appearance the team quickly moves across, and it's less than a minute later that they find themselves in the misty cemetery hidden at the island's center. Wand at the ready, Grizza begins to shout out warnings. "Try not to get too distracted by the bunny monsters - they won't be able to harm you, and I can shield myself sufficiently enough to block creatures of that size. Focus all your efforts on the guardian!"

Soon after he says that a dark cloud begins to swirl, and a booming voice responds. "IT IS NOT WISE TO FOCUS OVERMUCH ON YOUR DEATH, MORTALS. IT IS BETTER TO ENJOY WHAT LIFE YOU HAVE BEFORE IT IS TAKEN FROM YOU." The effect is rather lost given that none of the party members speak demonic, but as an announcement of the boss's arrival it serves well enough. As the dark, scythe-wielding form comes into view, It's struck quickly by a lightning blast from Roxxy.

And a hailstorm of ice shards from Flint.

And a tornado of flame generated by Ashley, followed up moments later by a rainstorm of tiny mortar fireballs launched by Cinder.

Grizza charges his wand, ready to fire off a swarm of missiles when he realizes that the giant shade is nowhere to be seen. "Did he switch back to mist? Watch your backs!"

Cinder points at a shiny box making its appearance not far from where DEATH was forming. "Unless he turned himself into a treasure chest, I think we got him, boss."

The Mage blinks a few times. "But...that was less than five seconds of combat. I don't even think he had a chance to move!"

Roxxy flexes her stony arm, still crackling with energy. "The spirit of death's gotta wake up a lot earlier in the morning to catch the Rough Gems napping! What do you say - think we've got this floor sorted out?"

Still a little in disbelief at the performance level of his team, a smile slowly grows on Grizza's face. "I think we just might, at that..."