Chương 24: Fight Together

Time until next Elemental Storm: 5 Days and 12 Hours Ethan saw a purple light spread up his arms and across his body, teleporting him instantly. When next he opened his eyes, all he saw was black. He and the rest of his group had been transported to an underground junction. Five massive hallways extended out from their little platform, and alongside it ran rivers of bubbling lava that lit up the whole place. The lava was much lower than the platforms and filled with a number of wide rocks.

All of it was flowing from a few spouts high up, and beside them were engravings and statues in the shape of…. Dragons? Their heads were carved looking downwards, like they considered themselves superior to everyone else in the shrine. Rows and rows of their kind filled the hallways, some looking like eastern dragons and some like western. Besides the scenery, Ethan felt just a slight tug in his heart, though it vanished a moment later. [Dungeon Quest Added.] He opened up his menu, and a new quest appeared.

[Dungeon Quest: Dragonmount (Earth Shrine) Activate the elevator down to the lower depths (0/1 Activated)] The quest was more vague, and the shrine looked more like a fire shrine than it did an earth one, confusing Ethan.

"Map's filled out," Jeffrey chimed, and everyone moved in beside him. Maybe Ethan would find the answer after looking at it. They found themselves in the middle of a pentagon, and the hallways they saw each led to one corner of it. None of the points looked different from the others, which made it a gamble. A hot wind also blew from each of the halls, making them all sweat a little and forcing them to choose quicker. Glad I didn't bring armour.

With this heat it'd be unbearable, Ethan thought as he looked back down one of the hallways. He'd been mistaken about the flowing lava. Only some of the channels seemed to actually be flowing, while most stood still.

"We've no idea where to go. Let's just pick a route and stick to it," Bradley exclaimed. He wiped sweat off his brow, and Jeffrey did the same.

"Right. Come along, we're not dawdling!" Jeffrey replied, and the group proceeded down a random hallway. No monsters attacked them when they chose a hallway, and nothing happened when they stepped on the bridge. The only reaction was the lava beside them gurgling and bubbling. Ethan kept his eyes peeled for any movement. Though he didn't know if it would work, as he didn't know the depth of the lava. The only other place that monsters could pop out from were the walls.

There were a myriad number of holes along their path, leading deep into the walls and the darkness within. Anything could crawl out of there, and Ethan would barely notice in time.

"Penny, scan ahead," Jeffrey ordered.

"Right!" She walked up to the head of the group and pulled away her sleeve. There was a tattoo of a bird on it that began to move and popped out of her skin, turning into a treant falcon instead. On instinct, Ethan readied a DE Shot. but the bird came out and landed on Penny's hand instead.

"You brought something made of wood into a shrine filled with this much fire?" Ethan blurted out.

"I… I didn't have much choice on what to tame, haha…" Penny chuckled awkwardly. Ethan wished she would've picked a golem monster instead, but he didn't know the limitations of her Talent, so he couldn't argue. Penny lifted her hand and the bird flew into the obsidian wall. She closed her eyes and focused, while the rest of the group covered her. All except Ethan, who was still focused on her tamed monster. The bird dove into the holes, and after a few minutes, Penny spoke again.

"Nothing," she said, and the bird flew back out, merging into her arm as a tattoo once more.

"Can you talk to the bird?" Ethan asked.

"Hah, no, I just share its senses. Leaves me vulnerable though, so I'm counting on you and the others to keep me safe!" she said, bumping him in the shoulder.

"Right," Ethan replied. He had more questions to ask about her Talent, but she turned with the rest of the group and continued on. Fifteen minutes into their trek, Bradley brought some crystals out of a bag that glowed a dull white. Their insides were different shades of grey, like a lava lamp, and he shook them slightly before returning them to the bag. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Caught your eye, did they?" Bradley asked once he finished putting the last of them away.

"What are they?" Ethan asked.

"Return Crystals. Let's whoever crushes 'em to escape any dungeon in the first realm," Bradley explained.

"And there's enough for everyone here?"

"Oh, yeah. A damn shame for Jeffrey too, he had to waste the credits to get you one too," Bradley explained.

"Oh… thanks?" Ethan replied.

"Couldn't just leave you here if it all goes pear-shaped, can we?" Bradley chuckled, and the two of them joined the rest of the group. Seeing as they weren't encountering threats yet, Ethan decided to refine his bone armour some more. Emma guided him along where he needed to shape his armour and how, and after an hour, he finally had a chest piece that didn't feel completely horrible to walk around in. Thick plates of bone were sectioned along his chest and stomach.

There were straps made of loose ball joints over his shoulder and sides holding the armour in place, and some slight pieces of bone near his back to stabilize it. He'd forgone covering the back entirely, favouring a thicker armour near where he was mostly fighting. Just need to make sure I don't get stabbed in the back. He was surprised no one else was practicing, but he supposed they did want to save up their stamina for a real fight.

"Are we there yet?" Bradley asked. Their leader checked the map one more time, and shook his head.

"It's a big dungeon, lad. We're going to be walking a while, so cozy up," he said. The bridge chose that exact moment to start shaking. Jeffrey held his massive hammer in one hand, and Ethan brought his spear out too. He'd had some practice sending death essence to the hilt, but he stopped himself from doing it then. Showing off too much of his abilities would get them suspicious. Better to stick to internal uses only for now, he told himself, sending a Boost through his legs.

The bubbling lava finally broke, and a giant red lizard plopped down in their path. The creature was the size of an elephant, with glowing red skin and flames dancing along the tip of its tail. A smooth, lizard-like head rested on a long neck, and the monster let out a whale-like scream before propelling itself forward with its fins.

"Back away!" Jeffrey shouted, and Penny and Bradley obeyed. Both of them stuck to the backlines. Bradley sat down and threw seeds to the floor, while Penny summoned her bird again and shouted orders at it. Mia summoned glowing green drones that flew through the air and shot tiny lasers at the lizard. It swung its massive head, and the drones shattered apart. It then changed directions, rushing her instead.

"Shit! Cover me, Jeffrey!" She shouted. Jeffrey stopped in its path, his hammer landing on its throat in a loud smash. The lizard slammed its head down, but Jeffrey was out of there. His hammer was left indented in the lizard's chest, but he raised a hand and pulled it towards him. Ethan dodged the receding hammer and closed the distance to the monster himself. Boost. The spear shot forward, cutting a hole where the hammer had been. Boost. He jumped back into the air, forcing the lizard's mouth shut on air.

When he landed, he shook the tip of his spear, which was glowing red from the heat now. The hole on the monster bled freely, leaking bloody magma that hissed as it fell.

"Ready!" Bradley shouted from the backline, and Ethan felt his muscles swell with power.

"Good work, lad!" Jeffrey replied. Penny's falcon flew towards the lizard's face and flapped its wings. Some kind of yellow powder burst forth, and the monster breathed it in. It choked on the powder, as a light built up across its throat.

"It's about to fire!" Ethan warned. The lizard spat out a stream of lava, missing the falcon entirely. It moved its maw lazily across the arena, and its eyelids grew heavier by the moment.

"It's weak, Jeffrey! Hit it with everything you've got!" Penny asked.

"Ethan, Emma!" Jeffrey shouted their names, and they nodded back. The falcon baited out the magma further while Jeffrey and Ethan approached. Emma approached from the other side, slashing the monster's hide and keeping its attention where the falcon couldn't. Just a little bit, Ethan thought as he coated the edge of the spear with death essence. It travelled easily through the tip, and concentrated on a point there.

"Hit a little to your left!" Ethan shouted. That's where the monster's life force was most concentrated. Jeffrey gave him a confused look for half a second, grunted, and slammed the spot with his heavy hammer. The monster's magma caught in its throat. Jeffrey pulled back the hammer, and Ethan thrust the spear into the same spot. Death essence exploded on impact, spreading deep into the monster's core. The lizard let out another wail, and its life force began to rapidly escape.

It's head slumped down and hit the floor with a thud, loose bits of lava still leaking out, before its eyes finally dilated. [+50 Credits] [Bestiary Updated!] Ethan sighed, a white knuckle grip on his spear. He was ready for the next monster to come out. Only….. None did. He waited and watched, but nothing else ambushed them. He couldn't even see any life force signs under the river. That's it?

"Everyone, stand down. We're clear," Jeffrey intoned. The rest of them put away their weapons. The trees around Bradley dissolving, Mia's magical drones and Emma's armour disappearing. Penny's falcon merged back into her arm as a tattoo, which left only Ethan with his weapon. It was still warm around the tip, so Ethan carefully latched it to the duffel bag. After that, he circled around the monster with the others.

"Mia, anything harvestable?" Jeffrey asked. She was looking through the monster's bestiary entry, and shook her head.

"Nothing we'd be able to take in time. It's a common beast." He saw Penny move the closest to the corpse, but he couldn't tell for what reason. For his part, Ethan harvested the life and death essence, adding most of it to his Talent's progression. How far along am I with the new skill anyways? Ethan wondered. [Internal Skill: Bone Generation - Rank F Progress to E-Rank: 5%] He'd only scratched the surface of what he could do with the ability, so that tracked.

"Harvested your essence?" Penny asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Do these things even have blood or bone essence?" Bradley wondered.

"Just a little, but it's enough," Ethan lied.

"Let's get a move on. We don't know when the next one of those is going to come round," Jeffrey said, and they continued towards the end of the hallway.