Feral Beast Master: A Gamelit Adventure, page 10
“How do we get you off this?” Kaden asked, kneeling by the man.
“You. Know.” The [Shield] looked to Kaden’s war hammer. “Do it.”
Facing an angry griffin had been less frightening. “Give him a potion,” Kaden said, winding up for a swing.
“No! Drop. In. Bucket.” The shield growled. “Now!”
Kaden swung Remembrance overhand, trying not to strike anything vital, aiming for the points where the blue crystal thorns stuck through. Crystal shattered, and the [Shield] screamed in agony, but again and again, Kaden smashed the thorns, until at last, Sara pulled him back.
“Let me lift him. The Horror’s flesh can’t be harmed.” She hooked the pseudopods under his arms and dragged the man forward, leaving a wet smear of red.
Together, they pulled him back to the Sorcerer’s grave, where Eve still worked on Mara. “Tell me she’s better?”
“I’ve got it down to ‘Echo of the Grave.’ It took ten applications of Blood Burn to reduce the curse one level. She’s just reached the point where healing isn’t reversed, it’s just reduced by 10x, or a minimum of one point.” Eve spoke between casts of [Life Harvest].
Trella’s cape was torn, and she held out both daggers. “And there are wandering monsters. There were only two, and I barely managed to kill them. They’re level nineteen, I’m thirteen, and these are minions. We’re in trouble.”
“First things first.” Sara looked to Eve. “Is the [Shield] going to live?”
“He’s got something else I haven’t seen. ‘Miasma of the Grave.’ It’s tier three. There’s basically no way I can cleanse it.” Eve turned her attention back to Mara.
“Our healer.” The [Shield] gasped. “Worlds better. No offense.”
Trella looked to the western entrance. “The wandering skeletons came from that way. Let me scout that and I’ll be back. I don’t want to leave these three unattended. Eve has her hands full.”
“Just got another level in [Blood Burn],” Eve called. “That’s the second one. And one in Life Harvest. It’s hard to work against whatever this is.”
Kaden took out a Cleansing salve. It might not work, but it was worth a shot. He smeared it on the [Shield]’s wounds.
“That did something. It’ s down to Anathema of the Grave. Go get the real Healer. Sara, I’m actually down on mana. I need that title, and it’s possible we can get Mara up.” Eve was finding her balance, speaking with confidence. “Kaden? Can you leave Vip with me?”
“She’s small.”
Eve risked a glance to him. “I don’t want her fighting. I feel better when she’s near. Calmer. I need calm.”
Vip dashed out of the tunnel and began to circle Eve, barking. *Stink!*
“There’s nothing but a fake bridge that way,” Trella called as she [Shadow Walk]ed back. “The Dungeon must have ways to get mobs around that Adventurers can’t use.”
Trella and Kaden set out to find the Healer, passing through the crystal thorn room and down four different halls. In each, he let Trella scout, then followed where she said. They hid, using oversized gravestones to let small groups of skeletons pass. Level nineteen, they were unlikely to be a threat to Mara’s team.
Kaden and Trella would be lucky to survive.
The next room took the theme of a mortuary. The body of Zeek hung from a wall, speared through the heart with a bone spear like a skeleton might carry. The mounds of bones around him spoke for how the Mage died.
“Leave him?”
“Loot him,” Trella said.
Kaden stuck the corpse in his Inventory.
Two rooms on, they found the Healer, or what was left. A ring of Ghouls sat, feasting on the corpse.
[Lesser Ghoul]
If they didn’t come in packs, these would be laughable. You won’t be laughing when it’s you they’re eating. Diseased in every way, these creatures are the bottom of the undead food chain. Which means you are even lower.
Level: 12
HP: 50/125
Mana: NA
Skills: Hungering Bite, Stink of the Grave.
Trella grabbed his arm. There’s nothing to resurrect here. We should keep looking. Their Rogue was probably going for the Dungeon Core.
How do we sneak around them? He asked.
Ghouls have a weakness. See the spot, right there on the top of their skull? If you push there, they drop dead.
Kaden watched them. The ghoul’s bald skulls offered no clues. How hard?
Hard enough to cave their skulls in. Hit them with your hammer. On the head. Hard. Trella pushed him forward.
The first ghoul’s brain exploded as Remembrance destroyed it.
Brutal blows has inflicted a permanent injury.
Damn right it had. Five more ghouls looked up at him, recognition dawning too late for another ghoul, which took three hits to kill.
One on the other side collapsed as [Backstab] destroyed it, but the remaining ghouls split up, two taking on Kaden, two after Trella. Kaden used a quick jab to gain space. The other ghoul’s claws raked Kaden’s new armor, but didn’t tear the skin, which gave time for Kaden to strike the one he’d jabbed in the knee, then pivot to bring the axe side down on another ghoul’s shoulder.
The bones crunched, but [Brutal Blows] didn’t deliver additional damage.
Searing pain shot through his knee, along with a status effect, Stink of the Grave, which reduced movement speed. If this was the pain with [Fortress of Stone] active, the agony would be crippling without it.
He shook loose the ghoul that had bitten his leg and stomped on it, hobbling back to deliver another blow to the one on the ground, and another, and another, until at last it lay dead. A blue dagger blossomed in the remaining ghoul.
“Use a salve. The movement debuff will kill,” she said as she stabbed the dead ghoul again to be sure. Then looted the remains of the healer’s corpse, which was little more than mounds of flesh, while Kaden waited for salve to take effect.
Trella had changed. The efficiency with which she sliced open dead ghouls and searched their stomachs, removing four silver rings and a bracelet, didn’t match the timid woman he grew up with. Stink of the Grave finally dissipated. Kaden considered the remains of the Healer, but only chunks of bone, most splintered, littered the floor. Scraps of yellow robes said who it was, but nothing else.
“I’m going scouting. You should head back to the grave room and hide behind the stone we used. This is no time to be brave and dumb,” Trella said. But she didn’t use [Shadow Walk].
Running a real dungeon was exhausting. Adrenaline crashes left Kaden shaky, but he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to take on something matched to his level. Maybe fun. Or boring? The Ghouls had been higher level, but slow, so slow. At his level, the fight wouldn’t have been one.
A soft whistle drew his attention, and Trella motioned from the hallway. Come quickly. Two bands of wandering monsters. Trapped Rogue.
He followed along, then froze as she pressed them both into an alcove filled with dusty bones. The dry scrape of bones on stone drew closer and closer. The largest skeleton Kaden had ever seen stumbled past, hunched over so it didn’t strike the ceiling, and dragging a bone spear.
That is what had killed Zeek.
That and a bunch of “regular” animated skeletons.
The giant skeleton had passed their alcove when it paused. Still as the dead, it stood, while Kaden tried to not even breathe. Then it raised its club—and smashed it down. Over and over, the crunch of bones rang out. Then the giant continued its slow lumber.
After a minute, Trella relaxed, dropping her cloak and stepping out.
Looks like the patrols don’t get along, she tapped out.
The remains of several crushed skeletons lay in the hallway. One still twitched, grasping with bony fingers, and Kaden delivered a blow to its skull to end it.
You have slain a [Sundered Warrior]. You have gained experience.
Quickly, he ran behind Trella as she took two turns, then edged around a room filled with glistening blades that hung from the ceiling. But at the end of the next hallway, she put a hand on his chest. Trapped rogue. I’ll help. You, that.
Kaden leaned out to look.
The room was themed like a standard “trapped creature escapes to rampage” setup. An iron cage in the center now held the [SlyFoot] rogue. He’d bound the door shut, and Kaden didn’t have to ask why. A giant skeleton like the one who’d passed them crawled in circles around the cage. Its legs were shattered, and one hand missing several finger bones, but no doubt, it would be strong enough to kill.
[Bone Giant]
This is what happens when you drink your milk. And everyone else’s milk. And get experimented on by the mad sorcerer himself and reanimated when your unfortunate life comes to an end. Not the brightest, but its mama would be proud of how easily it squashes enemies.
Skills: Smash
Talents: Immunity
Level: 15
HP: 270/500
Mana: NA
Interesting, the skeletons here didn’t carry an ‘of the grave’ debuff. Kaden handed over what remained of his health potions and the cleansing salve.
Stay until I signal. Then I’m going to need time. Meet at tombstone.
Trella disappeared in a [Shadow Walk], reappearing inside the cage.
The Bone Giant roared, despite not having lungs or vocal cords, and flailed with its broken arm. The single blow swung the cage vertical and dented the bars, but Trella had grabbed on, and rode out the rocking. She kneeled over the [SlyFoot], administering potions and salve—then looked his way and shook her head. Pointed to the Bone Giant and held up a hand.
Wait.
He did, as it crawled around. And as it passed the cage door, she gave the signal.
Kaden sprinted out and around the cage the opposite direction. He wanted the Bone Giant to see him and come for him. With Remembrance in hand, he wound up for a swing, as the giant roared.
It had definitely seen him, and now clawed its way toward him.
Patience. He waited until it outstretched the good hand, and leaped forward, bringing down Remembrance on the center finger. Remembrance rang out, and bone shattered. The giant convulsed, then raised its hand in a fist and slammed it down.
The shockwave blew out around Kaden, throwing him back and taking a chunk of health.
A glance to the side said Trella had opened the door and now half-carried the [SlyFoot] down the ramp it formed. Kaden pushed himself up and kept his distance as the Giant pounded again and again.
The shockwave buffeted him, but didn’t throw him back or cause major damage. And more importantly, the Giant wasn’t advancing. Kaden risked another blow, this time barely cracking a finger.
Too close!
The broken hand flailed out, almost spearing Kaden. Even with his armor, the blow cracked ribs. Without it, he’d be dead. But now, Kaden had a feel for the monster. Now, it was going to be different.
He feinted forward, then used the opening for a thunderous whack that caused Remembrance to echo out, and leaped loosely back, letting the smash shockwave throw him for minimal damage. The damaged arm flail he saw coming, and a blow on to the Giant’s wrist made Remembrance not just ring, but scream. The surface of the hammer pulsed, and it wasn’t an accident this time.
Kaden willed it to stop.
Two more cracks rang out, blowing shards of bone off the giant, which flipped over, back arched as its skull gave a silent shriek. Kaden took the opportunity to run, catching up to Trella in the hall and picking up the [SlyFoot]. “Make sure it’s clear ahead.”
“On it. Go left at the blades room, the path there is wider.” She held his shoulder, keeping him balanced as they passed through the trap room, and [Backstabbled] a Ghoul who hadn’t quite gotten the message that completely dead was the new Undead.
Though the [SlyFoot] weighed as much as Kaden did, his investment in strength kept him going through the crystal thorn traps and back to the start, where Eve still worked on the others. Mara had finally sat up, though she pressed both hands to her head. The [Shield] wasn’t bleeding everywhere, only dripping blood instead of gushing.
And the bones. Sara stood in the center of a mound of bones. Bruises and gashes covered her face, one sword was broken, and the left pseudopod was flat out gone. “Bring him here. If you can, mana-dart Eve. She’s running on empty. There were two patrols of two skeletons each.”
“Garbage mobs,” The [Shield] spat blood. “If I was in any kind of fighting shape, I’d tear them apart with my bare hands.”
Mara tried to roll over—and collapsed again. “Roon, how you doing?”
“Picked up ‘Breath of the Grave’ from that sorcerer,” The [SlyFoot] said. “No mana regen for twenty four hours. Wouldn’t mind, if all my skills weren’t mana based.”
Sara picked through the bones, collecting nuggets of silver. She motioned to Trella and Kaden, then whispered when they came. “How are you two holding up?”
“We killed some ghouls. Kaden put the hurt on a Bone Giant. There’s another patrolling, but it follows the same route. We can avoid it,” Trella said. “Pretty sure Kaden could have killed the injured one, but running was the right thing to do.”
“What about you?” Kaden asked.
“The skeletons aren’t as vulnerable to edged weapons, but the Horror handled most of them well. A skeletal mage’s staff damaged my right pseudopod, and the cooldown is too long to risk dismissal.” She looked back to Eve. “She’s doing everything she can. Picked up another level on Blood Burn and Harvest, but these mobs are two tiers above us.”
“We’re doing well for two tiers.” Kaden had never been so glad to use a hammer in his life. “I think we could go back together and kill the broken Bone Giant. Maybe even take down the patrolling one.”
“Good.” Sara glanced back to Mara, who writhed as Eve used Blood Burn on her again. “Because we may be fighting our way out.”
12
TWELVE - PLANS CHANGE
Fighting a tier five dungeon was probably an absolutely terrible idea, as Kaden saw it, but looking at Mara’s party, it would probably be the only choice. He and Sara took turns using Mana-Dart on Eve, who turned it into Blood Burn and Life Harvest casts. “I can out pace his bleeding,” Eve said, nodding to the [Shield], “but then I’m not reducing Mara’s debuff.”
Mara rolled onto her knees and used her bow to stand. “First off, I have [Ears of the Forest]. No point in whispering. It’s an erratic dungeon, you adapt or die. Second, it’s three tiers above you, but there’s seven of us. I don’t want to sound rude but the difference between level 25 and you is like the difference between you and people without a class.”
“Right.” Sara didn’t seem embarrassed at all. “When the door shut, it swapped to a tier five dungeon.”
“The level changes. It was a proto dungeon not two hours ago. Then Zeek got speared by a [Tomb Champion]. That’s the evolved version of the Bone Giant you saw. How many days has it been?” Mara asked.
“Days? You were in here six hours.”
“Days. Time passes different in a dungeon,” Mara said. “We’ve been fighting for nearly a week, I think. So many damned debuffs, and they killed Davos first. This dungeon doesn’t play fair. I’m going to smash the core.”
Ban, the [Shield] groaned and shook his head. “Davos is fine. I was just talking to him.”
“That’s [Memory of the Grave] talking. I spent an hour convinced my original Party Leader was shouting at me after we took down that sixth Tomb Champion,” Mara said.
“No way would we have survived a Tomb Champion,” Trella said. “No way. We’re barely holding our own against wounded mobs.”
“Doesn’t matter how ‘barely’ it is, what matters that you do. Good tactics can make up for a tier difference. The right weapons can, too. You’d be cleaning up this place if it really were a tier three dungeon.” Mara limped over to check on her [Shield]. “I’m not going to pretend to have the answers here, but I say we take our time, let Sara’s aura and Eve’s healing work on Ban and I.”
Kaden kept pumping Mana Dart into Eve, receiving another level. He could almost taste level ten approaching. Mana spike or Mana well? Mana well was the obvious choice, but the ability to deny enemies their mana skills was powerful.
“Eve, get some sleep.” Sara said. “You look exhausted.”
Sara pulled a water flask from her Inventory and offered it to Eve, who drank the whole flask, almost choking.
Eve’s skin had taken on a sallow look and her eyes a haunted expression. “One in a hundred. That’s how often Blood Burn reduces the tier of their afflictions. And then I have to heal the damage it does.”
“You’re punching above your weight class,” Trella said. “Don’t expect success. Just rest. Let that title of Sara’s work.”
“And both of Kaden’s should help,” Sara added.
Then froze. She wasn’t supposed to talk about Leader of the Pack.
Kaden checked his status.
Your group has grown by [2]. Leader of the Pack is more efficient. Bonus: 1.1%
“Guardian of Life heals wounds faster, it says.” Kaden could only hope the others didn’t pry. He wasn’t keeping it from Trella, but the opportunity to talk about it hadn’t come up. Eve…he still didn’t trust. She was probably not out to murder him, but instinct said she was hiding something. Maybe many somethings.
Despite the hard dirt floor of the dungeon, Eve was asleep within seconds of closing her eyes.
“She’s pushing too hard,” Sara said.
Trella shook her head. “I don’t think we have other options. I want to run another scouting pass. If there are patrols besides the Bone Giant, we need to know. Anything I should keep an eye out for?”
“Ghouls. There were ghosts, but Ban took care of them all. You need to act like everything here is tier seven, because if the dungeon shifts again, it could be. On the other hand, if you see it go proto, that’s the time to attack. The mobs are cycling through evolutions, but they’re staying the same basic class, and whatever you kill will stay that way.” Mara sat back.
