Chapter 2

“Enti,” I yelled. “Get ready to use the liquid nitrogen balls. Amenthia, and Ilthvana focus on the eyes and soft targets of the face. Dilbar, see if you can’t damage the pincers, but keep safe. Katie try and see if you can bind them or tangle them up so that we don’t get swarmed.”

Everyone acknowledged their orders, and we moved towards our enemies. The main creature seemed to stay positioned at the entrance to the stairwell, while the other three slowly approached us. Before they could close in, Enti began casting and let out a torrent of Ice spears that flew at the three scorpions. Faster than I expected, they brought their claws to protect their faces, as the lances rained down on them. I was amazed at the sheer volume of projectiles that Enti was able to cast, and I wondered what they had done to get stronger while we had been gone to compete in the Challenge. Despite the attempts of smaller scorpions to protect themselves, the lances slammed deep into their bodies, and then I was in for an even bigger shock. Each one of those lances glowed for a split second and then they shattered. Instead of particles of ice it was as if a water balloon had burst, spilling contents of the lance along the outer shell but also inside of the creatures.

They howled in pain as the explosions, mixed with the effect of the liquid as it damaged their bodies, ripped them apart. Within a few moments, they flopped down on the ground and burst into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind one medium gem with a faint glow, while another left behind pieces of its armor. The third had not left anything unfortunately, but that was three less problems to deal with. The large scorpion roared in anger at the loss of the others, and I watched in shock as parts of its body began to deform. The large pieces of armor began to shift and move, as pockets were revealed within its body, housing more of those smaller scorpions.

Enti worked fast to cast another volley and was able to get it cast, just before two more small scorpions emerged from its body and the openings closed. I was shocked at the density of the armor for the mother scorpion as her lances barely penetrated them, but a few got inside the pockets before they closed off and with a gesture, she detonated them. The larger one screamed in pain as parts of her armor warped and deformed from the liquid nitrogen like effect of the water. Discoloration began to occur within the armor pieces themselves and I was confident that we wouldn’t see those opening again any time soon.

“That was the last of my mana reserves,” Enti stated with a strained gasp. “That new spell eats a lot up.”

I nodded, “Great job sweetheart, but leave the rest to us. Keep an eye out for any other threats and let us know.”

I glanced at the two scorpions, and they were heavily damaged, but still standing. It seemed that the detonations had destroyed both pincers on both scorpions. The one on the left was missing most of its tail, while the one on the right was missing some legs. Two arrows zoomed by and impacted into the ‘faces’ of the scorpions, causing them to cry in pain. Then I was surprised to see those detonated as well.

Glancing back I saw a grin from both Amenthia and Ilthvana as they released another volley of arrows that impacted with the smaller scorpions and then exploded. This time the damage was enough to cause them to burst into dust, both leaving a piece of armor in their wake. The large scorpion roared in anger and began to shake. Parts of its armor shifted once again, and spines began to emerge from the opened areas.

“Projectiles!” I yelled, quickly glancing around to see what protection we had around us. “Everyone take cover now!”

Moments later the scorpion shifted its body and launched its spines at us. These weren’t like the quills of a porcupine, shooting in all directions. These moved like guided missiles you see in movies, moving rapidly towards us. I had to hand it to those who made this dungeon, they made sure to make things far more interesting. We all dived for cover, using the rock formations in the room to try and prevent the spines from coming into contact with us, but I wasn’t prepared for the explosion that occurred during impact. It was only a small concussive blast, but it was enough to knock me back from my cover. I also didn’t expect the spray of acid that followed. Had I not had my shield up, my face could have been injured severely. I pulled my shield down and saw the damage the acid had done. It was still in one piece, but the durability had weakened severely. I glanced over at the others and was happy to see that Enti and Katie had used their magic to add extra protection for everyone else.

“We need to end this now,” Ilthvana yelled. “If we get hit with anything stronger than that, we are going to be in for a tough time!”

I nodded, “If it readies another volley, I want them destroyed! Let’s try and use its acid against it. We need to get to its head, so watch out for the tail as I am sure that its venom is even more potent.”

We all nodded in agreement and dashed out of cover. I readied my sword charges, while Enti, Amenthia and Ilthvana, continued their onslaught. Dilbar switched from his hammers and pulled out his heavy crossbow.

“No time like the present to see if these new bolts will do the trick,” Dilbar exclaimed with a smirk.

He let loose a bolt and I dodged out of the way of one of its pincers when the bolt landed and exploded. The Scorpion screamed in pain, and I looked to see the top half of one of its pincers had been blown off. I didn’t have any time, as the beast began to lash out at me with its stinger. The impact of its large tail slamming into the ground shook the room we were in. Even rock did nothing to hamper or damage the stinger as it tried to make contact with my body. I had no doubt that the tip would easily pierce my armor, pumping who knows how much poison into my veins. I dodged it again and used all the charges of my Dragon’s Bane to create a wall of fire as I sliced at the tail, hoping the full discharge would be enough to sever the tip of its tail. I wasn’t fully successful, despite the attack, but it nearly severed it.

The beast began to move backwards as our onslaught continued but it didn’t plan on giving up. It moved backwards and began to cover itself and I was shocked to see it starting to glow. I was shocked as I saw the tail begin to repair itself and the pincer began to regrow. I called off their onslaught and decided that it was my turn. I sheathed my sword and began to concentrate, letting divine energy pool into my hands. I roared and blast by blast, I began slamming divine energy into its hide. The first few disrupted whatever aura was healing the creature before the blasts began rending its armor and flesh with each blast.

First, I focused on cutting off the stinger from its tail, ensuring that it was severed completely. Then I turned my focus to the areas where the spikes launched from, not wasting time to see what damage I did, before I focused on its pincers so it would leave its face exposed. I hoped that it did the trick as my volley of divine energy had left my mana completely drained. Breathing heavy, I raised my hand and gave the signal to the other to finish the creature. Everyone concentrated their attacks at the head of the beast, which was now unable to protect itself with its nearly destroyed pincers, and I watched as all the attacks slammed home. The explosion of the various attacks filled the room with light and sound, the concussive blast shaking the cavern and causing us to all take some cover. Pieces of the scorpion began to land around us before dissolving to smoke. As the dust cleared, we could only see the smoke dissipating around a singular chest.

“Fantastic job everyone!” Amenthia exclaimed excitedly. “If Dilbar and Ilthvana weren’t here, we would not have had as easy a time with this.”

Dilbar began to laugh, “You think that this was an easy time girl? This could have gone unbelievably bad, very quick if it weren’t for Pathios’ quick thinking.”

“I just did my part, like all of you,” I replied as we closed in on the box. “If anything, those bolts and arrows you guys used are part of the reason we succeeded.”

He smiled, “Cassandra made them for us. She put explosion runes into the tip of the bolts and arrows.”

“How do you make sure that they don’t explode from being knocked down or something?” I asked.

“She set the runes in two layers,” Dilbar replied. “As Cassandra explained, the first rune requires specific force from an impact to activate. The second is activated by the first rune and releases an explosive force equal to most fireballs. She said she had to test it numerous times to get the formula exactly right. Too sensitive and it would explode prematurely, not sensitive enough and it would not explode at all.”

“Well it looks like I am going to have to talk to Cassandra,” I said with a smile as my mind began to wander.

“What are you thinking Pathios?” Amenthia said with a smirk. “Whenever you get that look on your face, it always means something new.”

I nodded, “The shuriken that we use can be done with the same runes. Some with an immediate explosion and one with a delay. This would give us options for strategies. When paired with the explosive bolts and arrows, it make for some options in tight situations. This would help all of us and increase her sales, as everyone would want some when news spread of how useful they were.”

“Well open the chest Pathios and tell us what is inside,” Ilthvana said with a smile and gesture.

I shook my head, “I don’t need to open it. We all worked together, and this was a cathartic run for you guys, so why don’t you two do the honors.”

“Nice try Pathios,” Dilbar said with a chuckle, “but we have rules when we are in a group. The leader opens the chests and decides who gets what.”

I glanced around the group, and they all gave me a nod of confirmation, so I moved forward and grasped the top of the chest. With a deep breath, I yanked the top off and looked inside. Reaching in, I grabbed what was at the bottom and pulled it out. It looked like a simple belt, but I noticed that it looked to have sheaths for daggers. I immediately thought of Katie and turned to give it to her.

“This looks like it would be best suited for you,” I said with a warm smile. “I don’t know what type of belt it is, but we can get Brot’k to let us know when we get back. For now, let’s store it and get up those stairs. The sixth floor is waiting for us.”

We all headed up the stairs, wondering what would be revealed to us when we reached the entrance. When we were on the sixth floor, it was along a coast in the northern area of the floor. Each floor was a step towards our future, and I knew we had enough troubles waiting for us, but for now this was enough.

I was in awe as we walked out of the archway that gave way to the area surrounding us. As the bright light evolving the entrance faded and revealed what was beyond, I was shocked to see a long and expansive beach. I quickly activated the map on my bracer and stared in amazement at the display. This section of the map was a series of islands with vast sections of water in between. There was a decent distance between this archway and the nearest village. I knew that the one we had visited for the manticore quest was not that far from water, so I wasn’t surprised. I looked for markers that could mean a possible dock, but there was nothing I could discern. Closing the map, I began scanning the beach to see if there was any sign of a dock or boat, but there was nothing.

“Okay this is a bit interesting,” I said with a frustrated sigh. “Looks like we are either going to have to find a way towards the village.”

“Sorry Pathios, I didn’t expect us to be stuck like this,” Dilbar exclaimed, frustrated at the situation. “I knew there were inlet islands on this floor, but we hadn’t come over to this side of the map yet.”

“You couldn’t have known that this would have happened, Dilbar,” I replied, “besides, the more we do in the dungeons, the better prepared we can be for other threats in the future.”

Glancing around behind the archway I realized that we weren’t going to be able to make anything as a way to cross, as there was little to no wood or anything that could be made into a raft. Glancing around, I did notice that there was smoke coming from the east. I gestured to what I noticed to the others, and we started making our way there.

“That scorpion was a bit much wasn’t it,” asked Dilbar as he stretched out his right shoulder. “I have seen those smaller ones on the fifth floor before, but I haven’t ever heard of that other one.”

I nodded, “I am not surprised, but it depends on what it means. It could be the dungeon changing to meet new threats, or it could be left over manipulations from Kali and her compatriots.”

Ilthvana sighed, “I still can’t believe that shit happened. A lot of changes have come since you arrived. Most of them have been good, but there are some that are of a darker element.”

“I can’t really control that,” I replied with a shrug. “I won’t say it doesn’t seem like a coincidence either. Though, I figure if it hadn’t been me, it could have been someone else. Not to mention that some of these things that have happened, have been cooking since before I arrived on Eden.”

Ilthvana gave me a look and I simply shrugged again. I wish circumstances could have been different in this case, but that would have made it, so I didn’t have what I do now. It also made me question what else may have happened if I hadn’t been there. Would Amenthia be, okay? Would she have found Entivala? Would she still be here, or would she be in the clutches of that jackass that tried to kill me? What would Kat’ilth’ana be doing if we had never met? Then I realized, I might be running into that jackass again. When he was caught, both he and his father were sent to the seventh floor as a punishment. Had they learned their lesson, are they both still the arrogant pricks they were before? It would be interesting to see what had happened, but for now the focus was getting to a village.