Advent of Eternity - Chapter 124 (Patreon)

“Okay.” Nyra’s eyes opened and she rose to her feet, stretching her arms out and arching her back. “I’m good.”

“And it only took you two hours and forty one minutes,” Knell said. “I hope you fight better than you heal.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll see soon enough. Let’s get moving,” Nyra said. “There’s some loot waiting for us with our names on it.”

“Anything we should be aware of down there?” Stix asked, loading a bolt into her huge crossbow. “You’ve been through the dungeon, after all.”

“A bunch of fishmen,” Nyra replied. “They’re more dangerous than you’d expect, but they shouldn’t be any real threat. The big problem are the bosses.”

“Plural?” Knell asked.

“That’s what I said. There are several. I told you, this isn’t a normal dungeon. From what I remember, the bosses didn’t have a specific room they sat around in. They just kind of wandered the dungeon.”

“How many are there, exactly?”

“At least two. We didn’t clear the dungeon.”

“Then how do you know they were bosses and not strong monsters?” Knell asked.

Nyra pursed her lips. “You’ll see. They were really big fishmen. One of them had some water magic, the other was just a brute. Neither was an easy fight.”

“Noted. Cyll, take the lead,” Knell said, gesturing to the dark path before them. “I’d hate to have to stop for another hour if Nyra stubs her toe.”

“Sixteen Seas, you’re petty,” Nyra muttered as Cyll stepped past her, drawing Lassie and holding the huge sword at his side like it was made of feathers rather than bone and steel.

“Incredibly,” Knell agreed, and they headed into the darkness.

Ripples of faint blue light passed through the walls alongside them as the group descended deeper into the dungeon. The path wound in gentle loops, and the smell of salt and seaweed grew stronger with every step. Trickles of water slithered between the rough rock beneath their feet and a faint gurgling churned in the distance.

The wide path expanded into a large, circular room. It was dimly lit by glowing moss hanging from stalactites on the ceiling and protrusions jutting from the walls. A large, wooden table sat in room’s center, large portions of it rotted away.

Two small blue-skinned people sat on chairs at either side of the table. Aside from their color, they would have been no different from very short humans had it not been for the bulbous fish heads perched between their shoulders.

The bulbous eyes of the monster across from them jerked as the group stepped into the room. It let out a warning gurgle, revealing dozens of rows of tiny, razor sharp teeth. They both leaped from the desk, rushing toward Knell’s group.

Stix’s crossbow whumped. A bolt slammed into one of the fishmen and punched a large hole clean through its head. It flopped forward, its momentum carrying it across the ground in a roll until it stopped before Cyll’s feet.

The remaining fishman leapt into the air, going for Cyll’s throat. Nyra’s long hair rippled and a black blur flickered across the fishman. It split in twain midair, the two halves falling on either side of Cyll as its blood sprayed across him.

“Thank you,” Cyll said, running his tongue along his lips and wiping the gore off his face with the back of a sleeve. “Just what I was hoping for today. Fish guts.”

“You’re welcome,” Nyra replied without an ounce of sarcasm. Knell’s eyes traced her as she stepped into the room, scanning it for any other monsters.

That blur was her hair. I’m certain this time. That’s quite the interesting ability. Certainly something that benefits from the element of surprise, so I can see if she wouldn’t want to advertise how she’s attacking.

“So, do you have a special routine for that hair?” Cyll asked as they continued deeper into the room. “Constantly dipping it in blood and guts can’t be great for it.”

Nyra sighed. “No.”

“You should probably get on that,” Cyll suggested. “Maybe this is why it looks like you’ve got a bed of seaweed on your head.”

“Stop antagonizing her before we have to replace another one of your shirts,” Knell said.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Nyra cocked an eyebrow.

“Yes. He goes through them at an annoying rate,” Knell said. He let a tiny amount of power seep through his eyes and let his eyes sweep across the room. Dozens of jagged dull crystal clusters stuck out from the ground, making perfect ambush spots. There were several jagged archways in the walls that led deeper into the dungeon, but they’d have to pass through the craggy room to reach them.

Knell pointed his staff at a cluster at their right. Cyll and Stix both followed the motion. A fishman leapt out from behind the stones, only to catch a Slow spell to the face. Cyll carved it in two an instant later, and the monster flopped to the ground before it even got a chance to attack.

You have defeated an entity more powerful than you. Experience Gained. Your Level has been adjusted accordingly.

“That’s some reaction timing,” Nyra said. “What’s up with the glowing eyes?”

“What’s up with the hair?”

Nyra grimaced. “Fair enough. Onward, then.”

Onward they went. There weren’t any more monsters in the room, and Knell directed them through the righthand passage. They continued deeper into the dungeon, clearing another two rooms of the monsters along the way. Knell gained a level halfway through the first room, but he dismissed the information after confirming that he hadn’t gotten any new magic from it.

At the end of the second room, Stix called for a pause. Her eyes glazed over as she stared into the air, then she grinned.

“Finally. I got another Artillerist ability, and this one is actually a little flashier than firing stuff quickly. I need to find something to use this on.”

That was not a hard request to grant. They continued on, following the ripples of blue light, and were quickly ambushed by a group of spear wielding fishmen as they entered another room.

Cyll charged into the group, sweeping his massive sword and forcing them to hop back to avoid being bisected. Stix raised her crossbow and took aim at the largest one of the lot. Her tongue stuck out slightly in concentration and a shimmer of pale gray magic swirled around the tip of the bolt.

A heavy whump split the air as the bolt launched out of her bow. It promptly exploded, sending large slivers of wood hurtling across the room. They shredded through several of the fishmen, each piece leaving massive wounds as it carved through their flesh and rudimentary armor.

Nyra’s hair whipped out, finishing off the monsters that Stix had injured as they tried to turn and flee. Cyll and Knell took out the rest, while Maya watched from behind, shifting from foot to foot and with growing impatience on her face.

“Well, that was something,” Cyll said, pulling Lassie free of the last fishman. “You can destroy your arrows before they hit people.”

“It’s for if I need to fight in close range,” Stix said with a grin. She walked up to one of the monsters she’d shot and knelt beside it. “I guess it wouldn’t do much to you, but those fragments did a lot of damage. It does suck I can’t recover the bolt, though.”

“Effective,” Knell said approvingly. “What level are you?”

“Twenty four.”

Knell pressed his lips together and pulled up his own status.

Name: Knell Coda [Age: 0]

Path: Scion [Rank Zero]

Level: 21

Attunement A: Foresight of the Vulture

Attunement B: Devouring Maw

Attunement C: Empty

Attunement D: Empty

Attunement E: Empty

Foresight of the Vulture [Legendary] – Peer a short distance into the future, seeing the most likely outcome of actions taken in your immediate surroundings.

Bloodline: Eternal Body [Epic]– Time magic bends around you, modifying your lifespan and granting you resistance to spatial magics.

Path: Epoch

Level: 18

He dismissed it, not bothering to check on his abilities. None had changed. Epoch was still leveling at a faster rate than Scion, and it wouldn’t be long before it surpassed his main path. It peeved him that Scion seemed to level so slowly, but he had his growing suspicions as to why.

It won’t matter soon. Scion won’t be my Path for very much longer.

“Ready to continue?” Cyll asked. “Watching you two play around with your magic goodies always makes me jealous. I didn’t get anything cool.”

“You have a new sword. Play with that,” Knell said. He glanced at Maya. “And stop looking so frustrated.”

“I just hate not being able to do anything,” Maya said. “I’m useless.”

“Only for now,” Knell replied. “It’s partially my fault for letting your sword get enchanted in a way that made it useless to you. I did not consider that would be a possibility, but the problem will be rectified shortly. Irritation will do nothing to speed the process up.”

Maya sighed and gave him a small nod. “Okay. Sorry. Thanks.”

Cyll ambled down the room and peered through the only exit on the other side. He pulled his head back a few moments later. “We got a good number of goodies in front of us. Two big ole fish surrounded by a bunch of normal ones. They’re below us, in a little arena thing.”

“They’re in the same room?” Nyra asked, pushing past Cyll to get a look for herself. She cursed under her breath. “That’s not good. The fishmen have been a lot weaker than I remember, but they were never the real threat.”

“You sound more concerned than I would have expected,” Cyll said. “I mean, you could have done all this on your own if we’re being serious. Are the big blokes that much stronger?”

“They wiped half of my team the last time we went through. They’re strong.”

“We could always wait until one of them leaves the room,” Stix offered. “You said they move around a lot, right?”

Nyra nodded. “We could, yeah. But I’d imagine they might have heard our fighting and gathered specifically because of that. If that’s the case, we’ll be waiting a long time.”

“Is there any way for the fishmen to reach us where we currently are?” Knell asked. “Move. Let me take a look.”

Cyll stepped out of the way and Knell peered into the path. A sloping path continued for a few feet, then ended in a sharp drop where a long ladder was built into the wall. It led down into a wide, circular room.

Two massive fishmen stood in the center of it. One held a jagged looking halberd, while the other bore a gnarled blue staff. Both of them stood nearly twice Knell’s height and were covered in rippling muscle and scars. Their eyes flickered with faint red energy, and they were surrounded by fifteen other monsters.

Knell pulled back, not wanting them to catch a glimpse of him before they were ready to fight. He was pretty sure the fishmen could have made it up the ladder if they’d wanted to, but it was more likely that they’d take cover in the room and force them to fight a battle of attrition.

“This is the only path forward,” Knell said. “And I don’t think they’re going anywhere, especially with the number of monsters gathered in that room. We should try to do as much damage to one of them as possible before the battle starts, then send Cyll in to distract the bosses while we clean up the smaller monsters. Once they’re dealt with, we take out the magic user first and we should be able to handle the last one after.”

“You make it sound simple,” Nyra said. “They’re fast. The moment we start fighting, the mage is going to have us dancing around. They’ve also got pretty tough skin, and I won’t be able to cut them down as easily as the others.”

“Just focus on the small ones, then,” Knell said. “Cyll, Stix, and I will keep the bosses distracted until we can dedicate our full attention to them.”

“You’re sure you can handle them? Don’t underestimate the bosses just because they look stupid. They’re threats.”

“I don’t underestimate anyone,” Knell replied. “We can handle them.”

“If you’re sure, then fine. Just don’t make me regret this. I’m going to be pissed if I have to run out of here and spend another day recovering from my wounds.”

“Just don’t get hit,” Knell said with a wry smile. “Let’s go kill some fish.”