When they appeared in the second floor of the dungeon they were not met with an ambush as had happened previously when they entered the portals. A sense of dread began to climb in the minds of the party, as deviation from normal usually meant something bad. They once again traveled using the tried and true.methods that they had used previously. Beka began to scout in the front in a state of stealth. The wolves used a V like formation to surround Cyan who was once again carrying a bow that he had looted from the skeletons. Even with his magic claws and water body the amount of damage he took from these ranged enemies was simply to great, leaving him once again as a ranged fighter.
The difference of course from before was that his attacks now had a trace of magic in them, and could potentially bring down a ghoul even though the process would not be as simple as if he used his claws. This was the decision that Beka and Chica had come to, one that the pack had agreed with whole heartedly. Cyan was not happy with this arrangement, his instincts told him that his place was at the front. His weapons were his claws and his teeth, that he should be tearing into his enemies, not hiding in the rear shooting arrows.
Despite his unwillingness to act as an archer Cyan still toom up to role temporarily. Even with his increased regeneration from his skills he was sorely lacking in defense, the wounds he could recieve would still take time to heal which would slow their progress considerably.
The party advanced through the dungeon for an unknown amount of time, The encountered several small groups of skeletal archers with a few mages thrown in. However they had yet to run into any of the ghouls. The sense of dread rose as they encountered more and more skeletal squads without encountering any of the ghouls.
Half of the second floor had been cleared, they had once again found the safe room. They stopped to rest, alternating guards. They took a total of a day to recuperate in the room, filling up their canteens before they left. They knew that the second half would be much harder than the first.
Their thoughts soon became reality. The first squad of undead that they encountered contained two mages and three ghouls. There were also 5 archers.
Cyan did not waste time as he began to fire his arrows at the archers. This was they method they had adopted, the archers were basically mindless, ignoring anything that was not in their perception area. They would fall quickly to his arrows, leaving the real challenge of the mages and ghouls.
The five archers fell, behind them Beka had already circled around in her stealthed state. The pack began its charge, not at the ghouls, but rather the mages behind them. As they approached a series of arrows struck the ghouls who had begun to intercept the pack. The arrows were not installs like they were with the archers. Where the arrows struck small frozen patches would begin to form. One of the ghouls had been struck in the shoulder, leaving its arm hanging uselessly at its side as they attacked.
The pack expertly dodged the ghouls, moving towards their prey. The mages did not hesitate to send fireballs towards the advancing wolves. Two small fist sized balls of fire flew towards the pack, only to be stopped midair as each was struck by an arrow. The frozen energy was not enough to stop the fireballs, but it did provide a momentary delay which let the wolves escape the blast.
The pack tore into the mages before they could cast another spell. Their teeth sinking into the arm holding the Staffs. Their movements seemed coreographed with how flawlessly they took place. Beka appeared behind one of the mages, her blade sending its head flying as she once again disappeared into the shadows. The two wolves who had been attacking that mage moved towards the other. The mage quickly fell to the combined might of the pack.
Cyan continued to rain arrows down on the three ghouls. The arrows froze the ghouls little by little. fhe ghouls' movements had been reduced to a crawl. From behind a staff could be seen crashing down into the head of the rear most ghoul, accidentally pouring over its body as it began to disintegrate.
With one less target the arrows made short work of the Ghouls, their bodies soon became completely encased in ice. Cyan approached the frozen statues of the ghouls, inside he could still feel the faint traces of life. He paused, before using his claws to demolish the frozen statues. The faint traces of life disappeared as chunks of ice littered the floor.