Where Jay had expected complete darkness, now there was light. In fact, the entire place was lit up like the fourth of July. It wasn't coming from one particular place, either, but instead seemed to be reflecting off everything.
Kyle was the first to think of a solution. He managed to mix his water and shadow magic to create a sort of dampening field around their party.
"The water reflects some of the light. The shadows reduce how much light gets through. It's not too hard once you know what you're doing." His explanation was pretty simple, but it was also effective. If Jay had spent more time practicing shadow magic rather than healing or metal, he might have been able to do the same.
While it meant they could now see their surroundings and the enemies that attacked them, it also meant Kyle was effectively out of the fight. If their magic barrier dropped, they'd all be blinded.
There were a surprising number of shadow Cercopes, although these ones seemed bigger than the ones on previous floors. The bright light created long shadows that they bent to their will, making them harder to fight against than previous floors.
Even so, their group made their way forward without too much trouble. After some time, Jay noticed something odd about the light—it seemed to be moving ever so slightly. It could have been his mind playing tricks on him, but his intelligence had improved significantly and he doubted that to be the case.
Wary of whatever was causing the change, Jay informed his party to stay alert and watch out for new monsters. Until they could pinpoint where this thing was, there was no point attacking randomly.
They went on and on and eventually they saw the boss room ahead of them. There had still been no sign of whatever was causing the light to move and that worried Jay. If they got ambushed in the boss fight, there could be serious injuries. Deciding to take a chance, Jay fired off some fireballs at the walls.
Instantly, that entire section of light moved. Where it had been shining brightly, now there was only a darkened cave wall. Once the danger was past, however, light seemed to flow back into the section. It was as if the entire wall was alive, blinding delvers and aiding the monsters.
Still, his fireballs seemed ineffective. Lightning was much better at dealing with a horde of fast-moving foes, but if he was right about the light coming from a monster then he could inadvertently shock the ground beneath their feet (and his friends too). For now, he'd just have to hope the walls would remain neutral.
Jay turned his attention to the boss room. While Kyle's barrier had made it easier to see, he still couldn't see whatever was meant to be the boss. That meant one of two things: either it was hiding above the entrance or they couldn't see it.
The first option would be an annoyance but it could be dealt with. The second option would make this significantly riskier. And if what he knew about the dungeon was right, it was probably the latter. This floor hadn't seemed any harder than the one before it and there was no way the dungeon was taking it easy on them. They must have missed something.
As Jay was lost in thought, a blade of light came streaking at him like a whip. He quickly raised a rock wall in front of him, noted that it wasn't glowing, and hopped out of the way for good measure. A cleft was left in his wall and the blade disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Suddenly, another strike came from their left flank and struck at Pete. His armor held up, but he looked shaken. At the same time, another strike came from the left. Sarah rolled out of the way, but it caught her ankle and left a small cut, even breaking through the armor that protected that spot.
A shower of attacks went out. Pete went swinging, systematically ruling out where the boss wasn't (by which I mean he missed. A lot.). Sarah was firing arrows at the spot where she'd been attacked from, but her arrows just struck the wall. Andrew and his pets were just as lost as the others and struck blindly, hoping to catch something by surprise. And Jay was firing fireballs and bolts of ice like crazy.
Only little Silver had yet to contribute. Instead, he stared at a spot in the middle of the room, teeth bared and tail held menacingly. Before his very eyes, Jay's pet began to grow. Before long, it was the size of a tiger and had streaks of gold running through its fur. After another few moments, those were joined with streaks of silver and black, too. Then he leapt forward.
Their entire group looked on in awe as the previously-adorable Silver slashed, cut and bit into something none of them could see. Then the blood began to flow. The wounds that Silver had created outlined the body of the creature, showing the group where to attack.
It was big—bigger than any of their pets when it stood on its back legs—and it seemed angry. It darted around them, eager to use its tails to pierce their defenses, but they were better able to guard now that they could see it.
Jay fired off fireball after fireball, wearing down the monster's health and slowing its movement. Bluejay and Addy jumped in, pecking, slashing and biting wherever they could find a spot. Sarah's arrows hit mark after mark, though she was still having difficulty finding its face. And Pete's wild swings suddenly did a whole lot more damage.
By the end of it, they were battered and bruised, but they'd come out the victors. Sarah needed more arrows and everyone needed a long break, but they'd done it.
[Party has slain an Elder Light Distortion Beast. 5000 XP rewarded. You have completed the fifth floor of Level 1-10 Forest Cavern Dungeon. Would you like to exit and claim rewards or continue?]
Happy with their success, the group left the dungeon.
[Choice accepted. Determining rewards…Rewards determined.
First clear bonus: Light Beetle Egg, and 5 Light Distortion Beast cores.
Fourth floor clear rewards: 800 gems, Shadow Cercopes Egg, Cloak of Shadows (1x).
Fifth floor clear rewards: 1000 gems, Elder Light Distortion Beast core, Light Blade (variable) (3x).
Please come again.]
The eggs went directly to Andrew so he could bolster his strength. His current pets were good, but Addy was only a first floor monster and they'd seen how much stronger monsters got as they descended. Whatever the Light Beetle was, it was sure to be helpful. Similarly, the Shadow Cercopes could be a decent scout for the group depending on how Andrew trained it.
The gems were split between Jay's personal stash and guild funds. It wasn't much, but it might allow them to make some basic upgrades. The cloak of Shadows had to go to Sarah. If anyone could make use of what Jay assumed to be an invisibility cloak, it'd be her. The cores went into Jay's bag for now and nobody really knew what to do with the light blades.
[Light Blades are formed of condensed light mana. They can change form to match user's preference and have a fine edge to allow for optimal combat effectiveness. Consumes 1 charge to change form. Restores one charge for every 8 hours in sunlight.]
Just about anyone could use the weapons, but Jay thought he had a good idea about how to handle it. Everyone in the guild needed better gear, anyway, and their competitive edge had been showing more and more. What they needed was a good old-fashioned tournament.
Not just a little itty-bitty tournament like the weekly competitions they'd been doing, but the kind where knights would travel from all over the land to compete. Sadly, they had no real way of informing anyone else about it, or even a way to know if anyone else was around, but still he'd be darned if he wouldn't try.
Jay decided it was time to head back into the game store. He was beginning to wonder when that book on enchanting would show up, and if anyone knew how to broadcast a message, it'd be the dwarf.
"Hey man, how's it going? I really am sorry about that one time I took your wand. I didn't mean any harm by it and I'd like to be a good customer." Jay sounded nervous and he could tell. The dwarf had never hurt him, but he wasn't eager to find out if he could.
"Whatd'ja need this time, then? Tha' book o' yours came in, by tha way. Spit it out and lemme 'ear it."
"I need a way to send a message to other nearby players. Do you have anything for that?"
"I do, but it'll cost ya. Messaging crystals are expensive, even one-way ones. About 2000 gems for the cheapest."
With a sigh, Jay emptied his pockets. He'd gotten used to having a good stack of gems and to lose so much at once was disheartening. But still, it had to be done.
"Thanks, man. By the way, I never caught your name. What should I call you?"
"The name's Toromir. Learn it some time."
And with that, Jay was set. He left the store and went to their guild headquarters (otherwise known as the cafeteria). He cleared his throat and began.
"Hear ye, hear ye. I, Jay Michaelson, leader of the Sivertail Mages, invite all surviving humans to a show of strength. If you're out there, we're here and we're thriving. We have prizes of significant power for the winners. We shall host a series of duels, magic trials and, should enough people enter, a duel between pets. The events will start west of New York City in one month, so make your way to our location by that time. May your journey be safe and your determination undaunted."
And with that, Jay signed off.