Using once-living creatures as literal firewood may be odd, but they did the trick. We had a fire going in no time and had everyone, minus Draco, warm themselves at it. The lizardman went to get more wood, since had a fair amount of people to dry.
"Will you be okay?" I asked Nira. She had her wings spread out in front of her to dry them quicker.
"I'll be fine. Thanks," She said with a smile as she nodded.
Draco soon returned with two more 'logs' and used them to create a second campfire. The soldiers sat down next to it and thanked him.
"Any idea what you're going to call your new ability yet?" Velariah asked as we warmed ourselves by the fire.
Draco shook his head. "No idea. Something like 'Earth Spikes' or something?"
"It's not really earth, though, is it?" I asked. "It looked like rocks to me."
"I guess you're right, Miss Elania."
"Let's call it Rock Spikes and be done with it then," Seralyn said with a grin.
"I like it," Velariah added.
"I guess Rock Spikes it is," Draco said while observing one of his axes.
I turned myself around to warm my large rear by the fire. Velariah grinned when I did, and I awkwardly waited with my back turned to the others. A few minutes later, Seralyn called out.
"Don't know about you guys, but I'm all ready to conquer this dungeon..." She waited for a few seconds and lowered her voice. "Again."
"You ready, Nira?" I saw Velariah ask the harpy thanks to my large field of vision.
Nira nodded in response. "I'm ready."
Velariah then turned to me. "El?"
"I'm ready. Let's go."
We left the soldiers behind as we started our advance through the dungeon. Three more treants in the first tunnel were slain. If the soldiers needed any more wood, they could pick it up for free. I thanked Arch again with a whisper for his generosity.
We carefully advanced to the large, open room. Draco and I made up the vanguard with our shields raised. The room was completely dark, and I remembered very well what happened last time.
I was not going to be caught by surprise.
I barely had time to notice it. A large fireball flew in my direction. I ducked behind my shields as the ball of fire impacted on my shields and shattered into thousands of flames that slid off the sides of the shields.
So much for that generosity.
The torches caught fire one by one in the same overly dramatic manner as last time. I was not disappointed when I saw the same monstrous lion with dragon-like wings and mane as red as blood before us, in the center of the room.
It seemed it was time for a rematch.
Seralyn fired an arrow shortly after. The inherity-fueled arrow flew true and was bound to strike the beast in its skin below its head, but it somehow bounced off some kind of invisible wall next to its body, moments before it struck.
"The fuck?" Seralyn said in annoyance.
"Some kind of barrier, it looks like," Draco commented. "We'll have to destroy it."
"And how do we do that?" I asked.
The lizardman smiled. "Just hit it 'till it breaks."
That sounded simple. Not.
The beast appeared to possess the same large claws that the lionesses had. Due to its size, I imagined there would be quite a bit of force behind them. Blocking may not be the best option.
There would be no real option for me to use my thread either. I had nowhere to connect it to in this room. When we fought the scorpion I was able to utilize the corner it was in, but I would have no such luck here.
I imagined this would be a hit-run-block kind of fight.
Then again, the overall difficulty of this fight could not be too high, considering Arch's perceived danger level.
It had to have a weakness somewhere.
Maybe this beast wasn't so tough, and this barrier was its best defense.
In any case, we'd have to break it.
I wish I had my new weapon. I reckoned that in this open area, I would be able to utilize it well.
I trusted my armor to keep me safe against this beast's attacks. My only concern was my head, I was missing my helmet, after all. With this beast's size, I would have to be careful, it could reach my head if it wanted to.
We'd have to do this the good old-fashioned way.
"Right," I stated, my eyes never leaving the beast, which stood idle, ready to attack us if need be. "I assume we spread out and try to get hits on it while it's focused on another person. Seralyn, do you think your arrows do damage to this barrier?"
"They should," Draco said. "Barriers usually shatter after a certain amount of damage is done to them."
"Good to know, I guess," I said, and unsheathed my blades.
"In that case," Seralyn said, nocking another arrow and empowering it. "Eat this!"
She fired the arrow which, again, impacted the invisible barrier near the beast's face. A large number of sparks came from where the arrow struck.
I charged ahead, immediately getting the beast's attention. It tried to slash me as I passed to the right. Its claws struck my shield, but didn't stop my charge. I counter-attacked with my spear but found it blocked by the beast's barrier.
The lion-esque creature turned to face me and roared. As it did so, I saw fire forming in its maw. I held my shields ready to block an incoming fireball, but another arrow struck the beast's barrier, temporarily confusing it.
The moment of hesitation wasn't unused. Draco charged in and brought both of his axes down on the beast's head. I stepped aside and saw a fireball eject from the beast's maw, which failed to hit anything. Two rock spikes followed after Draco's double axe impacts.
The lion's attention was now on Draco, who was put on the defensive. It clawed away, but the lizardman had no issues blocking its attacks. I created some distance between me and the monster and charged its side with my swords and spear pointed forward.
At the same time, I could see Velariah on the other side of the beast bringing her sword down from overhead. Her blade glowed with white light and was blocked as all our attacks had been. An immense amount of sparks flew off the beast's barrier as it struck.
When I struck at nearly the same time, I also saw the same happen before me. I was almost blinded by sparks as several flew into my side eyes. I didn't quite manage to close them as quickly as I had closed my human eyes.
I winced in pain and took a few steps back as I felt pain course through my side eyes.
I had a lot to learn, it seemed…
I saw the monster's attention switch to Velariah, while another one of Seralyn's empowered arrows struck its barrier.
I forced myself to recover quickly and charged at the beast from behind to assist the elf.
Velariah handily dodged two strikes from the monster and ducked under one of its wings, striking it with her sword above as she passed under it.
The monster roared in pain as its wings were, apparently, unprotected by the barrier it possessed. Red blood dropped down from where the elf knight's sword had struck.
I arrived and struck with all three weapons once more. This time I did close my eyes in time as another barrage of sparks was sent my way.
The second I opened my eyes I saw Draco, in his black-scaled form, bring both his axes down on the beast's left wing, the uninjured one. The attack was followed by two Rock Spikes, which embedded themselves in the beast's already injured wing.
It roared in pain once more as it launched a fireball at Velariah. The projectile hit her straight on her chest armor and knocked her back slightly. She remained on her feet but seemed to be in pain.
"Vel, get to Nira," I called out. Another arrow struck the beast as it was about to launch another fireball at the unsteady elf.
I attacked the beast from up close with my blades and spear, stabbing as rapidly as I could while under constant assault from the sparks that flew around.
"Got it," Velariah replied as she retreated to where Nira and Seralyn stood in the doorway.
Draco kept assaulting the beast's left wing, which now dragged across the floor as the monster seemed to have lost control of it. I saw about six Rock Spikes embedded in it and several more cuts from the lizardman's axes, each of them bleeding.
Draco reverted to his normal form as the beast turned to fight him with his claws. He blocked two attacks before a fireball was aimed at him. He blocked it without issues, but had to take several steps back.
I continued my assault until I saw cracks in the air around the beast's form appear. I stopped my attacks as I observed what was going on.
The cracks expanded outward and enveloped the monster's entire form before glowing orange and red. It then spontaneously shattered, sending an intense amount of sparks into the air as it exploded in a wave of heat.
A second or so after the barrier shattered, an inherity-empowered arrow embedded itself in the beast's mane, drawing blood.
Another roar was heard as it cried out in pain and turned to me. I was about to strike with my spear but was put on the defensive as it tried clawing at my chest. I blocked each and every attack as it seemed enraged and fixated on clawing me to pieces.
Unbeknownst to it, I had already raised my fangs and took a moment to aim.
After a successful block, its head was exactly where I wanted it to be, and I unloaded my complete reserves into its face and eyes, spraying the monster with the deadliest kind of venom that I possessed.
I took a few steps back as the monster appeared to have lost vision. It was clawing wildly and fired another fireball that missed everything; it impacted the ceiling and disappeared without doing any harm to any of us.
Seralyn continued with her barrage of arrows, landing hit after hit in the beast's side as it still tried to claw around it without striking anything.
"Do you think that will do the trick, Miss Elania?" Draco called. He was also awaiting what would happen, just like me.
"I don't know, but I don't think approaching it now is a good idea."
Its movements were far too erratic and unpredictable. With some luck, it would simply die without us having to put ourselves at further risk.
Its movements seem to slow down as the monster's legs stood still. It was currently clawing widely at its face and eyes which were covered in dark-green venom.
It was wounding itself with its large claws in the process.
I almost felt guilty.
Velariah, in the meantime, seemed to have regained her composure, thanks to Nira's help, and charged back into the fight. She brought her glowing sword down on where the beast's wing was connected to its main body and completely severed it with a powerful strike.
The wound that was left bled profusely, causing the beast to scream with rage again as it continued clawing at its eyes.
I was positive that its eyes had disappeared already. They have probably melted like that troll's.
Disgusting but effective.
Velariah walked around the beast and mimicked her attack on the other side, severing the wing that had already been severely damaged by Draco, before stepping back. The blood the beast was losing was sure to kill it soon enough.
Seralyn wasn't taking chances, it seemed. She continued firing empowered arrows until she yelled she was out.
The beast's movements had slowed enough to the point where I thought a coup de grâce was appropriate. Its roars had been reduced to whimpers as it continued clawing away at its face. I created some distance and charged to one of its wingless sides.
I drove all my weapons as deep inside as I could, hopefully striking its heart. I was no expert on lion anatomy, but I guessed its heart would probably be somewhere behind its front legs.
With three weapons at my disposal, I was sure to hit it, I thought.
I pulled out my blades, but could not get my spear out as easily, and stepped back.
It seemed that it had not yet done enough damage.
Velariah finished the job with an overhead sword strike in the beast's neck. The sword didn't quite decapitate the monster, but it had gone halfway and cut through the most important vitals, quickly ending its life.
Its feet gave out and our adversary collapsed.
I wiped the sweat off my face that all this exercise and heat had brought.
"Nice work," Draco complimented us as he approached.
"Same to you, Draco. It seems your new ability did quite a number on its wing," I replied.
Seralyn and Nira approached us.
"That was… quite an interesting fight. I have to admit," Seralyn said.
"It sure was," I said. "That was the first time I had to deal with a barrier too. I didn't think such things would be a thing."
"But they are," Velariah said with a smile. "And this probably won't be the last time fighting against a form of barrier. They are quite annoying, to be honest. You saw that the monster doesn't lose any strength until the barrier is broken. It's almost impossible to weaken it."
"Except its wings were not protected," I let out.
"Correct," Draco spoke. "Technically, we could have ended this fight by cutting off its wings and waiting for blood loss to do its job. I reckon that was a possible weak spot." He then looked at me and the others in turn. "But I guess this works just as well."
"Some good experience for when we next run into something like this, I guess."
I stared at the lion/dragon hybrid. "You guys think this will be worth anything?"
"Pretty sure some of its body parts would make for great crafting materials," Draco said. "I imagine its head would also make a nice trophy… except that it's ruined..."
"Yeah… sorry about that..." I apologized.
He was right, though. This beast's head, in a good state, would make any hunter back on Earth jealous.
"By the way, did you come back to retrieve the lions from last time? You know, before we had to hurry back," I asked.
"We didn't," Velariah said. "We had the guild retrieve them instead. They took part of the sales price as a cut. The rest, we divided among Draco, Nira, and Seralyn."
"I see."
"Did you want any of it?" Velariah asked.
I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I was just wondering. You know I can make plenty of money as it is."
"What's next?" Seralyn asked.
Velariah reached into her pack and pulled out the vial with the Borer material. "We take this to Arch."
"Yuck," Nira commented at the sight of the vial.
I smiled at her comment. She'd seen far worse, yet she commented on this.
The torches suddenly extinguished which put me on edge. We were suddenly in complete darkness.
"What the hell?" Velariah asked.
Her sword started glowing, providing us with some light. Draco reached for his pack and pulled out a new torch, which he quickly ignited.
Just in time too. From the darkness came a large spider that seemed to be an exact copy of Minia, just magnified. I imagined it reached to Velariah's shoulders and it approached us with fangs and pedipalps raised.
Why did it have to be spiders?
I didn't mind Minia at all, but seeing one of this size… I was disgusted by it.
Its movements were quick, too quick for me to react in time. It was within reach of Nira in no time. It was about to strike when I yelled.
"Stop!"
I hoped my inherity wouldn't fail me. I had no doubt we could kill this thing, but I didn't want to…
The large spider froze the moment I said it.
I sighed deeply.
"Arch?" I called out the dungeon's name.
I got no response.
I looked at the spider that was still frozen. Nira had quickly abandoned her position and retreated behind me.
Seralyn drew her bow and readied an arrow.
"Don't," I said.
She looked at me with confusion plastered all over her face.
"Don't kill it," I spoke softly.
I walked up to the spider and attempted to communicate with it. I didn't quite know the limits of my inherity, but Minia seemed to understand simple commands.
"Step back," I commanded it.
The spider lowered its fangs and palps and stared at me with its huge eyes.
"The fuck?" Seralyn called behind me. "You taming spiders now?"
"Shush," Velariah silenced her.
"Arch, what the hell are you trying to pull here?" I asked.
The dungeon's voice, through the spider guarding its core, entered my mind. "I was curious what you would do."
I frowned. "Curious?"
"It would seem your command easily beats mine when I don't control my minions manually."
"And this is how you wanted to test it?"
"Keeps you on edge, doesn't it?"
I sighed.
Once again, he was right. If that had been anything but a spider, Nira may have suffered a serious injury.
That didn't mean I agreed with his methods. In fact, I was quite pissed.
"Arch, if you were wrong, you could have killed one of our party members. You're lucky I have a good deal of self-control," I said angrily.
"Elania, I'm sorry. Know that I would have stopped it before any harm would have come to Nira."
The voice in my mind paused for a second.
"Besides, it's only a spider. It's kind of a cute one, wouldn't you say?"
"You making fun of me now?" I spoke. "I've only recently come to terms with small spiders, now you toss this in my face," I said, still with as angry a voice as I could.
"Anyway," Arch spoke, seemingly desperately wanting to switch to a different topic, "I believe Velariah brought material from that monster you talked about. I'm analyzing it as we speak."
"Thanks..." I said softly. This was one of the more important reasons we had come here. I wanted to show my anger and have Arch know I wasn't pleased with his methods, whatsoever, but I did not want him to start hating us.
"Cheer up, Elania. You've just learned another important lesson, perhaps two."
"Yeah, you're right..." I admitted with a deep sigh.
The second lesson being that I could, apparently, control spiders in dungeons as long as the core didn't exert direct control over them. I continued looking at the spider before me and tried to detect emotions as I did with Minia. I could feel none, whatsoever.
It just felt… empty…
It made me feel uneasy.
I was impressed that I could control spiders of this size, though.
I guess it was somewhat cute…
However, the fact that it seemed to be without a soul messed with my brain. At least, I think it was the soul that was missing? I couldn't quite put it differently.
"Well, well, well," The Hellspider Queen's voice entered my mind again. "Look what we have here..."
"What is it?" I asked.
"You may want to inform Valariah's father of this."
"Of what?" I asked again, my impatience growing.
"Dungeon magic."