The group waited around for a bit longer and discussed their plan. Joy was quite open in order to form a decent strategy. She thought that by explaining her own strength, the others would follow suit.
"I'm very proficient at healing magic, my specialty lies in Nature Magic.", Joy said as she waved her hands and the nearby trees blossomed and grew towards her to greet them.
"I. Use. Sickles.", Joseph pulled out two black sickles that looked like they could slice through anything. The black sheen made Dereck think it was made from a special material, but he didn't dare ask.
"When it comes to flames, I can help out the most. I have a special flame that's very destructive.", Conrad summoned a tiny blue flame that burned away an entire tree. "Why did you have to destroy my tree?!", Joy complained, even if she meant it as a joke.
"Just to show how powerful it is, I didn't mean anything bad towards you. My apologies.", Conrad rubbed the back of his head and lifted his hands in defeat. He really seemed to genuinely apologize. Joy smiled after hearing his reason and stared at Dereck.
"I, I can use earth magic very well.", what Dereck said felt a little underwhelming compared to the others present. Conrad inspected him before rubbing his chin a bit and flashing a slight smile.
"So Joy's the only one that mastered their core since we all use different elements? Hahaha, what a sad scene this is."
"No. Choice. Light. Magic. Weak.", Light magic was known for healing and creating light. But when it came to offensive attacks, there weren't a lot of known techniques.
"Yes, sadly enough I'll have to agree with that. Now that we know each other's strength, how about we try to form a strategy?", Conrad walked forward and started to draw a scene in the ground.
"We don't know what the guardian will do, but we can make sure that we're protected. Dereck, do you have a good perception and intuition?"
Dereck felt attacked by that question, he didn't want to answer honestly, but also felt that his answer wouldn't matter. "I have a great instinct, I can detect attacks before they are fired.", Conrad's eyes glistened for a moment before staring at the ground again.
"Perfect, when we land down there, I want you to create a wall capable of dividing the guardian from us."
"Why would you want to do that?", Joy commented. "So that before we start the actual fight, we can take a look at what or who we're dealing with. The wall will probably be destroyed the moment the guardian detects us, but it will stop at least one attack. Giving us time to prepare our spells."
'My wall can handle a few attacks!', Dereck thought to himself, he really wanted to rebuke Conrad. He only held himself back because there was no reason to complain, his gut was still telling him to be wary of him.
"Joseph, are you capable of muscle enhancement or a similar spell, boosting your speed?"
"Yes."
"During the fight Joseph and I can fight in turns, while one distracts the guardian, the other can get a hit in. The moment we take too much damage we retreat. Joy, how great are your healing powers?"
"I saved a horse without legs from dying and even made a dead tree recover!"
"Perfect, when Joseph or I retreat, can you heal us to be ready to fight again? Do you know any enhancing spells?", to which Joy shook her head sideways.
"Okay, then I'm counting on you to heal us whenever you can. Dereck you're playing the role of protector, you guard Joy and create room for us to fight. If the guardian is preparing a big attack I expect you to create a barrier that can withstand it."
"Wait, why are you taking the lead in creating a strategy, shouldn't you discuss that with everyone here?", Dereck just realized what happened, Conrad's way of creating a strategy felt so natural that nobody even recognized they were just listening and following orders. Joy and Joseph didn't argue with him at all.
"I might be the weakest person among all of you, but that doesn't mean I can't come up with some tactics. If you have a better idea I implore you to share it between us.", Conrad smiled innocently at Dereck. Joy and Joseph agreed with him. They weren't that great at figuring out a strategy and Conrad's plan didn't seem to be that bad.
Dereck's brain started to turn, but not much got out from it. "What if the guardian attacks Joy!", his mind stumbled on a question and immediately fired it off without thinking. Conrad looked at Dereck with a strange look. "Like I said, you're responsible for protecting Joy from the guardian. If you can't stop him with your specialty then there's no way we can protect her."
"Wait, what if he is faster than both of you and you can't land a hit!", Dereck ignored Conrad's answer, he knew he was wrong, but didn't want to face his mistake.
"If the guardian is faster than both of us then we would need to corner him and fire of a spell with a large enough range. Then I would be counting on you.", Conrad smiled once more but Dereck didn't look happy at all. His gut was telling him not to trust Conrad at all, but he couldn't think of why. There was no reason to be so scared of him.
Conrad stood up and grabbed his shoulder. "Look Dereck, I know how you feel, you don't trust us, or me specifically, I get it. I've also had a lot of trust issues in the past, but take a look at our group. We're all here to get to the pool. What would betraying each other even do at that point? To get a few tokens we can easily get from the wolves in the forest? No, there simply is no reason to."
"Yeah, like Conrad said, there's no reason to be doubting each other. We share the same goal."
"Partners. Work. Together."
"See, even Joseph agrees with me, you don't have to worry about it. If I wanted to gain a bunch of tokens then I would just be running around trying to find monsters."
Dereck knew that the group already trusted each other enough, but his gut still held him back. There was only one thing he could think of that could make him reasses the situation.
"How many tokens do all of you have?", Dereck fought a few wolves on his way here and knew what the average count should be. If someone got far above that it only meant they stole tokens from somewhere else.
"I haven't really been looking for tokens, I have around 10.", Joy pulled out her slate and the number shown on it was below the average Dereck knew. He himself had around 30 tokens, but he knew where the wolves would be when coming to this place, so he had an easy time getting more.
"I. Have. 25.", Joseph showed his slate before putting it away again. Dereck quickly pulled out his slate and showed his own to be 28 tokens. 'Now Conrad has no way to delay it!', Dereck was confident that he was a dangerous person, and if there's one thing people wanted on this island, it was tokens.
Conrad calmly reached into his pockets before pulling out a slate that could barely fit in there in the first place. The number on it was 19, "I have been actively looking for wolves, but I have been bested by you two. You're both excellent hunters."
'No way he only has 19 tokens with his strength.'
Conrad put his slate back in his pocket before looking back at the strategy he had been drawing on the ground. He knew quite well what Dereck was doing, but exposing that would only further deteriorate their groups relationship. What everyone present needed was a group that backed each other up.
"Now, are there any other suggestions or ideas that we should think of?"
"How about I use my friends of nature to bind the guardian?", Conrad stayed quiet for a moment, long enough to give someone else a chance to speak up. After not hearing a single sound, even from Dereck, Conrad assumed he was back in play. "If you can spare enough magic to do that and controllably heal us that would be great. I'll lend you these."
Conrad used his bag and pulled out two vials of a blue liquid. "These are simple mana potions, when you run out, use these to help yourself.", he handed Joy a single vial while presenting the other to Dereck. He wanted to refuse, but his gut was telling him that the potion was fine to drink.
"Thanks.", it was only a single word, but it made the group feel tighter. "No worries, we need to survive together, don't we?"
Joy looked at Conrad and questioned him, "Will you have enough mana to deal with the guardian though? Won't you need the potions?"
"Ah, don't worry about that, I still have a few potions that can heal me. If things truly get that dangerous, I can only blame myself for making a bad strategy."
They smiled weakly to his response.
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After figuring out their strategy a bit further, they prepared a few spells to be ready at any moment and waited for Conrad's sign.
"Dereck, are you ready? How this fight will start depends on your strength. Please make the hole large enough so that we can get plenty of light for the first few seconds."
"I'm ready.", Conrad gave his sign and the floor beneath them started to shift. Dereck was pushing the ground aside in order to arrive at the cave, creating an artificial sinkhole.
The ground rumbled violently. The vibrations spilled over onto their limbs. The ground sank further, they lost any solid ground. The roar of the earth was deafening, pulling them with it into the deeper depths. The sharp edges of the artificial sinkhole cut into their bodies, the meter-high cloud of dust blinded them. It reeked around them, cutting off oxygen, suffocating them.
The falling motion lasted until they reached the tunnel. They landed unsoftly on the grainy ground, pulling their palms and open skin open on the rough stones. It took several minutes for the dust to be completely cleared from their airways, rubbed from their eyes. Dirt accumulated on their skins, smeared with sweat.
They were in the tunnel.
As the dust subsided somewhat, the edges of the tunnel became visible. The rough surfaces were full of scuff marks, smelled of raw stone dust, as if they smelled the innards of the earthen soil.
Intestines that should not see the light of day. A few lights hung, sporadic, without any fixed pattern or structure. They burned through the descending dust fog, lit up the last of the spiraling dust. They tried to shine further, indicate the end of the tunnel, but it was in vain. The tunnel ended further on in a curve. The end remained hidden.
Dereck immediately placed his hands on the ground and erected a massive thick wall between them and the presence of the guardian. Everyone had only a single second, yet the image of the guardian was seared into their memory.
It seemed as if the applied lights on the walls crackled, like twigs or clinking tongues. It was only as they got closer that they saw another light illuminating the dusty tunnel. The swirling dust hid the animal, until, however, it remained on its glowing body. The dancing lights ran across its triangular head, along its remarkably long neck, its huge catch arms folded together.
It was light that shaped the animal, blending light that moved across its form like a kaleidoscope. The animal's four folded legs were almost invisible, so thin and transparent that the centerpiece seemed to float in the corridor. The clicking, creaking sound was more intense nearby. Its eyes were like twinkling stars.
"A humanoid monster of pure light?", Conrad spoke first while preparing his spells and activating his necklace. Pulling his sword out he forced some energy near his muscles so that he could immediately strengthen them when needed.
The guardian was a being of complete light, it was tall, towering above everyone present. The antennas showed them it was anything but human though. The monster looked like a mantis that had gained a human body.
Conrad had but a glimpse but knew what to watch out for, "Joseph, this monster is going to be very fast, won't flinch when taking damage and will rush in for the kill. It doesn't seem to have any weapons beside the massive mantis claws."
Conrad had just explained what he gathered before the wall in front of them started to shake. "What the?", Dereck was confused, his wall was strong enough to handle a bunch of attacks from middle Rank 1's. "We're dealing with a Peak Rank 1 monster.", he shared his intel immediately. This wasn't the time to be wary of one another.
"Joy, Dereck, retreat. Joseph, I'll take the first turn distracting it, try to get its legs. Incapacitate this bastard.", he was just done speaking before the wall completely collapsed. The mantis-like being walked leisurly out of the debris.
Conrad wasted no time attacking the beast with a quick lunge. The monster didn't look towards his direction but stopped the attack by simply lifting his claw. "Fine.", Conrad's sword started to erupt into flames, catching the monster of guard.
"?!", Conrad jumped backwards as a claw almost decapitated him. "Hahaha, he truly doesn't flinch. The light instantly regenerates him, so be wary of suicidal attacks!"
The mantis took a slight step forward, but flashed ahead arriving right in front of Conrad while swinging down. Conrad blocked the attack with his sword, but that left his lower body open for the other claw!
SWING
The sickles completely severed the lower legs of the mantis in an instant, but in that mere instant, the legs also reformed them again. The mantis's anger was displaced on Joseph. It swung it's other claw towards its back but Joseph was already away.
In that split second Conrad used his enforced legs and kicked as hard as he could, even pushing wind through his knee in the opposite direction to increase his speed. The kick pushed the mantis back, but the damage was nowhere to be seen.
Joseph attacked the mantis in that slight moment of being pushed back, leaving no opening after retreating right after. "We can do this!", Conrad seemed very optimistic, but things weren't going so well. The guardian was stronger than they initially thought.
Conrad blocked one claw while the other aimed for his legs. He tried to jump, but left himself open in the air, a claw caught Conrad and flung him against the wall. "Joy! Dereck!", on command, a wall appeared right in front of the mantis, giving Joseph a chance to hit it once more. Joy on the other hand quickly healed the wounds that Conrad suffered.
The fight kept on raging, going back and forth between Joseph and Conrad. They were lucky that Dereck could predict certain instant kill attacks and conjured enough walls to block them.
Still, the mantis was too fast, injuries started to pile up, Joy had to constantly heal someone in order for them to not die. Even Dereck was constantly putting up walls to distract the guardian, not that Dereck didn't know any offensive magic, but using that would only ruin the current battlefield. If he introduced a new variable, he could've hit his teammate, his gut was telling him to stay back.
None of them knew how much time had passed, but it felt like hours of meaningless fighting since the guardian didn't change appearance no matter how much damage it accumulated. Joy wanted to use roots to bind the mantis, but it was way too fast, leaving her role to be just a healer, but even that was starting to get tiring.
"Jospeh! I'll distract him, try to get the head!", Conrad rushed forward throwing his sword forward and summoning blue fire in both his hands. The sword was quickly pushed aside, "Since you never bother dodging, TAKE THIS!", Conrad threw two Great Blue Fireballs at the mantis making the cave tremple from the impact.
He knew it wouldn't have mattered, so he activated his necklace again before seeing the mantis rush out from the smoke and slashing downwards.
CRACK
The claw broke through the shield and implanted itself deep into the shoulder of Conrad. "Hah, idiot.", Conrad held on to the claw while clenching his muscles tight to keep the claw from moving. Joseph appeared from behind and used a flurry of attacks that froze the guardian in place.
Joseph grabbed Conrad and jumped back. "Ice Sickles, good combination.", the fast attacks didn't leave any damage, but the ice that coated the weapons started to freeze the guardion. During the long fight they tried multiple elements, but they never had any effect.
"Won't. Last. Long.", Joseph looked at his sickles before applying another coat of frost.
"I know, Joy?", Conrad asked as he picked his sword back up, the scratches it received from the monster were slowly starting to take its toll on his weapon.
"I have half a vial left.". Had they had been fighting long enough to tire out a mid Rank 1? Or were the injuries that Joseph and Conrad accumulated just too much to deal with?
Conrad didn't answer and simply stood back up even with the massive wound his shoulder carried. "Ice can stop him for a moment, would Dark magic do the trick?"
"Damage. Doesn't. Matter.", like Joseph said, any kind of damage they did to the monster was healed instantly, so even if they used Dark magic, it would just heal itself again.
"So attacking it is pointless?"
Dereck and Joy tried to think of a way they could get through this battle, but Conrad looked exhausted and Joseph didn't seem a whole lot better. "The headmasters wouldn't put an impossible monster on the island, it can be beaten.", was all that Dereck could come up with.
"Joseph, get ready.", the guardian broke through the ice and looked like it hadn't suffered a scratch.
Since they knew ice was a way to slow it down, they tried to freeze the guardian multiple times. Sadly, the moment Joseph tried his Ice Sickles again, the mantis dodged the attack.
"It dodged?", Dereck looked at the absolute monster in front of him. A being that didn't bleed or flinch when attacked, never suffered any injuries and could only be slowed down, started to dodge the one thing they could use?
"So it can learn, great.", Conrad could only helplessly smile. "I have an idea, but might die from this, Joy, get ready to completely heal me up. Use the entire vial if you have to."
"What? How can you take such a risk?"
"Dereck! Would you rather try to fight this thing? We can't hold out much longer, unlike you, we haven't stopped moving since the beginning!", like Conrad yelled, even now, they had to constantly block or dodge the mantis's attacks. Their bodies were on the verge of collapse, dragging the battle out didn't give them any advantage, only the mantis would gain from that.
"Fine, do it!", Joy didn't know any other way, she looked tired from all the healing, but she didn't have any choice. She gulped the vial down and started to prepare a massive healing spell.
"Joseph, lead it to me!", Joseph followed his command and threw his sickles at the guardian. Like Conrad did with his sword, the monster didn't care about the tools and would just push them aside, giving them a slight moment of freedom. Joseph summoned a bunch of Ice Shard that flew towards the mantis but the claws quickly disposed of them.
The speed of the claws was something nobody could track, yet it never used such an attack speed on them, leaving them all to think it still wasn't going all out. Conrad could only laugh when he realised they were far too weak to beat such a beast.
He grabbed his sword and fueled it with the Blue Flame. Normal elemental attacks would degrade the sword somewhat, but using the Blue Flam would spell its demise, but Conrad didn't hesitate. Grabbing his sword with both hands he fueled all his remaining energy in that single slash. Since the mantis only dodged ice attacks it took the attack head on.
BOOM
The slash completely destroyed the wall of the cave, making the entire place tremble. Conrad looked on as his sword shattered into pieces. Lifting his head, he saw the mantis stand right in front of them, completely undamaged.
It took a stance and thrusted its claw straight into the chest of Conrad.
"CONRAD!", Joy could only watch on in horror as she quickly tried to heal him, but Conrad raised his hands and stopped her. The blood came out of his mouth, yet he was smiling. The pain was immense, but his mind was stronger.
"Hahaha! I knew it!"
Everyone stared at the mess Conrad had become, yet somehting was off.
"This isn't a monster! This was never meant to be a physical fight!"
"What are you talking about?!", Dereck and the others all looked at Conrad who had a claw piercing throug him. Yet, they also noticed that the mantis wasn't moving away, it simply stood there, watching Conrad. Conrad's condition was terrible, yet he was laughing like a madman.
"Don't you see? There was no guardian in the first place!", Conrad's words didn't make any sense. They all just looked at him, not comprehending what he was trying to say. Joseph started to piece it together.
"No. Guardian? Then. No. Pool?"
"Wrong, this thing is the Light Pool!"
"What?!", everyone looked at the injured Conrad with a look of surprise. Even Joseph who stayed mostly silent couldn't help but widen his eyes.
"This wasn't a fight to prove your strength of combat, but strenght of will. I'm not dead, yet have a claw piercing my chest. The pain is real, even the wound is real, but the Light keeps my body intact. All that's left for me to do..."
Conrad sat in a meditative pose as the mantis kept its claw deep in his chest. Conrad sat silently and calmly breathed in and out. The claw that was visible through Conrad's back was covered in blood, but started to shrink slowly.
"Everyone, give me some time to absorb this power, don't worry. There's enough for everyone here, let's take our time protecting each other."
Dereck felt like he should disagree, but after seeing Conrad throw his life away to test a theory, he couldn't help but praise the man.
A few hours passed and Conrad was almost finished. The entire claw disappeared from the mantis, leaving but a stump left.
"If we each get a limb, that's indeed enough to share between us.", Dereck's gut told him not to trust Conrad, yet after seeing him tell the truth he was once again proven wrong.
"Wait, Conrad, you're still just a mid Rank 1, why did you stop?", Joy looked concerned at Conrad, she was ready to heal him if an injury was the thing slowing him down.
"Ah, my core isn't fully yellow, so I need another pool to fill the rest.", Conrad stood up and stared the mantis right in the eyes. The mantis seemed to recognize him and simply turned around to charge at Joseph.
"Let him hit you Joseph, and keep him in place! Don't think you're going to die, you will survive!", trusting Conrad, Joseph stood still and waited for the claw to pierce his stomach.
"Argh!", like Conrad said, the pain and wound were real, but the light kept the body from falling apart. It functioned as a bridge for the lost tissue. Joseph respected Conrad to be so calm when the threat of death was so close. Even he couldn't keep the pain contained, yet Conrad laughed it of.
"It does hurt doesn't it?", Conrad stood up with a hole in his clothing. The place where flesh should be destroyed was nothing but his own chest like it never took any damage.
As Joseph was gathering his energy the other mantis claw started to shrink. Dereck was curious how it would attack with no claws, but was surprised to see Joseph stop absorbing the claw. "Already. Have. Enough."
Dereck started to think it was strange, Joseph was a mid Rank 1, yet didn't absord an entire claw to reach Peak Rank 1, yet Conrad who was at the bottom consumed an entire arm just to get to mid Rank 1. How was that even possible?
Joseph was done absorbing it and for the first time, the mantis's Light seemed to dim as two new claws were produced. The mantis looked at Dereck and Joy as their next target, but then Joseph realized.
"Still. Not. Rank. 2?", even though he absorbed enough energy to get arrive at the gates for Rank 2, he still couldn't open them.
Joseph looked at Conrad for guidance. "Why are you looking at me for? I don't know how to reach the next Rank. I thought that getting enough energy would push you towards it. Like the headmaster said, just a cup of it should be enough. If it doesn't work, I couldn't tell you why."
Joseph looked at the others, but they also didn't know why it didn't work. And, they had to strengthen their resolve as the mantis drew near.