Earlier the same day,at the edge of the cliff where Laura and Jack had their final face-off against the deadly bird lord, the sun shone in its maximum capacity and a group of almost 30 people were gathering, with 3 people at the helm of the meeting. One was a young handsome male with green hair wearing tattered noble clothes, his expression though mostly neutral despite his apprehension. The second person was a tall, dark skinned and muscular woman with long hair and dreads all over it; her expression a mix between excitement and fierce determination. Finally, the head of the entire organization, Nike, with her beautiful white hair swaying in the wind adressed the crowd.
''Brothers and sister of Skyfall Rift, I hope you have rested well last night, for today we have a vital mission many of you are already aware of: Newcomers are quite literally falling from the skies and every hand counts in our search for escape, so let's show those bastards in the castle who is more caring of the people and who is truly fit to lead the settlement!'' She finished in a dignified and overbearing tone as thunderous cries erupted from the crowd.
''As stated in the strategic missions, we will be spiting up into three teams, each with their own head. I myself will be the leader of one of them, while Artemis, the greatest guide in this dungeon leads the second and last, but not least, we have the noble and legacy blooded, Lazarus. Listen well to what they say, as it might be the difference between life and death out there.'' She continued with a somewhat distraught expression. ''But do not falter, remember the fear and hardship you felt when you first arrived here and how no one was there to save you. Today, we get to BE that person! So grit your teeth and let's save some lives!''
And with the end of Nike's speech, the last expedition preparations began asap. The leaders shouted orders to their respective 10 crews while preparing their own equipment and tying down ropes made out of monster leather to themselves and their party.
''Tie those up tightly!'' Shouted Artemis. ''You don't want it to snap and be turned into mince-meat by the Fog Blades!''
Meanwhile, Lazarus was silently helping his team with preparations, many would assume he held some contempt for the young blooded due to his nobility status while others just saw him as Stoic and maybe somewhat shy.
Despite the uplifting speech, the vibe of the cohort was still tense and worried, that is until finally a horn was blown, and the groups separated, heading to different cardinal directions to expand the search area as viably as possible.
You see, no one knows how far this dungeon extended itself, be it upwards, downwards or any other direction. Thus, most of the activities were centered on the area around the settlement, mainly in the very pillar it was situated or in the adjacent ones.
The organizations and cohorts had even developed an organization to classify whether the pillar was accessible or not as some were just slabs of dead rock while others had internal areas, ancient structures and large internal spaces as the one explored by Laura and Jack. Some were connected to the main pillar by a series of bridges and outer pathways, while others were much harder to access.
The group of Artemis went through one such bridge, slowly crossing its unsteady steps towards another pillar in the southern vicinity of the settlement.
Lazarus's group went east by another bridge, leading to an external trail that followed the side of a more weathered down tower.
And finally, Nike's group was actually climbing down the settlement tower with the objective of reaching the western, and by far more treacherous area of the immediate surroundings. The reason this specific group was chosen for this area was the overwhelming difference in morale and combat power it had just by Nike's presence alone.
''Everyone! Steady on your descent and keep close to the wall as we approach the Fog blade wall!'' She shouted, her voice drifting and echoing in the strong winds.
Many of the blooded in these groups had never even left the city, as most had the luck to arrive in the settlement itself. To these inexperienced eyes, the fog seemed ellusive and mysterious yet dangerous and violent, many had heard stories of people being shredded to pieces after a single mistake in this descent. Thus, only the awakened with the best physical prowess were in this specific group.
However, their difficulty passing by this dangerous area was nowhere close to that of Laura and Jack, no monster giving chase, no rush to go down or fall for that matter. Therefore, the small group went by the obstacle without any problems.
The expedition kept on its path smoothly, but strangely it was a different path than the one our protagonists had taken beforehand, as it was mostly hidden by ancient magic in a way that only someone who had found it before would be able to do so again.
Even with Laura's directions, the starburst cohort had been unable to find said entrance.
This path on the other hand used a weird intersection where an old neighboring tower had tilted to the side, getting close enough to the central spire that one could jump from one to the other.
Weird plant growths could be seen spreading in the new pillar, their bright colors dimmed in the brightest time of the day and giving an air of ancient mystery to the specific area, almost as if the plants could only grow in the pillars that had grown unstable.
All the members, onde by one jumped to the pillar, cautious not to let anyone fall, when all crossed to the tilted figure Nephis gave further instructions:
''All right everyone, after some rappeling we will be close to a monster active area, so when we go down the opening in this tower we will be in monster territory. I hope you will all put your training into action and not screw up, as any loss of life would be too much a tragedy.'' Nike said before guiding the group to said opening. ''Also, three of you shall stay up here in case any new awakened happen to fall on top of the pillar or any beast is to corner us."
When they reached the hole at last, she tied a rope to one of her cohort members and jumped down first, landing on the soft sand inside the pillar. Knowing the kind of enemies that inhabited this area, she quickly put her head to the ground, listening for anything that might have felt her arrival.
Luckily, she heard no sound from the underground and gestured the remaining seven members to get down. Upon arrival, many marvelled at the sight of the new environment, it was nothing like other pillars they had ever seen or been inside.
There, in a soft penumbra, was an almost vertical pillar whose levels had been utterly destroyed, leaving behind only dark sand glistening in the stray rays of light leaking through the holes in the upper walls. Some vegetation grew here or there, but inside this fallen cyclopian pillar the climate seemed to shift to an almost desert like biome.
Even the weird plants from outside seemed to mutate in there as if the pillar was an entirely new world and the lush vegetation turned into cactuses and tumbleweeds.
''This is one of the more dangerous areas in the vicinity so keep your guard up while looking for civilians. Form 2 more groups of three and whoever remains will be with me!'' Nike instructed.
As she did, all the current blooded on the team, specially the males, gave each other a fearsome stare, almost as if mentally competing for who would be paired with the gracious beauty. But before any conflict could surface, one of the girls with much more awareness said:
''Hey let's split up between boys and girls, one of the girls will be remaining since two guys stayed up the entrance, and we'll just decide on who stays with boss by rock, paper scissors?'' She suggested.
But before any of the guys could even protest, Nike responded with a smile. ''That sounds good to me, show them boys that they are not all the strength and power out there!''
Thus, they did as suggested, and the two who were on lookout could only hear the exited screams of the chosen girl from down below.
''Huh, they sure seem like they are having fun down there.'' He said.
''Just focus on your job here, doofus, we aren't here for fun.'' His companion answered.
''So stiff, why did I have to be paired with this guy?'' The first one thought.
Meanwhile, several kilometers away towards the southern end of the settlement vicinity, another group that had just arrived on their own pillar silently walked in a path carved in the side of a pillar towards a great cave entrance. From its insides, a foul odor of humidity and dust was blown out by a slight breeze, like if an old person's home was left to rot and flood for 100 years.
''Ugh, do we really have to go in there, miss Artemis?'' Asked a young girl walking beside the fierce warrioress.
''Yup, unless you want to be seen as a coward and potentially let some recruits die.'' She retorted while walking ahead, no fear or hesitation in her shield and sword posture.
The group, in contrast to her, somewhat hesitated at the entrance but quickly followed as to not abandon their leader, despite them knowing that Artemis could easily handle the matters herself.
She had an unparalleled reputation in the settlement as one of the blooded stuck in this place for the longest time, and thus having one of the most complete bases of knowledge on the Skyfall Rift.
When they were inside, she lit up her oil lantern and briefed the team:
''Remember this is the habitat of lizard folk, they have keen senses and a distinct advantage in the water, so try to not fall in the small lakes inside this pillar, or we might just never see you again.'' She spoke nonchalantly while guiding the less experienced members of the cohort.
After some time of walking, they finally met up with the first group of six lizard folk that attacked them with no hesitation. They were exactly as you'd expect, humanoid beings with green scales, a lizard like head, bright yellow eyes and tribalistic clothes of torn tissue.
Despite them being outed as weak monsters in fantasy stories, the creatures were much more fearsome in real life, having an intelligence equivalent to that of a young teen and the abilities to use ancient tools or water as weapons.
The more inexperienced blooded were having a hard time against relatively more intelligent monsters, as they were constantly falling for feints or traps from the creatures. That was until Artemis stepped in, just in time to stop one of the lizards from stabbing a subordinate with its spear.
''Oh, you wanted to eat him? Sorry, but in the end... I will eat you! ''She teased while blocking the weapon with her shield, shooting her spear forward, and stabbing the first monster right in the neck.
Next, she saw the girl from before being dragged to a pond while she desperatly levitated small pebbles and hurled them at her opponent, doing next to no damage.
Jumping to the air, Artemis swiftly landed on top of the beast and crushed it underneath her with her left hand shield.
And that is when things changed, as she was way too fast for any of the enemies to follow, even with the environmental advantage, the group of six lizardmen was, instantly reduced by two while constantly receiving a barrage of different attacks from another ten awakened.
From there, quick work was made out of the reptilian ambush as Artemis went from one to one, either stabbing, swiping, or crushing, and in just a few minutes, silence reigned once more, cut only by the heavy breathing of the tired and bloodied crew.
The group rellied on each other and seemed mostly fine; Artemis began gathering the corpses they had found and filling her own cannister with blood.
''Good fight everyone, just be more carefull of traps and stay away from the ponds, and we'll make quick progress. For now, let's rest and gather our strength for the next one.''
''Yes sir!'' The group responded in varying tones of agreeability.
''Great! You guys rest as I will scout ahead for a bit. And don't forget to leave two people on watch duty!'' She added, already turning her back on the group.
''Damn, I hate to babysit...'' she thought, continuing her scouting.
Artemis ended up clashing with a few more beasts but had little to no problem defeating them, her lantern strapped to her belt, shining light on the dark, damp environment. She could barely make out a few ancient murals, statues, and relics of the old dwellers of Skyfall Rift.
If it were anyone else, maybe someone with a greater passion for history or curiosity, they would analyze everything they could, but she was only capable of willfully ignoring it and focusing on survival.
Eventually, the warrioress made her way to a great hallway with several chambers on all sides, but ignoring the passages, she went straight to its very end.
There she found the hallway, which led to a larger chamber where Artemis was stunned to find a boneyard: human bones, lizardmen bones, and even the bones of some other creatures she couldn't recognize.
But what caught most of her attention was that on the opposite end of the huge room was an ancient but still intact contraption, a lift of sorts.
Curious on whether or not it was still functional, she began approaching the ancient machinery when she was interrupted.
''Pssst! Hey! Over here.'' She turned around to where the whisper came from only to see that hiding behind the skeletal remains of a great beast was a young boy, hardly 17 years old, with an exasperated look.
Artemis approached him slowly, only for him to urge her to go faster.
''Quick! Before it comes back, we must leave!'' He pleaded.
''Crap, I jinxed myself, didn't I? Guess there will be more babysitting to do.'' She thought then asked, ''Don't worry, we are here to help. What is it that's returning?''
But before he could even answer, a deafening clang of great metallic chains could be heard as the old elevator sprang into action.