[11:04 | May 03, 2035
The remaining skeletons crumbled into piles of bone. The goblins squirmed and ran away as their leader was slain before their eyes.
Malady had her bow half drawn when she noticed her target fall apart. Fuyumi called out to the group from the far side of the cave.
"Come on, let's go!"
Shin put his bow away and signaled for Malady to do the same.
"As expected of Fuyumi."
Shin walked through the battlefield of bone and blood. He picked up his arrows with his skill as he passed the corpses they were stuck to. Shin handed some of the arrows to Malady. She bowed her head in appreciation. Shin and Malady met up with Geoff and Scottie in the center of the room. Prezzo followed shortly behind.
Panicking goblins were in the corner of the room, cowering in fear.
"Watch this!" Prezzo said brandishing his codex.
"[Surging Flame]!"
The goblins were engulfed in flames. They struggled and screamed before eventually succumbing to the fire.
"Hahaha! Free experience, isn't it? Can't let that go to waste!" He said as he closed his codex.
"Guess so." Shin shrugged.
"You guys plan on taking forever to get here?" Fuyumi scolded them.
"We're coming!" Geoff yelled back.
Fuyumi followed Geoff's lead from before and put her hand on the square indent in the stone wall. The wall illuminated before sliding open once more. The group stepped into the dark corridor and were greeted with a prompt.
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[Urumel: Floor 2]
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As the prompt disappeared, the walls were lit by the same blue torches they had grown accustomed to. The flat corridor slowly transitioned into a steady slope downwards. They went through an opening and down another set of stairs. Similar to the first set of stairs they went down, it felt endless. Not much was said during the journey down. The newly formed party weren't exactly friends, but they weren't completely devoid of companionship either. Shin expected as much since they'd only known each other from one combat experience and a night of drinking.
Geoff, who led the way, suddenly stopped. A solid wall was blocking their path. He ran his hand up and down the wall looking for a weak spot. His hand stopped and his eyes opened wide.
"Here!"
His hand formed into a fist and he punched straight through the wall, revealing another open room full of enemies. The layout was the same as the first floor. The main difference was the occasional obsidian pillars scattered throughout the room similar to the ones found in the main lobby. Skeletons, goblins, and ogres stared up at the party of adventurers above them.
"It only gets harder from here!" Geoff said as he jumped down from the raised platform.
"Let's go!" Scottie said as he jumped off.
Prezzo and Malady joined them shortly after. Shin turned around to face Nightingale and Fuyumi. They nodded in silent agreement and jumped after them.
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[13:04 | May 03, 2035]
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[Character Page]
[Nickname: [Shin] | Level: 36 | Specialization: Savant | Profession: Manufacturing]
[Attributes]
Strength: 53 | Agility: 53 | Intelligence: 53
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Shin, Fuyumi, and Nightingale sat next to each other at the campfire. Opposite from them were Malady, Geoff, Scottie, and Prezzo. They made camp in the middle of the fifth floor that they conquered. The layout of each floor changed ever so slightly the deeper they went. The ground, walls, and ceiling changed from rock formations to solid paved stone. It became less rugged and more organized. As expected the hordes of monsters became more dangerous and populated.
Atop the fire was a pot of soup. Malady stirred the pot with a ladle as the others sat by idly.
"Are you usually the one who cooks?" Nightingale asked.
"Usually, yes. The boys enjoy my cooking so I end up handling food most of the time." Malady replied as she stared into the soup.
Geoff changed his glare from the room's exit to Shin and Fuyumi.
"I'm sure you two wondered why we're working with you." He suddenly asked Shin, catching him off guard.
"Right… Yeah, I figured you guys knew about the bounty too." Shin responded.
"Well, the way how I see it is, if you guys are good enough to get that insane of a bounty put on you, then you must be good enough to help us clear the labyrinth." Geoff said scratching his beard.
"To be honest, we had no idea you guys were the ones that everyone was talking about until the next day. We woke up with these three names in our party list that we didn't know and didn't remember inviting!" Scottie added.
"It's not like we did all this on purpose! We were just too drunk to understand!" Prezzo said as he laughed.
A slight smile broke on Fuyumi's face.
"We're glad to have found you guys there then." Shin said.
"Wah!" Malady suddenly shrieked as she snapped her head backward.
A bubble of soup had popped and splashed onto her.
"It's just soup!" Prezzo playfully patted her shoulder.
"It's just about ready." She sighed embarrassingly.
Scottie handed out wooden bowls and spoons to everyone. Malady served bowls of mushroom soup to everyone before serving herself.
"This is what it's like to have a group of friends in a raid." Shin thought to himself as he grabbed the bowl from Malady.
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[13:41 | May 03, 2035]
The embedded switch that led to the next room was replaced by a stone lever lifting a metal door.
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[Urumel: Floor 6]
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"There's a mini-boss on this floor." Geoff warned the group as he stepped into the room.
After the fifth floor, each floor had a preparation room before the main room. It was a small, dimly lit chamber about the size of a small kitchen. Chains and cages hung from the ceiling.
"Some of the cages have small mangled and disfigured creatures in them. Not really sure what they are, but we're mostly unfazed by them at this point." Geoff said.
"Eeek!" Malady screamed as a cage fell from the ceiling in front of her.
"Except Malady, I guess." Shin joked.
"Hey!" Malady pouted.
Geoff stood at the front of the chamber door. He turned around to face the party.
"Everyone ready?" Geoff asked
The group nodded in unison.
"Alright! Let's keep to the usual strategy! I'll try to distract the boss in the middle with Scottie. This guy is just a taste of the real boss on the tenth floor. Ranged attackers, you guys try to keep the small fry off of us. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what to do Fuyumi." Geoff said in a commanding voice.
He turned around to face the chamber door and forced it open.
The large chamber door opened up to a room about fifty meters deep. There wasn't any high ground to stand on. A towering minotaur carrying a polearm stood menacingly in the middle of the room. It roared and slammed its chest, calling the skeleton warriors to its side. Shaman goblins stood on the far side of the room, readying their staves.
"Prezzo, Nightingale, let's do the usual!" Shin called out.
"[Collapse]!"
Shin pulled one of the groups of skeletons together.
In unison, Nightingale and Prezzo burnt them into ash with [Surging Flame]. Geoff and Scottie charged ahead with battle cries loud enough to match the minotaur's roar. Geoff's hammer and Scottie's greatsword smashed through the skeleton vanguard. Fuyumi created her shadow clone which disappeared into the shadows beside Malady before charging past Geoff and Scottie.
Malady's arrows whizzed past the minotaur toward the shamans in the backline but were easily knocked off course by a barrier.
"Tch" She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
The minotaur swung its massive polearm into the ground, sending rocks flying at Geoff and Scottie. Geoff stood in front of Scottie and smashed the rocks out of the air with his hammer. The skeletons rushing after Scottie and Geoff were blasted into pieces or pushed away by Nightingale and Prezzo.
Angered by Geoff, the minotaur charged directly at him. Geoff tried to block its horns with his hammer but was sent flying backward past Shin.
"Geoff!" Shin yelled out as he ran toward him.
Geoff wiped off the blood dripping from his nose.
"Bastard hurts a little more than usual."
He tried standing up, supporting himself with his hammer, but his legs gave in and he collapsed to his knees.
Scottie slashed at the minotaur with his greatsword but it blocked the attack with its polearm. They were in a deadlock until the minotaur managed to shove Scottie away.
"[Rending Gale]!" Nightingale yelled out.
A massive gust of wind pounded the minotaur but it was completely unaffected.
"What?!" Prezzo recoiled in shock.
Geoff tried getting up again but Shin stopped him.
"I'll join the vanguard" Shin reassured Geoff.
Shin unsheathed the black blade hidden inside his coat. Pulsating red energy ran along the sword's sharp edge.
"I finally have the chance to try this out."
Shin's pale red eyes glowed ardently.
He tightened his grip on his new blade, holding it out in front of him.
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[Blighted Black Blade +12]
[Specialization: Bandit, Warrior, Savant]
[Attributes]
Agility: 82
Attack: 311
[Required Attributes]
Strength: 22
Agility: 46
[Skill Effects]
[Blighted Blade] - Attacks have a chance of inflicting a blight on enemies, slowing their movements and dealing damage over time.
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