When I first heard the term krawler, I expected monstrous insects to climb out of ant hills much like the ghouls. In fact, after learning the Undercity’s history, I expected to face the undead. After all, according to Mina, the monster that birthed the dungeon had turned the guilds’ warriors against them. It felt like the most obvious conclusion. However, I soon learned that the creatures we faced were very much alive and, unlike ghouls, had no mana signature at all.

The creatures appeared humanoid. However, they moved on all four limbs. Their hind legs had an additional joint under the knee, and every appendage ended in long, curling claws. As the monsters crawled towards us, they left deep scratches and gouges in the stone. Mottled grey fur covered the top of their heads, arms, and backs. Meanwhile, their hairless faces and underside appeared bone white in the light of Hruk’s lightning sphere. Scars covered the leathery hide and most of the marks looked like bite marks.

After creating ample barricades for Hruk and Mina to use as cover, I busied my fingers with the guitar using Life and Mind Mana to bolster the pair and our animal companions. Given our proximity to the beasts, I didn’t bother using Identify. Instead, I focused on monitoring the battlefield and directing Doctor Whoo.

Mina fired first. She loaded a glass artillery shell full of a sloshing orange liquid into her firearm, aimed and pulled a lever along the weapon’s side. Something clicked within before the projectile launched with a soft pop. It arced up towards the cavern’s domed ceiling before landing among the mass of two dozen krawlers. Orange flames exploded outwards, drawing screeches from the beasts. Six were caught in the inferno while the rest scattered.

In the ugly orange light, I finally got a better look at the creatures. Little dimples sat where their eyes should’ve been. In place of a nose, they had two large nostrils while their ears resembled an elf’s. Meanwhile, their mouths appeared almost human. The facade lasted until they raised their heads to the ceiling and howled. Rows of jagged fangs, much like a shark’s, lay within. I struggled to fathom how these creatures started off as civilized.

As the creatures got closer, Hruk started with his new sling launcher, firing frostfire baubles. The glassy spheres exploded, bathing the krawlers in bright blue flame. Much to our disappointment, it didn’t slow the monsters as the orange flame had. Instead, they continued their charge, leaping through the blue and shaking off the bits of frost that clung to their skin.

“The dungeon has frigid regions,” Mina told him. “They’re likely immune.”

Instead of firing glass artillery shells, she dropped a handful of pellets down the barrel. Her weapon released a tiny boom when she fired. The pellets ripped through the closest few and took off a couple of limbs as well. The weapon’s explosive sound appeared to have done more damage than the pellets. Then the monsters were upon us and we no longer had time for ranged attacks.

“Doctor Whoo, get in front of Hruk!” I exclaimed, rushing up behind her and leaping into the saddle.

“What are you doing?” Hruk demanded, grabbing at me as the shrike obeyed, speeding past him.

I ignored him, issuing my follow up order. “Now, unleash Paralysing Cry!”

Doctor Whoo pulled back her head, and I felt her torso expand. Then she fell on her front paws, stretched her neck forward, and released a screech that made the air ripple. The krawlers recoiled, staggering backwards and clutching the side of their heads.

“Now rip them apart with Wind-Rending Claws.”

After a follow-up growl, Doctor Whoo obeyed. She sped forwards, swiping at the monsters in her path. Unlike with the bandits, the krawlers didn’t fall as easily. I couldn’t tell whether they were resistant to wind magic or just hardier than the enemies we had faced so far, but her attacks only left shallow scratches on their scarred hide. They went flying like rag dolls and we heard the crunch of bone as they struck walls. But then the creatures landed, contorted their bodies and everything either snapped into place, or bloody shards ripped through their skin. Then they returned to the fray.

The others didn’t wait for long and used the opportunity to attack the stunned krawlers at melee range. Mina caught me by surprise. When she told me that bronze-ranked members of the Hunters’ Guild were advised not to fight, I assumed she lacked the ability to do so. However, the young half-dwarf woman charged in, wielding her heavy-barrelled firearm as a club. After watching her clobber a couple of krawlers, I realised the weapon was specifically designed for use at melee and mid-range. She knocked down a krawler with an overhead swing, then held it down with her boot and blasted it in the head. The weapon didn’t fire projectiles, but released an explosive blast none-the-less. It scattered the monster’s skull pieces all over the place.

Meanwhile, Hruk and Booger fought side by side. The brorc used his size to block krawlers as they came to and lunged at them. He suffered several gouges, but they appeared not to deter him. Instead, after head butting or gouging the krawlers with his horns, Booger sprayed them with his flammable mucous. Then he snorted, spraying embers. The krawler would stagger backwards, trying to beat out the flames. If he bumped into anyone else, the sticky mucus would spread and set them ablaze, too.

Hruk gave up on ranged attacks and used his stone arm. After electrifying it as a defensive measure, he used it for blocking and then pummelling foes. Punches from its smashed jaws and warped skulls. When the revolving lightning sphere got within half a meter of its foe during its journey, lightning tendrils danced off it, striking the krawlers. It didn’t burn them but only stunned and left them spasming, confirming my suspicion that they had minor resistance to arcane effects.

When Booger and Hruk got surrounded, my artificer friend pulled out his latest invention. I hadn’t seen him craft it, and at first, I mistook it for a weighted billy club. Then the glow of an aether crystal caught my eye. It was the stone he had stolen from the Seeker’s ship. Hruk held it in his normal hand and steadied it with the empowered limb. Then an explosive flame ripped free of the weighted muzzle. The boom shook the cavern, causing dust and bits of stone to rain from the feeling. I recognised the sound. They reminded me of the explosion that had shaken the ship and set the upper levels ablaze.

With the krawlers stunned, burned, and paralysed, finishing them off was barely a challenge. The whole encounter lasted less than a quarter of an hour. Afterwards, everyone collapsed, breathing heavily.

“I count twenty-nine,” I said from atop Doctor Whoo’s back, as my fingers danced over Sasha’s strings. Life Mana radiated from the instrument before gathering around Booger and then the others. “That’s a bit much for an early encounter, don’t you think?”

“It means your target is close,” Mina said. “Theres a king leading a party or a queen’s nest nearby. Given their sense of sound, they likely heard the fight and will be ready for us.”

“Let’s gather our wits before we go in then,” Hruk replied, dusting ash off his sleeveless coat. “What’s that weapon of yours, Mina? What artificer made it?”

“Artificer?” Mina raised an eyebrow. “A dwarven engineer made this. My sister, actually. I guess some would call her Tinker too, but we’re fortunate to have a handful of racial masteries.”

“So it doesn’t use any runes or aether crystals?”

“No, to the first and yes to the second,” she answered. “Our lands are rich with aetherite and aether crystals. Even though we can’t use magic, we’ve found ways to make the most out of them. The aether crystal within my weapon works as an igniter and the aetherite helps contain, channel, and directs the explosions. I’m not an expert, so I can't explain it better.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Hruk seems to get it, but most of that went over my head. The physics of aetherite is still a mystery to me, and your understanding is much better than mine.”

Mina chuckled. “I think that’s enough chat. Let’s get moving. The longer we wait, the more time the krawlers have to perfect their ambush.”