– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 100 –

“Sounds workable,” murmured Tiana. “If we can use the layout to our advantage, that would make things a lot easier.”

“Siling and I will try to create a new opening on the right,” said Lori. “Then, the openings in both walls are aligned and we can break through without following the narrow passage. Maybe we can even trap some of the dungeon beings inside the passageway.”

“If that does not work out, we try a rope route above the barricades,” said Terry.

“Our first priority is to get a better idea of what we’re up against,” stressed Tiana. “Take no chances. Retreat and regroup if anything unexpected happens. If the easy way does not work, then we can at least engage the dungeon creatures on our own terms: together and on our side of the wall. If anyone notices anything suspicious, shout it out immediately.”

After they had discussed several possible scenarios, the group entered into the next room.

*Wrooom* As soon as everyone had walked into the room, the entrance behind them was closed off – movable walls again.

“Does this count as suspicious?” asked Miguel.

“First time this— Incoming!” Tiana interrupted herself when she noticed the glimmer of something flying at them.

Tiana used her shield to block. She was surprised to not feel any impact. Then, she felt a pull at her shield.

“Skybark spider!” shouted Siling. “Webbing!”

Both Tiana and Siling activated the Immovable Object imprint in their shield attachments. Next, they quickly cut the web threads. Miguel, too, had a similar attachment for his bow. He summoned an aspected arrow to get rid of the webbing.

Lori and Jorg stabbed their spears into the ground before making use of their daggers. Elena used her dueling shield in a similar manner.

Terry relied on his bracer.

“Huaah!” Gellath was too slow to react and got pulled into the air.

Terry activated the imprint in his Gravitational Attraction glove. Jorg burst forward and cut the thread pulling at Gellath. Tiana caught the falling dwarf.

An aspected arrow later, a skybark spider went up in light-blue flames.

“Take this.” Terry handed Gellath an imprinted shield attachment. “Don’t want you to fly away on us.” He turned to Elena. “This one’s for you.”

“Th-thanks,” mumbled Elena.

All the other companions already had a similar attachment for their equipment.

“Lovely start, what do we—” Another web thread attached itself to Miguel. “Wasted crawlthings!”

Miguel clenched his fist. Normally, Miguel used the immovable attachment as a kind of aim stabilizer for long-distance shots. However, it was impossible to take aim while the attachment was transfixed. His bow would be useless if he had to keep the imprint active to not get abducted all the time.

“Shining dropbears above,” shouted Terry.

“Two corrupted approaching from below,” shouted Siling.

“Below?” blurted Jorg.

Siling used two mana balls to indicate for everyone’s mana sense where she expected the creatures to arrive.

Terry threw two imprinted octavum needles in quick succession.

“EEAEAAAAEAA!” One of the shining dropbears had dropped onto a transfixed needle.

Unfortunately, Terry had mistimed the second needle. The spell’s full activation finished a moment too late. Nevertheless, the needle hit the shining dropbear and while the creature was not seriously wounded, the impact had dispersed the corrupted koala’s camouflage.

Now that everyone could see the creature, it was not difficult for them to dodge and aim. Before the creature landed on the ground, Lori had finished casting Liquify Earth. The shining dropbear plummeted further down than it had anticipated and only its head remained above the earth.

The shining dropbear died from a crossbow bolt.

“I knew it,” growled Jorg. “Strangle noodles!” He quickly changed his grip and angled his spear so as to match the liquified earth tunnel the corrupted boa had created.

“Swamp boas,” shouted Siling. “They have a mana ability similar to the Liquify Earth spell.”

“Our group had the displeasure of encountering them before,” grumbled Jorg. “Anyway, I got one.”

“Do you need coldfire for the swamp boa?” asked Miguel.

“Not necessary,” said Tiana. “The skybark spiders are more problematic. I’ll bait the second swamp boa.” She placed her leg near the area of Siling’s projected mana ball.

The earth around Tiana’s foot liquified and the swamp boa curled around her leg. The creature attempted to pull Tiana into the partially liquified ground.

Tiana used her Immovable Object imprint to secure herself and then kicked out her leg to drag the swamp boa above the earth. Once the creature was exposed, Tiana ripped the swamp boa in half.

“I need more arms,” grumbled Miguel. He cut another web thread that prevented him from taking aim.

“Unfortunately, the air-aspected skybark spiders are faster than Pricklybum,” muttered Siling.

Miguel perked up his ears. “Mind if I take the Princess out for a ride? My arrows are fast enough, but I could use some more limbs. If the limbs can climb walls, then all the better.”

Siling tilted her head. “I hope you don’t get motion sickness.” Then, she shouted: “Terry, we need some rope!”

Lori raised a few earthen walls as fortifications while Siling and Terry helped Miguel to secure himself on the wiremoss tarantula soul spirit.

“Ouch,” exclaimed Miguel. “Alright, Pricklybum. Let’s show the little critters which spider is boss!”

Siling snorted and then instructed her soul spirit.

“Onwards!” Miguel seemed to enjoy himself while the wiremoss tarantula dashed towards the nearest skybark spider.

A web thread attached itself to Miguel again.

“Not this time.” Miguel ignored the thread and took aim. The rope with which he was attached to Pricklybum tightened and Miguel stayed securely attached to the soul spirit. The soul spirit in turn was securely clawed into the wall. Pricklybum could have cut the thread, but why destroy something that held the target in place so nicely?

A moment later, another skybark spider went down in light-blue flames.

“Next,” mumbled Miguel.

“Don’t let him go too far away,” said Tiana to Siling.

“Yup, I don’t have a Resummon Miguel spell yet. I’ll keep them on a short leash.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him when scouting the barricade,” said Terry. “In the worst case, I can pull him away.”

“Good,” acknowledged Tiana. “We’ll start working the barricade, too”

“No life signatures up to the barricade,” stated Siling.

“No mana cores either,” added Terry. Then, he jumped and continued walking up into the air. After he had reached sufficient height, Terry used his imprinted octavum rings with elastic rope to swing towards the barricade and examine it from a high vantage point.

While Terry was scouting ahead and Miguel was hunting down skybark spiders, Tiana led the others to the right corner of the barricade. There, Lori and Siling started to cast Liquify Earth.

“Shield leggers in the crevices!” yelled Miguel. The most recent target of their spider hunting unit had gained some unexpected assistance. Fortunately, there was sufficient distance between his target and his companions this time. Miguel did not have to worry about the ignited creatures running off towards the others. “Under control on my side!”

“Shining dropbears on the wall,” shouted Terry. “One is moving towards the liquifiers!”

“Should I?” asked Siling.

“No need to interrupt your casting,” replied Tiana. She summoned another loaded crossbow and focused on her mana sense. Terry had already placed a mana ball at the wall to indicate the creature’s location. “Just tell me when.”

“Now!”

Tiana loosened the bolt and immediately exchanged the crossbow with her war hammer. Then, she jumped. The wounded shining dropbear had lost its camouflage. Tiana batted the creature away from the casters.

Before the shining dropbear could recover, Elena had already crushed its head.

“We’re through,” said Lori. The liquified earth flowed to the ground and the barricade revealed a hole. They had a straight path forward. Lori cast Harden Earth on the muddy floor to provide secure footing again.

“Cores moving towards you!” shouted Terry.

Lori rapidly cast Raise Wall spells through the hole in order to fortify their position. Afterwards, Lori, Jorg, and Gellath dashed through the hole and into the gap between the barricades.

*Wrooom* *Wrooom*

Two large walls had moved into the passage. One obstructed Lori’s group from advancing further into the room. The other was blocking them from retreating back to the others. They had become trapped between the barricades.

When Elena saw Lori vanish behind the wall, she reacted viscerally. She started to burst her mana.

“Elena, no!” yelled Tiana. “We got this. Stay with us.”

Elena interrupted her burst. She bit her lip and clenched her fists.

Above their heads, Terry swung himself onto the barricade.

“Crap,” cussed Jorg. “Foritifications?”

“Hardened walls and muddy moats,” said Lori. “Already on it.”

“Good. Multiple enemies and clear line of sight. First hit?”

“I-I’ll prepare Cone of Cold,” said Gellath.

“Good.”

Tiana tested the moving wall construct with her war hammer. However, the construct did not even show a dent.

“This one’s different from those before,” said Siling. “There are squiggly mana lines inside.”

“Rune inscriptions,” shouted Terry. “No getting through there unless you can overpower or disentangle the inscribed mana.”

“Liquify another hole?” suggested Siling.

A rope fell down next to her. Terry had fixed it on top of the barricade.

“That works, too.”

Terry threw another rope down on the other side for the case that Lori’s group needed to escape. Terry was tempted to jump down and join them…

They got this.

Terry took a deep breath. He still had a shining dropbear to take out on this wall.

Fake goblin constructs with a varied assortment of weapons charged at Lori’s fortifications. Behind them, three earth warriors were following. The goblin constructs sunk into the liquified earth, but continued to move forward.

Some of the constructs started to hurl rocks at Jorg and the others. The projectiles were easily dodged or blocked and did not pose a threat.

Terry used his glove to pull the shining dropbear onto a transfixed octavum needle. Afterwards, he turned in order to join up with Lori’s group. From the corner of his eye, he noticed movement on the wall that was hanging from the ceiling…

Jorg noticed a mana ball appearing in his mana sight. The ball was hovering on the ground near one of their hardened walls.

“A mana marker,” said Lori. “Either Siling’s or Terry’s.”

“Strangle noodle,” growled Jorg.

“Ready,” declared Gellath.

“Keep your distance from the mana marker.”

Gellath stepped around the spot indicated and ignited his Cone of Cold in the direction of the constructs inside the liquified earth. Some mana cores shattered outright. Other constructs were stuck in the frozen mud.

New constructs pushed towards the frozen region. They first had to climb out of the liquified earth and onto the frozen mud. Even if they succeeded in this, they inevitably slipped and fell.

Projectiles kept raining down on the group.

Lori watched the approaching constructs and waited for the right moment. Jorg kept his eyes on the mana marker.

“AHH!” Gellath screamed. He crouched down and held his head.

The scream resounded in Jorg’s ears and he turned around. He could see Gellath and what he saw froze the blood in his veins. Gellath’s skin was melting from his face. Blood was flowing from his mouth. His eyes popped out of their sockets.

“No nonono.” Jorg stood horrified. More screams echoed in his head. Subconsciously, his hands moved towards his ears.

“What the—” Lori realized that something was off.

A swamp boa had wrapped itself around Jorg’s leg and started to pull him into the partially liquified earth. Jorg made no attempt to resist the mana-corrupted creature.

“Spike creepers!” shouted Terry. “Up top!”

“Crap,” cursed Lori. “Crap crap crap.” Lori changed targets for her Rockspall Touch. Instead of unleashing it on the hardened wall, she aimed it at the ground near Jorg. That took care of the swamp boa.

A spike creeper was mixed between the incoming projectiles. Before the construct could reach the downed Jorg, it was pulled up again.

“Jorg?! JORG!” Lori slapped Jorg’s face.

Another falling spike creeper was hit by a rock spear.

“Wh-what?” Jorg was in a daze. “GELLATH! WHAT HAPPENED TO GELLATH?!” He frantically looked around. Gellath was there – crouched down and holding his head. His face was normal. “Thank mana…”

“What’s going on?” asked Lori. Once she was sure that Jorg was okay, she moved back towards the wall again and hurriedly cast another Rockspall Touch.

“Mind-affecting spell or something.” Jorg hurriedly moved to Gellath to jolt him out of the hallucinations.

Elena climbed down from the rope. “Everything under control? We heard screaming.”

“Wh-what?” whimpered Gellath in horror. “N-no! Everyone, d-don’t leave me! Please, don’t leave me here.”

Jorg’s stomach turned. “It’s okay.” He hugged his friend. “It was just a dream. We’re not leaving. We’re all with you.”

Gellath calmed down, but his eyes retained a trace of panic.

“We were hit by a mind-affecting ability,” explained Jorg. He shook his head to gain back his composure.

Lori ignited her Rockspall Touch on the hardened wall. Rock shrapnels bombarded the constructs behind the wall.

“We have a creature with a mind-affecting ability!” shouted Elena.

“What effect?” Siling yelled back. Her head looked down from the top of the wall.

A falling spike creeper was eliminated with a crossbow bolt.

“Intense hallucinations,” replied Jorg. “Fear. Incapacitated both Gellath and me.”

Siling furrowed her brow. “That is a rather strong ability.”

“Nasty, too,” said Terry. He was standing next to her on the first barricade. He pulled another spike creeper out of the falling projectiles.

“Got it.” Miguel eliminated the construct with an unaspected arrow.

While Tiana could quickly exchange her prepared crossbows, the number of pre-loaded crossbows was limited and reloading a crossbow took more time than nocking an arrow. Additionally, an arrow did not cost any mana or risk a spell imprint. Therefore, they tried to have Miguel take care of as many spike creepers as possible. Terry, Tiana, and Siling would only move if a spike creeper was already half on its way to the ground.

“The only aspected mana core we have not identified yet is the shadow-aspected one,” said Terry.

“Hmmm…“ Siling bit her lip. “Are you sure that it’s the shadow aspect from the outer system? I don’t know any creature with a fear-inducing ability on that level. At least not any creature we would survive meeting.”

“Can’t be entirely certain, no. There are many aspects I have never sensed before. Shadow is just the closest among the ones I have sensed.”

“Situation is under control for the moment,” said Tiana. “Siling, if you join them on the ground, then your Kinetic Push would be a suitable defense against the spike creepers. Then, Terry would be free to scout one of the suspect cores.”

“Got it,” acknowledged Siling. Terry nodded as well.

“Pay attention to signs of the mind-affecting ability. Elena in particular may react strongly. We can’t afford to have her go berserk.”

“We’ll keep an eye on each other for early signs.” Siling started to climb down the rope.

Once Siling had joined up with Lori’s group, Terry took his leave.

“Can you shortly take the first watch for creeper intervention?” Miguel asked Tiana. “I would like to switch targets to get some aspected arrows into the earth warriors.”

“Go ahead,” replied Tiana and braced the crossbow against her shoulder.

Terry swung towards the barricade hanging from the ceiling. There, he punctured one spike creeper with his spear and then climbed along a crevice towards one of the unidentified monster cores.

Scenes invaded Terry’s mind…

Samuel and Brynn shook their heads in contempt at his latest spell failure.

Isille and Bjorln showed him the door. Lori and Jorg refused to have anything to do with a failure like him.

Calam froze up and got killed. Terry had been too slow.

Tiana cradled the bloody-eyed Siling who was in her death throes. They glared at Terry who had dragged them into all this.

Everyone was dead. Terry was alone.

Terry was a failure.

Failure.

Blood rushed to Terry’s head.

Actions, not thoughts.

Actions.

Subconsciously, Terry started to burst his mana. The sound of something shattering entered his ears. Terry was not sure if the sound had anything to do with the mind-affecting ability, but the increased mana flow helped him shake off the hallucinations.

Terry kept bursting his mana at a relatively safe rate – his mana balance was broken and his available mana decreased, but his mana channels remained undamaged. He could not afford to lose himself in hallucinations when no one was around to pull him out again.

Finally, Terry reached the culprit and mumbled to himself: “Melon-sized black slimy toad with dark purple warts.” After memorizing the creature’s appearance, Terry struck out with his spear. He shouted the description for Siling and then collected the monster’s core.

Siling pondered with a finger on her lips.

Jorg rushed forward and finished off the second earth warrior. Next to him, Elena was crushing a spike creeper with her dueling shield. Both of them moved to the sides and back towards their fortifications.

Siling ignited a Kinetic Push and the latest barrage of projectiles mixed with spike creepers was repelled.

Lori cast Rockspall Touch on the ground to get rid of the last swamp boa in the vicinity.

“Could be grievance toads,” yelled Siling.

Terry lowered himself next to her with a gymnastic ring in his hand.

“Did they use any other ability?” inquired Siling.

“No, the thing did not make any attempt to defend itself.”

“Then it was most likely a grievance toad. They have a comparatively strong mana ability similar to the Horror spell, but that is their only ability until they enter the middle levels of the second rank.”

Siling puckered her lips and furrowed her brow.

“Want to collect their souls?” Terry grimaced.

“Thinking about it… Useful, yes, but also incredibly creepy. Soul magic has a bad enough rep without using abilities from the lower system.”

“Lower system?”

“They’re aspected towards darkness, not shadow. Hmm…” Siling released another Kinetic Push.

“The ability would only work on living creatures, right?” asked Jorg before he dashed forward to eliminate one of the fake goblin constructs.

“On life and deathlife, but not on unlife or undead,” murmured Siling. “Fair point. Also works better on brains than simpler nervous systems. Alright, that’s a no. I’ll stay at my current level of creepiness.” She looked expectantly at Terry.

“I’ll inform Tiana and Miguel. Then, we can coordinate to take out the remaining grievance toads in the barricades.”

“You were supposed to tell me that I am not creepy at all, though.” Siling pouted.

“No more than the rest of us.” Terry climbed up the rope.

“Aside from the wasted toads, the situation is under control,” said Jorg. “What’s the verdict?”

“No soul hunting in the creepy room,” replied Siling. “Also, Terry is getting resistant to my nonsense. I’m feeling wistful.”

Jorg snorted. “Yeah, they grow up so fast.” He took a deep breath. “For the record, I appreciate your attempts to lighten the mood.”

“M-me too,” stammered Gellath. He remained close to Siling the whole time in order to protect their main healer. Gellath had been very quiet since he fell under the grievance toad’s horror ability.

***

*Wrooom* *Wrooom* The inscribed walls moved and sunk back into their original place. The group had cleared the passageway.

They had already discussed how to proceed from here on. Everyone stayed close to the next barricade and they slowly approached the exit leading to the rest of the room. They did not walk through it.

Instead, Miguel and Pricklybum climbed up the barricade and secured a climbing rope at the top.

“Squilllk.” A web thread attached itself to Miguel and pulled.

Miguel shot the offending skybark spider down. Afterwards, their skybark spider hunting unit moved out and up towards the ceiling. While moving, Miguel stole glances at the rest of the room. Unfortunately, the walls at the back of the room lacked the normal dungeon illumination. This was not the case when they had passed the room on the way down.

Down below, Siling paid close attention to Miguel’s position. The short leash was more important now than ever.

While Miguel and Pricklybum were working hard to decrease the number of skybark spiders, the others made their way up the barricade. Terry was first. He had already retrieved the previous ropes and secured one of them as a second climbing rope at the top of the barricade.

Terry was hit with web threads, too. Again, he relied on his bracers to transfix himself and then cut the thread. He nervously watched the back of the room – the place where he suspected a cloaked mana core to be.

Jorg and Tiana helped up Gellath and Siling. Lori brought up the rear and was the last to climb up.

“The wasted spiders are really annoying,” grumbled Elena. Another web thread had attached itself to her dueling shield.

“Allow me.” Jorg cut the thread with his short spear.

“There are many more skybark spiders on this side,” said Terry. “It will take a while for Miguel to sort them out.”

“Bang. Bang. Bang.” A sound like rhythmic drumming could be heard.

“What’s going on?” asked Tiana with a furrowed brow.

“Could be the fake goblin constructs,” said Jorg. “I read that the shield carriers sometimes bang their own shields.”

Tiana narrowed her eyes warily. Then, she closed them completely and focused on her hearing.

*Thwish* Some whistling sounds were barely noticeable.

Elena’s eyes opened wide.

“INCOMING! SHIELDS OUT AND DOWN!” yelled Tiana. Simultaneously, she retrieved and activated the imprinted tertium slab that Terry had provided earlier.

Terry transfixed another tertium slab as additional cover.

“Gellath!” Jorg was about to dash forward when he saw that Elena had already arrived next to Gellath and pulled him behind Tiana’s tertium slab.

“Th-thanks,” mumbled Gellath.

*TANG!* Impacts reverberated through the room. Quieter sounds were completely drowned out.

Undetected, Gellath was pulled away. He had not noticed that another web thread was already attached to him. Gellath froze up. His mind went blank. He did not use the Immovable Object imprint in the attachment for his shield. He did not even utter a sound.

“No!” Elena realized what was happening and lunged forward. However, it was too late. Gellath had already been pulled over the barricade’s ledge.

“Gellath! CATCH!” Jorg threw a rope at him. Gellath did not react.

Terry activated his Gravitational Attraction imprint. More and more web threads continued to attach themselves to the dwarf. The skybark spiders – and whatever dungeon beings chose to help them – had entered a tug of war with Terry. Unfortunately, only one side had to expend mana and risk the danger of spell-imprint collapse. Terry placed his foot against the transfixed tertium slab.

“PISS OFF!” roared Miguel. On the ceiling, Pricklybum was charging towards the skybark spiders while Miguel shot arrow after arrow at them. Most of the arrows were blocked by shield leggers. As soon as one of them caught coldfire, it distanced itself from the others and a new shield legger would take its place.

“GELLATH! SNAP OUT OF IT!” shouted Jorg.

Siling attempted to cut the web threads using her Rock Spear and Ice Spike spells, but without much success.

“““INCOMING!””” yelled Elena and Tiana.

Another barrage of vacuum cannon constructs had arrived. This time, there were fewer projectiles – different vacuum cannons than before. The previous cannons were still reloading.

*TANG* One projectile had impacted on the tertium slab maintained by Tiana.

*BRROOMKCCH* The second projectile impacted on the wall directly where Terry was standing. The part of the wall beneath Terry’s feet caved in. While it did not collapse completely, it was enough for Terry to lose his footing. Terry was pulled close to the ledge and nearly fell himself. Reflexively, Terry deactivated the Gravitational Attraction imprint.

Terry immediately regretted his reflex when he saw how quickly Gellath was pulled further away.

Actions.

Terry stood up, burst his mana, and jumped after Gellath. He relied on his roped octavum rings to swing after the dwarf in the hopes of getting him back within his reach for the Gravitational Attraction imprint.

Jorg blanched. He clenched his fists. Things were spiraling out of control. He felt absolutely useless.

“Elena, can you take care of the second tertium slab?” asked Tiana.

Elena nodded, but could not take her eyes from Gellath.

*Hong* A deep bell sound reverberated through the room.

*Bzz* *Klch.* Everyone’s pupils constricted as the back of the room turned unexpectedly bright. The illumination was not really any brighter than the first part of the room, but it was a stark contrast to the darkness that had loomed in this particular direction before.

Many constructs – earth warriors and fake goblins – were located in the direction that Gellath was pulled towards. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst part.

“Wastes,” cursed Siling. Tiana gritted her teeth.

The worst part… was that.

Terry was getting close. He ignored the army of constructs on the ground and focused only on Gellath.

Closer.

Closer.

Nearly there.

Something rushed at him. Something huge. Something glowing. Then, there was a fist. A big glowing fist.

Terry was still in full swing and airborne. There was no elegant way to dodge. His sparring reflexes kicked in. Terry did not have time to retrieve items from his storage bracelets and also activate a spell imprint. Therefore, he raised his feet towards the fist and activated the Immovable Object imprints in his boots. He straightened his legs and back. He kept his arms close to his body in order to provide as little surface area as possible.

*BANG* The fist impacted on the transfixed boots. Rubble fell down from the fist.

Two additional palms slapped at Terry and tried to squash him between them. Terry bent his knees – effectively pulling himself towards the transfixed boots. Then, he held his head between his arms, tucked in his elbows, flexed his wrists, and activated the imprints in his bracers.

More rubble fell down. Terry remained unharmed. He could feel the octavum ring at his elbow loosen. The second half of the roped rings had fallen down. The imprint had deactivated. Now, there was no way for him to get to Gellath fast enough.

“NO!” roared Miguel in fury. “LET ME GO! SILING! LET ME GO!”

Siling gritted her teeth. Miguel was about to cross too far into the enemy territory.

“I CAN STILL REACH HIM! I CAN BURST! THEY CANNOT RESIST COLDFIRE! LET ME GO!”

“DON’T!” yelled Jorg. “DON’T YOU DARE BURST!” He turned to Siling with tears in his eyes. “He’ll die if he does. Don’t let him!”

“It’s too far,” cursed Tiana. She was aiming her crossbow. “Even if the crossbow has the reach, I would risk hitting Gellath.”

“GELLATH!” screamed Miguel.

“We still have a chance if Gellath snaps out of it,” said Tiana. “He gets pulled towards one of the craters in the wall. If we take out the creatures there, he would be safe from the constructs below. Gellath should also have an immovable shield attachment. Miguel needs to get close enough to take out the crawlers. We can check from below how the other constructs and that inscribed earth giant react. We must avoid a full blown battle if at all possible. Ensure Gellath’s safety first. Scatter them. Draw their attention. Don’t get tangled up.”

Jorg shouted instructions to Miguel. Then, the group rushed towards Gellath.

“Terry PULL!” yelled Miguel. He had waited for the inscribed earth giant to retract its four arms.

Terry deactivated all active Immovable Object imprints. Simultaneously, Miguel cut himself loose from the wiremoss soul spirit and let himself fall from the ceiling. Terry activated the Gravitational Attraction imprint in his glove and the two were pulled towards each other.

Two fists lashed out at Terry, but they hit nothing but air.

Terry activated the Immovable Object imprint in his boots. The inscribed earth giant had stopped pursuing him and he did not want to distance himself further than necessary from Gellath. While continuing to pull Miguel, Terry transfixed a tertium slab for the two of them.

“Move,” ordered Miguel and he took aim. He gritted his teeth. Even from here, it was still so far away. From the corner of his eye, he could see Pricklybum dashing towards Gellath along the ceiling – out of reach for the inscribed earth giant. He could hear the others continuing to shout and try to jolt Gellath out his daze. Miguel took a deep breath.

“That one first,” growled Miguel. The corrupted crawlers were located in different locations. Therefore, they pulled towards different directions, too. He needed to eradicate the skybark spiders in an order that would have Gellath pulled to a comparatively safe position. He needed to get the timing right. He needed to adjust his aim according to the time required for the Immovable Object imprint in his stabilizing attachment.

Another deep breath later, a skybark spider went up in coldfire.

“Wastes,” cursed Jorg. “That giant is way too fast for its size.”

“At least it sticks towards a specific area,” said Lori.

“Regardless, we won’t be able to charge towards Gellath like this,” judged Tiana. “There are too many constructs in the way. That four-armed giant would arrive before we are able to push through. Spider update?”

“Making progress,” replied Siling. “Miguel needs more time to aim, but he is doing a good job at redirecting Gellath towards an elevated area. Pricklybum has eliminated some skybark spiders and then successfully drawn some constructs away. The inscribed giant attacks Pricklybum as soon as it crawls within reach. Actually, I am starting to wonder why the construct completely ignores the captured Gellath. Pricklybum can only move safely across the ceiling and the first few feet down along the walls. I’ll try to have it snatch some of the web threads attached to Gellath.”

“AAAHHHH N-NO! P-PLEASE NO! NO!” Blood-curdling screams resounded across the room – Gellath’s screams.

Everyone turned in panic… However, they could not make out the cause of the screams.

“Waste it, the toads,” cursed Terry. “Over there.” He pointed for Miguel. “Gellath has entered the range of their ability.” He shouted the intel to Siling and the others.

“Can’t get to the grievance toads quickly,” said Siling. She shook her head. “Pricklybum would have to hide in every crater along the way.”

“Focus on getting control of the threads,” said Tiana. “First priority is to ensure Gellath’s safety and regain some control of the situation. Let Terry and Miguel handle the grievance toads.”

A few moments passed like this. Miguel had finished off the grievance toads. Gellath’s screams had stopped.

“Bad news.” Siling grimaced. “The web threads disintegrate shortly after the skybark spider’s death. They must require mana to maintain.”

Jorg gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“Prepare a dash and resummon,” said Tiana. “The redirect looks successful, but if we can’t count on Gellath to take an active role, then Pricklybum may have to push him into the crater and web him there. Next priority is to slap Gellath out of his stupor. Of course, it would be best if the soul spirit could barricade itself in there together with Gellath.”

Siling exhaled a sharp breath. “Understood.” She directed her soul spirit from crater to crater. The others made sure to draw the inscribed earth giant away after each attempt.

Everyone held their breath until finally, Pricklybum managed to push Gellath inside a crater. Unfortunately, there was not enough space for both the dwarf and the soul spirit.

The inscribed earth giant charged towards the crater.

Tiana stepped forward into the active range of the construct. However, the construct seemed to attach more importance to the soul spirit whose rear end was hanging outside the crater. It ignored Tiana’s group.

The wiremoss tarantula started to poke and prod the dazed dwarf. Siling was biting her lips and prepared to ignite her primed spell structure at a moment’s notice.

“““GELLATH!”””

Everyone was screaming their lungs out to get the dwarf back to his senses.

Siling clenched her teeth. She instructed her soul spirit to pinch the dwarf’s earlobe between its claws – one last attempt to wake him up from his stupor. Then, she let Pricklybum use its legs to propel itself outside the crater and ignited her spell.

The four-armed giant immediately changed direction and charged at Tiana. She waited for the construct to distance itself from Gellath. Then, she stepped outside its active range again.

The wiremoss tarantula soul spirit reappeared next to Siling. She instructed Pricklybum to go back to the ceiling – getting closer to Gellath and ensuring that no creature gets close to his crater.

“““GELLATH!”””

“Wh-what… WHAT’S GOING ON?!” screamed Gellath.

Sighs of relief. At least, he was back to his senses.

Gellath crawled towards the ledge of the crater in the wall. The inscribed earth giant rushed at him.

“WAAAH!” Gellath quickly scurried back into the crater. He was extremely pale and his forehead was sweaty.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” shouted Jorg. “DO NOT LEAVE THAT CRATER!” He gulped. “WE ARE HERE! WE’RE WITH YOU!”

Miguel shot down the last of the skybark spiders. There were still some grievance toads left in the room, but the creatures were stationary and they were located along the left wall near the barricade. In contrast, Gellath’s crater was in the back wall on the right side – out of range for the remaining toads.

Miguel and Terry joined up with Tiana’s group.

*Hong* A familiar bell sound could be heard.

*Wrrooomm!* An exit opened at the left side of the back wall.

“Piss off you wasted dungeon!” growled Miguel. “We’re not done here.”

“The scroll,” exclaimed Tiana.

Jorg clenched his fists. “Please work. Please.”

“GELLATH, USE THE RECALL SCROLL!” shouted Tiana.

“GELLATH RECALL! IT’S OKAY! THE EXIT IS ALREADY OPEN!” shouted Jorg. “YOU HAVE DONE YOUR PART! USE THE SCROLL!”

Gellath whimpered. His face was already a mess – full of tears and snot. He fumbled to retrieve the scroll from his dimensional bag.

He ripped the Recall scroll in half. The scroll crumbled into dust…

“No.. no… NOOOO!”

When Jorg heard the scream, he was close to vomiting. The color drained from his face and his breathing became erratic.

Gellath was still in the crater. Spell failure.

*Hong*

***