The situation wasn’t nerve-wracking or sad or anything. It was just awkward as hell. Cringy? Cringy. And it was made especially so by the elf, who was pointedly not looking at him, even though they now stood less than ten feet apart and by Laen, who was grinning like a loon. Though, given that he didn’t have the same rapport with him as he had with Micah, Michael couldn’t exactly tell him to knock it off.

Thankfully, Alex was as helpful as ever, as he stepped forward and encompassed both himself and Erea in some kind of |Silence| Spell. That being said, Michael had seen enough movies on his old shoddy laptop with the volume turned way down, since he couldn’t afford headphones, to be able to understand a bit of what they were saying. Not exactly lip-reading, but yeah, college really sucked sometime, magical or otherwise.

He managed to understand a few words like ‘cleaning’, ‘serious’, ‘care’ and ‘Michael’ until the centaur spoke.

“She looks pissed. I mean, even more than usual.”

“Yeah. She does.”

“Were you two a thing?”

“No.”

“I won’t tell.”

“Really. We weren’t. Didn’t stop her from punching me, though.”

“Man.” The centaur said, looking impressed. “Of all the girls you could have gotten the attention of, you got Erea’s. I don’t envy you, Michael.”

“I don’t think anyone does.”

The conversation might have carried on, but Alex’s Spell broke and the two walked towards them.

“It appears that Erea managed to escape her cleaning assignment while also evading her captors.”

“Hah.” Laen laughed. “How’d you manage to take those things down? They’re relentless.”

“I didn’t.” she said, sounding miffed. “I just increased my speed and dodged them. Lost them a few floors down.”

Michael noticed she was still acting like he wasn’t there.

Better this than being assaulted, I guess.

…or than her looking hurt.

“Wait.” Laen said, suddenly looking alarmed. “My traps!”

“Oh, don’t look so freaked out.” The elf snapped. “I know how to evade them, I’ve done it like a hundred times by now.”

“Not you, Erea!” the centaur ground out.

“Oh.” Bob suddenly said.

“Erea, you said you dodged those suits of armor. Right?” Alex asked.

“It was golems this time, but yeah. Why?”

“Because those things never stop chasing you.” Michael said and she reluctantly met his eyes. “And maybe you didn’t trigger Laen’s traps, but-“

He didn’t need to finish that statement. More footsteps were heard, right on cue. They turned around, falling easily into a formation, only this time with Alex and Erea at the front. Just a few seconds after that a trio of golems jogged into view. They seemed to be made of ceramic and they looked like the kind of mannequins one could find in a mall to Michael. Genderless, lithe and smooth. Yet he could see burn marks, probably caused by the lightning traps and rock chaser guts all over their lower halves.

“Will we get in trouble if we hurt them?” Bob asked.

Which was a good question, because those things weren’t slowing down.

“Normally, yes. But we’re on a mission. Some rules don’t apply.” Alex said, sounding unsure.

“Will the ‘no Gnosis property destruction’ apply?” Michael asked.

“Closing in fast, make the call.” Erea called out.

“Damn it! Shielding Spells. Go!”

“|Barrier|!”

“|Mana Wall|”

“|Mud Wall|”

“|Air Barrier|”

The Spells mixed and matched with each other, creating a layered barrier. The mud wall was only waist-high, but it obstructed the golems all the same. The constructs immediately started to attack the Spells, though, ceramic fists thundering with each blow.

“They look pissed.” Michael said.

“They’re incapable of emotion.” Alex said. “Theoretically.”

“Practically, they looked pissed.” Laen said. “I’m with Michael on this.”

“Perhaps the solution could be less dramatic.” Bob said. “If Erea was to go back, would they administer punishment?”

“…normally no… but I’ve heard of cases where they did. Their programming into what constitutes ‘resisting’ is lacking.” Alex said.

“Then no.” Michael heard himself saying.

“I can take care of myself.” Erea quickly replied.

Right. Stubborn.

“No, I’m not comfortable with giving her over either.” Alex said. “But we need a way to pass through the golems.”

“Is there a penalty for destroying them?” Michael asked.

“There is. A steep one. And that’s even if you can replace them. If you can’t, it’s expulsion.”

“And I don’t think either of you two are golem artificers.” Laen quipped.

Great.

They had their backs against the wall, they couldn’t move forward… They were stuck. He had to admit, he was actually starting to like Erea, but she could be infuriating. Dashing over here, dodging her wardens…

Wait. That’s it!

“Guys.” He said. “What if we move around them? Like Erea did.”

“I’m fast.” She said, matter of fact. “You’re not.”

“No, but they could be slow. Right now, we’re preventing them from reaching us. What if we just pinned them in place. Laen, I saw your Spells do that to a few minotaurs. We could do it again. We wouldn’t need to do it for long, we’d just need the Spells to last until we got a head start. Would that work?”

“Maybe.” Alex said, considering. “Laen, could your Spells hold them?”

“Not forever, but yeah. I could give us a head start.”

“And Erea could run ahead.” Bob said. “No offense, but they are chasing you. You could either escape again or talk to a professor.”

“Professor.” Alex said, before she could interrupt. “Or this will just keep getting worse. Nahlil, if you can find him. You know he’ll be fair.”

“Fine.” She said, after a moment.

“Good, then-“

Michael had his hand out, even before his conscious mind knew what was happening. He was already aiming when he finally understood why he acted, the sound of breaking finally registering. He saw a ceramic arm, having broken through all barriers, reaching, grasping. It was inches away from Erea’s hair when he heard himself shouting.

“|Flame Dart|!”

His Spell caught the golem in the palm, the detonation making it flinch back, before its hand was pulled out of the hole violently.

“What- Are you mad?” she snapped at him.

“That golem was a second away from pulling off your hair!” Michael said, more incensed than he believed he was.

“Guys?”

“And you couldn’t use a |Barrier|?! Your Spell flew two inches away from my face.”

“Erea!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That thing just broke through three barriers. Excuse me for not allowing it to yank off your pretty blonde hair!”

“Michael?”

“You-“ she blustered. “I bet you said her hair was pretty too!”

“Knock it off!” Alex shouted. “Focus!”

Michael turned around, alarmed and chastised by the tone in Alex’s voice, and saw just what really made the golem pull its arm back so violently.

Standing just behind their barriers was the biggest Rock Chaser Michael had seen yet. Its shell seemed to be composed of packed dirt and an ever-growing layer of ceramic pieces. And it was going to town on the golems. It only had a couple of them left, one of which was missing an arm and pieces of its torso. At this size, Michael could see clearly how the rock chaser fought. It slammed its opponents into the wall and started to spin rapidly, ripping pieces off of the golems and adding it to its own shell.

“Shit!” Alex cursed. “We can’t fight that.”

“Why?” Erea asked, a hungry look in her eyes.

“Think, Erea. We would have had a hard time with the golems. That thing just tore straight through them. Even if its shell has a lot more surface area, only one of us has pinpoint attacks. We can’t be expected to punch between the ceramic pieces.”

“Can’t we punch through?” she asked, a bit taken aback.

“I can’t. Can you?”

“I… might.” Bob said.

“Punching through isn’t the main problem.” Laen said. “All of us combined, we can wear it down, I’m sure. But when those things get this big, their insides start acting funny.”

“Funny how?” Michael asked.

“Uh, I didn’t really pay that much attention during monster classes, but you know that weird magical glop inside of them? Yeah, that thing starts to crystallize.”

“Right. Of course.” Alex said. “It acts like a slime.”

“Uhm, any of you want to clue me in?” Michael asked.

“Slimes can regenerate. Rock Chasers can’t.” Alex said. “Not quickly anyway. But when they get a core, they start to develop abilities. This thing probably has one.”

“Definitely.” Erea said, watching it pummel the last golem. “Just saw it eat the cores from inside the golems.”

A sound like a growl escaped Alex. Which was even more concerning considering how collected the young man usually was.

“This isn’t an opponent for us.” Laen said. “This is something an entire team of fourth years should handle. Maybe fifth years.”

“Agreed. Then, can we do what we discussed?” Michael asked. “Freeze it, lock it down? And escape?”

“I don’t have anything to hold it down with.” He honestly said.

“Then I will.” Bob said, stepping forward. “I will keep it in place, while you escape. I will follow you after.”

“That’s the spirit.” Erea said, though her grin looked forced. “I’ll help. You all run, we’ll be right behind you.”

“You’ll die.” Alex said. “Erea, knock it off. And you, Bob, stop encouraging her.”

“I was merely-“

“It’s done!” Michel interrupted. “It broke the final golem.”

Indeed, the giant rock chaser, now almost as tall as Michael, had left the uninteresting pieces of the last golem behind and was now working through their shields. Time was never more of the essence than right then.

“Look, we either all fight this thing or one of us does.” He said.

“Even all of us together don’t stand that good of a chance. That thing can rip your skin off in seconds.” Alex said.

“Then we run.”

“Where?” Laen asked.

In response Michael just pointed at the doors behind him.

“Are… are you mad?” the centaur hollered. “That’s unexplored territory. On the fourth floor.”

“And that’s almost certain death.” He firmly said. “Which do you prefer?”

Silence reigned for a couple of seconds before Erea muttered in a low voice.

“Figured you’d run.”

“Knock it off!” Michael yelled at her. “Look, I’m sorry for whatever series of events you imagined. I really am. But it’s coloring your judgement. And right now, we need to make a decision. Rationally!”

The elf flinched. Michael thought she wasn’t used to being screamed at. But they were out of time. They had to either fight or run. But whatever they picked, they couldn’t afford to split.

“Alex!” Michael said. “It’s your team. The final order comes from you. What do we do?”

“…run. We have to run. Laen, you and me will slow it down. Bob, yank open the doors. Go!”

Michael ran to the doors, as Bob got there first and yanked hard on them. Surprisingly, the gaindel nearly fell backwards, as the doors easily opened. Yet there was pitch blackness beyond them.

Not really promising.

A sound like breaking made him turn his head and Michael saw the Rock Chaser barreling towards them, it only being slowed down by a cascade of water and ice coming from the two mages. They were seconds away from the door, but the monster was a second away from them.

Michael raised his wand at the same time Erea aimed.

“|Barrier|”

“|Water Wall|”

They stopped it. Just for a moment, but that was all Laen and Alex needed. The two didn’t stop running. They instead slammed into them, making them in turn slam into Bob. They got pushed through the darkness and found that it was only a veil. They reached the other side without any problems and without any weird magical traps being activated. It was only as Bob frantically got up that Michael realized they still had a problem.

The door was still open.

And the Rock Chaser was still coming. Bob ran towards it, all whoever knew how many pounds of muscle running into a short, yet intense dead sprint, looking to close the doors in the monster’s face.

He’s not going to make it.

But it didn’t look like Bob was planning on closing the doors. No. It looked like he had another plan. An insane plan.

No way.

“Bob, don’t!” Alex screamed.

Too late. The humanoid rhino, his new friend, was but a moment away from the monster. Yet his arm was drawn back. His body was pivoting. Bob was currently in the process of throwing the mother of all haymakers.

“|Earth Fist|!”

And it hit.

The sound was similar to a wall coming down or a frozen lake cracking. It stopped the monster completely, even making it back up a few feet. Michael could see the crack in its shell. Not one to waste time, Bob used that moment of confusion from the rock chaser to slam the doors shut. He didn’t bar them, but he didn’t need to. That monster was a sphere. No arms to open doors.

Tiredly, he turned around and Michael saw that his already giant fist had almost tripled in size, chunks of packed earth already coming off and falling to the floor.

He looked at Michael.

“It was not my intention to be evasive.” He honestly said. “I have only just learned the Spell.”

Michael thought later that breaking into hysterical laughter was not the soundest thing he could have done if he didn’t wish to further his reputation of being ‘special’.