Nick

I loosed another ethereal arrow from the enchanted bow I'd been given, the skeleton being shattered to pieces by the sheer force of it. Mary whipped her ruby encrusted staff forward, a mote of flame flitting far down the corridor before exploding with a deep shuddering boom. The explosion itself didn't damage the walls, though the flames flowed toward us like a hurricane before harmlessly dissipating less than twenty meters from us. Johnathan was holding another two low level skeletons in one arm, their desperate attacks bouncing harmlessly off of his newer, thicker, yet lighter plate armor. He'd also been given a mithril chain shirt to wear underneath so that any attacks that made it past his impressive defense would bounce off harmlessly.

David had been given a shield and a mace, both enchanted to be far more effective against undead that normal weaponry. He was currently standing over three separate piles of bones.

The guild hadn't spared any expense in equipping us with some of the best they could get their hands on. We'd then been paraded through the streets for a full day to help calm the public. Honestly, I felt it was all a bit much. Just let us have breakfast and give us the gear on the way out. Fanfare was never my cup of ale.

I lowered the bow after a full minute of waiting for any more skeletons to show up. Nightshade was no longer treating the second floor and below like some rookie training course. The monsters were smarter now, ambushing with more and more frequency, though it didn't have any real effect on us. Their equipment was getting better and better as well. Swords, axes, and armor all becoming more and more dangerous. Only one in three skeletons were defenseless at this point, though their weapons couldn't even make a dent in our formation.

"Looks like that was the last of that group. You would think they'd stop trying to attack us from the shadows like that. It's become really predictable." Mary spoke with a slight pouting tone, crossing her arms even as she didn't move her gaze from the still smoking stone. I could tell it was more nerves than any actual disappointment or outrage, though Johnathan did nod once, his visored helmet rattling a bit as it moved. "I don't like how the air feels now. It's almost like the dungeon is bearing down on us. Not like before, when new dungeoneers came in all the time. It feels wrong." He scanned the other halls as he spoke, slowly lowering his guard.

"I agree, but we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. If we get through this, I imagine there's a nice little bonus waiting for us at the end, along with a fair bit of fame for stopping a Catastrophe Dungeon Break. That should be worth something." I took the lead again, scouting ahead with [Night Vision] active the whole time.

I kept an ethereal arrow nocked in the magical bowstring, taking out stragglers as we went, along with any wandering groups. As a team we were now leagues above most others that had been finding work in the dungeon, though I got the feeling that we weren't going to entirely stop the growth of the skeleton army that surely waited a floor or two below us, gathering strength for an even bigger battle.

Dungeoneers and adventurers alike had been leaving the city in droves, unable to find much work in and around the area. This in turn left less and less people to actually defend it, so the guild and local lords were being more or less forced to begin discreet evacuation efforts in the event that our best efforts failed. A few of the veterans stayed though, either too stubborn to leave or too self-righteous to give up. The whole thing with the dungeon hit the newer parties much harder, though some made do by helping out around town for meager rewards.

I shot another arrow through the skull of a passing skeleton, scattering the bone fragments all over the path ahead of us. That was another nice feature of the bow. It didn't cost any mana to use, and each arrow flew far faster than any normal one ever could. It made me capable of so much more than high-priority targeting.

Using a map of the first floor that had been provided, we were hitting all the known trouble spots of the past along with a few new ones. The biggest one however was definitely where we'd killed what had been thought to be the real threat. When we stood in the entrance, I could see at least seven different groups all being led by a skeleton wearing much better armor. I let Mary take the lead in this battle. She deserved a little payback for nearly dying, after all.

It wasn't even a fight, the ashes blowing away with a simple gust of wind she added for flair. We moved on, heading for the next trouble spot.

After clearing a few areas entirely the skeletons started actively avoiding us, though it didn't change much. Even denying fresh recruits would be useful in the end, and we were on one hell of a roll. We didn't see any of the better equipped ones as time went on, our footsteps and the occasional ethereal arrow or spell echoing in and around the second floor.

"Should we hit the third floor today? See if we can flush out some of the stronger ones?" Johnathan leaned on his shield as we set up camp inside the larger room Mary had burned earlier. David was already getting started on making lunch, a frying pan set over a small fire.

"No, if we push too hard then we'll end up facing far more than we bargained for. We have to treat this like cornering an animal. Get them tired enough, and even when they're feeling cornered they won't be able to bite back even as their throat is cut. Corner it too early and you're liable to suffer a nasty injury. We'll keep hitting the second floor for now, let them get used to this for a little bit. Once they become complacent and start coming up with strategies to avoid us, we hit the third floor, cutting them off as best we can from the second floor. We'll probably see a desperate attack at that point, though if we can survive that then there won't be enough of them left to fight back. At that point, it's just a matter of finding the leader and taking its head." I took a swig from the flask I'd brought down with me, then stoppered it. I didn't know when I'd be going back to the surface, so I filled it up with the strongest stuff I could find, meaning I could only have a drink or two without getting too drunk.

"You make it sound easy, like things didn't go terribly wrong during the raid. How can we be certain things will go better this time?" I grimaced at the stronger taste as Johnathan spoke. I liked my alcohol strong, but not usually this strong.

"We were fast during the raid. This time we'll go slower. It'll be easier if we're cautious." David spoke up just a bit as the frying pan sizzled with the oil that had been added to it, vegetables and potatoes being stirred in even while basic seasonings were sprinkled in with it all. I gave him a thumbs up as I recovered. "Yeah, that. We came in yelling and blustering and fighting the whole time, and when things started to go bad, we resorted to ripping a hole in the dungeon which as you can recall, didn't work out for us. So this time we move slow, tightening the noose just enough that they don't realize how dead they are until it's too late." I grabbed my waterskin next, washing down the aftertaste.

"If we're doing that, why not just sit at the top of the stairs to the third floor? Cut them off entirely?" It was Mary who spoke up this time, dusting the ashes off of her pack that lay next to her on the stone.

"Same problem. We don't want them getting too aggressive too early. If they come at us now, we have no idea about their numbers or relative strength. If we take our time and bleed them slow, we can get an idea of how strong they are on average, and prepare for both the best and worst case scenarios." I knew that they were asking mostly because they just wanted confirmation that I wasn't an idiot, but I'd been wondering about a few different things to try. Hitting the skeleton hot spots was working, though I had no idea for how long.

How long until they begin to react?

"Better to be here at least, than travelling to the nearest Catastrophe Dungeon outside of the city. Even with all the unknowns we face, at least we still have a steady job. I saw a few teams leaving as the guild began locking the dungeon down entirely. They even got an honest to Gods Fortification Mage out to help make the barricade around the entrance an actual wall." I laid back and stared at the ceiling, listening to the sound of sizzling oil and vegetables. Using my hands as a pillow as I lay there, I decided I'd take a little nap. "Johnathan, you've got first watch. Mary, wake me up in an hour to take over. David, leave a little bit out for me if you would."

With that, I closed my eyes and promptly fell asleep.