Argent’s thoughts swam and vision blurred as he fell forward onto his knees, mind still reeling from what had just occurred within the aether plane. Gauge reached out to steady him, kneeling down and wrapping an arm under the alchemist’s chest to try and keep him upright. He breathed in laboured gasps, grimacing as a deep pain throbbed inside his thigh with every beat of his heart. The sound of his own blood was pounding in his ears, deafening him as he struggled to keep his eyes from closing.

“Easy, bud.. You did good.. You did real good.”

Gauge’s voice coaxed him in warbled, distorted wavelengths. Barely recognizable.

“That enchantment scroll you made really put in work, but.. Argent.. If this doesn’t meet the criteria for ‘in too deep’, I don’t know what does.”

The implication there pulled Argent partially back to awareness, as he pieced together the sensation of being lifted. He grasped at the edges of what he could reach, supposing it was Gauge’s tunic or cloak, as he desperately tried to force out words of objection.

“N..No. Not.. Not yet..”

He sputtered, gasping between words. They were so close. They were right at the end. There was no way he was letting it end now, like this. He had to push though. His fingers tightened around whatever was in his grasp, drawing a grunt of discomfort from the rogue.

“Oi.. Would you let go of my hair?”

Gauge fussed, setting Argent up against a tree. He watched as the wounded alchemist tried desperately to feel his way along his equipment belts, searching for a potion. Everything inside the rogue screamed for their retreat. His instincts told him to take Argent and run, to keep him alive… But sitting here, watching him struggle so hard to keep going…

“N-not.. Yet.. Not yet… So close.. I can do this.”

“Argent.. You’re barely holding on.. First you practically blow yourself up, and now this. Your body and your arts are both at their limits.”

The delirious alchemist shook his head unsteadily, eyes opening in deep pools of green.

“...Please..”

Gauge frowned, his brow contorted with frustration and indecision. His better judgment was under attack by Argent’s immutable determination, and to give the alchemist due credit, the two variables were battling it out neck and neck. Of course, this was also under the consideration that the rogue was not aware of the toxins coursing through Argent’s leg, as the alchemist had seen fit not to mention the venom. As Gauge battled with himself internally, Argent managed to pull one of his lesser healing potions free from his belt, and weakly brought it up to his mouth. Unsuccessfully attempting to unstop the bottle a number of times before Gauge sighed in defeat, reaching out and taking the potion away. Removing the cork, he fed the liquid into his companion’s mouth and helped ensure that he swallowed, before reaching for a sealed vial of his own. It had a different, almost bowl-shaped roundness to it, and as the rogue opened it a scent comparable to that of ammonium smelling salts wafted out.

“Alright, alright.. Fuck. Just take it slow, drink a little of this.”

He muttered as though he couldn’t believe he were being pressured into letting this happen, slowly holding the strange container out towards Argent. The smell alone immediately made the alchemist's eyes water, pulling him back to the waking world as much as one in his condition could be.

“W-what is that?”

Argent sputtered, turning himself away from the smell. Gauge pressed the potion closer.

“It’s monkwater. Drink some of it. It won’t replenish your kai, but it should help keep you conscious.”

Monkwater. It was a term the alchemist recognized, though he hadn’t much experience with it. It was often described as an intense smelling, oily liquid said to have been originally brewed by northern Monks; And with it under his nose at this moment, Argent could personally confirm the accuracy of the ‘intense smelling’ part. It surged through his nostrils and seemed to tickle the edges of his brain, sending jolts through his consciousness. The liquid was meant to provide an enhanced awareness of self, and greatly improve the physical reflexes of the user. Tentatively allowing Gauge to assist him in drinking, Argent took a small sip, grimacing as the slick consistency coated his tongue with a sour, wooden flavour. It was like his sinuses were being fumigated, as though the oil slick inside his mouth had filled the entirety of his face with gas, causing him to cough and choke.

“Isn’t.. This stuff.. expensive?”

Argent barely managed to get out the words.

“It’s not cheap, but it’s not liquid gold. I always keep a little for emergencies.”

Gauge replied, tipping his head quickly as he knocked back the remaining potion like a shot of alcohol. Smacking his lips afterwards, he shook his head and exhaled heavily.

“Yeah. That stuff will get you every time.”

He commented mostly to himself, replacing the lid on the container and tucking it away. He reached out for Argent afterwards, rising to a stand and pulling the alchemist up along with him. Once Argent was on his feet, the world seemed to regain its shape and structure, assisted in no small part by the potions in his blood. The enhancing effects of the monkwater tightened the focus of his vision, as though the borders of objects and shapes were distinctly highlighted with a new depth. It was difficult to describe, but Argent also felt as though he were more innately aware of the individual muscles inside his body. Able to sense and control smaller, more complex parts of himself than his gross motor skills would normally engage.

“It’s now or never. If we’re going to do this, let’s do it while we’re juiced.”

“Agreed… And, Gauge?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for not ‘pulling the plug’.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Who knows what the hell is in there.”

The rogue responded pointedly as the two of them turned their attention back towards the opening in the trees, staring at it for a moment before stepping forward in tandem to approach. The organic yet unnatural barrier was tightly woven, branches intertwined and trunks lined up like the slats of a fence. The sodden ground leading up to the fortress of trees clung to Argent’s boots as he trudged forward, and thanks to the monkwater, he was more aware than ever of the way that the weight of mud-bottomed feet shifted his balance. Whatever was to come, whatever was lurking within; The pressing issue was that he would have to face it without depending on arts, unless he wanted to pass out on his feet.

“What is that sound?”

Gauge asked suddenly, holding an arm out in front of Argent protectively as his head turned like a swivel. Enhanced senses allowed them both to pick up on the source quickly, a subtle but rapidly accelerating movement stirring around the opening in the trees. It did not seem as though the wall they had defeated was regrowing in its full, hostile form, but rather more like a heavy mass of fungus was propagating to seal the gap. Before Gauge could stop him, Argent had ducked under the outstretched arm of his companion and broke into a dash.

“Oi, wait!”

No waiting would be done. Argent was already throwing himself through the opening no sooner than the words managed to leave Gauge’s mouth.

“Fuck!”

The rogue swore, gritting his teeth as he followed in pursuit. Straining under the full force of his sprint to make it in time, he half jumped, half rolled over the fungal rampart in the moments before it sealed. The world inside was utterly changed from the forest beyond, an unearthly landscape of muted grays and rotting browns. The ground itself took on the sensation of walking overtop a sponge, entirely coated in a layering of mushroom. Stalks of the fungus in question rose like bushes and trees, taking on alien shapes and sizes.

“Argent..? Argent!”

Gauge hissed as his eyes surveyed the landscape, fixing themselves on the indented boot prints left behind on the surface of the terrain. Tracking them a few meters, he was halted by Argent’s hand on his shoulder, tugging him behind the stalk of a particularly large toadstool.

“It’s a fairy circle!”

The alchemist expressed almost joyfully, clearly amazed by the development despite the totality of their circumstances for being there. Indeed, from the edge of their hiding spot, one could look out and see a perfect ring of open space nearly three-hundred meters in diameter… A giant version of the tiny anomaly. But located dead at its center was an entity far less mystical or pleasant.

“God’s be damned, it’s huge..”

Gauge uttered disbelievingly, stone-blue eyes fixated on the malignant horror rooted dead center of the ring. A gigantic fungal creature, corrupted beyond all recognition, slithered and quaked amidst the twisted landscape. Affixed to its spot, it was not that much unlike the aberrant they had accidentally grown earlier in the day… Save that it was more than double the size. Towering above the ground at a height of eight or nine meters, Argent swore he could feel the ground vibrate each time the creature shivered.

“It’s.. Or, it was, a royal myconid.”

Argent explained, feeling something akin to sadness at the idea that such a rare entity had fallen victim to whatever this corruption was. That explained the upsurge in jellycaps for certain, but it also begged the question of what in this forest was powerful enough to corrupt such a creature.

“Will the fae-killer arrows work on it?”

“Normally they'd be great, but looking at this one.. I'm guessing no. Not any better than normal ones…”

“..Great..”

“Light magicks would probably be best.. Fire as a close alternative.”

“Well you know how it is with me and light.. But I do have one explosive arrow.”

“Save it–”

The alchemist started, pulling a pair of scrolls from his satchel and pushing them into Gauge’s hands.

“--Can you read these?”

“Uhh..”

Gauge fumbled his way through a haphazard pronunciation of the cardinal words, with Argent correcting him quickly and plainly. One scroll translated roughly as ‘wake now flames, and dance upon *insert desired object here*’, and the second as ‘shiver, winter’s breath, and grasp my foe.’ Scrolls of [Enchant Flame I] and [Snap Freeze] respectively.

“Alright.. This is it. If I go anywhere near that thing, I will die, and I can’t cast any arts.. Which all but rules out my pistols. So it’s going to be up to you to bring it down.”

“...Damnit. I almost forgot your pistols used channeling.”

“Mhm.. I can prime the shells kinetically, but they will be significantly weaker. Not even worth the effort against something that big.”

Argent admitted ruefully, though he took an extra moment to ensure that both weapons were loaded. The tension of the upcoming battle left no room for mistakes or doubts. He breathed deeply, trying to center himself on the increased focus granted by the monkwater.

“I’ll pull its attention. You activate that enchantment scroll, and.. Well. Do what you do.”

“Got it.”

“Let’s get to work.”

As soon as Gauge began channeling kai into the scroll, Argent shot out from their hiding place and ran sidelong across the expanse of the fairy circle. There was a certain buoyancy to the ground, a springlike quality that made him feel as though he were gliding with every step when moving with this amount of speed and force, though that may have been a side effect of the hyper-physical awareness bestowed upon him by the monkwater. His motions certainly drew the attention of the once royal myconid, and its massive tendrils quaked along the fungal ground. Argent took great care to remain out of the radius he perceived to be their reach, but the massive entity itself was not the only threat.

No sooner than he had drawn the ire of the myconid, several corrupted jellycaps emerged from the topsoil as though they had been burrowed beneath. Screeching and biting as they began lurching about, bouncing two and fro in anger before swarming on Argent’s position. As they began to cluster, a flaming arrow hurtled out from the outer ring of mushroom-trees, striking one of the rearmost jellycaps directly in the stalk.

“Don’t!”

Argent shouted out immediately, drawing out a seax in his primary hand and a pistol in his left.

“Focus on the boss, and leave these to me!”

“Tch… If you say so..”

Gauge muttered under his breath as he moved between the spaces of the outer ring, unsure of whether or not he was wasting time moving between shots, but unwilling to risk staying still. He knew Argent wouldn’t hear his complaint, and he also knew that Argent was technically correct in his judgment. They had no idea how difficult it would be to bring the large one down, and every bit of damage could be critical… But he hated the idea of leaving the alchemist to fend for himself against a mob of enemies. Still, he did as he was told, and the next shot struck the myconid in the meat of its cap.

As the giant monstrosity in the center wailed beneath the assault of arrows, Argent did his best to pull the smaller enemies away from where he estimated Gauge to be. The tainted jellycaps tumbled after him with reckless abandon, like mindless and violent punching bags. During his lap he noticed that on the far north side, the river itself actually flowed through the enclosed area, no doubt providing water for all the organic matter. Once he was almost out of room to freely maneuver he turned on the monsters, wanting to engage them before he was completely out of distance between himself and the edge of the ring.

It was a trio of the creatures that closed the gap on him first, all entering into his threat zone at the same time. Their attack patterns were predictable but still very dangerous to deal with at close range. Without something like a shield or a spear, their many stinging tendrils often proved hazardous to any strikes or counters dealt with a shorter melee weapon. Instinctively, Argent raised his pistol and fired on the first jellycap into the air. The scatter shell primed with the force of its powder and projected its many pellets, but the effect was embarrassingly lackluster when compared to its power when triggered with [Enhance Reaction].

Still, it proved sufficient to knock the mob out of the air, leaving Argent to deal with the other two. Sidestepping as quickly as his reflexes permitted, he watched with enhanced focus as the closest enemy’s stings swung through the air. Lashing out with his blade he aimed not to strike the creature’s mass, but instead its extended stings, shearing off a wide section of the dangerous tendrils as the jellycap skirted past. In evading the second, the third jelly naturally missed him during the exchange as he repositioned himself. In the background, the royal myconid bellowed and roared as more and more arrows proceeded to give it the rough appearance of a flaming cactus.

“That’s the way, Gauge..”

Argent uttered with grim satisfaction, drawing up his own determination to do his part. He wouldn’t fall short here. The circumstances were less than ideal, and from the beginning the entire job had proved to be more than they had bargained for.. But that was what it meant to adventure. That was the nature of it all.

After downing or evading the first three jellycaps, the two just behind the first wave had now caught up to him. And there was another group of four beyond that. Sheathing his seax and flipping open the breach of his pistol, Argent loaded another scatter shell and unleashed it upon the two closest enemies. The damage was minimal, but the stalling effect was what he wanted. Between his kiting and the knockback from his weapons, the majority of the jellycaps had consolidated themselves into one group as they single-mindedly pursued him.

Reaching to his belt, his fingers clasped around an orb of glass, yanking it free and hurling it outwards at the crowd of jellycaps. The adhesive bomb burst upon impact, spraying its pressurized contents in a wide arc of burnt orange glue. The substance remained viscous for only a few moments before it started to settle, becoming heavy and gum-like, binding the corrupted animates in place. While this effect was occurring, Argent reloaded his weapon with a blasting shell, eying the remaining ammunition on his belt.

Eight blasting shells.. Three scatter.. Two frost.. One fire.

It wasn’t a lot, but it would have to be enough.. Although, he noted dismally, without any kai to enhance the effects of the rounds, the elemental shells were worth even less than the kinetic ones. Holstering his weapon after feeding it a shell, he drew out both of his long seax knives. With the jellycaps tangled and glued as they were, all it took was a bit of careful footwork to maneuver through and finish them up.

In the clearing beyond, Gauge was beginning to run into his own opposition, as the gigantic myconic abomination began unearthing hunks of muck and clay which it hurled at the rogue’s hiding spots. He was evading them neatly for the time being, but each impact smashed through the fungi making up the edge of the fairy ring, reducing his available cover. There was also the waning enchantment time to be considered, as well as his decreasing arrow count, making resource attrition a real concern.

Back at the vanguard, Argent had been so absorbed with avoiding stepping in adhesive that he failed to notice another small swarm of jellycaps, disturbed from their slumber and drawn to the surface by the royal myconid’s destruction of the surrounding terrain. The stinging sensation of a thousand electrified needles spiked through his leg as one of the creatures dove at him from behind, wrapping around his calf and bringing him to the ground. Thankful that he had not fallen into glue, Argent bit down the curses of pain that were on the tip of his tongue, forcing himself to roll. The jellycap was tangled tightly around him, pulling along with his movement. The ensuing struggle was far less clean than the first wave, as Argent fought his way through the entangled jellycap and another half-dozen behind it using only his knives. His body ached with burning wounds, his flesh swollen and discolored in the places where stings had torn through his clothes.

Panting heavily, he dislodged a portion of severed stinger from around his shoulder with his blade, flipping it away and onto the ground. Sheathing one of the weapons, he grasped for the final vial of vitality draught in his possession, knocking the top of the bottle off with the back of the seax in his other hand and sloshing the liquid into his mouth. The restorative energy flowed through him, doing what it could, but his body had been abused towards the edge of its limits… And his leg was still deteriorating from the inside, sapping him of much needed kai.

Scanning the treeline, or, well.. Mushline? He strained his eyes for any signs of Gauge. A good quarter of the fairy circle had been knocked apart or otherwise smashed by the myconid’s attempts to rid itself of the human sticking arrows into it, but still the rogue in question managed to remain visually undetectable. Clenching his jaw, Argent fought to steady himself on his feet, his injured leg screaming beneath the pressure of his weight. His mind took in his surroundings, searching for a way he could combat the royal myconid, but the creature’s massive roots and tendrils all but promised instant death if he moved into their range.

Still, he had to find some way to help. If the lack of flaming arrows appearing from the coverage of the forest was any indication, the enchantment had faded from Gauge’s bow. Or he was out of arrows… Or both. As the thought was sinking into his mind, as if on queue a single arrow came whipping into the clearing. Its head was a tightly wrapped bundle of blackened cloth, a trail of sparks kissing the sky in its wake as it slammed into the royal myconid and exploded. The force of impact tore huge chunks of flesh away from the creature, scattering them across the clearing as it let out a horrendous shriek. The ground trembled as it was partially uprooted by the blast, its front end forced back by the explosion so violently that it had pulled the creature from the earth.

The destabilization was enough to knock Argent from his balance, causing the alchemist to fall to his knees as the battlespace quaked. It was horrible timing, as that very same span of tremors awoke yet another wave of flesh-hungry jellycaps. The creatures sprang from the earth in a horde, shuddering and bouncing, all lurching for him at once. Eyes wide, Argent fought in vain to rise to his feet, his decaying leg failing to support his sudden attempt to stand. Releasing his breath in an uncharacteristic curse, he drew both his pistols and leveled them for the assaulting mob.

“..Fuck!”

A cold burn engulfed his lower body, frost suddenly streaking across the ground and covering his boots as the jellycaps froze in place, encapsulated in prisons of ice. Particles of frozen moisture shimmered on the air as Argent blinked, looking down at the enemies halted only inches from his own half-frozen feet. From the sideline, Gauge streaked into view, tomahawk in one hand as the scroll for [Snap Freeze] faded away from his other. Without hesitation he began to smash through the imprisoned jellycaps, and Argent breathed a sigh of relief.

“Cut it a little close, didn’t you? I can’t feel my toes.”

He prodded, pushing down his fear for the moment with a joke. Gauge smirked, but kept his focus.

“I’m almost out of arrows. Any more scrolls?”

“I’m afraid not..”

“Damn.”

“I do have this, though.”

Argent held up the last of his assorted bombs, its silvery canister catching the light of the many small flames burning in the moonlit background.

“What is it?”

“Mana grease.”

“... Right.”

Gauge was following. The only thing mana grease did better than slick things up was burn. It was so flammable it was downright volatile. Argent handed the bomb off to his companion, but before the rogue could finish lashing it to an arrow with a portion of bandage, the pair had to split apart to avoid an incoming chunk of ground thrown their way by the giant myconid. The monster had recovered enough from the prior explosion to begin attacking once again, angrier than before. Making his way into the edge of the fairy ring, Gauge wasted no time in prepping the arrow. It was heavy and off-balance, but still fireable. He would just have to get closer.

“It’s ready!”

He shouted out, not waiting for a response as he made his way out of cover. Running for the center of the battlefield, he nocked the arrow and held it at a low ready as he put his all into his legs, shifting from a run to a full on sprint.. Satisfaction filled his chest as he raised his weapon. But, as he skid to a halt and drew back on his bow, a massive tendril of root lifted high into the air and poised to smash him into paste. Eyes wide, he almost whiffed the shot, saved from his appointment with death as the creature let out a roar and suddenly swung its tendrils wide in response to something else.

Argent had seen it coming, he had watched it happening from the side as Gauge made his advance. Knowing he couldn’t stop the rogue in time, he had put all his effort into pressing forward, advancing on the myconid and finding its nearest and largest root. Hacking into it for all he was worth, he slashed and cut at the appendage before finally jamming his seax into it as far as it would go. The creature roared and flailed, bringing all the tendrils on that side of its body in an arc… An arc which caught Argent full in the chest and swung him across the entirety of the clearing, throwing him wide and sending him hurtling into the waters of the river.

“No!”

Gauge cried out in panic but quickly re-centered his shot and let the arrow fly, not wasting the opening he was given. The projectile smashed against the myconid and erupted, igniting off the smoldering flame arrows in the creature's flesh with a burst of flame only slightly less forceful than the last. The major difference being this time the fires spread and lingered as the burning oil coated the monster. The myconid screamed its horrible scream as it tore the space around it to shreds with its many flailing limbs, knocking apart even the trees which formed the outer walls of the enclosure as it increased its reach by emerging from the earth, forcing Gauge to pull back. Massive splinters of trunk and branch fell throughout the clearing, piling upon the ground and in the river like a destroyed structure.

Strafing to the side as best he could, Gauge tried to get eyes on the water where Argent had fallen, but there was no sign of the alchemist. Nothing but the ripples of moonlight on the water, and the enraged cries of their foe.