Lance awoke soon after. He wasn’t entirely certain how long he had been out, but not long enough for more than a couple of arrows to appear. So somewhere in the minute or two minute range then. His body no longer hurt to the same extent and him reaching for bow and arrow automatically had not sent him into paroxysms of pain.

Grinning a little at the success of his choice, he tilted his head sideways. A part of him groused at the less than optimum purchase he had made, though hopefully it would be viable long into the future. Mostly though, Lance was looking at the swarm of monsters pushing his team back.

He flicked his gaze to the fletching, confirmed the kind of arrow he had picked up. A quick shift of aim and he loosed the arrow, watching it split apart fractions of a second later to pepper the trio of goblins that had been trying to take down Neil.

The only reason they had not managed that was being little lines of blood and wounds kept appearing on their bare skin. Hobgoblin, goblin trio, it didn’t matter. Something invisible was poking holes in all of them as they tried to get near Neil, making them flinch and wince with equal measure.

None of the wounds themselves were fatal, but tens of surface level papercuts were distracting. Meanwhile, the hob had flinched when its buddies had died and been wounded, pinned by Lance’s arrows. Enough of a distraction for Neil to lash out and crush its chest. It didn’t kill the monster, but it was forced backwards, fouling up the lines.

Lance saw all that in his peripheral vision though, since he was already drawing and firing on the other side. Explosive arrow this time, so he arced the shot with a quarter draw, making the arrow go up and drop really fast behind the group trying to bother Sarah.

She was striking out as usual, moving faster than ever. Always dodging attacks by inches, always striking back with spear and shaft, spinning the entire thing around her back to sweep monsters into others. The explosion made her wince, step backwards even as monsters were tossed around and some pulled and gripped at their back where bone and rock shards had lacerated their back.

Small time explosives mostly killed via shrapnel rather than concussive force. His own arrows mostly dealt with some minor concussive force unless it embedded in a body, and with so little material included, the total amount of damage was not superb.

Then again, if they had a tendency to explode with such ferocity that it could kill just from explosive impact, the entire team would likely be dead. So, all things considered, Lance was okay with his explosive arrows being more distraction and certain death when he managed to punch it through a hob.

Four more arrows. Without any guidance, the Quiver had been switching between both types of specialized arrows, creating them for his use. He would just have to make do with them, even as Yanesh kept throwing Fire Bolts and Healing spells on the group.

“How come you’re casting faster?” Lance called out, in a small break as he searched for an opening.

“New Skill… Mana Locus.” Yanesh replied, a rather thin sword in hand. Not a rapier, but a smallsword with its weird triangular blade. It was light enough that the other man could hold it in hand with ease and sturdy enough that he could lunge forward and punch the blade through skulls and eyes before he retreated, working on the far edges of Sarah. Even light swings with the razor sharp edges had a tendency to flay skin and muscle from bone, though he was careful never to try to actually do major blocks with the weapon.

Of course, he only used it while waiting for his cooldowns to tick off.

“Going for a Magic Swordsman build?” Lance said, smugly as he launched another high explosive arrow. He watched it sink into an open mouth of a job, the ensuing explosion popping the top of the skull off like a cork in a champagne bottle of grissly red and sticky fluid.

Goblins next to the hob actually stopped, looking frightened for the first time. The death, rapid and explosive as it was had showered some of them with the same liquid and other viscera, though few had been injured being too short for the explosion to catch them.

“Nice one!” Neil cried. Then ducking beneath his shield he charged forwards, slamming into the pair of goblins that had attempted to keep back. They shrieked as they bounced backwards, and others joined the screaming as his new ability activated and started shredding the others.

“What the hell is that ability? And can we get close to you?” Lance called ou.

“Blood Thorns! They grow stronger with each monster it hurts. And no, stay back!” Neil replied. “There’s no friend or foe designation.”

“Good to know…” Lance muttered, taking a careful step back. That would make working with the man to hold the line. Though, perhaps he could buy faster arrow creation from the Quiver next. That would require him to be less on the front line, especially since the damage done by the thorns kept the damn monsters focused on him.

Things to consider.

Too much thinking, not enough paying attention. He could watch, shoot and fire almost by rote but Lance had forgotten to keep count on his arrows. Reaching for another arrow, he realized he was out. Cursing a little, he bounced on his feet, unable to help out any longer since Neil and Sarah were taking up all the space and Yanesh was backing up Sarah.

Biting his lips, Lance made a decision and snuck forwards behind Neil, calling out as he moved. “Coming in behind. Let one through, if you can.”

“Don’t think they want to…” Neil said, even as he shifted to the left further. One of the goblins, stuck in the middle chose to skim around the edge of Sarah’s spear, but the scratches against his chest and face was enough to keep its attention on Neil. Rather than charge Lance at the back or even Sarah, it attempted to work its way to the other man’s back.

“Damn… you really are holding aggro.” Lance cursed, waiting for a few seconds. He felt the thorns scratch at him, when he was about five feet away. Enough so that he could dart to the side, cut at the goblin and then hurry backwards, only getting hurt a little by his friend’s ability.

Neil, busy swinging away with mace and shield chose not to answer. He pushed further forwards, bouncing the last Hobgoblin off his shield and letting a couple more goblins sneak around the back. Lance, wincing a little ducked in.

The pain was aggravating, but the range of the attack was only five feet. It only required him to be in there for a few seconds before he ducked away, once you added the range of his short sword. Maybe if he got himself a really long polearm….

That would be an interesting frontline. A bunch of individuals with Thorn backed up with individuals with nine foot long poles. Be a hard front line to beat.

Also hard to navigate in the tight confines of the dungeon.

Just as quick as the fight started, the last of the monsters were slain. Lance pulled back, wincing at the lines of blood that criss-crossed his arms and hands and his face. Lucky that he hadn’t lost an eye really. Which he hadn’t even thought about when he had ducked in.

“That ability sucks…” Lance called out.

“Whatever. You’re just jealous I had a good idea,” Neil said, around the deep breathing he was doing. He flicked his hand and walked closer, making Lance flinch only for him to stop when no resulting pain happened.

“What?”

“Turned it off.” Neil replied. “But yeah, maybe I’ll look into a friend-or-foe setting.”

“And I’m upping my Quiver once I can.”

Seconds later, Sarah came over, Yanesh casting his Heal spell over the still bleeding Lance. The man snorted before adding. “I’m saving up for a second heal. Maybe a channeled one so that I’m not always waiting around.”

“Come on, let’s get moving,” Sarah replied, grinning widely. Even after all the fighting, she was bouncing lightly on her feet, only slightly winded. “We want to clear this place, don’t we?”

The group blinked, staring at one another before Lance let out a long sigh. “Fine. Let’s go. I’ll… make do.” Once more he glanced down at his near empty quiver. He really need more arrows. But waiting around was just going to mean more monsters, so pushing ahead was a necessity.

Hopefully they’d find the boss soon enough. Or the dungeons end.