~Cobb POV~

I raised a blob of water inside of which contained a flickering flame, on the tip of my staff. Channeling magic through the staff was brain dead easy once I held it in my hands. I thought it would take a while to understand it completely. Turns out it's as simple as finding out what a glove does once it's placed firmly in your hands. It's pretty obvious.

The runes - if you could call them that - were the same as they were at the entrance. They were language, programming, functionality, and meaning rolled into one practical magical analogue. Of them I could only decipher 'open' and 'close' simply because I had managed to press them on accident.

"There's nothing." I sighed. "They're all for the cells, like keypads. And all the same."

"What I'd do for a directory, like Malvolio's place." Jones remarked.

"Yeah, but the books then were randomzied so it didn't really matter."

I brought the ball of water down. The muted ball of light wasn't helping us here, all the marking were exactly the same. Even running my finger across one I confirmed they felt the same too. I was basically looking for any differences. I was fairly confident they were exactly the same so I didn't bother with any further tests. Jones would probably question my sanity once I started the sniffing the wall.

"I'm surprised you even figured out how to open and close these things." Jones replied.

Me too.

What he didn't know was that we just got extremely lucky. I have no idea how capable I looked like from behind but I was performing the magical equivalent of pressing every button on the elevator.

"Eh, it was nothing." I said, feeling slightly guilty. "Trial and error." I said, deciding to add some truth.

After that there were no other leads. Even creating earthen steps to study the higher markings gave no insight. So we followed the Queen deeper, having no idea what it was she was up to. Thirty minutes of walking down the same tunnel. The markings on the walls began to change, but not the change I was hoping for. Instead of being drawn on, now they were carved into the rock. A sign of older cells maybe?

Jones walked ahead of me, setules twitching with alertness. I myself had resolved to stop being an idiot and focused on my Hunted Sense. True, some things were limiting when it came to magic, but the second you were placed in a situation where your magic applied. The world was you playground. And it applied right now. We were underground, and though Jones was hyper alert, I had the feeling the sheer awareness I felt through the earth itself was more than he could feel through the air. Earth Magic was the highest before the skills combined into Elemental Magic after all.

Despite both our vigils the tunnel was devoid of any royal reptile reptiles.

Instead there was something tunneling through the floor. And additionally, there was another tunneling from the ceiling. And they were large, enough to fill a fourth of width of the tunnel I was standing in.

"Jones!" I called up ahead. The ground started vibrating ominously, and though Jones couldn't feel it so did the ceiling. "Giant earth worms!" I could feel the shape.

Now, that by itself doesn't really describe an enemy in any detail at all. A normal person would simply picture a pink, tube-shaped regular earth worm enlarged by the adjective provided. In times of stress, and consequently, with no time to describe an approaching enemy, the best way to proceed are to provide simple keywords that prep your team by implanting a general idea of the enemy. Giant earth worms to me and my brothers mean something entirely different. Already, I could confidently say that Jones was changing that image in his head, cycling through the possibilites, rows of teeth, spiked plating, acid-spitting, anything we had met before.

Imagine our surprise when two pink, tube-shaped enlarged earthworms bursted from the ceiling and floor at nearly the same instant.

I stayed clear of the cells to the sides, having no idea what massive kinetic force might do to them. I jumped off to the side, rolling and coming up with staff in hand. Not even needing to Hyperfocus with the early warning of my Earth Magic.

Contos Picture Staff (Rare)

Specifically designed to channel the altered elements to the tip of the staff, this allows the wielder to draw through the staff. In addition the staff is enchanted by the very same technique it aims to facilitate. The staff is made of smooth twisted woods, of varying colors, four shades of brown intertwine to form the staff, each shifting slightly to a more coloful shade. A brownish red, a earthier brown, a leafy green, an autumn orange, all come into view as the perspective shifts.

Damage: 18-22

Effects:

+20% magical amplification when using Contos Spellcraft

+20% magical amplification to all magic channeled through the staff

As improbable as it sounds, there had been almost no times i've ever had reason to use a magical staff for anything other than magic. But, in my attempts to utilize the most of every skill, born from my stupid habit to forget about Hunted Sense, I pondered each previously.

Mixed Magical Arts - Beginner 10 (0%)

Wedding the movements and technique of various martial arts with the nature and ferocity of magic itself births a dangerous practice. The tax on both the mind and body require someone of immense skill.

Effects:

+When in use magic is amplified by 30%

Earlier in the library, Mixed Magical Arts had popped out at me. It was so unique in the added boost that came from implementing martial prowess into something that was anything but physical. It was about the same time we were rewarded all the items that I checked my notifications and found the new skill.

It was why now, surrounded my two writhing masses of pink flesh that the Contos Picture Staff might as well have been a bo staff.

I spun it around me and settled into a classic ready stance. Without any of the outward flair, I focused my mind and slowed the whipping bodies with Hyperfocus.

One of the heads twirled around looking to eat Jones. He jumped and the other worm whipped around to eat him mid air. Jones twisted, catching the space of air between the moving bodies perfectly, dissappearing in the writhing pink.

One of the tails, whipped out at me. I ducked, spinning my staff over my back, tracing red circles with Contos Spellcraft, the round shapes formed thrice in under a second. The second earthworm's body jerked closer, probably something to do with Jones. I stepped back, out from under the red circles, and smashed them over hand with my staff. My staff caught in a harmless magical fire, and wave of red was sent searing into one of the earthworm's body. That blackened section marked the first earthworm, moving so fast it left a long line of ash alongside it. There was high-pitched keening and I felt bad for Jones' enhanced hearing.

I lit balls of green fire, holding them under balls of sickly green water. My staff drew lines of alternating colors between each, forming something I felt more, than planned for. One by one my magic flew into the first earthworm. A ball of fire blackening a section, the body moving so fast another healthy segment was brought under the wrath of the superheated ball of water that followed. I twirled and dodged, barely, just barely dodging each worm, only with the help of Hyperfocus was it even remotely possible, and even then it almost wasn't. Earth Magic let me sense any movement from behind me, Hyperfocus let me react, and a combination of my other magics let me counter and dodge.

They were like trains that didn't need to follow the tracks. Everytime the head flew by, missing me, that part of the tunnel would be occupied by its long body for the next twenty seconds, that was how long they were. But there was only a few seconds to react before the head came around again. It was this way that the worm forced me to keep moving, each pass it did gave me a target as well as another restriction of my movement. Through the bodies, or parts of them, I could see how Jones' was dealing with his. Illusions were leading the head around in such a way that Jones' could easily maneuver between the writhing body. His whist grass dagger was cutting easily from the blood I glimpsed. I felt a strange pride that my brother was using magic to such effect.

Already, my mana and more importantly, my stamina, was fading. The amount of mana I was exhausting was immense. The power I was dishing out was magnitudes more than I should've been able to with the mana I had. Amplified as it was by so many effects. 30% from Mixed Magical Arts, 40% anytime I used Contos Spellcraft, and the bonuses to each magic that came from the Elemental Magic skill. The battle was unlike any I had attempted so far in Twoen. The strategy was simple and there was large cushion for error. The only problem was the scale, the earthworm was huge, and durable. I'd die of a headache born from mana loss before we could kill it.

"Cobb!" A voice rang out. "I can get both heads to you! Is it enough!" He yelled in askance.

Enough? With the way I had been drawing in the air, using the Contos Picture Staff to channel the mana used for Contos Spellcraft, it looked like someone had traced the path of an LED hulahoop in a long-exposure photo. I could choose if the passing of my staff broke the spell and gathered the power, or if it simply passed through and continued to draw.

Enough? Please.

"It's more than enough, Jones." My voice was at normal level, not wasting any energy. "Just make sure you're behind me."

It was the most power I had gathered with Contos Spellcraft in the battle so far. Luckily, one of the heads hadn't come for me in a while and I could gather a stronger attack since my position didn't have to move. It was the most concentrated gathering of magical potential I hadn't felt since the last game I truly invested in.

"Heads up!" Jones yelled at me.

But, the first earthworm's body was in the way.

And suddenly, the body cleared, reaching its end.

Jones was running, clearly running out of breath. It terms of sheer speed the worms were faster, they were pushing into each other, rubbing against the floor and jabbing down. Curiously, it looked like one of them was fixated on Jones' dagger, odd that I even noticed but whatever. They were trailing just behind Jones. He had led them further down the tunnel before turning around and running at me. Because even as he approached the lingering mass of pink flesh surrounding me dissapeared as it moved to follow the head's path down the tunnel.

It was a clear shot but Jones was still in the way.

I paused, then smiled as I read the clear words that floated above his head. Sure, Illusion Magic was great for distractions and tricking people, but as I told Jones beforehand its usefulness doesn't always have to come from deception. Magic is unpredictable like that.

For above Jones' head the words read 'clone'.

I took a few steps back. Spun the staff. Jogged forward and ripped through all the lines of magic I had traced in the air, they were nothing specific, just the raw power of each element.

My staff crackled with quad-colored lights, the four different woods that made up the staff seemed to soak in the power.

I never played baseball but I imagine the swing I let loose was something of a homerun. It even felt like I hit something at the point where I released the magic. A wave of force, enough to knock me back blasted down the tunnel.

Clone Jones dispersed, the heads of the worms pausing, looking ahead, noticing me and rushing forward to eat me.

Instead they ate a magical storm. Fire, heat, was the first thing I felt. It exploded outwards in a rather typical display of power. Waves of fire. Typical, yes, but after the first five seconds I realized it wasn't stopping. The second aspect of the magical storm was the hurricane of wind that pushed against the worms. I felt no form to it, it was just wind, plain and simple. And yet the power of it was ripping flesh off the worms, chunks of pink, gone. Then the water. A veritable flood of water just seemed to gush out of the point where I released my magic. It drowned the whole tunnel, pushing what I was pretty sure were corpses, down the tunnel. Where was the...?

Then the tunnel turned into sharp spikes, near instantly.

My heart skipped a beat.

Spikes had pierced the bodies of the worms, impaling them into the air. They came from the ceiling, the floor, the walls. And then the spikes fell, as if detached, but only the ones that came from the sides, from the walls.

My head rotated, each and every cell, every single one that had been downwind from the magical storm had been opened. Their walls dissapeared, that much I could make out through the spikes. By stupid, crazy, extremely improbable luck, the spikes had also formed a type of wall. I felt relieved.

Until I heard the first roar.

I had forgotten exactly what those cells held. Specimens enough to put their time in imbalance, monsters large and dangerous, beasts untamed.

The ground shook.

A voice said from behind me. "Oh god."

~LoneJones~

I could do this. I could do this.

I jumped between two of the gigantic worm heads just barely slipping through the only spot that they didn't take up. In that moment when the heads were rushing past I conjured a clone of myself, slashed at the nearby body and ducked away out of sight.

Their rushing bodies had a way of concealing their prey, which was probably only helpful if they could find ways to distract the worms long enough to hide.

I could do it indefinitely. It was hard. Almost mind numbing the amount of things I had to keep track of. Was this what Cobaj experienced all the time? I leaped over a segment of body, trailing blood as I went. With Hyperfocus and my spatial awareness, I could do it. Just barely.

Slash at the body, leave a clone, repeat. Lead them away, only one clone ever visible. Soon, it became easier as I lead the clones in such a way that a path would be left for me.

I had to stall for time. Every now and then, when I had a few measly seconds of respite, I'd catch a glimpse of emerald green. Green, but surrounded by four other colors. Whatever it was it looked powerful.

The worms were doing their best to use their time between attacks, trying for me before speeding down the tunnel, trying for Cobb, then turning around for me again. Dodging was easy, distracting them was hard. Both of them, exhausting.

If i knew anything about magic, it gave you a gigantic headache. And my emerald green brother looked to be using a lot of it. This would be one of those times we'd need each other.

"Cobb! I can get both heads to you!" I yelled.

One of those heads shot for me, and I flipped over the body.

"Is it enough!" Making sure to keep my voice loud.

Only with my hearing was I able to pick up his answer.

Taking his advice, I grudgingly made my around as best as I could. I had to manipulate the clones in such a way that their attention and paths would bring them away from Cobb, so he'd have a clear shot, and straight down the middle, so it'd be a good one.

Forty seconds. The amount of time it takes to heat up a cheeseburger. But it was everything in combat. And an eternity in Hyperfocus. Cobb was still blocked by a segment of the worm's body but I had my clone yell a warning. I had gotten the timing perfect.

Those forty seconds paid off, because rushing down the tunnel was a clone of myself, running straight for one lone figure.

My brother.

His robe was white and striped with colors, his reward for the library, but it was the color green that stuck out. The color of his skin, his favorite color. The array of magics reflected of his skin, almost see through. Like glass. But there was an almost feral grin on his face, and an uncanny sparkle in his jet-black eyes. Like the night stars. I didn't think even he knew that he was smiling.

He hesitated, showing a measure of control I was surprised at but probably shouldn't have been. But reading the words I placed above my clone, he released.

I got a single peek. I wasn't behind him. I was above him. I had crawled up the wall but I was still wasn't entirely behind him. So with a jerky progress, since I hadn't climbed horizontally before, or upside down even, I made my way behind him.

There was an almost impereceptible blast of force that I almost missed.

And then, chaos.

Magical armageddon.

The room exploded in a blast of air so powerful I was pressed to the ceiling, despite having been behind the release. If I had been relying on my sense of air pressure alone I would've threw up. The heat decimated the worms. I think they died right then. But my brother was watching the whole scene with languid eyes, as if it was nothing to him. When the next blast of power happened, the hurricane, I was almost ripped from the ceiling. I was already down and behind Cobb when the tsunami occured. Still he looked on like nothing happened as the bodies of the worms were dragged away.

How was it possible? We were the same level and yet he was capable of this. JST ripped a whole freaking tree from the ground. And me? What was I doing? Throwing clones around and distracting worms. I sighed, walking to my unfazed brother.

Then the tunnel erupted into sudden spikes, piercing the bodies of the worms before they could be carried off. Cobb jumped slightly.

Not completely unfazed.

An enormous amount of air was displaced. Spikes that came from the sides, the ones that erupted from the walls, fell to the ground. Heart racing, I followed their points to their base. The cells had opened.

There was a roar that shook the ground.

Looking to let my brother know I was here as well as remark on the situation I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh god."

"Fuck." He turned to me, realizing exactly what this meant.

"You don't think that was just a little overkill." I raised up my hand pinching the air.

He glared at me, before rushing off.

He raced over to the nearest slab of rock in order to close the first cell. Inside was water. A pool that filled the entire cell, which was pretty big. But Cobb wasted no time. The spikes parted as he ran through them and a single tap had the whole wall back in place. Right as the water started churning. I doubt he noticed.

I ran to the opposite side, having seen what I needed to. I dodged through the spikes, leaping through and twisting about them, not suffering a single cut, not having the luxury to part them like he did before I came across the cell that held one of Gyru's untamed beasts. It was a field of tall, furry grass and it was chittering. Something was chittering in there. I had seen exactly what Cobb had pressed. It was a squarish symbol, rounded at the edges, concave and raised slightly from the rest of the symbols. Staring at the grass, facing that chittering, my heart pounded at the unknown. I couldn't think about it too much, using all my speed I dashed forward for the stone panel. Where I was a second ago, was nothing but air. Something emerged from the ominous grass, leaping quickly to intercept me. Fast. Faster than me. Everything slowed down as I activated Hyperfocus, still running. I was watching a beady eyed beast, my size, but every feature it had was sharp, deadly. Except its chest. And it was heading right for me. A missle.

I changed tactics right as another leaped from the grass, veering off course. How many were there? I ran forward, jumping to meet the first. There was no time for indecision. I drop kicked the first right as the third and fourth figures shot out of the grass. Entering the enclosure for half a second, feet pressed into the first's chestplate, I kicked off, sending it towards the second chittering. I rocketed backwards, landing near the stone panel, coming up into a roll and swiftly pressing the button.

And suddenly that section of the tunnel was walled off as well. I took a deep breath. That had been close, there was no telling how strong those were, what the difference was in our levels. Any escaping there could have been terrible. Then my eyes were drawn down the tunnel, that was only the first. There was too much. Too many cells to close. Something would get free before we could get there, and in that chaos the Geckan Queen could easily complete whatever she was up to.

No. I can do this.

The words rang out in my head. Bringing peace and tranquility to my mind. I had to focus. It was possible. Yes, it was possible.

"Cobb!" I yelled, hoping my voice would reach him through the spikes, he had already moved to the next. "Clear the way for me!"

Without even a response, spikes retracted, flattened and sunk back into the walls. It was tight, but it was done across my whole side.

Every stone panel was cleared and accessible, but so was the path for anything trying to get out.

The ground rumbled, thumped really. And I thought for sure, something escaped. That something wild and vicious had left its cell. Or something that was enough of a problem that it prevented us from closing all the other ones.

It was much, much worse.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehawww!" It screamed.