The mini-map identified the swarm of body parts as tiny, individual components, which made the writhing mass of decaying flesh even more terrifying. It coated the hallway, a squirming, writhing group of hands, feet, arms, legs, all bound by tendrils of flesh and pulsing purple necromantic energy. The mass squelched and popped as it wriggled towards us at an alarming rate, more than twenty square feet in size.

  “Retreat!” Arlo shouted, throwing his torch at the mass. The mass of necrotic flesh and body parts extinguished and consumed the torch. Portions of the mass sizzled where the torch hit, but the flames were overwhelmed.

  Elsetha led the retreat with one of her radiant orbs. Abernathy and Tobias were quick on her heels. Hannah stood frozen, looking at the approaching abomination. Arlo and I exchanged a glance.

  “Hannah, let’s go!” I urged.

  “Hannah, run!” Arlo called at the same time. She did not move, as if she couldn’t hear us. I noticed a blinking status next to her name. Paralyzed.

  “She’s Paralyzed!” I barked. Arlo and I grabbed her by the upper arms and began dragging her back. The rest of the group heard our call and stopped. Elsetha began chanting, her extended hand glowing with a faint yellow light.

  Arlo and I dragged Hannah’s rigid body back as the pieceling swarm approached. It was moving faster than us. Elsetha took a step forward and placed her hand on the back of Hannah’s head — her rigid form went limp for a fraction of a second before she yanked her arms free, turned, and fled away from the beast.

  She quickly made it past the rest of the group, which turned and ran after her. Abernathy pulled something from his inventory and handed it to me. His eyes were wide with terror and his breaths came in gasps.

  “Try this,” he said between gasps, “I only have one, but it should help.”

  It was a small round flask with a clear liquid inside. Holy Water. An idea formed.

  “Tobias, give me the enchanted arrow, quick!” I cautioned a glance over my shoulder and saw the writhing abomination only a few feet behind Arlo, the slowest of the group. Tobias slowed enough to hand me the arrow.

  I took a bit of the explosive clay Abernathy had given me, sticking the vial of Holy Water to the glowing arrowhead.

  “Head down, shield up!” I shouted to Arlo, who saw the makeshift holy-bomb gently glowing with red light in my hand. I threw it into the center of the mass, willing all four charges to detonate on impact.

  The Holy Water vial, being the heaviest part of the contraption, hit the creature first. The enchanted arrow detonated on impact, causing a chain reaction. The nature of the clay directed the explosion towards the materials it was affixed to. In this case, the explosions were directed upwards—towards the arrowhead—and downwards. The downward explosion evaporated the Holy Water, sending a superheated mist across the pieceling.

  The abomination reacted immediately, a chorus of screams emanating from numerous previously hidden mouths. The glowing purple, pulsating, and writhing mass went black and still. It began where the bomb had detonated and spread until the entire monstrosity lay motionless, a circle of exposed floor in the middle where the explosion had originated.

  Thrown Weapon skill increase! (3/50)

  Magical Explosives skill increase! (3/50)

  Thrown Weapon skill increase! (4/50)

  Magical Explosives skill increase! (4/50)

  Thrown Weapon skill increase! (5/50)

  Magical Explosives skill increase! (5/50)

  -DING-

  Welcome to level 9! New stat points available for distribution.

  Arlo lowered his shield, turning it in his hands. A large piece of smoking, bent iron stuck from the face of the shield.

  “That was close,” he said breathlessly.

  “Is it dead?” Abernathy asked.

  “I think so, did everyone just get experience for it?” I asked.

  “Yeah, that was crazy. Good, quick thinking, though.” Tobias praised.

  “We are lucky Arlo caught the only debris that flew our way in his shield.” Elsetha sniffed. “I still don’t condone explosions in the catacombs, but that was efficient.”

  “Efficient,” Hannah laughed, “efficient? That was amazing! I thought we were going to die! I couldn’t move. I… I couldn’t move at all. It was like that thing cast a spell on me. You guys saved my life. Thank you.” Her eyes welled up with tears. With a visible effort, she composed herself.

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  “No need to thank us, we’re a team,” Arlo assured. “It’s what teams do. That was some quick thinking and excellent teamwork.”

  “Should we notify the guild that there are piecelings about down here? This should not be a Copper-ranked mission.” Elsetha said.

  Tobias handed me an arrow, which I enchanted with an 88% success. He stored it back in his inventory, nodding his head in thanks.

  “I don’t think we need to. Looking at the mini-map, there is only one other damaged sigil, and it’s close. I think that thing was the worst we will encounter.”

  “That was my only flask of Holy Water,” Abernathy chimed in, “they are difficult to come by, and expensive. I was lucky to get my hands on the one.”

  “Hmm,” Arlo pondered, scratching at his chin, “well, that does change things, I suppose. Let’s put it to a vote, then. Who’s in favor of returning and notifying the guild of the increased monster strength and presence down here?”

  Elsetha and Abernathy raised their hands. I thought about raising mine too, but decided not to. We only had one more sigil to fix to clear the quest.

  “Really, Hannah?” Elsetha said, “you were literally paralyzed by that thing. What if we encounter another? We don’t have any more Holy Water.”

  “True, but don’t you have a Holy spell you can use against the undead? And Chanter, don’t you have a song that does radiant damage?”

  “I do, but I haven’t tried it against monsters or anything, just to cure a bunch of drunks. I am willing to try though.”

  Elsetha sighed. “Yes, I have a Holy Bolt ability, but it has a high mana cost. My mentor wanted me to practice the skill more, but I prefer to keep my mana reserves topped off for healing. It seems like the majority want to continue.”

  I glanced at Abernathy, who shook with fear, and felt guilty.

  "If we repair this last sigil,” Tobias reasoned, “it will prevent any additional undead from spreading through the area.”

  “That’s true,” Arlo agreed. “Say we go back and report it to the guild. They update the listing. A group of Bronze adventurers takes the job tomorrow. That’s a full day for this breach to spread, for the undead to multiply. Better to nip it in the bud.”

  “I do not agree with your rationalizing. Those adventurers would be better suited to it than us.” Elsetha glanced around. “But I will acknowledge and agree to the decision of the majority.”

  “And even if it was upgraded to a Bronze mission,” Hanna chimed in with a smirk, “we have a Bronze adventurer with us, remember? Chanter could still accept the mission on our party’s behalf.”

  “That’s true,” Arlo admitted with a smile.

  “I, uh, wouldn’t use that as a determining factor in this decision… I am pretty sure that spider mission was marked as more difficult than it was.” I deflected.

  “I think you underestimate the strength of your explosions,” Abernathy insisted, “that class-passive bonus of yours is strong. It’s why I gave the Holy Water to you.”

  “I appreciate that, you’re probably right.” I admitted.

  Arlo stepped forward, kneeled, and placed his hand on the blackened remains of the pieceling. “Wow. Ten Gold coins. And… this is disgusting. Five gallons of Necrotic Fluid. No thanks.”

  “I say split the coin between Chanter and Abernathy; they were the ones that really killed it.” Tobias suggested.

  “Everyone should still get a cut, right?” I deferred to Abernathy.

  “I will forgo my portion for that fluid,” Abernathy decided. “I think I can do some interesting things with it. You can have all the Gold.”

  “How much was that Holy Water you used?” I asked.

  “A Gold,” Abernathy remarked, “I forgot about that. Sorry, I got excited about all that fluid.”

  “Gross,” Hannah chimed in.

  “Alright, there are six of us. A coin each, an extra coin to Abernathy for what we used, and 3 Gold to the party funds. We can start a coffer for future quest supplies. Sound good?” I asked. Everyone agreed, and the dispersal of Gold seemed to lift everyone’s spirits. I added the Gold to my inventory. Arlo held out the three Gold to me.

  “It was your idea. You should hang on to the party funds.” He suggested.

  “Oh, alright.” I added it to my inventory.

  The pieceling’s corpse dissipated after Abernathy looted the liquid.

  “How do you pull liquids out of your inventory?” I asked, as Arlo lit another torch, and we started making our way back down the corridor and towards the last sigil.

  “It’s really neat how the system works with liquids,” Abernathy responded. “I can either join liquids with specified containers within my inventory, like this:” he withdrew a vial of water, held it up, then returned it to his inventory. “Or it can be removed on its own. You can even focus the area that it exits your inventory, though only by so much. This is pretty much the limit.”

  He held out his hands, touching his two pointer fingers and his thumbs together, forming a circle. A weak spray of water began pouring from between his hands.

  “It is much more efficient for me to store a large container in my inventory and combine it, if it is for a large quantity. The liquid discharge directly is about two gallons per minute. Slightly slower than a kitchen sink in the real world. It’s fascinating, and opens all kinds of possibilities.”

  “‘Discharge.’ Abe, why do the things you say just sound nasty?” Hannah complained. I laughed. Abernathy scratched behind one ear awkwardly.

  “Sorry. ‘Expel?’ Is that a better word?”

  “I’m just messin’ with you,” Hannah laughed.

  “This is it,” Arlo declared as we approached a doorway to our right. The quest notification appeared to be just beyond the opening. Elsetha sent an orb of light ahead and through the doorway at an angle. Arlo approached with cautious, measured steps. I followed, my lute slung across my back and my hands out, ready to pull him back if he was Paralyzed as Hannah had been. Tobias stood beside me, hands also extended, bow slung across his back.

  Arlo stepped into the doorway, relaxing. I stepped behind and into an empty room. I breathed out a sigh of relief. The room was octagonal, with wooden caskets stacked along thick wooden shelves that lined the walls, four high. The sigil sat on the pedestal in the center of the room. Half of the sigil. Arlo cursed. The quest notification on the map blinked twice, then moved.

  Quest update! Locate the missing half of the sigil stone and return it to the room. Repair the sigil stone to restore the protections.

  The sound of rattling metal echoed behind us, followed by a loud bang as a portcullis in the distance slammed down. It was in the direction we had just come — the way out. Elsetha turned and hurried to the portcullis, pulling at it. It did not budge.