“Is everyone ready?” Kur asked in their party chat. “Any questions?”
Nar glanced down the darkness once more.
The Gap was a long tunnel that ascended the cliff separating the Hungry Jungle and the Jungle Tops, and which eventually emerged in the Gloom. The rocky passage within was narrow, with sheer falls on either side of it. The crushing weight of the waterfall obscured the light on one side, and the cliff wall was distantly visible on the other.
The echoing sound of the rushing waters was deafening, and it drowned out all other sounds as they snuck their way upwards. They were submerged in a living twilight of purple and green, as the light reflected in through the curtain of water to cast the passage in a surreal light. Had it not been for the beast they were about to fight, Nar would’ve enjoyed his time in there.
“I think there are rogues on our trail,” Sej warned. “Two at least.”
“You can hear them through their [Stealth]?” Row asked.
“[Stealth] needs to be trained, just as anything else,” Medis said. “And I agree, at least two. Doubt they are our enemy, though. I don’t think they would be so amateurish.”
“Probably Juf’s people, then. Here to see if we can or can’t clear this thing,” Kur said. “Don’t worry about them, they will neither help nor hinder us.”
“Be good if they helped,” Mul said, his tone suppressed. “Bunch of useless people… What have they been doing here for three days?”
“Waiting for a solution that didn’t demand harsh decisions,” Leon said.
He really doesn’t like Juf, Nar thought. I mean, I’m not sure if do either, but I wonder why he doesn’t.
“I see it,” Sej said, and that put an end to background chatter. “Crystal… That’s a big one, definitely level 69 or 70. You can clearly see the glowing purple markings along the side of the main body.”
“Yay,” Jaz muttered.
“There are also several shroomlings laying about, ready to spring to action, plus dozens of them already active. At least a hundred, and given the color of their glows, we can expect the full complement of status effects,” Sej said.
Crystal… Nar thought, grimacing. That’s all four status effects, and that thing is going to be damned strong and safeguarded by a massive HP, too. I just hope everyone can resist most of the effects, or this is not going to go down well.
“It’s likely that more shroomlings will crawl up from the sites as well, probably even more than what we can see here, as the boss can climb upside down and mushrooms grow anywhere,” Sej said. “And beware of the large clusters of mushroom traps. This thing is fully settled in and ready to go.”
“Crystal,” Cor whispered.
“Relax, we’ve got a plan, and we’ll get through this,” Kur said. “Everyone split into your positions.”
They quietly spread out over the narrow pillar of rock that was the Gap, careful with any loose footing, water pools, and the slippery footing in that humid, purple-green twilight. The many battles they had survived together were evident in the way in which they maneuvered, forming their formation without clashes and everyone locating their position with confidence.
At the front, creeped Leon, who would be their main tank against the fungal nightmare, with Eum and Mach, who would serve as the frontline melee DPS. The trio would be free to use the full complement of their powerful aether capabilities as long as it didn’t cause the collapse of the Gap, with Medis, Calli and Era providing the ranged DPS.
As for the auramancers, they had the unenviable task of facing down the shroomling horde.
“I see even more of them, ready to go,” Sej said, her voice tense.
Thankfully, the high level of the boss meant that she could join the fray.
And thank everything that those shroomlings are much lower in level, Nar thought.
Rather than powerful warriors, the shroomlings were designed to overwhelm with their numbers and obliterate with their status effects. Even if Tun and Gad formed a frontline behind Leon’s party to cover their backs, as well as the ranged, casters, leaders and healers, they would be overwhelmed. More importantly, everyone would need to regularly visit the healers to be cleansed and healed. In the case of the aethermancers, they would need to rely on downing their elixirs and potions, but those came with cooldowns, and without Era being able to pull them into slumber in order to heal them, the three aethermancers were there just to hold down the boss while the rest of them cleared all the shroomlings. Once that was done, the aethermancers could fall back and let the auramancers step in to properly face the nightmare.
As they took positions, Nar stepped back with Sej. Theirs would be the most crucial role of them all.
“There is a specific kind of shroomling that we’ll need to pay attention to the most,” Sarke had explained. Since the Illum and the nightmare were essentially living mushrooms, or fungi as she referred to them, she had spent a good deal of time studying them as well. “And that is the rogueling.”
“Great. I hate it already,” Mul said.
“Yes, just as you suspect, the rogueling behaves like a rogue. [Stealth], [Backstab], and of course all the assortment of nasty status effects and poisons that the other shroomlings have at their disposal as well,” Sarke had continued. “However, while each of the other shroomlings has a distinctive status effect associated with it, and you can easily tell it by their glowing color, the rogueling has no such marks, and it can use any one of those status effects. Plus, the rogueling is built much limber and faster than the other shroomlings, and it will be stronger as well.”
“And all that while lying in [Stealth] to ambush us?” Tun had rumbled, crossing his powerful arms.
“Not us,” Sarke corrected. “Them.”
The reptilian had then raised a light green claw to point at Jasphaer and Leta.
“The healers?” Row hissed. “What?”
“The fungal nightmare is half-beast, half intelligent monster,” Sarke said, the dots of turquoise on her green neck scales shimmering in the twilight purple of the lake shore as she moved. “While the shroomlings are nowhere as smart, the roguelings are smarter. Their priority is to target anyone using healing skills. Be it purifying status effects or active healing, or even healing over time effects, HOTs, it doesn’t matter.”
“So we need to protect our healers then,” Leon mused. “Since Era will be acting in a DPS capacity, she’ll be safe?”
“As long as she takes no healing action,” Sarke confirmed. “Nar’s self-heal should also be okay, since it’s not a skill.”
“It makes sense. If you think about it, it’s not the shroomlings physical attributes that overwhelm the enemy, it’s their status effects. That makes healers the crucial role when facing the nightmare,” Kur said, rubbing his chin as he pulled out his touch-pad to begin drawing a formation. “We’ll need to keep the boss occupied while we handle the shroomlings, and to do so, we will need to keep rotating our people to the back in order to get healed and cleansed… Without healers, no matter how strong we are, the status effects will eventually wear us down.”
“And so the roguelings target the healers,” Row said, eyeing Kur’s screen. “What an annoying beast.”
“That’s the fungal nightmare,” Sej said, sighing. “The whole Illum fighting force is annoying to deal with like that, while the Atlatl are much focused on overwhelming, direct might.”
“Just be happy that the nightmare can’t spawn any more shroomlings once it’s engaged in combat,” Sarke said.
“Crystal,” Tuk said, eyeing the dark, squareish entrance ahead of them, its rocky teeth forming the appearance of a beast’s maw. “This is not going to be a happy time.”
“No, but we still need to bring it down,” Kur said. “And worst case scenario, if we’re too hurt afterwards, we’ll just retreat back here to recover. Alright, here’s what we’re going to do…”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
And so, Nar now retreated to the very back of the party, to the old position that had once been his as they fought their way out of the dark bowels of the Between-Nexus, while Sej took position with her gun at the ready in between Leta and Jasphaer.
It’s easy to say that wherever I stand, nothing will get through to harm the party, Nar thought, scanning the shimmering play of green and purple tinted light across the rugged walls and floor of the passage around them. But it’s not that simple when I can’t even see the enemy.
As Medis had said, it was indeed possible to detect those using [Stealth] or other similar skills of different names, such as Medis’ own [Prowl]. The skills didn’t render anyone invisible, but instead acted to prevent someone else’s senses from detecting them. However, it didn’t mean anything if you stepped in such a way that disturbed one of the many puddles of water in that narrow passage, nor if you brushed against the many regular fungi that made the cave their home. Even if your footsteps were erased from one’s senses, that means little if you send a loose stone scampering across the floor.
Of course, paying attention to something like that in the middle of a fight is a bit crazy… Nar thought, as he gazed into the green-purple twilight they had come from. After all, he hadn't been able to hear the two or more rogues tracing their steps to witness their fight, and as if the sound of the plummeting water crashing in the darkness below them wasn’t enough to drown out all other sounds, then the fight about to erupt was only going to add to it.
Apparently [Ego] also played a hand in it too, but one needed absurd amounts of it in order to resist [Stealth]. Far more than he currently had.
“It knows we’re here!” Sej shouted. “Incoming!”
The cave filled with a crescendo of low, grave garbles, and a rainbow of neon colors spread to life from up ahead as the shroomlings activated.
We’re even fighting at the disadvantage of the low ground, Nar thought, staring up as the glow of the activating shroomlings spread upwards into the passage.
That’s when Nar finally laid eyes on their main enemy.
“Shit,” Teb whispered into the party chat.
“Damn,” Mach said, almost at the same time.
Glowing in bright, ruinous orange, the fungal nightmare stared down at the party from the ceiling of the passage. Its powerful pincer-like legs pierced the rock itself to hold its momentous weight, and the beast that was nearly a monster folded grotesquely under the weight of gravity.
Its rear end was like that of giant larva, half-fungi and half-rotten, bulging flesh coated in shimmering fluids of filth, while its front half, also dropping down, was that of a towering growth of some unholy mesh of mushroom and flesh, with fungi of purple and gray colors growing alongside orange caps.
The creature opened its maw to reveal a toothless mouth, but the darkness within promised the stuff of nightmares rather than death, and Nar shuddered at the thought of being swallowed into the bulging flesh-sack that was the enemy’s main body.
Nar’s hairs stood on end as the creature gazed at them without eyes, without so much as a roar, a growl or a scream. It hung there, a lump of flesh and fungi that should’ve given the impression of weakness and slowness. However, Sej and Sarke had warned him that the nightmare was anything but…
The air glowed orange, slow moving, misshapen orbs of glowing fungi flying towards the delvers.
Right, there was that too, wasn’t there? Nar thought.
Explosions rang out above the party as the ranged got to action.
**********
This was the sort of task that his role was supposed to excel at, and as his glowing rings sliced through the flammable, gas filled, orange glowing sacks, Tuk was glad to find out that he could indeed pull it off.
The line quickly formed before the rushing horde. Tun took center stage with his glowing, golden aura shields from his [Phalanx of Safeguarding] forming the wall Gad funneled the shroomlings into. On either side of the imposing morsvar, the rest of the melee wasted no time in forming a single file and unleashing their own skills at the glowing red, purple, green and blue shroomlings that hurtled down the passage.
Once Leon’s party was through to the boss, which came down from the ceiling with a ground shaking landing, Cen commenced bombarding the advancing lines, her aura exploding amongst the shroomlings and triggering their own bulging, glowing sac-fungi heads to release their status effects in explosions of glowing spores that Cen’s raging aura explosions quickly swallowed. However, the caster’s usual might was dimmed. She couldn’t bring her full power to bear for risk of collapsing the misshapen cylinder of rock that supported them. Even if the passage would be regenerated after the fight, their lives would not.
It was for that very reason that Cor did not join Cen on the offensive. Instead, she sat besides Row, focusing on her [Gathering Tides] skill in order to boost them all.
Jaz, Rel and Lim shot upon the advancing hordes with normal projectiles aided by the power of their auras. While the shroomlings could be taunted and aggroed, they were far too simple minded to be confused by Jaz’s jokesters skills, while Rel’s bleeding effect had no purchase amongst those who did not bleed. As for Lim, there was no point risking friendly fire through the use of the incendiary ammo that he had only recently decided himself confident enough to start using, nor did the shroomlings warranted his armor piercing rounds.
As Kur shouted encouragements to trigger his boosting skills from behind Tuk, as again, his debuffs were unlikely to work against the near mindless fungi beasts, Tuk tossed his rings in another learned and trained pattern from The Flower of a Thousand Blossoming Silken Petals that the Master of Thrown Weapons had uncovered for him.
This was not a pattern designed for offensive use, but for coverage, and as his rings spread over the party in circles of varying sizes, their half-gray, half-golden trailing lines met the second volley of explosives, and detonated them above the party’s heads in large flares of light that lit up the rock and water walls on either side of them.
They really explode in contact with air, Tuk thought, as his hands and fingers darted in a silent dance around him, shifting seamlessly between the two coverage patterns that he knew by heart and were boosted by his [Familiar Flights] skill. And these things look so nasty too!
The shroomlings ambled, rather than walk or run, hurtling down towards the frontline to smash against Tun’s aura towershields. They looked as though big mushrooms, as tall as Tuk’s waist, had sprouted stubby limbs, their fungi bellies and sides glowing through transparent membranes and revealing the nasty payload of spores awaiting within. Their raspy grumbles were loud enough to compete with the roar of the waterfall. It was almost difficult to hear his own thoughts as the shroomlings advanced as though a fungi rock slide had been unleashed.
POFF! POFF! POFF!
Screams of surprise echoed across the front line as clouds of shimmering aether spores erupted from the side of the shroomlings extended heads.
Viy fell backwards, screaming as her body contorted as though seeking to snap its own spine in half. Kur darted in, just as Raf and Teb closed ranks to cover the gap left behind by the halberdier.
Crystal… That must be the [Spine Breaker]! Tuk thought with a grimace. Hang in there, Viy!
With nary a thought, Tuk shifted two of his rings to slice through the frontline and aid Raf and Teb with the overwhelming numbers that the two of them now had to face.
It had been an insanity at first, to even consider that not only must he memorize the seemingly endless number of patterns that his Thousand Petals fighting style required of him, but also that at any point during a fight, he must be ready to execute a different pattern with every single one of his rings. And all at once at that.
Heh, I’m still too far from that. But still, this is fun! Tuk thought, smiling as he challenged his mind and [Shaping] to send his glowing rings, or at least the three he could manage so far, in different patterns compared to the other six. So, so much fun…
His rings danced through the air, cutting through and cauterizing fungi-flesh with the searing touch of his golden and gray aura, and he rejoiced not on the fact that he cut through his opponents, but on the simple joy of having achieved so much with his little rings. The rings that assured his safety and that of all his family and friends, and he didn’t even need to use the much harder aura edge that he was still trying to learn and control for these soft creatures… If anything, his slashing type damage and multi-target close and medium range combat was the best suited for this sort of fight.
“T…”
“Tuk…”
“Tuk!”
Kur’s voice cut through the golden haze that had taken Tuk’s surroundings, and the twin roar of the waterfall and the clangor of battle filled his ears once again.
“The explosives Tuk! Above us!”
Oh, no! Tuk thought, his stomach sinking.
Above him, the explosive volley was already tilting down, about to fall amidst the party. All it took was just the tiniest, smallest of rupture to let the flammable spores inside spell disaster to their fight. And yet, his rings were already busy with their own flights, and even with the two heading his way, that wouldn’t be enough to stop all of those—
A line of searing, grey aura cut the air above his head, and an explosion of gray swallowed the subsequent explosions of orange.
“Thanks, Nar!” Kur shouted, as he ran past Tuk to collect Jul. The quam was screaming and contorting on the floor behind Gad’s broad back.
The [Racking Pain]... the ring tosser recognized, still dazed.
“Focus, Tuk!” Kur shouted, dashing past him on his way back to the healer’s, this time with Jul in his arms. “Remember your role! Keep an eye on those explosives and only help out when you can!”
“Y-Yes! Of course. I’m sorry!” Tuk shouted after him, but Kur was already gone, headed to Leta at breakneck pace. At the cooline’s side, Jasphaer was already busy cleansing Viy of the [Spine Breaker], before the DOT ran its course and actually snapped her spine.
What is wrong with me? Tuk asked himself as he resumed fighting. It’s happening more and more… The golden haze. Is this because of my affinity?
But no one had said anything about affinities altering people’s behaviours! And in any case, asked a small voice at the back of Tuk’s head, was anything being altered, or was he just being truer to himself.
Ugh! Now’s not the time for this. Focus! Tuk chastised himself. When we’re done, I’ll talk to Kur! And Cen! They’ll know what to do.
Up ahead, Mul roared and blasted several of the shroomlings with a fiery fist. However, one of them opened a surprisingly large jaw and expelled a cloud of purple spores in the brawler’s face.
Oh, no… Isn’t that the one that makes you hallucinate? Tuk thought. The image of Mul going wild at their own party was enough to bring everything into sharp clarity, and he prepared his rings to intervene, even to keep the brawler at bay if need be.
The trugger eyed the purple spore cloud approaching Mul through half-lidded, ashen, darkened brown eyes, and just as Mul was about to inhale them… They burst on fire.
Tuk sighed, dropping his shoulders.
Of course! Fire! he thought, relief flooding him.
However, he caught sight of another volley of explosive shrooms bursting out of the fungal nightmare’s extended, fleshy rear-end, and he took a deep breath.
Come on, Tuk. You got this. Just stay focused!
