Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The second section Thaden walked into was quite different from the first, as it was more of a lengthy crevice approximately 70 feet wide, and ran for the length of what seemed like a mile.  The walls were high enough on either side that the sun from above hid half of the crevice in deep shadow along his right side.  It was from this shadowed portion of the section that the monsters appeared, seeming forming from nothing, but in actuality they emerged from alcoves cut into the walls, nearly to the top.  The only reason he saw this was because he had the natural illumination from his Healthful Protection set, which gave off a decent enough glow that he was able to see them.

Instead of Rock, Stone, or Crystone Giants, this portion of the dungeon was filled with bugs.  To be more precise, they were giant ants and beetles that were not only a lot more numerous than the Giants, but they could also climb up walls and fall down on unsuspecting Contenders.

Bassault Ant – Intermediate Minimal

Level 147 (Perceived Level: 191)

Granite Beetle – Intermediate Minimal

Level 147 (Perceived Level: 191)

Both the Bassault Ant and the Granite Beetle had what appeared to be steel mandibles and carapaces made of a hard, greyish stone covering their bodies, as it seemed the theme of this particular dungeon was all about the element of earth and stone, but their insides were as squishy as any normal bug.  Only the Granite Beetles were “Boss”-like in their strength, and they were all approximately the length of a bus, only wider; they stood at least 12 feet tall and had mandible large enough to grab a person and cut them in half. 

That wasn’t to say that the Bassault Ants were pushovers, because even though they were only the size of a medium-sized dog, there were hundreds of them.  A group of Contenders coming through this section would have to ensure they had some dedicated area-of-effect spells or abilities to handle the numbers that would pour down from the alcoves cut into wall like a honeycomb of holes.  They didn’t appear to be overly difficult to kill, especially with 100 people in a Raid Party, but the sheer numbers would likely cause some problems unless they had dedicated individuals that could do massive area damage or were able to control dozens or hundreds of individual Ants while the rest of the party dealt with the Beetles.

Thaden, of course, couldn’t have cared less how many there were, because as soon as they entered the range of his Leach-Absorb Health combination, a waterfall of corpses rained off the walls and the corpses of the large Granite Beetles collapsed and slid forward as they skittered toward the Solitary Shaman, only to die in mid-stride.  There were so many Ants, in fact, that he didn’t bother to extract loot from them all, though he did end up getting at least half of them – and all of the Beetles, of course.  

It was when he was halfway through this section when he looked back to see how far he’d come and discovered something strange.  The corpses of the Ants and Beetles that he’d killed were still there; they hadn’t dissolved into nothingness, even after he’d extracted loot.  He tried to figure out if he perhaps did something wrong, but he was fairly certain that he hadn’t done anything differently than he normally did. 

When the thought of the devastated Raid Party that had emerged with half their people dead flashed through his mind, he remembered wondering – at the time – why it had taken them so long to return to the entrance to escape.  He had originally figured it was because of something innocuous like the dungeon being a maze that was hard to backtrack, but so far it seemed pretty straightforward.  But if there was something else that had caused them to take hours to return, that would certainly explain it.

On a hunch, he turned around and ran back to the passageway between sections, which only took him a few seconds because of his current Celerity stat, and he passed through it without delay.  When he got back to the first section, the corpse of the Mini Boss was gone from where it had blocked the passage, but about half of the piles of rubble that he’d left and hadn’t realized didn’t disappear had turned back into Giants.  He didn’t step a foot into the section, as he didn’t necessarily feel like triggering any more attacks, but he could see the Giants that had reformed wandering around in a straight line toward the entrance he’d come in. 

“Huh.  They respawn?  That’s certainly new.”

It made a lot more sense that the devastated Raid Party had taken a long time to get back, especially if they had these things in their way.  He had a feeling that if he took the time to circle wide around the Giants that he could probably avoid fighting them, which wasn’t that big of a deal considering his speed, but for Mages or Control Classes, that kind of route would take a bit of time if they wanted to ensure their safety.

How they would’ve gotten through the next section with the Ants and Beetles was a whole other problem, but they had obviously done it somehow.

Thinking of that, he ran back to where he was just at, thankful to find that the Ants and Beetles that he’d already killed were still dead.  He could only assume that at least some of them would respawn once he’d finished the section, but he couldn’t be entirely sure.

Moving forward, he obliterated the bugs until he finally got to the end, where he was met with another Mini Boss that crawled out of the adjacent wall while the passageway leading further into the dungeon was closed off by another huge slab of stone.   

Igneous Millipede (Mini Boss) – Intermediate Minimal

Level 152 (Perceived Level: 198)

The Igneous Millipede was the length of at least two jumbo jets put together end-to-end, and its multitude of legs along its length were strong enough to puncture into the stone wall that it climbed down to block his way forward.  The strangest thing about it was that it wasn’t just protected by a stone body, but that stone glowed red from within, as if it was lava that was almost completely cooled off.  As it flowed up and down the walls on either side of the wide passageway, seemingly intent on encircling him completely, he could vaguely feel the heat from it even outside of his attack range. 

Similar to when he tried to kill the Crystone Giant, a reddish, bubble-like shield protected the Millipede from any harm, while an army of bugs emerged from the darkness, seeking to overwhelm him while the razor-sharp legs of the Mini Boss snaked in and sliced him into ribbons.  Unfortunately for the monsters, that plan didn’t work out for them, as Thaden effortlessly wiped out the additional monsters sent to distract him from the main threat.  A single leg attempted to stab into him as the smaller bugs died around him, only to be blocked by his Incarnation, and by that time the Millipede’s red-hued shield shattered dramatically. 

A second later, Thaden’s deadly combination of spells slammed into it, killing it instantly.  The ground shook a little as the death of the long, giant bug rippled out from its head to the rest of its body, causing it to lose purchase upon the wall and slam into the ground as a many-legged corpse.  When the dust and the shaking settled down, he ran around and extracted loot from everything within range, skipping some of the bug bodies that had been crushed underneath the falling Mini Boss, but ultimately getting to at least 80% of them.  Theoretically, his Physicality was high enough that he could probably lift portions of the heavy Millipede’s corpse in order to access them, but he was ready to move on.  While he wasn’t as creeped out by the Ants, Beetles, and the Millipede like he was at the appearance of the Arachne, he still didn’t care too much to be around the enormous bugs for longer than he had to be.

Leaping high over the corpse to reach the now-exposed passageway leading further into the dungeon was a novel experience, as he easily leapt higher than a pole-vaulter without a pole to aid him, and he landed as smoothly on the other side as if he had made a short hop.  His increased stats were incredible, and he smiled as he took advantage of them.

The next section was a combination of the first and second, at least in terms of its shape and size.  A 500 foot wide and half-mile long canyon faced him as he emerged from the passageway, but unlike the other sections, this one wasn’t filled with stone.  Instead, the entire area was filled with dirt: rich, loamy dirt that looked like it had been freshly tilled and ready for planting.  Numerous hills of that same dirt, in different sizes, were scattered randomly around, looking like they would be perfect for a dirt bike course with all the jumps that could be performed as racers ran around a track.

But there was no track and no dirt bikes around.  Instead, it was inhabited by literal dirt monsters.

Dirt Runner – Intermediate Minimal

Level 150 (Perceived Level: 195)

Dirt Binder – Intermediate Minimal

Level 150 (Perceived Level: 195)

Rising up from the very substance that gave them their names, the Dirt Runner and Dirt Binder were shaped like some sort of brown, dirt-filled praying mantis.  Instead of attacking him directly, the dirt monsters would stay at range and sit back on their oddly shaped legs, forming magical attacks between their scythe-like limbs before launching them at Thaden.  The Dirt Runner was smaller than the Binder, at only 12 feet tall for the former as opposed to 20 feet for the latter, and its attacks manipulated the dirt under its feet and launched it through the ground at him in a wide wave of sharpened dirt.  The AOE attack would probably be fairly devastating to a Raid Party that was unprepared, especially when combined with the Binder’s attack that formed a large sphere of dirt the size of a compact car before it was launched in the middle of the party – where it then exploded with deadly shrapnel in all directions.

Thaden also discovered that the Binder could manipulate the dirt underneath his own legs to wrap it around his feet, hardening it to bind him in place; it wasn’t considered damage, so it wasn’t negated, but it was a magical attack.  The Magical Resistance he received from his equipment kicked in and allowed him to easily kick his feet through the dirt attempting to keep him bound, with the dirt falling away as easily as if someone had pushed a few handfuls of sand against his lower appendages.

These magical attacks and binding abilities, when coupled with the fact that the Dirt Runner – in particular – was quite fast and could even sink down and travel under the ground, made them relatively formidable opponents; he could only assume that the scythe-like arms they possessed could also deal some damage at close-range, but he was never able to see them in action.  Instead, the majority of the time he was in this section, Thaden was forced to chase after them because they preferred to stay as far away from him as possible to launch magical attacks.  Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t match his incredible speed, so he caught up to them within seconds, even when they attempted to escape underground.  There were a few times when they sank down into the dirt completely, where he found that his spells couldn’t target them properly; he’d had to wait until they revealed themselves again before taking them out.

The Mini Boss of this section was a bit different from the dirt-filled preying mantis monsters, though it was still made of dirt.  In fact, that was all it really was, as it was very much like if one of the dirt hills had come to life and then drenched in a pool of water.

Monolith of Mud (Mini Boss) – Intermediate Minimal

Level 155 (Perceived Level: 202)

The Monolith of Mud seemed like it would be a difficult challenge given that it was a 40-foot-tall mound of constantly churning mud that extended tentacles out of its body like some sort of dirty octopus, but it fell just as easily as the other monsters he’d fought so far – if not even easier.  It didn’t move from where it originally appeared in front of the exit, so all he had to do was keep away from the lengthy – and slow – tentacles that attempted to grab him as he ran around killing the additional monsters, and then once the shield around it shattered, it suddenly dried up like all the moisture had been sucked out of it, before crumbling into a pile of dust.

Leaving the dirt section behind, it was the next section that he discovered as the one that had caused the {Chaos Valor} Guild to have to retreat rather than push forward.

It was a natural coliseum.  Carved into the stone of the Gorge, a relatively circular amphitheater with gradually sloped sides rather than rows of benches led down to a flat, open area that was approximately 100 feet in diameter.  The walls of the arena-like area were nearly 500 feet tall, towering over the perimeter with a dozen dark archways opening into the coliseum with promises of death to come.  On the far side of where he had entered, a smaller archway seemed to be the exit, but it was already closed with another slab of stone covering its opening.

With a touch of trepidation joining his curiosity as he made his way down the shallow steps leading down to the center of the arena, he was understandably startled when a notification popped up in front of him as soon as he stepped a foot down on the flat, circular area.

Warning!  Periodic waves of monsters are preparing to assault your location!  The Assault Waves will begin soon after your entire party is within the boundaries of the Assault Field!

There was a subtle glow of blue light all around the perimeter of the flat space in the middle of the coliseum, which he figured was this “Assault Field” that the notification mentioned. 

So, this is the “Assault Waves” thingy that {Chaos Valor} nearly died to? 

Before he could think about anything else, another notification spread across his vision.

All party members accounted for!  Assault Waves commencing in 60 seconds!

As a reminder, your party may choose to leave at any time between waves, but you will be prevented from entering the Intermediate Crestline Gorge Dungeon for 72 hours if you choose to do so. 

While he was reading the notification, another slab of stone covered the entrance with a rumble, locking him inside the coliseum.  He was perfectly fine with that, though, because he had no intention of leaving.  Replacing the words a few seconds later, a counter was now visible to him.

0:51

Wave 1/9

Nine waves?  Seems easy enough.

While he looked at the counter tick down, he refreshed his spells to make sure he was good to go.  At the same time, he inadvertently noticed the other counter at the corner of his vision, though this one was counting up.   

AMP Synchronization in progress: 76.43%

Hmm.  That happened faster than it looked like it would.  I’m still unsure of exactly what it is, but I don’t really have time to worry about it right now.

He’d have time to investigate it later, because the counter for the first Assault Wave was reaching the end.

0:03

0:02

0:01

As soon as it hit 0:00, the counter went away from his vision, and a flood of monsters streamed out of the archways around the perimeter of the coliseum.