Chương 10: Rats.

The dungeon stood like a sea cave, sandy floor and jagged, rocky walls with water running down in several places and most clinging to the rocks. Scattered boulders lay in the sand and the cavern ceiling was fairly low, just a few feet above her head. This is a terrible place for my artillery, where are the wide open grassy plain dungeons?

"Alright, Me and Leo will take the first room, you two sit back here and watch" James said, taking out his axe and marching forward.

"Lets go go go, I want to kill some rats" Leo said, returning to his usual state, he had pulled his sword out, swinging randomly. The pair marched into the cave and went about massacring rats, Nythera and Edwin waited in the back listening to a cacophony of dying squeals. This is kinda awkward." Soooo you build bombs? Are you an alchemist?" Nythera asked.

"I am an alchemist, but I don't consider myself a bomb builder, bombs are reckless, dangerous devices. I build precision tools, instruments of controlled destruction, not bombs, they are …" Edwin went on and on about his "precise potions of controlled destruction". Nythera nodded, pretending to pay attention. This guy is kinda loony, I should watch out for his "precision instruments". Edwin eventually calmed down and found a rock to sit on, but he constantly shifted around on its jagged surface.

It wasn't long before James and Leo made their way back, weapons slick and dripping with blood.

"That was fun, really fun, I got a whole level from it. James, can we go to the next room, the next room is so much more fun." Leo said without taking a breath. James had a scowl on his face and refused to answer.

"Let's go to the next cavern." James said, gesturing at Edwin and Nythera. The next cavern seemed pretty similar to the one before it, but was wider and the roof sloped upwards towards the middle. Talvik had been silent since they entered and she was starting to worry. Yeah… I am going to bring the roof down if I use Aether Bombard here. She shuddered. James and Leo walk off just like last time, but this time, the chittering of crabs and the skittering of many legs was heard.

Nythera caught glimpses of huge orange crabs hiding behind rocks, lunging at their ankles while they fought. It was over before long, Leo came walking back waving his sword around with a crab stuck on the end.

"Look look, I invented a new weapon, I think I'll call it the crabsword, or maybe the Swordcrab" Leo said.

"Shut up kid, we don't have time for games" James replied.

"Alright you two, next room is the first guardian, you'll fire at the boss only when I tell you to" James commanded. Why not have me and Edwin take out the weaker fluxspawn? Huh? The next chamber was huge by comparison, and Nythera could see rats and crabs crawling all over the place.

"Hey James, what is the guardian here?" Nythera asked.

"You don't need to worry about that, just get your weapon ready and don't fire before I tell you." James cut her off. This fucking guy. Nythera gritted her teeth and summoned Aether Bombard. Edwin pulled some vials out of his pockets.

"Come on Leo, let's go". James said. The pair went off, Leo with a crab still stuck to the end of his sword. As they slaughtered their way through the caverns, a loud squeal echoed off the walls. A giant rat was waving a rusty saber in the center of the chamber. It rode on the back of a big orange crab and jumped onto a boulder. It pointed its sword toward James.

"SQUEEE" It charged. James kited and dodged around the monster rat until they were in an open clearing. His axe had cleaved the left arm off, leaving the rat spurting blood as it skittered around on the crab, waving its saber fiercely.

"Fire, at the Outer Guardian only, you two! Leo back away". James yelled. Nythera aimed as precisely as she could, but the thing was scampering around in a circle as James and Leo kept it rerouting constantly.

"FIRE" she yelled, thunder crescendoed throughout the cavern as the shell headed straight for the crab-riding rat. The explosion scattered sand and dust, obscuring the view of the guardian. I definitely got that thing! Yes! A grey blob darted out of the smoke, headed straight for her. The massive one-armed rat ran furiously at her, waving its saber.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE". Oh fuck it, I only hit the crab. She scrambled backwards.

"I got this" Edwin winked, winded his arm back and threw three vials in the direction of the rat. They went surprisingly far and detonated right in front of the rat, sending stone and sand flying. Leo and James ran back, coughing up dust. The rat burst through the dust cloud, fur half-singed black, Nythera could see blood dripping from its eyes.

"SQUEEE SQUEEE" The rat declared, pointing its sword first at Nythera, then at Edwin. It had a feverish look in its tiny black eyes. It jumped straight at her. Nythera could see its little beady eyes, blood flowing, gross singed fur. fucking gross. She slapped it. An audible SLAP resounded throughout the cavern as the rat went flying into the wall. Level Acquired! Level Acquired! Level Acquired! Level Acquired! Multiple skills have leveled up! Edwin stared in disbelief "Did you just kill a guardian… with a slap?".

"I guess I got lucky"? Nythera said and shrugged. How the Hel did that happen? This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Must have twisted its neck, nice job girl, probably got a few levels from that. I'll collect the loot and then let's go to the next room" James said, joining them with Leo in tow. Leo opened his mouth "Wow Miss Witch! That was really something! Do you have a slap skill? Or a rat killing skill? Or both may-""Check your notifications on the way out, let's go" James said.

The next room was very different, the cavern had pools of water scattered around it on the sand and there were pillars of stone connecting floor to ceiling. Rats scampered about everywhere. James stopped and sniffed the air, he scowled.

"Fuck""I think this might actually be another Guardian room, Inner Guardian maybe, but it usually doesn't appear this fast. Leo, go scout the left" James said.

"Get ready you two, remember to only attack when I say". James and Leo advanced into the room, taking out rat after rat with practiced ease, like they knew exactly what the rats would do before they did it. As Leo and James slaughtered the rats indiscriminately, a big red shape emerged. Is that… a giant lobster? Leo seemed to be totting around another skewered crustacean on the end of his sword. Ah shit. A massive rat with four arms and two legs scampered down from the roof in the center of the room.

Black leathery wings attached to its back, at the same time an absolutely gargantuan lobster, easily the length of an adult man, crawled out from under a boulder. Leo froze, staring at it. Its claws were clacking, and its shell gleened like metal armor. The monster rat glided onto its back, lifted up four swords, and let loose its battlecry "SQUEEEEEEEEEL". It charged straight for Leo, who backpedalled, flinging the dead lobster off the end of his sword into the Guardian.

"Fire at it now, Nythera! Edwin!" James shouted. Nythera pulled her bombard into existence and aimed the cannon. Edwin reached into his other pockets and pulled out a bunch of vials.

"I wanted a chance to test these" he said, pulling his arm back and pitching the vials at the rat monster. They scattered across the cavern and detonated into green-blue fire, engulfing several pillars and sending Leo flying into a wall.

"Whoops, I think I tossed a concentrated atmosphere bottle in with that" Edwin whispered, stroking his chin in thought. With a sense of Deja Vu, Nythera watched the abomination of a guardian burst out from the cloud of smoke and dust heading straight for them. Fuck it, Edwin damn you. She turned the Aether Bombard to face the monstrosity. Talvik's claws dug into her shoulder.

"FIRE FIRE FIRE fire!" Nythera yelled, stuttering out as she fled from her cannon. The cannon only launched a single shot despite her wishes to the contrary. With no one holding it down, it launched backwards from the recoil. The shell slammed into the lobster's head at full force. The lobster's head exploded into fleshy goop, sending chitin debris flying. The monster rat was knocked off its back and one of its arms popped off from shrapnel, sending it and the saber flying.

The rat smashed into a rock "SQUEEEE" it shouted as it crawled back onto its legs. It scampered rapidly towards her, on all six limbs.

"AAAEEEEEEEEEEE" Nythera screamed and ran back towards the cavern entrance. Edwin calmly pulled a spray bottle out of his coat pocket and ran up in front of the rat-turned-cockroach. He misted the area in front of him. As the rat hit the rolling cloud of green mist, its fur singed and started to melt. Massive amounts of green, purple, and some metallic-looking flux concentrated in the cloud. Wow, that smells horrible. She pinched her nose shut.

"SQUEE SQUEE SQUEEEEEeeeeee….." The rat rolled around on the floor, trying to stop the burning, but bald patches appeared in its fur and it stopped moving.

"I did not think I would need to test this yet, those flux-sea fish acids were stronger than anticipated" Edwin brushed dust off his coat "But for an inner guardian it was weaker than I predicted." I need to be careful around this guy, does he… always carry around acid and explosives in his pockets? James and a very bruised Leo came to join them.

"What the Hel was that Edwin? I told you to only attack when I commanded, you fucking idiot" James screamed.

"I saw an opportunity to kill the guardian and I took it." Edwin said, completely deadpan. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a vial with a swirling brown liquid, popping off the cork he chugged it all at once. Is that coffee? No, I refuse to believe anyone would drink coffee like that.

"You almost killed Leo and Nythera could have died if that gas touched her you moron" James rebuked. Edwin poured water from the bottle into the tea cup, heating it with some kind of burning chemical reaction under the cup.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, my tools are precision instruments of perfection, they only hurt who I intend to hurt, I can't take fault for fools who wander into the path of obvious destruction" Edwin said.

"I am done with your shit Edwin, We are leaving now. Leo go get the loot." James said without breaking eye contact with Edwin. The system would not stop pinging her. Level Acquired! Level Acquired! Level Acquired! Multiple skills have leveled up! Wow I am already level 7, that was… pretty fast.

"And you, you're already what, level 20? That cannon thing did way more damage than it would for a rookie, Lance said you were new, what's going on here?" James asked.

"Indeed, even I was perplexed by the strength you showed, a mage class with such strength is …. Unprecedented." Edwin said. The group trudged back up to the entrance, Leo constantly peppering her with questions about her "secret powers". When they emerged from the entrance, Lance was waiting for them.

"I need to have a word with James, you kids just wait here for a bit" Lance said. Nythera flicked up her status and blinked in surprise. Free stats: 28 28 free points? Stars be blessed, that's a lot. Skills are leveling well, they should be able to hit level 10 for the subskills and what was it… 15 for the primary skills. Till I ascend my class at least. Finally I can make myself useful. The Tianshiang Empire and those blasted inquisitors better not die before I get to them"Do not waste them."

Talvik's voice suddenly rang through her mind. She glared back at him. As if I would. She snorted. I have a lot of flux-heavy skills, once I start using evolution tokens on them, it's going to become a resource problem. These are already flux intensive for unevolved spells. Nythera dumped all 28 points into resonance without hesitation. Health: 310/310 Flux: 1, 305/2, 054 Stamina: 167/220 Wow, I can cast dozens of shells now. She grinned. Waitttt, how do I level domain skills? Oh well.

She was tempted to use the Evolution token on Aether bombard right now to make it into something more… elegant, but didn't want to risk being unable to use the skill again. With all the support skills it's definitely getting better but… Talvik shifted on her shoulder, digging his claws in painfully and shook his head. What's your problem bird-brain? Nythera glared at him.

"Lovely, it seems my experiments have been paying off" Edwin mumbled as he hunched over the table, presumably staring at his status. James walked back up to the group "Alright, Nythera how are your resources?" he said.

"Health and stamina are topped out, flux is about 60% full, why?" She replied.

"You're going back in, Lance and I discussed it, the council has also deliberated. You need to prove you can handle the island core, if you hurry back in, the first rooms won't have regenerated. This dungeon takes awhile to regenerate, usually" James said.

"Wait… What? You mean go back in there? Alone? Right now?" Nythera stuttered.

"Yeah, whether you like it or not, you have a duty to the people of this island to grow as fast as possible, get your ass back in there now, if you go in solo, you'll get more experience and titles" James said. Lance approached the pair and put a hand on Nythera's shoulder.

"Sorry kid, but you gotta go in the dungeon, there's no helping it". Lance said. He took her hand in his as if to comfort her. There's a dagger in his hand! Is he giving it to me? Why the stealth? Nythera took the dagger in her hand carefully and pulled it back behind her cloak.

"Are you insane, you want me, a rookie, to go into a dungeon and clear it solo?" Nythera stood up.

"Get your ass, in the dungeon, now!" James said. Nythera looked to Lance for help, but all he did was shake his head and gesture for her to go. He looks… strangely sad, I've never seen him like that before. Nythera looked around in shock, then steeled her nerves. Not the first time I need to deal with bullshit. When I get out of here, I am gonna whoop his ass. She pulled the door open and took a step. Darkness enveloped her.