Once everyone sat down to rest, the three beasts returned to their spaces, where they would recover the fastest, and Karl began to meditate, recovering his energy and mental focus, though his stamina had been recovered by the refreshing lightning.
Hawk and Rae both immediately downed their potions, before Hawk began to splutter and curse in Karl’s mind as the cold liquid reached his stomach.
[You fed me Ice Element] he complained.
[It has a chance to teach you Paralyzing Strikes.] Karl explained, hoping to mollify the angry bird.
The mixture did seem to have some effect on him, and Hawk’s claws became a bit more crystalline and his body a bit more powerful, but it seemed he didn’t gain any skills from it.
Rae didn’t complain about the potion, it had the comforting feeling of natural darkness, but she also didn’t gain the skill.
Karl considered giving her the last dose, but it did say that it was good for him as well, and there was a chance they could get more of the Ice Cores now that they knew what it looked like. They might even get another in this dungeon, as it was an Ascended Rank ingredient.
So, he downed the potion, and felt the cold flow through his veins, and then merge with the [Refreshing Lightning] that he had gained from Thor.
[New Skill Gained: Stun]
That wasn’t what the Identification skill said, but he would take it. A stunning strike was something that the group lacked, and as he was the one who knew it, he could use [Skill Book] to record it and earn himself some brownie points later, when he had gotten himself in trouble and needed a way out.
It would also change his combat tactics. [Stun] was a melee range skill, which wasn’t a big deal, but if he led with it, then switched targets, the Spider Golems could ambush the helpless target. He didn’t know how long it would last, or how well creatures would resist it, but even a few seconds under their not so gentle ministrations was enough for the Spider Golems to take out most targets.
After a few minutes’ rest, Alice and Corbin prepared to move out again. They would be leading the group, to attract the groups of Naga with their longer ranged attacks, but Alice had an extra instruction this time.
“Let Thor rest for a bit. We’re going to need to sneak through a few areas, and it’s not going to be easy for him. It’s swampland, and while a Lightning Cerro has no problem moving through that, it’s far from a silent process.” She explained.
“Alright, he can take an extended rest. I will leave Rae in there as well, but she will call her Golems out when we need them. If we’re going for stealth, the smaller the group, the better.” Karl agreed.
After that, all the Golems were dismissed until the next fight, and the group began to make their way through the dense foliage of the swamp, following a Naga patrol route, but staying out of sight among the taller plants that grew between the crystalline trees.
The next group was standing in a clearing beside the road, and Karl checked in with Rae to be sure that she knew what the plan was.
She was safely hid in her space, away from the swamp water, but Hawk came out to use Dana as a mobile fire platform. She would be well away from the actual combat, and her backpack put him at just the right height to see over her head.
Corbin nodded, and the fighters spread out to ambush the enemies, one Commander Rank spell caster and four Awakened warriors.
On his signal, Karl charged into combat, leaping silently out of the water and hitting the spell caster with [Stun] before it could even react.
There was no visible effect, but it wasn’t moving at all, even as Alice’s wind blades and Corbin’s enchanted sword sliced it apart.
The Spider Golems went straight for the warriors when Rae summoned them out, and the entire group was eliminated without a sound.
That was how the next hour worth of fights went. A quick ambush from the swamp, and then loot the bodies and retreat out of sight before the patrols noticed and raised an alarm.
Then they found themselves at a crossroads. There were two patrols, both coming their way, and another platform with another oversized Naga.
“We will split. The patrol on the right is all Awakened with an Ascended Leader, so Darryl, Rose and Dana, you’re on that with Thor. The other is a Commander with Ascended members, so the rest of us will focus on that until Thor returns.
Once those are done, we will deal with the oversized Naga. I don’t see any other Naga in the area, so this might be the end of the Dungeon. Some of the dungeons are massive, others are small like this.” Corbin explained.
Karl nodded. “Make the call, and I will charge one group with the Spider Golems while Thor goes for the others.”
“Wait just a little, we want them all to be within range of the clerics. It will be two fights, but I don’t want to split the group completely.” He replied.
Prince Corbin was a careful strategist, and Karl could tell that his caution was beginning to annoy Alice at some points, but she agreed on this one. Sending the lower ranks too far away could put them in danger if there was some ambush that they had missed.
Corbin counted down from five on his fingers, and Karl called Thor out in front of the second group as he launched his attack.
The Commander in the patrol didn’t seem too surprised to see him coming, but when the Spider Golems suddenly appeared at his shoulders as Rae left her space, it was certainly caught unaware, and reeled back, coiling its long body underneath itself for balance.
Not far enough, as Karl didn’t care if his first strike was to a vital area. [Stun] hit the lower body of the Commander, and it went lethargic for a moment, just long enough for the Spider Golems and Rae to swarm it.
The Commander had four arms, but the upper two were quickly immobilized as the Golems stabbed at them and used their multiple limbs to pull them back at an awkward angle.
Rae was more practical, and went for the long tail, slicing it as many times as she could with [Lacerate] to make the creature bleed profusely.
It was still trying to parry Karl’s blade with its lower arms, and Karl mentally calculated that [Stun] was only of limited effect on creatures above his rank, slowing them, but not completely immobilizing them unless he got a solid hit.
He had expected the other patrol members to be coming for him by now, but they were occupied with Alice’s Golem and Prince Corbin’s blade.
Karl briefly wondered where Hawk was in all this, and then recalled that he was perched on Dana’s backpack and not given explicit orders, so he was probably still there. That should be more than enough damage to deal with the second patrol.
Karl didn’t push for more attacks, he only kept the Commander busy as Rae and her Golems tore it to shreds, letting it collapse into Karl’s arms and vanish into a pile of gems and a chain mail armour piece.
The Awakened Team had no problems with their group, and they were only seconds behind on the kills. That probably meant that Hawk was slacking, as there was only one Ascended member with the patrol, but there were no injuries, so all was well that ended well.
Everyone turned to where the oversized Naga was standing on the platform. There were tents around the perimeter, which suggested it might not be alone, but their fight hadn’t attracted any of them, and only the one was out in the open.
“Do we have a plan? Those tents are making me nervous.” Tessa noted as they checked the loot.
She had just identified the armour from the Commander, and she was looking at the chain mail coat in appreciation.
“It reduces casting cost by fifteen percent while wielding a shield, it’s perfect.” She noted.
“Very nice. I don’t think that any of us will begrudge you.” Karl replied.
“Even when it’s a Commander Rank armour piece?” Tessa asked, looking around the group.
Prince Corbin chuckled. “You’re the only one of us that even owns a shield.”
She had gotten it yesterday, but he had a point. None of the others had a shield or any intention to use one.
“Alright, up armoured Cleric it is.”
Karl smiled at her enthusiasm. “That’s probably for the best if you’re going to keep riding Thor into combat.”
