Hero Scout

"Corruption sounds bad," Kenji said, "why would we want that?"

"Corruption means one thing changing from how it should, mate. In this case, that means Spirit equipment, also lootable but still d.a.m.n rare, that has been corrupted by demonic magic. You might get something absolutely useless, dangerous, or sometimes - insanely powerful. The only way to get one for sure is to solo the faith level boss, but you can forget about doing that. That"s impossible for you lot, no offence mate."

The adventurer party"s followed close behind, Ellie re-arranging them as she wished. Bazza had made it abundantly clear he would do none of the actual fightings, even if he steered them to their destination himself.

"Speaking of Spirit gear, we"ve found the third-floor boss," Bazza said, turning a corner to find what appeared a stone samurai with flowing green lines crisscrossing its body and a tall gateway shut behind it. In rows to either side were spearmen and archers on stone platforms, appearing like pieces to a chess game if still with the j.a.panese theme.

"If there is a samurai sword here I really want it!" Kenji announced, no one else knowing what that was. Soon "Samurai sword" was whispered through the ranks, and hushed talk as to what that could mean spun up some real excitement.

"What"s your plan chief?" Bazza asked Ellie, the girl again looking frizzled when addressed by the Australian.

"Um, we"ll destroy those statues first-"

"Didgery-don"t do that mate, those statues stay dormant unless they are attacked. Still, getting rid of the little fellas first is a good plan."

"Thanks, Master Kenji taught us to always target the "trash mobs" first," Ellie smiled, practically glowing with the rugged man"s praise. Kenji rolled his eyes. "In that case, we"ll try to keep the boss busy while holding reserves in the way of the boss and his reinforcements. If we can protect them from being damaged, then we can focus our entire firepower on the boss itself."

"That"s me girl," Bazza ruffled Ellie"s hair and found her freshly looted silvery blade at his throat. Clarity came to her eyes, and she backed away, "s-sorry, a force of habit, I didn"t mean to-"

"Hey, no harm was done, alright?" Bazza said with concern, looking at Ellie as if she were ill,

"Just focus on getting yourself under wraps for the battle. This isn"t the time do fail because of a silly little habit, is it?" His eyes swept them all, their excitement, their hushed planning and their companionship and seemed on the verge of tears.

Pulling out a bottle of beer from thin air, Bazza gulped the whole thing down fast and wiped his mouth. "Better get started, we have a few floors to get through today."

The samurai awakened the instant they stepped into the arena and a.s.saulted at once. The more damage the Raid team did, the more power flowed through the stone that cracked and shattered from the inside out. Every time the stone samurai went to awaken its brethren it found adventurers blocking its path, sacrificing shields and expensive plates of [reinforced] armour to buy the time needed to shower the boss with spells.

Eventually, it was left a smoking ruin, a stone chest unveiling with the bosses defeat.

A stone spear imbued with spiritual energy, a skill book for [Slash] and several pieces of jade were their rewards. Ellie divided it amongst those who would see an immediate benefit, Taki receiving the pieces of jade when he found they enlarged the amount of spiritual energy he could handle.

The Fourth Third floor was an endless war. Elementals of earth, air, fire and water raged against a flux of demon soldiers that attacked in well-ordered companies. Bazza"s trick to get they pa.s.sed the battle was to take a high mountain pa.s.s, demonic siege engines making battle with Jungle t.i.tans well below. The battlefield stretched for leagues, rank after rank of demon flame bearing monstrosities crashing into the constantly reforming lines of the dungeons defenders.

"Don"t get me wrong, slaying a commander from either side gets you great loot. But it would take too much time to do safely, at your levels you"d have to go far away from the main battlefield, where small squads of soldiers meet and fight regularly," Bazza said, "instead we"ll take the scouting path. Their still strong, but so small in number you lot should have no trouble crushing them underfoot."

In that manner, they came across elementals made of wood and leaf, and demonic scouts with crimson skin and molten blades. They only ever numbered two or three at a time, their equipment often melting away, or fading to ash. But Bazza was right about their strength, each hard to notice without the Sundrakes [Detection] spell, and hard to fight when they showed a great deal of skill.

It would take hours, but the Raid Team finally circled the entire battlefield to find a bastion of the defenders. A great fortress of stone and tree, elementals prowled wooden walls, while stone guards with ivy crawling along their blades stood motionless before several stone arches.

"No way in without fighting this time, but show me the same skill you displayed earlier and there shouldn"t be a problem," Bazza said, and he was largely right. The stone guards were monstrously strong but slow. Ellie"s commands were trusted, and the Raid Team"s coordination led to the enemies effective destruction.
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Within they came across teams of enemy elementals, but able to avoid the higher levelled enemies, it was only great numbers of basic troops that the Raid Team had to fight through. That all changed when they arrived at the shattered throne.

"WhO DaREs to FacE mE?" roared a nine-foot-tall monster of vine and stone. Its arms held a blade and shield and arose from a stone throne long reduced to rubble.

"Fun fact," Bazza said, "this guy really responds to insults on his honour. He gets stronger sure, but also more predictable. Lots of reach on him too, can throw that sword and shield dozens of metres at the end of extendable vines."

"Like Thorn Spears," Arti frowned. "Do you know the Queen of Thorns?" Arti shouted, the enemy boss peering at the Furbolg with interest while the Raid party got into position.

"I know of her, she and her kingdom are an ally to the Great Spirit. Who are you, creature, and what connection have you to that Queen?"

Ellie and Kenji wisely remained silent, while Taki approached and lowered his head. Kenji sweated somewhat seeing how close he was, and Bazza had gone stiff as a board, while seeming ready to sprint forward at any moment.

"We worshipped her long ago, and have recently become her servants again. Yet some of my brethren cannot return from the state she has placed them in and has fallen into an endless rage. Might you explain how this could be overcome?"

Brooding, the boss looked over Taki, and then the other Raid members.

"You require the skill [Resilient Mind] which can be acquired from joining the forces of the Great Spirit and accomplishing missions for our commanders in the field. Show them this ribbon, and you"ll be allowed to speak with them," pulling free a leaf from its body, the elemental pressed a great power into the leaf and transformed it into a white ribbon. Letting go, the ribbon fluttered over to Taki, who then turned to Ellie with a look of great expectation.

"Can we pa.s.s you as well if we were to aid your soldiers below?" Ellie said.

"Indeed, if you receive a recommendation from giving captains I will allow you to pa.s.s through to the fourth floor unhindered, although beware, that floor is overrun with demons. If you are allowed to descend, I will need to send warriors to help guide you to our allies there."

"Sounds good to me. Thoughts Bazza?" Ellie said, turning to the Australian that seemed presently surprised.

"Sounds good to me mate. Honestly had no idea this go was so reasonable, and here I thought I knew everything about this place!" Laughing Bazza turned away, "better get started, right?"

"You seem excited Bazza," Ellie joked, and yet Bazza"s excitement was the real deal.

"Oh, I am, been rather boring doing the same s.h.i.t for three hundred years. How couldn"t I be excited to do something new?"

That caught Kenji"s attention, and as he followed the Raid Leader down into the battlefield, he was starting to feel like he understood this lost Australian. He certainly wasn"t like the 18, not unless he was lying to them from the beginning. Instead, Kenji got the impression that he felt very much like a prisoner here in this dungeon world.

So he had out him here in the first place?

And how many more Humans from Earth had existed here long before Kenji"s arrival?