Chapter 102: Chapter 35

The colored hexagonal floor tiles were mostly hidden by ordinary rats and bunnies waiting for them to step into the room, among the also numerous Ratlings and Bunnylings. Behind them, between the two far pillars, stood Bigger Brute, flanked by a Big Brute on each side.

“The rats and bunnies are new here,” Mez said, looking at Carina.

“I gave up on the stuff that’s written down,” she replied. “They mentioned the increase in Ratlings and Bunnylings, but nothing about the rest.”

“We need to clear them,” Jackal said, tone grave.

“Just kick them out of your way,” Mez said. “They can’t do anything to you when you’re stone.”

Tibs looked at the fighter. “Are you okay?” For all his bravado, Jackal had nearly died here.

The smile his friend gave him looked forced. “I’m fine.” He looked at Mez. “And I want them dead so they can’t heal that big brute. That’s too unfair.”

“Bigger Brute,” Tibs corrected reflexively and Jackal rolled his eyes.

Carina chuckled. “Because Jackal is all about fighting fair.”

“Having the odds in my favor is what a fair fight looks like.” Jackal’s grin faded as he looked the room over.

“We don’t have to fight them,” Tibs said and squeezed Jackal’s arm.

His friend squared his shoulders. “There is loot to get.”

“Tibs,” Carina said, getting his attention before he could object. Air essence took shape over her hand. “This is what the essence for the whirlwind looks like.”

He gave Jackal a concerned look before focusing on the essence. “We need to watch him,” he said, watching it move, “or he’s going to do something stupid.”

“That is the best description for our team leader,” she replied with a smile. “Don’t worry, we won’t let him die. Now, pay attention.”

The essence moved and interlocked in ways that, while unfamiliar, didn’t look difficult to recreate. He tried but ended up with something not quite like hers. He had the motion and the interlocking. The problem was with the form of the essence itself. His was fuzzy around the edges again. While hers was sharp, much like how she wrote her letters, all clear lines and each one always the same, while Tibs’s letters were a mess and he couldn’t always tell if two of them were the same. She said he’d get it with time and practice, but Tibs wasn’t sure. Letters were just so… not his thing.

He looked at his essence again. Was the fuzziness because he wasn’t getting it, or…. Was etching like writing letters? Each person wrote them in different ways. Was that part of what Alistair meant when he said how they thought about essence affected how they used it? Did his teacher even know what that meant, or was he simply repeating something he’d been taught?

Could Tibs not recreate the whirlwind because his etching wasn’t as precise?

“Sorcerers call this kind of etching ‘spells’,” she said.

“Can all etching move like that? My teacher only showed me two I have to do with a knife.”

“It depends on—”

“Hate to break up the lesson,” Jackal said, “but we have a room to clear.”

“I’ll practice it later.” Tibs wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it now. Not with the little he knew about it. He joined Jackal at the threshold, taking both air knives in hand.

“We clear as many of the rats and bunnies as we can before going after the ‘lings,” Jackal said. “Then it’s the ‘lings who die, and after that, the smaller golems. The big brute gets to be last if at all possible.”

“That sounds a lot like a strategy, Jackal,” Mez said. “Careful, or we’re going to start thinking you’re a competent leader.”

A smile cracked Jackal’s stern expression, then was gone. “Are we ready?”

The others nodded, and the fighter stepped into the room.

Tibs threw his knives as he stepped across, guiding them to cut rats and bunnies. When one got stuck, Tibs put more essence into getting it out of the bunny, but all it did was unravel the essence he’d used to control it. When the second one got similarly stuck in a Ratling that had been getting too close, Tibs let it go and switched to water blasts, keeping his other knife coated with fire for when anything got too close.

Fire and air exploded throughout the room, sending rats and bunnies flying, along with the ‘lings caught in the blast. There were so many explosions that Tibs was surprised he only felt a slight heat or wind from them. He hadn’t expected the size of the room to affect that.

A dozen of the ‘lings retreated to the golems while the others threw themselves at the attacks, taking the hits in their stead. When the room fell quiet, it was the five of them on one side, and the golems and ‘lings on the other, and rubble in between.

Tibs saw an air knife and used the quiet time to try to pull it back to him, but even with only rubble over it, he couldn’t get the essence to pull it free. Another thing to add to the never diminishing list of what he had to practice or figure out.

He hated not being able to ask questions.

“This is unfair,” Jackal growled as Tibs went to pick up his knives.

Khumdar spoke after a few seconds of stillness. “Must we cross another threshold before they will—” the Big Brutes stepped forward, accompanied by half the ‘lings. “That will be a no, then.”

“Tibs, you and Khumdar thin the ‘lings as best as you can. They’re probably there to heal the brutes. Mez, Carina, take out anything you can, but especially ‘lings trying to join this fight.” Jackal marched to meet the brutes, ignoring Carina’s call to stop.

Tibs exchanged a look with his friends. There was no keeping Jackal from this fight; only making sure he survived it.

Tibs threw the air knives as he moved forward and to the side; forcing the ‘lings to defend against them until he killed two of them, losing control of the knives in the process. Then he flung water at them and the ground, sliding around on it, only barely controlling his movement. He was getting the hang of—

He lost his footing.

He planted a knife in the Ratling’s foot coming down at him before rolling away. The next knife he planted in the side of a Bunnyling, then he threw one into the back of a Ratling heading for Khumdar, who was scattering ‘lings with the sweep of his staff.

Out of knives, he pulled the short sword. Another thing he needed to adjust to. It was range, then a sword if he had one, and only use knives after that. No wonder Jackal just ran in and hit stuff. It was a lot simpler.

He blocked a Ratling’s swing, cut a Bunnyling, stopped a club from taking his head off— but that sent the sword flying out of his hand. Cursing, he backed up as the two still before him followed.

Were they grinning? Expecting an easy victory now that he was weaponless?

Tibs was a Runner with essence. He was never weaponless. He pulled air essence and formed the pattern Carina had shown him. Something almost like it should work anyway, right? He flung it at the two ‘lings, and the only result was the fluttering of the rags they wore.

Fire? He hesitated. He could get one started, but they were stone, not flesh. And fire was more effective when he coated a weapon with it, which he didn’t have.

His back hit a wall.

Earth? He could—

The Ratling attacked, and Tibs didn’t think. He raised his arm to block, adding water to ice it, some of it splashing and becoming solid into a shard as the ice caught up to it. He ignored the pain in favor of the idea that formed.

He shouldered the Bunnyling and got pain as a result, but those claws scratched ice and leather, instead of his skin. It also gave him some space and he let water drip into his hand. He flicked it and iced it as the water stretched.

He smiled as he was now holding a wicked-looking weapon made of ugly jagged points and edges. It crinkled as it finished turning into ice, the points glittering in the light.

Tibs’s smile fell when, instead of stepping back at the sight, they attacked as if he was holding a spoon.

He joined them, slashing, stabbing, getting cut and slashed in return. They didn’t get through his armor, but it made him realize he’d gotten too close. The point of a sword was to keep his enemies far enough claws couldn’t reach him.

Training. He needed more training.

He faltered as he realized Pyan wouldn’t be there to complain about training him, and was brought back to the fight with teeth in his blocking arm. With a scream, he stabbed the Ratling through and flung it away, then slashed the Bunnyling’s head off. He met up with Khumdar and they took down a last Ratling.

“They have been made stronger,” the cleric said, panting. He had more cuts and bruises. It was a good thing they’d all healed before this fight.

“It’s what the dungeon does,” Tibs replied, forcing his breathing to slow.

Jackal was fighting a Big Brute, while Carina and Mez kept the other from joining in.

Sto had been surprised by how strong they were, and Tibs hadn’t expected him to be ready for it this quickly. He’d figured their next run would have been the hard one.

Tibs sensed the golems. Unlike people, the essence in them didn’t match the inside of their bodies, so he couldn’t tell the level of injuries they’d received. All he could assess was that Jackal’s opponent had less of it left than the one being kept away.

He felt the change in that golem just before it pushed through Carina and Mez’s attacks to reach the other.

Tibs cursed not picking up a knife as soon as his fight had ended.

But he held a sword.

He moved before the questions of if a sword could replace a knife, or if one made of ice even qualified as a sword. It had a point; that was what mattered right now.

He etched the ‘X’, then poured all the water essence he had left in the attack.

Khumdar caught him as it exploded forward, shattering the brute.

Tibs absorbed the sword to have enough to stand on his own, and watched Jackal punch the other golem into pieces. He used the time to draw essence into his reserve.

When Jackal joined them, his stone skin was cracked, as was the essence underneath, but the fighter didn’t seem to notice.

“ Was it about to heal my golem?” Jackal asked.

“I figure so,” Tibs replied. “Why else force through the barrage?” He didn’t voice what he’d felt, the way the essence had shifted in the golem’s body, moving to its extended hand. Sto already had too many advantages.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Mez said, looking at the back of the room, “but is anyone else worried that the big one didn’t join in the fight?” He looked at Jackal. “Did you surprise the dungeon by having a strategy?”

“I doubt it,” Tibs said, wondering more about why Sto wasn’t commenting. In other rooms, he’d think the dungeon was busy with something else, but this was the boss’ room. He had to be—

Bigger Brute raised a hand, pointing at Jackal.

“You,” Sto said in Tibs’s mind. “Damn it, why can’t I get that to work?” He sighed. “Tibs?”

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Tibs snorted, and his team stared at him.

“Come on, Tibs,” Sto said, miffed. “This is serious.”

“You’re getting your wish,” he told Jackal. “That’s the dungeon calling you out.”

“You mean I get a one-on-one fight with the dungeon?” Jackal asked, gleefully.

“I don’t see it bringing anything else to that fight,” Carina said. “We’ve killed all the creatures here.”

Tibs put a hand on the floor and sent earth essence. He relaxed when he felt no tunnels there. “She’s right, no other creatures”

“How do you wish to handle this?” Khumdar asked their leader.

“Oh, I’m fighting it.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just blasted it?” Mez asked, slightly exasperated. “We get the loot and leave. You’re hurt.”

Jackal looked down at himself and seemed surprised at the cracks on his exposed stone.

Carina handed him a vial.

“How about it, dungeon? Do you think it’s fair for me to heal?”

“Just take it and drink,” Carina ordered. “I thought you didn’t fight fair.”

“I’m not going to tell the dungeon that,” Jackal protested.

“I believe it is far too late,” Khumdar said. “You have recounted many of your times in the pits while we were in the dungeon. It knows quite well that you cheat.”

“I don’t care that he cheats,” Sto said smugly.

Jackal toasted the dungeon and drank the potion.

Tibs sense the fighter’s essence react to the potion. The cracks filled with something that became the same as his essence as his stone skin smoothed over. What was part of the potion that caused the effect? Tibs couldn’t tell. Yet another question he couldn’t ask.

Jackal stepped toward the golem. “No holds barred,” he stated. “This ends when one of us is in pieces.”

“Of course,” Sto said, but Tibs stayed silent.

“If it looks like you’re about to lose,” Mez said, aiming a flaming arrow at the golem, “I’m blasting it.”

Jackal stopped and turned to face them. “No.”

“Yes,” Tibs and Carina replied.

“I’m sorry,” Tibs told Sto, “but I’m not letting you kill him just because of his ego.”

“I understand,” the dungeon replied, still smug. “If you have to rescue him, it means I won.”

“Tibs, I have to do this,” Jackal said.

He glared at the fighter. “You are not dying.”

“I’m going to beat it,” Jackal reassured him.

“Then you don’t have to worry about us.”

The fighter sighed in defeat and continued toward the golem.

“Okay,” Sto said as Jackal came to a stop before the golem. “Tibs when you say so, we—”

Jackal struck the golem in the featureless face, then the chest, then the shoulders. On the fourth punch, it raised its arm but was too slow to block it, and this punch staggered it back, cracking the chest.

The golem swung, but the fist went wide. Jackal watched it, then punched the arm, cracking it. A foot in the chest sent the golem stumbling back.

“Is that all you have?” Jackal taunted.

Sto sighed. “This is a lot harder than you all make it look.”

The golem rolled out of the way and Jackal landed on the floor with enough force the tile cracked. The golem swept a leg, but Jackal jumped out of the way. It was up before he could strike again. It still moved slowly, but there was precision to the movements now.

“You stopped controlling it,” Tibs said.

“I thought it would be easy since I’m the one who instructed BB on how to move in fights, but knowing how to do it isn’t the same as doing it.”

Jackal grabbed the punch, twisted until the golem’s arm broke, and used that to strike it in the head. The arm shattered. He shattered its knee with a kick, caught it as it fell, and ripped the head off before it hit the ground and broke off into rubble.

He turned his back to it, dusting his hands off. “Okay, dungeon, why did you leave?”

“You could tell?” Tibs asked, as Sto stammered in surprise.

“I fought it before; it nearly killed me. I remember how my opponents fight. It barely knew how to move when we started, then it was back to being a decent fighter, but I already had the advantage.”

“He didn’t know how difficult fighting was,” Tibs said.

Jackal nodded. “So the next one’s going to be better?”

“I really like him,” Sto said.

“It will,” Tibs confirmed.

“Good.” Jackal turned. “Now, onto the loot!”

Tibs rummaged through the rubble for coins.

“Really?” Ganny demanded angrily, and Tibs looked up. “I leave for a few minutes and you pull this again?” Mez held a black robe for Khumdar to look at.

“You went pouting,” Sto snapped. “And I didn’t do anything.”

“You expect me to believe that a black robe with metal and darkness woven through it just happened to be in the chest as if it was—”

“Random,” Sto finished. “That is a thing, you know.”

“After everything you’ve done for them? You expect me to believe you?”

“Believe whatever you want, Ganny.” Sto was annoyed now. “This is me. I decide what happens. You’re only here to help me. You bossing me around is really getting old. And yes, this is random. It’s not my fault the cleric’s willing to wear a sorcerer’s robe. It’s not like I’ve had cleric’s robes to work with yet at this point. Tibs’s friend is the only one of them willing to brave me.”

She didn’t reply.

Sto sighed. “Yeah, you go and sulk again.”

Tibs hesitated. But his curiosity got the better of him. “What have you been doing for us?”

“Nothing. She’s blowing things out of proportion. I reward you for saving my life and now, anytime something happens in your team’s favor, it’s me ‘cheating’. She keeps bringing how those mysterious ‘they’, and how ‘they’ aren’t going to let me get away with this. Well, I’m not seeing any ‘they’, and until ‘they’ step into me and try to tell me how I’m supposed to do things, I’m in charge. She doesn’t like that I’m not the ignorant dungeon she first met anymore.”

“Maybe you can let her help more?”

“She designed the entire third floor!” He seemed to catch his breath and sounded slightly calmer when he spoke again. “How much more am I supposed to let her ‘help’ with? Why is she acting like it’s my fault if I’ve learned what she taught me?”

Sto didn’t want advice, Tibs realized, and he didn’t know what advice to give anyway. Talking to her didn’t seem like a good idea this time. Hopefully, they’d resolve the issue, because Tibs had the feeling Ganny couldn’t leave.

He handed the coins he found to Carina, then stepped around the chest and sensed the wall. He found what he was looking for perfectly behind the chest, just like how it was arranged on the first floor, except the chest was within the stairwell, and the door opened by itself.

The shape was the same as by the entrance and in the pool room alcove, as was the set of essence filaments. He used fire this time, putting it into the hollow one and making a single thread.

The wall shimmered with golden light, and Tibs was looking at the hallway leading to the exit.

“That’s going to be useful,” Jackal said, carrying a piece of metal chest armor over his shoulder. “Now we don’t have to worry about the puzzle that deactivates the triggers on the bridge.” He stepped through.

With a curse, Tibs looked the way they’d come. He’d forgotten about the cache in the pool.

“What?” Jackal asked in his too-high voice, Khumdar and Mez at his side. “Did we miss something?”

Tibs almost told him, but realized Jackal would insist they go back for whatever was in it. Tibs had enough for now. He shook his head.

Carina stepped through and looked at him. “Tibs?” She asked in a deep voice.

Tibs turned his back to the opening and, because he couldn’t leave without at least trying, whispered. “Talk with her. She’s your friend. Don’t let a bad mood ruin that. Find out why she’s scared and angry and help her with that.”

Sto didn’t respond, so Tibs stepped through the opening and headed for the exit with his friends.

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