Chapter 121: 122: The truth is…

The air is filled with a resonating whistling sound which stems from the strange creatures ahead of them. They resemble the small kobolds from the higher floors, but they are a larger breed and their bodies are permeated with shards of the crystals that jut out of the cavern walls all around them. The fluff of the exterior of their forms is noticeably thicker in the places that it remains, much like a sheep’s wool. They build a tight circle as they hold hands and dance in a ring around the giant, flat-topped crystal in the center of the floor.

“Caster!” shouts Jubilee as the ones who have broken free from the odd celebration make their way towards them, obscuring the single figure behind them with glowing hands which are aimed their way. Kobolds jump out from every odd corner of the floor, their many small bodies having hidden up in the crystals that hang above their heads from the ceiling. Several of them drop down at once, falling down next to the crowd as the bolt of shining, blue magic blasts out their way from the single caster sitting atop the largest crystal in the room.

Shamrock jumps in-between, swinging his heavy sword through the air and cutting the spell in half, together with a few unfortunate kobolds. The blue, wispy flame arcs around his body as its split halves now press around him. The blue fire however doesn’t extinguish. It keeps its momentum and turns back on course, heading towards the two of them in the back, as a spray of red kobold-blood flies through the air behind it.

“Watch out!” Basil grabs Fresh, pulling her to the side. Fresh covers her face as the will-o'-the-wisp flames wrap around the priestess’ back, licking fire cascades past her meager form.

“Basil!” cries Fresh, worried about her friend who has a sharply pained expression on her face. There is a wet gurgling from ahead, as Shamrock smashes the sword down into a particularly large kobold, which lets out a disgustingly wet wheeze, as the air suddenly leaves its lungs.

‘KOBOLD CRYSTALSPOOK’ HIT ‘BASIL’ FOR 16 ICE DAMAGE!

[Demon’s Tether] absorbed: Kobold’s fire {Damage (16)}

Glass erupts out around the floor, a series of prismatic spires shooting up in all directions, the lustrous sparkling of their sleek bodies is nigh-indistinguishable from the many shimmering crystals that fill the area. The dozens of shrill voices of the screaming kobolds mix in together with the jubilant indifference of the ones holding the celebration in the center of the floor, as they continue their ring around the crystal with the fight happening only steps away from them.

Basil opens her eyes, looking around herself a little confused. “Ow…”

“Are you alright, Basil?” asks Fresh, grabbing the woman and spinning her around to look at her hurt back. The fabric of her robe is entirely intact, but as she pulls the hood down she can see a large, heavy burn on Basil’s skin.

“Ow!” yelps the priestess, “Don’t! That really hurts.”

“Ah! I’m sorry!” Fresh lets go of the robe. The lantern flies closer towards the woman, its glow intensifying a little as its purple aura seems to wash over the green fabric of her robe as well as over the red tinge on her cheeks. The soft light accentuates the damp collecting near the bottom of her eyes.

“I didn’t lose any health?” asks Basil, staring at her hands for a moment and then turning her neck to try and look at her own back, but then wincing in pain from the movement.

“Don’t move too much,” says Fresh, as she looks at the glass wall separating them from the screams on the other side, which still mix together with the haunting whistling coming from the joyous circle. “The lantern absorbed the damage for you,” she explains to alleviate the nervous priestess. “It’ll heal in a second.”

“Huh? The lantern?” Basil turns to look at the thing that bobs up and down in the air next to her. “It doesn’t have any effects like that?”

Fresh scratches her cheek, realizing that there isn’t really a way out of this at this point. Basil can’t see the curse. “Uh well. Actually it does, I’ll explain later,” says Fresh, looking back towards the glass wall, running her eyes along it until she sees her reflection in it. The barrier breaks apart, shattering in a crystal shower in that second in which she had looked at the eyeless face staring back at her from the distance. “Let’s help the others first! I’ll explain after!” says Fresh as she looks around at the scene.

Shamrock and Jubilee are off to the side, fighting off more and more of the kobolds who just seem to keep on coming. Occasionally some will break off from the circle, but most of them drop from the ceiling, as they slip from the crystals hanging above their heads, like droplets of dripping water. Something blue glows next to the crystal, as the caster readies another spell. “Stand back!” calls Fresh as she lifts her hands and aims at him.

'FRESH’ HIT ‘KOBOLD CRYSTALSPOOK’ FOR 12 DARK DAMAGE!

A series of needle-thin strings shoot out of her fingers, their moonlight purple threads arching towards the crowd around the circle. Several of the needles press against the crystal, trying to pierce it, to reach those on the other side, but they fail to do so and instead fall flat to the ground. The spell can apparently only move in straight lines and not through obstacles. But even like this, she still got the caster and half of the crowd.

Their dance stops, the ones on the edge getting bumped into as the others continue to try and move in their circle. Many of the kobolds look at their neighbors, who they hold hands with and a second later, they descend down onto each other. The whistling turns into a series of wet screams as they fall into a biting, gnawing frenzy. The little creatures begin to gnaw off the hands holding theirs, while the others gouge at their eyes with jagged crystals that they rip from their own flesh. Blood splatters everywhere, staining the surface of the giant crystal. The caster with the blue glow around his hands lifts them high into the air and blue fire cascades down around the inner circle, leaving only a mass of black silhouettes visible beneath the flames. The writhing shadows claw and tear at each other like demons fighting to escape a deeply buried hell.

“Ah…” Basil watches with horrified eyes. “That’s really… uh…” Fresh looks back at her. “It’s really something.” The lantern, having finished its work, flies away, hovering over the fires as it absorbs the life of any survivors to recharge itself. “What’s with your soul-points anyways?”

“I’ll uh… I’ll explain later,” says Fresh again, somewhat nervously.

The fight goes on for another minute as Jubilee and Shamrock clear out the rest of the kobolds. Then, Fresh and Basil start looting them. Now that the fight is over and her beating heart comes to slow a little, Fresh realizes again how cold it is and ends up finding a rather grim enjoyment in the removal of the fur from the bodies. They are still a little warm to the touch, down beneath their thick fluff. Basil seems to be suffering the same as her though. If Jubilee or Shamrock are cold, they don’t let it be seen.

“W- was this a sub-boss?” asks Fresh, looking as Jubilee comes back with a couple of the glowing orbs, setting them down before her and the priestess.

“Sure was, goo-brain. I guess they’re every six floors here instead of eight like our old dungeon.” Fresh looks down at the glassy core, it looks different than the ones from the north, as it glows with a vaguely cool, almost white light.

“Should w-we sell them?” asks Fresh. “What's a boss-core worth?”

“A low-level core like this? Probably about one-fifty?” says Jubilee, shrugging. “Maybe two-hundred.” Jubilee bends down, running their gloves through the fluff of the body between them. “I could probably make some winter clothes with this stuff. You two need something warmer anyways,” suggests Jubilee. “It’s only going to get colder from this point on, above the dungeon and inside it.”

“That’s a great idea, Jubilee!” says Fresh excitedly.

“Right?” Jubilee gets back up and looks around the chaos. “Fucking kobolds. Weird little shits. What about you, you good?” asks Jubilee looking at Basil who returns an unsure expression.

“I think so?” says the priestess. “The lantern absorbed the damage I took,” she says, staring up at the metal thing that has floated back to her side now and then back to Fresh with curious eyes. “Apparently?”

“The lantern did what?” Jubilee crosses their arms, looking down at Fresh immediately and not saying anything else. Fresh laughs a nervous laugh, scratching her cheek, but doesn’t say anything either. “You absolute dumb-ass!” hisses Jubilee. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t smack you on the head this instant?”

Fresh leans back a bit, trying to stay out of reach. “Because we’re friends?”

“That’s exactly why I’m going to do it,” says Jubilee, pulling their leather glove taut and rolling their shoulder to loosen it up in preparation.

“Ah, wait! Uh…” Fresh places the tips of her fingers together as she looks at Basil’s confused expression. “The thing is, Basil… you see… uh…”

“Out with it!” says Jubilee sternly.

Fresh sighs. “The lantern is…” the girl mumbles. “It’s a little… you know… cursed.”

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“CURSED?!” shouts the priestess, clearly distraught as she jumps to her feet in an instant.

“Here we go,” sighs Jubilee.

“Why is it cursed?!” yells Basil, backing off and stepping away from the lantern. However it just continues to follow her. “Get away from me!” The lantern does not get away from her.

“I can curse items,” explains Fresh. “Ah! But don’t worry!” she says. “I changed the curse, so it’s good now!”

“There’s no such thing!” yells Basil, her face flush with emotion. “Oh no! Oh no!”

“Settle down -” sighs Jubilee, exhausted.

“I will not settle down!” yells Basil. “Am I cursed now too?! Am I going to be damned?!”

“You’ll be fine, dumb-ass. It’s a dinky light, not an arch-demon," says Jubilee.

“But it’s cursed!”

“Ah…” Fresh looks at Shamrock. She supposes now is the time. “The sword is also cursed,” she explains, only a little worried about his reaction. She goes on. “But it’s really nice! The sword can’t ever break now, as long as… you… you know. Kill something. Every day.” Shamrock looks at the giant bone-sword in his hands.

“A blessing,” says the man, his chest lurching as his eyes stare at the weapon, transfixed. Fresh can’t help but feel a sense of relief, despite having perhaps expected his kind reaction.

“How can you even do that?!” yells Basil, pointing at her, clearly distraught. “Is it because of your class?”

“Uh, well, uh…” Fresh looks at Jubilee, who continues to glare down at her.

“You made this mess. Clean it up,” says her friend.

Fresh purses her lips, but then relents, letting out a deep sigh. Jubilee is right. She has to come clean now. No more secrets. “I mean… maybe? But the thing is, uh…” Fresh fidgets. “I’m cursed too.”

“YOU’RE WHAT?!” yells Basil, clutching her hair. “DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?!” shouts the priestess, pointing at Jubilee who just shrugs indifferently.

“Yup.”

Feeling a bit worried at what this reaction implies, Fresh looks up at the priestess’ frightened face. “Are we still friends, Basil?” she asks, a cloud of warm vapor leaving her mouth as it drifts past her eyes, obscuring her vision of Basil for a moment with a thin fog. Basil looks at her and Fresh isn’t quite able to follow the many expressions that come over the priestess’ face in that instant. All she sees is how Basil falls back down to her knees, placing her hands on Fresh’s shoulders rather suddenly.

Basil cries. “I’m sorry! We’ll find a way to fix it!”

Fresh blinks, feeling a bit awkward and really not sure where to go from here. “I’m fine, Basil,” says the girl as the priestess hugs her.

“I promise! We’ll find a way to remove it!”

“Uh… no, really, I’m fine,” says Fresh patting the priestess on the back as she looks over to Jubilee who just shrugs. Fresh sighs as she watches Shamrock stand off to the side, swinging his sword through the air in what she attributes to be child-like excitement.

Having friends is really a lot of trouble. She feels a pair of hands clutching her back. Fresh smiles, she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Razmatazz

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