Chapter 21: Chapter 21

Getting going took some effort and time the following day. At least, Jerik assumed that it was morning. With the only source of natural light blocked by the collapsed rocks, it was hard to keep track of time. And they were properly into the first raid zone, which meant that their mobile devices couldn’t display time or access to any outside information. All they had access to was their comms. While this separation from the outside world was new for most of the platoon, Jerik was familiar with it and took charge at once.

“No overhead map means that we have no way of knowing what we’re going to run into,” he told the others, once he’d pulled them into a quick meeting. “So we’re going to have to start scouting now. You all remember the scouting drills I put you through?”

He got quite a few nods, and a verbal response or two. He nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Pike, Meredith, you’re our sneakiest pair. For now, Pike goes first. If there’s a split, he’ll report, then Meredith will take the second path. What do we do when the main force reaches a split?”

He left the question hanging, staring deliberately at the others. After a second or two of hesitation, they realized that he was waiting for an answer. Nicholas spoke up. “We hold the position until we hear back from the scouts.”

“Correct,” Jerik said, pointing at the young man. “Now, this is a low-level raid zone, so most of the monsters will be below you in class. But that doesn’t mean that we can relax. It’s still a raid. So I want eyes and ears open at all times. If you spot something odd, call it out.”

Another murmur of assent. Jerik rose to his feet. “Alright. Toads, dump your stock here and fill up on repair materials. I want to clear the first boss before we have to range back for more.”

The two Toads hurried to comply with his instructions, dumping what they had into the wagons and filling their large sacks anew. Nicholas immediately began sorting out the formation of the front squad without being told, which Jerik appreciated. He himself was pulling out his blank map, with which he’d track the layout and progress of the raid dungeon. Something about the magic of Menora’s topography changed the zone every time so that each attempt was never quite the same. Even the bosses were rotated. They might all be known, but you never knew exactly which one you’d face.

Seeing that the Toads were filled up and waiting, Jerik gave a general call to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, form up! Pike and Meredith, take off now.”

The two vanished into the tunnel leading away, turning on their comms as they went. Jerik kept them in a separate channel from the others, just so that any information they offered wouldn’t be drowned out by the chatter of the others. The screen of his tablet was dedicated to member status. For the time being, all names showed as healthy and fully stocked. He’d have to keep a close eye on that, he reminded himself. Then he took a deep breath, readying himself.

“Let’s go!”

The general mood of the platoon was a positive one after they’d gotten plenty of rest. The encounter with the dragon had impressed upon many of them just how serious the monster problem was, and Jerik had caught more than a few fearful looks as they’d settled down for the night. He wanted to reassure them that this would be nothing for them to complete, but he couldn’t bring himself to give them false hope. So much had changed in Menora

It was nearly forty minutes before they encountered the first monster. A single minotaur, Superior-Class, was in a cave lined with crystals, smashing away with a large pickaxe. The scouts were careful not to alert it to their presence, but it immediately turned hostile as the front squad emerged from the tunnel, weapons leveled. It went down without much trouble, and Jerik left two of the research crew behind to gather up the crystals. Within half an hour, they’d returned, bringing a load of Superior-Class essence, and one Legendary-Class focus crystal.

“Nick can make good use of this,” Jerik said. “Pass it to the Toads.”

Next, they ran into a pack of moles, who were in the process of making a new set of tunnels. This was a rare occurrence in raids and often led to a new secret area. They found the moles in a large cavernous room as they busted through the wall. It was a tough fight, with one of the moles erecting huge stone walls to separate the platoon. They lost two in the front squad when they got split up, burning up two of the revival crystals they’d brought with them.

Once the moles were dead, they were left with four paths to choose from. Pike, Meredith, and Jack each chose one and went ahead to scout. Pike and Jack quickly reported dead ends with no monsters, but Meredith, who had gone down the mole tunnel, reported sighting the first raid boss. Jerik brought up Meredith’s video feed, squinting in the dim light of the cavern as he tried to make out what was on his display.

“Looks like a Goliath den,” he said, turning the tablet towards Morgan. She squinted too, her eyes flicking from side to side as she searched. “Can you make out its rank, Meredith?”

“Not yet,” she replied, her connection buzzing. “But it’s bound to be Raid-Class, right?”

“Not necessary,” Morgan said. “It could be a random zone.”

Random zones were often sources of good loot, but they were always guarded by monsters who had unique or upgraded abilities. Jerik frowned at the buzzing sound he could hear on Meredith’s end. “That has to be Tek interference, right?”

Morgan nodded her agreement. “Which means it’s bound to be a Tek Goliath.”

“Joy,” Jerik said sardonically. “Alright, come back Meredith. “We’ll tackle this Goliath first, then continue.”

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After giving the front squad a few minutes to repair their armor and refill their ammunition, Nicholas took the lead. Jerik activated the camouflage module of his armor and set off after them. The Toads came with but stayed in the safe middle. Morgan took up the rear with Katrina and Benji. It was a short trip to the Goliath’s den. Once inside, the front squad formed a half-circle, halting the progress of everyone in the platoon except for Jerik and Jack, who moved ahead to find a vantage point.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence in the huge cavern. Morgan released lights throughout the room, providing a dim light. Then Jerik spotted the Goliath. It was huge, at least twenty-five feet high. Its bright green head nearly brushed the roof of the room, and it was carrying a large wooden staff topped with a silver crystal. Not Tek at all, Jerik thought. He and Jack climbed up the inside wall to a ledge, then laid themselves out, rifles ready.

“Engage,” Jerik whispered into his earpiece.

“Advance!” Nicholas’ voice rang out loudly in the silence. In answer, the Goliath let out a challenging roar, its great ugly head looking around for the source of the voice it had heard. It didn’t have to wait long to find it. The front squad rushed into the center of the cavern, their weapons flashing as they began firing. The Goliath met them eagerly, the crystal on his staff glowing brightly as it began charging a spell.

“Bolster their defenses, Morgan,” He ordered, then fired his first shot. It made no difference to the Goliath, but his head twitched in Jerik’s position. He immediately ducked his head down so that the hood hid him from view. “Fuck. It knows we’re here now.”

“But we’re putting in plenty of damage,” Nicholas pointed out, his voice barely audible among the sound of the gunfire. “Hold off on shooting for a second, I’ll see if I can’t pull his focus back.”

The Goliath had already taken two long steps in Jerik and Jack’s location, its staff rising into the air, clearly targeting them. Nicholas darted up to its foot, cutting twice in rapid succession with his sword. He only did minimal damage, but the Goliath let out a roar of fury and looked away from the spot where the snipers were lying. The crystal on its staff flashed bright white, and a ray of cold splashed down on Nicholas’ position.

“Morgan!” Jerik called out, but he didn’t need to tell her. She was already using a teleport spell to move Nick back. Not half a second later, the Goliath’s foot smashed down on the space where the young warrior had been, sending a shudder through the stone around them all. When it lifted its foot to find no dead adventurer, it let out another roar of fury.

“Keep firing!” Morgan yelled at the front squad. “He’s been frozen, Jerik. Best guess, sixty-second duration.”

Jerik let out a curse. That was a long time to fight without their best tank, he thought. He turned to glance at Jack. “You’d better move positions. It might still remember where we are, but if it sees that you’ve moved, it might lose me too.”

Jack rolled to the edge straight away, dropping to the floor of the den ten feet below. Even Jerik lost track of him as he changed positions, as he was so good at stealth. In the meantime, Jerik rose to his feet and activated his armor’s flight mode, sailing to the opposite side. He could see the Goliath’s eyes tracking his progress as he moved, and had to drop down to the floor to avoid the blast of air it sent after him. “Damn this thing is perceptive! Can you blind it, Morgan?”

“Not likely,” she replied, casting another defensive spell over the front squad. “If I fail, that’ll cost me a lot.”

“Any update on its class?”

“Special-Class!” One of the front squad called out. So at least they’d dealt enough damage to start learning its details. He re-activated his flight and zipped to another ledge, letting out a sigh of relief as he noticed that the Goliath was no longer tracking him.

“If you can’t blind it, then cancel the freeze on Nick,” he said. He landed lightly on his feet, then turned Paragon to aim at the Goliath’s head without bothering to stabilize himself. “The front squad can take care of itself for now.”

Just then, the Goliath unleashed another cold spell, freezing three of the front squad. Before it could stomp on them, a rocket flew from Katrina’s position, knocking it back a step or two. It let out a roar and blasted a solid column of air at her. She was caught unaware and thrown several feet back to smash into the cavern wall, hitting the ground with a groan.

Now the Goliath had summoned four bright balls of blue light, which orbited around its head. Obviously some kind of reactive magic, Jerik thought. Morgan quickly smashed two of them apart, then one slammed into the front squadron. The person that it hit was vaporized instantly, his items exploding out from his body in a flash of light. The gap was filled in seconds. Then Nicholas ran into view, his sword glowing, yelling a battle cry as he jumped high into the air. He cut across its chest, opening a shallow wound there, and darted away before it could retaliate.

All things considered, Jerik thought, things were going well. The freeze spell used on the other three was short, and they were free in seconds. They continued to fire at the Goliath, who was looking badly injured. Nicholas had the front squad split in two and move in a small circle, forcing it to switch targets often. Jerik fired three times without drawing its attention, and his confidence in their success started to grow.

“Nearly there,” he said. “Keep up that fire.”

 

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