29.

  [Gust] swept the ledge clear in front of them, shadowy forms full of hate and wrath being plucked and thrown into the void below them without a sound. Kill notifications dinged in his head, but Santi was too busy fighting to pay attention to them.

  Things had been going too well, Duncan leading them through the labyrinth dungeon with few problems. More of the earth elementals, all of them high ranking but easy enough to kill. Traps had been found dismantled or yellow spray paint sprayed around activation triggers. Santi had to admit that Duncan was good at this, leading the party deeper into the depths while Santi and the others fought the few enemies.

  Until this damn ledge. Running along the side of a deep canyon that even his enhanced senses couldn’t see down, they had been beset on both sides by these creatures. Formed of magic and with little to no physical bodies, they could only be killed with skills. Skill or spell that Santi had few of that could be used in the tight confines or without giving up the secret of his newly acquired spells.

  Even the innately magical morph blade simply dispersed the [Shadow Reaver] bodies, they reformed minutes later, no harm done. He had started to throw them down the ravine where some of them died, which was somewhat worrying. What was down there that could kill a magical being that didn’t have a physical body? Santi was forced back to the fight as more shapes blurred toward him, dimming the blue light of the flickering torches.

  “Santi, these guys are getting tired. I don’t know how much longer they can hold on!” Tank yelled from right behind them. Santi had taken the lead while Bo and Trevor held the rear clear of the reavers that Santi had dispersed. Neither of the men had the pure power to kill the reavers, but they seemed to be weak for a few moments while they regathered from Santi breaking them apart.

  “Fuck!” Santi spat as he turned the morph blade into a whip and slashed apart the approaching cloud of shadows. Puddles of shadow burst everywhere, landing along the narrow ledge before hurrying to scamper together. [Gust] blew most of them into the ravine as Santi continued to race down the rocky path.

  “Keep ‘em on their feet, we should be close,” Santi said, eyes looking for the markings that Duncan had been leaving for them. The bright yellow spray paint had been a good choice, but he hadn’t seen the marks since they had gotten on the ledge.

  “Think he died?” Tank asked.

  “We’re not that lucky,” Santi said with a dark chuckle.

  “You’d be right.” Duncan stepped out of a crease in the rock, his dagger plunging into a reaver and then twisting, shadows slinking up his arm and into the reaver. The creature writhed for a second then grew still and began to fade away as thicker and thicker shadows coated Duncan, feeding back into him.

  “Really? You brought us here to work on your affinity?” Santi asked.

  “No. It’s just a bonus. Follow me, this cave opens up to the next passage.” Duncan turned and weaseled his way back into the crease and when Santi got closer he saw how the crease in the wall was actually a disguised tunnel. One couldn’t see the entrance without walking past it, the outcropping of rock stopping it from being visible. Someone in a fight and hurrying along might not have even seen the disguised tunnel and continued along the ledge to where another tunnel would be. Likely they would connect eventually, but secret paths always offered better rewards.

  Santi turned and pushed Tank toward the tunnel, the bigger man having to suck in his already flat belly and twist this way and that to get past the chokepoint. Trevor was next, sweat slick across his pale face as he had to take his bag off and shove it in first and then weasel his way through.

  “GO! I’ll hold the way!” Santi said. Bo nodded in thanks and began to strip his own heavy pack off, laden as it was with earth elemental hearts, and then began the slow process of worming after his cousin. Santi turned back to the narrow ledge, swarming with undefined blobs of shadow. He glanced back to see that no one could see him and then turned the morph into a staff, slamming it into the ground and shouting at the top of his lungs, words bouncing and echoing in the vast underground cavern.

  “YOU, SHALL NOT PASS!” [Gust], reinforced by [Air Manipulation] whisked the path clear in a screaming howl as the reavers were tossed into the darkness. Santi had a stupid grin on his face as he followed after the others, scanning his kill notifications with one eye as he maneuvered the tight passage much more easily than his other party members had.

  The [Shadow Reavers] had all been on the low side of fifty and he only had a few of the kills, but it was enough to boost him another level. He was only one level away from fifty and another spell point. It couldn’t come soon enough, and now with the Pillar in his possession, he could begin to rework his build a bit. If he had enough money.

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  He glanced down the tunnel and saw the shapes of the rest of the party, waiting on him and decided he’d put the stat points in now. He needed every advantage he could and the dungeon was a bit more dangerous than what Duncan had originally said it would be, which wasn’t a surprise.

  Santiago V. Silva

  Lvl. 49 Air Mage

  Strength: 40

  Durability: 40 (75)

  Stamina: 40 (75)

  Dexterity: 40 (75)

  Vitality: 40 (75)

  Perception: 35 (70)

  Intelligence: 117 (152)

  Mana: 155 (190)

  Willpower: 125 (160)

  Potential: 99%

  He put the spare points into mana and willpower to give them more aesthetically pleasing numbers and kept moving without slowing down. The increase in his stats were so minimal that he hardly felt them, simply a drop in the bucket as his mana and willpower began to outdistance everything else. Especially with the titles he had earned.

  A killer like Duncan, who was likely higher leveled but lacking the titles, would have a few higher stats than he would. Santi hadn’t quite figured out his rough numbers, but with how fast the man was and how easily he used his magic based skills, he had to be over a hundred points in dexterity and mana. Willpower would be a good tertiary stat for him, seeing as he had managed to escape even after Santi had cut his arm off.

  It was likely that Duncan’s primary stats would be above his own primary stats without the titles. Santi doubted the level gap was enough that he significantly outpaced him in their main stats. With how easy Duncan was ghosting around the dungeon, he was close to the sixties.

  “We heard that,” Tank whispered to him, a faint smile on his face as Santi took up his place right behind the cousins.

  “What happens in the dungeon, stays in the dungeon. Ok?”

  “You got it, boss,” Tank said with a chuckle.

  “Done playing grabass?” Duncan asked. There was a bit of strain around his eyes and shadows slunk around his skin like shifting tattoos. Santi didn’t want to imagine what upgrading an affinity at the higher levels was like, but it looked like it was quite unpleasant.

  “What’s next?” Santi asked.

  “We’re about to go down to the second level. Which means there’s a mini boss down ahead. Full boss will be at the bottom of the dungeon and if it follows in the theme, it will be at the high end of the dungeon levels. What we’re going to fight soonish, will be mid level, close to sixty. Are you guys ready for that?”

  “I got three levels already. Shit’s been ranking me up quick! Hasn’t been this easy since the beginning,” Bo said, his voice excited. Most of that was due to Santi cutting away heavy defenses and letting the cousins get the kills.

  Trevor was silent as his eyes glazed over and then he shuddered and gasped as he put points to good use. Trevor shook his limbs and smiled, reveling in his newfound strength.

  “Haven’t gotten shit,” Tank muttered. There had been precious little healing required and so far he hadn’t gotten to use his club at all.

  “Don’t worry buddy, your time is coming.” Santi couldn’t tell him about the nice boost for clearing a dungeon that would dwarf what few levels they would earn killing the dungeon’s denizens.

  “Do you know what the sub-boss is?” Trevor asked. The more suspicious of the pair, if there was any division, he’d be the easier one to work to Santi’s side. The wind mage kept an eye on him.

  “No. We’ve fought earth elementals and shadow creatures. Probably an escalation of those. Now I’ve only gone down this hallway a bit, but I can tell you there’s not much further to go before we get to an atrium with polished stone and a bunch of bright torches with stalactites on the floor.”

  “Stalagmites. Stalactites are on the roof,” Tank corrected him with casual ease. Santi looked at his big friend and then shrugged, he didn’t know the difference. Duncan looked at the two of them and his brow dipped as a frown crossed his face.

  “Does it fucking matter?”

  “Yes, I just wanted to make sure you knew. Proper wordage does matter.”

  “Is wordage a word?” Santi whispered to him. Tank just shrugged, face blank as Duncan blinked at them a few more times.

  “Forget it. When we enter, we do so as a team. I’ll ghost and flank whatever it is, Bo, Trevor, you two will try to keep its attention. Move it around, keep ahead of its attacks, the usual. Santiago will hit it as hard as he can and keep hitting it until it's ready. If there’s a way for me to get a good hit on it, I will. Dexter will keep everyone alive for as long as he can. Dump the gear when we enter the circle, you’ll need to be able to move quick.” With that, Duncan turned and moved down the circular tunnel, disappearing down its gentle slope.

  “After you,” Santi said, waving the two bruisers forward as he and Tank followed behind them. Trevor lagged a few steps behind his cousin and turned to whisper to Santi.

  “You two are weird, but you seem not quite as nutty as Duncan. That man is like a fucking snake, ice-cold. If shit goes pear shaped, and it will, would you be looking for a new recruit?”

  “I don’t think your cousin will be quite as willing as you are,” Santi hedged. Duncan’s perception stat was likely high and hearing in a tunnel that amplified acoustics would be an easy trick. The possibility of pulling a veteran Acolyte fighter to his cause was too juicy to let go.

  “He’ll do what’s good for him. He likes Duncan, bit of hero worship, but we’re tight. I’m all he has. He’ll come with me.” Trevor didn’t look certain about that last part but Santi didn’t bother to challenge it.

  “I won’t put a blade in you if you don’t try to bludgeon me, how bout that?”

  “I can work with that. Thank you.” Trevor turned back around and caught up to his cousin while Tank and Santi kept walking side by side.

  “Duncan definitely heard that,” Tank said.

  Santi just nodded. The betrayal was going to happen, he just didn’t know when. He was starting to think that Trevor and Bo weren’t going to be coming out of this dungeon.

  “Just be quick and light on your feet. Grab me my jacket out of my pack too. It’s time to bring out the heavy weapons.”