33.

  “You good man? You look a little, uhmmm…well, you look like shit,” Tank whispered as they walked behind the others. Duncan had slipped to the front again, but had yet to disappear. Trevor and Bo walked in their own little bubble, set aside from both Tank and Santi, and from their nominal leader, Duncan.

  “Yeah. Just realized something. I’ll tell you about it later,” Santi said. He couldn’t get the image of the dead Champions out of his mind. They had been icons to him. Men and women he admired, who had been the benchmarks for competence and skill. They had been the light that humanity had clung to as they weathered the storm of the Integration.

  And now they were gone.

  “You say that a lot. I do expect to get told one of these days,” Tank whispered to him.

  “You’ll be one of the first,” Santi said as they walked through the narrow tunnels.

  Tank grunted and kept up with Santi, neither of them slowing as they caught up with Bo and Trevor. Santi had a suspicion these two weren’t the best that Duncan had. They had decent levels and their skills weren’t bad, but if this was all he had, Santi didn’t have to wonder what the outcome of a fight between their factions would be.

  No, they were more than likely the B team. The equivalent of Rayleigh and her teams of scavengers. It just added more questions about this whole dungeon run. Obviously Duncan was using it to grow stronger, slowly absorbing shadows from the monster they fought, subjugating them and slowly strengthening his affinity.

  The level difference was enough that it made sense that Duncan would recruit Santi for the run. But why the two cousins? Santi kept an eye on the two of them as they left the convoluted canyon system and came out towards another sub-boss region.

  The canyon mouth had widened out until it was a large cavern, stalactites and stalagmites forming teeth. Bright fireflies floated about the inky darkness, the size of baseballs, each one of the thousands illuminated a few feet around their bodies. In effect it made the cavern gloomy and with plenty of shifting shadows. If the theme of the dungeon stayed the same, they’d be looking at another shadow monster to fight.

  Santi looked at the Apostate who appeared to be nearly gleeful. There was a slight uptick at the corners of his mouth that one might generously call a smile.

  “Want to bet he breaks off again and tries to eat whatever we’re fighting?” Tank asked, loudly enough for the two cousins to overhear. Trevor stiffened with anger while Bo looked down toward the ground in apparent embarrassment. The hero worship Bo had towards the Apostate was slowly draining away as Duncan’s greed became more and more apparent.

  “Same plan as last time. Santi stands in the middle and draws aggro, you three distract when needed. I’ll look for a kill shot,” Duncan said.

  “Yes, have the mage stand in the middle of the room and get punched. Makes sense to me,” Santi muttered under his breath. He let the morph blade pool out of his sleeve and shape into a saber as he walked into the cavern.

  It was noticeably warmer in the cavern to the point he began to sweat under the collar of his jacket. With each step the cavern seemed to heat up, growing with intensity until he was sure he was ready to melt. It wasn’t as bad as the golem rift had been, but there was a level of oppression here that the golem rift couldn’t have matched if it tried.

  The flames of the fireflies grew brighter, but the shadows darkened and twisted. Behind him he could hear the cousins cursing while Tank crept forward as silently as he could. Water hissed, dripping from the stalactites and evaporating as they hit the stalagmites jutting out of the floor.

  “Fuck it’s hot,” Trevor cursed as Santi looked for whatever it was that was supposed to be in here.

  A flame flickered above them, a trail of fire as it raced from firefly to firefly. The firefly fell to the ground, squelching as it hit the hard rock floor. The flame stayed in the air though, burning brighter and brighter as a shape began to coalesce.

  Shadow-Flame Sorcerer

  Lvl. 60

  [Gust] swept across the fireflies, pushing them out of the way of the whip of flame. A growl of rage swept out of the back of the cavern as the fire evaporated in the air and a thin figure came stalking forward. It was nothing more than a silhouette with burning pits for eyes and it waved one hand at the deep shadows all around the team. Embers drifted out of the sorcerer’s hand and landed in the deep pools, sitting there floating in mid air as the shadows came to life.

  Shadow-Flame Apparition

  Lvl. 28

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Kill those apparitions. I’ll lock down the sorcerer,” Santi barked as he put on a burst of speed and flew at the sorcerer.

  Dungeons were the most apparent that there was a higher level of intelligence designing things. The monster in them might be a mirror of the outside world, but the way they acted was more game-like. This boss had been using the fireflies to grow in strength, absorbing the literal fire in them to empower itself. If Santi hadn’t stopped the absorption, he had a feeling that these apparitions would have been much more powerful.

  [Gust] staggered the sorcerer, its weak physical stats not withstanding the powerful burst of wind. Santi urged himself on, closing the distance in a blink of pumping legs and then he was leaping at the skeletal silhouette, blade outstretched. The flames burning where its eyes should have been brightened and then a burst of fire leapt from its hands, the outer corona of the blast red, but pitch black shadows formed the core.

  Santi cursed and formed two [Air Shields]. One in front of the flames that burst apart in a second, and the other to the side of his foot. He pushed off, changing his direction, and the beam of fire merely singed him as he landed in a roll. [Crosscurrent-Orb] exploded with a fury that dispersed the flames and threw the sorcerer against a stalagmite.

  Rock exploded into a powder as the sorcerer flailed about, rising to its feet unsteadily. Santi risked a glance at the others and was pleased to see them still holding their ground, fighting with skill and decent teamwork. The two cousins held the attention of several of the mobs, while Tank protected their flanks and continued to help them with what limited healing he had.

  Duncan was again nowhere to be seen.

  Santi looked back at the monster and cursed bitterly. The half second of his attention being elsewhere had been more than enough time. The Shadow-Flame sorcerer had cast its rope of fire again, draining several nearby fireflies of their strength.

  Shadow-Flame Apparitions

  Lvl. 32

  The mobs had strengthened in a heartbeat, the few survivors suddenly pressing hard against the two cousins. They held their own, but were now being pressed much harder than they had been. Santi cast [Gust] again, clearing out the fireflies from around the trail of fire.

  Santi burst into motion again, hating the fact he couldn’t use his new spells in front of Duncan. The man was a nuisance and once he was dead Santi was going to find and open a bottle of champagne. This whole sneaking around thing was beginning to get annoying. He was the one who spied on people after all.

  He dodged around a stalagmite and came face to face with the sorcerer. It lifted a hand and a shield of black flames sprang into being in one hand while in the other a sword that leapt out to nearly skewer Santi. He hurriedly blocked the flame blade, sending it into the stalagmite he had just rounded.

  The rock screamed then erupted in a shower of rocks that pelted his back, but didn’t penetrate the jacket. Santi had the morph blade stretch out into a long rapier as he lunged, the tip of the sword just narrowly being blocked by the top of the shield. The creature was terribly coordinated, flailing away as Santi cornered it with solid, technical footwork and swordplay.

  The creature roared, a shattering sound, and flame leapt from its now formed mouth in a gout that reached the ceiling. It billowed about along the ceiling, fireflies consumed in a burst of flames until the entire ceiling was aflame and crawling down the stalactites.

  “What the fuck!” Trevor yelled, as he used a skill to break apart one of the apparitions.

  “Start moving to the end of the cavern. This thing’s nearly done,” Santi yelled back. The monster was getting desperate, using powerful attacks that hurt the entire cavern in an attempt to slow him down. This was why mages didn’t fight in close quarters typically, their skils were better suited for long range and powerful AoE attacks.

  Santi stuck close to the sorcerer, attacking in a blitz of lightning fast actions that ringed the creature in. It grew erratic, slashing wildly with its sword as its apparitions tried to peel away from the others and make it towards their duel. Trevor and Bo did their jobs though, keeping the mobs busy even as they retreated.

  Santi ducked under a wild swing and repeated his earlier trick, and this time managed to stab through the silhouette's thigh. Shadow popped and fire emerged, spraying about in a thin stream like a leaky faucet. It screamed again and lashed about with a wild swing that Santi was forced to block. The power behind the blow was staggering, but his own inflated stats helped him stay on his feet as he grunted and threw the creature back.

  The fires were down the stalactites and now dripping all around them, running like rain to splash about in fiery explosions. [Air Shield] stopped one from landing on his head and he had to cast another to protect the group. The moment of inattention cost him as the sorcerer next slash burned a fiery line down the outside of his right thigh. Santi gritted his teeth and bit out a curse as his own counter-attack cut apart the creature's hand.

  The sword fell apart as the hand burst apart in a wild spray of its fire-blood as it screeched again. Santi dodged the burst of flame and slashed under its shield and cut a leg free. The sorcerer fell to the ground, the fire from its wounds beginning to dribble free.

  That’s when Duncan appeared. He simply appeared from one moment to the next. Duncan’s one remaining hand speared out, wreathed in shadow and pierced the sorcerer’s skull. The creature stiffened for a moment and then squalled in pain as Duncan dragged a piece of the monster free. The squirming mass was dark at pitch and wiggled like worms. Duncan opened his mouth and shoved the mass in, his face darkening and then he gasped as the knot of wiggling shadow disappeared down his throat. Duncan staggered, knees weak suddenly, and then he went to a knee.

  Santi looked back at the sorcerer, who was looking much worse for the wear. Its body had become a light gray, its inner fire overwhelming its shadow aspect. Santi stabbed it through its head and the monster stiffened and died suddenly. The whole fight had been much easier than the last, much tankier boss.

  Santi looked at the burning inferno around them and then cast an [Air Manipulation] reinforced [Gust] that swept the flames down and created a temporary tunnel for him and Duncan. With great distaste, Santi reached over and grabbed the limp assassin and hauled him to his feet. The man smiled and his teeth were stained black.

  “Worth it,” he muttered. Santi rolled his eyes as he dragged him out of the cavern and into the next portion of the dungeon. They had to be getting close to the end.