Chapter 31: Into the Depths (1/2)
”Where are they?” Lloyd asked, panic already creeping into his voice. ”I can't see them.”
Philomena's authoritative voice cut in. ”Stay calm. On rare occasions the floor boss will be switched with some other creature or group of creatures. Hold to your formation and keep an eye on your surroundings. There is bound to be something in here with us.”
Mike took stock of the room they were standing in. From what he could see, it much resembled the other rooms in the dungeon, only on a larger scale. The fine mist hanging in the air obscured most of their vision. It moved in sudden swirls periodically, leaving the other members of the party flinching at the strange shadows it created.
Philomena continued her advice while moving to the front of the formation, drawing her twin axes from her belt. ”This is clearly an unusual situation, so I'm taking charge. We need to advance further into the room, since we will not be able to return to the surface until the boss is defeated. Everyone stay close and stay behind me, and I'll make sure you get through this.”
The group started slowly advancing further into the chamber. The only sounds Mike could hear was the groups footsteps echoing strangely in the fog.
They continued in this way for what felt like an eternity, but was surely only a minute or so, before a voice broke the silence.
”What's this? A chest.” Devin's quiet mutter could be heard from the left side of the group, colored with an uncharacteristic level of excitement. ”I think it might be a treasure chest.”
Philomena muttered to herself briefly, ”A treasure chest? That makes no sense. Why would there be a treasure chest in a boss room? Unless....”
She whirled on the party with sudden desperation. ”Don't touch it! Its a trap!”
A fatal creak of wood was heard from Devin's direction. ”What? A trap? I didn't...I mean, I couldn't....
He was drowned out by a high-pitched whine of energy that vibrated through the room. A glowing magical circle, one that encompassed the entire chamber, formed under the groups feet.
”Oh no....” Philomena uttered breathlessly. ”Its a teleportation trap! Its going to separate us. Wherever it sends you, try to find a safe place to hide. I promise you all, I will come to find yo-”
The rest of her words were cut off as the circle flashed blindingly, and Mike felt the now familiar sensations of translocation.
When the glare finally dimmed, he opened his eyes, and immediately dodged to his left. Thanks in large part to his well developed evasion skill and high agility, he was narrowly able to avoid the blast of flame from a horse-sized, red-scaled lizard.
He barely had time to orient himself, before the creature was charging at him, mouth agape. Thankfully he still had his sword out, so he slipped into a Flowing River stance, side-stepped the lizards attack, and brought his sword in an elegant overhead swing which connected with the back of its neck.
Such a blow would ordinarily decapitate a lesser creature, but in this case, Mike's blade only penetrated a hand's breadth before stopping. This nevertheless proved sufficient to slay the lizard, and it had already started disintegrating before its body had completely stopped moving.
Mike took a deep breath to calm himself before examining his surroundings. The layout of the dungeon had changed to some degree, the rough cavern walls had turned into a worked stone corridor that could have been seen inside a castle. This was slightly discomfiting, since the walls still produced some measure of light.
Seeing as he was in some kind of hallway with only two directions to travel in, he randomly chose to go left. [That's what they say to do in mazes, right? Always keep your left hand on the wall.]
He stopped to pick up the mana core left by the lizard, which was about three times the size of the kobold one he had collected earlier, before heading down the corridor to the left.
Mike's felt himself getting a little worried, since he figure that the other students were likely having a hard time of it, given their abilities. [Tal and Philomena should be alright on their own, but I think the rest are going to be in trouble if they have to fight anything like that lizard.]
He traveled down the corridor for a good five minutes without seeing anything.