Chapter 34: Reunited (1/2)
Mike dragged the young beastman to his feet. Something about Brenden's eyes bothered him. The cold, emotionless stare reminded him a bit of the vargul with its fearsome gaze.
Not wanting to wait any further under such a baleful glare, he hoped that getting out of the room would snap Brenden out of his funk and return him to his usual goofy self.
”Can you walk? Your injuries should be more or less healed.”
A slightly dazed voice answered. ”...Yes.....I...am fine.” Brenden returned with a half-hearted smile.
”Great, we should get moving. Hopefully the others won't be too far away.”
Brenden merely nodded in return, his cold eyes never leaving him.
[Alright, that's starting to get a little creepy. I'm just going to start walking and hope he doesn't do anything strange.]
There were three doorways leading out of the room. Since both him and Brenden each used one enter, Mike decided to take the third. At the very least it should take them into area they hadn't explored before.
The pair traveled through the dungeon and encountered several monsters. The majority of this floor's enemies seemed to be composed of the red lizards, with the occasional group of the draconic lizardmen popping up.
Mike was able to handle the majority of these situations encounters without too much difficulty. In the case of multiple enemies, Brenden would help by taking on at least one.
The brutal and efficient combat style of the beastman impressed Mike. Even though it was obvious that his skills weren't particularly developed, Brenden seemed to have a great deal of experience in combat.
They eventually worked their way into a large chamber, built like a castle throne room. At the far end stood a massive pair of ornate double doors.
”That must be the way to the boss room for the floor. It doesn't look like its guarded.”
Mike made to step into the room, but Brenden caught his sleeve. Mike turned to look at his compatriot questioningly.
”Something's not right. I smell an enemy, but I don't see one.” The beastman answered coldly. The disturbing calm had yet to leave him completely, but Mike had been seeing signs of his old personality returning.
”What do you mean exactly?”
”I think there is a monster hiding somewhere in this room.”
Mike turned to regard the chamber a second time. ”Are you sure? I'm not really....”
He stopped himself after catching a glimpse of motion from another corridor. Focusing on it, Mike saw Tal's bound spirit, Mal (Mike couldn't remember the spirit's name) leading a small group composed of Tal herself, Lloyd, and Rita. As he watched, they cautiously entered the room, the battered looking spirit-bound armor leading the way.
As quietly as he could, Mike tried to get their attention. Tal quickly noticed his antics and sent a questioning gaze his direction. Or at least Mike figured it was questioning, her expression really didn't change.
Mike slowly mouthed his message, ”WATCH.....OUT....THERE.....IS....A...MONSTER....IN...THE....ROOM.”
By this point Lloyd and Rita had caught sight of him. The brother looked confused and answered with a simple. ”What?”
Mike grimaced and started mouthing his message again, when a powerful impact struck the center of the room, raising a cloud of dust. As the cloud settled, the adventurers began to see a large, malevolent shape.
A massive 3m tall armored hulk stood. Judging from the red tail and shape of the helmet, Mike thought that this monster was similar to the lizardmen he had fought earlier, simply on a much larger scale.
It wielded a giant, silver halberd in two gauntleted hands, launching a horizontal sweep at the leading members of Tal's group.
Tal grabbed the twins and hauled them back, while her bound spirit stepped forward to meet the blow. It summoned a large shield of stone, and hunkered down.
The shield held for a second, before the halberd punched through, flinging the bound armor against the far wall. Mal collapsed into a heap, seeming to literally fall apart.
By this point, Mike was already moving. He summoned a trio of minor fireballs and launched them at the creatures head, careful to control the force. They exploded on contact with the giant lizardman's head, doing little more than slightly scorching its helmet, but Mike managed to grab its attention.
He had to fall into a sliding dive to avoid another sweep of the halberd, and neatly skidded between the creature's legs. Before the lizardman had a chance to turn, Mike rose and sliced into the back of its left knee, where the plate's of the creature's armor joined.
Although the creature grunted in pain, Mike could tell that the wound wasn't deep. He leapt back several paces to create some distance while considering his options.
[I'm need to get through that armor if I want a chance of delivering a fatal blow.]
While he was debating about unsealing his dangerous, laser sword technique he heard a melodic voice.
Tal, wrapped inside the misty wings of an almost ethereal bird of prey, chanted a solemn verse.
”Spirits of Air, whose kingdom is the sky, grant upon this one the blessing of your might. Cut the wind in thy anger. Unleash thy fury upon those who would transgress. [Bladed Gale]”