I stared for a few moments, still riding the adrenaline from the chase. Dull thumps came from the door as the creatures tried their best to break through, but it barely moved with each hit.
"Talkative, aren't you?" The man stayed sitting, just looking at me, not making any motions toward me. His voice had an accent to it, though I couldn't quite place it.
"Um." I started. I definitely recognized him as the guy I'd seen yesterday, running from that Berserker. "Just a bit. Uh. Out of breath."
"Yeah," he replied, "you seemed kind of panicked when you came in, and now it's a bit noisy outside. Care to enlighten me on why I'm suddenly blessed with your presence?"
I exhaled through my nose, and drew up to my full height, making sure to keep a defensive posture. I idly made sure of where my sword was, inside its sheath in my bag, where I'd shoved it while running. "So uh, beaver things. I made some of them mad."
He nodded. "Ah. Yeah, I've been dealing with them all morning. Was just gonna spelunk around in here for a while though. I'm taking a break."
We stared at each other for another moment. "Uh. Allison," I said, nodding at him.
"Nathan. So, Allison, who are you?"
I blinked. "Just someone exploring this Labyrinth." His clothes were similar to mine. Did that mean that mine were normal, or was he another Champion? "Bit out of my depth, I think."
He laughed at that, leaning forward a bit. "This place is abandoned. It's too much of a coincidence. You're a Champion too, right?"
That was a pretty easy confirmation. Should I also admit it? Would it be smart? No, the risks for making an enemy of Nathan right now by lying to him were greater than the risks of admitting my status. Surely we wouldn't come to blows right away, right? "...Yeah. Yeah I am."
We stared at each other a bit longer, the thumps from the beavers finally stopping.
"Sounds like your friends are leaving," he said.
"Yeah. Alright. I'm gonna sit for a sec, that a problem?" I asked.
"Nah, go for it. Not like it's my place."
I backed up and slid down the wall. I was careful to make sure I could bring my hand up for a Mana Bolt and to keep my sword easily draw-able. This guy seemed okay, but right now, I wasn't taking any risks. I had no idea of his motivations, abilities, or goals. If he noticed, he didn't say so, or indicate it in any way. I looked across to him. "So. We're not gonna kill each other, right?"
Nathan smiled. "Nah. 'Sides, we don't know if that's even a goal of this 'game', right?" He waved his hand. "Better to work together for now. I think getting myself stronger is more important than taking out the competition, at least right now."
I narrowed my eyes, but nodded. "Reasonable, and I think I'd agree. Let's share what we know so far?"
He shrugged. "Not much to know. This labyrinth seems to change. Yesterday I was in some sort of weird mansion, but not really for long. I found this," he said, motioning at the hand axe, "but had to run away from a big, scary monster before long. I managed to slip past it and escaped from it through a portal on the second floor."
Thinking about how much to reveal, I wasn't immediately sure about telling him about how I'd died. How to keep it a good lie? A separate portal? I wanted to share some as a measure of trust, but not too much. No extra lies, but no reason to give up an advantage. "I actually saw you there. I walked through this grimy place before I got there. It came through the fucking ceiling, and I had to escape through a portal myself."
Nathan raised his eyebrows. "Huh. I didn't see you, guess you did a good job of hiding."
I hid my cringe pretty well, I thought.
He continued. "Well, it rattled me pretty bad. I went back and exercised, and came back this morning. Fought some of those beaver things, this thing cuts through 'em nicely."
"I'm similar. Fought a couple of these things and met the big group. Now I'm here."
There was a lull in the conversation, as we both processed it. "So. You uh... wanna party up I guess?" Nathan asked me.
I took another moment. It was a decent proposal. Obviously I couldn't fully trust this guy, but if I kept my guard up, it could be really worth it. Far less danger, if things are okay with this guy.
"...For now, sure. It'd be safer. How much, uh, are we sharing?" I asked.
"Basics, I guess," he responded. "I'm fine with starting. I've got a skill, uh, Slam, it's called. Basically seems to let me just hit a thing real hard. Makes quick work of those beavers. Mostly I try to just lock 'em down and cut 'em in half. Works well with my Stomp skill, which kinda slows them down, but it only works if they're on the ground."
I bit my upper lip. "Seems simple enough. I've actually got a spell, Mana Bolt. Can only do a couple in short succession, but as long as there's a short little break between fights, I'll be fine. Works better close up, and I've also got a Parry to keep me safer. I can also Dash, to keep my movements up."
"More than me, it seems," Nathan said. "You still just level 1?"
"No," I responded, slowly getting to my feet and gathering my sword. The ache from the hit I'd taken earlier was almost gone. "Level 3. I took out a couple weird skeleton things before I met our b- big gorilla guy." I almost slipped and called it the Berserker, but I shouldn't have that information if my story was straight. Nathan stood as well, and grabbed his axe. "How do we want to move?" I asked. "Take turns with whatever we see? Call out targets?"
Nathan shrugged. "Makes sense to me. We-"
He was cut off as there was a pounding at the door, followed by a voice.
"Shit! Locked. Ah, hell!"
We looked at each other, and I quickly stepped up to remove the bar and open the door, not bothering to ask if we should.
On the other side was a young woman, wielding a sword in her left hand and holding a chunk of squarish wood in her right hand. She had long black hair tied into a high ponytail, and she whipped around at the sound of the door opening.
"Get in here!" I called, motioning for her to enter. Further away, it was clear the newcomer was dealing with the same kind of issue that I had. A swarm of beavers was barreling out of the forest, and was seconds away from getting to us. The woman, not wasting any time, jumped through the doorway. I was quick to re-close the door, but a pair of the creatures sprinted through, getting ahead of their brethren and vaulting before I could fully close it. As I slammed the door back down, I heard and felt a slam behind me. I whirled around.
Nathan had taken a large step, likely using Stomp. For a moment, it looked like the two beavers hesitated, and he used the moment to bring his axe down with two hands. The blow went straight through the creature, resulting in a clank as it struck the ground below it.
The woman wasted no time either. With a quick movement, she reached down and stabbed straight through the other interloper, pinning it to the ground. Surprisingly, it survived the wound, and as if expecting this, its attacker kneeled down with speed and slammed the chunk of wood on its head. Now that I got a better look, I realized that it was a big, bulky shield. It was strapped to her arm, but it looked terribly unwieldy. However, this attack got the thing to die, and all three of us stood around, looking at each other. The black-haired woman looked between the two of us, withdrew her blade from the corpse, and nodded to both of us. "Thank you. I would not have survived that large group alone."
I couldn't quite place the accent from her either. Either my ears just sucked for that kind of thing or using Commercial made it difficult to have that sort of thing go through. "No problem," I said. Surprisingly, it really only occurred to me to take a proper look at the two people before me at that point.
Nathan was a good-looking guy. His tall, athletic build, tanned skin, and easily-smiling features would surely make many hearts melt at first glance, and he clearly had some muscle built up under those clothes. He had no proper facial hair, but was sporting a bit of stubble. Hard to find a razor for shaving out here, I supposed. His eyes were a mix of green and blue that twinkled with a promise of mischief.
The woman was also quite striking. Though she was fairly short, even shorter than me, she had a presence that lent to a very tall aura. Muscular brown arms were poking out of her shirt sleeves, and her face was characterized by sharp, brown eyes and a prominent nose. Her expression was piercing as she took in the two of them. "My name is Rachel. I'm pleased to meet you. I think it's likely safe to assume you two are Champions? Our garb is similar, and I was told this place was abandoned."
Nathan coughed out a laugh. "Yep, we're Champions. Were just getting to know each other, and deciding maybe we'd explore this little stretch of cave together, for safety."
I spoke up as well. "Better to use each other for strength, right? Safety in numbers, and I'm not keen on going down into that darkness alone."
Nodding slowly, Rachel gave it some thought. "Reasonable. I don't suppose I could join this venture? What is required?"
Her manner of speech was very... formal, I figured. I took the initiative in responding. "Just a basic overview. I'm Allison," I started, and shared what I could do in the same way as before. Nathan introduced himself and repeated his capabilities as well.
"As you can see, I'm wielding a sword and a shield." Rachel motioned with her gear. "I have a skill that helps me Block better, and a Pierce that allows me to jab forward with a weapon quickly. I'm level 2."
Both of them looked at me. "What?" I said, feeling a bit defensive.
"You've got the most experience, right? You call the shots." Nathan said to to me and grinned. "We should have one decision maker, so we don't get all confused. If you fuck up too bad, one of us will take over."
Rachel shrugged. "I am amenable to this. I shall take up the front, as it seems both of you lack the proper defensive capabilities that I have." The woman turned and began walking, wasting no time on getting started. Nathan let out a bark of a laugh and set off behind her, resting his axe on his shoulder.
I was nonplussed for a moment. All of a sudden, I was responsible for two more lives. I started moving, not to be left behind, but wondered at how we were going to work together. All three of us were close-range fighters, with me actually having the capacity to fight from farther back, but it was ineffective and my ammunition was limited. Best to have the two others fight up front and I stay back to help where needed.
Would I lose levels for that? Did the aether understand we were working together and would reward that? Ugh, too many unknowns again. The primary thing was making sure we all got through this, specifics can be worked out on the other side.
And hell, if the worst happened, and we got taken out, they'd be fine, right? Like I'd been before?
Right?
"So," Nathan started, as we walked down into the mine. Torches kept the place lit, though something was odd about them, but I couldn't put a finger on how or why. "Where's everybody from?"
"If you're asking, you gotta volunteer," I responded. Despite the casual conversation, I was unwilling to let up on checking my surroundings, not after the fight earlier. The mine, oddly, seemed to be expanding, rather than contracting. It was enough to unnerve me, but then again, any basic knowledge of how the mine should look would be less than useful in a world with magic. Plus, this place was a Labyrinth, there was no guarantee that it would even be what a mine would normally be like on Avare.
"Seattle. Grew up in Minneapolis, though." Nathan thought for a moment, tapping his shoulder with his axe. "Prefer Seattle for sure. Less..." he trailed off. "Restrictive."
A bit of silence followed. "Okay," he continued, "I can't be the only one. Uhhh... Allison, you next."
I smirked a moment, only paying about 50% of attention to the conversation. "Ohio. Moved all around, but spent the most time there. Military brat." The mine was becoming less and less refined, with the supports keeping up the walls being more shoddy as they went on. The walls also looked much rougher, and were seeming very pockmarked.
Rachel snorted. "Of course a couple of Americans. Small town in Manitoba. You've never heard of it, off of the bay."
"I mean, technically, that's American too," I pointed out. The other woman glanced back at me with an unamused look and shook her head.
"You know what I mean. My turn to ask a question. How did we all die?"
I flinched a little bit. That was a bit harsh, especially since it'd just been days ago. The woman didn't mess around. A little harsh, but not unexpected, since they were here to fight things, after all. I could imagine it took a certain kind of mindset.
"You asked, Rachel. I started last time," Nathan said teasingly. My eyes wandered over to the man and took in his expression. There was a look in them I didn't like, one that was very recognizable. I'd keep a better eye on him.
"Fair enough. Drowned. Boat accident. I was on my own, thankfully."
"Yikes," I blurted out. "That's... traumatic."
"Not necessarily. Either it wasn't all that bad, or the memory of it was taken from me. I do not remember the moment of death. I suspect you two are similar?"
"Yeah, apparently an accident took me out. In a fucking parking lot," I chipped in with a grimace. "I don't remember it, like you, but when I came to I was super covered in blood."
Nathan laughed. "Damn. Now mine seems kinda pathetic." He used his open hand to point at his head. "Cancer. Grew fast, couldn't cure. Nobody around to pay for treatment anyway."
"Not pathetic," I responded quickly. "Cancer fucking sucks." I looked at him. Though he seemed slightly skeevy, that earned some empathy points from me. Maybe he was dealing with depression or something. Not like that was unique, for sure.
As we spoke, eventually the torches started thinning, and overall the mine became darker. Not too bad, we could still see, but it was more foreboding. All three of us quieted down as a tense aura overtook us. The walls were no longer even a facsimile of a mine - it had become a full-on cave, with the only things man-made within being the torches that kept things barely lit.
"I don't like this," Rachel muttered, just loud enough that we could hear.
I had to agree. After the morning of danger, the quiet dark was... well, too quiet. I checked to make sure I could chuck my bags easily, and kept my sword drawn. Anything coming at them in here would leave us with very little time to react.
However, nothing leapt out at us, for a while. Without the sun to guide their progress, there was no real way to tell how long they trekked, but it was long enough that we had to take a small break. It turned out that somewhere along the way in her own treks, Rachel had found a waterskin and graciously allowed us to use it for a moment.
"You're great, thank you," I said as I handed it back. The dark-haired swordswoman let out a harrumph and re-secured it on her person.
"You got a question, Al? Trying to be conversational here, you know, despite the, ah, venue," Nathan probed.
I narrowed my eyes at him, but didn't bother to correct him. I didn't care that much. The path before us opened up completely into a large, open chamber that just screamed 'danger'. It was pretty dark inside, as well. The torches along the wall didn't do enough to light the whole place, so it was an unnerving place, and we stepped inside with trepidation.
"Well... what about-"
I was cut off as a noise was heard from above and Rachel hissed at us to be quiet. On extra high alert, we were not caught off guard, but we were all but ambushed as several creatures dropped from the ceiling that had been hidden in darkness. The things were weird mantis creatures varying in greens and browns, but with a vicious set of mandibles that would look more at home on a beetle, and their scythe-like forelimbs were sharpened to a worrying point. The most worrying part, more than the rest of them, were the size. Each had to stand at least a meter tall, and were moving with a quickness that left no time for discussion.
The party was immediately outnumbered as well. Six of the insects assaulted our group and each human was quick to dash apart into groups of 1 vs 2. We had no experience with each other, so it was just as well. I couldn't pay attention to the battlefield at large anymore as two mantises charged me.
I immediately Dashed backwards to put some space between me and the bugs, dropped my bags, and got into a low stance. It had to look ridiculous to anyone with a modicum of training, but it would allow me to quickly respond with my sword or aim with my Mana Bolt. I immediately did the latter, firing one of them at the brown mantis on the left to break up their coordinated movements. It stumbled from the force as its partner continued forward, preparing to lash at me with its wicked scythe limbs. I brought my sword to bear to Parry the closer limb and ducked down, preparing to pump another Mana Bolt into this one's middle. With jarring power, I managed to deflect one attack and with my magic crashing into it at close range, it blew the other limb off track wildly over me and the insect stumbled past. It wasn't out of commission yet, and I couldn't afford to wait for it to find its stance again.
The other mantis approached and lashed out with just the limb on my right. I used my Dash to get on its other side and brought my sword up at its head, hoping to lop off the sensitive part. I smiled as my weapon bit into the creature and its bulbous dome popped off.
The smile was short lived. The headless mantis spun around and struck me with the backside of one of its scythes, knocking the breath out of me momentarily. Where its neck terminated in a hole was filled with some material that was catching fire, flames licking outward. I would have cursed if I had the breath to do so, but instead Dashed to put more space between me and it.
Beheading hadn't worked. Was somewhere else its vitals? It flailed wildly as the first mantis charged me once again. Putting my focus on the immediate threat, I simply waited a moment before shooting a Mana Bolt at its midsection. I didn't want to use the same tactics over and over. My reserves were depleting and I could feel myself already flagging after just a couple seconds of combat. I could feel that I only had two more Mana Bolts in me, and maybe one or two more Dashes. The insect didn't stop, but its momentum was reduced and I found it not terribly difficult to Parry away an awkward slash. With my blade, I spun around and stabbed its thorax clean through with a satisfying crunch. I tried to yank the blade upward to cut deeper, but the short tool was not meant for that sort of use. Unfortunately, the bug, still moving, turned around and wrenched my grasp free of the sword.
It wasn't unaffected, though. It was slower. A big wound and a heavy sword inside of it had to be making a difference. It was a little more wary, no longer rushing straight at me. I took a moment to check on the other insect. It was still swinging its limbs around randomly, and the flames coming from its head were now a sickly green. Maybe it hadn't been an instant kill, but with no eyes or antennae, it was nearly useless. That suited me fine, as one was plenty of a challenge.
The blade in the nearer insect's thorax proved a significant hindrance as it attempted to move in again but was tripped off balance. Taking advantage of the fortuitous moment, I stepped up and withdrew my sword from the creature with a boot to its abdomen for balance. It let out a strange sound at the motion. Was it in pain? The whole fight was strange, other than the one noise just now it was only the humans' grunting and panting that could be heard.
No time to waste. I gripped the blade with both hands and stabbed again, and again into the mantis. I sawed away until its abdomen was loose and used my weight to keep it still as I finished off its head. If decapitation alone wasn't going to work, I reasoned, then I could just take the damn thing apart. It thrashed about for a moment as I stepped away, but stopped moving. Where I'd cut, licks of greenish flame were creeping out of the wounds. Disgusting.
I turned towards the other foe again and found it slowing down, trudging towards me, but clearly faltering. It was going to die. Rather than spend more time and energy on the creature, I turned to see what else was going on.
Rachel was holding her own against the two beasts. Though she was making slow progress, her sturdy shield was keeping her safe, and several wounds could be spied in the insects attacking her. Nathan, however, was not doing as well. A moderate cut went down his left leg that glistened with blood, and he was facing off with his two attackers who were moving to flank him. His weapon was clearly not cut out for this kind of work, though he had lopped one of the scythes off of one of his foes. I decided to go help him, and ran in his direction.
"Nathan, Stomp!" I wasn't sure he had heard me. A few breaths later, he stepped back and raised his leg in a motion clearly meant to hit the ground with greater force. I timed the motion and jumped in the air towards his attackers right as his foot came down. Both bugs were jolted for a moment, taken off guard, and I used the vulnerability to pelt the healthier creature with a Mana Bolt straight to its head. Pinkish energy seared across it and it almost fell completely backward, but it was in motion again soon after. They both surged towards Nathan, who was slightly out of position due to his Skill's motions. "On your right!" I burst out.
Nathan swing his handaxe up at his left opponent as I Dashed forward and used the momentum to stab through the wounded one's abdomen. The inertia of the maneuver dragged the insect slightly away and made it miss Nathan. My sword cut through the abdomen much easier than the carapace of the rest of the insect, and with its balance heavily disrupted, I was able to pull my blade back and put two quick stabs into its center. It reeled in pain and before it could turn, I aimed at its neck with the last blow. I was now glad these things were large enough that it was easy to target certain points of their bodies, and was satisfied to see it crumple to the ground with wounds all over. It rumbled a bit, but was too torn up to do any damage. Nathan, in the meantime, had managed to get a reckless swing in and left a nasty gash on his opponent. I didn't dare step in for fear of getting hit herself, so prepared my last Mana Bolt in case I got an opening.
I didn't need one, thankfully. Another Stomp allowed the man to cleave the mantis in half. It made me glad I'd decided to jump earlier as I felt the effect of the skill, an uncontrollable flinch take hold of me. The scythe limbs waved uselessly on the ground half a meter away, unable to find any purchase on flesh. Nathan took a moment to nod at me, a wild look in his eyes. Both of us eyed the last encounter just as Rachel finished off her foes. The first mantis she'd taken out was halfway squished against the floor, and the second looked like it had more holes in it than bulk. A few more quick stabs and it fell to the rocky floor, twitching impotently. Rachel whirled around to check on us, and calmed immediately upon seeing our casual approach.
The encounter wasn't fully over, though. Nathan was bleeding. "I do not have a ton of water but we need to address that, Rachel said, getting her supplies out. Nathan, probably riding his adrenaline high, looked down.
"Shit, I didn't even feel that." He sat down and ripped away that part of his pant leg. A few moments later, the wound had been rinsed, the pant leg remains had been tied above the wound, and I had collected my gear.
"We need to stop a bit again, let that bleeding slow," I suggested. "And get our energy back."
The other two nodded, and I sat down near them in the dark chamber. Rather than immediately launch into conversation again, all three of us simply waited in the dim light, letting the fight wash over us as the odd fires from the insects' wounds crackled. We'd won.