“Should we turn back?” Susanna asked. She studied the runes above them.
The question was probably on all of their minds at this point. Something strong enough to kill a fourth-year student from one of the most prestigious academies in the country was roaming around the dungeon with them. They had no way of knowing if it was still in Fire Kite’s tunnel, or if it had moved into theirs. Furthermore, the resurrection runes had been altered, and whether or not the same creature was responsible, none of them had signed up for a life or death situation.
Sen knelt and observed Lakin’s injuries. She hadn’t been the one that was thrown into the wall of the adjacent tunnel. Whoever that was had either survived and escaped, or been dragged off by the creature that did this. Lakin’s body had three wide scratches down the center of it. They were deep, and in a single slash her insides had been ruined. Sen knew it was useless, but he had to try.
“Total Restoration. Pure Resurrection Maxim.” Her body healed, but her soul didn’t return. To resurrect someone, you needed to capture their soul before it fully escaped their body. There was a small window of opportunity to collect it once it did so, but the chance of resurrection went down with each passing moment. Lakin had been dead too long; her soul had left this world. Still, at least there was enough magic energy within her body for it to heal. At least her loved ones wouldn’t have to see what she’d experienced.
“Seal Maxim.” He preserved her in this state. Predators and scavengers wouldn’t be able to get near her body now.
“Snake, we need to decide what to do,” Girch said matter-of-factly.
Snake chewed his lip. “This doesn’t change the fact that the Academy War is still happening. Fire Kite might’ve killed whatever did this. They might be moving toward the boss now. But there’s a chance they fled, and the creature is after them. So we have to decide how to approach this.”
Milim took a step toward him. “You aren’t suggesting we take out the boss when the other students could be in danger, are you?” she demanded.
Snake rolled his eyes. “I’m asking what all of you want to do. Save Fire Kite, or win the Academy War?”
Everyone looked down at Lakin’s body. It was clear where this was heading, so Sen spoke up.
“Actually, I think I preferred the Snake from round one,” Sen said, without looking up from Laken’s preserved body.
“What?” Snake said, his fingers turning green as scales formed on them.
Sen stood and smiled. “I say we do both. Prioritizing rescue, of course.”
That caught Snake off guard. A glint shimmered in his eyes. “That would piss Alari off.” He smiled. “Let’s do it.”
Now that their lives were truly in danger, Sen took the time to place careful wards over everyone. Even Snake. He’d wanted to keep the strength of his wards a secret, but this wasn’t the time for that anymore. He wouldn’t let a member of his team die because he wanted to keep a few tricks up his sleeve.
When he finished, Susanna created some defenses for their front-liners as well. She crafted golden armor for Girch; it fit him snugly and still allowed him plenty of room to move. She also created bands of light that went around Snake’s forearms, torso, and ankles. No one except her had any idea what they would do, but she promised Snake would like it.
Sen observed her carefully. That was something he believed he could replicate. He just needed to learn what exactly it did first. He had a good feeling about it.
[You always have good feelings about new magic. It’s why we’re a thousand years in the future slumming it with students and not living like kings!]
They found the body of one more Fire Kite student as they went. His head was missing, and Sen realized it was one of the ones whose name he never learned. That left whoever was thrown into their tunnel, plus Alari Kingcrew, leader of the Fire Kite team, Dasai River, and Marin Peace. Though one of those three could be the one that was thrown over, and the last nameless member of Fire Kite could be among the living instead. Now that their lives were in danger, he felt bad not knowing all of their names.
Snake stared up at the runes of resurrection. “Do you think you could fix the damage?” He turned back and looked over his shoulder.
It took Sen a moment to realize Snake was talking to him. Sen looked up. Did Snake think he could do anything, or had he given him some reason to believe he knew anything about runes like this? “Hm, no. I could try to learn, but it would take too long. If anyone isn’t willing to risk their life, going back down the tunnel we came is your best bet.”
He noticed Susanna looking up at the runes as they moved though.
No one took that offer. He partially suspected Joseia wanted too, and maybe Milim, but neither of them seemed the type to break off from the group in a dangerous situation. To be fair, it would be a long stretch of dungeon to walk back down alone.
They continued walking, picking up the pace when they saw more signs of fighting. Sen ran his hand over scorch marks on the wall.
“Alari,” Snake said simply.
Girch frowned. “Alari’s strong. If she’s running from whatever this is, that’s bad.”
Sen had managed to outmaneuver her in the first round, but he’d sensed her raw power. If he were being honest, he’d love an opportunity to go toe to toe with her in an actual duel, rather than the competition. But that made Girch’s point all the more troublesome. She was powerful and the daughter of a warlord. She hadn’t backed down before a tornado the other day, so what exactly had scared her so badly?
He activated Encapsulation, and Milim turned when she felt it. He was lingering behind the group on purpose. She fell back to jog beside him. “I want you to keep your distance in the upcoming fight, and don’t use your dream spell unless I tell you. If I activate the…cloak,” he said, not wanting to reveal the technique’s name. “Then use it to run, don’t fight up close. Okay?” he said.
Milim looked surprised but nodded. “Okay. I understand avoiding a monster that could make Alari flee, but why shouldn’t I use the dream spell?”
“It’ll make you a target. Most beasts don’t like their heads being messed around with. It’s fine in most circumstances, but what we’re about to face is going to be powerful. Someone or something tampered with the test. I’m the one who signed you up for this, so I’m responsible for keeping you safe.”
Milim lowered her head. “That’s nice, Sen. But don’t prioritize me over anyone else. You’re strong. Everyone is gonna need you watching their back out there. I can use the…cloak to get away,” she said, copying his name for it.
Did she know? Did she know about Encapsulation? Was she more aware of his hybrid stats than he realized? After they got out of here, he’d investigate further. His curiosity was killing him.
Girch lifted his head high to look further into the tunnel. “Room ahead!” he called out, still shining under the weight of the golden protective armor Susanna had wrapped around him. Snake’s forearms turned green and hard scales materialized. It was the most Sen had seen of the man’s physical transformation for combat, and he was starting to get a clearer idea of where that powercame from. But that was a problem for another time.
His instincts told him that the room ahead was the boss’s room. If that was the case, they hadn’t been that far after all when they’d encountered the unintended intersection of their path and Fire Kite’s. The air smelled of fire and blood. They needed to hurry.
This boss’s chamber was the largest room they’d encountered in the dungeon. It was a circle about half as wide as the arena where they’d fought in the first round of the Academy War. Floating, hollow magic spheres of varied colors hovered just below the ceiling and beside the walls. They reminded Sen of magic essence spheres, apart from the fact that they were empty in the center. The exterior was a spiral that wrapped around, giving them the shape of a ball. In the center of the ceiling floated an even larger version of the spheres, and it swirled every color imaginable, changing by the second.
But Sen’s only briefly swept his senses over the room; the object of his attention was the fight in the middle of the large chamber. Alari faced a large humanoid creature in the center of a circle of flames. She held her flaming sword, Flamesaber, in her hands. The aura of it was that of a magic artifact, and Sen couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the blade than he’d originally picked up on. The creature before her was about ten feet tall, with purple skin. It had rows of stripes that started at the base of its neck and continued down its body, stopping just as they reached the top of its feet. It had pointed ears that reminded Sen of a demonic cat, and it had no discernible nose. Its teeth were jagged and long, and its eyes were triangular and piercing.
Alari’s senses swept over them, but she didn’t dare look away from her opponent. She focused on the monster. Or monsters, Sen should say. There was another at the creature’s feet, and a bad feeling washed over him.
Snake shook his head. “There are two bosses?” he asked. “Then Alari’s already defeated one.”
Sen stepped forward to offer his own assessment. Everyone needed to be on the same page here. “No. The one on the ground is the boss, and I’m starting to realize why Calabari was so certain we’d have an advantage.”
The minotaur on the ground was the same creature from his entrance exam. So Calabari really had rigged the entry exam against him. He had Sen fight a monster fit for the Academy War. If he were being honest, that didn’t piss him off so much. It was the fact that he’d specifically resurrected that monster because they’d promised they’d release it on an island somewhere.
[He should be on an all-inclusive beach vacation. This is B.S.]
Sen agreed.
The new monster, the one that had clearly terrorized Alari and her team, stared at her nonchalantly as it chewed on the dying minotaur’s arm. It was like someone at a restaurant staring at the main course while they finished an appetizer. This creature had easily defeated the boss of the dungeon, and now it faced Alari. “She needs our help,” Sen said.
Snake glanced over at him but didn’t say anything. He nodded.
Girch charged. A golden construct appeared in front of him.
A ramp.
The large man ran up it, jumped off the end and dove into their foe, knocking it over.
It was time to fight.