Threatening Reality (2)
"The fairies aren't evil. In fact, they've helped us more times than I can count."
"But my instructor says–"
"Has your instructor even talked to a fairy?" I begin creating a wedge in his perceptions as soon as he shows weakness. This may be the only chance we have to change his mind.
"Well, no."
"How can he say they're evil if he's never met any?"
"But they killed everyone in the camp!"
"They were only defending themselves. What would you do if a noble came from some far-off land and tried to kill you and your family? Would you just watch it happen?"
"No! I'd kill them first!" His voice rises again. I now have an emotional through line I can use to push the rest of my argument.
"Then how can you call them evil for doing the same thing you would do if you were in their position?" He hesitates. I move in for the finishing blow. The most important part is to not attack his instructor directly, or he'll blindly disagree with everything I say. "Your instructor came into town a few weeks ago with the Duke's army, correct?"
"Yes." His tone is much less confident than before.
"The Duke wants to take the forest from the fairies to expand his territory. He lied to all his men about the war so they would fight for him. If your instructor is working for the Duke, then that's the only source he has for that information. The Duke has no reason to be truthful, which should make us even more suspicious of what he says." My claims are overblown, but I don't really care if he changes his mind again at some point in the future. I just want to get through the day and drop him back at the guild before he causes more problems. I can see Francis struggling with the two separate realities I've presented him. He probably won't make up his mind, but this should pacify him for the time being.
"Hi, I'm Hai!" The ever-friendly fairy flies up to the child to introduce herself. He doesn't respond immediately but, after a moment, appears to come to a decision.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Francis, and this is my sister Kelly," he responds cautiously. The other three fairies are introduced, and the mood calms down for the moment.
"Alright, now that you're all acquainted, I think it's time to get started." Inari waves sarcastically as she flies out from between the trees.
"Why do you show up after we've finished the introductions?" I ask, annoyed.
"I'm Inari, the leader of the fairies. I'll be your guide for today. Happy?"
"No."
"Good." And with that, the enigmatic leader of the fairies disappears into the dungeon.
"Hey, I'm not done complaining!" I yell after her but don't receive a response. "Whatever, let's just go."
Hai and Lala giggle as they follow after Inari.
"Is everyone ready? Inari likes to make her own rules down here, so stay on your toes. We usually head down to the main cavern area, and she draws in a few monsters at a time until we're tired, but she may decide to do something different today." Francis furrows his brow and nods while Kelly mirrors him. Tyrion yawns with a disinterested expression which bugs me a bit, but I know he'll more than pay for his attitude later, so I let it slide.
The journey down to the tunnel of the dungeon becomes increasingly tense as we pass more powerful monsters the farther we go. At one point, a pair of Equuivores are blended together in a hole; at least, I think it's only two. The corpses are so mangled that it's difficult to tell. Kelly loses her lunch at that point, so we take a short break. She's not the only one feeling nauseous, so no one complains.
"Inari sure is getting creative, isn't she." I feel the need to say something to break the tension, so I just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.
"That's what you call creative?" Tyrion complains loudly beside me.
"I told you the fairies were evil," Francis adds.
"She's not evil. She may seem like it at times, though, so don't say that in front of her." I warn the boy, currently glaring at me. Silence falls over our group again, so I urge everyone to stand up and keep moving.
"Wow, what is this place?" Kelly spins around while taking in the bizarre sights of the main cavern. The multi-colored jungle is the primary focus of the room, but a large stone on the ceiling that can be seen producing light is also fairly impressive. My team takes a moment before the storm begins to check our equipment one last time.
"Welcome to my dungeon," Inari says as she floats down toward us.
"You're the dungeon master?!" Francis shouts. He points his sword at her as if all the pieces have finally come together, and the final boss is right in front of him the whole time.
"No, but I can control pretty much everything that happens in here. Speaking of which, I have quite the line up for you today; I hope you enjoy the meal." My hands begin to shake as the angel of death smiles down on us. It seems my body has not forgotten the torment it endured the last time we were here. This will be our seventh crucible, but Inari keeps ratcheting up the difficulty, so it always feels like we can just barely keep our heads above water as the waves of monsters come crashing down upon us. Alarm bells go off like crazy in my mind as I feel something big draw near.
"That's only something the dungeon master could–"
"Francis, shut up! Something's coming!" Josh runs up to confront our attacker, and I follow closely behind. I can tell from his stiff movements that he's just as tense as I am. Trees twist and crash to the side, signaling that it's arrived.
'BRRRAAAARRRR!'
The jungle splits open, revealing a fifteen-foot-tall bear monster.
"It's an Ursamor!" Josh and I run in to intercept the massive beast. I activate flash step and attack the flank and hind quarters while Josh remains in the front.
'BBRRROOOOAAAARRR!'
The entire area reverberates from the intensity of its roar. I grit my teeth and stab my spear repeatedly into its thick fur. It's hard to tell if I'm doing damage or not, but at least I can distract it some. Out of nowhere, a paw almost as big as I am comes flying towards me. I dodge beneath it, but a second comes from the back side and knocks me away. I manage to activate Ironflesh to shield myself, so I don't take very much damage. I roll a fair distance away and check on the battle from afar. Tyrion and Shinobu are preparing spells while Josh and Sakura hold its attention. On the other hand, Francis and Kelly are frozen in place.
[This is what I was worried about.]
Practicing versus an instructor and fighting a real live monster are worlds apart. The past memories of the first time I fought a Griffith and a Metapardus rise to the forefront of my mind. The heart-rending terror I felt during those experiences is something I'll never forget. I take a deep breath to compose myself and dash forward again. This fight will be decided by how much damage we can cause and simultaneously avoid serious injury. Due to my Ironflesh skill, it's important that I remain near the front to soak damage. A hail of spells is raining down upon the bear monster as I get close. I stab into the side of the Ursamor's neck using the momentum from flash step. The tip just barely breaks the surface of its skin.
'BBRRRRRRAAAAARRRRRRR!'
It roars out in defiance and swings its arms, about to knock us back. A magic circle forms at the palm of one paw, so I can tell it's trying to cast a spell.
[Shit, what kind of magic do Ursamors know.]
A wall of water rises up to form a barrier around the battered beast. The ground sucked dry of all moisture, groans and cracks beneath our feet.
[Oh, that's right. Fluid kinetics.]
Surprisingly, the Ursamor only sits behind its barrier while panting. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem anxious, almost as if it just wanted a short break before continuing. We all do the same. A few of us take a swig of water to wet our lips while waiting for the next phase of the battle to begin. After almost a minute, the Ursamor finally steadies its breathing. Another, smaller magic circle forms at the end of its index claw which is then pointed in our direction.
"Get out of the way!" I push down the person next to me and roll to the side. I hear a whiz and a crack which I assume is a water bullet based on what I've read about these creatures. "Try to get close to force it to use more water!"