Faintly Feathered

Mike quickly summoned up a small air elemental and had it follow Sera with instructions to let him know if she got in trouble. Of the two other members of the group, he was more concerned about Morris, since the current Sera could probably handle most of this dungeon by herself.

Thankfully, the bard had unintentionally entered a safe zone with only a single entrance, and was staring intensely at the slightly sodden walls, his body language showing that he was still deeply upset.

Unsure of what precisely he should say, Mike walked over and joined him. They passed a few moments in silence before Morris finally spoke. "I know I'm acting foolishly, and I know I put myself in danger for no real reason, but I couldn't...I was about to do or say something I would have regretted, so I had to get out of there."

"I get it, man. Everyone loses their cool once in a while. Hell, if I had a gold piece for every time Sera broke down on me-"

"You don't need to try and console me." Morris cut him off. "It was cowardly and immature of me to react that way, and I should have known better."

He looked down at his hands for a few seconds, clenching and unclenching them a few times. "She's right, of course. As one would expect from an Oracle, she saw right through me..."

Mike wasn't sure what to say.

Morris turned to face him. "By trying to reject him in everything I can, am I doing exactly what my father wants?"

"...Honestly? I don't know. He's pretty devious, so I wouldn't put it past him to try to manipulate your behavior with reverse psychology, but even if he is, so what?"

The bard spun towards him and grabbed his collar. "So what?! I should just let him make me a pawn in his games?!"

"This is exactly what Sera was talking about. So long as you continue to feel like this, you are already letting him control your life."

With a roar, Morris pushed him away, walked over to the nearest wall and threw a heavy punch at it. "I know!...How could I not?!"

Mike winced at the impact, knowing that it had likely done serious damage to his friend's hand. "Then it seems like you should know what to do next."

The bard glared at him.

"You need to stop living for him and start living for yourself."

"Easier said than done." Morris growled and continued to glare at him for several seconds before he finally sighing.

He sagged against the wall, tension flowing out of him in a wave. "I've got a few issues, don't I?"

Mike gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, but if it makes you feel any better, I think having issues with your father is pretty common."

"Heh." Morris chuckled and then winced. "Ugh, I think I broke my hand."

"Certainly looked like it. Need a heal?"

"Thanks...By the way, is it alright to leave Sera alone?"

Mike walked over and sent a burst of Life Magic into his friends hand, knitting a cracked metacarpal bone back together. "I have a summon watching over her. So far she's only been venting her frustrations on the dungeon monsters...Got to give credit where credit is due, she's gotten a lot more lethal since we started training together."

"Quit your bragging already." Morris grumbled while testing his newly healed hand. "Shall we go join her?"

Mike hesitated. Based on what he was hearing from his summon, it might be better to give her some space.

"...Alright, but I recommend we walk slowly. I think she's still got a bit of stress to work out."

With that thought in mind, they leisurely worked on catching up to the Oracle. By the time they finally did, she'd already discovered the stairs to the next floor and was waiting for them with an impatient look on her face.

"You two finally ready to do this, or should I just clear the rest of this place by myself?" She grumbled once they'd come into view.

Mike was about to admonish her, but stopped when Morris patted his shoulder and stepped forward. "I'm ready."

Sera looked him over once and then nodded. "Seems like it. Let's go, then."

"Before we do, I have something to say." Morris said hurriedly to keep her from ascending the stairs.

"If you want to give me some long spiel about how I opened your eyes to something you've been hiding from, you can save it. I don't want to hear it. If you really want to apologize for earlier, prove it by doing your job on the next floor. I want to clear this place by the end of the day."

With that, she vanished up the stairs to the next level.

Chuckling, Morris followed after her, muttering under his breath. "Thanks."

Mike watched the exchange with a slight smile. It was nice to see problems resolving themselves without his direct involvement. Especially when it resulted in two of his friends getting along better.

He enjoyed the experience for a few more moments before realizing that they'd left him behind again.

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The remainder of the first section of the dungeon was unremarkable. The monsters posed little challenge to the pair, and what few traps they encountered were easily avoided. With a summoned lamia forming the frontline, supported by Morris's bardic skills and Sera's archery, they quickly defeated every enemy they came across, including the boss of the fourth level, a giant squid that launched attacks from a pool of water in the center of the room.

From the fifth level onwards, things did become slightly more difficult, but even the coordinated attacks of the better armed fishmen with shark-like jaws and multiple varieties of bird monsters couldn't overcome the strength of their formation. So it wasn't long before the group found themselves in front of the second boss room on the eighth floor.

"According to adventurer accounts, we have a roughly 85% chance of encountering a Harpy Choir composed of four to eight harpies who are capable of using sonic attacks." Morris was explained.

"But they aren't any more durable than the other harpies we've run into up to this point, right?" Sera asked while examining her bow.

"Right."

"Then you just need to keep them busy for a few seconds and I'll handle the rest."

The bard shrugged. "Well, I'm honestly thinking that we'll get the other, more dangerous, option despite it only coming up around 15% of the time.."

She grimaced. "You have a point. Considering who we're bringing along, we should definitely plan for the most difficult possible scenario."

They both turned to look at Mike who was feeding Audra a handful of the low quality mana cores. When he noticed their attention, he frowned in confusion. "What? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Laughing, Morris continued his explanation. "The other possible boss is an Ironfeather Griffon. Considering how easy it should be to handle the first situation, I believe it would be prudent to plan on dealing with the latter."

"Works for me." Sera replied with her own grin. "What do I need to know about this thing?"

With a slight straightening of his posture, Morris entered lecture mode. "The Ironfeather Griffon closely resembles its more common cousins, with one notable exception. Their bird halves are coated in metallic feathers which serve as both their primary means of defense and a method of attacking at range. Despite being light enough to allow flight, their plumage is as hard as steel, and can be thrown from their wings at high speeds, although doing so slowly degrades their ability to fly."

"I should target its backside, then?"

"That would be ideal, but probably more difficult than you'd expect. In addition to their natural abilities, Ironfeather Griffons are quite intelligent and are known to use advanced tactics in combat. It will actively work to frustrate your aim and protect its weak points. Our best bet is to hit hard right from the outset, keep it off balance and deliver the finishing blow before it has a chance to respond to our attacks. To that end, I'm planning on providing support as soon as the door is open, and buffing everyone's agility. We'll keep it pinned down with heavy attacks until we can flank it."

As Mike had learned during the delve, bards had abilities that let them enhance allies by inspiring them with a performance of some kind. The exact method varied by the individual, but Morris would usually either recite an epic poem or describe an ancient act of heroism.

What made them unique among other classes was that not only could they enhance any allies within earshot, but they could also maintain these effects indefinitely without any mana investment. Doing so required a great deal of concentration, so they couldn't do much else while performing, but the benefits meant that they were often in demand among larger adventuring groups.

Cracking her knuckles, Sera gave Morris another grin. "Sounds good. Let's do this."

The bard quickly intoned the summoning spell necessary to bring forth their vanguard, conjuring the same lamia warrior. Mike wasn't sure if this was normal, but seeing how the others didn't react to it, he kept quiet about it.

Once they were fully prepared, Morris directed his summoned companion to open the door to the boss room and they entered. Inside was a vast circular chamber with a vaulted ceiling that extended dozens of meters into the air and was supported by close to a hundred columns along the edges of the room. Ornate glass windows lined the walls, giving them a glimpse of clear blue skies.

Shortly after the group had entered, the door closed behind them, sealing them within. In a rush of wind, the Ironfeather Griffon arrived, slamming into the ground at the center of the room and challenging the group with a leonine roar, which seemed quite odd coming from its avian head.

The monster stood roughly two and a half meters tall at the shoulder, and for all intents and purposes looked like a gray feathered bird of prey had somehow grown the back half of a tawney coated cat from the region it would normally keep its tail. Mike noted that the feathers of its forequarters glimmered dully in the light of the chamber, betraying their metallic nature.

Morris started the fight by chanting some kind of war poem with an uplifting rhythm. Responding to his implicit command, the lamia blurred forward, spear striking out at the griffon.

With a clang, the blow slid off the monster's neck, leaving no obvious sign of injury. Rather than appearing disheartened, the snake woman merely redirected her momentum attempting to move around to its more vulnerable back half. At the same time, Sera was firing a steady stream of arrows towards the creature's face while circling around to its other side. These attacks had little effect beyond keeping the creature's attention, but that was largely part of the plan.

For a second, it seemed as if the monster would be unable to respond to the sudden onslaught, and would be forced into defending itself until it was flanked and cut to pieces. Perhaps sensing or understanding this, it changed strategies.

With a sweep of its wings the griffon fired a hail of blade-like feathers towards Sera before rounding on the lamia. The Oracle was forced to dive away from the attack and take shelter behind one of the columns. Despite her evasion, Mike could tell that a few of the projectiles had come close to their mark, and only her poem enhanced Agility had allowed her to avoid a serious injury.

On the other side of the battle, the snake woman was having a hard time responding to the griffon's barrage of attacks. Even with Morris's buffs, she couldn't keep up, and after a few exchanges was caught by a raking talon across her unscaled misection. This injury proved to be lethal, and before her limp form had even hit the ground, she was already dissolving into motes of light.

As the monster turned to face the remaining two members of the party, Morris stopped his recitation, took cover behind one of the columns, and yelled. "It's stronger than I anticipated. We need to change strategies."

"What are you think-" Sera started before having to evade as the griffon leaped at her, shattering the column she'd been hiding behind.

"Buy me some time! I have an idea!"