Cyplir Dungeon

"Ha!" Nadios swung his longsword diagonally at the gray wolf in front of him, slicing it cleanly in half. Spinning around, Nadios decapitated another wolf before letting his arms fall. Another two wolves fell shortly after, one with multiple holes in its pelt and another with its fur singed and blackened.

Krupt stretched before plopping down on a clear patch of land. He laid his spear down softly and moved his scabbard to a more comfortable position. "Whew! This is tiring, huh?"

"Mm," Nadios nodded.

"Good work, everyone. I think we can take a little break now." Miriam followed Krupt's example and sat down. Her approach exuded grace and elegance, compared to Krupt's slightly barbaric and rough way.

Benjamin and Nadios sat down silently. Nadios flicked his sword clear of blood before getting out a whetstone. The inside of the Cyplir Dungeon was made of a stone-like material and in the previous fight Nadios had accidentally struck it. A big ugly crack had appeared as a result of this at the tip of his sword, which Nadios didn't like at all.

"Ah, we have quite a big load! This is more than all the other times we've been here before!" Krupt boomed while stroking a bronze ring with symbols on it.

"We've been here two times before, both of them years ago when we were both weaker than now." Miriam pointed out. "I wouldn't say that it is so surprising."

"Bah! You have to be joking. You know there is no way that we could get this far so quickly without Nadios." Krupt glanced over at the kid sharpening his sword, causing him to look up and tilt his head inquisitively. Krupt waved his hand, prompting Nadios to return to his sharpening.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

Nadios finished ridding his sword of that nasty nick. He stuck it in its scabbard before teleporting it back to its place in his riverside base. Then, he took a swig of water and took a bite of jerky. He teleported more pieces of jerky to him and passed those around.

For the past two hours the group of mercenaries, and Nadios, had fought off waves of enemies as they made their way up the Cyplir Dungeon. There were bats, wolves, gouni, and rats. Since they were still in the bottom half of the dungeon, all of their enemies were in the red stage with only a small amount of yellow stage monsters.

"Alright, that's enough rest. Let's go." Miriam got up and grabbed her staff.

Krupt grumbled something indecipherable and grabbed his spear while getting up. Nadios and Benjamin too got up. The group made their way further into the dungeon with their guards slightly lowered. The enemies here were at most the dark yellow stage, which could easily be handled by the four if they worked together.

Five minutes passed, in which the group didn't encounter any enemies. They had just entered a large room when, feeling like this situation was strange, Nadios opened his mouth to say something. "Hey, isn't it weird that-"

A loud boom followed by a rising dust cloud and strong tremors interrupted Nadios' sentence. Immediately, his sword was in his hand and unsheathed. Similarly, Krupt raised his spear while Miriam gripped her staff harder. Benjamin rushed to the front to play his position as tank while Miriam relocated to the back. Nadios and Krupt were left in the middle.

A loud roar followed by the shaking of the walls blew the dust away, giving Nadios a view of the enemy. A gorilla on two legs as big as tree trunks, coated in fur as thick as wool and with burly, muscular arms. The gorilla beat its chest creating a sound not unlike a drum.

The gorilla's black beady eyes focused on Nadios and it roared a challenge. It could instinctively feel that he was the strongest of the group of humans. If it could kill him here and perhaps eat his mana core…

Miriam's eyes widened so much that it seemed they were going to fly out of their sockets. "It-it's at the light yellow stage!"

Fighting against someone a mini-stage above you was common, even for those of average talent. Fighting someone two mini-stages above you was hard, but not impossible. Fighting someone a whole stage above you made you a genius, something that Krupt, Miriam, and Benjamin were obviously not.

Krupt and Benjamin were only at the light red core stage, meaning they'd be mostly useless for this fight. They could take a hit or two, but nothing beyond that. That left Miriam and Nadios, the two dark yellow cores of the group. They were the only ones who could really do damage to the gorilla.

"Krupt, Benjamin. Get back." Nadios ordered.

"But-"

"Get back."

Reluctantly, Krupt and Benjamin retreated. Nadios teleported his sword to him and unsheathed it, teleporting the scabbard back after. He pointed it at the gorilla and teleported in front of it while thrusting forward.

The tip barely drew blood, the thick fur stopping most of the attack's forward momentum. Nadios quickly teleported backwards to avoid the gorilla's imminent counterattack but was too late and the gorilla's fist struck him in the stomach. Nadios flew into the wall with a crash, multiple bones in his back creaking.

The gorilla had moved fast, too fast for Nadios to react to. With the gorilla's size, Nadios didn't expect its speed at all, resulting in him slamming against the dungeon wall.

"Ack!" Nadios spit out blood. The gorilla leapt into the air to pursue his foe when a giant fireball struck his side. The fireball proved to be more successful in doing damage to the gorilla. It yelped in pain as the fireball pushed it to the ground. Rocks flew in every direction.

Not wanting to give up this chance, Nadios pushed himself up and used a new spell that he thought up. He wrapped his sword in his spatial mana. After doing that, Nadios moved the edge of the sword constantly, like a chainsaw.

The edge of the sword rippled with silver as Nadios' mana started to move faster and faster. Nadios used vp to teleport above the gorilla and, taking advantage of the gorilla's immobile state, fiercely struck the gorilla in its head.

The blade tore through the gorilla's thick fur easily, continuing its descent with vigor. The rapidly moving blade ripped the gorilla's flesh without resistance. The gorilla roared in pain and struggled to shake off Nadios. It twisted and turned but to no avail. Within seconds, Nadios' blade had reached the gorilla's brain.

At this point, the gorilla gave an ear-screeching scream. In answer to its call, the earth rose up and skewered Nadios with wickedly sharp spikes.

"AHRGH!" Nadios quickly teleported out before the spikes could completely impale him. Nadios dropped to his knees and examined his wounds. The spikes hit him in five places: three on his right leg and two on his left.

Nadios could no longer feel his legs. He tried to move them; They wouldn't respond. Nadios felt hands on his right and left arms pulling him up. Looking behind him, he saw a grimacing Krupt and a terrified Benjamin.

"Get him out of here," Miriam ordered before beginning to chant. "Flames of severance, heed my call. Grant me the power to slice my enemies all. Hell Blade!"

Miriam's staff glowed crimson red. Flames burst upon its length. They eagerly danced back and forth, relishing in the joy of creation. With a shout, Miriam swung her staff horizontally towards the gorilla. The flames separated from her staff and flew towards the gorilla as a blazing arc of fierce fire.

The gorilla roared. With a rumble, rocks separated from the walls and floor to cover its bulky body. Miriam's hell blade connected with the gorilla's rock coated skin. Dust rose and a shockwave spread outwards from the impact causing Krupt and Benjamin to be blown backwards while carrying Nadios.

Miriam's hair danced wildly as she prepared to cast another spell. Before she could even begin chanting, however, the gorilla roared from inside the dust cloud. Multiple rocks levitated upwards before shooting towards Miriam at breakneck speeds.

She dodged the first two. The next two she redirected with some flames. The last four, however, she could not block, dodge, or redirect. While watching her approaching doom, Miriam lamented about the fact that she didn't even buy enough time for her teammates to run.

She closed her eyes and waited for the bone-crushing impact. However, it never came. Miriam hesitantly opened her eyes. The rocks were gone. They were nowhere to be seen, as if they just disappeared. In their place, there was a… mirror? The mirror showed the back of the gorilla, as well as four large rocks.

Boom!

In the mirror, the four rocks that Miriam thought was her death slammed against the gorilla. The dust cloud had just dissipated when the collision between the gorilla and its own rocks caused another one to appear. Rocks flew in all directions accompanied by the pain-filled screams of the gorilla.

The mirror disappeared, giving Miriam a view of a black-haired boy lying on the ground. Miriam rushed forward to help Nadios when his body disappeared. Nadios reappeared high above the gorilla. He pointed his sword forward as he fell, keeping the tip position straight at the gorilla's exposed brain.

The gorilla recovered from its own attack quickly. It got up and roared with rage. The gorilla got ready to leap at the humans who caused it so much pain when it sensed danger above it. It coated its right fist in rocks and swung it upward with tremendous force.

Nadios' sword connected with the rocks, emitting a clang. Before Nadios could react, his sword bent and crumpled like an empty can under a foot. As his attack failed, Nadios teleported back to Krupt's side before he could get hurt more.

He grabbed Krupt's shoulder to keep himself upright. "Krupt, give me your sword. Urgh!" Nadios grunted in pain. He had used about 70% of his mana in a very quick amount of time, which elicited a wave of pain from his mana core.

Krupt gripped Nadios fiercely. "No. I refuse. You're already injured enough, I'm not going to let you continue fighting. Don't worry, with this ape's injuries, even me and Benjamin can kill it. Not to mention Miriam."

Nadios wanted to argue with Krupt but his mana core sent another wave of pain, causing him to groan. Krupt set Nadios down, leaning him against the wall so he could see, before rushing into the fight along with Benjamin.

They had sensed that the gorilla lost a lot of strength, from its mana skin. Everyone and everything who has a mana core has a mana signature. It is the mana quality of a person's mana skin. The mana skin's purpose is to protect its master from extreme temperatures, pressure, and more. It could be sensed, however, using mana sense. Another thing to be noted is that everyone has a different mana signature.

Benjamin rushed forward with a straightened back and firm steps. "Through the fire, against the wind, opposing the tides. Armor of Father Earth!"

The ground rushed towards Benjamin and covered him. It formed a large spike that moved rapidly towards the severely beaten gorilla. Pop! The spike of earth disappeared, revealing Benjamin's figure underneath a rocky set of knight's armor.

In his right hand was a large rocky mace, in his left his massive shield. His shield now featured a new sheen of brown rock and several sharp thorns covered its perimeter. With a roar from both parties, Benjamin and the gorilla clashed.

Benjamin ruthlessly swung his mace with all his strength. The gorilla did the same, its fist swooping through the air creating visible ripples. Each of Benjamin's attacks the gorilla blocked with its non-attacking fist, while each of the gorilla's attacks was stopped by Benjamin's shield. The two were in a deadlock.

Krupt leapt forward, following Benjamin's example. While running, Krupt shouted, "Swift form!"

Around him, a light green aura shimmered, increasing his movement speed sharply. "My lady, this foe I offer you. For your meal, I offer his flesh. For your drink, I offer his blood. For your entertainment, I shall crush him. Tempest Deliverance!"

Green mana whirled around Krupt. It covered his spear, speeding around in circles. In just a second, Krupt went from holding a basic spear to wielding a tornado. Krupt yelled, "Out the way, Ben!"

Benjamin leapt out of the way quickly. After getting out of the attack radius, he knelt and pushed his palms into the ground. "Steadfast against the fire, unyielding against the wind, impregnable against the tides. Chains of Father Earth!"

Multiple thick chains separated themselves from the ground and raced towards the gorilla. They wrapped themselves around its arms, legs, body, and neck. The gorilla roared and flexed its muscles, breaking the chains on one arm. However, more chains immediately enveloped it.

While the gorilla struggled against its bindings, Krupt had been getting ever closer. The tornado on his arm started to go faster and faster, as if excited by its close proximity to its enemy. With one final push of his feet off the ground, Krupt swung back his arm before slingshotting it into the gorilla's chest.

The tornado cut deep into the gorilla's chest, sending it flying backwards into the wall with a crash. The large room shook as a result of the attack. Panting, Krupt raced after the gorilla. He could feel that his attack didn't quite penetrate the gorilla fully.

The gorilla got up and roared, but it was much less powerful than its other ones. Blood poured out of the gorilla's open chest wound in waves, covering the ground with thick, viscous blood. The gorilla leapt towards Krupt mightily. It pulled its arm back before letting it shoot forward intensely.

Krupt thrust his spear forward to meet the gorilla's attack. The two forces collided fiercely. Sweat poured down Krupt's forehead as he put even more strength into his thrust. The inevitable happened, however; The gorilla's fist smashed Krupt's spear. It continued towards Krupt with little strength lost when Benjamin crashed into the gorilla, throwing it backwards.

Benjamin's shield spikes dug into the gorilla's flesh, enticing a howl of pain from it. The skinny tank pounded the gorilla with his mace viciously. A crazed grin colored his face, his eyes bulging with excitement. He deliberately aimed for the gorilla's head wound, the one that Nadios had created.

During Benjamin and Krupt's clashes against the gorilla, Miriam had been repositioning to get to an angle that she could use spells from without affecting Benjamin and Krupt. Miriam stopped at a spot behind the gorilla and raised her staff. "Fireball, fireball, fireball, fireball, fireball."

Fireball was one of the most basic fire spells. Most fire mages learnt that spell first, as it was a very strong spell for its mana cost. Five large balls of fire shot towards the gorilla's scarred and battered back. A large earthen wall swooped up, obstructing the path of the fireballs.

The fireballs hit the wall with enough force to knock down a house. The wall withstood it, however, with minimal damage. Miriam didn't give up and continued to cast fireballs. Krupt, not wanting to be left out, attacked the gorilla from its flank with his sword.

With attacks from its side, front, and back, the gorilla could not afford to concentrate on anything but blocking the melee attacks and repairing its earth wall. Due to this, it didn't detect the large, but thin, amount of spatial mana gathering above it. Krupt, Benjamin, and Miriam noticed it, however.

Nadios connected that great mass of spatial mana above the gorilla to another similar sized blob of mana covering a massive boulder. After yelling a warning to Krupt and Benjamin, Nadios teleported the rock. Krupt leapt out of the way after a final thrust. Benjamin did likewise, but not before creating chains to hold the gorilla in place.

The gorilla broke through the chains easily, but they had bought enough time for the giant boulder to crash onto the gorilla's head. The gorilla let out a roar of surprise, hands coming up to try and get the boulder off of it.

Krupt and Benjamin weren't about to let this opportunity pass, however. They rushed back into range and began throwing a flurry of attacks at the encumbered gorilla. The boulder, as well as the onslaught of attacks to its legs from Benjamin, caused the gorilla to get down on his knees.

The gorilla finally managed to throw the boulder off to its side, but it was too late. Krupt's sword entered the wound that Nadios had created, finishing the job and cutting half of the gorilla's head off. The gorilla fell after the boulder, both creating loud booms as their bodies hit the ground.

Krupt lowered his arms, panting and out of breath. The green aura around him disappeared. He dropped onto the ground and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

The crazed grin on Benjamin's face, that had stayed throughout the fight, gradually faded. His rock armor and mace crumbled, leaving a sweat-sodden, exhausted, skinny man underneath. He swung his shield over his shoulder and secured it in place before making his way to Nadios, slowly.

Miriam released her left hand grip on her staff and, using it as a walking stick, walked towards Nadios. She didn't show any signs of fatigue, except for a slightly hunched back. She sat down beside Nadios and Benjamin. She asked, "Could you bring out some bandages, Gennadios?"

Nadios was the official porter for this group. With his spatial mana, he could teleport things to them in the blink of an eye and he couldn't be encumbered by a heavy bag. He teleported a pile of bandages next to him.

Miriam picked up one and gently wrapped Nadios' wounds. "Tell me if it hurts too much," She said, tightening the bandage slowly. She didn't see or hear Nadios complain, so she pulled until she couldn't anymore. After doing the same for his four other wounds, she sat back.

"Do you have any injuries that need attending, Benjamin?" Miriam asked.

Benjamin shook his head.

"What about you, Krupt?" Miriam shouted.

Krupt raised his hand and gave her a thumbs up.

Nadios teleported his water bottle to him as well as a couple pieces of jerky. After taking a drink, he offered it as well as some jerky to his teammates.

While chewing, Nadios thought of something. "Oi, Krupt. Do we have a name?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, a name for the mercenary group."

"Ah!" Krupt sat up excitedly. "You're going to love this! We are… The Reapers!"

'I hate it.' Nadios thought. He didn't want to hurt Krupt's feelings, though, so he said, "You're right. I do l-love it."

"Hehehe." Krupt put on a smug face and looked at Miriam.

She sighed. "I can't believe he actually likes that name," She muttered under her breath.

'I don't! I hate it!' Nadios cried internally. He was going to gain a reputation as some edgy teenager! He wasn't an edgy teenager!

The Reapers rested for another hour, during which Nadios practiced controlling multiple mana strings, like Cynthia had told him to. Two was relatively easy, but any higher than that and it started to get hard.

"We should start to head out," Miriam got up and stretched out a hand to help Nadios up. "With Gennadios injured like this, going further would be too dangerous."

"I agree," Krupt said. The bronze ring on his finger glowed, followed by the disappearance of the giant gorilla body. Krupt grabbed one of Nadios' arms and flung it over his shoulder. Benjamin took Nadios' other arm and did likewise.

The journey back downwards was relatively calm. They had cleared most of it in the morning and only a small amount of monsters had returned. Miriam was able to dispatch of these stragglers by herself. The Reapers left the Cyplir dungeon when the sky started to show hints of warm orange and yellow. It wouldn't be long now before the sun dipped under the horizon.

"Sorry about breaking that sword you got me, Krupt," Nadios apologized. "You bought it for me and I broke it on the same day."

"No no, it's fine. Really. I don't think that sword suited you, anyways." Krupt thought back to Nadios' attacks. "You were moving fast and using a lot of slashes, attacking wildly as if you didn't care for your life. The normal longsword playstyle is to use more thrusts and to counterattack and play safe."

Nadios' eyebrow twitched. He knew exactly why Krupt was saying this. It had started all the way back in eighth grade, when his dad bought him a katana after months of begging… Nadios shuddered. He didn't want to be reminded of that dark moment in his life.

"Y-yeah, you're right," Nadios said. "I think that a longsword doesn't really suit me."

"Can you get home on your own, Gennadios?" Miriam asked. "One of us can escort you if you need it."

"I'm fine, Miriam. I can somewhat walk. Thanks though."

"Well, alright then."

Nadios said goodbye to Krupt, Miriam, and Benjamin before waypoint teleporting to his riverside base. There, he changed before walking home. His mind was racing, trying to think up excuses he could use for his leg injuries.

"Maybe I could use the good old 'I fell' trick," Nadios mused out loud.