Memorial falls (2)

Before the big guy can take a step forward a bunch of earth spikes shoot out from below him and pierce through his legs multiple times.

Usually, I limit the number of spikes to conserve mp but this time I just used half of my mp at once to get the best effect. All around the big guy spikes have sprung out of the ground and most of the members of the team of adventurers got wounded while some also had their legs or torso penetrated.

If the javelin had served to temporarily stop the team then the ground spikes would serve to keep them there forever. It quickly becomes clear to the team that most of them will be unable to escape with their lives intact.

Apart from the tall swordswoman none of them have managed to escape that spell completely unscathed and she alone has escaped due to her position at the front of the team.

The tall swordswoman looks stunned seeing her teammates wounded. A look of concern flashes through her eyes as she observes the facial reactions of the others.

I too can tell what going through the heads of those who are only lightly injured. Should they stay here and try to help others and fight as a team they will surely die. They can't know that I won't be able to release another spell of that magnitude anytime soon.

To them now it is every man and woman for themselves. At most they might form a smaller team with others who are still fully capable of escaping.

"Don't you dare leave by yourself! We are leaving nobody behind!"

The tall swordswoman's shout is only answered with hostile glares as four adventurers split from the team. The fastest one is a scout who weaves through the skeletons and easily dodges their attacks. He'll likely get away but what can I do.

Then there is a pugilist and a female wind mage who break away from the team together. They must be a couple.

The last one to break away from the rest of the group is a lone swordsman. Well, I take that back. The swordsman suddenly starts to use spells!

<Congrats, you just met a magic swordsman. This is an advanced class as a hybrid between the magic and swordsmanship schools. Their spells are weak when compared to mages but that still makes it harder to fight them. Watch out for sudden spells used as distractions, they carry little power and are meant solely to tear your focus from a sword swing.>

So that magic swordsman is trouble and I think I'm going to ignore him. Not worth the trouble.

<While I understand your reasoning I am obligated to highly recommend taking out that magic swordsman. Advanced classes are incredibly hard to deal with when they reach higher levels.>

What's got higher priority, the thief with a unique skill or the magic swordsman?

<The thief but in his current condition, he's going to die anyway.>

Not as long as that tall swordswoman is around. She's activated her full-offense skill and is slashing at the skeletons like crazy with energy swords flashing left and right. I can tell that doing so is putting a burden on her body but if I go after the magic swordsman now she might get them out.

<Fine. Take care of it as fast as you can and then try to go after the others.>

On it!

I'm fresh out of javelins so I grab a bone that is lying near me and throw it. While the tall swordswoman does have sharp senses she can't identify an object with them. Be it javelin or bone all she can sense is an approaching projectile accompanied by killing intent.

A swift turn and a swing of the sword shatters the bone I've thrown but the realization of what she just shattered with a swing of her sword makes the lady panic.

Right as she realizes the gravity of the situation another flying object is being picked up by her senses. While she is still busy reacting to the second bone I threw I launch the third one into the air.

After having thrown the third bone I am finally close enough to engage with my daggers. My opponent glares at me with a deadly look in her eyes but from the way she keeps cringing she's suffering from a major migraine.

<She's probably employing some pseudo territory skill that allows her to sense trajectories, objects, and intents in a certain radius. Repeatedly blocking a thrown object while launching energy swords at a bunch of skeletons must be totally frying her brain. Unless she trains a skill to counter this she simply won't have the processing power to keep this up. Not to mention the drain on her stamina.>

Navi is right. The drain on my opponent's stamina is huge and I'll easily be able to outlast her but that isn't the goal here. Despite my attacks and the skeletons' constant assault, the group has begun to move again. All those that remain seem to have understood that their survival hinges on them working together.

My ground spikes have been broken and the group is slowly moving to the exit of the cavern.

The tall swordswoman's condition is worsening with every second but she somehow keeps steady. Her eyes are bloodshot and there is blood flowing out of her ears.

I'm already beginning to doubt whether I'm able to make the group stay here when the tall swordswoman suddenly notices Charon who is now only ten meters away from us.

I can't see through Charon even with my rather special assessment skill so all she does is become stunned for a second.

A mere second, a lapse in judgment but the final drop that makes the glass overflow. She gets cut and like a raging tide in her veins the pain shreds apart her focus. With one part of the machine she's become breaking down the rest follows like a chain reaction.