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1270 Words
The only reason Matt wasn’t in the same boat as her was that he had been channeling [Endurance]. For once, he actually was using it for its intended purpose, and with it, was simply able to ignore the effects of a long, drawn-out fight.
Aster sent him worried feelings through their bond, and he walked over and nuzzled her. She was very unhappy with the fact that her ice was hurting them more than helping. She took pride in being a valuable member of the team. He took the time to reassure her that it was okay, and Liz helped by assuring her that she was in the same boat, but Aster still wanted to help.
Camilla, from her place leaning against the wall, said, “While the testing was necessary, let’s not give any of those thing’s mana ever again.”
Malcolm added, “Yes. I’ll not be using any of my skills unless I need to. I don’t want to deal with one of those again. Ever.” He almost sobbed. “I regret not taking [Earth Manipulation].”
He continued to quietly say something about this not being what he expected but Matt mostly tuned him out. The muttering man had a point. With [Earth Manipulation] or, better yet, the higher Tier [Stone Manipulation], they would have been able to simply lock the creature down by shaping the earth around its feet. Even if it was empowered by the mana, it would still be encased in stone, and unable to move.
Matt shook himself and readied his stick. Wishing for skills they didn’t have was pointless, and he needed to play ‘find the traps’ again.
9
Matt took a step and poked the ground in front of him in nine separate places. When nothing tried to spring from the walls or ceiling, he took a small step forward and tapped the next row of bricks.
That was the methodical pace he set while leading the group through the halls. It was slow but steady progress.
They reached an intersection, and after checking it, Matt turned to look at Malcolm. They had tried to be clever and use his Talent to find the traps, but as this was a Tier 6 rift, he finally admitted that he could only find things at his Tier or below.
It was an interesting bit of information, as it confirmed Liz’s guess, but also meant that the Tier 6 rift had produced a Tier 5 growth item. That didn’t seem quite right to Matt, but he did know that rifts could drop lower Tier items. He just had never encountered that before.
Their guide closed his eyes and searched out with his Talent while everyone watched him. Shortly after Malcolm began, Aster started yipping, and Matt felt unease flowing into him from his bond. Spinning, he checked all of the halls, and found nothing out of the ordinary. Still, he trusted his bond’s intuition about something being wrong.
Everyone was on guard, and just in case, Malcolm had moved into the middle of the group for extra protection. He was more vulnerable than usual when in the meditative state that the use of his talent required.
Aster’s yips turned to a growl, and Matt could smell what was grabbing her attention. Metal and mana. He spun and pulled throwable chemical lights out from his pocket. With quick flicks of his wrist, he launched them down the halls in each direction, but he still was unable to see the looming threat.
The smell grew stronger with each second that passed, and everyone huddled with their backs pressed together. The halls filled with noise and, eventually, Liz shouted over the din, “We need to move! Let’s pick a hall!”
Before they could act on the order, the ceiling dropped.
Or rather, the mass of spider constructs dove down onto their prey.
Matt heard a scream from behind him as he raised his shield and swung his mace, knocking a blade-legged spider out of the air as it fell from the ceiling toward Camilla next to him.
One of the spiders landed on Matt’s shoulders and tried to drive its legs into his body, but [Cracked Phantom Armor] was able to block the sluggish construct’s attacks. The mechanical spiders didn’t have the requisite mass to rely solely on their high Tier material composition to punch through his armor.
A wave of blue light washed over Matt while he stomped a jittery spider that tried to attack his shins.
He whipped his head to see Malcolm in the remnants of a [Mana Bubble]. The shielding spell had two spiders sliding down its sides, but that wasn’t what worried Matt. No, the problem was the pale blue glow that the surroundings took on because of the mana expenditure.
The spider golems were no exception.
They went from dark bodies with sluggish movements to formidable metal beasts with glowing thoraxes capable of movements as smooth as silk.
Liz had two on her, and one more spider had landed in Aster’s backpack.
Matt reached deep inside his spirit to where his Concept resided and commanded all of the spiders to halt.
They froze for a moment. Even the ones still falling paused in midair.
The effect from his Concept only lasted a moment, but it was enough for Aster to freeze the spiders with her own, which allowed Liz and Camilla to kill the ones attacking them.
The burst of will was all Matt had, and the world around him faded as the color from the lights of the spiders, the glow sticks on the ground, and runes on the walls dimmed to nothing. He tried to raise his mace to swing down, but his arm just twitched at his side. Struggling to stay conscious, he ended up falling onto the spider in front of him instead of attacking it.
Camilla shoved him off the insectoid golem underneath him with a foot and smashed the last remaining spider. She quickly started smashing the metal remains, ensuring they wouldn’t be ambushed from behind. Matt struggled to his feet and moved to the side and began channeling [Endurance]. While the skill restored his strength, he dove deep into his Concept and began meditating to regenerate his willpower.
The problem was that was a general ability of all Concepts and was inefficient for anyone. It was like what the troll had done, it just took a lot of willpower.
When he opened his eyes a few minutes later, most of the colors of the world had reappeared, and he was able to stand without any sluggishness.
“What happened while I was out?”
Liz bumped his hip and answered, “It was a good save from the ambush, but we’re partially trapped now.” With that, she pointed to the side, and Matt saw that there were now mana barriers covering the entrances of two of the three halls of the intersection.
Looking at Malcolm, Matt asked, “And I assume the way we need to go is now blocked off?”
Malcolm nodded, and he turned to Camilla. She had streaks of blood running through her hair from her head, and she was surrounded by a pile of broken spider limbs.
He asked her, “You, okay?”
“I don’t like spiders, and being down here in the dark is getting to me, but I’m good.”
Matt didn’t believe that last bit, but he didn’t press either.
Asking the room, he questioned, “Have you guys tried battering down the mana barriers at all?”
- Writer
