The Tower in the Shadows

Nibar and his team had secured a dawn entry slot to the dungeon.

They have been waiting for around half an hour. Nibar was a patient man, but also firmly believed in prompt timekeeping. In the last few days, his team has gathered intelligence on this dungeon and the floors they will visit. They have a good idea of what they will face and what rewards they can get.

At first, the stories they were given were hard to believe, but they were corroborated and confirmed over time. His team became excited for what they were about to face, as this place sounded far more interesting than the average dungeon. Mixed floors and monsters were a rarity in dungeons.

"We go in and do this by the numbers. We systematically search each floor and take no chances. Keep your primary skills and magical abilities unused until we reach the bottom and face the greatest danger." He looked at each of his teammates as he spoke. It was the same speech he usually gave at the start of any dungeon run, and they all knew it. But they knew why he did it, and all nodded in understanding.

They were doing one last check of the year when the Guild's flunky who manned one of the small buildings in front of the dungeon, came out and rang the bell. He was calling the adventurers' attention that the first run was about to begin.

Nibar turned and led his team into the dungeon's surface building, nodding to the flunky as they passed. Looking around the room, they spotted the strange local creature up in the rafters. This particular monster was a source of great interest within the community due to its role in the dungeon. Many had considered hunting it, but ultimately, everyone avoided it as it took no hostile action against anyone.

Looking around at the state of the building, Nibar noted the dust on most surfaces. He had heard the early stories of this place and that there was a poison bottle of wine in one of the cupboards. According to reports, it was still there, but it was now avoided as the poison inside was quite potent and had claimed many lives due to ignorance and greed.

The group progressed into the tower base and descended the stairs into the dungeon proper. The walls were illuminated by a blue moss, giving everything a weird blue tint that was strangely unsettling to those not used to it. Nibar and his team had spent enough time underground not to be concerned by it. They still carried their magical lanterns in case they were required.

The group's fighters led the way down the stairs. There had never been any recorded attacks on the stairs or in the stairwell rooms, but they weren't taking any chances.

Most dungeons eventually develop a way to allow adventurers to bypass large chunks of floors to stop them from wading through countless monsters that are no threat to them. But you only found those types of shortcuts in much older dungeons that were 50 or 60 floors deep. This one, only being 10 and designed for easy access, was quite a novelty.

Nibar appreciated this, as it meant they did not have to spend days wading through countless low-level opponents to reach their destination. He suspected that many members of his team also appreciated it.

They went down past floor after floor until they reached the sixth. They stopped on the stairwell here and made the final checks of their equipment. Once they all nodded to him that they were ready, he ordered them to continue.

They found two large doors on one side of the stairwell room on the seventh floor. They all got off the stairs and arranged themselves through the doors in a combat formation.

"Remember, we're facing an ogre with magical abilities. Hit hard and fast, no messing around." As he spoke, his group got psyched up for the fight.

"Go." He ordered.

They opened the doors and found the ogre already striding across the room to meet them. The fighters Kyle and Drun advanced to meet it. The ogre was larger than expected and dressed in armour as he was told. He knew his fighters would be smiling behind their helmets, looking forward to the challenge.

The ogre glowed a deep purple, trying to cast the spell, but Hale was ready to trigger counter magic to disrupt the mana in which it was being gathered. People often mocked its class and the Path it walked, but few could match it in terms of magic.

This seemed to confuse the ogre as it expected its spell to take effect. It slowed as it tried to figure out what had happened. This allowed Kyle and Drun to engage it. The two hit it from a separate side, eyeing to distract it and create an opening. Here, the ogre surprised them, showing remarkable proficiency with its mace and shield. It is glowing and utilising its skills to enhance its combat capacity. Nibar's fighters have refrained from using any skills, relying instead on their experience and training to carry the fight.

Tobus was firing arrows from his longbow whenever an opening presented itself. Again, the ogre was using its shield intelligently, blocking many of the arrows and limiting the openings it presented.

Nibar went around the melee, trying to flank the creature.

It too was shifting using a pillar to protect its rear. He had to give credit to this monster; it was smarter than most of its kind.

The fight wore on, and his team's greater experience was far too much for the ogre to handle. It collapsed to the floor with a deafening crash, even with the moss covering every part of that surface.

"Gods, that was tougher than expected," Drun spoke through deep breaths as he sought to regulate his heart rate.

"I agree it was quite an interesting challenge," Kyle added his thoughts.

No thought was given to ending the run as the rewards were collected, as his team was starting to get warmed up.

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"We move on to the next." He ordered.

The next floor contained boars and rats. The boars were the open and obvious danger, while the rats lurked in ambush in the long grass. It was an interesting combination of open and hidden danger, and his team found it only briefly annoying as they worked out how to track the rats while fighting the boars.

The final monster on the floor was another change and proved to be a Revenant. Although they were told that an undead was the floor boss here, they were still surprised to see it, as they had never seen such a combination in most dungeons.

This monster proved to be far more competent with its blade than they expected. It used a combination of magic and skills to threaten the fighters. It dodged their attacks and many of the arrows that were shot at it, making it a pretty nimble opponent.

However, as before, his team's experience and superior equipment carried them through the battle without requiring them to utilise most of their primary skills or magical abilities. A few minor injuries were sustained here, but they were quickly healed.

The rewards of the floor were collected, and they set off to the next.

It's a new floor, a similar environment, and different monsters.

Two types of elemental lions and an illusionary one at the end. There were more fights, and his team was used to them; they could subdue each of the elemental lions quickly. That did not mean the lions went without a fight; combined with their speed and elemental abilities, they resisted far more intensely than his team expected. They had planned to fight them and were warned that they were dangerous. They had listened to these warnings and prepared accordingly, but were still impressed by the danger they were in.

That paled in comparison to the illusory lion. Such beasts were rare in the wild, only in certain places worldwide. His team had never encountered something like this before, and fighting it proved trickier than expected. It's through images and reflections around them, hitting from different directions, and trying to confuse their senses. Hale was forced to use some of his more powerful magic to disrupt the illusions, allowing them to identify where the lion was and eventually bring it down. Again, injuries were sustained that were more severe than those on the floor above, but they were well within the ability of their group healer, Mymar, to take care of.

"We pause here before we go to the 10th floor," Nibar instructed his team when they were in the stairwell. They knew this would allow them to rest and review what was ahead.

"Thoughts?" He asked them.

"All the rumours and stories we heard were true. I never thought it was possible to find so many different environments and monsters in one dungeon." Hale was the 1st to speak, surprising as he was usually the last. The tone of excitement in his voice was evident.

"Aye. So that means the rumours about the last floor will also be true." Mymar his wife, reminded him.

That brought the group a few moments of silence as they contemplated what was below.

"What was the monster called again?" Kyle asked.

"A manticore." Tobus supplied.

"From what few reports there are of it, it's a fusion of several different types of monster and animal. Intelligent and powerful with the ability to fly." Hale rattled off what little they had heard of it. It was a new type of monster that only one person had defeated in battle. Being a diamond-grade adventurer was the one who beat the beast, and they did not take it lightly.

"We are walking into a known environment but with an unknown monster. We will go slowly and make sure to look up often." Nibar again looked to all his teammates as he spoke, and they nodded in understanding when he met their eyes. They had not got this far by being stupid, and today was not the day they ended that policy.

They could all feel the heat coming up the stairwell. They had felt it since the seventh floor, its strength growing as they descended. They had learnt that the 10th floor was some form of magma chamber. They had been through several dungeons with similar environments and were familiar with the dangers that lay within.

They descended the last flight of stairs and emerged into a large cavern. The air was shimmering due to the heat of the magma river flowing through the centre. They could see the bridge that crossed the river and knew that it was one of the ways that they could cross.

"We'll use the bridge," Nibar informed the others of his decision. "If we're going to be attacked, it will be either before or after it."

They moved into the pre-arranged formation, reaching the bridge within a few minutes and crossing it. The bridge was wide but not very long, and soon, they were on the other side. Before that, a rock formation heralded the bend in the cavern, stopping them from seeing its far side.

"Incom…" Tobar called out, firing an arrow, but he never finished.

A large black form fell from the sky onto the fighters at the front of the formation. The force of the impact knocked Kyle down, and Drun was not on the side. Both men had extensive enchantments to help prevent such a thing from happening, or whatever hit them was much larger than they were used to. It was then that they got their first look at the monster they were fighting.

They had never seen anything like it, but couldn't take in many details, as they were soon fighting for their lives.

Bat wings, what seemed to be a lion's body, a man's face, and a scorpion's tail. What mad mind created such an abomination was beyond Nibar's understanding. But he rallied his team and fought. Hale cast an [Ice Spear], forcing the creature back off Kyle. Drun attacked it to try to keep it distracted.

For its size, it was fast and tough. His team didn't hold back here, triggering their skills to keep them alive. Hale brought forth his most potent spells to aid them. The problem was that this monster had its tricks and used them intelligently in the fight to maximum effect.

Impossibly sharp claws shredded through armour, even with strengthening enchantments. The monster dodged and weaved, avoiding blows. It struck out at the least defended group members, trying to draw the fighters into bad positions. Its stinger struck out, and if it punched through or scratched, causing a wound, the poison it had quickly spread into their bodies, forcing Mymar to cure them.

Hale was forced to focus his magic on defending them from the beast's own. He could counter its shadow magic like he had with the ogre. Its fire breath, however, was tinged with infernal magic which he could not stop.

Nibar managed to find the creature using his stealth abilities and caused at least one wound, but was introduced to one of the mighty wings, which knocked him back onto his back.

He managed to roll away before the creature clawed the ground he was occupying.

He shouts instructions only when he needs to, trusting his team.

Kyle is knocked down again as the creature leaps at him. The monster's claws maul him as Drun tries to get it off him. A belch of black tinged fire forces him back. Hale [Multi-Casts] throws several spells at once. The three spells force the monster off Kyle. Mymar starts invoking her Goddess as she heals Kyle.

Drun pushes forward again, allowing Nibar to attack again from the side. Tobus is losing arrows the whole time. It is he who swings the fight in their favour. A glowing arrow hits the monster in the eye, causing it to rear up and bellow in pain.

They had an opening, and they hit it with everything they had.

The beast was still not dying.

Tobus is burned for the injury he inflicted. Kyle and Drun are using every skill they have. Nibar joined them, feeling his body strain as he triggered his and Hale's [Multi-Cast] again.

The beast meets their fury with its own. Claws lash out along with the stinger. Strikes were received and given.

The beast was the first to falter and collapsed dead.

Nibar and his team followed from injury and exhaustion.