The second floor of the Dungeon is nothing like the first. Well, the biggest resemblance is the quality of the lighting. Mist rises from below to cover the ceiling, luminescent lichen grows on the walls, and our Fairy guides emit a faint blue glow. Other than that…
Jonathan, this scenery is confusing.
Brenda wouldn’t recognize them, but there are so familiar elents present.
“Spooky,” Gale whispers as she floats past a life-sized naked doll. Rusty tal polls draped with tattered rags litter the room.
Monal and Rosie hurry to trot ahead of Gale, their ruby-crusted talons skittering on the smooth flooring. “Don’t worry, Mistress, they don't seem tough,” the ebony-skinned flamingo Harpy says while sizing up the opposition.
““Those are manikins,”” I say in our unified voice, putting the na to what we’re seeing. ““This used to be sothing called an ‘Outlet.’””
"An outlet for what?" wonders Flou in a tone implying the previous occupants of this place perford sadistic rituals here on the regular.
“Doesn’t matter,” Chris pronounces while brandishing a Flou crystal-blood dagger in her white-knuckle grip, “Let’s keep it moving. The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can get the heck out of this creepy old place.”
We descend through a hole in the ceiling of the room we’re entering along a slope of ancient rubble. Apart from the lichen, it’s a barren scene, dusty, covered with debris, and the tiled floors are cracked with disrepair.
Jing zips ahead to lead the way with Tink on his heels, “Follow us. There’s a good one over here.”
We pick up the pace, passing empty stalls, broken glass shards, and decayed decorations. “Umm, what do you an by, ‘a good one?’” Olindia asks from Chris’s pink tutu. “Sohow, I fucking doubt we’ve got the sa def.”
Erging from the ancient ‘Outlet,’ we step into a once-ornate hall with high ceilings. One side is caved-in, the other opening on dozens of artificial caves evenly spaced apart in a row before the corridor ends in a ‘t’ split. ““I think this was an indoor strip mall.””
Gale eyes the dilapidated remains of pre-apocalyptic consurism and says, “Well, there’s nothing sexy about it now.”
Before I can correct her misunderstanding, our Fairy guide chis in.
“The guards won't go near this one, so it’s guaranteed to still be there,” Jing explains while buzzing about the huge hall, his glow revealing additional curious details on the walls and ceiling. A few faded illustrations trapped in glass still hang at eye-level, others lay broken on the floor, and sotis only dangling wires evidence that sothing was once held prominently in the air.
“Well, that’s not god-beast-damned ominous at all,” Olindia says.
I’ve got a bad feeling too. ““I think we sll it.””
It’s putrid.
“Oh, no, we’re not going toward the sll, right? That’d be just plain crazy!” Chris says. “Wait, wait, I forgot, we’re all crazy to have co down here in the first place. I’m such an idiot. Or maybe just a glutton for punishnt.”
“You’re definitely the latter from what I saw last night,” Olindia replies. “But, like, yeah, we’re all dummies doing this.”
Flou decides now is a good ti for so encouragent, “Just picture how proud Alex will be when we co ho as Third Tiers.”
“gan and Cottontail and Alex will all say Gale has been a very good girl!” the Rainbird preens.
““Right,”” we agree, pounding a stony fist into our palm, ““Focus on the mission. We won’t just win tomorrow’s war, we’ll crush it.” I feel more of Brenda coming through on that last part. I’m loving how being together with you feels, Jonathan!
Then we hear sounds of fighting co from ahead and redouble our speed.
"Do you think it's...?" Tink starts, but her father cuts her off.
“No, it can’t be, but we’ll go double-check that it’s not a guard,” Jing says as he flies faster to reach the battle first. We struggle to run after him.
When we round another corner, the sll of burning feces hits us like a brick.
"Ugh! I think I might die," Monal complains while doubling over. *Cough, cough!*
"This... is... fine. It's just stink," Rosie says, trying to tough it out, "We can... urp!" The flamingo Harpy holds her mouth shut with her wings and tries to cover her nose.
*Cough, cough!* “Gale’s nose hurts!” *Cough!* The Rainbird spews mist from her mouth that pushes back the smoke and the worst of the stink.
“Thanks!” Chris says. *Cough, cough!*
We reach a small cave-in with an odd-looking tallic sign on the nearby intact wall. It has the silhouette of a humanoid facing the viewer with arms at their sides and no discernible features. Strange. What is this supposed to signify? It doesn’t matter; the battle is upon us.
Inside the chamber is a large hall with broken tile flooring, shattered silvery mirrors, and porcelain chairs in weird stalls with the doors fallen or dangling by rusted hinges. At the far end, the floor crumbles into a pit emitting a bright orange glow, bitter-slling smoke, and the sounds of combat.
A barrel-sized Orange Sli whips its burning tentacle arms at a smaller, solidly built Sli made of transparent crystal. Flaming tendrils bounce harmlessly off the smooth, quartzlike geotric surfaces, but the hard-skinned Sli can’t catch the faster, more agile Orange Sli. It’s a stalemate.
“Large Orange Sewer Sli! Pyramidal Stone Sli!” Jing calls. Both monsters half-turn toward us, though they clearly have no allegiance to each other. It’s clear this will be a free-for-all; to the victor go the spoils.
“This gross thing needs to go away!” Gale screeches as she attacks the Sewer Sli directly without hesitation. Flapping her wings, she rains pellets of Water magic on the burning Sli.
Explosions of steam cover the Orange Sli as it is hit dozens of tis in seconds, disrupting its tentacles and opening craters in its bulky body. Except, along with the steam cos the stench of hot garbage and black smoke that fills the room, leaving everyone wanting to retch. Gale halts in her assault as a wave of nausea wracks her mind and body, giving the Sli the second it needs to slip away and start a counterattack.
This is the first enemy triple-modified Sli we’ve faced. It’s obvious in an instant that Gale would have the upper hand against a Large Orange Sli or a re Sewer Sli but putting them together is giving her trouble.
anwhile, goo spills from the bottom of the quartz Sli’s base, which trembles before it launches itself at us pyramidal-point-first. Leaping to the fore, Brenda and I catch the Stone monster in our equally solid grasp, our feet sliding back on the tile as it spends its montum pushing us. Its sharp tip still manages to stab into our sternum, sending a spiderweb of cracks through our torso. This might be an even fight if we were only a Stone Ooze, or alone.
But we’re not.
Acid spurts through the cracks in our chest and onto the Stone Sli’s quartzlike surface. Olindia’s jellyfish tentacles wrap around the stony monster, holding it in place. Then Monal and Rosie rake its flank with their crystal-blood talons. Sharp ruby points open rents in the Pyramid’s surface that allow green acid to leak inside its defenses even as it struggles to escape. The acid eats at the Sli’s interior, causing major damage.
Seeing we have the first enemy well in hand, Chris throws her blood-crystal dagger at the slithering Sewer Sli before doubling over to gag. Her body can’t withstand this concentration of stench.
The ruby projectile severs an orange whiplike tendril the Sli was aiming at Gale, giving her a few more monts’ respite. However, the Rainbird is majorly struggling. She continuously blows Mist at the clouds of noxious stink coming from the Orange Sli to keep the sll at bay, but barely. The Sewer monster, however, is thus able to form attack-tendrils at its leisure while evading halfhearted waves of Rain Pellets.
“Dad, they need help!” Tink begs, seeing Gale’s plight. If we don’t finish the Stone Sli fast, it could get ugly. Jing obliges, zipping over to Gale and buzzing his wings with Third-Tier power. A strong breeze starts up that brings fresh air into the confined space.
Seeing this strategy in action, Monal and Rosie hop over to help by flapping their wings together. The two of them employ their Harpy Air Magic, not amazing on its own, but able to make a difference when utilized together.
Gale and Chris are back in action, able to fight effectively when they don’t have to worry about breathing a concentrated cloud of sewer stench. Rain Pellets ravage the Orange Sli’s exterior no matter where it flees around the room. Blood-crystal daggers harry the enemy, additionally limiting its ability to dodge Gale’s Rain.
Brenda and I hook our fingers into the gaps in the struggling Stone Sli’s defenses and pull the cracks wider until we form a crevasse in the quartz. Just as we’re about to vomit green acid directly into the Sli’s interior, Tink speaks up, “Hey, listen!” The tiny Fairy points inside the Sli and shouts, “Look!”
In our combined vision, a glowing reticle appears around an object we previously couldn’t make out through the distortion of the Stone Sli’s quartz surface. The Core!
Guided by Tink’s strange magic, we reach our hand into the gap, delve into the Sli’s gooey guts with our Stony hand, and wrap our fingers around the Pyramidal Core. When we rip the plum-sized Core from the Sli’s body, the monster loses all cohesion. Geotric chunks of quartz shatter and fall as the congealed Sli lts into a thin fluid that quickly evaporates.
At the sa ti, Gale is finishing the Orange Sli. Her Rain Pellets pepper its body relentlessly, each impact resulting in a burst of steam that rips a huge hole in the Large form. It has nowhere to go, it can’t form whiplike tendrils quickly enough, and the perpetual breeze blows its noxious stench away. With no other options, the Orange Sli charges at Gale in a last-ditch effort. Like a snowball in sumr, the Large Orange Sewer Sli lts away as it rolls forward against her constant stream of Rain until only a fat Core tumbles to a stop before Gale’s hovering talons.
"That's right, you putrid wrech!" Monal cries with exultation over the inanimate object, "Bow before Mistress Gale's might!"
I chuckle internally and announce to the group, ““That’s two more down!””
“I’m telling you, I said ‘take all my Cores until you evolve’ and I totally ant it! It’s, like, all you, Flou. No worries.”
“This isn’t about promises or pride. The simple truth is that I have the equivalent of two Small Sli Swarm Cores, and here are two Large Cores. I’d rather try for a third Swarm-type to complete my trio when who knows what catalyst I’d need to evolve my Color or Form. I won’t force you to evolve your Large Modifier, but please consider it if a complete trio happens to fall in our lap. That also conveniently leaves one Stone Core for Brenda.”
““Ahem,”” Brenda speaks up using our fused voice, ““While my instincts demand I claim all the Cores I can and evolve to protect Jonathan, I agree with Flou—for the good of the group, we need to attempt the most straightforward paths to Third Tier, firstly. If we can’t get enough trios in ti, we can always try different combinations of Cores to see if anything sparks.”
‘Sli Solidarity’ continues to hold strong despite their monstrous impulses. Brenda, Flou, and Olindia argue good-naturedly about how to divvy the spoils while the rest of us watch.
“Hmm… How long are we going to continue Core hunting?” Gale asks the group. “I can’t see the sun from here, but it feels like it’s been a while.”
“Honestly, I was really hoping I’d have evolved by now,” Chris the angora bunny girl in a pink tutu ntions. “I’ve been in plenty of dangerous situations and helped fight a bunch of crazy Slis. Shouldn’t that count for sothing?”
Jing shakes her head. The Third Tier Fairy probably has more experience than us to speak on the topic. “If you don’t have an affinity for the simple evolutions, it may be difficult for you to discover a catalyst that suits you. That’s just how life goes. Most monsters have a lot of trouble reaching the higher Tiers. That’s part of what makes the ones that do get that far so special.”
I take the fore, ““You make a good point, Gale. We can’t just keep going until we succeed. If we get injured, or at the end of another hour or two, we’ll need to call it and head ho. I imagine the journey back will take a while, too.”
“Not to ntion the longer we stay here, the harder it’ll be to hide you from the guard,” Tink adds.
““How big a concern is that?”” I say in our shared voice.
Jing gets between us and Tink. “We’ve got it under control,” her father reassures. “What you should be worried about is that I can’t help you fight them if we run into any Elves. Fly away at first sight, squirt. You can’t save your Companion from them.”
“You wouldn't help us in that scenario?” Flou asks.
The DILF shakes his head sadly. “It’s not that we don’t like you, but the Elves control our access to the Dungeon Core. I can survive without it… but that wouldn’t be a life worth living.”
““I see.”” From Jing’s body language and tone, I can tell this is a sore spot for the Fairy. He seems defeated; like a prisoner who accepted his fate long ago. Maybe Jing tried to escape before, but their Bond to the Dungeon Core forced them to crawl back to these Elves. That brings another question to mind. “What do the Elves want with the Dungeon Core?”
“Tch,” Jing frowns, “If you don’t even know that much, we’ll be here all afternoon explaining. Do you want to get your Cores and get out, or do you want a lesson in economics?”
Whatever Jing ans, he’s right about one thing. We don’t have ti to waste. ““Lead the way.””
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