Somnus V - Chapter 15

 A dully glowing ruby cube, about the size of a large dog, hung in the air about a hundred paces ahead of Kat. It wasn’t clear whether it was the stone or something else, but the entire boss chamber was humming quietly.

 “That’s new,” Kat remarked, squinting at the strange object. Kaleek took a step toward it and the tone of the humming noise changed slightly, its pitch edging upward.

 “It looks fun,” he said cheerfully, playfully swinging his greatsword back and forth like a baseball bat. “I’m not sure what exactly it is, but I’m sure it’ll be a blast figuring out how to hack it apart.”

 “Eager to try the new class out?” She asked, still eyeing the cube up. Other than the change in tone, it hadn’t reacted to their presence in the boss chamber. Ultimately, Kat had no idea what it was. Presumably an enemy, but the average opponents for the dungeon were completely unrelated, squat four legged creatures that could run with incredible speed while growing and firing spikes at the party.

 Kat flexed her arm at the memory, feeling a twinge of phantom pain from her bicep where one of the spines had impaled her. A painful lesson, but ultimately it could have been a lot worse.

 “It’s not quite as exciting as both of your classes,” Kaleek replied, “but I think it suits me.”

 “Agreed,” Dorrik said with an approving nod. “The general increase to your physical capabilities is higher than normal, but the temporary invincibility pairs well with the fighting style.”

 Before he could say anything else, a blur of motion stole all of their attention as a barely visible cylinder of something swung toward the three of them.

 Kat threw herself to the ground, her personal gravity instinctively shifting to speed her drop. To her left, Dorrik flashed purple and jumped into the air, easily clearing the oncoming attack with a burst of enhanced strength.

 Kaleek simply took the hit head on, his body glowing silver for a fraction of a second. Metal armor clanked as the blow picked him up off of his feet and sent him flying through the air and into one of the dungeon’s walls.

 The hum that had filled the room erupted into a high pitched shriek.

 Kat popped back to her feet around the same time that Dorrik touched down. The cube still hung in the air a hundred paces in front of them, rotating slowly. Around it the air rippled slightly, revealing more of the strange translucent substance that had just attacked them.

 With a happy shout, Kaleek jumped back up, completely unphased by the attack. He clanked slightly as he sprinted to where his greatsword had clattered to the dungeon floor.

 “Miss Kat!” Dorrik shouted. “Light! Hit it with light!”

 She squinted at the monster, drawing a trickle of mana and transforming it into Dazzle. Light flashed in front of the creature, illuminating a massive sphere of mostly clear material with six tentacles, each ten paces long and as big around as a trash can.

 Dorrik’s swords crackled with power and he sent a pair of purple arcs soaring into the creature’s side, digging gouges out of the monster’s translucent body. The strange material flashed purple where the attacks hit, sloughing off and landing on the floor with a heavy ‘plop.’

 Kat sprinted to the left, tracking Dorrik and Kaleek as each of them attacked the boss from a different angle.

 One of the tentacles retracted into its body, rotating slightly to face Kat as the discordant shrieking noise continued to echo around them. She twisted her body to the side on instinct, an eyeblink ahead of the tentacle thrusting toward her with the speed of a crossbow bolt.

 The clear tentacle shrieked like a banshee, filling her brain with static as it zipped past her. Gravity seemed to ripple as it passed her, and Kat dropped to the ground. The limb curled back, swiping through the air above her with inertia defying speed.

 Kat cast Dehydrate as the monster pulled its tentacle back toward its main body. The spell hit the gelatinous surface of its arm, hardening the clear substance until it shattered from the boss’ quick movement.

 The detritus clinked and clattered as it hit the ground, transformed into crystal by her spell, buying Kat a second for her to flick her eyes back and forth at the rest of the party. Dorrik was dealing damage, flashes of purple lighting up the creature’s insides. On the other hand, Kaleek was struggling.

 A tentacle was wrapped around his waist and swinging the desoph back and forth through the air. Kaleek was hacking away at his binding, but as strong as he was and as sharp as his greatsword was, it didn’t do much to the creature’s spongy interior.

 Each blow sunk into the clear appendage, slowing to a halt as the thick, almost liquid flesh of the creature melded itself around the blade. Kaleek ripping his sword back out of the tentacle did some damage as the clear substance sprayed up into the air, but it was a miniscule amount compared to the slimy monster’s extreme bulk.

 Kat hung back, unwilling to test her dagger against a monster that could absorb Kaleek’s sword blows with ease. Instead, she focused her attention on the Pseudopod that held the desoph, hitting it with Dehydrate over and over again as it swung Kaleek back and forth, slamming him into the floor before snapping him up into the ceiling and into the ground again.

 Chunks of crystalline byproduct flew back and forth as Kat’s spells chipped away at the tentacle. Kaleek’s sword went flying, clattering against the ceiling and the monster’s discordant shriek increased in volume.

 Kat dodged to the side, gravity pulling herself away from another tentacle darting toward her. Without bothering to look behind her, she Leapt into the air, shifting gravity a second time to let herself hang safely away from the fray a heartbeat ahead of the monster sawing the tentacle back through the space she had just occupied.

 Near the monster’s torso, Dorrik’s swords both crackled with purple light as he hacked his way through the clear slime that made up its body. At his feet, translucent goop covered everything, a testament to the damage dealt by the lokkel.

 She turned her attention back to Kaleek. His arms were wrist deep in the tentacle around his waist, digging in and tearing weakly at it as he tried to pull himself free. The monster’s buzzing scream warbled slightly and it slammed him into the dungeon floor with enough force to leave a crater and a webwork of cracks.

 Kat cast Dehydrate again, drying and hardening another chunk of the tentacle. The monster tried to pick Kaleek up again to bash him into the ceiling only for the limb to snap as Kat’s repeated spellcasting finally finished it off.

 The tentacle dissolved, turning splashing onto the ground around Kaleek in a massive pile of jello-like goop. Kaleek groaned, rolling over slightly. He clearly wasn’t doing well, but it didn’t look like he was in any actual danger so she returned her attention to the monster just in time to spot another pair of tentacles swinging and thrashing toward her.

 Gravity flipped. Rather than holding her aloft, she plummeted toward the ground. The attacks hit each other, the tentacles bulging as they merged and passed through each other. At the last second, Kat switched gravity again, slowing her descent at the last second.

 She still hit the ground with enough force to hurt her knees as she absorbed the shock from her fall. The second she was down, Kat started running toward the boss, charging Gravity Spike. Dehydrate was working, but not nearly fast enough.

 It shrieked again as Dorrik shaved another chunk off of the creature’s torso. It was the same story for him. The lokkel was doing damage, and if Kat looked closely she could see that the see-through sphere around the floating cube was a bit smaller, but every wound he inflicted would fill in immediately after the attack landed.

 Her spell triggered and the center of the monster roiled and compressed. For a second, she was afraid that her attack hadn’t done anything, then a single crack appeared in the side of the red glowing cube.

 Almost immediately a thick red liquid began to flow out of the monster’s core, staining the entirety of its formerly clear interior. It swung another tentacle at Kat, but the attack was much easier to dodge, almost sluggish.

 “Keep it up!” Dorrik shouted. “Damaging the slime doesn’t do much. I think that it's a form of armor, but the core is its weakness!”

 She grunted back, gathering her mana for another attack. Two more tentacles gathered themselves to launch at her, but as slow as they were now, her spell beat them to the punch.

 This time, the crack in the core widened and the cube’s glow dimmed visibly. One of the two tentacles fell to the ground with a splash. Kat hopped easily over its lethargic twin, mana already building inside her for a third casting of Gravity Spike.

 It was almost ridiculous how much stronger she was since the class evolution. The extra mana give her a lot more room to work with as a spellcaster, and the enhancement to the power of her gravity spells transformed them from dangerous into downright deadly assaults.

 The monster’s body seemed to be weeping. It was fully crimson from energy seeping out of its damaged core, and its gelatinous flesh was falling off its sides in large clumps as it struggled and failed to keep its form constant.

 Where Dorrik had been shaving and hacking ineffectually at it before, he was practically tunneling into the monster now. The ruby goop couldn’t coagulate quickly enough to stop him as he chopped his way into its interior.

 A third Gravity Spike compressed the core and the webwork of cracks covering the cube shattered on one of its faces. The shrieking buzz filling the room instantly dropped in volume and at least half of the monster’s body sheared off, dropping to the floor in a pile of blood-red slop.

 Before Kat could finish casting a third spell, Dorrik finally reached the center of the crippled monster. Both of his swords ignited with flaming purple light as he thrust them deep into the red cube, shattering it in one blow.

 The monster collapsed entirely, its slimy body splashing as it hit the ground and began spreading to fill the entire room. Simultaneously, the squealing noise stopped, leaving the dungeon chamber in silence except the faint ringing of tinnitus. Kat slammed her knife back in its sheath. She hadn’t remembered drawing it, but at some point the weapon had appeared in her hand as if by magic.

 Now with the immediate threat gone she turned and jogged through the clinging gelatinous mire toward Kaleek. The desoph was face down in the slime, gurgling slightly as the dungeon boss’ discarded body continued to fill the room.

 She reached him in a couple of seconds, turning Kaleek over and getting her first look at his face. One eye was swollen shut, his snout seemed to be slightly off center, and his fur was an ugly matted mess of leftover slime and blood.

 Kat dropped down to one knee, mumbling the words to a healing spell as she put her hands on his chest. A second later, the spell activated and Kaleek stirred. A cut on his forehead stitched shut even as his swollen eye began to return back to normal.

 Dorrik splashed over to the two of them, arriving just as Kaleek woke up with a groan. Kat pressed down on his chest, preventing the desoph from standing up as her magic continued to do its work.

 Kaleek blinked up at both of them, his eyes completely unfocused as he struggled to process what was happening.

 “Whosa what?” He mumbled, blinking rapidly as he looked past Kat and Dorrik.

 “He appears to be concussed,” Dorrik observed, standing above Kat and Kaleek as he watched her heal the struggling warrior’s wounds. “Apparently, contrary to all available evidence, his skull is not made of solid stone.”

 Kat looked up at Dorrik. His crest was twitching proudly and his bottom set of arms planted triumphantly on his hips.

 “Was… that a joke?” Kat asked, pressing down on Kaleek’s chest again to keep him in place. “I just want to make sure I heard you right.”

 “Yes,” he responded. “I am quite proud of it actually. It took some time for me to research human cultural norms and craft the appropriate type of humor to match this sort of situation. I have several other options prepared depending upon the situation.”

 “Such as?” Kat asked, curiosity forcing the question out of her mouth.

 “If you were to be captured and escape, I was going to state that ‘Someone has released Miss Kat from her bag,” Dorrik replied, drawing a wince from her.

 “That’s really bad actually,” she said with a snort. “Incredibly bad. I can hire some stand up comics for you if you actually want to research human comedic pacing and humor. I’m sure that it would be much more effective than letting you search internet message boards.”

 “Ish thought ‘was funny,” Kaleek slurred, blinking up at her from his pile of goop.

 “Hush,” Kat said, not bothering to look down. “You have brain damage.”

 “Still funny,” Kaleek mumbled sullenly.

 Kat stood up, rolling her eyes as she ineffectually tried to wipe the mix of slime and desoph blood off on her thigh.

 “He’s healed enough,” She said dryly before turning her attention to Dorrik. “What do you think? Anything else we need to interact with in here or are we good to touch the altar and exit.”

 “I have more jokes,” Dorrik replied, “but those can wait for later. Now that I’ve had some feedback, I’d like to go over my notes and update them before utilizing them at a key moment.”

She shook her head, a half smile on her face as she sloshed through the slime and muck toward where the altar stood on a stone pedestal, seemingly the only dry object in the entire chamber.

Once again, she tried and failed to wipe the omnipresent gunk off on her legs. It didn’t really do anything other than spread the slime that was already on her thigh around.

Giving up, Kat placed her hand on the angled stone. The world around her dissolved into a cocoon of rainbow light. As she traveled back to the surface, the completion alert popped up.

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Congratulations Adventurer!

You have completed the Iron Tier Level Twelve Dungeon, Ruby Spine Cavern

Three of Three party members surviving. Good Job!

Assigning awards:

Charisma + 1 | Domain Enhancement + 1

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 She dismissed the alert and opened up her ability sheet

Name: Katherine Debs
Class: Elite Gravity Adept
Max Level: 12
2920 Marks

HP: 89/89
MP: 91/174
STA: 98/106

Dodge: Below Average
Damage Mitigation: Poor

Strength: 9
Agility: 20
Fortitude: 8
Endurance: 10
Mind: 21
Reaction: 16
Charisma: 11
Spirit: 18

Gravity Domain: Weak (2)
Gravity Enhancement

Spells Known

Elementalist

Gravity
Gravity’s Grasp
Levitation
Gravity Spike
Gravity Plane
Flight
Crushing Fist

Water
Pseudopod
Dehydrate
Water Jet
Overpressure
Watershape

Light
Dazzle
Shadow
Mirage
Blind
Flare
Scald
Illusory Clone

Protection I
Ward - 9, 55%
Resist Fire - 8, 24%
Resist Cold - 7, 62%
Resist Electricity - 7, 20%
Resist Acid - 4, 83%
Resist Poison - 10, 11%

Protection II
Arcane Armor - 6, 59%
Resist Magic - 4, 29%

Skills Known
Knife 2 - 12, MAX (Dancing Blade)
Gravity II - 12, MAX
Water II - 12, MAX
Shadow Step - 12, MAX (Shadow Strike)
Light II - 12, MAX
Cure Wounds II - MAX,
Penetrate
Crossbow 2 - 12, MAX (Spell Infusion)
Leech - 12, MAX (Weakness)

Perks
Nightvision
Leaping
Sensory Dampening
Crippling Blow
Fast Healing
Second Wind
Alertness
Sharp Hearing
Throwing

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 With her first dungeon on the twelfth floor and behind her, Kat was more than satisfied with the new class. Being an Elite Gravity Adept felt a lot like being an Elementalist Initiate except that her spells hit harder and she had so much more mana to use on them.

 Of course, that wasn’t taking into account her Gravity Domain. A quick flex of Kat’s mind revealed what exactly the enhancement meant. The ability had ten percent more range and her ability to actually alter gravity had improved by roughly the same amount. That meant that rather than just hovering, she could actually begin to levitate a bit as her talent surpassed Earth’s gravity.

 “Katherine.” Jaalin’s voice drew her attention. The lokkel was standing at the base of the rope ladder that their team had thrown into the pit that contained the dungeon portal. “How did the fight go? I am presuming that Dorrik prevailed?”

 Her crest stood straight up in the air, as stiff and unmoving as the woman it was growing out of.

 “Yes,” Kat replied, trying to wrack her brain for the reason why the other lokkel might be in the pit with them. “It might take him a bit to exit the dungeon. Kaleek managed to get himself concussed pretty badly. He should be better by now, but Dorrik was watching over him to make sure he didn’t make too much of a fool of himself. That said, Dorrik didn’t mention expecting you today. As best I understood, you were only on this section of the twelfth floor to witness his class evolution. After that I thought you were going to head off on your own.”

 “Well,” the lokkel replied, not really able to meet Kat’s eyes. “I talked to the rest of my team in the real world and they’re heading over to meet us. The three of us have already conquered most of the dungeons near our original starting zone, so it makes sense for us to migrate to a new area. I just wanted to talk with Dorrik a little bit and let him know that he’d be seeing more of us.”

 Kat crossed her arms, looking the other woman up and down. Jaalin shifted slightly, not really saying anything. Finally Kat cleared her throat.

 “You can just talk to him about it, you know. I’m hardly an expert on matters of romance, but even I can see that something is going on here.”

 Jaalin’s eyes widened and she waved all four of her arms in front of her, crest shaking wildly in distress. She opened her mouth to blurt out some kind of denial when a stream of rainbow colored light flashed into being to their side, solidifying itself into a very dizzy Kaleek leaning on Dorrik’s shoulder.

 “Ah!” Dorrik exclaimed, his face rapidly shifting through a number of indecipherable emotions. “Jaalin. What are you doing here? I had expected you to have moved on already. Still, it is good to see you. I didn’t get much of a chance to converse with you before the trial. It will good to be able spend extra time conversing with you.”

 Jaalin’s feet shifted again, her crest standing straight on end.

 “I’d like that,” she whispered, audible only to Kat, before speaking up. “That sounds like a good opportunity for us to share concerns and tactics. Our collaboration can only make the two of us stronger.”

 Kat rolled her eyes, trying her hardest not to think about all of the trouble she’d put Emma through when the other woman had pushed her to finally speak to Whippoorwill. That was different. She couldn’t exactly put her finger on why or how it was different, but it just was.

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