Chapter 6: Rise Of The Five | Remnants Of Legends Arc #3
Death.
A concept.
When one loses all functions of life, they are termed as dead.
Humans, Elves, Dwarves.....race doesn't matter, they are all afraid of it.
Even mana beasts have a survival instinct, to avoid death, to live.
Yet knowing this, knowing that they could die very easily in this dungeon, the adventurers showed immense courage in going through with it.
Each group had been assigned one opening.
And for now there have been no problems.
Little did they know what was coming.
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A basilisk was cut in half by a sword made purely out of flames.
Behind the sword was none other than Fayden.
The group was in diamond formation, with Eleanor in the middle, Ash and Jaron at her sides and Vonde behind her.
Keeping her safe was the main priority, not only was she the only healer in the group, but also the weakest among the 5.
Of course when compared to the four monsters anyone would be seen as weak.
Ash and Jaron were the most proficient in mid and long range, hence they were kept in the sides.
Vonde, who was the best in long range, was at the back, providing cover fire.
And Fayden, the most versatile among them, was in the front, making good use of his melee capabilities.
"Are they ever going to end?" Asked Fayden to no one in particular
"What did you expect out of a S class dungeon?" Came Jarons reply.
"That was a rhetorical question." Fayden barked back, having to face so many of these 'small fries' had left him irritated.
"I'm as annoyed as you Fayden, yet you don't see me losing control of my emotions do you?"
Fayden grumbled under his breath as he sliced through half a dozen more basilisks in one swing.
Ash and Vonde chose to stay quiet and freeze/roast the mana beasts to death instead.
They had been going at this for the last hour or so, still the number of basilisks showed no signs of decreasing.
Coincidence or not they also haven't met any other adventurers. There were some routes that crossed one that they were in.
They had to meet at least one group of adventurers that entered this big labyrinth with them.
There were only two options why they haven't met anyone yet.
First was that the labyrinth of the dungeon is too big.
Second option was that they were dead.
So they hoped that the labyrinth was just too big and not many were dead. If they were battling the dungeon boss alone, it would be rather intense.
"Hey, do you think all of them are dead?" Ash casually asked, gaining the attention of the whole group.
"It's possible." Fayden sighed, "We could have used the help against the boss."
I have a bad feeling about this whole operation.
How painful it shouldn't sound, most of the group had the same bad feeling.
Only Eleanor stayed positive and wanted to believe in fellow adventurers.
"I wonder why those mana-beasts have such chaotic mana." Vonde's sentence clicked something in their minds.
All mana-beasts know how to control mana from birth. Unlike humans they practiced mana arts from the first minutes of their lives.
They absorb and use mana subconsciously, while moving, resting and sleeping. But now...
Those mana-beasts, Basilisks to be exact. Had not only chaotic mana, but abnormally high compared to even AA-Class dungeon boss.
"Now that I think about it, they also have strange horns. They are small, but since when do snakes have horns?" Commented Ash.
"Also the nature of mana is dark. In addition to that, they are easy to kill even while having such big mana reserves." Noted Jaron.
"Seems like this dungeon has some surprises in store for us, keep your guards up." Said Fayden with seriousness in his voice.
Elanor's soft expression also turned into a serious one. All of the group continued their exploration, and started walking towards deeper parts of the dungeon.
After walking for around a half hour, they encountered something...
They smelled blood. This smell of iron in the air immediately caught their attention and soon they saw a puddle of blood under their feet.
"This is..." Eleanor covered her mouth from shock.
"Blood and its adventurer's no doubts, those mana beasts don't have red blood." Jaron finished Eleanors words.
Fayden stayed silent and conjured a ball of fire and shot it ahead.
None of them were prepared for what they saw.
Dozens of human corpses were stacked in one place. As if they had a stock of food there...
"Are they really snakes?" Ash asked when he saw the scene.
"Snakes would immediately swallow their meal." From Jaron's words, the group understood that this dungeon's mana-beasts aren't typical snakes at least.
"Technically they are Basilisks... But this is still bizarre." Eleanor recovered from shock. It wasn't the time to cry now.
"We need to bury them." Ash said suddenly.
"Yes." Vonde agreed with his brother.
"No, leave them. We don't have time." Fayden interrupted, not wanting to waste any time.
"I agree with Fayden, we don't have nearly enough time. Maybe when we return we can bury them." Said Jaron to the two brothers.
Ash and Vonde shook their heads. This scene with blood triggered sad memories.
Eleanor looked at them with a complicated look.
"*Sigh* I apologize, let's continue. But before that..." Ash opened mouth and inhaled a lot of air.
Everyone looked confused at him, except for Vonde. Just a few seconds later he exhaled everything he inhaled with ice.
Quickly ice covered human corpses and completely sealed them.
"We will come back later." Ash said and everyone just nodded.
Being already deep down in the dungeon. Every member of the group could feel a big amount of mana coming from one certain route.
It didn't take long for them to realize that it was the boss room. If it wasn't then, that meant there were a bunch of small Basilisks.
"We should first check that place, if it's not something we can take care of. We will immediately return, do all of you understand?" Eleanor asked while glaring at four, especially Fayden and Jaron.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think this one is certainly the boss room. I can feel water particles that way and there is only one being with water in it..." Ash added.
Being someone not entirely normal. He developed a few magical abilities with his knowledge, for him it's nothing special just like other 3 boys.
But in this world, even some proficient water mages wouldn't know about such a way of sensing.
"We need to take a quick peek at that monster. Later we will find a way to attack it." said Jaron in a calm manner, he was sure that with good preparation they would defeat the boss with ease.
"Hah. How can you kids be calmer than me?" Eleanor laughed and earned a chuckle from four.
It seemed that the previous atmosphere was lifted. It didn't feel like they were in an S-Class dungeon filled with dangerous beasts.
"I will provide healing, Ash you being Ice conjurer need to cover us in emergency. Fayden I know you are a good melee fighter, but we are only taking a peek at the boss. Jaron and Vonde will take care of other beasts if they will appear. Understand?" Eleanor took the position of a leader this time, and nobody objected. So they just nodded.
"Then let's go." Group walked towards the boss room, in a special formation.
It didn't take long to reach the boss room, since they were already quite close to it.
"Get ready." Commanded Fayden. Being in front of formation he could sense the boss being close.
Because of the dark environment, they couldn't see much. But they knew they were close to entering the boss room.
Jaron lightened his fire even more to see at least something.
"There's... nothing?" Baffled Eleanor asked.
"It's here..." Four of the group could feel that the monster was somewhere close. But because of the lack of sight they didn't know where exactly.
"This sound..." Ash muttered. He could hear some noises coming from above them.
"It's above us!" Fayden yelled on top of his lungs.
Jaron quickly used his mana strings and grabbed Eleanor quickly taking her with him. Other 3 boys also quickly dispersed.
Just after they moved from that place, Basilisk crashed there.
The crackling of thunder drew the basilisks attention to Fayden, who had conjured twin swords of pure lightning in his arms
The snake hissed and quickly moved around them showing how big its body was.
"It is blocking entrances with its big body!" Said Vonde. Despite lack of sight he could see better than anyone what Basilisk was doing.
Basilisk blocked all the entrances completely surrounding the group with its long and large body.
"Crap, we can't use fire spells here, Vonde you will have to depend on lightning!" Fayden warned.
The basilisk hissed and lunged towards Fayden.
Cursing under his breath Fayden rolled to the side, but not before throwing one of his constructs at the beast.
It hit the scales and dispersed, causing no real damage to it other than blackening the portion a bit.
Charging a thunder spell from his hand, Fayden directed it towards the snake's body, particularly the part that was blocking the exit.
Taking this opportunity the snake targets him.
"Oh come on! Go after someone else for a change!" Fayden retorts, preparing to cancel the spell.
But he never needed to, as an Ice spike hit the beast right in its face, diverting its attention.
Sighing in relief Fayden commented, "Thanks Ash."
"Don't mention it."
A huge bolt of thunder discharges itself from Faydens palm, slightly pushing him back.
The snake responded by curling its body up, thus revealing the entrance.
The spell passed through the opening, although it did graze the snake.
It didn't elicit a reaction from the beast though.
"Attack the eyes, that's its weak spot." Jaron advised everyone.
Ash stomps his foot on the ground, which results in an Ice collar arising from the earth underneath the snake's neck, immobilizing its head.
Jaron uses a combination of wind and lightning magic to create mini hurricanes which keep the body of the snake in check.
Vonde runs up the walls of the room, and jumps over the snake's head, all the while using lightning to coat his fist which he points towards the creature's head, and a stream of thunder accompanies it.
Alas the scales of the beast were strong, and prevented most of the electricity from entering its brain.
All this while, Fayden was forming a simple spear made out of Ice, with lightning coating the construct, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as this spell required his utmost attention.
And when it was done, a mighty lance made of thunder and Ice was in his hands.
By this time, the snake had managed to regain its senses. Yet when it opened its eyes, all it saw was an apparition of blue and yellow heading it's way with the speed of sound.
It could do nothing but watch as the last instants of its life trickled out, and the construct pierced into his eye, right through its brain.
And his body went still, as silence encompasses the area.
"We defeated it?" Eleanor asked. Everyone turned to her, but they were silent.
"What... is going on?" Ash's question surprised Eleanor who was confused.
"The pressure, it's still here." Jaron noted, clearing Eleanors confusion.
"This beast wasn't the boss!" Vonde finally said.
"Makes sense why it was so easy to kill." Fayden whispered.
They felt it now. All the mana that they felt before entering this room, wasn't from that beast.
Now after killing this snake, they could sense mana towards one of the routes, that's where the boss was.
"Let's rest for a bit and replenish our mana before advancing." Jaron advised, and Fayden nodded.
"What if the others are fighting that thing right now? They could die if we are late." Ash protested.
Fayden looked him straight in the eye and responded, "If that basilisk was an underling for the boss, it proves just how much stronger it is. In our current states, our presence there won't help much. Hell one of us may even die. We used a lot of mana in this fight, and unless we get back at least some of it, we have a lesser chance of winning."
"Screw the chances! They might be dying out there! We can all gather mana while moving can't we? We can replenish our reserves on the way there and-" Vonde was cut off as Fayden interrupted.
"Then so be it. If they are dying then so be it. I'm not risking our lives for people we don't even know. And if they are dumb enough to fight the boss without any reinforcements, then its their fault. My goal here is to kill the boss and get all four of us back alive, I am not jeopardizing that for the chance of some dumbass fighting the boss without prior preparation." Fayden was as stubborn as ever on his decision.
"That's....a bit heartless of you." Eleanor spoke for the first time in a while.
Fayden winced and shrugged, "Take it as you will, but I'm not changing my decision."
"Fayden has a point, so does Ash. But going there right now isn't worth it. Even if we do get there, in this state we might not be able to save them. Tell me, would you rather have them die and only see their corpses or would you want to see them die right in front of you where you could have done something only if you had more mana?" Jaron defended Fayden.
"Th-that's..." Vonde stuttered out.
"That's logical." Fayden finished it for him.
"Let's concentrate on refilling our mana-pool now. Without strength we won't last here much." Said Eleanor, boys could only nod and just sat there but didn't let their guard down.
The boys had already refilled their mana-pool, it didn't take long for them to refill mana since they could do it even while fighting.
Unlike Eleanor who needed to sit in lotus and meditate, boys didn't have to sit. They didn't have problems with absorbing ambient mana since they awakened as childs.
And being unfamiliar with mana in previous lifes, made mana more sensible for them.
And when Eleanor was done with meditation, she stood up and nodded at boys.
"Let's get going." With this said group continued their way towards the real boss room.
It didn't take long before they heard noises of battle. Naturally, being in dungeon noises should spread way better than right now. It's another phenomenon that seemed strange for boys.
"I'm almost out of mana!" Group heard some adventurers shouting.
"Me too!" Another one responded.
A group of adventurers were fighting what looked like a multi headed snake.
"Guild leader! What should we do?!"
"We should retreat, I will cover you. I have enough mana to take its attention." Kaspian Bladeheart prepared a long ranged spell and shot it towards Basilisk's eyes.
The beast noticed the spell, but it didn't dodge but took the spell head on.
Basilisk tanked a wind magic spell which couldn't even leave scratch on its scales.
"A Hydra." Ash muttered out in disbelief.
Fayden cursed profanities under his breath, "Out of all mana beasts it had to be a hydra. Just our luck."
The snake hissed and with swift motion swung his tail on Kaspian from above.
Kaspian wasn't ready to dodge the incoming attack, but fortunately for him a mana-string appeared around him and moved him away.
"You did great, guild leader. It would be appreciated if you will leave the dungeon and get help from more adventurers. We will battle with this snake for the time being. Now GO!" Jaron yelled at Kaspain who quickly realized the situation, just nodded and went to exit.
"Look at this big-guy... Aren't you a little too big huh?" came Faydens comment
The Hydra roared at the group, all 5 of its heads spewing acid that could melt concrete.
"Well, fuck."
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