Bab 49: In The Walls!

"Un! Get the door! Everyone else, cover him!" Clay's voice carried over the sounds of their battle.

Exile cursed as he spun to meet the mobs, pressing their group from the rear. Everyone closed in to prevent any blind spots as they deflected any attacks aimed at Old Un. As the indigo door turned transparent, there was a shout to Exile's left.

When he glanced over in that direction, he witnessed Desa disappearing amongst motes of light. 'That's two down already.' Exile grit his teeth as two hammers struck his shield. 'This is not looking good. There's only four of us left and we have not even set foot inside the tomb yet.'

He did not see who picked up Desa's orb. But he was certain that someone would have. They carefully backed up until they passed through the now transparent, indigo barrier. Exile stared at the Lost Souls to see if they could follow them.

Luckily, that did not appear to be the case. They pounded on the barrier with heavy blows. All to no avail. Clay heaved a sigh of relief from somewhere behind Exile when he saw that they were safe.

"Damn! Burri and Desa... if only they lasted a little longer." Clay kicked the wall of the passage as his fist trembled. His eyes rounded on Exile, who was still staring at the mobs. "So, you've definitely been inside a tomb then?"

Exile sighed as he heard the question. "You could say that, but it was totally different. I have no idea what this tomb has in store for us. We should be prepared for anything. Don't just rely on my past experiences."

"Care to share them with us? So we at least have an idea of what to expect?" Clay raised an eyebrow as he stared at Exile.

Exile thought about it for a moment. He rubbed his chin as he considered how much he should tell them. 'I should just tell them what they need to know for now. Clay probably already knows that I gained a special reward. But just because he was willing to share what he will get, that does not mean that I have to do the same.'

Exile took his time and explained the trials that he had experienced before. The others wore dubious expressions as they listened to his story. It took exile roughly thirty minutes to go through it from start to finish. Naturally, he excluded the information he gained from Allevia.

"So, what you're saying is. We're screwed?" Clay shook his head as he wondered if he had let his greed get the better of him.

"Not necessarily. The trials from here on out should return us to peak condition once we complete them." Exile glanced along the path that led away from the indigo door that had now solidified.

"If that's the case then we may still have a chance." Clay scratched his cheek as he considered the risk. "Ah! We're here now so we may as well continue. Alright, everyone. You heard what Exile said. Be on your guard and if we come across similar areas we'll do what he suggested."

Everyone agreed with Clay's assessment. There was a bit of shuffling as the party prepared to set off. Needless to say, they were feeling quite anxious. Not even Exile held out much hope that they would face the same trials.

Soon after they set off, they came across a split in the passageway. Exile groaned. This meant they would have to face separate trials just like before. 'What will they have in store for us this time?' Exile raised an eyebrow as he glanced at each passageway.

'There's only four of them. Hass the tomb adjusted to the amount of players that have survived?' Exile felt that they had discovered some important information. If the Tombs adjusted to how many players were left inside, then would that not mean that they would be more difficult the larger the party?

He could be wrong of course. There may be challenges with better rewards if more people survived until the end. The group split up while taking one passageway each, Exile took this opportunity to spend his spare stat point in endurance. With a determined expression, he raced down the passageway. Attempting to reach the end as quickly as possible.

'What the hell!' Exile suddenly jumped to the side as a blade swung at him from out of the wall beside him. The sudden attack had taken him by surprise. As he glanced towards the wall he noticed the arm of a lost soul had broken out of it. At the same time, he heard the sounds of the walls around him beginning to crumble.

Exile gritted his teeth as he realised that he had been surrounded. He was glad that he followed his own advice, and was prepared for the unexpected. Loud groans filled the passageway as the Lost Souls pulled themselves out of the walls. Excel quickly counted his mind. 'one... five... nine...' All in all, he counted fifteen Lost Souls, and more were coming by the second!

Exile cursed under his breath, his eyes darted from enemy to enemy as he tried to form a plan. 'There's no way I can fight all of them. I'm going to have to try and force my way through. I hope the others can make it past this.

Exile jumped forward while bashing with his shield. The sound of bones cracking beneath the blow made him smile. He swung his axe wildly from side to side, as he kicked the enemy in front of him.

His health took a dip as damage started to pile up. Exile grimaced as he used his shoulder to bash against the enemy in front of him. The Lost Soul tumbled over, taking a few others with it to the ground. Exile leapt over the bodies and sprinted past the new enemies that were still clamouring to escape from the walls.

His heart was racing as he glanced over his shoulder. The mobs were quickly recovering and were about to give chase. Adrenaline coursed through Exile's body as he noticed a soft indigo glow coming from somewhere up ahead.