章節 229: Horrors of the dungeon (4), intermission
Brigitteʼs warning comes much too late as she slams into us without holding back. Brigitte is a giant, fully armored woman. Her running speed is slow but the sheer momentum she generates by moving all that weight rivals that of a charging elephant. The door that has been moving at a snail's pace is suddenly flung open and we all stumble out.
Larissa and Clive dart out behind us as the door already begins to close again. The angler fish doesn't fit through the door but seeing as it can phase through the ground, it can probably go through walls as well.
However, instead of continuing to rush for the door, the angler fish simply watches us through the closing entrance before turning around and returning to the ground. Seems it can't leave the room.
"Did anyone manage to snag anything?"
"Yup, look at this gorgeous pair of bracelets! Aren't they great?"
Savi is triumphantly waving around the treasure she managed to make off with during our escape. I must say, those bracelets are out of this world.
"Are they enchanted?"
"Let me try them on! As a healer, I need to be equipped the best so I can keep you guys from dying."
Larissa snatches the bracelets from Saviʼs hand and slips them on before anyone can stop her. Savi looks absolutely pissed off but Larissa has a point. Unless the bracelets are particularly useful for attacking or perfectly match one of our builds, they should go to her. Healers are a teamʼs lifeline after all.
As the bracelets settle around Larissaʼs wrists the various crystals embedded into them begin to glow enchantingly. The mesmerizing spectacle attracts everyone's gaze. I wonder what enchantments this bracelet has.
Suddenly the glow intensifies and the bracelets begin to rattle on Larissaʼs wrists. Then, Larissa suddenly falls over and lands on her knees with her palms flat against the dungeon's floor. While we all look at her questioningly, Cliveʼs face suddenly turns dark.
"The bracelets, they..."
"I'm stuck! I can't get up! I can't take these things off! Help me, quick!"
Before Clive can finish his sentence, Larissa begins to scream hysterically. As a healer, she is usually the most protected and we take great care of her. Suddenly being unable to get up seems to scare her to an unusual degree.
I take a closer look at her hands that are pressed against the ground and see that the bracelets have partially fused with the ground. This isn't good.
Larissaʼs body begins to glow as she tries to break whatever curse or enchantment is stopping her from taking off the bracelets. However, the glow surrounding her body suddenly begins to move toward the bracelets only to be consumed by one of the crystals on them.
"Stop using any kind of skill! The bracelets will only grow stronger and more difficult to deal with if you do!"
Clive and I realize that these bracelets are a perfect trap. They restrict movement and consume the power of any skills used by the wearer to strengthen themselves. Clive begins to talk some sense into Larissa while I rummage through my bags for anything useful.
"Um, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you might want to look over here for a moment."
Brigitte is facing the corridor ahead of us and her voice betrays her anxiety. Three figures are approaching us at a steady pace. Some kind of fox kin guarded by two pangolin kins.
"Based on their positions, the fox is a caster and the pangolins are either defenders or vanguards."
I say this less to tell everyone and more to calm myself down and prove to myself that we've got this situation under control. Clive readies another flame cone charge attack and responds to me with words that seem to similarity matter more to himself than us.
"Got it. Take out the caster first and finish off the rest after."
"I'll try to give you some cover with my shuriken."
"You handle this while I cover Larissa."
I briefly wonder where the twins are and what they are doing. However, we have an enemy ahead and they are probably looking for an opening or watching our backs in case something comes from the other side of the corridor.
When Clive is ready to charge, he gives me a barely perceptible nod and I release a dozen shuriken targeting the pangolin kins.
Shortly before the shuriken hit the two pangolin kins, Clive erupts forward with a burst of speed that is aimed straight through the gap between the two defenders. However, this is where shit begins to go wrong.
The pangolin kins don't even attempt to stop Clive and cock back their staffs with a large metal orb at the end, readying a crushing attack.
Clive zooms past them and they release their swings targeting his back. My shuriken harmlessly clang against their scales but I'm not too worried. They shouldn't be able to reach Clive with their swings before he leaves their reach.
Turns out I should have been worried. The fox kin raises its robed sleeve, revealing a delicate hand that forms an open palm facing Clive. Hovering a few centimeters before the palm is a glowing magic circle.
As Clive advances, while guiding a spinning cone of flames in front of him, the magic circle grows bigger and forms a slowly spinning shield before the fox kin. A caster type it may be, but the fox kin possessing barrier magic changes everything.
Usually, casters are a type of fighter that uses spells to attack over a distance or provide utility like buffs or healing and many more. That makes them prime targets since they are usually in the back line and don't excel in defense.
However, if barrier magic becomes involved it becomes the exact opposite. Casters then turn into hard-to-kill targets and are usually kept until last to finish off. The tricky thing in this situation is that casters with barrier magic are logically positioned in front. This fox kin on the other hand was positioned in the back. The most likely explanation for this is that the dungeon had arranged this to trick us.
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djarcher
djarcher My first book, Heir of Yggdrasil, is now available on Amazon as an e-book, paperback, and hardcover. If you want to support me as an author or get yourself a nifty physical copy then please check it out. The book is published under the name Djarcher Writes. If you see it published under any other name it's pirated.
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