Before them, the narrow passage finally opened into a vast chamber bathed in a much brighter light. The hall of rock was immense, nearly the size of the academy's coliseum, with a ceiling lost in shadow high above a web of natural stone bridges and arches. The structures crisscrossed in every direction, connecting dozens of tunnels on several different levels in a large vertical maze.
In the corner of his vision, Seth spotted a group of three Elementals. The closest was a hulking figure of granite and obsidian; its torso, a crude amalgam of boulders, hovered inches above the floor and emanated a low, grinding hum. A perfectly spherical stone served as its head while two jagged limbs of rock floated beside it, each bound to the body by a shimmering strand of aether.
The two other Elementals were both formed from translucent water that spiraled upon itself like miniature whirlpools. Unlike the Earth Elemental, their limbs and heads were fully formed and attached, and they slid across the cavern instead of hovering, leaving trails of water in their wake.
Seth mentally went through his father's encyclopedia.
The one made of rock was something in the same family as Golems: some kind of tank that was supposed to get the attention of the enemy and handle all the hits. The two in the back, the water ones, were likely a mix between casters and healers.
Through Link, Seth could feel a slight tingling of Danger Sense in Nightmare's body. Without hesitation, he moved Colossus back inside the teardrop necklace to keep an element of surprise, ready to bring him out once the clash began.
'We won't use Beastmaster Rage if possible,' Seth said. 'I'm pretty sure we can win without it.'
'We sure can,' Nightmare answered before disappearing into Illusionary Emptiness and slipping to the side.
Seth filled the grooves of Night Veil, then dashed forward while using Huntbound Rush. The moment the Elementals noticed him, the two water ones reared back and the earth one surged forward to slam its fists onto the ground with a deafening blast.
A line of jagged rock spikes tore through the cavern floor, erupting directly toward Seth and forcing him to throw himself to the side. The moment they shot past, the dark mist of Night Veil billowed from his outstretched hand and engulfed the chamber in a thick gloom.
Without missing a beat, he circled the large Earth Elemental while casting Intermediate Identify in quick succession on all three foes.
The golem-like creature roared in frustration, blindly bashing the ground to send jagged rocks flying randomly around it.
Seth slipped past the Earth Elemental, his eyes set on the casters in the back. Nightmare attacked first, pouncing at the left Water Elemental. Through their bond, Seth felt the direwolf's fangs sink into the creature's water form; it was like biting into cold flesh, but softer.
Wasting no time, Seth followed his partner's ambush. The spectral, skeletal fist of Phantom Punch materialized around his arm, glowing with an Undead teal light. He drove it into the other Water Elemental in an explosive spray, obliterating half its torso from shoulder to hip.
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The Earth Elemental spun and let out a roar. The sound echoed from the walls and filled both Seth's and Nightmare's ears, dragging their bodies against their will toward the rock-like beast.
Colossus immediately moved out of the teardrop necklace and cast his own taunting spell, hitting all three Elementals before quickly following up with Quartz Armor and Desert Aegis.
The brown aether enveloped Seth and Nightmare as they dashed toward the Earth Elemental bound by its spell. Fists and teeth screeched against the creature's stones, leaving barely a scratch, until Nightmare used Shadow Bite a heartbeat later. The black cloud ate its way through the armor of rock, all while watery arrows and concussive blasts hammered Colossus's armored carapace behind them.
The scorpion still held its ground, keeping the two damage dealers occupied while Seth and Nightmare were forced to attack the unbreakable Earth Elemental. An instant later, both taunt spells almost ended at the same time, freeing everyone.
The Water Elementals immediately turned into puddles and slid a few dozen feet away. Then, like fountains, water spurted from their bodies and began to regenerate the parts that had been damaged during the clash.
'Let's focus on the left one first,' Seth said. 'We need to kill it before they can heal themselves again.'
Seth and Nightmare charged forward while Colossus followed, the Earth Elemental right on his tail. Without breaking stride, Nightmare glanced over his shoulder and cast Chains of Darkness. A shadowy wolf erupted from his maw and slammed into the Earth Elemental, ensnaring it in a net of black, thorny vines that dug into its rocky hide and slowed it down.
The direwolf then used Mantle of Terror to lower all their foes' attributes and in the next blink appeared behind the closest Water Elemental with Shadow Step and bit down on its hip. Seth followed, Iron Fist's stone spreading around his arm as his gauntlets bashed into its liquid-like body. Behind them, the Earth Elemental raised its hands, and a giant boulder formed between its palms. Almost simultaneously, Seth saw a spear of pressurized water hurtling toward them from the second caster.
Seth glanced at Colossus—the scorpion immediately understood what he needed to do.
With a thunderous hiss, a storm of sand erupted from his body, swirling outward to wrap Seth and Nightmare in a protective dome. A heartbeat later, both attacks crashed into the barrier; the spear splattered into nothingness, while the boulder shattered on impact, shards of rock ricocheting off the churning wall of sand.
Seth smiled, he and Nightmare pressing their assault. The direwolf's fangs tore through the Water Elemental's neck while Seth's stone fists buried themselves in its head. With a final splash, the Elemental's form collapsed, dissolving into a puddle of inert water; a single blue crystal dropped from where its chest had been a second earlier.
After spinning around, Nightmare immediately dashed toward the remaining Water Elemental. Colossus moved to intercept the Earth one, which had just broken free of the direwolf's spell.
With a snarl, Nightmare cast another Chains of Darkness to hinder the creature of rocks' movement and to give the scorpion some breathing room, then he leapt out of the Water Elemental's shadow. Sensing the direwolf's Well nearing its bottom, Seth pulled aether out of the Fine Storing Ring at his finger and pushed it through Link to replenish his partner's reserves before drawing some for himself to cast Phantom Punch once again.
Just as Nightmare tore a gaping hole in the Elemental's side, Seth joined the attack. His fist became a meteor of crackling teal aether, crashing into the creature and blasting it apart. Its beaststone clattered to the ground like the first. Both Seth and Nightmare then turned to face the final foe, who was currently locked in a brutal melee with Colossus.
Spikes of rock jutted out from the ground and struck Colossus's carapace, causing the scorpion to screech in pain. The Elemental's arm then hardened, and a sheath of jagged stone grew over it as the creature swung the newly formed club down in a crushing blow.
Without hesitation, Seth let instinct take over and Shadow Stepped beneath the descending weapon to cross his gauntlets over his head. The stone-clad limb slammed into Iron Fists with a thunderous crack, the impact rippling through the cavern like a shockwave. Partially deflected by Seth, the strike traveled past him and smashed into the ground with enough residual force to splinter the cave's floor.
Seizing the opening, Seth immediately rushed forth and unleashed a barrage of punches that hammered the Elemental's head left and right. A second later, Nightmare lunged in and used Shadow Bite to melt through the creature's stone, creating weakened spots for Seth's follow-up strikes. It took them another half a minute of coordinated strikes, but in the end, with a final, synchronized assault, they shattered the Earth Elemental's chest and caused it to crumble into a lifeless pile of rubble.
Breathing heavily, Seth looked at Nightmare and Colossus and smiled. They had just taken care of three Mid-Iron beasts, and none of them had sustained an injury. Even if Nightmare didn't want to acknowledge it, the reality was the one who'd made that possible was the three-tailed scorpion. His taunt spell, his shield that countered any ranged attacks, and above all Desert Aegis, which boosted the Toughness of the trio significantly, would've made every one of their past hunts feel like child's play.
Without anyone to protect her, even Elena wouldn't have been able to face those three Elementals alone, Seth realized. I'm slowly turning into a one-man squad with the Beastmaster subclass.
'Identify us instead of taking all the credit,' Nightmare grumbled after reading Seth's thoughts through Link. 'One-man squad… pff, ridiculous.'
'Oh, you know what I meant,' Seth retorted. He rolled his eyes before casting Intermediate Identify on all three of them.
Seth's attention was drawn to Huntbound Rush and Beastmaster Rage, which he knew had both increased in quality during the skirmishes with the combatants from the Bridan Empire. Anger certainly has a benefit for him in terms of spell-crafting.
'Those were too easy. We should try to go for High-Irons,' Nightmare said after going through the attributes he had gained. ''
Seth pressed his lips together as he picked up the palm-sized brown crystal from the pile of rubble that had been the Earth Elemental a minute earlier. 'It'll be tough to choose our targets in those tunnels… but we can give it a try.'
'Great!' Nightmare exclaimed before facing Colossus. 'You hear that, Small Bite? You'll get stronger in no time!'
'Yeah!' the scorpion answered, clicking his mandibles in delight. 'No one in our family will ever be hurt again after that!'
'Family?' Nightmare tilted his head. 'We're a pack, not a family.'
'No. We're family.'
'A pack.'
As their bickering carried on, a genuine smile touched Seth's lips. He looked toward the dark, yawning mouth of the next tunnel ahead. Deep inside his chest, his core thrummed in response to the challenges waiting for them. It was hungry.
And Seth couldn't agree more.
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Thank you so much for reading!
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21 25!! advanced chapters on !