The center room turned out to be the bottom of a large shaft that led up into eternity. The crystal walls illuminated the shaft as far as we could see until it just became pinpricks in my vision. The room itself was large and wide open like every other caver-like room however the typically flat surface was interrupted by what appeared to be a large round boulder in the center. Standing just inside one of the tunnels our team sat and watched to see if we could spot any movement. The stench was that of rotting flesh, pungent and disturbing. The only time I had ever smelt anything worse was when I had to slide inside a large sewage pipe to break a greas berg. We didn't have the proper equipment and I was new, wanting to impress. Long story short I ended up covered in nasty grease and waste.

  “I don't see any monster's.” Liliandra said. She was covering her nose. Her ears were laid back and tail was drooping. Beastkin had an amazing sense of smell. I had envied that but now I'm happy with my dull regular sense of smell.

  “ I'm trying to prob inside the room with my mana but it's like I'm hitting a wall” Sophia said. “ We are well rested and as prepared as we can be. Let's just go inside. Douge, Liliandra, Rin do you all remember the plan?”

  We all nodded. Based on how our encounters have been going thus far, we figured that this final room would most likely be a Hirumass and devised a plan accordingly. Douge who would be the first to enter will pull aggro and cast his rock armor spell anchoring himself to the ground. Liliandra would immediately start setting up a ritual circle. This one was going to be the most complex one she's created yet. She was tasked with incorporating multiple spells of commands into the ritual circle she could apparently cast a large amount of debuffs and affliction on an enemy however in her current stat they took so much time and mana they were practically worthless. We had figured any debuff or affliction against a Hirumass would be more effective then her casting attack spells. Sophia would remain next to Liliandra defending her while she cast her spells. Everyone agreed that my overclock skill would be a powerful asset however, with its restrictions Douge suggested I don't use it unless someone was in danger of serious bodily harm or death so my main task was to try and freeze and shatter limbs as needed while trying to deal as much damage as I could tell Liliandra finished her spells it was then. At that point Sophia would jump in swapping places with me allowing me to rest while I protected Liliandra for her next set of spells. I could easily keep attacking the main body while protecting her.

  Douge stepped inside and a deep rumbling shook the world around us. The mound in the center of the room started to ungulate. Wriggling as it tried to remove itself. Douge rushed in shield at the ready he let out a bestial roar. A tangible wave of mana splash against me ineffectively. I moved it, loading a water shell into the firing chamber. I could hear Liliandra behind me already starting a chant. The mound erupted sending steaming gore across all of us. The monster stood about twenty feet tall taking on a human appearance. I could see each individual Hiru that made up the mass; their long tentacle appendages linked each other together; some hung off the mass in large groups, giving the creature a sense of tattered rags across its body. The face was featureless, a solid blank face. A mouth appeared like ripping flesh as it roared in challengem Douge cast his rock armor encasing himself. The monster flailed its arms against Douge sending small chips of rocks flying. I began rapid firing icy starts aiming for the right shoulder. My shots hit their mark but didn't penetrate deeply leaving spikes of ice all along its shoulder and biceps Sophia was shouting something but I couldn't.

  Bam!

  I was sent flying with incredible force. My body felt like it was flipping head over heels as I scored through the air. I tried to gain my bearings and through flashes of vision I saw a mass of tentacles chasing after me. I crashed against the wall, the crystal cracking into a spiderweb around my impact. Something inside me snapped as incredible pain racked my body starting from my left shoulder, blood trickled down my arm. The mass of tentacles was seconds away from smacking into me. I created a block of thick ice around me, the mana inside the water shell running out. I switched it to a fire shell, turning Malice into a flamethrower. I melted through my own ice to drop out the bottom. I hit the floor feet first running. I tried to move my left arm but was only met with pain. Something was broken.

  Liliandra finished her first spell sending the familiar mists out around the battle. The mass of tentacles I was quickly closing in on me again. Recoiled as it was pulled back to the main body, the monster screeched out in pain. I immediately rushed back in jumping atop Douges rocky form using it as a spring board. I jumped, forming the flames that still spat out of malice into a thin column of energy. It looked like a straight baton but the air around it crackled and sizzled as it heated up. The monster swiped at me but I didn't falter. I cut down, cleaving the monster's hand at the wrist. As I descended back down I took a passing swipe at the monster's leg.

  The Hirus that formed the hand split apart mid-air landing against the ground with a splat. I could see them already moving back to the main body as it reformed its hand from more Hirus. I cut down as many of the disconnected Hirus as I could before they made it back to the main body. Liliandra cast another spell, this time a thin fog lifted into the air it had a putrid stench that smelled like rotting wood and moss. to go along with its murky green color. I retreated back to Sophia and without a word or complaint about me changing the plan to retreat early she dashed off. I reslung Malice and held my arm, the pain throbbing through my body. Liliandra was focused on her next spell; her typically high-pitched happy voice had more bass as she spoke the words of command. I quickly pulled out one of my school uniform shirts placing it on the ground and standing on it I ripped the shirt in half. It was hard but I managed to tie the ripped shirt together creating a long strip of cloth. I use that to wrap it around my arm and chest, tying it tightly. The pain lessened but didn't disappear as my arm lifted up and stopped uselessly flopping around. I sat and watched the fight for a moment. Sophia was having to defend against a swarm of tentacle running circles around the Monster. Douge wasn't holding up too well . I could see portions of the man below the rocks as he struggled to keep the defensive spell up. It has only been a few minutes since the fight started but everyone seemed to be running low on mana. Liliandra finished her third spell this one was apparently another affliction type spell but unlike the murky fog that was designed to poison monsters this spell was meant to cause a bleeding effect. Liliandra had described it as making the blood so thin that it would seep out of the body. A black mist spread out mixing with the white mist and murky fog all three spells hovered just above the monster slowly raining down droplets of water. The whole scene reminded me of swamps that I had seen in films.

  Drawing malice back out I started shooting at the Hirus that Sophia was cutting away from the main body. Blots of red fire pierce the monster searing flesh. A shield appeared around Douge as Liliandra cast another spell. I could hear her gasp and fall to her knees. She was gasping for air as sweat soaked her fur.

  “I'm out of mana.” She said between gulps of air. “ I over exerted my mana reservoir casting that shield.”

  I nodded and knelt down to help her up. I continued to fire malice as my arm pressed firmly against Liliandra's body. We moved further away from the fight where I set her down.

  “ I'm going to run and stay here until you can move again.” I switched malice to an earth shell with a mental command and created a wall around Liliandra.

  The Hirumass was smaller now as the bodies started piling up all around us. I caught up with Sophia running with her and attacking the tentacles that chased her.

  “ Do you think if you overclocked yourself you could finish this. Liliandra shield gave Douge some more time but he's starting to crack. It's only a matter of time before his defense drops.” Sophia said her breathing was ragged

  “ Maybe. What about you? Why not cast the spell you used to help finish off the demon?” I said. Another tentacle attacked Sophia and I simply cut through it.

  “ This mass is hundreds of smaller Hirus that spell won't hurt them all, maybe a few if they're cloistered close enough.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Okay “ I split away, turning Malice back to the fireshell. Let's see what I can do. I activated Overclock and immediately applied it to Malice. That was a nice upgrade to the skill I just hoped higher levels allowed me to do it more than once a day pretty much. My body swelled with energy. I could feel my bone resetting itself. It still hurts but hopefully it was in better condition. As if sensing the new threat the Hirumass stopped pounding on Douge. Its tentacles stopped chasing Sophia, its full attention focused on me. Word flowed into my mind as mana poured out of Malice.

  “ By Helios grace became the purging flames. Wash over my enemies with the flames of redemption.” The mana formed into a pillar of spiraling flames. It slowly grew larger and larger. I tell the flames touched the monster. Sophia helped Douge escape running back towards Liliandra. The heat in the room started to rise to a sweltering boil as the monster was engulfed in flames. Screeching from the hundreds of Hirus could be heard as they burned alive.

  With the fight over, all four of us sat next to a stairwell that had formed in the center of the room. Liliandra had recovered enough mana and was looking over everyone. Douge wasn't even hurt, Sophia had a broken wrist from a deflected attack.

  “ Why didn't we just let Rin do that from the beginning.” Liliandra asked as she healed my shoulder. I had a broken collar bone and it was sticking out. But it had reset itself and already started to knit back together.

  “ We can't rely on Rin to become super strong and one-shot difficult monster. First off it robs us of experience, second is what would we have done if a second Hirumass showed up and Rins overclock was already used and on cooldown, third it wastes his ammunition so fast when he fights like that and if he runs out he will be pretty much useless.” Sophia said.

  “ I'm right here you know. I wouldn't be useless, it would just uhhh be harder for me to help fight.” I said wincing as an antibacterial gel was slathered onto the open wound

  “ I do agree with you tho. I haven't had time to find out if there's any big disadvantages to using overclock for all I know it could just cause malice to disintegrate then I would really be fucked.”

  “ I guess.” Liliandra said.

  “ Plus I don't want him getting all the credit when we make it out of her alive.” Douge said

  “ So should we start looting all the dead body's?” I asked. Once the Hirumass took enough damage it blew up spreading dead and alive Hirus around the room. The ones that were still alive could barely move so cleaning up was easy.

  “ Let's wait for you to be healed, then you can help.” Sophia said. I made a clicking sound with my tongue. I did not want to dig out hundreds of corpses for crystal and saliva glands.

  It took over an hour for the four of us to harvest all the crystals and salvia glands. After we successfully harvested everything we would carry the body out into one of the tunnels. For their size the Hiru were surprisingly light. Once our gruesome job was done Douge sealed up all the tunnels isolating us in this room. Liliandra's portable bath room had a shower and she was the first one inside while she showered Douge, Sophia, and I worked on a makeshift washer and dryer. Using Douges ability to shape earth we made a simple wash basin filled with water and a small tunnel designed to focus wind onto the wet cloths. Once Liliandra was freshly washed we kindly inform her since she was the first to shower she is on clothes washing duty. Sophia was second and once she was done she got started on dinner. I went last and by the time I was in the water the blood and gore was so caked onto me I had to get Douge to form a small stone to scrape the blood off. We stuck with the same schedule as before for watch duty. We all figured with the three hour shifts everyone could get decent sleep. Yeah it was basically wasting half the day however we all agreed since we had no clue how large this rift was and had no real idea on when we could escape maintaining a relaxed routine should reduce stress and fatigue. I started my shift pulling out the wardrobe like before and sitting on it. Sophia and Douge were fast asleep, however Liliandra was still awake, meditating again. I could feel her soothing aura and it helped calm my nerves. I honestly did know how stressed I was feeling tell some of the weight was lifted. I let my mind drift thinking of ways to improve my combat abilities. I really didn't want to rely on overclock. Another gun would be nice and maybe some more mobility. I jumped when Liliandra sat next to me, having been lost in thought.

  “Liliandra! I thought you were still meditating. I can still feel your aura pressing against me.” It was still there, not as strong but like a faint breeze.

  “ My practice has paid off.” She said and smiled at me. I returned the smile.

  “ Good..you should get to sleep. We are going to go down those stairs tomorrow and we don't know what we'll find.” I said.

  “ Yeah I know but. I like talking to you first. It calms me..I think.” She said her shoulders were slumping down.

  “ I don't see how but I'm glad.” But was I really. I thought to myself.

  “ Hey, tell me a story about your childhood.”

  “ Um no. not happening.” She poured and leaned her head against my shoulder. I knew I should nip this in the bud, not lead her on. It did feel nice for someone to want to talk and be near me. My stomach turned in knots.

  “ Come on, tell me something.” She looked up at me with sweet puppy dog eyes. They didn't affect me but I knew normally in the movies and shows the guy cracks and gives in so I did.

  “ Okay but once I'm done you have to go to sleep “ she was nodding her tail, swishing happily back and forth.

  “ Have you ever jumped across the chasm in the city?” I asked

  “ Chasm what chasm?” She tilted her head

  “ You know the place where all the vehicles fly through.” Her face lit up.

  “ Oooh you mean the traffic ways yeah of course.”

  “ We'll. Have you ever taken a maglock and jumped from building to building across the chasm? Running through tight hallways of residential and commercial areas.” She shook her head, not talking and waiting for me to continue.

  “ When I was maybe twelve I stole my dad's personal maglock. He needed it to get to and from work and was pissed when he found out. Well some of my friends and I went out to the local tree block where there was an opening to the chasm to test how brave we were. We all took turns with the maglock running up to the edge ready to leap. It was really stupid now that I think about it.” I said

  “ Did you jump?” She asked, interrupting me. I just chuckled.

  “Yeah I was the only kid brave enough I dropped maybe sixty floors and ended up in the slums. I had caught myself with the maglock on a power line but was too scared to go back out and climb up so I just sat there crying. A nice adventure named Paul rescued me.” I said

  “ That was nice of him” she said

  “ Yeah it was, then he told my dad and I got grounded. All in all a fond memory “ It wasn't a fond memory and the adventure wasn't even Paul he was just some dick who saw me make the jump then he tried to extort my father for some cash. I gritted my teeth remembering the whole event.

  “ Now go sleep, we won't want you passing out while you're on watch the other night.” She pouted but got up and walked away.

  While I waited on my shift I looked through my stats that fight had given me another level going from level ten to level eleven. The levels were coming at a steady pace and I wondered if I would continue to level up like this or if I'd hit a plateau.I distributed my stats I simply dumped more stats points into spirit bringing it from twelve to fourteen.

  It didn't feel like long before Sophia was awake coming to relieve me of my shift. I was drinking mud. It was supposed to be coffee from a MRE but it really just tastes like mud. It even shared a similar texture.

  “ Hey.” Sophia sat down next to me and I offered her my cup. She took a sip and made a face that said. Did you really just give me something that could kill my mother? I just laughed.

  “ It tastes like mud doesn't it?” she nodded, wiping away the small amount that stuck to her lips.

  “ I'm assuming you want to talk to me about something?” I said

  “ Yeah, is it that obvious?” I nodded “ Today when you cast that tornado of fire why did you chant a spell.”

  “ It just came to mind. It really flowed off the tongue.” She just sat there thinking. Why did I say that in fact since getting my neural implant removed. I've had random ideas and phrases popping into my head. Sophia and I just sat there and I stifled a yawn. I was waiting for her to continue the conversation but she seems to have no interest in it.

  “ You should go to sleep now.” She said, I simply nodded in reply covering my mouth as I yawned again heading off to bed