Fall and Rise

Time seemed to slow as John fell into darkness, his heart racing harder than it ever had.

‘John, the coat!’ Senka mentally yelled at him. It took John a second to realize what she meant but once he did, he channeled mana into Stoney Skin. The Evocation settled over him like a wave of mud and John curled into himself right before he slammed into the ground.

15 DMG

The impact drove the air from John’s lungs and broke his concentration, ending Stoney Skin as he rolled down a slight incline away from the light.

64(3) EXP Gained

John groaned as the fading pain flared and he **** himself to his feet, his eyes drifting to the status bars.

‘Down to seventy-nine HP and just over fifty MP. Not great,’ he thought, taking stock of his condition. Then his mind caught up with what happened and he snapped his head around, looking for Rowan.

‘She had to have fallen down here too, right?’ he frantically reasoned, trying to find her amongst the dust and darkness. The light from above was just enough for him to get a hazy idea of his surroundings, an expansive cave with dark tunnels leading away from the large opening he had landed in. But it was far from ideal for locating his ally. Or seeing any enemies readying to strike.

‘John!’ Senka loudly thought to him before becoming softer. ‘Calm yourself. Panicking won’t help anyone.’

John felt Senka’s unseen arms wrap around him, the psychic embrace grounding him and letting his racing mind settle.

‘Right, freaking out isn’t a good thing. What can I do here?’ John thought, mostly to himself rather than to Senka. ‘Arcane Sense to find Rowan, Staff of Invigoration to heal if needed. Send up a spirit to let Beth and Moira know we’re ok.’

‘There’s that impressive brain,’ Senka said fondly. ‘Let’s find the squire and get out of here.’

John nodded and let Arcane Sense activate. The static feeling was as omnipresent as it had been above ground but John focused past it as he searched his surroundings for Rowan.

Skill Level Up: Arcane Sense Lv. 5.

With the sudden increase to the skill’s range, John picked up Rowan’s aura just within his reach. A small amount of his worried tension faded as he steadily moved towards her. Once he got close, he noticed her heath bar was only down about half way.

‘Ok, found her,’ John thought, his eyes slowly growing used to the dim light. ‘Health bar’s steady so that should mean she’s not, like, bleeding out or anything like that, right?’

‘A fair supposition,’ Senka remarked. ‘Bleeding tends to cause persistence damage in games, so I can’t imagine your powers not showing that as a health drop.’

John nodded as he reached Rowan, kneeling down to check her. The only visible injury she had was a scraped cheek, but between his own experience from the fall and Rowan’s less than full health bar and current **** state, John knew she was worse off than she looked.

Sensing nothing close by, John withdrew the Staff of Invigoration and quickly cast Bloom of Life, drawing out the full amount of the staff’s stored mana to reduce the burden on his already drained pool. The healing magic flowed through him, easing the lingering pain away and boosting his HP back to nearly full. Rowan’s health bar regained an eighth, stopping just shy of the two-thirds mark, and her eyes snapped open.

The squire shot up, letting out a restrained groan of pain as she **** herself into a seated position.

“What happened?” she asked in a slightly slurred voice as she twisted her head around before looking up at the opening above them. “Shite, the ground gave out! The Warden!”

Rowan tried to stand, but the lingering damage and uneven ground caused her to lose her balance. John quickly wrapped his arm around her midsection and pulled her towards him. Her soft bust squished against his chestplate and John felt his face grow warm due to the embrace.

The squire let out a squeak and nearly launched herself away from John, her face red enough that John could see it in the dim light.

“Um, thank you for the healing!” Rowan blurted out stiffly, her voice a touch louder than it needed to be. “But we should make haste and get back to the Warden.”

‘Well, she certainly got all flustered being held in your arms,’ Senka remarked with a chuckle.

‘Given the circumstances, I’m just glad she only jumped back instead of punching,’ John thought.

The short interaction between John and Senka gave Rowan enough time to regain some of her composure and her eyes widened as she looked up at the hole above them before harshly glaring at John.

“You wouldn’t happen to have something that can get us out of this mess you made, would you?” she asked in a heated tone.

John opened his mouth to retort, but words failed him for a second. Then with a bit of irritation creeping into his voice, he said, “Okay, that’s somewhat fair, but what was I supposed to do? Just let the shot hit us?”

“The Warden would have been able to protect us,” Rowan shot back.

“If she could, then why did she warn you about getting too far ahead?” John retorted. “Because to me, it seems like Moira’s defensive thing can only cover a limited area. If I let that second shot land where it was aimed, you’d be dealing with a lot more damage than what the fall caused.”

Rowan sputtered for a moment, clearly not expecting his rebuttal. Once she found her voice, she pointed a finger at him. "Well, perhaps if you let the Warden take point, she could have averted this whole mess. You have, what, a week of experience? Lady Brighton has been training her whole life for these sorts of engagements."

'Clearly she has some lingering head trauma,' Senka growled in John's mind. It's not like you pulled rank and made demands as to who would do what.'

Before John could take Senka’s point and utter it to counter Rowan’s argument, a loud metallic crash echoed through the tunnels around them.

"Shit!" John cursed. "Something's down here."

Rowan paled. "And we haven't exactly been quiet. Nor are we ready to fight. My sword's missing and your mana is low."

John had to agree with Rowan’s assessment. Even if he lent her his sword, and tapped the whole amount of extra mana he had in Senka’s vessel and the mana battery, they'd still be at a disadvantage.

The sounds continued to echo around them and John said, "Let's not run with the worst-case scenario just yet. For all we know, it's far enough away for us to just climb out of here."

"We'll need to know its location before we try that," Rowan pointed out.

John opened his Inventory and equipped his goggles before shooting Rowan what he hoped was a smile more confident than how he felt, and said, "Got just the piece of gear for that."

John slipped the goggles over his eyes and activated its Arcane Reveal effect. The darkness suddenly became near blinding as the energy he could detect with Arcane Sense became visible, a kaleidoscope-like fog that flowed all around them. A second later, the brightness dimmed, thanks to Variable Tint letting him actually see.

‘Not that it’s really helping,’ John grumbled as he tried to see anything amongst the chaotic swirl of the ambient mana. ‘Man, I wish Vivian was here. She might have an idea why there’s so much mana flying about.’

John looked down the nearest tunnel, the vibrant mana letting him see that it dipped downwards a few meters in. Nothing stood out there and John turned his head towards one of the other tunnels when he noticed a current of ambient mana being drawn downwards several meters to his left, in an area left obscured by shadows.

"Something weird's happening over there," John informed Rowan in a low, terse voice, his gut instinct leading him to believe whatever was causing that couldn't be good. "I'm going to try and look down.

"Down?" Rowan repeated. "Are you telling me we landed on some underground cliff?"

"Maybe." John shrugged. "All I can see over there is the local mana being pulled down. Could just be going through the floor, but…"

"Best to account and be ready for the worst case," Rowan muttered. "Alright, just be careful. I really don’t want to have to jump down after you."

"I'll keep that in mind," John said as he inched closer to what could be the edge. He bent down and grabbed a loose rock and underhand tossed it into the dark. It dully clacked as it bounced over the floor before the noise it made changed pitch and began to rapidly grow distant.

'That certainly sounds like a drop,' Senka noted.

'Thanks for the observation. I couldn't tell,' John nervously snarked back as he slowly shuffled his way to the edge. He stopped just before the drop where the mana crested before flowing down and peered below.

A solid mass of glowing white with a humanoid shape stood amongst the swirling mana, streams of energy flowing into it. And it was looking straight up at John.

John fired off Observe right as he shot back from the edge, fearing some sort of ranged attack, prompting Rowan to say, “I’m goin’ to assume you saw something down there.”

“Yep,” John breathed out, eyes moving to the Observe display.

“We’re screwed,” John said. “Bosses are not something just two of us can deal with, not with one sword between us and my mana nearly tapped out.”

“So what, we try to run?” Rowan pressed. “If it's that much of a threat, I can’t see us making it far. Especially not down here.”

John found himself agreeing with her assessment. Beyond not having an easy way back up to the opening above them, there was no way of knowing if there were other ways around through the underground. Their attempt to climb out could take so long that the boss could just walk up to them and begin to fight.

“Why is it down here anyway?” Rowan asked. “It’s not one of the ones that were attacking us.”

“Unless it was just chilling out down here for reasons, I think it might have been waiting in ambush up there,” John suggested. “Cannon to soften us up, rush in with the regular troops, then the boss comes in to deliver the final strike if needed.”

Realization lit John’s eyes up. “Which means it might have taken damage in the fall.”

“Unless that prevents it from moving, I’m not sure how that helps us,” Rowan remarked, crossing her arms under her bust. “Even if it’s ready to topple over, we’re not in the best spot to deal with it.”

John couldn’t help but grin, even in the face of such an obstacle. “I think it got either damaged in the fall and had to use most of its power to regenerate itself or it had some kind of **** field that protected it to the same effect. Either way, it might not have the power to move or defend itself. If we don’t try and deal with it, it could recharge and get to us before we can regroup.”

“And how do you propose we attack?” Rowan inquired.

“It might be a bit risky, but if hitting the rocks put the boss in the state it’s in, who’s to say that more won’t get us somewhere?” John replied, pointing up towards the roof above the drop.

---

The dust and noise made it hard for Beth to keep track of everything and she made sure to stay close to Moira. Which turned out to be a wise decision when out of the dust one of the sword drones attacked, thrusting its sword at Beth. Before she could even try to move, Moira pivoted and stepped in front of her, shield intercepting the strike.

With a wordless cry, Moira shoved back the drone’s weapon and slammed her hammer into its body with a horizontal blow, knocking it away.

“Thanks for the save,” Beth said, tightening her grip on Thornbite.

“Defending an ally needs no gratitude,” Moira remarked. “Newman, Donnelly! Are you with us?"

Neither responded to Moira's question and a cold sinking feeling settled into Beth's gut. It was the same that struck her the night her parents died and she nearly buckled under her own weight.

"John, now's not the time to be joking!" she shouted, her voice filled with desperation.

"Gryff, don't lose your focus!" Moira commanded, her own voice hard and cold. "If they need our aid, falling to despair won't help. Neither of us are in control of the barrier, which means Newman is alive and Donnelly… She's too dedicated to fall so easily."

Before more could be said, another wave of attacks came. The spear-wielding drone bounded towards Moira while one of the sword ones bore down on Beth.

'She's right,' Beth bitterly thought as she lashed Thornbite out at the drone, the viney whip catching the machine's forearm. 'John's not going to go down to stuff like this. Not after what we've been through. Got to step up!'

With a harsh cry, Beth wrenched Thornbite back, pulling the drone off balance. She sent a wave of her mana into the ground under it, trapping it in an awkward position.

With one drone occupied for now, Beth turned her attention to the one Moira had protected her from. Its chest bore the crater of the redhead’s hammer blow and its movements were slow and jerky.

Beth glanced back at the duel between Moira and the spear drone, the paladin holding her own against the machine's fluid strikes.

'Lock down the glitching one then the spear dude,' Beth decided as she charged at the target. It tried to swing its sword, but the damage Moira had dealt it left its arm unable to move freely.

Beth slid past it with slicked feet and put her whole weight into a shove against the construct's back. Already unstable on its feet, the drone fell down and, with a quick application of mana, was stuck to the ground.

The clang of metal on metal caused Beth to whip her head towards Moira, the redhead reeling back from the spear drone with a silvery bolt sticking out of the shoulder of her armor.

'Fuck, that archer is still up there. And the cannon. Shit!' Beth thought as she looked up. She could make out the marksman as its arm tracked Moira's movements.

'If that thing hits her just right, it could leave her open,' Beth realized, her feet already moving. 'I've got to take it out!'

Thankfully, the machines above them didn’t seem to consider her a threat as neither archer or cannon moved to watch her. For a second, Beth planned to run and climb up the front of the building but a voice suspiciously like Vivian’s cautioned her against going up right where they stood.

‘Man, hanging around smart people really does change someone,’ Beth thought as she turned down a side street and raced to reach the back of the building the snipers were on. The sounds of Moira’s battle quieted slightly, but the back and forth of spear meeting shield let Beth know she hadn’t failed yet.

At full speed, Beth rounded the corner and jumped, focusing her mana around her feet as she pitched slightly backwards so her feet hit the building’s wall first. She began to scale the building, but being able to stick to walls didn’t make her any more capable of fighting the pull of gravity and she had never tried to run up something this tall.

‘It’ll take me forever to get up there if I have to crawl my way up!’ Beth angrily thought. ‘And it’ll be even slower since I need to hold onto Thornbite and can’t waste focus on just sticking it to my back.’

Before she threw her hands at the facade, an idea popped into her head, one her gut told her could work.

‘I don’t have brains, or some broken magic, or some legacy to live up to,’ she thought as she brought her arm back, ‘but I’m going to use what I’ve got to win this!’

She snapped Thornbite forward, sending the whip upwards. Right as it hit the building, Beth sent a surge of her mana through the weapon, adhering it to the wall. With the whip serving as an anchor, Beth willed it to contract, pulling herself upwards while reversing the effect on her feet, sliding easily upwards.

When she reached as high as she could go, she locked her feet in place and released Thornbite, before repeating the maneuver, slinking her way up the building.

After two more pulls, she reached the roof and took only a second to see where her targets were before launching herself at them.

She didn't have the brains like John or Vivian to make a complex plan, or Aeolia's fighting talents or Senka’s diverse move pool. But she did know just what her powers could do and that had to be enough.

It just had to be.

With a snarling cry, Beth sent a wave of mana across the whole rooftop, robbing it of any friction. Skating freely over it, she picked up speed before slamming into the now off-balanced cannon bot.

Her blow pitched it over the roof's ledge, sending it careening down to the street below. Beth manipulated her mana once more, sticking herself in place right at the edge of the roof and whipping Thornbite at the archer bot.

The construct raised an arm to block and the whip wrapped around the mechanical limb tightly.

"Gotcha!" Beth shouted as she put all her effort into throwing the construct off the roof. The machine made a token effort to resist, but with no grip on the ground, Beth easily slung it into the air, uncoiling Thornbite before gravity pulled it to the ground.

Beth leaned down over the edge to see both the drone and cannon spider lying prone on the street below. Neither looked to be moving, but she wasn’t sure if that meant they were down for the count.

Beth was about to jump off the building, ready to rappel down the side when she became acutely aware of just how much mana she had left.

“Crap, used too much,” she groaned, before looking around the roof for a way down. Seeing a trapdoor near the far corner, Beth trudged towards it. Drained as she was, she could still fight.

She had to.