A quick Shield blocked another elemental attack, but Wyn felt trapped. The Cliff Gecka on his left wasn’t particularly strong, but it was annoyingly attacking everyone in the group at range. It was of the ice element and felt like concentrated blasts from the floor rather than a monster. To his right, his current opponent swiped at him with a strong foreleg, and Wyn couldn’t move his shield fast enough to block it despite having Speed Up active. He rolled into the hit and was knocked onto his back in the snow.

  Nothing felt broken, but definitely bruised. Though it would be worse if he just laid on the ground.

  The foot-high snow was hindering the group both with advancing in the floor and fighting. His speed skill hardly mattered to be able to reposition, as every step required extra energy to force his boots through the snow. The only benefits his skill offered was his increased reaction time and mental processing. And only his upper body moved faster, though with multiple enemies around it wasn’t fast enough.

  At the start of the fight when he realized how dangerous the enemies were going to be, he used nearly all of his resources to try and mitigate their advance - placing a Wellspring along with Web in an area to hold them back, as well as Feeble and Decay. The Feeble activated his Chaincast and doubled, though even that wasn’t enough with nine strong enemies. The traps didn’t work too well on the snow, either, though any advantage was helpful.

  Individual Cliff Geckas themselves weren’t overly difficult but they faced nine of them in a large pack, with three different elements. Tasha was busy, constantly blocking magical attacks. Flying just above the fighting group so she could maneuver herself where needed, but even she couldn’t cast Shell in quick succession to protect everyone. Her neutral Calling, Darb-Aki, was among the others helping fight off the group of Geckas. Darb-Aki was more a fighting combatant similar to a Rogue or Duelist. The human-like being average human height, bald, and with two arms and legs, it had green skin, sharply pointed ears, and large yellow eyes too big for its face. It also wore thin armor that looked like leather, though Wyn honestly couldn’t tell the exact material. Itt was incredibly fast, wielding two magical curved swords that it slashed with ease.

  Unfortunately the summoned creature had the same difficulty with the snow as the rest of them. The snow made footing near impossible, making movement difficult and decreasing their attacking power. Not being able to pivot lessened how much power someone had to strike out with a weapon.

  Everyone had trouble except for Lucy. Since her class was designed to be more powerful as she got hurt, she quickly became both their main damage dealer and front line defender. The Geckas shredded her arms and legs, and occasionally hit her so hard she would cough blood, but both Wyn and Tasha healed her enough to keep her on her feet while still being injured.

  Wyn initially felt bad but then realized that was just her class feature. If she was used to it, then that was enough.

  Marcy was flying overhead near Tasha and doing the most damage along with Lucy. She imbued each arrow with an elemental spell, hitting the Cliff Geckas with strong attacks when they weren’t in close proximity to an ally. She took down two of the Geckas before disaster struck.

  Wyn was heavily relying on John’s aura to boost his physicality, and was just barely managing the Gecka he was engaged with. Cedric suddenly called for help as two Geckas pushed past the others and rushed him. Wyn ran as fast as he could through the snow, suddenly wishing he had a teleport ability, when he was slammed in the side with a crack of lightning.

  His vision blurred while he froze in place, stunned from the magical hit. His gear protected him from a fair amount of damage but he still felt the effect throughout his body. It was as though all control over his muscles ceased and he locked in place. He couldn’t even call for help.

  One of the Geckas veered off course and ran to him, though Cedric realized what was happening and intercepted it with a blast of lightning. He ignored the other enemy closing in on him to try and hit the monster going for Wyn. Thankfully, for Wyn’s sake, he succeeded. The monster was blown to the side while yellow lightning visibly coursed over its hide. Unfortunately for Cedric, he was left exposed.

  The Wizard activated his circlet, creating three copies of himself. The Gecka tackled one of them, causing it to dissipate. Cedric began to run back towards the group along with the other illusory copy of himself, yelling for help. Before anyone could react, the Gecka bounded across the snow and knocked the real Cedric down. It was an unlucky hit for Cedric that it chose right, and the monster had the Wizard pinned to the ground. It raked its front paw across Cedric once, causing him to howl in pain.

  Wyn was horrified to watch his friend be attacked by the monster, though he could feel his body start to listen to him again. His movements were slow and jerky, and he still couldn’t react quick enough to do anything.

  A beam of white light from the sky pulled his attention, slamming into the Gecka that was attacking Cedric. The light wasn’t like the snow, but rather ethereal and pure magic, glowing with an aura that was thick and dense. The creature howled at the hit but stayed on its legs, turning its attention up while the beam continued its assault. The monster cried and fell to the ground as the beam bore a hole through its body.

  Tasha flew down close to the monster and kept her wand pointing at it as the beam of divine magic dwindled and stopped. She then hovered above Cedric and started to heal him while having him drink a healing potion.

  Wyn calmed down and began moving again. At least Cedric would be healed. He turned back to the main fight to help them before a Gecka smacked him across the head. The world turned upside down as the snowy landscape turned to the grey sky, and once again his vision was shaken.

  Jerking his head up, he realized the same Gecka Cedric hit was recovered enough to keep attacking, though barely. It was bleeding heavily from a large shallow hole on its side that slowed it down but didn’t kill it. Wyn had no idea just how resilient these monsters were, but he wouldn’t take them for granted again. He pointed his sword at the monster and decided to finish it off.

  “Fire Blast.”

  The monster melted under the magical attack, giving one final moan of pain before going silent and dying. Wyn kept the attack going a few more seconds to be sure, then stopped it with a huff.

  He had traded out his one attacking spell with something possibly more beneficial, and was glad he did. The Aqua Blast he had before wouldn’t be as helpful with the elements more commonly found. So changing it was an earlier priority.

  As the Cliff Geckas started to die, the balance of the fight slowly shifted to the group’s favor. They were able to kill the last of the enemies, but it required serious effort. Lucy was still battered, John was spent on mana and fatigued, Marcy used nearly half of her arrows, Tasha used two mana potions on herself and a healing potion on Cedric, Cedric used a mana potion and Wyn was nearly spent of mana, too, deciding to drink a potion after the fight. That didn’t factor in the resources spent on item charges they typically tried to save for bosses or champion groups.

  “Maybe we should take a few minutes to rest,” John said. “That was brutal.”

  “It was for me,” Lucy said. “You stood there all stoic in your fancy armor and shield while I was tossed around like a wolf pack’s fresh kill. Though, yea… I wouldn’t mind a breather.”

  “You weren’t the only one injured,” Marcy said. “Cedric, are you alright?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Cedric said. He moved his magical left arm in tandem with his right, rotating it and flexing his wrists and fingers while his scepter floated in the air beside him. “I’m healed. As much as I can be.” He put his hands on his hips and took deep breaths while looking at the sky, trying to calm himself.

  “Let’s rest when we get to the temple,” Tasha said. “I want out of this snow and we need better footing. The information parchment said the temple had better grounds to move about, so we’ll be better off than fighting here again. We’ll move quickly.”

  John had a look of concern on his face but Wyn was more agreeable. Tasha wasn’t wrong. If anything, it was more impressive she was being so bold making a decision and sticking to it despite her disagreeing with the others. Especially John. But no one argued with her, and they soon returned to their formation.

  Whether they wanted to hear it or not, Tasha was right. So onward they continued.

  The valley stretched up and onward, and the snow felt less deep every few minutes they ascended. They encountered another blizzard trap, though it was strange, coming from the side to push them to the mountain at their right. Because of the angle it made for a tough and heavy but temporary passage, without any monsters seemingly around. John and Wyn each escorted one of the others across it using their shields to block whatever of the icy wind possible, which meant they had to traverse the section three times each. It was only about fifty feet wide, but Wyn was exhausted at the end of it.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Still, he pushed on. There was no stopping now. They had a goal, and he wanted to help accomplish it.

  Thankfully the journey lasted only a half hour more, as large rock structures connecting the two mountains and adorning the area in various monuments and structures began to appear.

  “Thank the gods,” John said. He stepped over to the left mountain and sat underneath a large rocky overhang. It looked like a frame for a doorway directly into the mountain. He immediately dropped his shield and rummaged through his pack, likely looking for food and water.

  “Yes, now we can take our break,” Tasha said. She moved beside John and sat next to him. She stared at the ground before closing her eyes.

  Wyn understood that look. That emotional heightening and return to normal when resting, and the exhaustion that comes along with it. He’d experienced many times. Still, he was proud of Tasha’s leadership. She’d been doing an excellent job, and this was only her first climb. Prior to the week she expressed how anxious she was about the responsibility of leading them, but Wyn knew she would do well. There was a drive inside her that pushed her to be great, even if she didn’t realize it.

  Marcy and Lucy stood watch while Wyn took the chance to follow John’s lead to drink some water and eat a little food. His mana was in good shape. It was his body that was already tired.

  He was instantly jealous of not having any physical enhancements like the other melee-focused classes. Maybe there was a solution outside of naturally improving his body with training. But if there was, he didn’t know about it. Not yet, at least.

  After twenty minutes of rest, the group was ready to continue. Marcy warned them that the new, stronger enemies of the floor had been patrolling and within her vision, but never came close enough to warrant an action. They were called Fodakas, and Wyn was strangely looking forward to seeing and fighting them. They were humanoid and deadly, similar to the Ashen Warriors from last month. Except more powerful in almost every way. Their magic was stronger, physically they were bigger, they had better senses, were faster, and their weapons deadlier. They were also far more durable, as their skin was more like hide and they had a mild regenerative ability that kept them fighting when a normal creature would be slowed down dying.

  Since the guild trials, though, Wyn wanted to push himself. He realized how conservative he was being and knew he and the group could handle themselves with a higher challenge. This was the opportunity to prove that.

  Together they moved to the nearest entrance of the temple courtyard. It was still cold and the sky grey, but the ground only had the slightest layer of snow still lightly falling from the sky. Wyn’s footing was far better, and he felt more secure on the cold but firm ground.

  A long but thin rock wall lined the temple grounds, being about waist high and seemed to be in decent condition. It was a stark contrast from the snowy, uphill mountain valley to the flat and spacious temple area. Wyn could tell there were plenty of potential trapped paths or areas where enemies could hide. They’d need to progress cautiously.

  The group went mostly single file to try and stay hidden. Some of the guilds reported it was entirely possible to sneak past the area all the way to the boss, but they didn’t think they could avoid every obstacle in their way. Marcy would try and avoid some if possible, but they’d engage as needed.

  Marcy abruptly stopped and held a hand out for the others to stop, then ducked close to the outer wall immediately after passing it. The others did the same, hoping to stay hidden. A series of clicks and clacks came from a path ahead of them. This part of the floor was quieter than the loud arctic wind, and the environmental sounds were picked up far easier.

  The clicks grew louder and Wyn’s heart raced. Was that the Fodakas communicating together? It was a strange and eerie sound.

  Suddenly Marcy stepped out and fired an arrow ahead of them. “We’ve been spotted!”

  John stepped beside Marcy, raising his shield and sword to fight. Wyn elongated his weapon to a spear and gave himself some room. They were nestled near the entrance where there was plenty of room to move, with the outer rock wall on their right and taller stone walls with open corners and crevices to their left.

  Marcy backpedaled as she shot another arrow, and Lucy replaced her. One of the Fodakas rushed John and slammed into his shield with a forceful swing of a one handed axe. The weapon bounced off harmlessly but John needed a second to recover from the hit, knocking him back to his heels. He had to take a step back to regain his footing.

  Another of the creatures flew forward and barreled into Lucy as she was thrown to the ground in a tackle. She grunted and let out a war cry as she started uselessly punching the creature from the ground. The monster was taller, bigger, and more muscled than her, and held her down in place with a knee while it raised a large hammer to strike her.

  A blast of lightning knocked it off of her, and Lucy stood up to fight it on equal footing. A third Fodakas flew overhead on slim, translucent wings, and it held a gnarled and short stick in its hand that it pointed at their back line.

  A large circle of magic formed in front of the wand and Wyn leaped back and threw up a Shield over him. A swirling ball of multicolored magic fired as fast as an arrow and slammed into Wyn’s barrier, both shattering and dissipating.

  “Go, Wyn!” Tasha said, suddenly behind him. “We can handle this one!”

  Wyn looked ahead and saw that John and Lucy were actually struggling against their enemies. Despite their information parchments stating these monsters were strong tier two enemies, they felt more like what a tier three monster might be. And they weren’t even bosses or champions. John had his Focus skill active but not his Squire Aura, and Lucy was already injured enough to activate her Fury skill.

  Using Speed Up, Wyn bolted forward and decided to help Lucy. John could defensively hold his own, but Lucy was a bit more reckless. He used Flash as he got close, and the monster blinked its large, yellow eyes quickly, grunting in pain. Lucy and Wyn used the opportunity to slash and stab the monster respectively, landing several critical hits on its torso and assumed vitals.

  The hits caused black blood to flow from the wounds, but not nearly as bad as Wyn assumed. The monster recovered quickly but stumbled, nearly losing its footing. It then chirped a high pitch noise that was deafening up close.

  Lucy silenced it not long after, but the call was made. It didn’t even resist her attacks, and it still took her several empowered swings of her axe to bring it down.

  Wyn moved to John’s opponent and helped fight him while numerous, loud clicks were coming from deeper towards the temple. That sound was some sort of alarm, and reinforcements were coming. He stole a glance to the sky and saw a half dozen enemies flying towards them. The gods only knew how many more were on the ground.

  This climb was finished. They’d be dead if a dozen of those enemies came, and it seemed like there were more than that.

  “We need to move!” Marcy said, firing another arrow at the flying Fodakas that struck its wing, causing it to fall to the ground in a heap. Charred black spots covered it, and it still twitched on the ground.

  “Too late!” Wyn yelled. “I can see more flying towards us!” He stabbed the Fodakas in the side with his spear, the blade going several inches deep. Multiple wounds covered its torso and neck, but it was only just starting to slow down. The damn things were tough and difficult to kill.

  “Retreat!” Tasha called, pulling out a key from her robes. “We’ll try again!”

  The portal formed soon after she turned the key in the air while she kept yelling at them to move. No one moved, though. John’s opponent was still alive, though he and Wyn were slowly wearing it down. If they retreated for the portal, the monster would catch them in the back.

  In seconds more monsters would be on them, and they’d be in serious trouble. Wyn concentrated on an area behind the Fodakas and cast Web, his last charge for the day. The spell took hold and caught the creature, its ankles snaring in the thread-like trap.

  “Run!” Wyn said, pushing John back to the group. He could easily outrun John and Lucy but he would never leave a teammate behind. The Fodakas were nearly on them, and the one trapped was already stretching the limit of the Web trap. It was amazing what they could do. If one of them was a mage, Wyn had no doubt they could easily free the trapped creature.

  The clicking sound picked up, and Wyn knew if they could attack from a distance they were likely close to attacking range. Tasha was watching them, though, and she could protect them if needed. Wyn focused on running with John and Lucy.

  Lucy, to her credit, ran alongside the two men, looking back nearly the whole time. “We’re not going to make it!”

  Wyn cursed. “Go! We’ll make it!”

  Lucy rushed ahead while Wyn watched Cedric prepare a spell. He then shot lightning behind them towards the sky, and Wyn heard the crack of the spell hitting something followed by a loud thud. Quickly looking back, Wyn saw a group of Fodakas both on the ground and flying in the sky. There were at least a dozen, and that was only what he could see. Several of them were preparing spells or attacks to hit them from range.

  Wyn cast Shield behind him as Tasha did the same, putting a barrier behind the rushing group. Marcy joined Cedric to attack the group to try and distract the enemies when possible. It was an ugly, disjointed mess.

  Lucy reached the portal, paused, and looked around. “Fucking get inside!”

  Wyn and John were almost there. Only ten more feet.

  The sound of shattering barriers echoed behind Wyn. Tasha was already creating another one, and Wyn did the same. Footsteps beat against the ground like war drums. They were so close.

  Wyn felt something hit his back but his equipment stopped it from hurting him too seriously. It made him lurch forward, though, and he nearly lost his footing. John fell to the ground beside him with a cry of pain.

  No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

  Thoughts of the the mushroom cave entered Wyn’s mind. Being overwhelmed, afraid to die. Cedric losing his arm. He suddenly remembered Daniel and the last time he climbed, his entire party dying. Trying to escape but not making it.

  Cedric started another spell but Lucy grabbed him and flung him into the portal, much to his and Marcy’s shock. Then she jumped inside. Marcy summoned a deathhawk then followed her. The large bird cawed and flew forward, attacking the first enemy it found.

  Wyn started to haul John to his feet while ducking a magical blast that sailed over his head, and watched as another of his barriers shattered. The Fodakas were right behind them, splitting their focus between the summoned bird and the final three of their group. Wyn could outrun them, but John was heavy and just to his knees.

  Arrows plinked and stuck into the ground all around them, several bouncing off Wyn’s and John’s armor. Magical blasts kicked up snow and chunks of the ground in their vicinity.

  Tasha was suddenly on John’s other side, grabbing him with a grunt. “Come on!”

  A terrible sound of a bird’s squeal made Wyn turn back, and he saw the deathhawk on the ground, disappearing into mist like monsters did when they died. The Fodakas were there. It was too late for another Shield. Wyn expanded his bracer and activated its Empower ability that greatly resisted all damage types. It nearly covered his entire body, but he couldn’t protect all three of them. They only needed a few more steps before they could touch the portal.

  Wyn pushed the other two forward, deciding to be the last. His shield could at least hold off further attacks.

  Tasha suddenly cried from an arrow piercing her leg, and she fell. John turned to raise his shield but was knocked backwards with a large blast of magic, sprawling across the ground while kicking up a flurry of snow. Tasha and Wyn were also tossed around, and Wyn felt the air leave him in a rush as he hit the ground. John was thrown back directly into the portal and disappeared. Wyn and Tasha weren’t as lucky.

  Tasha cried in pain. Wyn looked over to see two more arrows sticking out of her, one in her stomach and the other in her side. She was trying to crawl back to the portal while blood pooled on the ground around her. Despite having magical equipment, she wasn’t as armored as the rest of them.

  Another blast hit her, followed immediately by a third. A strange white glow enveloped her as she tumbled into the portal from the force of the hit. Wyn felt several blows of weapons on his shield, but they were mitigated. One of the monsters then tackled him, knocking him to the side, directly into the portal. The last thing he heard was the group of Fodakas clicking, a wretched symphony of war cries.

  The portal pulled him back to the base of Alistair. Back to safety. Away from death.

  He rolled out into the portal room in a heap as a large pressure pressed into his side. Ash swirled around him, blinding him for a moment. He put a hand against the left side of his stomach then pulled it away, looking at it. It was coated in blood. Wyn groaned in pain, but ignored it, instead of focusing on John’s scream. A scream he’d never forget.

  “Tasha!” John cried. “Tasha, please! Gods!”

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