The harsh wind stopped as soon as the group left the mountain valley of the eighth floor. Like the first day Tasha led them, it was a hard, treacherous climb, avoiding traps and fighting the Cliff Geckas that loomed around every corner and on both mountains. Unlike then, though, they now had a resolve to push past their previous failure and overcome the Fodakas that patrolled and guarded the temple entrance and end of the floor.

  It was two days later and the third day of the week. Tulsday. They still had the rest of the week, but Tasha convinced them to return right away after a day off to mentally and physically prepare themselves. She wanted to approach but not finish the final floor, then coast on some easier floors for more rewards. Wyn didn’t mind that idea. He would be the one to lead for the final week, and they could try for the ninth floor then. He almost had his monthly quota of gold crowns, too, so he was feeling confident they would succeed in Tasha's plan.

  The one thing that currently stood in their way was pushing past this section of the eighth floor.

  They had a brief recovery period outside the temple courtyard like before. Marcy continued to vigilantly keep watch, making sure no Fodaka grouped up on them like before. Her new quiver hung on her side, and she held her new bow, too, while the antler crown sat on her head to form her new set. During her day off, she decided to upgrade her equipment with Cedric’s help.

  It was called the Night Huntress set, and Wyn was thankful she only had three pieces of the six item set. Otherwise she would look too much like some forest assassin. Each item except for the antlered crown was black, and even then the crown’s base was black. It was leather was four brownish white horns on either side of her head, and made from a similar dark leather as the quiver. The bow was from a black wood with a string that seemed to glow a dull grey. Per Marcy, the set gave incredible benefits to her movement, making her quieter while using less energy and further improving her senses. Her Extrasensory ability increased by a full stage, making her have what she called something like a sixth-sense of danger and awareness. Not to mention her actual senses being heightened. In addition to that, the bow made every arrow magical, and when she applied a Ranger spell to them their effect was increased by a moderate amount while lessening the mana needed to cast them. The quiver magically stored arrows so she held several dozen easily, while also storing the bow plus another weapon she could magically summon at will. The bow increased her arrow’s piercing effect and damage, while the crown gave the awareness benefit and physical improvement.

  Overall, it was an incredible boost to her abilities, and she was now easily one of the strongest of the group. She took down Geckas nearly by herself, and they breezed through the first half of the floor easily identifying traps and avoiding any surprise encounters with the monsters. The set took nearly every spare item she had in trades, but to Wyn it seemed well worth it.

  She was like a new Climber, and Wyn was jealous. While she was formidable before, she was terrifying now. Wyn felt behind seeing his friends upgrade their gear and becoming stronger. But he was determined he would catch up soon.

  “The patrolling duo just moved out of sight,” Marcy said, an arrow nocked on her faintly glowing bowstring. “Time to move.” She stepped forward with nearly silent steps, not even leaving footprints in the shallow snow.

  Tasha had the group move in a similar formation before, but her strategy was different. It was something she came up with Cedric and John. She told everyone during their briefing before the climb she was going to rely on her strengths and support them better than before. All they needed to do was push forward and focus on attacking their enemies and she would protect them and do the rest.

  Wyn admitted he was a bit excited to see Tasha’s new strategy. He knew it would pay off, he just didn’t know exactly how. Though he had an idea. Since he was a hybrid Climber with varying means of attack and support, Tasha told him she wanted him to focus on attacking and debuffing the enemy when possible. He would be a mixed attacker, whittling down opponents and making them less effective while she focused on healing and defense. In a pinch he could support or heal, but she wanted to push herself to do as much on her own as possible.

  Wyn wasn’t going to argue with her. He initially had the strategy of being secondary support but could see her point. He would help the team by debuffing the enemies with his health siphoning abilities of Wellspring and Decay, blinding them with Flash, and using Feeble to further reduce tough monsters.

  He wouldn’t have Chaincast activate as much if he didn’t use an alternate spell type at least once, but he trusted Tasha. Shield was now a cheap spell to use and was still beneficial, which would make the possibility of activating it easier. He just needed to focus on wearing down enemies instead as his primary means of support.

  Moving as a group as quietly as possible, Wyn soon had his first chance. Marcy had everyone hide while another patrolling group of Fodakas walked by, everyone on edge against a stone wall that barely hid them. No one made a sound or moved an inch. The moment they were passed, the Ranger sprung out and launched an arrow at one that hit it in the torso. It was a brown glowing arrow that instantly caused a series of vines to wrap around the Fodaka and restrain it, covering it from its lower stomach to half of its head. Muffled cries could be heard while the other lunged to the group to attack.

  The restraint effectively took that monster out of the fight while silencing it, preventing it from alerting others. Wyn didn't know why Marcy hadn't used it as much before, but it was a well-timed use in their situation. Apparently she had more at her disposal than just attacking spells. It was good to see her change some form of her strategy to adapt, and Wyn was happy to learn that from her. Improving meant occasionally changing strategy to overcome obstacles, after all.

  John and Lucy met the other Fodaka and engaged it in combat, and Wyn knew that together they could handle it without major issue. One on one may be a challenge but together they had the upper hand. So, he moved to the downed monster and stabbed it in the gut with his spear. The monster thrashed and kicked, obviously still alive.

  Wyn hesitated for only a moment. The monster was more humanlike than most others, except for the Ashen Warriors last season. It felt strange attacking something that wasn’t able to fight back. Right now it was kill or be killed.

  He promptly stabbed it again, and a third time to make sure it was dead. While it felt strange, they were still monsters, after all. These weren’t people. And they nearly killed him and Tasha just two days prior.

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  The group collected the small piles of loot and continued through the temple courtyard. It was similar to a maze but manageable. The temple entrance wasn’t too far ahead, and they could see where the mountains converged together several hundred feet past their location. That was the temple entrance according to the floor information, and where the boss waited for them.

  Or rather bosses. Wyn wasn’t looking forward to facing them. But it was inevitable if they wanted to proceed. It would be a tough battle that everyone wanted as many resources to utilize.

  Marcy slowly led them past corners and traps, avoiding them or disarming with relative ease. The traps here were older, familiar ones of pitfalls into spikes, holes in the ground covered by snow, and some traps that would ensnare them with heavy metal teeth similar to hunting traps. They weren’t meant to kill them, but rather distract or delay when they needed to fight the Fodakas. Wyn could see how the traps would slow them down or make the limited space tight enough to be even more difficult.

  Another group of monsters fell while Marcy quietly continued. The progress was slow but it was safer than before. Far safer.

  A half hour later, they were halfway through the area and most of the way through the floor. Unfortunately the Fodakas weren’t patrolling here, but rather stationed periodically to be guaranteed fights. They eliminated nearly a dozen so far, dealing with small groups of two or three, advancing with better efficiency than last time.

  When they met a small wall of six of the creatures standing at the entrance of a large, open space that led into the second, deeper portion of the temple grounds, they prepared themselves for a more serious fight. Wyn was afraid they would have difficulty similar to last time, especially if one of the monsters decided to call for reinforcements.

  That wouldn’t matter if they killed them fast enough. It was time to push themselves.

  The monsters were in two rows of three, with the front row having various melee weapons, the two on the outside back row holding bows, and the one in the middle of the back row held a large, light brown staff. The front row slowly stepped forward, their weapons raised, while the mage raised its staff and covered the others in an aura.

  Wyn had no idea what that effect did. Their information was limited in that capacity. The mages could have cast either a protective ability or an enhancing ability. They had the ability to magically attack from afar and defend as well, while casting faster and having stronger spells.

  They were hard opponents. But not impossible.

  Tasha immediately cast Arcane Aura enhanced with her ability to triple the spell, each one coating the melee combatants. Wyn saw that the glowing armor around him was denser than before. It may have been the reflection from the snow, but the aura seemed brighter, too.

  No. It was from her new equipment. She told them all during her briefing that it improved her defensive spells, which made Arcane Aura more effective, as well as others.

  John, Lucy, and Wyn moved forward together to meet the three combatants. Wyn first cast Flash, hoping to catch them off guard, and it worked on two of them. One somehow resisted the effect and trudged forward like it never happened. John met that one in combat, absorbing a mace attack on his shield, while Lucy attacked that same monster from the side. That was their strategy now. When John kept one enemy’s focus, Lucy would flank them, and together they would pin the enemy down while killing it relatively fast.

  It was a solid strategy. The only problem was the other five monsters around them.

  Two of them were briefly stunned, which left the others who were all some form of ranged opponents. The two archers immediately started firing arrows, and Wyn cast Shield to protect himself and John and Lucy. The spell held against one arrow, then another, but the mage sent a green ball of magic flying forward that completely shattered the barrier.

  In response, Cedric and Marcy both attacked them, causing far more damage. Marcy hit the mage with a Drench infused arrow, splashing all three monsters with water and knocking the mage back several feet. Cedric followed that with Chain Lightning, which cracked loudly in the still air and flashed in a yellow light at the left archer.

  The lightning traveled between all three, and each of them froze in place while spasms took over their bodies. Marcy began peppering them with arrows, though each one was magically enhanced from her new equipment, making them hit harder.

  As the two melee Fodakas that Wyn blinded gained some sight back, he was waiting for them. He had his weapon in the form of a spear, with Wellspring already placed underneath them. The two monsters moved as though walking through water, and Wyn felt their life-force being transferred to himself. He didn’t need the healing, but healing himself also meant recovering his mana, which he gladly welcomed. The ability also weakened them, and fighting them became easier.

  He wasn’t able to kill them, but he did keep them busy and distracted until Lucy barreled in, swinging her axe like a monster herself and nearly cleaving one of the Fodakas in two. That made the fight considerably easier, and after a few more exchanges the fight was over.

  Snow slowly drifted down from the grey sky, and a light breeze swirled it around their small area of death. The Climbers were fine. Great, even. None of them were so much as injured, and the expense of mana for spells and abilities was an afterthought.

  They quietly collected the dropped piles of loot - finding more coins with a few gemstones, two potions, and a green rarity bow - and continued on.

  Bosses waited for them at the end. And they were determined to make it.

  The next two larger groups of Fodakas fell just like the first, though the group began to show signs of fatigue. Their attacks were getting a bit more sloppy, their formations less precise, and they were taking longer each encounter to finish the enemies. They had been climbing nearly three hours at that point, so it wasn’t surprising. But they needed to be at a better condition for the boss.

  Marcy led them to a small alcove free from the gently falling snow where they took a short rest. They were nearly at the end of the floor, but it felt like the biggest hurdle of all still remained.

  Quietly they ate, drank, and rested their bodies to ready themselves for what was likely only the bosses left. According to Nigel, it was one of the hardest fights his group had so far. It was also the highest they’d climbed so far, so that information was taken with a grain of salt. But Wyn still appreciated the warning. He hoped they were ready.

  He also wanted to be the one to lead them, but was still impressed with Tasha’s leadership ability so far. There was always next week, at least. He’d get them to the ninth floor and see how they would manage. He had a feeling they could do it.

  After another half hour the group prepared themselves. Tasha once again reiterated their plan, which basically was to unleash everything they had. No sparing resources at the boss, since it meant they accomplished another floor. They had potions in reserve as needed. Marcy’s quiver was stacked. Everyone’s mana was full. They were better rested and as ready as they could be.

  But when they approached the temple gate in a sprawling, long and wide brown stone entrance, they stood with caution. Wyn felt anxiety creep up in his chest. He may have been excited before, but now that excitement was gone, replaced with hesitation.

  The temple gate was a pair of massive double doors, easily twenty feet high and ten feet wide. The entrance was set in a large alcove between the two mountains, with the ceiling easily being fifty feet high and twice as long. The snow didn’t drift inside as the area was mostly protected from the weather. Even sand stone butted up to the doors, making the entire space easily traversable with plenty of room to engage the bosses.

  The bosses that currently stood guard, waiting for the group to inch closer. Three Fodakas stood like giants, likely ten feet tall and twice as wide as the most stout Climber. They looked similar to the other monsters except for their size and armor that adorned their body. While the other monsters had standard armor, these monsters wore more intricate pieces that covered more of their bodies and seemed to be thick and durable.

  One of them carried a large shield in one hand and a mace in the other. The shield was huge, easily the size of a door, while the mace was as tall as a person. The head was as large as a bucket, and Wyn shuttered to think what would happen if it connected with one of them. No amount of healing would work if you died outright.

  The second boss carried a sword that was taller than himself and several feet wide. It was so big it had to hold it with both hands. The final boss was obviously a magic user, as it wielded a large, metal staff that held a blue glowing gem the size of a man’s fist.

  Both sides waited, unmoving.

  Wyn took a deep breath. This was it. Their true test of progression for the month.

  “Here we go,” Tasha said under her breath, then began casting a spell.

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