Fauna were in high spirits after a successful exploration, there were only seven more mechanisms to go and they now knew what to look for. They leisurely traveled back to the surface where they heard the warning bells ringing from the camp. Their elation at the success quickly died as they rushed back to the camp. The bells continuously rang the entire sprint back and they finally heard the shouts of the defenders.

  “Four bronze rank monsters from the west!” One yelled.

  “One iron rank from the east!” Another shouted.

  “Thirty high level stone from the north!” Another yelled.

  “Three bronze rank from the south!” Yet another screamed.

  The camp was being attacked from every direction and there were more bronze and iron rank monsters then there were bronze ranked parties. Griff quickly got into his tactics mode and gave out orders.

  “Fergus scout and see where we are needed, ignore the northern section it should be fine. Stephanie and Gaia prepare to engage any monsters we come across. Plan to distract as opposed to try and kill, we’ll likely be occupying a bronze rank monster until reinforcements arrive.” Griff ordered.

  Fergus quickly sprinted ahead of everyone as he was the fastest and had the best eyesight so he didn’t have to get close to see the situation. Griff, Stephanie, Gaia and her bonds prepared for a drawn-out distraction as opposed to a usual fight. The plan was for Gaia to be front liner to try and stack conditions. Shadow would assist Gaia and block when she could while Stephanie was on Malachite’s shell peppering the monster with bullets. Liv and Antonio would be with Stephanie firing their ranged attacks so they would be out of danger, at least for the most part. Griff would be a mobile damage dealer and attack whenever he could while taking the monster’s attention when Gaia needed a break for any reason. Then the two would switch who took the attention so the other could get a reprieve. This was all the more important since they would likely be distracting a bronze rank monster, at the least.

  Fauna continued their approach, slowing slightly as the walls came into view, Gaia still couldn’t sense the area yet, but Fergus came back a few moments later.

  “I say we help the south. It’s the closest and the west has four of the bronze ranked parties defending there. The south only has two leaving one of the monsters unchecked. The Guild Master is currently dealing with the iron ranked monster to the east. The defenders there are helping as best they can so she should be fine for a while.” Fergus relayed.

  “Alright. Straight ahead. Do you know what kind of monster it is?” Griff asked.

  “Some kind of humanoid ant with what looked to be tentacles on its back. You’ll understand what I mean when we get closer. From what I could tell it uses a spear-like weapon with one arm and has a massive set of mandibles on another that act like blades. Then it has appendages similar to tentacles without any suckers coming from its back that it uses to grab, throw, block, or maneuver with.” Fergus explained.

  “Okay. Be ready for anything.” Griff stated as the party got close enough for Gaia to sense the battle.

  There were two bronze rank parties engaged with two other monsters these were different than the one Fergus described. One appeared to be some mix between a spider and bear while the other was some kind of horrific dragonfly without wings. The one they were heading for was just as Fergus described only with it being about six feet tall. It was definitely bronze rank to her senses, but seemed weaker than the other two.

  This was an advantage they weren’t sure what kind of monster they’d be distracting, but if it was weaker than the others that was good for them. They would likely be able to be defensive and be safer than with something stronger. They moved in swiftly and began harassing the monster, to the relief of the defenders on the wall. The monster had been using its tentacle-like appendages to attack the defenders when they tried to fire at it. It also used its spear as a projectile and threw it towards the defenders as they stood to shoot, if it missed it grabbed the spear with one of the tentacles and brought it back. The appendages were extremely elastic allowing them to stretch much farther than most suspected.

  The distraction started with Griff rushing in and striking it a few times with some punches and kicks. Then, Gaia moved to start slashing with her vines and begin her attempts to stack afflictions. Fergus was towards the back firing arrows at the monster as Stephanie shot at the monster from Malachite’s shell. Antonio and Liv fired their own magic at it, with Liv tossing a few trapped webs to hopefully constrict its movements. The strategy worked as the monster turned towards the party ignoring the defenders it had previously been focused on.

  It’s attention started on Griff since he had dealt the most damage to it. It moved towards him and thrust its spear towards him while keeping its other arm close to counter if Griff closed in. Griff dodged and punched the monster’s arm causing its claws to loosen around the spear, but the monster swiftly recovered and a tentacle wrapped around the spear-shaft.

  Fergus and Stephanie pelted the monster with arrows and bullets respectively dealing minimal damage at most. Liv’s poison was hitting, but didn’t seem to have damaged or inflicted a condition at all. Antonio was firing his spikes and stings, but weren’t dealing much damage let alone inflicting their conditions. Malachite was firing some water shots, but they seemed almost ineffectual. Gaia was slashing at the monster with her vines and had only managed to inflict the monster with her bleeding condition. She tried using her miasmic decay by hitting it in the same spot, but didn’t have any luck. Her poison on the other hand was slowly starting to stack on the monster as it fought them. Her Mana Field once again showing its use, but still wasn’t dealing much damage. It took a minute or two before its attention turned towards Gaia.

  Her poison had slowly stacked as did a couple bleeds, as were the only two conditions that she could inflict reliably on it. It’s attack started with a spear throw, which Shadow nimbly deflected, as it moved to attack with its other arm. Gaia dodged back just in time for the mandibles to snap shut inches from her nose. As the attack ended its spear was whipped back to its other hand and two of the elastic appendages whipped out at Gaia. Shadow blocked one while the other slammed into the front of Gaia’s barrier as she was dodging. There was a small burst of radiation, but the monster seemed unaffected.

  Gaia was tossed back about ten feet from the force of the appendage and somehow managed to land on her feet. The monster, however, didn’t give her time to recover as the spear was once again thrown at her. Griff took this moment to dash in and get another couple strikes on the creature before disengaging. The monster backhanded him before he could escape and he, too, was sent flying. Fergus and Stephanie were still firing at the monster, but didn’t seem to be doing any damage. They were thankfully able to distract it, as that was their goal, but the situation only seemed to be getting worse the longer they chipped at it.

  Griff and Gaia weren’t strong enough to take any direct hits, especially not multiple. They also weren’t fast enough to completely dodge the monster’s attacks. The longer they fought the monster the harder it would be for someone to take its attention from Gaia. They were luckily still at a point where a few good hits from Griff could take the monsters attention from her for a few moments but that wouldn’t last for long. This was the major downside to Gaia’s conditions, they continuously dealt damage meaning monsters would target her more and more the longer a fight went on. With the current situation Gaia would soon be under the monster’s onslaught continuously until a bronze rank group could take over the fight. Even then it would likely target her until the party dealt some good damage to it.

  Griff got back up after a moment and rushed back to help Gaia. He was the only one able to deal significant damage in close combat while still being fast enough to narrowly dodge most attacks. Shadow was blocking more and more for Gaia as her conditions worsened making the monster target her more often. Gaia was taking a few heavy attacks, but shadow was blocking around four of every five attacks. The monster was getting visibly agitated at the fact its attacks weren’t landing as heavily as they should and it sped up. Fergus and Stephanie were now having to slowdown so they didn’t just fire and miss, or worse hit their teammates. The monster now seemed about twice as fast as it had been before, causing everyone to panic. Griff had barely been able to keep up with it before, now he was getting thrown around whenever he tried to attack. It was now fast enough to dodge or block his attack and strike almost instantly causing him to be sent flying anytime he got close. Shadow was now up against Gaia blocking as many attacks as she could, but most were getting through at this point.

  Liv tried tossing a trapped web just behind the monster, but it ignored it and passed through it effortlessly. As for the attacks hitting Gaia’s barrier they caused bursts of radiation to hit the monster and were starting to deal some damage. The main issue was that its strength was overwhelming, meaning any weakening the condition caused was negligible. Gaia continued slashing with her vines and trying to inflict any other conditions to hopefully slow or weaken it. By this point Stephanie had gotten a lucky shot in when it threw its spear at Gaia and broke the spear causing the monster to drop what remained of it. Now it was using its elastic appendages as spears and whips lashing out at everything around it making it hard for any to approach.

  Gaia was still fine and her barrier was still up thanks to Shadow’s efforts. She had a bit more in her before she started taking some actual damage. It was at this point that one of the bronze rank parties finished off the monster they’d been fighting and moved to assist. They approached cautiously as the monster’s appendages frantically whipped around. One of the bronze ranks used a large shield and pushed into the maelstrom. Another right behind lashed out with their sword at the limbs and severed them as they slowly pushed closer to the monster. After around thirty seconds they reached the monster and the sword wielded slashed it’s back making it turn and strike at him.

  The shield user blocked and the monster went to return its attention to Gaia, only for another member of the bronze rank group to strike it in the chest with an arrow. It stumbled back and was finished off by a blast of magic from another bronze rank. They all remained on guard for a moment before they confirmed its death. The bronze ranks then moved to assist the others to finish off the remaining monsters.

  Fauna on the other hand checked on each other. Griff and Gaia were going to have a few bruises, but were otherwise unharmed. They were lucky the monster they’d been up against was focused on speed as opposed to damage. They all quickly hopped on Malachite’s shell and he lifted everyone up and over the wall using his Telekinesis. The group sprawled out where they landed and just breathed while they rested for a bit. The fight had taken only a few minutes at most, but was still one of their most dangerous ones, especially since they’d decided to distract it. The fighting all ended around five minutes later as all of the bronze rank parties convened to scout the area for any other monsters.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Fauna just stayed where they were and rested until one of the healers checked on them. They were then told to move since they were only bruised, so they did as they were told and headed towards the inn. Once they arrived they went to the girl’s room and relaxed for a while. They were eventually called by the Guild Master about their assistance in the fight and their exploration. It was required that everyone who came back from exploration give a report or at least relay any relevant information, if they were able to. They reached the Guild Master’s building around twenty minutes later as they were told there was no rush and many others were being called.

  “Good to see you lot. Thanks for the assistance during the attack. What you did was reckless but honorable. Thank you. I will have someone prepare your payment for the fighting by tomorrow if that’s alright. Now, for your exploration report if you don’t mind.” She said.

  “Yes ma’am. For our exploration today, we searched the central ring and believe we found the mechanism to open the gate to the second floor. We’re not sure if it will be in the same spot in every ring, but we think we know what to look for in each ring.” Griff started.

  “It’s a large pedestal type structure, and when you climb on top, there’s a basin with a hole in the center. We discovered, that if you fill the basin with a certain amount of monster blood, it will drain and light up one of the symbols on the door. We’re not sure if they need to be done within a certain amount of time, but are positive we know what to look for now.” Stephanie finished.

  There was silence for a minute.

  “You’re telling me you figured out how to open the gate to the second floor? We’ve had people searching for months and they haven’t been able to figure anything out!” The Guild Master exclaimed.

  There was once again silence as the Guild Master regained their composure.

  “Sorry for that outburst. Thank you for relaying the information. Do you have a map for the area or can you lead someone there tomorrow?” She asked.

  “Yes, we have a rudimentary map. I didn’t spend much time trying to map it and instead just marked notable landmarks in their rough location. We can also take someone there tomorrow if you like, but today is our last rest day.” Griff replied as he pulled the map he’d been making out and handed it to the Guild Master.

  “You call this rudimentary? While it’s not the best map I’ve seen, it’s pretty thorough and marks the important things. I’ll send someone to follow this map and find the pedestal. Don’t worry about tomorrow I’ll let your captain know. How big is the pedestal and could you guess how deep the basin is?”

  “The pedestal is around fifteen feet tall and is more similar to a pillar. The basin is a couple feet deep at its deepest point, excluding the central hole, and takes up the majority of the pedestal with only about three feet of flat stone at the edges. As for how to get monster blood up there we just lured a massive number there and had Gaia bleed them with her condition. It took multiple hours to complete though.” Fergus stated.

  “Ok. I feel a bit better about our guys missing it, if it looks like a pillar. Thank you. I’ll have someone join you tomorrow morning so you can show them what to look for. For now, enjoy the rest of your day.” The Guild Master said as she dismissed them.

  Fauna left and went to relax. Their shift was changing back to overnight this coming week so they expected to be exhausted for its entirety. They didn’t mind showing someone the mechanism they’d found as it meant the other explorers could find them in the other rings. It also meant it was less likely they’d be required to fill all of the mechanisms themselves, or at least they hoped so. Just filling one had taken hours so the thought of doing another seven gave them a sense of resignation.

  The rest of the day passed quickly with the party getting absorbed in their personal hobbies or napping. The next day started early so they could show the explorer what to look for and gave the explorers time to actually search the rings. They met the explorer at the Guild Master’s building, and it was Edrahni. They quickly moved to the ruins and showed him the mechanism they found which hadn’t changed much from what they’d seen. Edrahni hopped on top of it and searched around it while sketching the entire time. After around ten minutes of studying and drawing he closed his book and thanked Fauna for their assistance. They all then swiftly returned to the guild master, who took the book from Edrahni and studied the drawings.

  “Have these shown to all the explorers and let them know to mark the location of any of these on their maps. This will make finding the others mechanisms much quicker, but I doubt we’ll be able to fill them as efficiently as you guys. So, if you you don’t mind would you be willing to fill any we come across during your next exploration?” The Guild Master asked.

  “Sure.” Gaia replied. At this reply her companions nodded since it was her condition that would allow them to speed up the process.

  “Wonderful. I’ll have some explorers focus on searching for anything similar to the pillar you found. We should have at least one found by the end of the week.” The Guild Master finished happily.

  Fauna left a few minutes later after realizing they weren’t needed any longer. The week passed quickly with the occasional monster attack and it was time for their exploration again. They met with the Guild Master after dinner one night and she relayed that they’d found what they believed to be two more of the mechanisms. It looked like their next day off would be a slog of luring and bleeding monsters.

  On their first day off they spent most of the morning and afternoon traveling to the areas the pedestals were found. They had Edrahni guiding them, so they reached the areas relatively quickly. They floated up on Malachite and determined it was indeed the same as the one they’d found. They relayed this to Edrahni and they prepared to lure and bleed monsters. The first mechanism took about three hours to fill thanks to the smaller area of the ring. The second one they found took longer.

  The size of each ring grew exponentially as they got further from the center. Therefore, there were more monsters which was good, but they were also more spread out. This made luring the monsters they needed both easier and harder. Harder because they needed to lure them from farther away, but easier because they would usually get larger groups on each trip. It mainly made the process take much longer. What took them about three hours, turned to five, due to the distance they had to travel to find the monsters.

  Just filling those two took them a majority of the day with the travel between them. It was good that they now had completed three of the eight mechanisms, but there were still five to go. They also expected it to take the scouts that were searching for the other pedestals at least a month to find the other five mechanisms. They just had a massive area they needed to search to find the other mechanisms. It was now just a waiting game for the mechanisms to be found. Then there was the time-consuming task of filling the pedestals with monster blood.

  The party continued their search of the ruins rings on one of their off days to pass the time and help with the search. Even with the other explorers and scouts searching it took them around five weeks to find four of the five remaining mechanisms. There was just one left which was in the outermost ring. This was also the largest ring making the search area expansive. The last one was found after another three weeks making this search last for more than two months just for the mechanisms. This commission was looking like it would be for a much longer period than they originally planned.

  A few days after the last mechanism had been found Fauna was on their first day off of the week and had just finished filling it. As the monster blood drained, there was a loud crack and the sound of scraping. Fauna rushed to the area where the gate was and found the gate slowly opening. Where Gaia had sensed the water drop symbols there was a massive jagged crack down the center that was slowly being pulled apart. The scraping was from the gigantic doors being pulled into the sides of the frame and after a few minutes of the cacophony the gate was wide open.

  What she could sense beyond was a large room that expanded beyond her field’s range. The front half was circular with a flat floor that extended for most of the room. When they entered she sensed one thing in the middle of the room. A hulking twenty-foot-tall figure stood in the center, still as stone. The figure appeared to be a statue of a giant with a large sword in it hands with its blade pointing downwards like it was guarding the path forward.

  Gaia wasn’t sure what to make of it, but if she had to guess it could either be the guardian monster or just a piece of art to spruce up a safe spot between floors. If she had to bet on it she’d bet the former. Fauna cautiously approached the statue, expecting an attack, but nothing happened. They moved passed it expecting a response but there was none. Gaia finally had the idea to touch the statue and this was when there was a response. The statue broke and dissolved into dust. Once the statue was gone, a small circle of mana condensed where it had been and something popped out, based on the sound of something hitting the ground. Griff made his way over and checked what had appeared.

  “A box?” Griff asked to no one in particular.

  “Can you open it?” Gaia asked excitedly.

  “Yeah, give me a minute. I’m gonna see if there are any traps on it.” He replied.

  There was silence for a few minutes as Griff checked in every way he could for traps. There weren’t any on or in it.

  “Looks safe. You want to open it?” Griff asked Gaia.

  “Yeah!” She replied eagerly and took the box. The box wasn’t large and was only about a six inch wide cube. She fumbled around on it for a bit before finding the latch and swinging it open. As she reached inside, she felt something and she pushed her mana into it to analyze it.

  Necklace of the Grimsword – Magical item. When worn the wearer can harmonize with it to gain the resilience of a Grim Giant. This effect lasts for one minute. Can be used once per day.

  “That’s really cool. It’s a necklace that says you can gain the resilience of a Grim Giant for a minute, once a day. Do you know what that means?” Gaia asked.

  “What? I don’t know about grim giants, but I know most true giants are extremely resistant to certain types of mana. It’s part of the reason they’re so difficult to deal with. If I’m understanding what the item does, whoever wears it will gain the giants resistance to that mana type.” Griff explained.

  “Do you think it’s a coincidence that it’s right before the Sinew Horror’s floor or what? I feel like it would be too convenient for it to give a resistance to Miasma. Then again, that could be the exact reason it’s here.” Stephanie said.

  “Well, we’ll find out at some point. Honestly, I say we give it to one of the bronze rank parties and let them figure out the second floor. I don’t want to go down there.” Fergus added.

  After this the party went back to the camp and met with Delilah, the Guild Master. They relayed that the gate was open to the second floor and what they found. They also asked if the bronze rank parties could deal with the second floor. Due to their experiences with it, the Guild Master gave the order for the search to start and for the holy attributed healer to be on standby.

  The next couple weeks passed by with the usual monster attacks and emergencies, and surprisingly the scouts had figured out how to access the third floor. It required three things to happen. One was to charge eight orbs with miasma. The second, for the Sinew Horror to be on land. Finally, for the Sinew Horror to be killed. They discovered this in an old tome found in one of the rooms in the wall of the floor.

  It also had one suggestion for how to damage the Sinew Horror. The plants needed to be gone and no one could use miasma, or poison mana around it. These two mana types would help heal and replenish its reserves causing it to be functionally immortal. It also suggested mana less fresh water but that was impossible to get. This meant Gaia was out of the picture for the fight and that Griff along with Gaia had to enter the floor to charge the orbs. This next floor would be complicated and dangerous for everyone involved, but they finally had an idea on how to progress.

  The next week after the discovery of the tome was pandemonium. The scouts focused on finding the orbs that needed to be charged since they were the most important part. They had also discovered the use of the necklace. It gave whoever activated it near immunity to miasma for a minute. The bronze rank parties were preparing for the plan while Gaia and Griff were preparing to go back to the floor. The thought of reentering the floor caused them major discomfort. They had both been injured by the Sinew Horror and were now essentially forced to go back if the commission was to progress. They readied their minds as best they could and soon it was time for the plan to be executed.

  The Guild Master had everyone joining the operation meet at the main square. There were two bronze rank parties prepared. One was Legion due to Douglas’ ability to hold a monster’s attention while the other was one from the Journeyman’s Guild. After everyone had gathered she addressed everyone.

  “Thank you to everyone participating in this operation. It’s dangerous, but necessary to continue the commission. I hope everyone is prepared for what is to come. As long as we stick to the plan we should all come out relatively unharmed. We also have our holy attribute healer joining us and will be nearby to heal anyone if needed. Now, let us take down the abomination ruling this next floor!”

  There were shouts and cheers from all of the participants of the operation at the Guild Master’s last words. Then, as the people quieted, the group moved towards the ruins and the site of the upcoming battle with the Sinew Horror.