Mantle of the Gods

I never fired a shot.

I began to wonder if all the floor bosses had some gimmick that made them really easy. I knew the higher up the floors went, the more complicated the bosses were supposed to get, but still, it was something that I needed to look into.

Fray had managed to mostly solo it. Sure, Mitchel had to taunt the charge attack twice and Jovena fired some shots at it, which she was currently picking up but most of the damage, including the final blow, had been done by Fray.

“What are we doing with this?” The homely brunette held up the boss crystal and what looked like a black cloth.

“Keep the boss crystal.” I nodded at the item. "What is that?”

“Cloak of Shadows.” Fray stretched it out. It looked almost like a cape. She flung it over her shoulders. “I don’t feel any different.”

“It’s an activated ability!.” Jovena ran over to us. "That’s a really good item for a Shooter like me. I think I should get it.”

I eyed the white-haired shooter. "Considering that Fray did all the work, I think she should get it.” I saw her start to object and held up my hand. "I’ll figure out what it’s worth and get you a cut of the All when we get back to the surface, now…” I motioned towards Gesai who was clapping as she walked in. "You should go with Aelin and get ready for the second run.”

Jovena looked like she was going to argue, but Aelin grabbed her arm. "Come on! Let’s hurry up so we can get to the second floor boss!”

I watched the two women walk away, even though it did look like Aelin was partially dragging Jovena.

Gesai waved at me and pointed at the exit.

“Hey!” I ran over to her. "Do you want me to start down to the next boss?”

The older woman thought for a moment. "Go ahead, but don’t start it without the rest of your team.”

“I won’t. And I won’t follow the trail so he and Fray will have to fight.” I smiled as she nodded. "I’ll see you down there.”

She patted me on the shoulder and followed the other two women back to the first floor.

“Alright!” I motioned at the exit. "Let’s see if we can’t get to the second floor boss room before they catch up!”

Justia looked at me as the four of us headed towards the exit. "Are you sure? With only four of us?”

“Mitchel has gear, which is more than we had, plus, between Fray and myself, we’ll be fine.”

“Okay…” The brunette Healer didn’t sound so sure, but she didn’t object.

As soon as we entered the second floor I realized that. I’d forgotten that I hadn’t looked at the information about the second floor to see what was on it.

Instead of being just a sandy plane with a few rocks, it was a beach path surrounded by ankle deep water. Traveling off the trail meant having to wade in the water, which wasn’t that bad. Our boots were waterproof, so we didn’t have to worry about our feet getting wet, it was just going to slow us down.

“Let’s try to hurry.” I touched my crystal band and cycled through the menu until I reached the section for maps. At least I had downloaded the maps of all of the dungeon floors. At least the ones through to floor nine. I’d tried to get the ones past that, but the system had told me that my crystal band wasn’t compatible with it. I pointed in the direction of the boss room. "Mitchel, start heading that way.”

“We’re not waiting on the others?” He looked nervously at the water.

“The four of us will be fine.” I looked at Fray. "The monsters are probably going to be easier since they won’t be elites anyway.”

“Okay…” He didn’t sound too convinced, but he started walking in the direction I’d pointed.