Mantle of the Gods

We were killing things faster.

With both Justia and Edward having weapons, our strategy had become for Aelin and Rix to orbit our group on the lookout for one of the bramble skeletons. Once they found one they either drew it back to us or directed us to it. Ether would hold it while Edward and Justia hacked it apart and I would collect the crystal before following after them.

The strategy was going much better than the sticks to help pin it in place and rocks to smash it. Ether was also in much better shape with the gloves as she was able to be a little more mobile as our other two party members tore apart.

I still felt like I wasn't doing much to contribute, but I figured that I would be able to contribute more once I was either able to learn a skill or find some way to justify my higher stats so that I could have a weapon.

The dungeon was getting darker and I looked up at the sky. It was strange how the dungeon seemed to mimic the conditions outside from weather to time of day.

I looked around for Trent but didn't see him. In fact I hadn't seen him since we parted ways with him that morning.

“How many was that?” Ether asked as she tossed me a crystal. I wasn't even picking up the crystals anymore. Our tank had started doing that a few hours ago. It made sense for her to grab them before moving on to the next one since they were usually right in front of her.

“I honestly don't know.” I put the crystal in the bag, “But I feel like it's more than we got yesterday.”

She wiped her forehead with the back of her gloved hand, smearing a line of dirt between her white hair and red eyes. “Definitely.”

“That was number forty-two.” Rix was leaning up against a tree way too close for us to have not seen her.

The four of us looked at her. As silent as she was most of the time, it always seemed strange to hear her talk.

“You counted?” Aelin came jogging over.

The redheaded Shooter just raised her eyebrows as an answer.

“Give me a second to rest before you get another one.” Edward dropped onto his rear and stabbed his sword into the ground next to him.

“I think we might need to go back.” I pointed up through the trees at the sky, “It's starting to get late.”

I could tell by the tired look on everyone's face that they were thinking of the same thing.

“Has anyone seen our teacher?” Ether looked around then settled her gaze on Rix.

The redhead shrugged.

“When was the last time anyone saw him?” I rephrased the question.

Everyone shook their heads or shrugged.

“Does anyone know where Dungeon Mouth is?” I asked a more pressing question.

Everyone looked at Rix.

The redhead raised her eyebrows at being put on the spot, then pushed off of the tree she was on, “This way.”

I had to admit that we'd been walking around in the woods so long that most of us had no idea which way the dungeon mouth was. I was glad to have her with us, otherwise, we would have been lost.

“How do you know?” Edward called after her, but she didn’t stop to answer him.

“Hey!” The Noble yelled, “I’m not going to walk in the wrong direction just because you say that’s the way to go.” When she stopped, he repeated his question, “How do you know?”

“I pay attention.” It was all the response she gave before she started walking again.

“Wait up!” Aelin shouted as she took off after our Shooter.

“We better follow them.” I looked at the other three.

“Are you sure she knows what she's doing?” Edward shook his head, “I think she has a screw loose. Besides, what if she is messing with us?”

“At least we're moving in a direction.” I started walking.

The blonde Hitter grunted and pulled on his sword as he tried to get up. The blade snapped, dumping him back into the dirt.

“What the-?!?” He looked at the now half-length jagged blade. “Now what am I going to do?”

I turned around and looked at the shortened blade in his hand, “I guess you have a dagger now.”

“He sold me a defective sword!” Edward exploded. He pointed at the ax in Justia’s hand. “Gimme that!”

Justia backed up and I moved in between the two of them.

“The ax is hers, Edward.”

The blonde Noble clenched the remnant of a blade in his hand, “I'm the Hitter! Which means I should have the best Hitter weapon of all two of us in case we need to fight something!”

I shook my head, “Justia has been doing just fine all day.” I nodded at his ruined weapon, “You can still use that better than you were using the rocks yesterday.”

He looked over at Ether as if he was expecting her to jump in on his side. When she just shrugged he threw the broken sword on the ground.

“What do you know!” He yelled as he stomped after Rix.

For a second I thought he might try something. I wondered if I would be able to disarm him without one of us getting hurt. I knew that our power stats were the same, but I had a lot higher defense and speed. Even without a weapon, I liked my chances of coming out on top.

“Come on.” Ether’s voice drew me out of my thoughts. She pulled on my arm, “We need to get moving or we’re going to get left behind.”

I bent down and picked up the discarded weapon before I nodded toward the other three party members.

“Let's go.” I touched Justia’s shoulder as she moved past me, “You good?”

She nodded but I could feel that she was rattled by his outburst. I didn't blame him for being upset about his weapon breaking. I'd seen Adventurers throw major fits when a weapon broke during a fight, but they had always seemed to have a replacement. That sword had been most of a full day's worth of work for him. Plus, he had probably never had to work like that a day in his life. I could see how he would be especially upset by it, but that didn’t excuse how he had acted. I made a mental note to check Justia’s ax when we got back to the dorm. We didn't need another weapon breaking.