CHAPTER 129

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The First Floor, The Dungeon, Atlantis

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The music started as they approached the end of the tunnel; the teal light given off by those huge mana lights reflected onto the ceiling of the tunnel's exit. And it wasn't just any music, but the tinny notes of a music box. Classic Horror Movie stuff, really. But as the notes became a melody, he found it familiar. Where had he heard it before?

As they filtered into the final chamber, the music changed. The 'beat dropped.' the loud, dramatic notes of an organ rose, and Akio felt chills run down his spine. He remembered.

Tamesou Akio was, to be completely honest, bamboozled. Flabbergasted. Utterly confused.

That was Davy Jones, the central theme for the main villain of two Pirates of the Caribbean movies! This realization was followed by the sand shifting ahead of them in the middle of the cavern. A giant Crab, the size of two Clydesdale horses standing side-by-side, screeched a war cry and raised its flaming sword-pincer high.

Akio turned to gauge the reactions of his teammates.

Bruce and Sophie looked just as poleaxed as he was sure he did. Haythem and Bertram looked shocked, but as he watched, they shook their heads and wrote the music off as another weird thing the dungeon was doing. They didn't know that Disney was about to discover how to break through dimensions and sue the dungeon for copyright violations.

"This is different," Haythem cautioned. "The music and how the Guardian is moving. Follow the plan, but be careful; we don't know if it'll have the same openings."

"Got it!" Akio answered, moving forward and raising Amaterasu. He channeled mana into his shield, and Ama twisted it into a shield spell. They'd gotten much better at this with practice, and the shield of transparent blue hard-light extended three feet in all directions. When it touched the ground, the shield deformed slightly, the edge drawing in rather than cutting and dividing the sand, potentially wasting mana.

He raised his sword, hearing Bertram and Haythem behind him, to his left and right respectfully. He glimpsed Bruce and Sophie as they took the extreme flanks. The plan was simple; focus the Boss's attention on the tanks and be enough of a nuisance that it can't afford to turn away. Bruce and Sophie would use their magic to do DPS and wear it down.

"We could probably kill it easily on our own," Haythem explained as they'd marched through the cramped tunnel. "But that wouldn't help you three any. The only way to improve is to fight the monsters yourselves. If we did it all for you, how would you grow? You three will do most of the fighting here; Bertram and I will only step in to help if we think you need it."

Akio understood what they meant; Exp wasn't shared through the party but by direct contribution to slain monsters. Power leveling wasn't possible. He shook his head and refocused on the Boss as it stepped forward. This wasn't a game; this was real life.

Akio raised his shield as the Crab Boss swung its sword claw. Fire leaped from the claw's edge; a coherent slice of flaming energy quickly covered the distance between them and struck his raised shield. It glowed brighter when the fire hit but quickly dimmed back to normal afterward. Akio, Bruce, and Sophie made their counterattack as the music rose to a crescendo.

Bruce lashed out with four large water tentacles writhing behind him, the sharp ice blades on their tips slicing into the armor around the crab's legs. Sophie did similarly, tendrils of sharp darkness cutting into the less-armored shell on the inside of its legs. Bruce, only able to use ice as a transformation of water and not mana-infused as he would with a proper Ice affinity, was unable to draw blood. Sophie's strike had little rivulets of coppery blue blood running and staining the sand.

Akio struck immediately after, as it was reeling from his friend's attacks; he stepped forward, hard-light retreating into the edges of his shield, and cast his own version of the Boss's first attack. A coherent slice of yellow light lashed out towards its eyestalks. The Boss raised its claw and, mimicking Akio and Ama's shield, produced a film of fire over its claw. The slice dissipated as it struck, and

Akio had to dodge-roll to avoid its counterstrike. It spat a dozen fireballs from its mouth in an arc; the teal flames were so hot they turned the sand to the black glass where they struck.

As Akio stood from his roll, he raised his shield again, the dormant spell re-activating and spreading across his shield with a thought. Man, had that been hard to figure out. Just in time, too, as the

Boss's claw physically struck his shield. The spell absorbed most of the impact, and with a solid stance, Akio's shield arm barely budged. He swung back at it, and his sword cut a chunk of chitin from its sword claw around a joint.

It pulled back, then tilted as Bruce finally managed to cut through a joint. It had eight legs, so losing one wasn't immobilizing, but it seemed to hurt nonetheless. Sophie's thousand-cuts method seemed to be having results, too. Blue blood ran from its legs in a constant stream; the pitch-black shadow the crab cast in the teal light was a perfect conduit for her magic.

It stepped more carefully and seemed to decide they needed to be dealt with.

Akio wouldn't let it.

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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

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What are they feeding these kids?!

I knew they had to be Golds to be allowed to enter the dungeon, but their coordination was unreal! The two mages were doing significant damage, but I couldn't turn away from the tank for fear of using the sword-slice magic to cut through my shell, just like he'd done for the smaller crabs.

But the other two were doing way too much damage to leave them alone. Well, it was time to cheat.

Three more Crabs rose from the pool in the cavern, which coincidentally lay behind Bruce. A Brute, Squire, and a Flamer stepped from the bubbling waters and immediately moved into action. The music's original ending had long passed, and I was now playing an extended version I'd made that fit the original's style and theme.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Adds! Sophie, I need help!" "Got it! Akio, keep it's attention!" "Right!" The three teen heroes coordinated.

I micromanaged the hell out of the fight. The flamer focused on Sophie, its fire dispersing the shadows and making her Darkness magic weaker. The Brute and Squire teamed up to fight Bruce.

Haythem and Bertram circled around to be in range to help but still restrained themselves. They hadn't contributed to the fight yet, but they seemed like they would step in if the kids were in danger.

I pressured Akio, throwing fireballs and sword strikes constantly. He was surprisingly adept on defense, making the right call to shield, parry, and dodge-roll when he was out of position. But as the fight dragged on, Sophie was able to get a solid strike on the flamer and moved to aid Bruce. Together, they overcame the rest of the Crabs I'd sent and turned their attention back to me.

As they did, I moved.

I turned quickly, forcefully lashing out with one of my legs to knock Akio away. I swiped my sword claw, an arc of flame speeding at Bruce and Sophie. Bruce brought up a shield of water that blocked it, but I was right there. My shield crashed into his and broke right through the thin layer of water, hitting him directly. My shield-bash threw him away, and he crashed into the water behind him. In a swift movement, I brought the other claw down towards Sophie, who'd frozen in place when Bruce was hit.

Haythem was suddenly there, intercepting the sword.

"Don't freeze, girl, or you're dead," he said, using his absurd strength to throw my claw away. I stepped backward and felt a sharp pain on my underside. Akio was under there and had stabbed directly into my belly. There was a feeling of building mana, and Sebastian the Eternal died. His Respawn crystal activated, pulling most of his mana and soul off to reconstitute him in half an hour or so. His body, however, exploded in a bright flash that broke through the carapace on his back.

Then the rest fell over Akio.

There was a moment of silence, the music trailing off, as the boy stood up. His head poked through the gaping hole in the crab, absolutely covered in blue blood and guts.

"I'm okay!" he called, "But, uh, can someone help me out of here?"

I mentally chuckled as Haythem stood on the crab's back and lifted the boy from the flesh hole. Sophie stepped towards them but visibly stepped back and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Good job, kid. You three still got enough mana?" Haytyhem asked. The teens nodded.

"Yeah. That last spell took a bit out of me, but I'm still half-full," Akio elaborated. From what I could tell, he didn't have quite as much mana as the other two but still had some in reserve.

"Great. We'll go through the Second for a bit, introduce you to the monsters and traps there, and then go back to the surface," Haythem said, stepping back down off the Crab Knight's corpse. "You three all have potential but still have a few things to work on. Here, take a potion each. I know you didn't take many hits, but the sooner they're healed, the less chance they'll scar."

There were a few minutes of harvesting, Akio somehow having not blown up Sebastian's monster core, before they moved to the exit door.

The teens gasped in awe at the glowing roof, lit by runes in circular patterns around the central stalactite. The mana condensed into the drops of water that ran down the rock and dropped into the bowl below. "What's that?" Sophie asked, walking up to the basin.

"Mana water. It's the base for most potions and normally hard to make." Bertram explained, "Most alchemists need a dedicated mage to energize water for them, which drives up the price. This is why potions are so cheap on Atlantis, without the corresponding lack of quality. Hard to make bad potions with such a high-quality starting point."

"Could I use it?" Bruce asked. "Does it enhance my water magic somehow?"

"I actually don't know," Haythem 0answered after a shared glance with Bertram. "Never worked with a water mage and never thought to ask. Most collect and sell it for profit, rather than use it to fight."

"Can I try?" the potentially-Australian kid asked, almost pleading.

"Sure. Why not." Bertram agreed. Eagerly, Bruce stepped forward and put his hands in the manawater. his mana flooded it, and it quickly flowed out into the air, turning into ribbons that swam through the air. "It's so responsive!" Bruce revealed, eyes wide. His impromptu performance ended when he emptied his waterskin and let the manawater flow inside.

Hmm. Interesting. I could give some manawater to that Water Spirit and see what they make of it.

The guilders and teen heroes moved down the spiral staircase to the Second Floor, and I let myself defocus, spreading out my consciousness to take in the whole dungeon at once. There wasn't much point in watching them go through the Flooded Labyrinth. I had their measure.

They were still early in their journey.

The girl, Sophie, froze when faced with her own death. Bruce only used water tentacles the whole time, and his shield was weak to physical attacks. Akio was the most skilled, and obviously used his enchanted shield to be able to perform two spells at once. Then, Akio ass-pulled a finishing move to kill the Boss by hitting its biggest weak spot while it was distracted.

Akio was the most experienced or perhaps the best trained. If they'd been together since they were summoned, having different trainers for each of them only makes sense. I'd keep an eye on them to see how fast they grew. Heroes often have accelerated growth rates in those stories and anime from Earth; there's a chance these three do as well.

Well, if they're going to start delving regularly, I need to sweep the dungeon again for memes and references. Then, I'll do some investigation on the surface. The Holy City had to have a reason for summoning heroes, and I felt it was about the Bahrain. They obviously had something to do with their royal family dying and the kingdom shattering, giving the timing to their invasion. Either way, I didn't think they'd let their summoned heroes walk about. Where were their trainers? A princess healer, sword saint, or someone local planted in their party to keep an eye on them?

Right. Meme time!

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Teleport Tents, Obsidian Beach, Atlantis

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Haythem took a deep breath as he and the rest of the party appeared in the familiar tent outside the dungeon. They were quickly ushered out of the way, healed of any lingering wounds, and then interviewed on their delve. Normally, for such a short delve, Haythem would just give them a 'No visible changes from the norm' and be on his way. This time, though, he had something interesting to share. Thus, he and Bertram found themselves in front of Guildmistress Losat once again, "It has music now and seems interested in those three kids."

"What?"

"During the fight with the First Floor Guardian, music played to accent the fight. It also seemed like the dungeon possessed the Guardian and fought them directly rather than letting the monster do it. It tested them, and when it had their measure went for a killing blow on the girl. I blocked it, and the kid with the light magic, Akio, got the killing blow in while it was distracted. Why did it wait till now to use the music? Why play music during fights at all?"

Haythem's questions went unanswered.

"Thank you for your time, Haythem, Bertram. About the teens, are you still happy to delve with them for a while? I heard my aunt and uncle are gearing up for another Deep Delve." Bertram and Haythem shared a look; Bertram raised an eyebrow, then Haythem shrug-nodded.

"I don't think we'd mind keeping an eye on them," Bertram answered. "They're good kids and still have a lot to learn. How's their fourth?"

"Doing well. Elize has a Life Mana affinity, and even though I've offered for her to join our Healers, she's insistent on joining her friends in the dungeon."

"Not many healers actually put themselves in the line of fire," Haythem commented. "Might be nice to have one on hand for once. Any estimates on how long it'll take her to reach Gold?"

Layla hummed. "Probably six months to a year. The main difference between Silver and Gold is in skill, though mana level and body reinforcement play a part. If she'd dedicated enough, it won't take long."

"Six months is a long time..." Haythem wondered, rubbing his chin. "I have an idea... You'd need to ask the Voice to ask the dungeon, but it might let us start bringing Silvers back to the island.

Eyebrow raised high enough to be visible over her blindfold, Layla leaned forward, her star-filled eyes no doubt locked on him. "Oh? Please, share your idea."

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