Of Magic and Dungeons [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

[Doggo 218]

As the first explosion lifted one of the rust bugs Estelle was feeling rather confident in her more or less improvised spell. But the mage had forgotten the all too possible reality that one of the bugs or bugbears would simply walk over the first to fall victim to one which came true not all that long after Lana managed to spill the guts of the creature that had touched the spell. Chris moved to engaged the bugbear, leaving Estelle's immediate line of sight due to the rock formations. Lana stayed in sight and was looking to wrap up quickly with the second of the closest rust monsters but it proved a bit more difficult to handle having not been knocked off balance. Estelle noticed it seemed more interested in whatever metal was on her friend's person than immediately attacking her but that wasn't going to stop it from hurting Lana in the process of getting to her axe. After several exchanged blows Lana shouted and the source was clear in the rust that had formed on her weapon.

"Lana, take this!" Estelle shouted, magic sparking in her hands as a construct of light began appearing in front of her friend. The mage was moving as well, crossing another of the small channels of water to get along the side of the unfolding strikes. She needed to be able to provide cover fire without hitting her friends after all. But for now her magic formed an axe made of light for Lana to grab hold of and finish the job. It wasn't an efficient solution to the rust problem these monsters presented hence the mage not jumping to it to start. Estelle's constructs had a habit of dissipating after a single strike to conserve her energy and the training was so engrained into her that making the axe not do this, while not impossible, would prove rather difficult at best and potentially explosive at worst. And under the circumstances the Fereis very much doubted that Lana would want a very detailed explanation about the magus' magical machinations so she settled on a much simpler explanation.

"One swing! I will get more ready." she called out. From her changed position it looked like Chris might be benefited from a magical armament. Multi-tasking could work.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Doggo

[LordCowCow 839]

As Chris dove at the Bugbear it prepared for another swing. However Chris struck before it could bring the weapon down and the dagger drove into its body. Just above the collarbone. Letting out a pained howl the large humanoid monster brought its arm around and moved to crush Chris against it in a deadly sort of bear hug. It seemed the brute was acting on instinct without giving much thought as to what the dagger would do to him. Which only meant that it was now acting without regard to its own safety and purely lashing out against its attacker.

The other one across the way, by the door, seemed to notice that things weren't going well, and it began to lumber its way towards the group. Cracking the whip and grumbling as if mostly annoyed that he had to do anything at all.

Meanwhile Lana was able to grab hold of the magic-weapon. It felt strange, giving off a slight tingling sensation, as she was gripping pure energy. It wasn't as easy to get a grip of as a regular weapon but it would do and the girl would be able to finish off the rust monster with it before it flickered and faded away.

However there wasn't much time to relax. They could hear a splashing sound as another rust monster crossed the stream to their right. Followed closely behind by a second and the other bugbear.

Spoiler

Map

Reminder that Lana's mine things are set up in the areas between the rocks and the streams as well. Make use of those if you'd like.

 

[radio414 903]

This time, Chris chose the latter option, the one that meant he was hanging on to his one remaining dagger for dear life, though the bugbear didn’t give him much of a choice anyway, clamping its arms together in the roughest hug he’d ever gotten, beating out that one time his aunts visited the Ellwood estate. It was nice to know he was hitting the thing where it was doing some damage, though, if it was resorting to something like this, a solace Chris held onto as he felt his ribcage start to crack. He had to do something soon.

With what leverage he could manage, Chris wrenched his dagger from its spot in the bugbear’s shoulder -- and winced as that made the thing squeeze him even tighter -- brought it back as far as he could, and jammed it into the creature’s neck. There were two things he would have liked to happen in that moment, the first was that he’d stop getting squeezed to death and the second, well, was that the bugbear would just die already, though only the first one ended up happening, sending Chris tumbling back down to the ground.

“Gods, why won’t you die, huh?” Chris muttered as he stood back up. The bugbear had dropped any pretense of defending itself and was now swinging wildly, alternating between trying to haymaker Chris to death or scoop him up in another deadly squeeze. He had just enough time to draw his one remaining weapon -- his sword -- and ready himself, just in time to duck under one punch that went straight into the rock behind him. The monster was wide open, and he seized it as much as he was able, striking upwards, sending his sword straight up, aiming right for the underside of the monster’s chin.

[Skaia 578]

Frustrated at the loss of her axe, Lana was all the more ready to murder the rust bug with the new weapon of light that Estelle had made. Thrusting the blade of light into the creature's face, drew to the noble mage's warning it dissipated in one strike. However, having already injured its face with her now destroyed axe, that proved to be enough to fell it. The girl let out a small victory shout as she grabbed her great axe out of the bug's corpse. As she was still frustrated but with the grossness of the bugs that she was fighting as well as the destruction of her weapon, the girl's angered expression fell on to the next Rust Monster that had been scampering its way over to her. She grimaced, unsure of what the best way to approach it was, fearing that just a head on confrontation would result in the destruction of her main weapon. Of course, Lana was not a girl of many tricks and the head on charge was perhaps one of her greatest. 

As she gripped the haft of her great axe tighter, she remembered what had happened to the first rust monster that she had fought not 10 seconds ago. Walking a bit down, the rust monster matched Lana's movements hurriedly scurrying over to where she was. Unfortunately for it, one more mine had found its leg, exploding and causing the bug to be knocked over onto its side. The bugbear who had been guiding them had seemed to be growing frustrated with these mines as well, whipping the other rust monster into action to cause it to hurry faster to Lana. 

Lana, not wanting to deal with two bugs at one and having a lot of anger to vent, slashed horizontally into the creature's exposed underbelly. A crunching noise could be heard as it let out a pained bug noise, its legs flailing around as it tried to right itself. Pulling the axe back, the girl let out a grunt of exertion before going to slash once again, causing the same crunching and squeal to happen before the rust monster finally stopped moving. Pulling her axe back, letting out another grunt the girl continued to grimace as the final rust monster was swiftly closing the gap between them. Pulling her axe back to keep it behind her and away from the rust monster, Lana just muttered, "I hate bugs." 

[Doggo 218]

With the one axe she had summoned a success, Estelle was ever so slightly relieved to see her allies doing well all things considered. Lana especially was making headway killing the rust monsters so as to not have to fight more than one at a time, the mine spell from earlier aiding that effort. True to her word from earlier the Fereis created a weapon for both of them, a sword for Chris and an axe for Lana, which appeared at their sides as the spells were finished. The spells would hover at their sides for a short period to use at their leisure but she couldn't well hold them forever. In fact as she continued observing the fight and thought of what spells to weave next the mage took note of Chris going in for the kill on the bugbear. Occupied as he was, Estelle took the privilege of using the sword of light she had created for him in his stead to aid his attack. With her focus on the weapon it rotated in the air to face its point at the beast's side. She took another moment to ensure the maneuver wouldn't hit Chris by some off chance and willed it thrust itself into the monster's side.

This focus on the sword caused a flicker in the axe and mines previously produced which Estelle quickly began righting by exerting yet more magical energy. She contemplated using a Pleiades spell as she was quickly forming a veritable arsenal of light weaponry. But control was more important than raw magical strength right now. Still, the stress on her body was mounting and her breathing had become temporarily labored for the exertions. "Center yourself. Do not be swept away with every magical current. Mold it, shape it, bid it obey you." She muttered rudimentary teachings as a ritual of sorts to focus her efforts.

[LordCowCow 839]

The bugbear looked startled as Chris went for a killing blow. With a grunt it began to bring its arm up. From the motion it seemed the monster was going to try and grab the blade before Chris could connect. Which, while painful and potentially damaging to its hand, would be better than getting it shoved into its chin. However it suddenly was struck in the side by some kind of glowing blaze.

Its body, and arm, twitched and it was unable to stop Chris from shoving the blade up. With a simple push Chris would be able to put an end to the bugbear threat. Or at least that particular bugbear.

The other had seen that its fellow was struggling and tried to hurry up to reach Chris before it died but paused just short of the stream. There, from the other side of the water, the bugbear sneered at Chris and gripped both its whip and club tightly. Moving back and forth as it waited for Chris to try and cross the stream.

Both the last rust monster and the bugbear following it tried to close in quickly on Lana. Seemingly thinking that the one mine must have been the only one. The bugbear stepped near one of them, however, Estelle's concentration weakening had caused the mine to flicker and didn't go off as the bugbear ran past.

The rust monster wasn't so lucky and its backside was hit by the blast. Causing the creature to skid to a stop, stunned, and so the bugbear went for Lana itself as the monster recovered.

It brought its whip back and struck Lana across the face with the whip and, taking advantage of the situation, swung its club at her head right after.

Spoiler

Unsure how many mines are left but not there is still at least one behind the bugbear

Map

 

[radio414 903]

Okay, so that was one down, one more standing in between them and the door. It was a bit strange, after everything Chris had done with the previous bugbear, how the other one seemed content to just stand guard over on the other side of the stream, but, then again, that was how it had initially acted, wasn’t it? It was just closer now -- Chris was more able to appreciate the size difference and, in most circumstances, that this was a stupid fight to be taking. It even let him kneel down and pull his blades out of the still-warm first bugbear corpse, though not without a snarl and what were probably some choice words in bugbear. “Yup! I agree,” Chris couldn’t help but add. “Now, just give me a minute and I’ll be right with you.”

Mostly, Chris used his brief reprieve to make sure everything was in usable condition, both his weapons and his own limbs and back. His shoulder, for example, was really not appreciative of any of this but he could deal, as he had so far. His swords and dagger were fine too, and he put them back into their respective sheaths before looking back up at the bugbear across the river.

In one moment, they were standing facing each other, still sizing each other up. In the next, Chris was running straight towards his opponent, the only obstacle in his way being the water, which he leapt over fluidly and without missing a step. The bugbear, for its part, was ready too, raising its club and bringing it crashing down on where Chris would be if he stopped in front of it. Chris didn’t, though. In fact, he kept moving, sliding under the bugbear between its legs -- the club hit the ground just behind him.

Chris scrambled back to his feet, knowing that he only had a few scant moments before the bugbear turned around and he was back to where he started. He drew a dagger and sent it straight towards a hamstring. At least that was easier to get at than a collarbone, he thought.

[Skaia 578]

As Lana was readying herself for an attack from both the bugbear, she was happy to see the mine go off to trip up the metal cockroach and also the sudden armament of light that appeared right next to her. However, the bugbear wasn't any bit slowed down and Lana being both a bit distracted and not used to fight against such a long range weapon, wasn't able to do much but wince as she was struck with the whip. The monster taking advantage of this, continued to get closer to her with its clubbed raise and ready to hammer down onto Lana. The girl grit her teeth, and decided to meet the monstrous humanoid head on, letting go of her axe with one hand and using it to grab the light construct near her, before taking a swing with it towards the bugbear's arm. The bugbear's grip loosened as it grunted in pain, the club grazing her shoulder as it went off course and Lana gritting her teeth. Grabbing her greataxe with both hands, the girl took a small step back before going for a wide swing, the blade burying itself in the rib cage of the beast.

With labored breathing as its bones were broken beneath the blade, the bugbear roared in anger as it brought up the butt of its whip to club Lana's head once again. Letting go of her axe, Lana continued to press forward, drawing out her dagger and raising her arm to take the blow. Wincing yet again, the girl let out a battle cry as she plunged her dagger into the tall creature's chest. Having the wind knocked out of it again, the bugbear was stunned, giving Lana the opportunity to continue her assault, using gravity to aid her as she started to pull the blade through the torso of the creature. Dragging the dagger down, creating a hideous zig-zag pattern as she carved around the bone, the bugbear let out a cry of pain as it stared flailing its arms around in desperation to hit Lana. The didn't do much to avoid this, taking a few blows from the whip as she continued to drag the knife down before finally pulling it out. Grabbing her greataxe with her free hand, the girl pulled out the weapon causing the bugbear to topple to the ground, dead. Panting, pulling her axe back behind her, the girl looked over to the now approaching no longer stunned rust monster. Grimacing at the creature, she said, "I'll give you something to snack on you gross large...guh." 

[Doggo 218]

True to her intention, Estelle kept herself focused on maintaining what she had left of the mines and providing additional weaponry for her allies at a moment's notice. This first meant providing a sword for Chris that perhaps he would get to use this time. The weapon would continue at his side as he began making his maneuvers against the last approaching bugbear and even if he didn't use it the mage would keep on the look out for opportunities to provide him an opening as she had with the previous beast. Lana meanwhile was preparing to stare down a bugbear and a rust bug at the same time but thankfully one of the Fereis' mines had provided cover on the latter, leaving the woman to focus on fighting the bugbear. Soon enough a third axe construct would appear at Lana's side as Estelle did her best to take stock of both fights while holding concentration on her magic. Though now the rust monster was getting back to its feet and the bugbear was enough of a problem with the whip it wielded. 

Adding a third spell to manage at this point seemed less than wise yet still it was the path Estelle took as she shifted focus. The light constructs would stop in place as a result, needing Chris and Lana to grab them to make any use of them. The mage turned her magic on the rust creature, sending an enchantment its way. The approach was multi-faceted as the mage was uncertain how the creature would respond to any of the imposed ideas in its mind. She tried to strike fear into it to stop its advance while also convincing it its limbs were heavier than the stones that littered the floor of the room. While not certain which approach worked, it ultimately did reach the desired effect as the monster stopped in its tracks. It attempted to takes steps only to stop as if unable to perform the motion.

"I have stopped it from moving, for how long I do not know!" she called out to Lana to avoid any confusion.

[LordCowCow 839]

The bugbear seemed to for a few moments not understand where it was Chris had gone. The human had been right there and should have been smooshed by its club and yet there was not a goopy mess where its club had landed.

This moment of confusion was long enough that it wasn't until after the dagger hit that it realized what had happened. As the dagger sunk into its leg it grunted as the immediate pain came first. Despite the injury, which already was causing swelling and plenty of bleeding, it tried to turn around to attack Chris. And, while it managed to face the young man, the weight the bugbear placed on it caused them to buckle and fall on a knee.

Still he didn't give up. Knowing if he didn't smash these humans he was done for. So he raised up his club with both hands to bring it down on Chris despite his awkward position.

Over by Lana the rust monster was in a potentially more awkward spot. It stopped its movement and seemed to not know what had just happened to it. Lana could see the creature practically laying prone as it tried to push itself upwards but, every time it started, the creature would struggle and fall back with its belly on the ground. Its antennae waved around frantically, in an attempt to latch onto some mental, and its mandibles clicked together as though trying to bite something that wasn't within reach.

Spoiler

Map

 

[Skaia 578]

Lana grimaced as the bug continued to make its way closer to her, but then raised an eyebrow as it started to just flail around. Looking like it was having some sudden trouble with walking in general, as well as just wildly biting at the air in front of it. Lana was somewhat assured by Estelle telling her that she had been the one to confuse it as such, though that didn't make it any less gross of unpleasant to approach. All the same, putting her axe to the ground not wanting it to get anywhere near the creature's feelers, Lana grabbed the light axe from the air with both hands. With a loud grunt, the girl ran forward and brought the blade down on the rust bug's head, shattering the weapon over it and felling it instantly. 

Lana let out a sigh of relief as the prone, twitching bug finally ceased moving and walked away from it. Picking up her axe from the ground, the girl looked at it glad to see that it was still not covered in rust. "Maybe I need a big club," the girl thought aloud, glancing back to the monster. Then, looking over to Estelle she gave a big smile and thumbs up saying, "thanks for the help Estelle! Man, even those glowing weapon things you made were super awesome." The girl then looked over to Chris, noticing him fighting the final monster on this floor. She was already pretty fed up with most everything they had encountered in their trip so far, and so she was ready to get on with their trip through the dungeon for the day over with, silently looking at the rogueish boy as if to urge him to kill it faster.  

[radio414 903]

Chris was almost amazed at how well that had gone, actually, like, he was impressed with himself. He didn't have time to pat himself on the back, though -- just because the bugbear was down didn’t mean it was out. The bugbear still had working arms, a working head, and a club that meant business raised above its head and ready to take another wild swing at Chris. Dodging it was easier, at least. Given the bugbear’s significant decrease in mobility, just getting off to the side again did the trick, and once again Chris avoided getting his skull bashed in.

The other benefit to getting the bugbear down on its knee was its neck was now much easier to swing at, a fact Chris took advantage of, drawing his sword and swinging it in a wide overhead arc into the bugbear’s shoulder and diagonally down. It wasn’t enough to kill it, though, and his sword got wedged into something and became difficult to pull out. He probably could have done it if the bugbear wasn’t so insistent on trying to kill him, but alas, a horizontal swing of the club put a kibosh on that plan -- Chris had to duck out of the way instead.

As he stood back up, he caught a glimpse of something glowing just outside the corner of his vision, and he let himself turn away from the bugbear for just a moment to get a better look at what it was. What it was was a sword, not unlike the one wedged into the bugbear’s shoulder, except made of light. He grabbed it and the sword even had a sense of weight in his hand. Still, there was an indescribable energy to it, and it felt like it wasn’t entirely there, like it could flicker out at any moment. “This is what magic is, huh?” Chris said. He whipped back around and drove the sword down into the same spot on the shoulder, using the first wound as a guide to get further down, and he must have hit something important on the way down because after another moment (and stepping back away from one more desperate swing), the bugbear collapsed to the ground.

Chris looked around at the rest of the dungeon floor and saw that Lana and Estellise had indeed managed the rest of the monsters. “Good job,” he said as he wrenched a sword (that was to say, his sword, the one he came in with) and dagger from the fallen bugbear, also checking to make sure it really was dead. “Either of you hurt? Lose anything? I think I managed okay-” Right as Chris said it, his adrenaline started to fade and he felt a sharp pain coming from just above his stomach, which he clutched. “Oh! No, that’s a rib, uh…” He sucked air through his teeth, though he tried to smile weakly. “Little help here?”
 

[LordCowCow 839]

Once everyone was ready and they entered the staircase they would notice a change. There was a pressure in the air as they made their way down towards the tenth floor of the dungeon. When they reached the bottom they saw that the doorway was a stone slab that they had to pull to the side to move on.

The moment they did the slab shut tight behind them and, were they to look, they would not be able to see it anymore.

In fact they couldn't see much of anything anymore.

All around them were high, stone, walls. They stretched up and up to what seemed an impossible height. So high up they couldn't see the top of the walls. If there even was one.

From where they stood these walls surrounded them on three sides and they were on a straight pathway that was roughly twenty feet wide. It stretched on to the right for a long while until it turned a corner. Halfway between this corner and where they stood they could see the path branching to the side.

The ground was littered here and there with small, round, boulders that they would find impossible to lift.

As they got their bearings they realized they could hear a sound. As if something was being dragged along the ground, which, they realized, was also made of stone.

They would have a few moments before they noticed a shadow on the wall where the path turned a corner at the end. And soon something came into view.

It was a massive creature. Standing just over ten feet in height with bulging muscles. Its shirtless torso looked humanoid, though more muscular than any human they had seen. However its legs were covered in dark fur and ended in hooves. And its head was that of a black-furred bull. With large horns curving forward and blood-red eyes that bulged as it turned the corner to look at them. The creature was dragging behind it a large, single-bladed, axe that looked worn but still perfectly functional. It seemed to be quite dulled as well, almost more a club than axe, yet it would probably not matter much.

For this creature was a legendary beast known as a minotaur. Not only were they massive in size but their strength was even beyond what you'd expect from their impressive size. Almost supernatural in nature. Some even say that they had a nearly divine strength. Looking at it now it was clear that this thing was far from natural. And by the way its nostrils flared when it looked at them it seemed that it wasn't happy to see the group.

As it turned the corner it reached for one of the boulders and, lifting it with ease in one hand, launched it in the group's direction.

Spoiler

"Map" just to get a general idea

I probably won't be updating this like I do the others for reasons that will become clear. But where you go from here is up to you. Past it, down the other path, or just staying right here.

But yes here it is, the 10th floor, and the first "boss" monster.

You have a little bit of time before it comes into view if you wanted to move before it gets around the corner.

 

[radio414 903]

Healing up went well enough, though, as a bonus side-effect, Chris’ gut where his rib got healed was now incredibly sore as well. At least it was only as bad as his shoulder-soreness, Chris thought, and now the soreness could permeate through his body instead of being localized to his primary shoulder in a way that made it a bit more bearable. Or maybe that was just the healing magic fixing some of the soreness the second time around, who was to say?

Well, Estellise -- the person actually doing the healing magic -- probably would have been able to say something, but Chris didn’t think to ask in the moment. In any case, there was only one more floor to go, and Chris led everyone on the way down.

There was something different about this floor, and not just because it was the first one in a while to be something besides a wide-open room with some monsters scattered about. There was a presence, something in the air felt different. Even at floor five, the only other “final floor” they’d done so far, there hadn’t been something like this. No, this felt like that time back in Ellwood Manor where he was eyeing up some pastries to swipe as soon as the chef turned their back, but instead of looking away, the chef turned towards Chris, which would have been fine, like, he could have played innocent, but there was a knowing look on their face, like they’d known all along. Something knew they were there, even without seeing them, and it was coming.

The “something” turned out to be a minotaur, a monster Chris knew about because his parents tried to read to him about it. The operative word there, of course, was “tried.” All he really remembered was its name, general appearance, and something about string being real effective against it, not that he had any.

Was he really supposed to lasso it? Was that the point? As the monster picked up a massive rock, demonstrating its immense strength, Chris decided the answer was no. Not unless he wanted to try punching a boulder, anyway. Instead, Chris did the thing someone in his profession was best at, above even the scrappy fighting and the sneaking around: he started running, diving out of the way of the boulder and continuing to the one available turn he could see. “Left-hand rule!” he called back to Lana and Estellise. “Let’s skedaddle!”

[Skaia 578]

As Chris had finished up his side of the conflict and reconvened with them, the girl lifted up her rusted hand axe when he had asked if they lost anything. She was rather displeased with the outcome, not particularly keen on going to buy a new axe herself. At least her main weapon hadn't been destroyed. With all of that said and done, the group had begun to walk down the stairs to go into the final floor of their run through this dungeon. Getting down there, the room seemed to be nothing more than a simple corridor that branched off to the left. Though of course, with all of their other experiences thus far, Lana couldn't help immediately be on edge. Looking around every which way, expecting some kind of giant spider monster to be on the ceiling or something to burst out of the walls and eat them. 

Thankfully this speculation didn't have to last long, as their opponent had walked over to them. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like it really needed to do anything other than that to kill them. The girl gulped as she saw the hulking bull man walk towards them, with what appeared to be some kind of giant hammer like axe. She had been pretty brash thus far with how she had fought the enemies in this dungeon, but even she knew that if she just tried to charge it would flatten her in an instant. As such, she stood in place, locking up in uncertainty only to be pulled back as Chris shouted out what to do next. "R-right!" 

Following down the left-hand path the group was met with yet another corridor, a right path halfway through the corridor and the left one towards the end. With the thundering foosteps of the Minotaur closing in from behind them, the creature not sounding like it was in a hurry but very clearly gaining on them, Lana looked to the other two. "Still left!" She shouted, running down the path and making her way down the left path. Once there, they entered yet another hallway. This one continued straight yet again, branching off into a left and right path both in the middle and at the end of it. The middle-right path, though, seemed to be coming increasingly more threatening of an option as they could hear the footsteps of the Minoataur making their down them. Looking to the other two, a bit confused with how this whole system of hallways worked and generally concerned, the girl asked, "okay uh, so, how do we fight this thing?" 

[Doggo 218]

With the danger past, Estelle took a moment to heal everyone to make sure they were in fighting shape before the group descended to the tenth floor. Danger was quick to present itself again of course as nothing less than a minotaur came into view. With multiple passages along the walls Chris was quick to assert a strategy the group began using after a close shave with a projectile boulder the bovine monster had lobbed at them. They took each left passageway presented to them and thankfully the monster seemed fairly slow on its feet. This happened however many more times Estelle couldn't keep track of well. Running was not her strong suit and the amount they were doing here was slightly taxing after the magical exertions of the previous floor. With another left there were again a left and right choice further down the hallway yet impossibly the sound of the minotaur's footsteps were coming from the right path ahead of them rather than behind them. Lana looked to the group for a plan to fight it and this much Estelle felt she could manage better than endless running.

"I suggest we do not if we can help it." the mage said as she lobbed a ball of light ahead of her. The beast soon emerged in view in the entrance to the right and took note of the magic as it approached. It swiped at it yet made no effort to pursue it further down into the hall. Estelle nearly swore under her breath that the beast had not been so easily tricked. "Another test then!" she assured herself as she reached a hand behind her and caused an explosion some distance behind the group. The shockwave rumbled the corridor and this the minotaur took more notice of than the ball of light yet even this did not change it's course. The group would soon be upon the beast but stopping or turning around seemed less than helpful.

"Cover your ears and keep left!" the Fereis both urging the group onward and preparing a spell for when they approached. Another explosive shockwave, this time in the creature's face rather than far off.

[LordCowCow 839]

The minotaur approached them steadily. It seemed that not much was going to stop the beast-man from chasing them down. When Estelle let loose her magic it struck the large creature directly in the face. The blast looked to stop the minotaur for a moment. It shook its head, grunted and, likely to their dismay, continued to move forward with the same determined stalking. As the group ran down the left path the minotaur came down it as well. Though because of the magical blast it was farther behind than before and, as they group went through a couple more turns, they realized they couldn't hear the monster anymore.

Eventually they came up to yet another fork in the road. As they got closer to it they realized that, while on the right the path seemed to be similar to those before, the path on the left they could feel a heat emanating from it. However they also noticed something else.

The minotaur came from that path. Holding a small boulder in one hand which it launched towards them as they reached the fork in the maze.

Spoiler

Just a note for reference. Both paths are a bit more than twice as wide as the minotaur itself.

Also it probably is good to determine what you'll do next together before posting.

 

[radio414 903]

Gods, Chris thought. Either they’d been going in circles or there was more than one minotaur to contend with, and either way, it wasn’t looking good for the “run to the exit even though we don’t know where it is” plan. Or, of course, the minotaur knew the tenth dungeon floor much better than the adventurers intruding upon it so it just took a shortcut somewhere instead of giving chase, but that wasn’t disastrous enough to think about, so Chris just didn’t. They did have to change plans, though -- if the left-hand rule one was going to take them straight into the minotaur’s waiting boulder-gripping hands, well, that wasn’t exactly running away, now was it?

The two things they had learned from the cat-and-mouse game were firstly: the speed and trajectory at which the minotaur threw boulders, and secondly: that for the moment, it was quite slower than them. It reminded Chris of the bear-goblins, actually, and one thing he’d learned from those things was that if you were quicker than them and didn’t get hit, you could hamper their movement and make it even easier to not get hit in the future. And that got Chris to realize another of his classic plans. They could fight the minotaur if they tried.

“Okay, we’re going to keep going left for now,” he said. “Watch for boulders, and aim for the legs.”

Chris’ plan really was the same as the plan he’d gotten one floor up. He took off towards the minotaur, leaping out of the way of the one boulder the minotaur already had in hand before scrambling to his feet and making a high jump, sword drawn, only to do nothing but land and zip back behind the beast and slash at its ankles.

And it worked! Well, the physical actions were all there, like, he managed to do all of that, but he hadn’t really taken into account the physical differences between a bear-goblin and a minotaur. They were the same size, approximately, but the minotaur’s legs were much tougher to cut through, so while he did manage a good slice, the minotaur was still standing, and, now turned to face the little miscreant, the beast brought the butt of its axe down towards Chris’ head.

Edited September 25, 2021 by radio414

[Doggo 218]

How a mage's life became dodging boulders being thrown by minotaurs in labyrinths was anyone's guess yet that was the life Estelle found herself living. A less than graceful dive out of the way had the Fereis tumbling and scraping her exposed legs. But scratches were always preferable to being flattened. As Estellise attempted to steady herself she registered Chris' plan for the moment. Sticking to the left was wise enough for navigating a maze, but what he intended to do about the monster was another thing entirely. With as little understanding of martial arts as the mage possessed, an excitement took hold of her as she saw Chris close in and go for the thing's ankles. Just as soon a confusion set in as the man didn't cleanly pass through the beast. The minotaur seemed bothered but in the sense one crushes an annoying bug. And with this equivalent of a bite it seemed intent on crushing Chris.

"Above!" Estelle called the movement of the axe as she sprung into action herself. Sprung was less accurate than she simply stood and readied her magic quickly, a typical arrow of light manifesting in her hands. This she shot about as quickly as she felt it was stable and show the minotaur in the face. The monster recoiled, retracting its attempt to crush Chris, so by all accounts this was an outstanding success. Yet now the beast was charging her, the least athletic member of the adventuring team.

"Oh gods." The Fereis muttered. Such scandalous language for a lady. But there would be time to apologize for poor ettiquette after she wasn't dead. Despite it not being her forte Estelle began running as best she could toward the next left turn off this lane of the maze.

[Skaia 578]

As the group continued to try and high tail it away from the minotaur, it seemed to be a fruitless endeavor as the creature had continued to cut them off at every turn. Eventually, Chris had decided to spring into action, going to dash and strike at the creature's leg to generally no avail. As Estelle attacked it as well to get the heat off of the rogue boy, the minotaur had then begun to make its way towards her. Lana knew that it would easily close the gap to her and that if it got to attack her there probably wouldn't be much "her" left. Thinking that she had to do something about this, Lana thought about what had just happened, and sprang into action. 

Charging the charging minotaur, the girl had her axe at the ready to strike at its legs. The minotaur swung its axe to the side to catch the oncoming girl, and Lana wanting no part in being bisected opted to skillfully and artfully slide under the blade of the creature. Which was more akin to leaning back, tripping and instead falling while still retaining her forward momentum. The end result, though, was that she was not bisected and that was what had mattered most to her. Now lying on her back, the minotaur had turned its attention fully to Lana which meant her plan had been a success. She couldn't find much time to celebrate such a minor victory as it then went to stomp her, the girl rolling to the side as the hoofed foot of the bull man made a loud thud where the Lana of half a second ago was. 

Getting back to her feet, now close to the leg, the girl went to take a heavy swing at it. Her blade was met with metal, as the Minotaur had smash its blade downward to parry hers. The reverberations of the metals hitting could be easily heard, as Lana felt a sting and vibration course through her arms as her blade was deflected, the Minotaur's being unmoved. Stepping back, gulping as she remembered her initial bout of terror when first seeing the creature said, "um...nice...axe...you got there..."

[LordCowCow 839]

While the group scrambled to avoid the heavy attacks of the minotaur Chris and Estelle managed to wind up on the left-hand side of the path. The warmth they could feel before was hotter the farther down the path they went which made it even more clear than before that whatever caused it was in that direction.

If that wasn't enough then just by looking, from their position, they could see towards the end of the path. It made a sharp left turn at the far end and from that direction they could see a faint orangeish glow.

None of these things registered for Lana however. For she was still standing in front of the Minotaur. She ended up not to the left nor right but instead directly in front of the beastman. It was glaring at her with crazed eyes, somewhere between an animal's and human's, and it let out a snort as it stepped towards her. Its long legs crossed the short distance quickly and the minotaur raised its axe up in its right hand while reaching for Lana with the left. The hand was going for her head and, given its size, it would easily be able to grab the entire thing in its powerful grip.

Spoiler

For some reference Chris and Estelle would be to the minotaur's right.

 

[radio414 903]

Even after being hit by everyone in the party -- sometimes even multiple times -- the minotaur was still tough enough to retaliate with seemingly as much force as it had before. At the very least, it had knocked Lana to the ground, and she had just gotten back up to her feet when the thing strode forward and began to attack again.

Chris didn’t have much time to think about what he was doing. “Oi, milk-breath,” he said, running up behind the minotaur, sword at the ready. “I’m the one who attacked you first, why’d you stop trying to tag back?” He grasped his sword with his other hand as well and swung it as close as he could to the cut he’d managed last time.

It still wasn’t enough to collapse the minotaur’s legs (this thing did not skip leg day, that was for sure), but it was enough to get the thing’s attention again, as it twisted its body and shifted the aim on its axe. The minotaur snorted, too, so maybe Chris had just said something really stupid just then. Chris did count at least one victory, though: he had to dodge the axe and not Lana, and while the minotaur’s grasping hand was outstretched, that really was all she had to deal with. And Chris was ready for it.

He dove back out of the way of the falling axeblade and popped back up on his feet. “We should keep going!” he shouted. “Run, Lana!”

[Skaia 578]

Lana gulped as it seemed the minotaur was very keen on showing off its nice axe more. With one hand going to grab at her and one hand lifting the axe blade to squash her, Lana took a small back step on reflex, as if that would save her from being squashed. She herself had an axe, but neither the brawn the muscle through the minotaur's nor the agility to deftly avoid both attacks. Or the brains to figure out some clever plan to get out of this. Thankfully, her worries were answered by the minotaur's attention being suddenly diverted to a stab wound it got in the leg. As the axe went to go strike down at Chris, Lana gripped her own weapon tighter as she decided that now was the time push forward. 

Not wanting to risk getting grabbed by the hand of the bull man, Lana decided that she would simply get rid of the hand that was trying to get her. And so, winding her axe backward, the girl swung her blade into the palm of beast. Pulling back its now bleeding hand, grunting in pain, with rage the minotaur looked between the two attackers it had, angry as ever. Not wanting to stay next to it any longer than she needed to, she nodded to Chris. "Skeddadling!" The minotaur brought its axe down towards Lana, slamming the ground as the girl had already broken into a full sprint as she went to regroup with Estelle. 

[LordCowCow 839]

Chips of stone flew up from where the minotaur's axe struck it. The single-handed strike having enough force to damage the floor with ease. It took a moment for the minotaur to realize it had missed and, when it did, it turned angrily towards the group that was now running for the end of this path.

Even if they didn't look back they could hear its grunting and the noise of the beast following behind them. When they managed to reach the end and turned a corner they would see that the hall continued a short way before curving off to the right. The glow was more intense that way and, the nearer they got, the hotter still it became.

About halfway down this curving hall they would realize that the noises the minotaur were making had stopped. It seemed that it had stopped following. Which, with prior encounters in mind, probably didn't mean it had given up the chase.

They continued going around the curve until the saw an opening. With what looked like a raised portcullis in the archway. As they passed under it they saw the source of the heat and the glow.

The place they entered was a large, circular, arena. And in the center was a large hole twenty-something feet across. Roughly ten feet from the top of it was a pool of magma which radiatedheat and light.

There were two curved walls to the left and right near them that went up to the ceiling and two more on the other side. On the far left and right side there were two more archways like the one they had come from and across from them was a closed gate that glowed with some kind of magic. Similarly to the other parts of this floor they had been to there were small boulders scattered about.

As they entered they saw the minotaur come in from the entrance on the right. And, as it did, there was a rumbling and all of the portcullises slammed shut. Including the one behind them.

Spoiler

So, as for a map, I decided a visual representation of what it looks like would be best

Something like this

 

[radio414 903]

Well, the setting change was a net positive in a few ways, Chris thought, the biggest one being that, while the dungeon always seemed to have some amount of weird, unnatural light to it to allow adventurers within to see (except for when it didn’t), this particular room had a pool of lava in the middle that gave off its own light and heat, alleviating even the potential for that problem to occur again. Or was it magma? Technically, Chris had been taught the difference, though when his tutor brought the subject up, Chris said, “Mag ma butt,“ a nonsense phrase that gave juvenile Chris a fit of the giggles and never really ceased until they moved on. Not that he would have been paying attention anyways but, like, maybe it could have lodged in the back of his mind just in case.

Whatever it was (lava, surely…), it also provided just the opportunity to actually deal with the minotaur, since swords and axes and magic didn’t seem to be doing the trick. They had to figure something out fast, though, since, well, the change in scenery had some downsides too. They’d already been trapped when the door to the stairs disappeared behind them, but now they were doubly trapped -- the portcullises on every conceivable exit looked to be firmly in place. “Okay, well,” Chris said, “Maybe we could trip it? Just, like, one person gets on all fours and the other two push it over? No, that’s stupid, uh…”

The realization hit him like a minotaur horn to the face. They just had to keep doing what they’d been doing! “We could daze it with magic or, uh, do you two still have your things of that blast powder?” Chris said. “Or something? That could work, right?” Then there was only one more element to settle: “If it does, uh, I guess we’d just need to make sure the minotaur is where we need it to be when that happens. And I’m not sure how to do that just yet. But until we figure that out…” He readied his sword as the minotaur started its way around the torus-shaped room towards the hapless adventurers. “I guess step one of the plan is just stay alive? As good a start as most any plan, I think.”