35***Dungeon Dive

*splick* *SCREECH!!!!!!!!*

'One more down, three to go!' Angus whispered to me as see killed another one of the mobs that are in this cave - Glide Worms, apparently (). Three now stood levitating in front of me, my Carapace Shield at the ready!

Glide Worm lvl8

Glide Worm lvl7

Glide Worm lvl7

I raised my shield up, Lizard Blood painted on it, and one sped in and struck my shield!

*AERIAL SRTIKE!!!*

'Now!' I whispered to her and she ran past me and sliced it in half with one powerful stroke! The second one dove in almost immediately after the third, and thus followed suite just as quickly with a swift Upper Slash from the dagger in her right hand! I vaulted over her shoulder and blocked the third one, who started moving right after the second, and blocked its attack! Angus then followed up with a flick of her wrist, sending a dagger passed my ear and right through it!

'Geeze you scared me!!!' I whispered to her after cooling down from that attack combo. I almost thought I would loose my ear dang it!!!!

'Geeze, shut your whining brat! I won't let you get killed that easily.' she whispered back, a weird mix of pissed and smug on her face. 'Still though, this is unexpected.'

'Huh? What?' I asked, confused at her sudden statement.

'Knowing you, this is surprisingly the least suicidal plan I've ever seen. Guess your not just some little death w**** after all.' She replied, making my face go fifteen shades of red before settling on ketchup!

'Na - no, sorry - What the... take that back! I'm not some death w****..... ARG!!!! Now you're making me say it too!!!' I whispered back, flustered beyond compare!

'A death w**** is a death w**** no matter how you phrase it.' She rebutted with a shrug, as if she just told me an obvious law of the universe or something instead of insulted me!

'Geeze!!! I already told you I died to keep you alive! And the first time was a complete accident because you were being stupid!' I fired at her! Fine Angus! If that's how its gonna be then I'll have no mercy either!

'Oh, you died for me? And who exactly told you to do that, 'cause it wasn't me! Could it be that you're actually a M? Should I call you a death s*** form now on?!' She peppered me with rebuttals so fast, all I could do was stutter as my face's temperature rose! It got even worse when I looked up and found Angus trying to hid a small smile! Geeze, when did she start being a tease??!!!

Needless to say, I was out of ammo, so all I could do was pout, shut my mouth, and refuse to look at her while she practically killed herself trying not to laugh!

'Still though, we've come pretty far haven't we?' Angus whispered when she finally got herself back under control. And that's pretty true.

Since we were at the entrance of the cave, we found out the the worms we terrified of the sent of Dorgon, so at first we tried to walk while dressed in meat from one of its legs, but then we found out that the effect becomes null to them after a while and that there'd be an army of them waiting at the edge of the radius to get the go ahead to swarm us, so we had to throw that idea fast! In the end, we resorted to using them a repel packets should we need to escape a sticky situation. That ultimately kept them at bay.

The real game changer though, was when we found out that they loved the smell of Lizard Blood, so much so that they would follow it just about anywhere! Using that to agro them so they can only target me, and as fore lures for traps, made killing them swift and resource friendly! Using that with Giant Beetle Meat to keep large swarms off of our tail, we started moving through the dungeon at a steady pace! Them being low leveled and only having range attacks, speed and numbers on their side made it easy pickings!

That said... we've been at this for a while...

'Yeah, we should be seeing an exit by now.' I whispered back as I looted the worms and watched them turn to graphic dust. 'Well, that is, of course, unless we've started walking in circles again.' I continued. We still don't have a proper map for this place, the closest thing I could get to it being a Basic Map made from a Stick and Wild Cat Hide. It's better than nothing, but it only shows were we've been and a few distinct land marks. It doesn't even show were we currently are! And it takes a while before a new area is registered! But like I said, it's better than nothing.

'Still though, at this rate, you're gonna have to make another one of those!' Angus whispered back. We're at our fourth one already, so I can see the concern. These things don't really cover large amounts of areas. My Improvisation Mastery may act like a hack, but even it may have its limits I assume.

'Yeah...'

*ping*

'Enemies!' I whispered to Angus, who was already falling in line behind me! We decided to send out a short ranged wave of Detection essence once every 5 minutes and each time we approach a corner. It wasn't very effective as, they got the jump on us in the gaps more times than I can count, but once again, it's better than nothing!

I dragged my Carapace Shield up front as usual, and took the first hit head on! Some hp. was lost upon impact!

'Hm?! Are these a higher level than usual?!' I though to myself in surprise as I felt my arm stink from the impact! I looked past my shield to see their levels... and almost spat blood!

Glide Worm lvl12

Glide Worm lvl14

Glide Worm lvl13

Glide Worm lvl13

Glide Worm lvl11

Glide Worm lvl12

'What the heck is up with this level jump?!!!! Are we near the spawner?!' I asked myself in shock as Angus curved past me and delivered a powerful strike! She almost flinched when it didn't die, immediately, but she collected herself and sent another strike in! It took a third strike for it to finally fall, and by that time the other four were bearing down on her!!!

I quickly pulled her back and infused some Explosive essence in my shield and some Body Reinforcement essence in my arm, then I left a small Time Bomb on each of them as they slammed against my shield! It almost cracked under the pressure, but some Body Reinforcement essence fixed that problem. Each one retreated and started to bob and weave as Angus started throwing daggers instead of doing a death charge to the shield again!!! She had to wait until they detonated to get some hits in, and even then, they barely died, with the level 14 one still living! It charged after my shield again, but Angus was out of daggers! No choice then, i guess!

I sent my foot forward, braced myself, and then threw a Shield Bash at it's advance! It turned to mush under my efforts, but we are in a sticky situation!

That endeavor only took my essence and stamina about a fifth, but we are low on Essence refills, and if mobs of that level become common place before we even reach the final floor... well... lets just say it won't be good for us...!

*Ping*

'Nylon...' Angus whispered. A death stricken look graced her face!!!

'What is it?!' I asked in concern, cutting my thoughts short.

'Check your notifications.' She answered. Even her words look shaken!!!

'My noti.... *gasp*' I looked at my notifications, and I almost passed out...

... for I found out how many floor bosses this dungeon has!!!