Blast of Fresh Air

In the morning the group woke and packed up their stuff, the morning wake up music was something they all started getting use to but they still wanted to have one day where they could sleep in. Once they left they decided the best course of action would be to head to the castle and see if they had any idea about the next dungeon, remembering that it was the King from Crystalis that let them know where the first dungeon was. They hoped that they would get some luck and this king or whoever was in the castle could tell them where the next one was, they headed over and circled around till they found a gate entrance that was open and they walked along a forest like path till they reached the door with to guards out front.

"Welcome, the king has been waiting for you." They greeted them and opened the doors as if they knew they were coming. They shrugged and went in, a bit nervously as they feared this could be a trap, they were quickly introduced to the king without delay.

"Hello, hello and welcome to my city. I am King Rom." He bowed to them quickly, "I have heard of you all and your adventures, I am happy to see you made it safe." All of them more than shocked that he some how heard of them. "You are looking for the way to the next dungeon, yes?" He had such a smooth tone to his voice and didn't seem much like the last king.

"Yes, how did you know about that?" Art was the first to speak up.

"Well, we have had a lot of people fleeing from Crystalis and the Legion who have taken over. A sad situation indeed but with that I heard of six individuals who are looking to thwart the Legions plans." He rose a brow waiting for them to confirm.

"That would be us." Meekle sounded almost proud.

"Yeah, we actually came to see if you knew where we would find the next one." Razah, with hope in her voice, "As well, do you plan to help the City of Crystalis?"

"I am truly sorry but I am unable to help with that. But I can help with the location of the next dungeon." He waved his hand along for them to follow him. He led them down a few paths and into a room that seemed much to small, once they were all cramped and the door was closed.

"Ah, feelings like home." Vixen pressed against the wall, letting out a flat tone. Rom put his hand against the wall and it started to open up into a hidden room, with research notes on a desk and lots of books everywhere.

"At one point in time this island was under water, all of it, before that it was just an island that once sat at the surface of the water. Now it is all over the place, large islands that stand almost to the clouds and us down here in the port. When my family made this kingdom it was for one thing, to find the location of the dungeon with the seal and protect it, this is why I cannot leave. However you are welcome to go and retrieve it." He held up a key and a map. "This map will help you find the location inside one of the three large temples at the high peak. They key will open the latch that will lead you into the dungeon." He seemed like a very kind king and truly seemed to want to help them more and more, even if he couldn't do much more than this. "And do not worry of the Legion, they will not get to you." He gave a warm smile before leading them out and back into the main hall.

Before they left he threw them a feast, one so large, with so much grand food that it was fit for only a king. He wanted to show how much he believed and appreciated what they were doing and the sacrifice they were taking to stop the Legion, though no one alive knew the truth behind King Bahamut, they all heard the stories, passed down so that no one could forget how horrible it was, how truly terrifying he was as he slowly took over the whole world. So they ate to their hearts content and thanked him for how kind he had been before they left and headed for the teleport center that was on the far end of town, next to the high peak, as they referred to it.

When they got their it was like a small and beautiful sanctum, the build of it matched that of the castle, made of black stone that had some type of crystal embedded into it. There were no walls, it was very open and covered in nature and two people stood inside to welcome them. They were asked if they were traveling to the peak and after answering the two started chanting together, the floor started to glow and magical symbols covered over the floor, when they finished they were motioned to move into the circle. Once in their bodies were engulfed in a swirling light that took them over and they were suddenly at the top, overlooking the sea and looking down from the ledge they would be able to see the city below, but the only thing they could make out was the castle, everything else was a blur.

When they turned inland the area was covered in large trees and plant life, it was a giant forest and they had to make their way to each of the temple at the far end of it. With all the food in them they moved a bit sluggish, wishing to just sit down for the rest of the day and knowing that it was just the beginning of it for them. The forest had few monsters at first, mostly flying little sylph of some sort, they looked like mini goblins, with green skin and bat wings, which Tophuu made sure to catch a horde of before they got farther into the jungle where an old friend waited for them. A large beast with a tiger body and a t-rex head came running at them, Fenix and Tophuu a bit nervous about this one but with all of them and the training they took it on.

It was quick and its bite was tough as it chomped at them, they had to stay on their toes with this beast. With every one of its hits taking a good chunk of health.

"I guess this is what it's like when you get this far into the game, we really need to up are game." Vixen shot at the beast as she spoke.

"Look at Vixen with all the jokes today." Art laughed at he swung his sword and then did a big dodge roll trying to get behind the Tiger-Rex.

"What joke?"

"Come on Vixen, you mean to say you didn't plan that?" Fenix voice labored and as he tried hard to dodge each claw and bite the monster had.

"I really don't know what you guys are talking abou--" She started to giggle as it finally clicked in her head what she said, "You guys are stupid." Her giggles making her words break up a bit. Though in danger they were still finding ways to enjoy themselves as they let loose on the beast. Tophuu tried to catch it a few times but it seemed to fail, it was just a bit to strong for him at this point.

"Come on, I want this thing so bad." He whipped at it, keeping his distance and acting as if he was trying to tame it with his whip. Though a tough one they were soon able to take it down, they made sure to tell Tophu that he would have more chances to try later on. This forest was sure going to test them and get them stronger all at the same time, as long as they stayed on their toes and didn't let their guard down. They kept on, seeing the first temple and checking it out before moving on to the second, they were looking to see what would be different in the third, what would stand out. Both stood tall and had many steps to get up to the opening of it, inside they had statues of one of the other warriors of the past standing in the middle of each one, like a remembrance to him. In both he was standing in a fighting position, depicting him in that final battle but as they went up to the third, it was obviously much older than the other two, it didn't have as much of a clean shine to it, when they got inside it was covered in dust and webs. The statue in this one was different as well, he was kneeling in this one, his sword down as if he was praying.

This stood out to them but nothing else did, it seemed like the big clue was that the statue played some part in this as they looked around it and checked it for levers. They even checked the floor in front of it and at first there was nothing, till they got a little closer and felt a breeze blowing out from under the statue, they pushed on it as hard as they could and it opened up to reveal a barred door on the floor with a lock on it. Using the key they were given the door opened up and a ladder led them down into the depths of the temple.

When they tried to walk forward they heard a switch noise and wind started blowing at them, hard enough to keep them from moving forward. There was a large stone block at the entrance and together they stood behind it and pushed it slowly forward till it covered up the whole that all the wind was coming through. Once they could finally look around they saw that there was only a single path to go from here. Following it led to many other paths but many were blocked off by forceful winds that shot from pillars that stuck out of the ground. That only left two paths open for them, one led to a chest that had an antidote in it and the other led to a switch, they decided to pull it and as they did they heard the sound of shifting stone.

Heading back to the pathways they saw that the wind was now blowing away from them, giving them freedom to pass through. As soon as they did three orbs popped from the sand covered ground and they were shot at with small forceful wind bullets that knocked the air right out of them. As they tried hitting the monster it was hard as stone and took little damage, thankfully they didn't do much damage as they were going to take time to beat. These little monsters seem to have been put there to protect against intruders, enough of them and they would have a real problem on their hands as they slashed and bashed at the Wind Elemental Golem. It seemed their patients was going to be tested every step of the way through this dungeon, but they didn't give up, Fenix transformed into a new form, his body grew in size and tusks grew from his face, his speed slowing an extreme amount. He gave a hammer fist to the Wind Golem and smashed it into the ground, while the others took out one of the three, Fenix finished off the final one with a stomp to it before going back to normal.

"So, what form was that again?" Meekle had a thought that transforming like that must hurt.

"That would be the might of the elephant. They are mighty creatures and very intelligent."

"Reminds me of some comic book, if I could just remember which one." Meekle tapped at his chin trying to remember.

"At least he doesn't just get big hands." Art snickered and even Vixen couldn't help but giggle at that joke. As they joked they had found their front runners for this dungeon, naming Tophuu as one of them, first in shock they explained how his ShellBoar would be perfect for damage, just like Fenix was. He didn't argue with that but Vixen seemed a bit worried about it, she had always felt that Tophuu didn't know how to take things serious and this made her nervous about giving him such a big role.

"He will do fine Vixen, you don't give him enough credit." Razah's voice lowered as she leaned over to Vixen to reassure her that everything would be fine. Once they started moving forward they realized that their path was blocked again, they had to travel back a bit to find a path and the switch they found changed the airflow but blocked them off even sooner than it already was. This was becoming confusing to them but just like the statue Fenix started looking for fake walls or something out of place, once he realized what to look for it was quickly found and the wall pushed open revealing a hidden room that sadly was not empty.

There were five large snake monsters inside that slithered across the floor, till they spotted the group and jumped up, showing that they had arms and legs, with large scimitars in hand. They got rushed before they could make a move and slashed at quickly, it was something they became use to as the group moved around to their usual positions, but these Lizard Men were quick and had the ability to go under the sands and pop up where they wished. One did so and Razah was caught unaware when it shot out of the sand with its scimitar in hand and ready to bring it down on her.

Art held out his hand, "Sword Snatch." He called out as the sword came down on here it vanished just before hitting her and appeared in Art's hand, along with his Ghost Blade. This was a skill he had got a while back but didn't have a real chance to try till now, letting him steal near by swords, as long as he was strong enough to take it from the enemy. He then did his sword sweep skill knocking one into the air at which point they all did a group combo on it, making it almost like a one shot take down. This left them with three more monsters, Razah's spells still doing good damage but with her typing it didn't seem to truly effect them like it has other monsters. Fenix shifted into his wolf form this time, looking almost completely like a Werewolf at this point as he rushed in slashing one of them up along with Meekle and his Demon Claw attacks. Vixen and Razah took on one together, using distance attacks and traps to keep it away from them and Art and Tophuu fought a third, this left a forth one that found its way over to Meekle and Fenix who were making quick work of their enemy.

After a good battle they went to check the room one more time and found the next switch they needed to unblock their path. They kept on moving forward, realizing that the dungeon was taking them farther and farther into the temple depths. As they went down the path they came to an opening and Tophuu was the first one through, Fenix grabbed him by the shirt as he almost fell off a drop. A quick look showing that their was no floor to this room, rather there were moving platforms that went side to side in the room.

"We should probably go one by one, as we are unsure of how much weight each one could hold, magical or not, that is the safest bet." Fenix was laying flat on the floor, trying to see the bottom of the moving platforms without leaning over the edge.

"I'll go first. I am one of the front men." Tophuu got into a jumping position but leaped off to the side, wanting to get across as fast as he could made Razah's heart sink and Vixen simply looked away as their nerves made them tremble. Art was quick to get behind him, just in case, Vixen went next, sticking to a platform per person. Fenix went next followed by Razah and then Meekle at the back, they all watched each other, ready to leap and catch anyone who was about to fall. But this was easy as long as you timed it right and even Tophuu made it across just fine, though Vixen wasn't starting to feel like him being in the front was going quickly to his head.

Once they made it across they came to the first door they had seen in this place, they readied themselves for a boss fight before entering the room. Then they opened the door they came to a large round room out of the sand popped a large orb, bigger than any one of them and it spun around in place, when it stopped an eye opened up and stared at them before a screeching noise could be heard coming from it. They looked at it oddly, thinking this couldn't be the boss but it then shot a beam of red light at them that scorched the path it traveled all the way to them as they jumped to each side of it. This confused them more as their was a door across from where they entered as well.

The beast eye didn't give them much time as the laser started following them from side to side till it spun all the way around, getting faster with each pass they all ducked, Vixen getting nicked by it as they dropped to the floor. As soon as it stopped the eye closed and it spun around again, they took their chance and attacked it then, their attacks felt like hitting solid stone but still they were dealing some damage.

"I think we have to hit it when the eye is open." Art's blade bouncing off of it, not even his Ghost blade able to get passed its hard shell. When it stopped spinning it opened up and they started doing real damage, but they didn't notice that the eye color had changed a burst of wind swirled around it knocking the four close combat fighters away and into the wall. Vixen and Razah just barely able to see it coming before hand, they both opened up their attacks, doing all they could while the eye was open. This time it close quicker and started spinning, they got up and rushed it, figuring even small damage was worth it. The first eye was red, the second blue, this time when it opened it was orange and let out a color of gas from each crack in it that matched the eye color, Art and Tophuu turned, stopping their attacks, Art swung his sword at Fenix hitting him a few times and doing a lot of damage as he fell back into the sand. Tophuu rushed at Vixen and whipped at her, making her drop her bow, this was the effect of confusion, Vixen grabbed at her back and quickly started searching it as Tophuu went to hit her again, Razah tackling him just in time and Vixen dusted him with blue powder that made him come to, Meekle did the same to Art.

As they came to it was like a dream for them, they weren't sure why they did it other than they just couldn't help themselves. Vixen didn't take much time to listen to Tophuu as he tried to say sorry, it seemed ever sense he was effected by Zombie she had lost a bit of faith in him. The eye closed again and started to spin, this time Tophuu didn't rush in, he felt bad for what happened, while Art handed Fenix a potion to make up for it, the eye opened again, this one was a very light purple and ice shot from the ground and covered over the area, this time they were able to dodge it for the most part, taking small amounts of damage.

"That's it, its eye changes every time." Tophuu pointed and shouted to everyone, though knowing this didn't help them to much they could watch and time their attacks a bit better.

"Thanks Toph." Art gave him a thumbs up and a smile, showing that he understood, he did the same, in fact he did worse, doing critical damage to Fenix, he felt bad and didn't know what he would do if he truly hurt any of them, Tophuu felt the same way but now was not the time. He called forth his ShellBoar and it shared in bashing at the Eye of Effects, after a bash from hits hard head it stood on its back feet and slammed down on it. The eye opened again to show red, they weren't sure what red meant till it started making that power noise that it did when they first came in and they all fell to the ground holding their hands over their heads.

Sadly the ShellBoar couldn't get low enough and was hit back, sending it back to Tophuu to heal, he didn't know what that meant as he hoped that it would be okay. He brought out his Skull Mutt and they rushed in as soon as the eye closed, they played this roulette battle for some time before they were able to do enough damage to take it down.

"That sure did feel like a boss battle and those effects really sucked." Art rubbed at his head, feeling this pounding at it.

"Vixen, I didn't mean to." Vixen gave him a nod but didn't seem in the mood to talk as they all headed for the next door, they figured that maybe it was like the treasure room and the seal would be inside, they were half right.

Once they got in they were face to face with a large beastly lizard, its scales shined like pearls and it had large wings that attacked to its arms and up to its back, they were beautiful, like a rainbow after a calm rain. Its roar filled the room as it jumped and flew around in a circle, it seemed that the one before was just the mini boss. The Fae Wyvern spun around, its tale lashing out between them and sent a shock wave that blew them away from one another.

"It would seem this game is not on a set pattern, there doesn't have to be a mini boss but they throw it in randomly." Fenix spitting out quick facts, though it didn't help the situation any.

"It's fine, we will take turns healing, everyone else stall it and when one person is done switch out." Art showing how much he had grown and really took on the leadership roll. They followed this plan, Razah and Vixen healing first and then going down, calling out each name one at a time, starting with Meekle and ending with Art going. They were finally ready to really take the boss on.

It flapped its wings and a raging tornado filled the room, pulling them up into the air and slashing at them with the speed of the wind before they fell to the ground. They found they all needed another heal just after that, but they kept going, waiting for now to get some real damage on the boss. Meekle used a larger form of his curse, covering his arms and legs, while Razah used her new Thoth spells and tore into the Wyvern. Fenix went with his wolf form, trying to make out his damage but finding it wasn't working, he decided to drop the form and try out his lion form, as he changed his claws were sharper, he hit harder than before but his speed dropped a bit, still it was worth the extra damage being done. Though the elephant did well, it was because of the blunt damage to the orbs, where the lion did slash damage which was doing much better against this boss. Tophuu summoned his Skull Mutt and his Electro Slime that were able to do a great double team and Vixen used exploding arrows.

But it was time for them to start healing as the Wyvern had been doing wind damage to them this whole time and was readying his large tornado attack once again. With the flap of its wings it snatched all but Tophuu into the air, he stood in the center of the room that kept him in the eye of its storm. Thankfully they healed in time and Tophuu was able to do quick damage as the tornado faded away, the others getting up and healing again. Tophuu was quick to shout out the info of how he avoided it some how. But it was Art and Fenix who figured out why that happened. Art came in quick slashing at it as much as he could but he seemed to be saving his mana, using combo attacks and basic attacks to do his damage for now.

The Fae Wyvern charged up once more, but this time it changed its attack, its mouth opening as a sand filled wind breath covered over them all, they could feel it scratching at them, Meekle, Vixen and Fenix suffering from a blindness effect as the others continued fighting, trying to keep the boss off of them. Realizing they needed help Fenix backed off of the boss and used a Eye Drop cure on Razah and they split and healed the other two from there. It was like the Wyvern knew they figured out how to dodge its attack and changed its skills. They were running through their potions and Razah had to go to using her sunshine spell to started doing small heals for them, it wasn't enough though as it was such a basic heal and an attack meant for dark element monsters.

With each drop of their health to the attacks they felt weak and tired, they were still only doing so much damage to it and they were starting to really worry about this one, wondering why it was so much harder, but part of that was because Art had yet to use his strong skills, saving his mana or testing himself no one was really sure. Once they found a way to dodge its breath attack it changed again, dropping to the floor and whipping its tail around, making a sonic boom with the air pressure. This left all of them stunned except Art who managed to avoid it.

Arts body started to glow "Full Equip." Along with the sword he had, four others came out and floated around him as he rushed in, swinging each and everyone one of them with his magic, a blue light shined over each one. He slashed back and forth at it and then jumped and spun around, his swords spinning around him like a blender as the boss's health meter was at twenty-five percent when he started and it continued to drop quickly from there, but you could see the toll it was taking as Art's mana bar dropped to zero. He fell back and was back handed by the Wyvern as the others came out of their stun mode and rushed it, his health at just a sliver when they started opening up with any attack they could at that point. It gave out a roar that quickly turned to a grown as it digitized leaving the third seal floating there.

Art pulled himself up off the floor, the battle was a tough one, none of them working together like they did in the last boss fight but all trying to do their own thing once again. It was hard to see but even Art was to blame for that, holding back and not telling them what he was planning. All of them had sour face on as they met around the seal, none of them sure what to say as the glow from the floor appeared, they all stepped through in silence.

The walk back was silent, all of them lost in their thoughts at what happened, they had been working so well together before this. They made sure to avoid as many of the monsters as they could, not wanting to risk it as they had two health pots between all of them. The walk seemed to drag on forever in silence, not even a joke cracked between all of them. As they got close to the gate Vixen finally broke the silence.

"What were you thinking in there Tophuu, that was crazy and you are always so reckless."

"I didn't mean to attack you, it was just an effect."

"It isn't just that, you jumped off the ledge, you aren't careful in battle and you take this whole thing like its a joke. I know its a game but we don't know what happens if our life reaches zero and it seems like you don't care, not about your own health or ours." Her voice grew louder as she spoke. Tophuu was floored by this, no words to say back as he walked off in front of them and entered the portal back to the city before all of them.

"Vixen, what was that? Why would you say that when you know its not true." Art snapping back at her.

"I just want him to learn how dange--" Art cut her off.

"He knows, if you haven't noticed, he is the one that always refills everyone's bags at night, making sure we all have plenty of potions. He is the one who can't sleep at night, panicked he might lose one of us."

"I didn't know." Vixen's voice dropped to almost a whisper.

"He acts silly and crazy because he is trying to lighten the mood and make us laugh and have a good time, you see it as him not caring but it's him overly caring." Art spoke these words walking backwards towards the gate, finishing his sentence he turned and went through and started running after Tophuu. The others followed through a bit slower, all of them shocked at what they just learned about Tophuu, none of them having realized, except Art. Once they got back in the city they hoped to find Art and Tophuu at the Inn but they weren't there. They started looking all over the city for them, finally finding them at one of the far ends of the island looking out at the ocean, their feet in the sand and they were both laughing together.

Vixen and the others walked up, "Toph, I am sorry, I had no idea what I was saying and I just, I care about you and everyone and don't want to lose you." Tears filled all their eyes as Razah, Fenix and Meekle all apologized as well, tears filling their eyes as Tophuu got up and walked over, wrapping his arms around all of them, Art patted him on the back before joining into this large group hug. They all sat out on the beach side and laughed and joked, deciding that this was going to be time for them, the quests could wait a few days.