Tunnel Spiders, Chrono-Beetles

Safety first.If Aengus or Kate were killed, it would be almost impossible to bring them back from death. The mountain hotel was days away from a portal. And in any case, Liam would not be able to afford the fees that high level clerics and paladins charged for a Raise Dead. Since Liam was responsible for having brought his brother and his college friend all the way out here, he was determined to adopt a cautious approach to the completing the quests.At his insistence, the Second Butler had provided the group with a dozen oil lanterns. Advancing into the tunnel, Liam placed a pair of lit lanterns on the ground, about two metres apart, confident the area was clear and the lamps were well away from the spawn points of any mobs. Twenty more metres and he put down another pair.'The main danger here is we pull a train,' Liam explained, 'one that will wipe us all. So if we have to run, we run back between the lanterns, away from adds, and keep the number of pursuers to a minimum.'Not only were the lanterns a guide to a safe path back down the tunnel, they also shed much needed light. The road curved gently away from the courtyard of Hostelry of Eternal Darkness and once he was a hundred metres or so from the light and bustle of the hotel, Liam was in a darkness would have been complete but for the warm, orange glow of the lanterns. The road between the night and day sides of the mountain had been designed to be wide enough that two carriages could comfortably pass one another, the light from two lanterns was just strong enough to be sure the shadows at the walls on either side were insufficient to hide a monster.When all twelve lanterns were down, Liam went back for the first two and brought them to the front. This leap-frogging tactic was necessarily slow, but no one complained.Their first mob was a tunnel spider, lurking high up on the right-hand wall. It was supposed to be Level 7 or 8, which in theory should be a straightforward victory for a group with a Level 7 member. Not for the first time that afternoon, Liam pulled up the group menu.  Group Menu Azanth, Crisp (Prawn Cocktail flavour), Mage Level 7, rank 0, evolution 0. HP 21. Liam Nowak, Human, Mage Level 6, rank 0, evolution 0. HP 31. Aengus Nowak, Human, Monk Level 5, rank 0, evolution 0. HP 33. Kate Brannagan, Human, Mage Level 5, rank 0, evolution 0. HP 27.  After a brief discussion about tactics, Lord Azanth buffed them all with Fortify and Liam used the wand to cast Thornskin on his brother. Then, from his maximum range of eighteen metres, Liam pulled the giant spider with his extra-powerful Magic Missile – the +20 Magical Attack from his Hazel Wand of Syceus was disproportionately effective still at this level – and as the monster skittered towards them, eye clusters gleaming with malevolence, Kate stopped its charge with a Freeze. For his Level Three skill, Aengus had taken Ki Shock Wave and he performed the attack now, slamming the air with the palm of his left hand facing the spider and sending a cone of force ripping into the monster. Although this broke the Freeze, both Kate and Liam were ready with Magic Missile and these proved enough to kill the spider. Lord Azanth's Intoxicating Scent wasn't needed.'One down, nineteen to go,' said Aengus cheerfully as he touched the green soul stone that had appeared above the corpse of the spider and added it to his inventory. They could discuss at the end of the day the best way to distribute soul stones. It might be smart to give them all to one person and gain the benefits if they achieved a promotion, than to share them equally and no one obtain a star for some time.The next three battles were also with tunnel spiders and followed an identical pattern. As a result of their easy victories, the oppressive weight of responsibility on Liam's shoulders distinctly lightened. They had dispatched the spiders with minimal drain on their mana.His stomach tightened with concern, however, when their next encounter was visible from some distance away: a group of three chrono-beetles. These monsters were insects that were about the size and shape of a car; their abdomens quivered in the lamplight, giving rise to a faint hum and a restless vibration of their threatening mandibles. It wasn't clear to Liam whether the beetles had wings folded into their curved carapace or not.They do not. These creatures will run towards us along the ground, somewhat faster than a human. Fear not, Intoxicating Scent will be effective on two of these, leaving the third for the female mage to Freeze.'All right.''What?' asked Kate.'Sorry, I was talking to Lord Azanth. He suggests pulling with Intoxicating Scent, which should keep two of them stunned. I'll Magic Missile the third and you Freeze.''Right so. All set.'Liam glanced at Aengus, who mimed his Ki Shock Wave move and gave a nod.Pull.A whiff of prawn cocktail flavouring came Liam's way. Only one of the beetles turned to face them and it managed just a few hurried steps when Liam's Magic Missile landed. Shaking its heavy head from side to side, the beetle staggered, then came on, only to be held in place by Kate's Freeze. The next Magic Missile from Liam broke the root, but the beetle was moving slowly now and he was not surprised when his brother's skill finished the monster. The beetle flipped over onto its back, shook its legs with a final, violent quiver, and expired with a piece of chitin floating above the corpse as loot.Our enemies remain intoxicated; you may bring the next one to its fate.'I'll pull another. Mana check?''Seventy-percent,' said Kate.'Seventy-five,' reported Aengus.Liam's Magic Missile ended the intoxication on his target beetle and it ran towards them, only to be annihilated as quickly as the first.'No bother,' said Aengus.Not wanting to tempt fate, Liam did not reply. He did, however, feel considerable satisfaction that they could split groups of multiple mobs so efficiently. A tank-plus-healer-plus-mage set up would have handled the same fight differently. Pulling all three (the mage could pull with Freeze, but then would have the aggro from that mob when the root ended, with the risk that the tank would be too busy to intercept it) the tank would try to keep the aggro while the healer kept their hit points topped up and the mage tried to inflict damage without gaining the attention of the mobs. It would have been a much trickier fight.Vanity is the wish to be appreciated. It is a frivolous state of mind. Yet allow me a moment of vanity to state that having chosen the path of the support class, I bring considerable benefit to those whom I am grouped with.You mean: we couldn't have managed that battle so well without you.Were I not a poet, I might have expressed myself in so prosaic a fashion.Well, thank you Lord Azanth, your Intoxicating Scent is most appreciated. We couldn't have managed that battle without you.I bask in the glow of your praise.