“Totes,” Obawon agreed. “Plus, what use does a bearnicorn have for loot?”
“Unibear,” Daisy corrected him.
“All of our gear is pretty solid at this point,” Jebawon said. “Just do it, Auto. If he gets something epic, then we all benefit from it anyways by having a stronger tank.”
There was a bit more squabbling, but eventually they reached a consensus. Auto approached the chest and lifted a hairy paw to touch it. His eyes grew wide for a moment as he read the prompt that appeared in reaction to his touch, then he swiveled around, searching the gallery urgently.
*What?* Garath asked. *What did it say?*
*It said we have to find and kill 10 Skin Beetles, 10 Worms, and 1 Mole Rat,* Auto answered, still looking around with a sense of urgency. *We have 10 minutes.*
*Alice, can we get that Party timer?* Garath asked.
Alice didn’t respond but, less than a second later, a timer appeared in his mind’s eye reading 9:58 and ticking down.
*Thanks,* he said. *Obawon, put your shield on. We’re going to split into two teams of five. Auto, take Maimon, Warrion, Atlas, and Jebawon. Obawon, you’re going to tank for group two with me, Sharon, Athios, and Daisy. Wild guess here, but I think the mole rat is going to be our ‘boss’. That being the case, if you spot it just call it out and we’ll meet up to take it down all together. Ready, break!*
Auto led group one to the left and Obawon, now donning his sword and board gear set, led group two to the right. Garath knew the gallery was huge, but the number of nooks and crannies was staggering.
The Skin Beetles, as it turned out, were not hard to find. Garath’s group located their first armored insect between two of the pillar-like ribs. It was easily the most intimidating bug Garath had ever seen. Even still, it was only about as tall and thick as his Fel Hound, not overly concerning considering the things he’d seen (and killed) since the apocalypse. Regardless of how he felt about the creature’s size, Garath triggered Inspect as Obawon cornered the beetle with his shield held out in front of him.
Skin Beetle
Insect
Health: 4,150/4,150
Level: 29
Station: none
Mana: 0/0
Description: Skin Beetles are scavengers that will feed on any number of natural fibers including plant material, skin, pollen, animal hair, feathers, dead insects, etc.
They would be able to deal with the Level 29 Skin Beetle easily enough. Garath and Athios shifted into their human forms and stood beside Sharon and Daisy, while Obawon forced the Skin Beetle around, turning it with well-placed sword strikes to position its back to the casters.
The fight was short and ugly. With the beetle’s attention on the tank, Athios placed a dimensional enhancement around Daisy and Garath who, in turn, blew the beetle to kingdom come. A Mana Crystal floated out of its body, which Obawon touched, causing it to split into ten smaller orbs - each zipping over to one member of the Raid for distribution.
You have received 3 Mana Crystals.
Mana Crystals will be stored in your Items panel until spent, traded, or until your death.
Begin combat log:
[you have been awarded 4,350 Experience Points for slaying Level 29 Skin Beetle]
End combat log.
As soon as Garath dismissed the Mana Crystal prompt, a new counter appeared in his mind's eye, Courtesy of Alice. Another prompt appeared, but Garath dismissed it to be read after they finished their chest-given task.
Skin Beetles: 1/10
Earthworms: 0/10
Mole Rat: 0/1
Time remaining: 7:36
Alice hadn't been playing around when she told Garath that her rare non-combat Class would be useful. Situationally indeed, miss Lore Keeper. He marveled as the counter for Skin Beetles jumped to 3/10. Group one was apparently getting work done as well.
Obawon led group two back the way they had come, now weaving between the bone white pillars. They quickly located and dispatched another three Skin Beetles, each time finding them near either a rib bone or a patch of glowing blue mushrooms. Garath passed that information to group one over the Raid communication channel. He kept a ranging eye out for the worms they'd need to locate next.
The problem with finding worms though, was that they were rarely found outside of their natural habitat—the dirt. Garath considered how to draw them out as group two downed another beetle.
Skin Beetles: 9/10
Earthworms: 0/10
Mole Rat: 0/1
Time remaining: 4:48
They needed to figure out how to find the worms quickly if they had any hope of completing their mission within the given time frame. That's when it occurred to Garath. Worms come out of the ground when it rains. He'd seen it a million times. The simple, silly, slimy creatures would sprawl out on wet cement, apparently unconcerned about how vulnerable they were, every time it rained. He turned to face his group excitedly.
"Daisy, do you have any water spells?" he asked.
"Yeah, why?" Daisy replied.
"Read me the skill description really quick," he ordered.
"Okee, hold please." Daisy's expression went blank for a moment, then her voice took on a tone of recitation as she continued. "Purple Rain. The effect part says, ‘drench an area of three square meters with a deadly rain’, and then the math stuff."
"Hmmm," Garath hmmm'd thoughtfully. He wondered if the worms would still be drawn to the moisture from Daisy's spell, or if they would avoid it due to the damage it would cause them.
"Okay Daisy, cast Purple Rain over there," he said, pointing to an open patch of dirt near the gallery's center. "Keep casting it until I say stop, okay?"
Daisy nodded and channeled her Mana into the spell. A few seconds later, a slimy brown earthworm popped its too-large head out of the dampened earth. More and more of its slimy body came slithering out of the ground until it laid out nearly seven feet long, with only its tail still submerged.
Another worm
