“Good one, Broski!” Diane high-fived the ‘party leader’, and the three Dwarves started walking deeper into the tunnel without another word. Joe was very uncertain how they were moving in sync like that, but he assumed they would just tell him to ‘get on their level’ if he asked.
The small party continued advancing along the tunnel, and to Joe's surprise, they soon emerged in a huge open plain. As soon as they were out of the tunnel, the Dwarves turned around and looked up. Behind them was a massive cliff face with strange nests built along the side. Dudette grabbed a rock and threw it at one of the nests, hitting it spot-on and getting a loud squawk in reply. Broski suddenly had a double-sided war axe in his hands, which he swung forward at nothing that Joe could see.
At the apex of his swing, Broski’s war axe slammed into a translucent, two-headed lizard with wings. “Whoa, I actually got it!”
“Cool!” Dudette started swinging her oversized hammers at the air, but she didn't manage to hit anything, much to her disappointment. Joe was fairly certain that she thought that the air was supposed to be filled with monsters.
“That’s wild, Broski; finish it off!” Diane ordered Broski as the lizard fell to the ground with a hiss.
“Yo, I'm the party leader, I say when I finish it off!” The male Dwarf waited a long moment, then cut the lizard in half. “Look at that; each half still has a head!”
Joe stared at the strange lizard that was definitely dead, looked at the Dwarves, then looked up at the cliff face. “I really hate to have to ask this, but I thought we were killing Stone Lizards? These seem to be more like… air lizards?”
A blast of wind hit Diane as she turned to yell at Joe, cutting off the ring finger on her left hand and spinning her in place. Broski snarled at Joe, “What are you doing, distracting us in the middle of a fight like that? Are you damaged, bro? These are Stone Lizards, because the best way to kill ‘em is to hit them with rocks! Or we can get them onto the rock and cut them down! Why would you want to call them Air Lizards? Those ones are practically made of rock! You don't want to hit Stone Lizards with an air spell; they’re pretty much immune to it!”
“Stupid human, not even understanding basic combat interactions. Every monster is strong in one area and weak in another! Stone Lizards are weak on—or when hit with—stone.” Dudette paused in her admonishment as her hammer hit the left head of another lizard that was flying at her. “Wow! I got one! I guess… thanks for the chance to teach you something, support bro?”
The other head of the lizard bit at her, creating a cavitation bubble that blasted her hammer in the other direction as it came at the head. Sharp blades of wind formed, cutting deeply into her forearm armor, but the sharp currents failed to penetrate. Seeing this, Joe realized that if the bite had landed, it might have deposited that air bubble directly into the arm; then likely would have blown it straight off. He double-checked his Exquisite Shell with a gulp and tried to spot any lizards that were flitting around them.
He knew they were nearby only because they sounded just like hummingbirds, emitting a low-pitched droning noise that put bumblebees to shame. They were just too fast for him to lock onto, certainly too fast to hit them with a directed spell. That meant there was only one thing for Joe to do; focus on his role in combat. He ducked down, scooped up the finger that had been torn off Diane, then grabbed her hand, aligned the finger against her protest, and cast Mend.
Her finger reattached without issue, and her health shot upward as her blood was replenished. Diane looked at her hand, gave it a test squeeze, then grunted and got back to the fight. Joe tried to think of what to do next. He was a support, but he should have spells that would work against these monsters. For instance, his Acid Spray was technically an earth spell? Or… was it a water spell? Either way, it was not air, so it should be at least somewhat effective against them.
All three of the Dwarves were facing the cliff directly, but the droning lizards were circling them at high speeds. Joe tried to equip his staff, but for some reason, it did not appear in his hand when he called it from his Codpiece of Holding. He thought it might have something to do with being in combat, though that had never been an issue before. He gave up and simply focused on casting Acid Spray up in an arc behind them.
Damage dealt: 106 (130—33 magic resist + 10% title bonus)
A cacophony of trilling shrieks tore through the air as the swarm of winged lizards dove through the green liquid and started to melt. Joe had never managed to regain his ability to channel spells, else he would have been pumping the air full of acid for the next few seconds.
Three things happened in quick succession after that: first, the lizards became much more visible, since their inner bodies were exposed. Apparently, only their scales allowed them to keep their camouflage working. Second, the Dwarves got very excited and started swinging at the lizards far more accurately. Thirdly, all of the lizards that had been hit by the acid tried to attack Joe at the same time.
Joe dove to the side, dodging out of the way of the first few air streams that were shot toward him, and confusing the Dwarves. Broski was at his side in an instant, pulling him upright. “Human bro, why are
