Are you an IDIOT?! ... or am I?

More Dungeon Shenanigans

After about 5 minutes of preparation, the Ranger gathered up the party members who were immediately with her.  Nat1 and Hamon gave us half the map already. If we need them to help with the hunting, we raise a ping on the map. If not, focus on the enemies. Carakat live in groups, but they have a knack for surrounding their opponents. DON'T give them that opportunity, okay?  She asked them as she readily nocked 2 arrows on her bow. They nodded in response. The Ranger smirked.  Then, let's do this.

Reaper turned to the thick of the forest and jumped into it, her party followed just behind her. She kept a slow jog, keeping down to a crouch level, as her Ranger eyes scanned the foliage for signs of their targets. Reaper had several Passive Skills that helped her track down prey. Her heightened sight helped her spot small paw prints on the ground and scratches on the tree trunks, while her sharpened hearing caught the sounds of a Carakat group yipping from a distance. She stopped in her tracks, making her friends halt as well. She looked to Flamingo who was right beside her and gestured that she could hear the critters, pointing at the direction of the sound. The Cleric nodded in acknowledgment and wordlessly signaled the rest of the group to prepare themselves.

Reaper knelt low and peered into the foliage. She saw the orange fur of the Carakats moving about the brush. Silently, the Ranger pulled her bow back, as her arrows rested on her fingers. She fired and immediately killed 2 Carakat with headshots. As soon as she fired, Flamingo and Lunaris rushed forth and attacked. The Cleric ran and jumped, then slammed her large hammer down making a shock wave that caused burst damage. The Fighter rushed in with a horizontal slash, cutting at a handful of Carakat. Before the creatures could retaliate, several were hit with bolts of lightning that came from Caelis' staff, while others were hit with dark energy spheres from Download.

Voyager stood between Reaper and the other Casters to give them Accuracy and Attack Speed buffs. Reaper let loose arrow, after arrow, taking down Carakat one by one. Lunaris and Flamingo had their backs to each other as they swung and sliced at the beasts that tried to fight back. Caelis tapped her staff on the ground and vines from nearby trees became animated to attack Carakat closest to them. Download quickly knelt to touch his shadow, making his umbra rise from the ground and morph into small blades, before sending them flying at the Carakat.

Lunaris took down the last of the beasts with a final slash of her blade. It was a one sided battle where Reaper's party had the advantage of surprise. As soon as all the Carakat bodies disintegrated, 4 horns appeared in the middle of the group. The friend cheered in their victory, as Download picked up the horns and added them to the storage.  26 more to go.  He said with a smile.  That was actually quite a big group we walked into. I guess luck's on our side for this floor.  The Warlock commented.

Reaper shook her head.  Luck is with us if we find another huge group like that. Normally, Carakat travel in groups of 8 to 10. We just fought 17 of them, so let's just hope there's more.

The party continued moving through the forest, following the Ranger. Reaper constantly scanned the area for signs of their targets, looking for paw prints and scarred tree trunks. Then, she heard a ruffle to her left and immediately stopped to draw her bow, an arrow already aimed in the direction of the sound. She shot into the brush and heard a monstrous roar. The Ranger grimaced, already knowing what that sound was. She nocked another arrow on, but it was too late. From the thick of the forest, a giant moss-covered wolf leapt and attacked Reaper. Being several feet behind her, the party saw what happened and rushed to her aid.

REAPER!!  Flamingo shouted as she raised her hammer and slammed it at the wolf. The Cleric immediately placed herself between the beast and her friend. It was only then she noticed the wolf had the Ranger's severed arm in its mouth. She glanced at Reaper's HP bar and noticed it was already less than half. The Cleric glared at the wolf and chanted an unknown language, making her hammer glow.  You're gonna wish you weren't spawned here.  She said as she charged at the beast with her hammer.

The wolf took the hit, but moved to bite the Cleric's arm. Flamingo flinched slightly, taking damage, but she shook of the monster and managed to shove it away. Before she could move, a shout is heard behind her as Lunaris blurred passed the Cleric.

HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FREINDS!!  The Fighter screamed as she stabbed and slashed at the wolf. The beast only fought back, clawing and biting when it could. It managed to do a bit of damage to Lunaris, who could only parry so fast. Then, from the shadows, came another voice.

Don't ******* touch my girl, Fido.  Hamon's voice echoed amongst the trees as several knives flew through the air and at the wolf.

To follow up, the Monk leapt in from the brush and started punching and kicking the knives on the beast's body, making them dig deeper.  YOU DON'T MESS WITH OUR REAPER!!

While the close combat fighters kept the wolf busy, the Casters rushed to help the Ranger.  Babe!  Voyager called out as he got to his knees and pulled her to himself.  She took a lot of damage and her HP's still going down.  Download, who knelt across him, wasted no time and reached into his shadow to pull out a Health Potion. The Bard thanked the Warlock and carefully brought the bottle to his lover's mouth. She drank the red liquid and her HP bar started to fill. Voyager let out a small sigh of relief, but then his face fell once more as he saw Reaper's HP bar slowly decrease.

It's the Timberwulf...  The Ranger said through grunts of pain as she covered the void where her arm once was.  It has a Life Steal ability... 'cause it bit my arm off... it can leech my HP...

The Bard looked to the front liners, still fighting back the wolf.  Guys! Ya gotta kill it ASAP! The bastard's Life Stealing on Reaper!

Then, a magic circle appeared under the Timberwulf. Caelis held her staff with both hands as she muttered in an odd language.  This is what you get for hurting my friend! Now die, scum!!  She raised her staff in the air.  Trias Prison!  As the Wizard cast her spell, the circle under the wolf suddenly caged the beast in a magical pyramid and pelted it with bolts of lightning, hails of stone, and torrents of water. The wolf was trapped in its magical prison for only a few seconds, but it did a lot of damage to the creature.

The wolf shook off the pain, but was severely wounded with barely any HP left. It growled at the group and prepared to lunge for another attack, but then it's stopped. From the beast's shadow, boney hands held it in place with a death grip. Download, who had his hands incased in a dark aura, grinned menacingly at the wolf.  Never had a wolf creature in my skelly army.  He said with a low chuckle.  Now, let's see if I can tame you. DOWN BOY!  He commanded as he clenched his hands into a fist. The boney hands pulled the wolf into its own shade, the beast trying to struggle free. Finally, the Timberwulf's head was pulled under and swallowed by the umbra. A green orb of light appeared between the hands of the Warlock. Download struggled to encase the light in his dark aura, grunting in effort. After a few more bouts between the Warlock and the Timberwulf's soul, the dark Caster won. The orb turned from bright green to midnight violet and the Warlock cackled like a villain.  Welcome to the ranks, Gnash.