Dungeon Hunter: Act I

When Walls Come Down

At first it seemed like the maze walls just disappeared down the path.

What actually happened made just as much sense. They splintered to tiny little pieces, the shards so infinitesimally small that it looked like nothing more than a shimmer of air, like the haze in the distance on a hot humid day. The sound was unlike anything I'd ever heard. A combination of the roar of thunder and a million tiny pings. All in the matter of a millisecond.

Then the shockwave came. An explosion of displaced air carrying with it a cloud of crystal fragments. I had barely enough time to close my eyes as the thunder hit my body, throwing me off my feet. I crashed to the floor, wind leaving my lungs. The shards glanced across exposed skin, slicing through clothing. The crystalline glitter whooshed over us, biting into flesh, sending dozens of signals of papercut pain through me.

Death by a thousand cuts.

As breath re-entered my lungs with a sting, I activated [Channel] to borrow Axel's [Thick Hide]. The warm layer slid effortlessly around me. At the back of my mind, the constant soft pip of my HP going down slowed. I was currently sitting at 15 HP. The initial blast had done the most damage so far. However, three of my party members didn't have the advantage of Axel's ability. And it didn't seem like the aftereffects of the explosion were softening. But it couldn't last forever...

Could it?

A surge of desire to protect my party came over me.

Worried about what the crystals could do to my eyes, I kept my lids squeezed tight. With the wind still whipping wildly around us, assumedly with accompanying glass shards, I reached behind me for my party, hoping I'd taken some of the brunt of the explosion. My hands touched the warmth of someone's torso and I wriggled towards them, stretching my arms out, to pull them closer. If we all bunched together, it meant less surface area for damage. It also meant I could be a bit of a shield for them. To do as much as I could.

Through the howling wind, it was impossible to say anything, and I didn't imagine opening my mouth right now was a wise move. As ASMR crunchy I imagined the glitter flakes to be, the taste of blood was not something I wanted to revisit. The party member huddled in next to me, pressing their form tightly against mine. I blindly patted their body down then I found an arm that led to a hand, and grabbed it. Then I army-crawled forward, dragging them with me. After a moment, I felt their presence again by my side. Judging by their physique, it seemed like Axel, which was weird because Tam should've been closer.

Speaking of that cutthroat, I'd definitely let Tam have a piece of my mind after this since this had been her idea.

Slowly, we pushed ahead, the hurricane of crystal shards still lashing over us, and we came to another body, shaking against the current of wind. By her distinct shape, I could tell it was Tam. Without speaking, Axel split off from me and I took to the other side of her. I assumed he'd also activated [Thick Hide]. Shielding her with our bodies, like a teepee of men, I grabbed her hand and dragged. She moved with us. Briefly, I considered my HP. I was now at 13.

Still the torrent continued. I was worried about Wren, so small that she was. I hoped she hadn't been thrown beyond where we could find her. Shuffling forward, keeping Tam between us, we eventually came to another party member. As hands connected with flesh, it became obvious it was Jye on their knees, bent forward, rather than clinging to the floor like us. I tried to pull them down, but they wouldn't budge.

Clenching my fists, I battered at Jye's back, trying to make them move, but still nothing. Could they be protecting Wren? She'd been closest to them when the explosion had happened.

Risking it, I inched open an eye to check and realised it helped little. It was like a smog of sparkling white dust whipping about us. There was no sound. Just a constant bur of hissing wind. Even Jye, who was right before me, was absolutely sheathed in the clouds of shards. I clenched my eye shut almost immediately.