The Tower in the Shadows

The sun is yet to rise.

Sliva and her group were in front of the Dungeon's surface building. They were armed and ready to go. The guild flunky that would record their entrance was standing in a shoddily built shelter.

Sliva looked over her team.

Elron was testing his bow. Dayo was standing stoically, shield strapped to his arm and sword still in its sheath. Asta stood with her eyes closed, reciting spell meditations under her breath. Halo, the thief, was silent as always. She had her bow in hand, ready to go.

The sun would rise in a matter of minutes. The air was slightly chilly, but the mountains would prevent the sun from warming the air until later in the day. The sky was changing colour. It was time.

The flunky left the shelter and opened the building's door, putting his arm into the room. Sliva could see the glow of the crystal. She took a deep breath; her team stirred, ready to go.

The flunky turned and nodded to Sliva.

"Let's go."

She entered the Dungeon.

The first room was an entry room for the tower and building on the surface. Halo had gathered what intelligence could. Everything he had found told them that the tower and attached buildings were empty and could be ignored.

Well, that was not true.

She could see the sharoon. The monster was huddled in a corner of the rafters, watching them but not making any hostile moves. With her elven blood, Sliva had far better eyes than a human. Shadow magic flowed around it, helping the creature hide in the rafters.

"Do we engage it?" Elron asked.

She looked at it, thinking about any advantage to killing it.

"No. There is no advantage to us killing it. We would not get much from the deed." She spoke to the group. "War sign from here on."

Elron nodded and they turned to the next door, the rest were silent but understood. Their eyes could see in almost pitch darkness. This room had blue moss growing on the walls, a recent addition they had heard. The soft blue light revealed the room's furniture and exit.

The tower had the same moss lighting the room. Torch brackets on the wall held unlit torches. The thing that interested the group was the stairs going down. With a single motion, they began to descend.

The first floor surprised them, with the stairs continuing down. Sliva motioned the corridor to the west. Halo glided down the corridor. He would alert them to any dangers or traps. The blue moss was all over the Dungeon, giving some light.

They found a door that Halo motioned that could only be opened from the other side. Strange.

The first room was bare of danger, but a tin vein was on one wall. They were not here for the metal and moved on.

## ## ## ## ##

"Who is this lot?"

This new group was strange. The first thing that stood out was their movement. The best way to describe them was "graceful."

They were looking around the room and then two spoke to each other.

"Well, that is not the local lingo."

The words had a musical sound that was very different to how the locals spoke. I got closer to get a better look at them. Four were wearing hooded cloaks and the last a helmet.

"Elves?"

They were not human, which was now easy to see. They could be confused with humans from a distance until they started to move or speak. Their gear was also different from what I had seen or collected. It appeared to be of much better quality in both craftsmanship and materials. The material seemed to simmer as they moved.

"I would like some of this stuff."

I looked at them again with my Mana Sight skill. They all lit up with magical items. It was not as blinding for two reasons. I was further away, and they did not have as much, but again, it was better quality compared to most of the humans.

Returning to normal, I went back to watching. It was then I noticed one looking in Larry's direction. He was already freaked out by these strange-smelling strangers and was huddled near his escape hatch.

"Shit, Larry, best get out and hide."

Before he could, the elves sprang into action and moved through the door to the tower base. They moved in near silence and with no communication, just a few hand gestures.

"Sign language?"

They were down the stairs and on the 1st floor. The stairs continuing down made them pause. I could not read their expressions well, but I think they were surprised. Well, everyone else you realised they had direct access to the rest of the Dungeon were normally.

They were fast!

They moved across the room and into the second corridor. The one leading them was a male… I think.

He was tall and dressed in dark blue clothing, allowing him to blend in with the patches of darkness.

"Rogue. A damn safe bet with that one."

The rest were melee fighters, two archers and some support-type healers or magic users, but I could not tell yet. My assumption of a rogue was proven right when he exposed the first trap after motioning his group to stop.

They moved on and cleared the first room with wasps in less than thirty seconds. The two archers fired arrows off so fast that even I had trouble keeping up.

"Bloody Hell!"

After collecting the reward and arrows, they moved on. The rest of the traps and wasps were swept aside with ease. They reminded me of Doltum but were not as flashy; they moved with precision and speed.

The boss's room was entered and the Guardian fell with an arrow through its skull, killing it instantly.

"This is getting ridiculous!"

The reward was collected, but they paused as one of the archers, the male checked the Guardian's body. They waited for several minutes, but nothing was taken from the body.

"The second will be no challenge for these guys. Maybe even the third."

They had opened the door and were heading for the stairs.

"Queen! We have trouble incoming!"

I explained to her what was happening as the elves slaughtered their way through the second floor—arrows vs toads. Arrows won.

They removed the toad's room by room. The water hampered them little and the traps even less. The boss again took an arrow to the head through an eye and collapsed dead.

They spent longer here. The body was again inspected, and the flowers were harvested. The flowers had become their most animated subject so far. They were using some form of sign language, so I had no idea what was being said.

"Well, that is just rude. I put a lot of work on this floor when I built it."

Then they were off again and down the stairs.

"Come on, you boars!"

They advance to the first room and the boar dies. The melee fighter actually drew his sword as the archers took my first boar out. This was taking the piss now!

In the next room, things went a bit differently. Well, not much. Three boars attacked and one went down as soon as it started moving. The second boar meets its end a few seconds later. The third was intercepted by the fighter and the rogue stabbed it to death with two aimed strikes to its heart and brain from its flank.

"Wow! The others can fight as well."

The only one who had not done anything yet was the support. Still, I was unsure of a healer or spellcaster. Again, room by room, they swept through the floor. The archers took the boars out with almost comical ease. Then they reached the Guardian.

The archers were just behind the melee fighter as the boss charged. Two arrows flew forward, but here, things went differently. Just before impact, the boar dropped his head. One arrow bounced off while a tough hide and thick skull stopped the other.

The Boar glowed a faint red and accelerated on his attack charge.

CRACK!

The impact was loud and the fighter was pushed back by the impact as the boar was knocked back.

"Holy Shit! He just tanked a full charge!"

The elf was tall but not very broad. I was sure the Guardian would have run right over him. The rogue attacked from the side and wounded the boar, but my boy was not out of the fight yet!

The boar turned to attack the rogue, but he danced away as two arrows dug into his side. The red health bar continued to drop, but he was a tough bastard. The elves could overcome him, which they did with several more blows from the fighter and rogue.

The body was stripped of its hide and meat harvested. The kill reward and the room's flowers were also collected. If I read them correctly, the group was slightly less confident from their body language and hand gestures.

I think.

It took them longer to continue, and the harvesting of the resources was not quick. The fighter was inspecting his damaged shield. The support member of the group was standing around, not doing anything. The rest were doing something, but she was not getting involved.

Odd.

Reviewing their actions up to now, it became clear that they were having the elf hold back. She was always the last one in a room and if there were any threats, they were eliminated before she entered. The rest I understood. How they moved and acted were all classic adventurer troupes. But this one was different.

"Why are they protecting you?"

"When will they arrive, Bhaldor?"

"They are just collecting their due as the victors from the third floor."

"Very well, I will be ready."

"I have noticed something that might give you the advantage."

I usually did not interfere with groups, but this group was way above my Dungeon regarding power. I walked Queen through how they operated and what tactics I had seen.

Would she win? I doubted it.

Could she give them a run for their money? Maybe.

They had finished and were moving back to the stairs.

"Silver or gold tier?"

I wondered about them. I was sure they were not copper. Gran and his group were copper and the third could have given them some trouble. These elves almost just walked through it. Sure, there were one or two close calls, but nothing that would say that they were stressed about the boars.

The fourth floor was reached. The elves were now looking at the first cavern. This had them pause as the female archer made several gestures.

"She must be the leader."

The rogue was moving into the cavern, but the webbing limited his routes. The others followed the fighter, archers, and finally, the odd one.

The spiders attacked. They came in from ambush positions close to the path that had been left through the cavern and moved quickly across the distance.

The archers killed both with headshots.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"

The reward was collected and as they picked up the coins, I thought about them. They were relying on the archers to pick out vulnerable spots and score critical hits on the monsters they were facing. I was unsure if they were using skills or if it was coming from experience. The fighter could block anything that got through, allowing the rogue to hit it from the side or rear.

In all, it's a good group tactic.

So, how do you get around it?

They were also not using additional light sources, meaning that their eyes were better than humans, but how good was the question?

They were moving into the next room. The archers would be more restricted now, with the smaller room and rafter beams allowing more directions for attacks.

The spiders were hidden in the alcoves, one on the ground and the other near a rafter beam. Both are good positions to ambush from.

They attacked… and died with arrows in their skulls.

They had gotten closer but still were picked off by the archers.

I explained the group's tactics to Queen and how they were guarding the elf in the back. She told me she would be ready.

The octagon room had been cleared by the time we finished the conversation.

I had some hope for the next. They could handle two spiders, but how would they react to eight?

They entered the room, moving in their typical formation. The webbing filled the space, giving only one route through. The spiders were stirring. They knew that intruders were in their place and were getting ready to attack. When the elves were deep into the room, not able to escape easily, they struck.

Well, that was the plan.

Two died as soon as the archers put beads on them. Arrows punched through their skulls, and the other six were moving against them fast. The rogue and fighter braced to meet the spiders. The archers pulled more arrows from their quivers.

Another spider died, but the second targeted dodged, but this broke its attack. The other got close enough and attacked.

The rogue was fighting one, the melee guy was dealing with two, and the last was going after the male archer. The fight was tough for the spiders; they could not gain an advantage over the elves.

The elves quickly dominated the fight and picked off the spiders. The archers swapped out their bows for short swords and displayed their proficiency with them. They went from spider to spider, killing them and freeing the elf to join the others against the remaining ones. I watched them die and score no meaningful strikes back against the elves.

"Well, that was disappointing."

I had hoped for more of a showing from the spiders in this room, but their numbers had not availed them of any meaningful advantage.

The elves progressed after collecting the reward for killing the spiders. The greater shadow spiders fared no better. It was now down to Queen.

The elves entered her cavern and watched for the floor guardian. She had positioned herself on the ceiling and was partially hidden by a stalactite and the ceiling's shape. She was using her natural abilities to their best, using the shadows in the room to enhance her hiding skills.

I do not think they had spotted her.

The rogue was the furthest in the line, and she let out a musical warning as she dropped.

He dodged out of the way as she impacted the floor where he had been standing. The archers loosed arrows while the melee fighter advanced.

Queen was ready. She moved her head and used a leg to prevent the arrows from piercing her eyes. She responded by spitting her webbing at the male archer. He was not as nimble as the rogue and was hit by the webbing. This, in turn, knocked him back into more that was behind him, tangling him up good.

Queen was not having the fight go all her own way, as the rogue and fighter were now engaging her. Her shell was tough, but they were getting through and she used her bulk to reposition herself.

She activated her spiderling summoning skill as she fought the two elves attacking her. The swarm erupted from the nest sacks near the elf that they were protecting. The elf was focused on the fight and did not realise what was happening until they covered her.

She screamed out, panicked, as they attacked her.

This distracted the others. Queen took advantage of it.

She triggered her charge skill and bulldozered forward with a sudden burst of speed. The rogue was knocked aside into more webbing and the fighter was knocked over onto his back. The female archer was helping the elf who was being attacked by the spiderlings.

The fighter was trapped under his shield as Queen battered it. Her bulk meant that the fighter could not get up or get an angle to attack the Guardian back. The rogue was attacking from the side, trying to distract the Guardian, but one of her legs was keeping him back.

The male archer was freeing himself from the webbing and the other was clearing the spiderlings off the elf, who had not done anything yet.

Queen was winning?

A fire bolt slammed into Queen's head. The elf was now almost free from the spiderlings and made her presence known in the fight. She was holding out a wand that she cast the spell through.

The female archer followed it up with an arrow. This one struck Queen in the eye as she was distracted from the firebolt hitting her. She let out a scream of pain and stepped back. This allowed the fighter to get out from under her.

Both archers were now back in the fight and began showering Queen with arrows. The fighter and rogue joined in. I watched the red health bar drain at a frightening speed.

Queen fought on but was overwhelmed by the group's attacks. The elf in the back was a spell caster and added her abilities to the fight.

With a grunt, she collapsed and died.