109 Anomaly
With all the members of his party within arm’s length of himself, Cynrik cast [Shadow Veil], covering all four of them in a shroud of Dark Mana.
“Everyone stay close; we move as one unit; if my legs move, your legs move, be watching for any hand signs I give. Keep your weapons at the ready.” Cynrik’s eyes shifted away from his party towards a stone door the size of a full-sized SUV, and he made his way over to it. He slowly reached forward and applied just enough pressure on the door to inch it open without looking back.
Unexpectedly, when the door cracked open, a blast of hot, sulfuric-smelling air forced its way through and past Cynrik, jostling his hair, making his pupils shrink. He could faintly hear the sounds of multiple hissing and grunts coming from the other side of the door. Cynrik pressed his face against the door and peered into the crack, which was less than an inch wide and activated [Mana Sight].
From his point of view, he was able to see multiple small groups of ugly, tall, orange-scaled Reptilian Kobolds. These groups were scattered about from what he could tell appeared to be a small village, with stone huts and all. The Kobolds appeared to be going about their daily lives unhindered by the high temperatures and surrounding lava flows that coated the landscape. Cynrik could see small groups chatting while others were fornicating, and a few even seemed to be participating in some kind of combat training.
Having seen enough, Cynrik backed away from the stone door slightly and leaned over to Gabby and Benny.”Reptilian Kobolds, volcanic terrain, with my limited view, I could count around 40 of them, but there could be more. Unfortunately, from this angle, I couldn’t spot the Shaman. Fall back; it looks like the Boss room is in the form of a small village, so we will need to be careful; the plan needs to be reevaluated. I am about to close the door so keep quiet.” Cynrik whispered his findings to the group, and he noticed Brance seemed to be unsettled by it.
[What the fuck, a village? I thought this was supposed to be a Boss room.]
[Your guess is as good as mine, Brancie, everything I read about this Egress indicated that we would find a standard Boss room, just like in RPGs, but that isn’t what I just saw. This shit is a full-on Volcanic Village, with huts and numerous villagers. Shit, they even look to be self-aware. This is some Gnarniaa level shit, man; it’s like a whole different world on the other side.] Cynrik slowly reached over and dug his fingers into the stone before dragging the door closed carefully and dropping his [Shadow Veil], his sudden actions startling Gabby and Benny.
Cynrik crossed his arms without saying a word and began pacing back and forth, leaving the other three confused. They had just been ready to charge in and start wreaking havoc, but Cynrik had suddenly changed the plot.
[Tobs, what the fuck is going on?]
-I have detected an anomaly with the Egress Core, but other than that, I have no further information at this time to present.-
Cynrik took a deep breath then turned to face his party. “Things have changed. Everything just got a lot more complicated, and I have no idea what to make of it. What I do know is that for some reason, on the other side of that door appears to be another world or realm. Unfortunately, I have no clue about its size or the full scope of its inhabitants. However, the only thing that hasn’t changed is our goal. We still have to fight and kill the Kobold Shaman, but now…now we are going up against a whole army of Reptilian Kobolds. With just the quick glance I took, I spotted at least 40 to 50 creatures, and that’s only what was in plain sight.”
“Numbers aren’t the only issue; the rocky volcanic terrain and high temperatures are also factors we can’t exclude as they will quickly eat away at our Stamina. I…I need a minute to think of a plan, so Brance, fill them in on what I told you while I do my thing.”
With that, Cynrik sat down, closed his eyes, and began regulating his breathing to enter his Mindscape. Within seconds the world around Cynrik stilled and went dead silent before he was transported into his Mindscape. When he opened his eyes, the rocky cavern he was initially in melted and began reshaping into the interior of the boss room.
Cynrik watched with calm eyes as the world was formed in his Mindscape, and seconds later, a picture-perfect mirror image of what he had seen on the other side of the door spanned as far as he could see. But it was only the basic layout, so Cynrik calmly waved his hand and formed the multitude of stone huts before, seconds later manifesting the frozen, mannequin-like images of Kobolds in the exact location he had last seen them.
Knowing his time in the Mindscape was limited, Cynrik set about quickly running around the newly constructed Kobold Village in search of the Shaman. The gravelly surface of the ground crunched lightly under his feet as Cynrik ran at full speed, looking for any indication or sign that would lead him to the Boss. After a couple of seconds, he stopped at a hut that looked drastically different from the surrounding ones. But to his dismay, when he went to open the door, he was greeted by pure darkness.
‘Makes sense, I didn’t see the interior of the huts, so I can’t recreate it.’ Then, clicking his tongue and biting at the skin on the corner of his thumb, Cynrik turned around to face the rest of the village and started taking count of all the individual Kobolds within sight.
‘Fuck, there’s a lot of these bastards, I’m counting 53 in plain sight. Not to mention I can’t include the ones hiding in any of the 18 huts. So what’s the best course here. We could do a full-frontal assault…no, that won’t work; Gabby and Benny are too inexperienced in this aspect. Not to mention I am limited in explosivity; these fucking lizards have high fire resistance thanks to the terrain they grew up in, so I doubt even my BlackFire will be that useful.’ Cynrik paced in front of the alleged Shaman’s hut with plans rapidly forming and dissolving in his mind.
‘Bigger issue, there’s no telling if simply killing the Shaman will be enough either. If I had some kind of confirmation, I could just sneak in and assassinate it. Still, if that fails, I’m not entirely confident that I could protect Gabby and Benny on top of eradicating the unknown number of Kobolds. GAH doesn’t matter; they are strong enough to handle themselves with limited support from Brance and me; I can’t see any better route right now, WAIT.’
Mid thought, Cynrik suddenly stopped and snapped his head towards a massive waterfall of lava not far from the village center. His eyes widened slightly as a plan started forming in his head, but just as he began to finalize it, he was overcome by a massive headache dropping him to his knees and shattering the Mindscape all at once.
He had reached his limit for sustaining the ability and was forcefully kicked out. Naturally, his body had a violent reaction to this, and when his eyes snapped open, Cynrik curled over and started puking all over the cavern floor, causing Gabby to scream as she was pretty close by.
“AHHH, LOOK OUT, HE’S UPCHUCKING!” Gabby’s voice echoed against the rocky walls as she ran away, flailing her hands above her head.
“Fucking shit, backlash sucks.” Cynrik rubbed his eyes in anguish, wiping the bile from his lips, and cursed aloud. “Alright, cut it out, Gabby, I’m done; get the hell over here so I can tell yall the plan.” Ignoring the ringing in his ears and the splitting headache he was experiencing, Cynrik angrily waved at Gabby to get her ass back to the group while popping one of her sour balls into his mouth to wash away the taste of puke.
Motioning for everyone to gather around, Cynrik used his finger to draw a rough map once again. But, this time, instead of it being the dungeon, it was a visual representation of the Kobold village.
“Using one of my special abilities, I was able to recreate the village temporarily; this allowed me to get a better feel of what we are dealing with. Inside, it’s like another world consisting of a small village with 18 stone huts the size of a bedroom. There are three open fields to the left of the entrance, two of which appear to be for farming crops, while the remaining is some kind of training ground. While the two farming areas are empty of Kobolds, over twenty Tier-1 Kobolds are decked out in basic gear performing live combat drills. Leading away from the stone door is a dirt road extending to the center of the village, where the 18 huts are located in a semi-circle around the central courtyard area.”
“Be advised there are dozens of Kobolds scattered all around the village, ranging from young children to the elderly, don’t let this deter you from the mission. Gabby, Benny, I won’t ask you to harm the young creatures, but if any adult attacks you, no matter their age or appearance, do not, I repeat, DO NOT show mercy. They will kill you without hesitation, so don’t spare a single thought when it comes to eliminating any threats. Remember, this is an instance dungeon; these beings only exist INSIDE the Egress, so don’t feel sorry for them because when we complete the dungeon, they will be wiped away.”
“Benny, you are our lynchpin this time. As the only one of us with a Water Affinity, you have a vitally important job. This here is your target.” Cynrik drew a squiggly line and circled it. “This is a waterfall made of lava feet away from the village center; what I want you to do, is dump as much water on it as possible. This will cause a chain reaction, not only hardening the lava but also spewing up a massive amount of steam, effectively giving us the cover to move as we see fit, allowing us to make our way towards our target, here stealthily.” Cynrik drew a slightly larger box than the others representing the stone huts.
“This is what I assume to be the Shaman’s hut; going off what I know about Reptilian Kobold culture, Shamans have the highest standing in villages like this and are viewed as a leader or chief of sorts. We will be moving in pairs; Brance has a skill called [Vanish], which is similar to my [Shadow Veil], so he will go ahead with Gabby to the Shamans hut, leaving me to pair up with Benny and target the lavafall before rendezvousing with you both at the Shaman’s hut.”
Cynrik paused and looked around to ensure everyone was on the same page before dropping the bad news on them.
“Unfortunately, there is a big hole in this plan, and that’s the uncertainty in what happens if we successfully take out the Shaman. This whole situation is too strange, to begin with, and I have no way of knowing what happens after we take out the Boss. The best-case scenario is the Boss room shatters, taking on a standard appearance and rewarding us with treasure chests; this typically happens. However, I want everyone to be prepared if this doesn’t occur. If killing the Boss isn’t enough…then it means the final challenge is a subjugation mission, meaning we have to wipe out the entire village.”
Cynrik made eye contact with Brance before turning to face Benny and Gabby.
“If it becomes a subjugation mission, the two of us will do what needs to be done; you both don’t need that kind of burden on your minds, so you will only have to face the adults.”
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