Chapter 36

Wait, he never said they would be… over… ground… Land sharks… So, if normal sharks swim through water, then land sharks can 'swim' through the earth and ground. And since they aren't over? Ground? Then... they should be underground… so that means… oh.

Shit.

Subaru could feel a great rumbling under her feet. At the same time, two fins appeared on either side of the arena. Both headed straight for them. They then leaped out of the sand, ramming them with their heads and swiping them with their claws. The fighter and the tiefling ended up flat on the ground while the young necromancer was thrown aside by the impact. Both monsters growled before burrowing into the sand, the only sign of them were the small fins that stuck out above ground.

"Choco, Rushia, keep close to the wall," ordered Subaru as she readied herself, "Attack the moment they appear."

"You better not get too scraped up," warned the cleric as both spellcasters got ready as well.

They didn't have to wait for long. The first one leaped out of the sand, the fighter tried throwing herself to the side while necrotic energy and the spirit mace attacked. She received grazes and glancing blows while it roared out in pain before burrowing into the sand again, escaping once more. She was also prepared for the other bulette. It rammed into her shield while its claws tried reaching around it. It dug into her arms while she could feel her entire body shaken in an attempt to withstand the ramming monster. It too burrowed and escaped. Both fins began circling around the arena for another go.

"Vi murum!"

Now that she was closer, Subaru could see the effect of Rushia's spell. Faint, translucent walls sprang up in front and beside the party. The two monsters leaped from the sand and crashed against the walls. They seemed unharmed and looked around for a way in. A second later, they burrowed into the sand, fins and all. Then, both reappeared inside the box and started to attack, focusing on her. The first one she got out of the way, but that left her open to the second, which clamped down on her arm. Grunting and gritting back the pain, she slammed the pommel of her longsword on the armored nose of the shark, shouting, "Get off!"

It let go, not because of her, but because Rushia touched it with a red glow around her hand. It stood there, shaking its head. She didn't have time to dwell on the whys, so she began attacking the first with renewed vigor, as if she got a second wind. The armored plating of the shark, she found tough and hard to get through. It didn't seem fazed by her slashes or Choco's maces. Both of them. Instead, it was able to lunge forward, its mouth traveling all the way up to her shoulder, and bite down on her sword arm. She shrieked in pain. It only let go when a ray of necrotic energy blasted its clawed front leg. As it released, she took that chance to slash its mouth. Her arm hurt all manner of ways, but she knew she managed to hurt it even more based on the roar she heard. When it lunged at her again, this time twisting its head and biting down on her stomach area, she could feel its teeth puncturing through her elven chain. The amount of pain was unbearable and she blacked out.

"Subaru!" shouted Choco, horrified by what happened.

At the same time, Rushia was attacked in a similar way when the second bulette lunged and bit down on her hand. She swung her rod at the bulette's eye, the arcane implement bouncing off the bony plate, making it open its mouth in surprise. She quickly withdrew her arm and sent another ray of necrotic energy at the first bulette, aimed at the mouth of the monster as it started to roar. At the same time, the tiefling cleric's spirit mace slammed into the roof of its mouth, smashing through the roof and into its brain. It toppled over as she moved on to attack the other bulette.

Choco swung and missed, coincidentally causing it to fumble and miss Rushia in turn. The young girl stepped away with a puff of mist and reappeared near the wall, at the same time tossing a bubble of acid she conjured up at it. It burst on its head, hissing and bubbling as it started to eat through the armored hide. That new point of attack was immediately targeted, the spirit mace breaking through it as the spectral weapon fizzled out. The cleric then shot a flash of light at that same point. The bright light was distracting to it, causing it to bite down on thin air. The armor on its head continued to break down as the two friends of Subaru continued to double down on their attacks. Rushia persisted in washing it with necrotic energies while Choco kept striking the weakened point, even summoning a new spiritual weapon to aid them.

Eventually, the remaining bulette fell over on its side, dead to the constant attacks. The tiefling hurried over to heal the fighter's wounds while the young necromancer canceled out the translucent wall.

"Subaru, are you alright?" the concerned cleric asked as she propped the fighter up.

"Urgh, like I got trampled by a herd of horses," Subaru groaned as she held her head with her hand.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!" exclaimed the rakshasa from the audience seats, "Rarely has Prasadiv seen such a performance."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure it's all very good," retorted the tiefling sarcastically as she helped the fighter to her feet.

"But of course," replied the information broker, brushing it off. Turning to a worried Coco, he stated, "Now, go ahead, my dear dragon. Attend to your friends. Prasadiv can wait."

"Oh, my gods. Are you alright down there?" called out the dragonborn bard over the edge of the raised area as she knelt down on the stone floor.

"No worries," Subaru replied, finally regained enough strength to stand on her own, "Could use some healing though."

"Coming right up," she declared as she took out a lyre from under her cloak. Strumming the strings a little, she started singing a song. It was short and sweet, a little ditty about springtime. But the words seemed to seep into her very being and she felt the tiredness seep away like it was nothing.

"There," declared the bard as she ended her song, "You should be good as new. Well, strong enough to finish the last fight."

"I do. Thanks a lot, Coco!" shouted the fighter gratefully. She got a great, big grin as a reply.

"Very well. Now that you are healed up, time to begin the final round," announced the rakshasa.

After what happened, I was sort of nervous. It might get even more difficult if the last fight had shown me. The nervousness increased as I spotted the tiger guy holding an amulet in his free hand. Is it a sign of things to come?

"The third and final round… is a shield guardian! You may begin!" he announced.

Behind us, we heard loud creaking sounds. Turning to face the source of the sound, we found a large… construct of wood and steel walking up to us. Mostly steel, I think. I quickly pushed down my nervousness and stepped in front of Choco and Rushia. They are counting on me. I will not let them down. Time to win this fight!

Subaru stepped forward and attacked, but her slashes bounced off the metal leg.

"Ah… so the wooden parts then," she mused as the construct raised its arm, Rushia's ray splashing against it harmlessly.

Meanwhile, Choco directed the spectral mace to attack the wooden part of its arm while chanting for another blessing. The fighter then leaped back when the raised arm slammed into the ground. However, the other arm rammed hard into her shield arm. Even when shielding herself, she could feel something crack within. She then moved around the rising arm and clipped the upper arm.

A spectral, skeletal hand formed and grabbed the arm, the wood slowly turning black as the young necromancer tried rotting it away. The spirit mace continued hammering at its right arm while the tiefling tried blasting the other arm, but she didn't expect it to stride forward, the flash of light going wide. It stopped right in front of the young wizard and tried to punch her.

"No!" Subaru shouted as she tried to get between them, her shield raised. She made it just in time and once again, could only clip the arm in retaliation. Sadly, this also disrupted Rushia's spellcasting and she was unable to send another skeletal hand at it.

-CRACK-

The spirit mace was able to break through the wood part of the right arm. At the same time, Choco decided to try and break through the legs. The cracked arm caused its attack to stall a little and Subaru helped to block its other fist. This time, her counter attack hit the metal gauntlet instead of the wooden part. This time, she noticed the wood actually healing up, the nicks and cuts sealing and reforming around its arm.

"It can mend itself!" she shouted in surprise, once again distracting Rushia.

"Ah, surely you don't think Prasadiv would make this too easy," called out the rakshasa as the spirit mace reared back for a blow, "Ah, dragonborn? Best move out of the way. It's going to be chilly here."

"What!?" exclaimed Coco as she jumped aside just as the mace struck, breaking off the shoulder pauldron. A sudden formation of swirling clouds appeared above it and a hail of rock-hard ice began showering down on the party. The party members in the arena yelped and screamed as their heads and arms got pelted with freezing-cold projectiles. It then reached over to pummel the young necromancer, but Subaru got in the way and protected her again. The lower temperature also meant the construct moved just a little slower and she was able to chip off a bit more of the wooden part of its arm.

Much to her surprise, Rushia ran past her and grabbed onto the leg of the shield guardian. The girl reached out and touched the wooden part with a shadow-wreathed hand, the area darkening and blackening the longer she maintained contact. It bent over to try and grab her, but it shuddered as the cleric and the fighter took this chance to attack the legs as well. It was also the end of the spirit mace as it slammed into its chest, breaking a large part off. It paused and then swung its fist, knocking Rushia off its leg. It seemed a bit careful now, as it shifted around and avoided letting the girl grab hold of it again.

Choco took this chance to bring forth another spectral mace and hammer its chest again. It cracked and chipped even further, exposing part of an internal crystal within. With a yell, Subaru partially cut through its leg, causing it to go off-balance. As it wobbled over, she jammed her sword into the gap the spectral mace created and pulled the guardian down. Rushia took this chance to reach inside and grab the crystal. There was a whine… and then an explosion. The party of three was thrown back against the wall while the construct had slumped over, smoke billowing out of its chest.

Subaru groaned as she got up. Looking to her friends, the tiefling looked fine although groggy but the young necromancer's pink hue has spread further, now spreading to two-thirds of her hair.

"What a marvelous fight," exclaimed the rakshasa happily, "Prasadiv is pleased and impressed. All of you have done well to win all three rounds. Now, let us return." He snapped his fingers and the party found themselves back at the tavern… as if nothing had ever happened.

She could still feel the aches in her body, the spikes of pain in the places where she was injured, but her armor and weapons were still in prime condition. Yet, why did she still feel drained?

"Well, now that you have passed Prasadiv's test," stated the information broker, "Time for Prasadiv to keep his end of the bargain… and talk about the cult of Dorgriaz."

"They are that entrenched in the city already," muttered Subaru worriedly as the party left the tavern.

"To be fair, he had a lot of time to prepare," reasoned Coco, "I just can't believe there are supposed to be hidden teleportation circles all over the city. It sounds unbelievable."

"He isn't taking any chances," added a frowning Choco, "Between summons, mercenaries, cultists and half-dragons, they can easily overwhelm the city. And didn't he mention the dragon had plans for the other cities and towns?"

"Maybe we should go back and ask him for help?" asked the fighter, "Maybe get some messages out to our other friends?"

"I think we shouldn't," stated the bard, "The fact he knows so much on what and where the cult is coming in from… I have a feeling he helped them set all this up as well. So… if we go through him, there is a chance he would tell Dorgriaz as well. Besides, we spent too long listening to him and I rather not look at his face or his hands anymore."

"Right, I can see that," groaned the cleric, "Let's go to Farun's again."

"Ah… hope Korone isn't there right now… I rather not listen to stuff about fingers," added the former.

"Fingers?"

"Don't ask."

Morning came as usual. It was mid-morning when Subaru finally got up. A little puzzled as to why nobody woke her up, she got ready for the day and went to get some food to fill her stomach.

"Good morning," greeted Rushia, busy studying her father's spellbook at the table.

"Morning, Rushia. Where's Choco?" asked the fighter as she got some buttered bread and cheese.

"Shops with her stuff," was the simple answer.

"Hey, guys," greeted Korone with a cheeky grin as she came into Okayu's house, "Have you found the dragon yet?"

"No, we haven't," she informed the bounty hunter, "I was hoping to let Okayu know what we found out yesterday. Do you know where she is?"

"Yup! I could take you there after you're done."

"Thanks!" she replied, mirroring her grin.

"Good morning, everyone," greeted the tiefling as she stepped inside, "How's everyone today?"

"We're fine," they replied, Subaru wolfing down her breakfast.

"We're going to see Okayu before we meet up with Coco," the fighter stated as she finished her meal.

"Ah, that sounds like-"

Before she could finish, the loud sounds of multiple explosions ripped through the air. A second later, shouts and screams of the people filled the air outside. Subaru and her friends ran outside and looked around. Multiple spires of smoke could be seen in the distance at varying visibility. People were running away, either heading towards their houses to save what they could or ushering their families to the gates while carrying what they could.

"Okayu!"

She turned to see Korone running down one way and turning towards what she presumed to be the nearest guard house.

"Subaru, better get your armor on," stated Choco as she looked at the smoke spires, "I think the attack is today."

She found herself agreeing. Going back inside to don her armor and take up her arms, she wondered if she could have done something else differently. Stepping outside fully equipped, she couldn't think anything.

"I guess there wasn't anything I could do then," she mused inwardly as she stood there, waiting for the tiefling cleric to finish blessing them, "But now… I, we can do something about this now."

"Alright, what should we do now," Choco asked after she had finished.

"Now? What did Coco say the other day? He would be targeting the royal family?" said Subaru with a serious face, "We go to the palace. This way."

They jogged down the opposite way Korone took. However, at the junction, they heard several more explosions rocking the capital. Then, the ground under them exploded. The fighter was thrown to the ground. Getting to a sitting position, she peered through the dust and the debris and was taken aback by the large fissure that broke through the street.

"Choco! Rushia!" she shouted as she got up.

"Still alive!"

"Here, Subaru!"

Both replies sounded to be at two different places.

"I'll head for the palace! If possible, I'll lure the dragon away and try and find you guys!" she suddenly said, this headstrong idea suddenly popping into her mind, "Don't worry! I'll survive! Help those you can! I'll see you soon!"

"Subaru! Wait!"

She turned around and ran for the palace. Hopefully, she wasn't too late.

AN: Hello, readers. Well, our party succeeded in passing the test. Land sharks were a pain to deal with. The shield guardian... well, Prasadiv had its amulet and it had an Ice Storm spell stored inside. And to be honest, things are not really in-depth when I tried looking up shield guardian creation. So, I am assuming that when the control amulet is being made, a sister crystal to the one in the amulet will be placed within the construct just to tie the amulet to it. Thus, due to abserd power interactions, it exploded then the guardian was taken offline.

Then, we go back to a normal night. Then, a normal morning. Or what passes as a normal morning. I mean, having Korone coming up to you and asking about a dragon just to take its fingers is not normal by any means. And then, the attack of the cult begins.

Alright, this is it for this chapter. Next chapter, taking the fight to them as well as a look at other places. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.