The sound of his claw's attack was all Rio need to know that his attack was successful. As he slowed down to survey they damage he saw that one was taken out and the other two were worse for wear. His attack seemed to have angered one the undead soldiers seeing as it had followed him and was now in the process of attacking him. The attack were sloppy and uncoordinated, reminding him of drunken louts trying to fight.

The kid shouted about them being weak to fire, but Rio didn't have on him any method so he'd leave it up to the others like Arwyn who was launching a fiery projectile to his side at the same undead. Rio took advantage of such sloppy strikes against him to use his gauntlet to secure a good grip on one of its arms and use that momentum of the sloppy punches to stagger it forward towards the fiery arrow's path.

The presence of Jack behind him encouraged him to hold strong against the skeleton attackers, when the first was obliterated by an attack that damaged the other two. Now that they were off him, he re-adjusted his grip on his sword and shield. He laughed at the indication to use fire "I would if I had any." Arton spoke aloud, the only fire he had was the one that burned in his soul. The un-dead with the axe seemed to wish to try its chances at his defense once more, a welcome challenge if it wasn't for the poor state of the creature.

He lifted his trusted shield above him at an angle to absorb the strike, meanwhile swinging his sword upwards starting from his left-side waist and across to dismember the arm that held the weapon. If he managed to accomplish that, he would push for a frontal kick into the Skeleton's chest with all of his strength. Arton might not be agile like a rouge or a ranger, but he was fast with his sword and shield.

Character Status

Arwyn Arton Rio Nanda
HP: 75 HP: 125 HP: 125 HP: 100
MP: 50 MP: 25 MP: 25 MP: 34
Status: Clear Status: CLear Status: Clear Status: Clear
Stamina: Full Stamina: Full Stamina: 85% Stamina: Full
EXP to LVL: 60------------------------------------------------------

The party found themselves engage in battle against some undead. Arton engages the one with an axe, proving that his shield was much stronger than the monsters axe. Upon contact with the shield, the axe blade broke off flying high through the sky. This caused the undead to reel back in shock leaving an opening for Arton to attack. The blade quickly and easily sliced through the ragged bones of the undead leading up to its arm that seemed to explode into dust upon contact with the blade. With a strong kick, Arton knocks the creature back with ease just as a fire arrow whizzes past them. The undead slides across the ground a few feet away, its clunky armor breaking off its body as it hits the floor. Before a final blow could be struck, the previously broken axe head crashes down into the skull of the monster finishing it off.

Meanwhile Sampson watches over Jack. After his little outburst, he fell to the ground drained of energy. He stood slowly shaking off his wooziness. "Its ok. This always happens." The kid said with a smile. He slides the book back into the compartment on his side as he turned his attention back to the undead and back to the battle at hand.

Rio engages the last undead, bobbing through its strikes and dodging all of its attacks. Arwyn gets to a good vantage point and charges a fire arrow aimed at the undead that was fighting Arton. Rio was obviously more skilled than the creature and this showed in the movements that followed. After dodging all of the attacks, Rio would grab hold of the undead. Just at the same time, Arwyn's arrow was charged and ready to destroy. Almost as if perfectly coordinated, Arton finishes the undead with style not noticing the arrow coming forth and heading towards Rio. Rio, who notices the fire spiral heading towards him, pushes the undead directly towards it. The undead screeches as the arrow penetrate the helmet of the wraith and burn him to a cinder. From the ashes of everything a few gold pieces could be found but no salvageable gold or items.

Battle Calculations
{Arton Deals 15 Damage}
{Arton Deals 7 Damage}
{Undead 2 Destroyed from Axe Head}
{Arwyn Deals 40 Damage}
{Undead 3 Destroyed}
{Party Gains 150 exp}



After a brief moment of letting the other members move across the battlefield and speak, Sampson would call for everyone to gather at the entrance. Once there he spoke. "You all did well out there. Very good indeed. Inside we will likely face the same manner of monster. Use that same teamwork and maybe you lot might just get out alive." The knight would say before turning his back to the group and disappearing into the dark hallways of the dungeon. Meanwhile the boy Jack waited and lingered around Nanda. There was no danger so it was safe for the boy to do as he wished. After studying her a bit he spoke with a curious look on his face. "Uhm....Nanda? That's your name right?" The boy would say with a fascinated smile. Before she could respond he would continue. "And..You're a princess?...Right?.." The boy would continue truly fascinated. He was even more different than his glowy eyed state. Like they were 2 different people. "I've never met a princess before. My names Jack!" The boy would say jumping up and down hyperly.

The walls of the dungeon were small, only being 2 men wide. The walls themselves were covered in dirt and blood from the wounded soldier. He bled a long way down the halls. Finally, the group was led out to a stairway leading down and a door right in front of them.

Rio picked out the gold pieces from that cinder pile happy that these undead soldiers were easily dispatched. He took his time to inspect the hopefully now permanently dead soldiers for anything of interest causing him to lag behind. Following the group into the dungeon he went to Sampson and asked, "So do we know anything about what happened?". Given what happened to the soldier it would be prudent to know what happened if they managed to get any information from him before sending him away. As they approached the door, Rio kicked it open.

Stowing her bow Arwyn hung her head with shame. Despite the knight's supportive words she knew that her presence had done nothing to aid the party during the engagement, and in fact had placed one of her companions in danger from her poorly aimed attack. Her lack of knowledge about the creatures they faced, as well as her slow reactions and poor display of skill at failing to land even one solid blow on them once she'd been informed of their weakness, left her wondering whether she truly deserved to accompany warriors who obviously were far more skilled than she was in this situation.

Watching the others carefully she hung back from the rest of the group, and once it was clear they were making their way forwards she used her natural ability to blend with the shadows (Shadowmeld ability), ready to observe their actions in order to learn from them and hopefully improve her own performance in future. If no opportunity presented itself her distance from the rest of the party would make it all the easier to slip away in the darkness rather than trouble them further with her disgraceful presence.

Arton crouched over the remains of the skeleton he had just finished, picking up anything worthwhile. He examined the decayed armor and bones trying to tell if this was one of their missing soldiers or just a spawn of the dungeon. Whether he managed to find answers or not, he rose back up to a standing position as Sampson called them to regroup. He decided not to correct the knight that what they faced inside of the dungeon would likely be far more dangerous than a few shambling skeletons. The man seemed keen on upholding his sense of authority.

He walked close behind Rio, who was in the front, with weapons still in hand. There were sometimes 'safe havens' in these dungeons but finding them was quite rare so he wouldn't let down his guard. Arwyn he could tell was for some reason ashamed, perhaps because of her first arrows doing nothing against the skeleton's magical resistance. Before he could say anything, she seemed to slip into the very darkness of the dungeon itself.

His eyes adjusted quickly to the dim lighting of the dungeon as he overheard the young boy talking to the woman referred to as Nanda. A princess? He recalled her casting some spell on him earlier and he could feel some kind of boost in his muscles "Is that true? Are you really a princess?" He asked curiously, turning his head back a little to talk. It was a shame really that he was so poor at picking up on sarcasm.

Thinking back on the dungeon, Arton wanted to see if they could follow the trail of blood. It may be able to lead to more clues, but for now he readied his shield as Rio kicked down the door blocking their way.

The deed was done, the undead has fallen, and there was no wound even to lick. That was a bit uneventful, was it? But good enough for a palate cleanser, especially since she saw something shiny from the ashes they left behind.

Shinies which was quickly picked up by the two big guys of the group. "Aww, come on you two," she said, laughing casually. "We beat them together, did we? Don't keep the loot to yourself." She turned quickly to face the cavern, careful to make it look nonchalant, but she got her eye on where exactly they were putting those money.

And then the young magic boy was suddenly all over her.
"Uhm....Nanda? That's your name right? And..You're a princess?...Right?.." The boy would continue truly fascinated. "I've never met a princess before. My names Jack!"

This was soon followed by the other guy, Arton? Asking the same question.

"Is that true? Are you really a princess?"

She grinned, then nodded and flourished her cloak the way she had seen royalty did. These poor innocent boys! They won't last a second in her hometown. "Pleasure to meet you, Jack. Well! You've both seen a King earlier today. Really, I don't know how a mere 'princess' like me could compare."

As they walked into the dungeon, she regaled them with her story.

"I came from the city of Zamrud. Have you been there? It's a beautiful place. Imagine towering castles side by side, their roofs gilded with jewels. Imagine a street where no one is hungry, where oh-"

It was a very short story. Rio was kicking a door down.

"Yeah, great. Dark creepy dungeon filled with undead and the first thing you do when you see a door is to kick it open. Perfect. Now all we need is for our dark elf friend to follow it up with a sneak attack."

Speaking of which, she hadn't seen the dark elf in a while.

Rio listened to soldier explain what happened to Sampson intently. The origin of that wounded solider was solved and he felt a bit bad that he didn't get to the King in time for them to have come early, as it no doubt would have made things easier. The report of the horde of undead was mixed news to him as on one hand it meant that at least for a while their foes would be easy enough to take out, but on the other hand regardless of how easy they were it would also mean they ran the risk of being overwhelmed. With the party being just slightly larger than the knights he wondered just how much better they would fare against a swarm.

Almost as if on cue, there was yet again the sound of something coming towards them. Most likely undead and hopefully just as strong as the first group they took out. "Hey elf woman," he said referring to Arwyn, "You mind using your sneaking powers and taking a peek into the corridor? If there's a bunch I suggest you guys with the magic and ranged weapons attack into the corridor, it's a perfect chokepoint that will waylay the undead and allow us to safely engage them."

"If the wraiths keep coming here," Nanda wondered out loud, "Then we probably shouldn't stick around here. There are way too many spots they could flank us from." She gesetured at the six dark corridors surrounding the room. Flanking and being flanked was common in the maze-like slums of cities. Then again, cities don't usually spawn undead. "Anyway, if they keep spawning, we shouldn't stick around at all. We gotta find where they're supposed to spawn from, right? Is that what the big boss asked you to investigate? Did you find anything?"

Scratching noise then was heard from one of the corridors. Rio was asking Arwyn to do the scouting. "I could do it, if you like. Or we can do, both. You can take that corridor and scout them out," Nanda pointed at the one where the noise was coming from. "I can go scout somewhere else. Make sure there's no more wraiths in the other direction."

Rio listened to girl's comments and wasn't terrible convinced of the hazard, yet. He coolly responded to her, "There's ten of us and more than half are magic users which is enough to cover those passages including the one we came through. With proper magic the incoming swarm should be delayed enough for the scouting to be complete. Now if there's a source spawning these damn critters than I suggest you hurry in deciding who goes to check that noise or I'll do it, because the last thing we need is dealing with a horde, anyway I figure if we do this fast enough we can check all the passages our and stop whatever problems brewing."

Arton was unable to catch any sarcasm, if there was any, and believed that Nanda was indeed the princess that she claimed. The kingdom she spoke of sounding way too good to be true, so that was enough to cause him to doubt it was as amazing. No kingdom was without their faults, that much he had learned. He didn't have time to respond as Rio kicked in the door.

He was relieved that they found two more knights awaiting them on the other side, so far this mission was going far better than expected. This would be three extra lives that were saved if the other one survived. He briefly closed his eyes for he fallen soldier and spoke an internal, short prayer. Realistically, it would not be the last time he would have to do so. His guard did not drop as they stood in the room and agreed with Princess Nanda that they should not remain here for long. The benefits of a smaller party was the ability to move quickly.

His attention was immediately grabbed by the sound of coming from one of the corridors. Quickly, he did his best to isolate where exactly it was coming from and took up position to engage them once they got into range "It is never a good idea to go off on your own in dungeons." Arton mentioned as they argued about what to do "I will take on the corridor the noises are coming from so whatever you plan on doing, just do it fast." He stated plainly. The first dungeon he have ever been in, one of the party was killed by a trap when he recklessly engaged a small group of monsters. That was when he knew that as long as you're in the halls of the dungeon, never assume you have the upper hand or are safe.

A little unsure why the party were wasting time arguing rather than simply taking action Arwyn quickly moved over to the corridor, her bow held ready as she peered into the darkness with her enhanced senses (Keen Eye ability, Darkvision racial trait), trying to at least identify the direction the sounds were coming from.

Her cloak wound tighly around her body, coating her in darkness and helping her blend into the shadows of the dungeon as best as she could (Shadowmeld ability). She knew from her experience hunting however that not every creature used sight to find its prey, and so she kept herself silent as she gazed into the gloom, not wanting to give away her position with unnecessary noise.

Character Status

Arwyn Arton Rio Nanda
HP: 75 HP: 125 HP: 125 HP: 100
MP: 50 MP: 25 MP: 25 MP: 50
Status: Clear Status: CLear Status: Clear Status: Clear
Stamina: Full Stamina: Full Stamina: Full Stamina: Full
EXP to LVL: 38------------------------------------------------------

As the Elf made her way to the corridor the noise would stop, something wasn't right about this enemy. She would be met with the stairs from 15 pairs of glowing red eyes. Almost as if they could see the blood flowing through her veins and hear the beat of her heart even from so far away. However, the corridor was far too dark to see exactly what it was that was staring at her. Without a seconds glance the creatures would take off in a full sprint, much faster than the speed at which they had previously seen. Sensing the bloodlust creeping from the corridor, Sampson sprang into action. "We don't have time for this. Knights to Arms!!" He roared throwing himself in front of the corridor, just far enough inside so that none could pass him, at the same time, being close enough to the outside room to aluminate a small bit of the corridor. The knights follow suit, one joining his left and the other joining his right. "Jack you stay back. If it gets past us, kill it." The knight commanded with extreme authority. He unsheathed his sword, a brilliant blade both long and thick. An average knight wouldn't be able to lift such a thing but the Captain did so with ease. The knights following his lead brandished long swords of their own. "May the Fire of the Sun God guide us!" Sampson roared, his sword becoming completely engulfed in flame. Almost in complete sync, the knight's blades as well burned with an intense flame. In fact, the whole parties weapons began to burn with never before seen fire. When the enemies hit the light they were much different from the undead from before. These were fleshy creatures, decked out in golden armor with equally golden weapons. "Caro Comedenti (Flesh Eater)."



The first of the flesh-eating undead was quickly put down by Sampson with a clean slice, splitting the monster completely in half and setting it on fire. The soldiers doing the same, slicing them and letting them burn to ash. They were able to quickly dispatch 6 before 4 of the monsters snuck through. Either by jumping over, or sliding around, these monsters proved to be far craftier than the previously thought. The 4 rushed towards the ones they thought to be the weakest, the princess and the boy. Breaking into 2 groups, the undead split and set off towards their target.

Rio couldn't fault Arwyn for just going up ahead. Scouting out the noise was something of urgent importance, and standing around arguing wouldn't help in getting the drop on the enemies making their way towards them. Unfortunately it seems they took too long to respond. More undead popped up but they were shinier and a lot livlier than the first encounter. He watched as Sampson and the knights rushed to the entrance to stop the throng of monsters from bumrushing them. A handful were cut down with flaming weapons which now was on everyone. It was rather curious, seeing his arm completely covered in magical flame. Such wonderment would have to be saved for later. The gold clad undeads mananged to leap ove the human wall and were rushing to the boy and girl in separate groups.

They were fast...but he was faster. With a bit of energy he made a leaping run to Jack as he yelled at Arton, "Go cover the 'princess' I got the kid!" Rio stood in front of Jack and said without facing him, "Try not to exhaust yourself this quickly." Concurrently while saying that he unleashed another charged attack at the shiny zombies. With his flaming claw it should do a number on them, so he thought. (Used the speed buff and cleave)

Arton nodded strongly at Rio, they could allow none to get through them. His focus diverted from everything else but the un-dead headed for the princess. His shield raised just underneath his eyes and sword ready to strike, he met the first un-dead by bashing his shield into its torso as it came for them. Anything to slow it down before swinging his blade across the creature's neck in a attempt to quickly decapitate it, these things were best taken out quickly he surmised.

"Ironskin!" He yelled out, strengthening his defense as he didn't want to take any chances right now. It was his sworn duty to protect others as a defender, so he would not so easily fall. His trust was put in the others to take out the remainder of the enemies, knowing that each one was very capable in their own right "I'll take the brunt of the attacks, just do what you can." He said to Nanda.

As the undead approached Arwyn backed away. Not only were her archery skills failing her but now her vision was as well, sight which should've made the darkness as bright as day seemingly worthless in the shadowy depths of the dungeon. With the beasts closing quickly the archer quickly stowed her bow and instead pulled out her twin blades of trusty elven metal while calling the winds to her to push herself back, letting the monsters pass by as she moved out of their way. (Light Step ability)

Once the beasts had moved up between herself and the Yule-bidden human Arwyn surged fowards, her blades slashing at them from behind. Having seen Arton's example the elf aimed for the creature's necks, above their golden breastplates where the rotting flesh was exposed and vulnerable. She alternated between the two closest corpses, hitting each in turn to keep them staggered and offbalance as she struck again and again. (Flanking melee attacks with Estent Magoli)

"Well, damn, this is cool," Nanda muttered to herself when all the weapons in the room burst to flame. It was almost distraction enough against the undeads that were making a beeline for her. She tried to dodge away behind the knight, Arton ("Why, thank you, sir."), while at the same time throwing two now-flaming knives at her pursuers, aiming for their unprotected heads.

Nanda glanced quickly around the room, assessing it. Arton and Rio seemed like they were doing fine defending their stance, but what about the other guards? The dark elf was attacking with flurry, and she seemed to have more luck attacking from behind. Nanda Fooled her arms to have more Strength and Agility, for stronger faster blows.

Now where is the magic boy?

Character Status

Arwyn Arton Rio Nanda
HP: 75 HP: 125 HP: 125 HP: 100
MP: 50 MP: 25 MP: 25 MP: 32
Status: Clear Status: CLear Status: Clear Status: Clear
Stamina: 80% Stamina: 75% Stamina: 70% Stamina: Full
EXP to LVL: 38------------------------------------------------------

The group quickly springs into action splitting up to tackle the threat. Rio dashed to defend the boy Jack. The Undead were quickly outmatched in speed as Rio made it to Jack before they could. With a powerful blow from his furiously flamming fist, one of the flesh eaters was obliterated. It writhes backward as it screeched in pain before disappearing into a pile of ashes on the floor. The second flesh eater, circles around to the side of Rio brandishing a golden blade. It swings fast with a barrage of black slashes. "Dont worry about me old man just watch out yourself!!" Jack yells as he retreats further back.

Meanwhile the remainder rush to help Nanda. The first zombie slams hard against Artons shield, yet his strength remained unwavering, as the blow smacks the creature in the face. It recoils back aiming to kill the defender when 2 knives meet its face next. Before the zombie could return attack it was met by a slash from Arton, severing its head. Meanwhile, the Elf found herself behind the zombies. Weapons brandished she unleashes a barrage of slashes finishing the monsters off before they could return an attack.

Battle Calculations
{Rio Destroys Zombie 1}
{Arton, Nanda & Arwyn Destroy Zombie 3 & 4}

The knights fight off the last of the horde. The 3 of them standing tall begin to generate high amounts of flame in their swords. With a powerful synchronized thrust from all 3, they blast the roof of the corridor causing it to collapse and cut off the path of the zombies.

Rio ignores the kid's remark content to know he diverted the attention of that one pair away. The one zombie he manged to slay effortlessly but the other one seemed to have the insolence to no fall alongside its companion. Still using his enhanced speed and agility he did an effortless backhop to evade the zombie's wild slashes. Using the distance he ran at the zombie but jumped into as he brought down his flaming claw into the zombie hoping to finish it off. (speed buff & divebomb)