No matter where one looks, there are signs of the fantastical within Eidolon Academy. Whether it be the students flying about with wings or magical artifacts, the futuristic neon lighting infecting the ancient woods, or the sounds of murmuring spirits mad enough to penetrate the academy's barriers.
The basement is home to such phenomena, often created by the hands of the students who have claimed this part of the school as their own. There's the gothic domain of Elise von Karstein, the miniature kingdom of Valeria, and today's subject, the gate to the Underworld-based dungeon that thrillseekers and battle-hungry maniacs love to delve into.
Astrid isn't as combative as many of her friends, but she's not shy about her desire to fight monsters, as it runs through her blood. She's here to practice her monster-slaying skills, with today's focus being on the spiteful undead. She had even gone the extra mile to dip her broadsword in holy water, only to find out decapitation works on the dead as much as it works on the living.
Sira is an expert scout when it comes to the Underworld dungeon. After all, she is its legitimate queen. It'd be a disgrace if anyone knew better than her. Of course, her enrollment into Eidolon Academy meant she didn't spend as much time in the Underworld, so she often joined excursions into the dungeon as a scout.
Pia is just bored.
"Skeleton Warrior, prepare yourself, for the God of Plagues has descended upon your measly home!" Pia exclaims, lifting up her staff and creating a magic circle. Contrary to her statement, the spell has nothing to do with plagues, as it only heals her teammates.
"Couldn't you have gotten a different healer?" Astrid complains as she chops off the skull of one of her foes with just her bare hands. She proceeds to crush the fallen skull with one of her boots, and then defeats a second skeleton about to pounce on Sira with a throwing dagger.
"Yes, I could've, but Pia would've complained about it in class. Loudly." Sira bemoans, as she punches straight through the ribs of one of her skeleton subjects. Despite being their queen, they're legally required to attack her. For those who think this as cruel, the monsters of this dungeon get revived back in the capital of the Underworld. "That and she's probably the only healer with free time who's willing to dungeon crawl."
"Imagine if May started dungeon crawling. She'd make a killing!" Pia whacks a nearby skeleton with her staff and then snaps her fingers, pointing at a skeleton mage at the back of the horde. A neigh is heard from behind the group, and suddenly an incorporeal horse appears, running through the dungeon walls and slamming right into the backline of the skeleton ambush.
"Everyone who enters the dungeon makes a killing. It's what we're doing. Killing. Killing monsters." Astrid states, even going as far as to pause her swinging sword to turn to the eclectic healer. She's saved from an incoming attack by a well-timed thrown dagger by the third party member, yet she still remains focused on Pia and not the fight. "Although, that reminds me. Sira, do you have any idea as to how we're able to kill in the dungeons?"
"No. No I don't." Sira bluntly states, finishing off the second to last skeleton with a roundhouse kick. The last skeleton is finished off by Pia's summoned steed, who promptly approaches the closest student in order to get a pat on the head, to which Sira does subconsciously. "Why would you ask that?"
"Isn't there an anti-death field around the school or something?" Astrid asks, sheathing her weapon. She then crouches, searching through the pile of bones that litter the floor, in search for any valuables that she can trade for money. Students are free to sell off any goods they have to either the school's official shop that's run by John Rat the Shopkeeper, or at one of many unofficial, student-run stores that often end up sending more money into the pockets of Evie Hamilton.
"Oh, oh, I know about this. It even stopped me from killing in this game I recently downloaded." Pia elatedly announces, pulling out a ring and holding it up. She gives a quick look at its runes before throwing it away, purely based on its aesthetics and not its value or benefits. "Or maybe it's because I pirated the game."
"So none of us know. Figures." Astrid shakes her head in disappointment, even more so when the pile she's searching has no loot. She moves onto the next one, only to freeze. "Pia, Sira, shush."
The trio go silent, hearing nothing but the lit torches on the walls and the occasional dripping from the wet ceiling. A few moments of this still silence continue, only for Pia to get impatient. Before she can exclaim something, however, the sounds of bone rattling happens.
"Oh. I think I know what's going to happen." Sira says out loud. The bones all start levitating, floating above the girls' head and circling them. Meanwhile, the dungeon room they're currently in triples in size, as the whirling vortex of bones continues to spin around the party. "They mentioned something like this in last week's meeting."
"Skeletonado?" Pia inquires, lifting her staff towards the recently-named phenomena currently surrounding her. She fires off a simple, weak fireball at the flying bones, dealing no noticeable damage to the whirlwind. "It's not weak to fire."
"I've broken a few bones, but I think it made it more dangerous to go through." Astrid informs, having attempted to punch her way through the mini storm. Unfortunately, she has just added sharper, smaller pieces of bone shrapnel. She turns to Sira, who seems to be the only one with an idea as to what they're facing. "So, what did you discuss in this meeting?"
"Exactly as Pia described. A skeleton tornado. Although, there should be one more thing…" Sira succinctly explains, trying to look through the wall of bones. Eventually, she spots it, but as soon as she does, the bones encircling the girls stop their round trip and all move to instead surround this new figure. "There it is. The flaming skull that'll act as a core."
"Well… this looks like it'll be fun." Astrid grins, taking out her blade and aiming it at the Flaming Skeleton Tornado. Pia stands to her right, her summoned steed and decayed staff ready for battle, and Sira stands to her left with countless daggers held in her hand. Together, they shall fight.
Ha finally got to reading it was soo sick just getting better