What the hell was up with Katie? All my gear was starting to look like something out of burlesque show. 

Although, at least it wasn't as bad as Tanner's new lingerie robe. If she bent over, she'd be giving everyone a show. Not that it was anything we hadn't seen already. I went up to her and told her, "Hey! Nice outfit. That will save you a lot of time when getting naked."

She gave me a dark look that would have killed me, if things worked that way.

I kind of felt bad for her. No one was going to forget the sight of her naked any time soon.

The others hadn't come across any references to Arousal Energy, and I wasn't about to tell them. Mainly, because I didn't want to explain how I knew about it, and partly because I thought it would be hilarious to see what they did when they maxed it out. None of them had yet, but some of them must be getting pretty ripe. When Tanner's ring wore off, there were more than a few expressions that redefined the word "ogle." Even I was a little appreciative of her lithe body and her firm breast that weren't large but looked round and full on her petite form.

I tried to get Tanner to check out the fourth level naked again, but she refused and Aaron volunteered to have a look. They came back down the ladder and said, "It's empty. Just a bunch of corpses. Long dead."

So, up we all went. It was another big round room. A few bunks had rotted down to almost nothing and ten armored skeletons lay in various poses, giving the suggestion of the battle that killed them. Aaron was about to check out level five, when the dead folk began standing up.

"Ah, guys?" Ellie said. "I think we have a problem."

"Good job, Aaron," I said. "You lead us into a fucking trap."

"How the hell was I supposed to know?"

One rose next to me and lunged forward swinging a mace. I parried with my saber and thrust it at the creature's chest, but my blade glanced of its plate armor. These were the first well-armored foes I'd faced, and I thanked whatever whim it was that had made me select Blade Art as my new skill. 

A second skeleton approached from my left, but they were slow in their rusted armor, creaking and teetering with every step, so I was able to sidestep it and put my first opponent between us. I sliced in at a gap between its breast plate and the armor over its stomach. It flinched from the hit, which was my only indicator it had done anything. Without flesh and blood, how did blades actually hurt them? I didn't have time to ponder this question as it got a good shot in at my head, and I only barely ducked in time. Although, I did manage to score a hit on its leg where the grieve met the knee. But I wasn't so lucky with his back swing, and his weapon slammed into my arm. I was just fortunate it wasn't my sword hand. 

The two of us kept at it like this, trading and dodging blows, while I kept moving so the second one couldn't take a poke at me too. It finally ended when I got a clear thrust in the eye-slit of its helm. The tip of my sword entered, and the whole thing collapsed in a heap of metal and dust. I got notified that I'd leveled up, but his friend was right there, not giving me a moment to breath. No one was coming to my aid because, from what I could see, they were all still engaged in battling skeletons of their own.

This son-of-a-bitch was armed with a spear and was able to dart it in at me with a lot more ease than the other one was able to wield the mace. I took a few hits from it as I tried to find the chinks in its armor. By the time I brought it crashing down, the only skeleton left was on the offensive against Ellie. Jonathan jumped in and brought it down with a crash of her ax.

These enemies didn't have nearly as good loot as the spider's. Besides some coins, there was a tier 2 broad sword and spear that no one could use. The best item was a Belt of Vigor +3 that Jonathan took, even though I felt I should get it and she should take my Garter of Vigor instead, since my Vigor rating was still lower and it had the better bonus. But prissy Tanner said that wasn't in the spirit of our agreement, and that I'd get the next item with a Vigor bonus.

I consoled myself by checking my updated character sheet. Level 3 only offered a choice between more Mystic Energy and more Life Force. Not having any spells, the choice was pretty clear.

There were injuries to heal and the spell casters were drained. So, we decided to wait another couple of hours before tackling the next level, which a quick peek had shown us contained more fucking armored skeleton's.

* * *

After our break, we cleared away the thirteen skeleton's on the fifth floor. I won't bore you with the details as it was mostly a rinse and repeat of the fourth. Except, we weren't blindsided when they rose from the dead. Again, they had some items no one could use and a few coins.

When we recovered from that battle, we hit the next level, which happened to be the roof, or the the top floor of the tower depending on how you looked at it. The elements had made a mess of it, and holes pocked the wood planks like land mines. All kinds of debris had been strewn across it. It seemed impossible that branches could get blown up here, but there were plenty of them scattered about. At first, it seemed deserted, but then we noticed that a pile of branches was actually a nest. And right around the time we spotted it, the biggest fucking bird I'd ever seen rose out of it.

It flapped its wings twice and hovered over its lair, the late afternoon sun shining behind it, making it seem as though it was glowing. Its feathers were mostly brown, but its breast was covered in a soft, yellow plumage. Its beak was jet-black and fiercely hooked. It could easily take off any of our heads. The beats of it wings sent a gust of air over the top of the platform, and some of our smaller party members struggled to keep from being pushed back. The wind it created stank, and I could only surmise the bird smelled even worse. It was a rank carrion odor, full of meat, rot, and death.

We were all a little stunned by this monstrous creature, and it's a credit to all of us that we didn't just flee like rabbits when it came swooping at us. Instead, every one of us did what we could to chip away at its health as it flew by, it talons opening and closing, trying to catch or claw us all.

For myself, I was able to do little more than slash at the right wing as it made a down beat. My blow cut flesh and sent feathers snowing down, but barely seemed to have any effect. Rick cast a spell I'd never seen him use before, and the air shimmered around everyone in the party, including me. I wasn't sure what it did, but I could feel the power radiating from it and felt slightly less exposed than I did a second before.

The bird sailed off the tower and let out a loud caw as it came back around, diving in with greater speed.

I'd never paid much attention to Ellie. She was small and not very effective in battle. She had a tiny pick-ax and cast illusions, which were easy things to overlook in the chaos of a fight. But now, she took several running steps getting in front of our little protective huddle. She thrust out a hand and a glowing ball appeared on the platform. It was blue with wisps of green running through it like veins. It swirled in on itself and bobbed in place over one of the roof's rotted holes. It was only light but something about it was almost irresistible. It was only my knowledge that she was using it as a weapon that kept me from going to it.

The bird, however, veered from us to the ball. When it neared, Ellie cast something else directly at it. The giant creature faltered in the air, and instead of swooping down and grabbing the ball, it kept diving and crashed into the roof. Its head broke through the rotted wood, and it thrashed with the jagged boards cutting into its neck. The rest of us wasted no time, and ran to it to get in whatever hits we could, while it was stuck.

I got close and ran my blade in between its ribs over and over again. But after six or seven stabs, it broke free, screaming in pain and anger. It thrashed out with its wings, sending me and several of the others tumbling across the roof. It took to the air and hovered above us, blasting down a gale as a helicopter might. Blood streamed from multiple wounds turning its feathers crimson. It was hurting.

It was also pissed.

It zeroed in on Jonathan and dove at her with its beak open wide to take a bite.

She dodged and swung her ax at the same time, but barely scratched the bird. The beak missed her, but she was head-butted, and the gnome was launched into the air. The shimmering wall of protection around each of us shattered. She bounced off the parapet and landed in a heap.

As the bird veered back in, Aaron threw their last knife. It buried into the bone of its already savaged right wing and the great beast, listed to the side and came crashing down, ripping up a line of boards and making the whole floor sag down at a sharp angle. It tumbled down to the fifth floor. Those of us near the edge jumped after it. Seeing it as an opportunity, I leaped on top of it driving my sword into its flesh. I saw Tanner land next to me, pressing both her palms against its back and shooting it full of electricity. The others were soon there too. And as the monster made its last desperate attacks, we finally killed it.

I'd like to say it was my saber that struck the killing blow, but honestly, I have no idea who delivered the fatal hit.

We'd made it through our first dungeon. Nearly everyone's Life Balance had hit zero, and our Life Force was all getting dangerously low. The few who still were healthy enough, went and looted the nest. The rest of us retreated to the first floor to heal and rest.

DemonRose

Hey! Hey!

For any of you that are interested in how I've been handling the battles and the loot drops: I've been using a combination of plotting and dice rolling. So, things I know I want to have happen occurs, such as Ellie's plan working to perfection (which involved using a Will-o'-the-wisp to attract the Roc, and then using her Left-Feet spell to make it miscalculate its flight—I wanted her to do something to stand out). But I let a lot of the other elements come randomly based on the dice.

Also, I've been adding a lot more to the glossaries for those readers who want more details on how Feronia works. This is still a work in progress, and more articles and character sheets are still to be posted.

Kisses!