Sophie and Humphrey were waiting for the monsters to get closer, while Neil cast a spell, conjuring two sets of three stone reels above his head. There were pictures of the various monsters present on the reels, like a giant, archaic slot machine. There were also images of the team, although massively out numbered by those of the monsters.

Ability: [Reels of Fortune] (Prosperity)

Spell (this ability has variable subtypes, contingent on effect).Cost: High mana.Cooldown: 10 minutes.Current rank: bronze 0 (00%).Effect (iron): Conjures three immaterial reels. Channel mana into the reels to generate random effects on random individuals within the area. If an individual is affected more than once by the same use of the reels, the effect is increased for each reel.Effect (bronze): Conjures a second set of reels. Each reel is more likely to match sets for additional effect when large numbers of a creature type are present.

The reels wheeled around before slowing and locking into place, one after another. Due to the bronze rank effect and preponderance of monsters, it was all but a given that each reel would produce a matching set. The first turned up three matching images of a snake monster and send a stroke of electricity into the cloud. The team could only see flashes of the lightning through the dirt and dust of the cloud that Clive had thrown up.

The second orb showed a three-set of a gorilla-like monster and sent a huge ball of fire sailing into the air. At the peak of its arc, it broke into numerous, smaller fireballs, plunging into the cloud as the reels above Neil faded. By this point, the monsters were almost upon them.

Humphrey turned his gaze to the sky and teleported high into the air, before initiating his dive bomb and unstoppable force attacks, descending through the air like the sword of judgement. He carved a heavily armoured beetle-type creature clean in half and sent out a shockwave that scattered the surrounding monsters, dispersing the momentum they rebuilt after Clive’s attack. Humphrey’s wings appeared on his back and with a heavy flap they pushed his back onto the platform.

The first monsters had reached the platform and Sophie used her massive acceleration power, eternal moment. Time seemed to freeze as she rapidly produced wind blades that shot off as the power faded, so many that even the iron-rank attack eliminated a bronze-rank monster.

With everyone having fired off their big openers, Neil cast a spell.

Ability: [Cornucopia] (Prosperity)

Spell (boon, recovery).Cost: Low mana.Cooldown: 1 hour.Current rank: Bronze 0 (01%).Effect (iron): Bestow a very strong mana and stamina recovery effects on all nearby allies, with a moderate duration.Effect (bronze): Provide boons that adapt to the needs of each ally. These effects have a long duration.

The team’s mana started rapidly replenishing, and the team received various bonuses. Clive received an increase to wand and staff damage, as did Belinda, who had used her spurious sorcerer power to also gain the power to use magic weapons. Humphrey received a cost reduction for special attacks, while Sophie had her passive damage abilities strengthened. As for Neil, he had his cooldown times reduced. Even the familiars received bonuses, Only Jason missing out by being out of range.

Everything was turning to chaos as monsters piled up around the platform. After Clive’s blast gutted the centre mass of the monster wave, it was the flanks that pushed in hardest, with Humphrey and Sophie each holding a side while Neil’s golem took the less hectic front. It was higher rank than Sophie, but the tenacious adventurer was still better able to hold the line than the summon.

The monsters were primarily a mix of high-end iron and low-end bronze, with a few powerful standouts among them. The horde spread to the rear of the platform faster than expected after being pushed around the sides. There, they ran into hydra-form Stash, Humphrey directing the griffins to move in and support him.

The monsters started piling up around the platform, held off by Stash, Sophie, Humphrey and the golem. Humphrey was swinging his sword back and forth in workmanlike fashion, his normal blows enough to put paid to the iron-rankers. His special attacks he saved for the bronzes.

Sophie was moving so fast she looked like a flipbook animation, like a series of still images leading one into the other. She made the most of her increased damage buff and battering her foes with a dazzling series of hits that looked more like the speed of a bronze ranker.

Her wind blade power was of limited effect against the strength and number of the enemy. Instead, she relied on her wind wave power that could blast powerful gusts of air and send enemies flying. Usable every six seconds, it was an effective tool for disrupting the enemy and buying time. With the teams mana regeneration and her own efficiency, it was a pattern she could keep up indefinitely.

The others poured out damage from behind, Belinda and Clive with staves, Gordon and Belinda’s lantern familiar with beams and bolts of force. Onslow floated above them blasting out powers from his shell. The magically saturated astral space was kind to the rune tortoise, allowing its powers to recharge more swiftly than normal and making it less reliant on Clive’s mana.

The ranged attackers mostly focused on Sophie’s side and the golem at the front, as Humphrey brought strength and resilience enough to hold a side largely on his own.

An unstable détente was formed, the monsters blindly attacking, but unable to make it past the teams defences for the moment. The initially impassive monsters were increasingly entering a state of blood frenzy, their vampiric natures revealed in a clamouring thirst for the blood of the team.

The powers Clive had placed on the team, the rings of runes and the retributive damage, were proving a highly efficient use of his mana. Their effects weren’t great, but they were ongoing and cheaply reapplied. The mantle of retribution inflicted damage back onto enemies, not in huge amounts, but it accumulated as the monsters threw themselves at Humphrey, the golem and Stash, all of whom were taking regular hits.

Each attack also triggered one of the runes from the rune mantle, to wildly varied effect. Some gave the ally a heal over time, an instant burst of mana recovery or bestowed boons like damage reduction, enhanced strength or even more retributive damage.

When the runes affected the attacking enemy they usually blasted out damage that could be of any type. Elemental damage was the most common, but also varieties of force, from the powerful resonating and disruptive types to sonic shockwaves. At other times, the runes applied afflictions, from a weakening poison to flames that wouldn’t seem to go out.

One more effect was impinging upon the enemies with every attack they made. It was one that had little immediate effect, but threatened to ultimately determine the fight.

Ability: [Hegemony] (Sin)

Aura (holy, unholy).Base cost: None.Cooldown: None.Current rank: Bronze 0 (09%).Effect (iron): Allies within the aura have increased resistance to afflictions, while enemies within the aura have their resistance to afflictions reduced. Enemy resistances are further reduced for each instance of [Sin] they are suffering from.Effect (bronze): Inflicts an instance of [Sin] on enemies that make physical or magical attacks against allies within the aura. Instances applied in this way cannot be resisted.

[Sin] (affliction, curse, stacking): All necrotic damage taken is increased. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.

Jason’s initial plans had been literally blasted into dust by Clive, forcing him to reorient himself. He and Shade’s bodies were shadowy figures moving amongst the monsters, elusive and fleeting presences that monsters had no more than a swipe or two at before they were gone.

His aura was blanketing the area without giving away his position, akin to hiding a tree in the forest. It was one of the first aura techniques Farrah had ever shown him and now it was second nature. He might not be able to hide his aura from a well-trained silver ranker, but even they would have trouble pinpointing his location when he used this technique.

He was staying relatively close to the platform, where his aura could blanket the monsters attacking his team. Every attack earned the monsters an instance of the necrosis-enhancing sin affliction, setting them up for a later fall. Every enemy that struck out against his allies was slowly shovelling earth from their own grave.

Jason himself also took damage. Even without his aura revealing his presence, simply weaving through the monsters meant that many were taking swipes at him as he passed. They were a small price to pay for the havoc he was wreaking in return.

For the bronze rankers he was lashing out with his dagger, piling on afflictions with every sweeping slice. In his other hand was a bronze rank weapon he had stowed away in his inventory since looting it from the marsh hydra he had fought with Humphrey and Clive.

Item: [Flail of the Hydra] (bronze rank, rare)

A whip imbued with the life-force of a hydra (weapon, whip).

Effect: The whip does not function like a normal whip. When swung, the heads of the whip will seek out enemies to attack.Effect: Poison inflicted using the whip as a medium is more potent.

The whip had five thick, thick, brown, leathery tails that ended in bulbs, within which were mouths filled with wickedly sharp teeth. They flailed uncontrollably, springing eagerly at any flesh that wasn’t attached to the arm holding it. As Jason could use two shadow arms now, he had one for flexibility with the dagger and one to add reach to the whip.

The disadvantage of the whip was that it didn’t inflict the trio of afflictions the conjured dagger produced, which is why Jason used that for the tougher monsters. It still applied the disease added by his shadow arm power and the effect of any special attack he used.

Most importantly, those effects were delivered by each of the five heads. That meant a single target special attack could now affect five at a time, albeit randomly in whatever vague direction the whip was swung. In a thick crowd of monsters, it was an excellent tool for thinning out the weaker ones. The whip’s bites might have not dealt a lot of damage, but as an affliction delivery system it was amazing.

Jason was unconcerned about the damage being inflicted on him, in spite of being amidst a sea of monsters. Pain was an old friend to any adventurer that truly threw themselves into the work, and his powers gave him powerful advantages over the vampiric enemy. His blood abilities were especially potent against the vampiric creatures and the blood magic that fuelled them. As he lay into them with his dagger, that made his choice of special attack obvious.

Ability: [Leech Bite] (Blood)

Special attack (melee, wounding, blood, drain, poison).Base cost: Low stamina.Cooldown: None.Current rank: Bronze 0 (07%).Effect (iron): Inflicts or refreshes the [Bleeding] condition. Drains a small amount of health and stamina when refreshing the [Bleeding] condition.Effect (bronze): Inflicts an instance of [Leech Toxin].

[Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs and negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends.[Leech Toxin] (affliction, poison, blood, stacking): When [Bleeding] is negated, an instance of [Leech Toxin] on the target is consumed to reapply [Bleeding]. Additional instances can be accumulated.

Against the vampiric monsters both the bleeding effect and the health drain were operating more powerfully than normal, even accounting for the increase to bronze rank. The health drain helped keep him going, although alone, it was not enough to outpace the regular swipes and bites that he suffered. Fortunately, he was able to devour the very means the vampires sought to bring him down with. Every bite he suffered only made him stronger as his sin eater ability devoured the curses they carried.

You have been afflicted with [Vampiric Blood Curse].[Vampiric Blood Curse] (affliction, poison, blood, stacking): Has a slight disorienting effect that increases with stacks. Beyond a certain threshold, dying under this effect will cause you to rise as a vampiric ghoul.You have resisted [Vampiric Blood Curse].You have gained an instance of [Resistant].You have gained an instance of [Integrity].

For Jason, the vampiric powers of their enemies were not an issue. He had some concerns about his team, but they were holding it off to a degree. Sophie and Jason’s auras protected them, and Neil was on hand to cleanse if necessary. The plan was to leave that to Jason, though, who not only didn’t spend mana to cleanse, but got it back in return.

Jason’s sin eater ability already increased his resistances, and increased them even further for each effect he resisted. At bronze rank, each effect resisted also bestowed a new boon, alongside each instance of the resistance boon.

[Integrity] (heal-over-time, mana-over-time, stamina-over-time, holy, stacking): Periodically recover a small amount of health, stamina and mana. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.

The effect of a single instance was very mild, but with every bite he suffered, the healing continued to stack up. On top of this, he also had his protective amulet.

Item: [Amulet of the Dark Guardian] (growth, bronze rank, legendary)

Effect: For each instance of an affliction applied to an enemy, gain an instance of [Guardian’s Blessing]. You may bestow all instances of [Guardian’s Blessing] upon another person by touch.[Guardian’s Blessing] (boon, holy): Instances are consumed to absorb damage from any source. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. For each instance consumed, gain an instance of [Blessing’s Bounty].[Blessing’s Bounty] (heal-over-time, holy, stacking): Heal over time. Additional instances have a cumulative effect.

As he laid out afflictions, he gained stacks of protection that were consumed as fast as they were laid on, leaving a heal effect in their wake. Between the two healing effects and the drain, Jason was healing much of the damage monsters landed on him with their opportunistic strikes.

He constantly flickered around using Shade’s bodies to stay on the move. He never stopped long enough in any particular location for the monsters around him to stop and make concerted attacks. That kind of focus when surrounded would easily be enough to overwhelm him in short order.

Even staying on the move, he was taking damage faster than he was healing it. That, and the slowly accruing vampiric curse affecting the team made it time for a return to the platform. He sent one of Shade’s bodies ahead, allowing him to step through another and right into the middle of his team.