Worthy Core

Although the members of House Perlin had planned on re-challenging Floor Seven early in the morning, the day after they had their meeting with the dungeon's representatives, they found that the time slot had already been booked. Another Challenger team, the 'Mountaineers', had already been planning on making their first attempt at the floor and considering that the nobles were trying to mend their relationship with the dungeon they graciously allowed the other team to continue as scheduled. There was no hard rule preventing two teams from trying a floor at the same time - at least not in Worthy Dungeon, as some other dungeons did have mechanics preventing such a thing - but it would certainly have been rude to say the least. Creatures and bosses only respawned so quickly under normal circumstances, meaning usually only one team would be able to get the floor's rewards. Besides, it'd hardly improve their record if they only cleared half the floor themselves.

After the survivors of that particular party returned to the inn just after lunchtime, the nobles suddenly found themselves extremely glad that they had accepted the delay. The trio told a rather confused tale of a winged monster that had appeared from above, carving through their party as if they were so many mobile pieces of cheese, and the two dwarves of the group quickly got to getting drunk. Everyone had gathered around them to try and get out more details, but by luring away the team's Siege Sniper with the promise of a free round from their own personal stocks down in Grassbrook, the Perlins got their own personal source of information. Assuming they could get her to talk coherently, at least.

Again, Arlon tries to get the woman to start from the beginning. "Petal, yes? You're a crossbow user? Ranged combatant? You must have had a good view of what transpired, then?"

"What transpired? What transpired? What transpired is that we lost our damn heads! Literally, in a couple cases! Ack, poor Fredder...we shoulda never taken him so deep, but we thought a team'a six woulda been more than plenty..."

Raising a hand, Raylin decides to try a different tack. "Let's...not focus on exactly what happened, to start with. Could you describe what the monster looked like? You've said it had wings, and swooped down on you, yes?"

After taking a long drink from her mug, the woman nods. "Aye, great big shiny ones too, not a plain feather to be seen in the bunch. As hard as her armor - and that bloody great shield of hers. Shield or the wings, I couldn't get a shot through to her at all!"

"Her, you say? So it appeared roughly mortal in appearance? Some form of Rabbit Champion, perhaps?"

Petal quickly shakes her head. "Didn't have the fuzzy legs, nor the ears unless they were hidden under her helmet. She was almost totally covered up aside from her mouth, but...there was this one odd thing, I barely had time to notice in the midst of it all." The Sniper leans in and half-whispers. "I'd swear the lass's skin was green. And not dark an' rough like an orc's, neither, but like nothin' or nobody I seen before."

The nobles share a look and continue their questioning, but beyond the fact that the monster was apparently very good with a sword or a thrown axe, there was little more they could get from her. After calling for another round and sending her on her way, Sansie buries her face in her hands.

"Now? Now!? The day we were going to clear our record, that's when the dungeon creates a new boss for Floor Seven? The Highbranches didn't have to put up with anything so vicious-sounding."

Arlon frowns as he thinks over the news. "I had thought that we might encounter a new boss, there was word going around of a new 'applicant' being recently accepted, after all. But I would not have imagined him being turned into a sword-wielding maiden, from what I'd heard of him."

"This seems wildly different from the other monsters in the dungeon, as well." Raylin looks around at the others on the table. "Winged monster women...there's harpies, yes? But beyond the very first room of the place there's been no use of anything bird-based at all. Are there other monster types I'm forgetting?"

The party's Priest, Palm Redbeard, gives a solemn nod. "There...is one that comes to mind. Not exactly a typical monster class, mind you. Each of its kind is unique. But...they say some of those dungeons who have received Divine Favor in the form of floor guardians often receive them in the form of winged warriors."

The party is silent for a moment, until eventually Sansie speaks. "A divine champion. Gods save us. I did not think Kahlia would be the sort to partake in that form of reward..."

Their team leader attempts to refocus their thoughts. "Let us assume that that is indeed what this is, or it's at least something similar. We were prepared to fight slimes. What are the weaknesses of a divine champion?"

The Priest again provides his best answer. "As I said, each are unique, but that is because they take on the aspects of the deity which they serve - much like any mundane Priest or Cleric does, like myself. We may have some common low-level spells, but beyond that every discipline is quite different. That can include their weaknesses - for example, I imagine a Champion of Ol, the God of Night, would be particularly weak against light-based magic."

Raylin's unable to keep himself from snorting. "So what's the weakness of a Champion of Kahlia? A team of virgins, perhaps? If so I think we're out of luck on that front."

His cousin steeples his fingers as he turns his attention towards Sansie. "Setting aside possible divine traits, what do we know about the skills she actually displayed? Beyond flight, it sounds as if she used no magic at all, save perhaps a resistance to shadow magic. On the other hand, she's apparently extremely durable against both blade and magical bolt."

Sansie raises an eyebrow. "Yes, so why are you looking at me? If lightning's no good, I doubt a fireball would prove much better. Granted I am a superior Elementalist to that drider girl, no offense to her. But still..."

"Don't write yourself off just yet, dear Sansie. I believe I have a plan..."

Working their way through Floor Seven for the third time, the nobles found their passage going more smoothly than ever. They were plenty practiced by now with the minor monsters in the preliminary chambers, and even the fae archers hiding in the crystal trees didn't seem particularly challenging by now. They also counted themselves very lucky that they didn't run into Trush and his squires again, though it was hard to say whether that was due to chance, the dungeon deciding to ease up on them a bit, or the possibility that the dungeon was so confident in its new guardian that it didn't need additional ambushes.

At last though they arrived at the boss arena at the end of the main chamber, a section blocked off by giant vines of stone and crystal so tightly interwoven it was practically a solid wall. Rather than approach the door to the arena however, it's the wall that they stop to inspect. Rapping one of the crystals with his knuckles, Raylin turns to Sansie. "Is it doable, you think?"

Before she answers, the Elementalist pulls out a wand from her kit - a crystalline one she earned here in this very dungeon. Closing her eyes, she taps it against the crystal a few times. "It's not my favored element, but with this wand...we can at least make the attempt, yes."

Arlon nods. "Then we shall give it a try. Everyone recall their roles?" As the party members give their affirmations, the man turns and heads to the door. "Taylim, with me, have that shield ready! For House Perlin!"

The group charges into the room, scanning it quickly but not finding any opponent waiting to face them. The warning provided by the Mountaineers proves sufficient though, and they quickly turn their attentions upward just in time to see a winged guardian swoop down at them, targeting Arlon himself. She's taken by surprise however when she practically bounces off of a magic barrier, rolling to the floor a short distance away. Quickly recovering to her feet, the woman bares her teeth with a growl. "Bah, and here I thought you were talking about the literal shield. No matter - barriers can be cracked easily enough."

She moves forward to prove it, her sword arm swinging, but Arlon is already stepping aside to make room. "Redbeard, Sansie, knock her down!"

The pair do so, Sansie leveling a wand in the guardian's direction while Redbeard chants to his goddess. While the two of them often worked together when firing off bolts of lightning, that was not the aspect of the storm they were calling this time. The attack starts off with a strong gust of wind blasting into the monster, momentarily disrupting her attack and making her take a step back. It really is only a momentary setback however, and the woman is already starting to utter a new taunt when Redbeard's contribution to the maneuver comes into play. While Sansie's galewinds continue to strike her head-on, suddenly new gusts begin to assault her from both the left and right, alternating with a frequency that no natural storm could ever match.

Still though, it is just wind. After pulling her wings in tightly, limiting the amount of drag they cause her, the guardian finally gets off her next comment. "You think I've never flown through a storm before? You have blades there, do you lack faith in your skill at arms?"

It's Raylin that answers, raising his bow as he steps into the middle of the formation. "It's no mere storm of wind and water you need to worry about today, guardian. Rain of Arrows!" Rapidly firing his bow as he casts his spell, the Noble Marksman fires off four quick shots into the air, each of them splitting off into half a dozen magical munitions as they're released. Laughing, the woman raises her shield above her head and turns her wings into something of an umbrella as well.

"A good way to waste a lot of arrows at once, archer. ...Hrmm?" After bracing for a few moments, the guardian seems rather surprised when nothing actually lands to strike her defenses. Risking a peek around her shield, she soon discovers why - the arrows have become part of the magical storm, flying around the ceiling of the tall arena. "...If you were attempting to prevent me from taking to the air, it's wasted effort. I'm just fine down here!" With that said she finally lunges for her attack, her sword slicing into Taylim's barrier spell, and sure enough it begins to damage the spell on even the first attack. The purpose of Raylin's move becomes apparent soon after though, when an arrow suddenly comes flying in from the side, striking her in the elbow. "Gah! How?"

Taking a pause between chants to his patron, Redbeard answers her question. "I can indeed sense your divinity, champion, but you are not the only representative of the divine here today. With the guidance of divine winds, you shall fall today!"

"Pfft! As if a few windswept arrows would bring down a Valkyrie Shieldmaiden!" She quickly continues striking at the barrier, already nearly reducing it to tatters, but as she does so three more arrows fly in from various angles. One scores a minor hit on her leg, while she deflects the other two, but those are quickly pulled back up into the air once again, ready to be used in another attempt. Another swing finally brings the Royal Protector's spell down, but she finds the party's physical defenses to be no less challenging as Taylim and Arlon both close ranks to meet her.

The woman's swordsmanship is impeccable, deflecting attacks from both of the men and still managing to attempt blows of her own, sending the pair's shields ringing, but as she does so the storm of arrows never lets up. They particularly go for her legs and knees, and while the woman's plate armor deflects a few on its own the occasional projectile does manage to strike home. She keeps standing, keeps fighting, but eventually one arrow going directly into the back of her left knee makes the guardian stumble. Seeing their chance, the pair simultaneously slam into her with their shields, knocking her onto her back and sending her sprawling. Even as he does so, Arlon shouts out another command. "Raylin! Now!"

"On it." Raising his bow, Raylin fires another arrow into the sky - a very nontraditional arrow. Formed of stone and crystal, the center of the stone is made of an earth-aspected wand. A wand charged with a single, high-energy spell. As the arrow strikes the crystal chamber ceiling, Sansie utters the spell's trigger word.

"Rockslide." At that command the arrow explodes with magical energy, almost all of which is absorbed by the crystal making up a particular section of the ceiling. That section being the area directly above where the floor's guardian lies, every attempt to rise to her feet countered with another heavy gust of wind, or arrow flung at her face. Distracted by those nuisances, it's only at the last moment that she looks upwards to see the several tons of stone crashing towards her.

"...Oh, damm-"

Ten minutes later, the party finds Sincere smirking as they enter the dungeon's core chamber for the second time. "Well, now that was a show."

Sansie gives a scoff. "At the cost of a good wand, I should hope so. I'm sorry if we broke your dungeon arena, though. ...Or your floor guardian. Well, not that sorry..."

The demon can only laugh in response. "To be honest, after Brightsky's first performance, I thought it might be weeks, perhaps months, before she found herself facing defeat. I still wouldn't lower my estimations of her skill...but perhaps I might have to raise my estimations of yours."

Arlon gives the man a slight bow. "Thank you for the compliment - to be honest, I don't know if we could have pulled off that level of coordination the first time we came here. I suppose that is what dungeons are all about though, isn't it? That aside..."

Sincere chuckles again. "Your record? Consider it cleared. You may not be the first to have cleared the floor properly, but you are the first to have defeated Valkyrie Brightsky, so that's an accomplishment, at least."

The nobleman takes a deep, relieved breath. "Thank you for your consideration. As for the rest of our offer?"

The Core Guardian shrugs. "We're still willing to consider that as well. As long as you can indeed deliver the treasure you promised."

Arlon nods. "You will have it soon. Very soon."