Azure: Gunner

Some monsters are vastly more common than others. No one knows why, and if they claim they do they’re probably selling snake oil out of a cart somewhere.

There are sensible explanations for this when it comes to the monsters you encounter in the wilds. After all, no matter what dungeon spawned a particular monstrosity, once it’s on Earth it has to be able to survive in the local ecosystem – with a few exceptions.

There are hundreds of documented dungeon merge zones, or DMZs, where the rules don’t always apply. When a dungeon merges, it turns a significant area into a bizarre mashup of the original terrain with whatever happened to be inside the dungeon. This area, sometimes covering multiple square miles, can take anywhere from years to decades or even centuries to revert to its original state.

Until then, a twisted regional ecosystem forms. Sometimes the ‘native’ Earth species and previously-established monster populations thrive. In other cases, the dungeon’s environment proves inhospitable and only the invasive species remain. Take care should you encounter a suspicious change of ecosystem in the wild, for it may house unexpected threats.

- Bonnie, Level 41 Beastmaster, Bonnie’s Bestiary

I hurried to Zaire’s side and gathered Jayce’s cool metal hand in mine. I gave it a gentle squeeze as they turned their purple eyes to me. I could see they were still in a great deal of pain and did my best to smile reassuringly.

<How do you feel?> I asked, then realized they hadn’t rejoined the Squad and hastily invited the Sound Mage before I repeated my question.

<Like shit,> Jayce admitted. <It was bad… There were so many monsters! We finally realized the sound was attracting more, but our Light Bolts were only reaching a few yards…>

They shuddered, and I squeezed their hand again, not sure what else I could do.

<We had to wait until they were on top of us to cast. Then we had to use our scepter… We slipped up and one of them tore our shield away. We… got the last of them too late. It ripped into our leg. All we can remember is the pain…>

Jayce took a slow, deep breath and looked me in the eye.

<Zaire told me it was your idea to look for us. Thank you, Az! We can’t imagine what would have happened if you’d left us there… What if the rest of you had finished the dungeon, and we were stuck lying there in that dark hallway all alone? We… we might have been there until we starved or… had to…>

They swallowed and their voices trailed off and I saw their human eye was wet with tears. I dropped to both knees and carefully hugged them the best I could, while Zaire rested a hand on their shoulder.

<We’re going to get you out of here, and Lydia will fix that leg right up!> I told them, and G’hala growled softly in agreement as Zaire nodded. Jayce squeezed my hand back, and then I stood. It took a few minutes to carry the stretcher down the stairs, past the corpses, and into the room with the door.

We waited there for about half an hour, telling Jayce about our adventures so far, trying to keep their mind off the pain. Once Zaire’s mana had recovered, we activated the doorway, prepared for a fight.

What we got instead was an empty room with one open and one closed door. And peeking out from the sides of the open door I spotted the silhouettes of a couple of heads. Human heads.

“Guys?” I called out softly. “Is that you?”

I was answered by the glorious sight of my friends stepping out from their cover and jogging across the room with smiles on their faces. Then Raylan’s face fell as he saw that Jayce wasn’t standing with Zaire, G’hala, and me. I pointed back to where we’d left the cyborg in the previous room, safe from the monsters we’d expected to fight.

When Raylan saw the extent of Jayce’s injuries, his roar of anger triggered the dungeon to drop a pair of Level 5 horrors on us. They were quickly – and quietly – slaughtered. I added everyone back to the Squad before giving Raylan and Jayce a moment alone.

I quickly examined my friends for injuries, thankful not to find anything that looked serious. Arlo’s pistols were nowhere to be seen and he was instead holding his wand, which explained how he’d been able to fight his way through to join the others. He was no more than adequate with his shortsword, though it was a high-quality weapon like the rest of his gear.

I caught Tara glancing at me – she’d raised her visor – and gave the blonde Defender a curt nod. I was relieved to see she’d made it given her lower Level. I guessed her heavy armor had stood up well to the monsters’ bites. H’ruk had several bandages wrapped around his arm, but he merely gave me a toothy grin and a thumbs-up when I asked if he was all right.

The Essence from the two monsters was enough for Raylan to join Zaire at Level 6, and we waited for him to complete the Level-up process before we moved forward. The next room required us to depress eight plates to open the door. The rest of the team had been waiting there for quite a while for us to arrive, correctly guessing that we’d all unite here before continuing.

After a brief debate, we agreed not to try using Balance to heal Jayce, even though we now had more people to share the wounds. I vividly remembered the quadrasaur fight, where the wounds H’ruk and Tara had taken nearly crippled the team when G’hala used her healing Skill. The cyborg bravely agreed they could endure the pain a while longer, and the second healing potion had made some progress restoring their lost flesh.

We left Jayce safely tucked away and used Zaire’s trick to lock one plate down while we stood on the others. As the huge door rumbled up into the ceiling, ruddy light poured through and a hot, stale wind blasted us. The land outside looked like it had been ripped straight from one of Sister Mercy’s sermons. Dark clouds hung heavy over the landscape, while reddish light pierced the clouds here and there. In places, light streamed up from cracks in the black, scarred, and rocky ground.

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The hellish backdrop faded from my attention as the massive monster waiting a few dozen yards away snarled. It had a pair of massive swept-back horns, skin that looked like granite, and glowing red eyes over a vicious mouthful of teeth. Cracks of glowing red crossed its body, reminding me of the metal golem that had nearly killed us in my first dungeon. Its entire tail glowed almost white-hot. Identify.