He had no clue what a rage affinity archer path would look like, though he didn't doubt that they existed, in that endless reality and its infinite variety of paths. However, while Mul had become filled with rage, he had instead found another way to deal with his crappy life. When he could, Jaz complained, and when he couldn't, he joked about it… And he had joked so much that it had become the affinity of his very soul.

Of course, there was only so long a joke could run for, and his [The Real One] finisher skill was a constant and stark reminder of that. In a way, Jaz sometimes wondered if he would've preferred a suppressor around his neck.

"So, all we gotta do is run while those two do all the work?" he asked. "Sounds good to me!"

"As if!" Sej shouted. "Since Gad is here, she can try to mess the pucks up with her [Pull of the River] aggro flows, and you have to help her by covering the party in as much chaos as you can!"

"In as much chaos as I can? Are you sure you won't regret that?" Jaz asked, a smirk twisting his lips.

"Do it, Jaz! Jul, can you take Lim and Row from him?" Calli asked.

"Of course!"

And as Jaz passed his injured charges onto Jul's second, and free, set of hands, and thank the damned Crystal that Jul had the [Strength] and [Stamina] to carry four people too, it was not a moment too soon…

SCREEECH!!

Fuck, Jaz thought, his shortbow coming to his hand.

Pucks poured into the [Theater of Thorns] through the gaps in the theater's curved wall at their back. The small, winged beasts formed a veritable cloud that blotted out the nightmarish red-light filtering through the canopy, a distant reminder of the surface that was now so out of reach. Hundreds and hundreds of the reddish-brown fleshy things poured into the arena, casting shadows upon the theater's floor as they gathered to fly around the hydra's heads. And more, and more of them kept arriving.

"That's got to be three nests, at least…" Sej whispered. "Gad?"

"I'll keep them off us, but I will need your help, Jaz. It's too much for me," the tank said, as they resumed running after the exchange of the injured.

"I won't let you down," Jaz vowed.

In between thousands of blood suckers, three heads spiting poison, and the fucking wood tentacles? Who in their right fucking mind wants to fight this thing by choice? Jaz thought.

He pulled an arrow from his inventory and notched it with a movement that had grown smooth through non-stop, desperate fighting and practice ever since he had finally left that cursed cubeplant.

While it might seem as though Row's party was not as crazy as Kur's in their desperation to become powerful, the truth was that they were just as desperate, if not even more.

Jaz too had trembled in impotent rage and fear as that scum almost kidnapped them at the end of the Climb, and he still had nightmares about that yellow reptile and his [Presence]. And while they didn't discuss it openly, the truth was that Row's party had, and was, scared beyond their wits about the possibility of not being strong enough to ensure their futures… It was the whole reason they had stayed behind in the Scimitar instead of taking their chances with a normal apprentice-ship.

Just as when they had taken the middle bridge in their thrice cursed Ceremony of Final Atonement, the Scimitar was their only option, especially since they didn't possess insane talents like Cen's, or the destructiveness of Mul, or even the savage might of Viy, or…

That insane, poor guy, Jaz thought, as he saw Nar fling an [Aura Blade] at the hydra, covering two of its heads in raging explosions of shifting gray aura.

The theater shone in bright grays, deep whites searing from within that explosion, and deep blacks devouring that horrid red light, and a gale of heated air blew against Jaz's eyes.

From the very moment Jaz had laid eyes on Nar, he had seen the darkness in them, and the weight that threatened to bend his back with every step the swordsman took to freedom. Even now, after knowing that he couldn't return for his dad, Nar still looked the same, eyes dark and bottomless as he chased after a distant, impossible goal, all the while carrying an enormous burden upon his back…

A burden we all carry, Jaz thought, eyeing Lim and Row's limp form on Jul's hand. We just need to keep surviving, and stay together…

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Above them, one of the hydra's heads let out a roar that left his sight blurry for a split-second, and once his eyes cleared, he found the mass of pucks diving head first at them.

"Right," he breathed, eyeing the pucks. "Who wants to have some fun?"

**********

"Gad! Not so close!"

The tank shifted her ponderous steps, and just a split-second later, one of the giant wood tentacles slammed down where she would have been. No amount of [Constitution] or [Toughness] would've have saved her from becoming dark paste had she been there…

Gad would've to thank Jul later for the save, but for the moment, running was just about all that she could manage as she maintained two flows of aggro around the party. The pucks that managed to get through Jaz's impressive riot, the greatest, brightest, loudest and most colorful that she had seen him so far conjure, plunged head straight into her [Pull of the River], and followed it back, away from the party to attack… Nothing.

They would fly around, aimless and confused for a few seconds, before they once again braved Jaz's [How Many Fingers Are Up?] and [Loud, Loud, Loud!] concert of chaos. Between the sparkles, the jets of color, the loud bangs and many, many more, as well as her [Pull of the River] it was a wonder that any of the pucks managed to get through, but indeed they managed. The very few pucks that made it through met their end with Sej's bullets, as unfortunately, Eum, Calli, Tuk, Jul, Jasphaer, Leta and Mul were overburdened carrying the unconscious, [Touch of Rot] afflicted people.

However, Gad wasn't just protecting the party.

Sej had taken them in a somewhat diagonal path away from the center of the theater, and away from the hydra, but Nar and Leon needed proximity in order to aggro the epic snake. And so, Gad needed to also maintain a protective flow of aggro over the two hybrid fighters, in order to keep them from being swarmed by the pucks, but without touching Leon's golden shields.

With a brief glance at their titanic fight, Gad glimpsed two heads smashing into Leon's golden shield skill, pushing the sphere of light into the floor, while Nar dodged around the other head.

Is he alright? Gad wondered, straining to see if he was stumbling around.

But her vision swam, and she was forced to focus once more on her own two feet, and forfeit the guidance of her [Pull of the River]s to her [Awareness].

At 40 points, she was only below Jul and Leon in terms of [Awareness], and that attribute, despite being a recent-ish acquisition, had quickly become her most important. It was not her great [Strength] or large [Constitution] that protected her party anymore. Nor was it even her [Toughness], which Nar still fought to earn, or her shield, which had once been a great deal to the swordsman…

No, it was her [Awareness], and her affinity, not her shield and flail, that protected their party the most now, and once again, even in the midst of that battle for their very lives, Gad couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she had made a hasty mistake in taking a different controller's path. Perhaps, she should've been a full controller after all, or maybe even a heavy frontline fighter like Tun…

No! She thought, shoving the thought out of her way. My path is at the front with my party and controlling the battle! Even if I'm not a heavy tank, I will find a different way to protect them! And I will also rely on them.

"It's coming!" Jul shouted in their minds. "The-the hydra! It's going to breathe on us!"

"How?" Eum asked. "Can it even see us in all this?"

"The [Poison Breath] will spread across the theater!" Sej explained. "The hydra just needs to aim it in our direction!"

If only Cen was awake! She could've blasted that beast before it could breathe on us! Gad thought.

Her frantic breath had at long last exhausted the masks' anti-fogging, clearing gel, and her panting misted the plastic, making it even harder for her to see where she placed her feet… And the dungeon shifted around her, and Gad, with her precious cargo of Kur and Tun, went careening across the uneven floor.

Sharp splinters cut into her jungle suit, letting the [Touch of Rot] in to begin pilling counters on her again, but she didn't even acknowledge that distant pain.

"Gad!" Tuk shouted.

The flows! Keep the flows! That was her only thought, as she grabbed Kur and Tun once more, and rose to her feet. She needed to protect the party, Nar and Leon, and she could not fail in that duty. She would not!

Damnit, Gad! Keep it together!

"It's coming!" Jul warned.

There was nothing that Gad could do but stare at the shimmering, black cloud that gathered around the hydra's middle head. She had no way of blocking that attack, as her aggro flows were just that, aggro controls, and thus, she could only stare, powerless, as death came for them.

"I'll take care of it!" Leon said, his voice a stalwart beacon of hope and confidence as everything fell apart.

"No!" Eum shouted, horror taking his voice. "You can't use it like that! You'll die!"

"We're dead anyways!"

"No, Leon! Don't!" Calli shouted.

It? Gad wondered. Is that… A hidden skill?

That was the only possibility, as Gad had made sure to memorize all the skills and styles of Row and Leon's party, and she knew of no skill that the paladin could call upon now to save them in their darkest hour.

"Please, Leon, don't!" Calli begged, her voice quivering.

"But…"

"Enough!" another voice cut through the argument. Strong, unyielding, undefeated. "I will handle it."

Nar…

Dread filled her. With his pathways still recovering from the abuse of the previous night, and with Crystal knew how much damage accumulated throughout their desperate run, if Nar went all out again…

But already that bright blade of his glowed amidst the fliting, darting shadows of the puckers, and cast the giant snake in competing dark red light and shifting gray aura.

"Nar, no!" Jul shouted.

But what else could they do now, but to rely on Nar to once again clear the way for them? Crystal knew in how much pain he was, pushing his pathways like that, his sword blazing so bright it hurt to stare at.

You always push so far, Nar… I just can't keep up, Gad thought, gritting her sharp teeth in powerless acceptance. And I know a big part of it is for us, but as I thought, you haven't really given up, have you? You just don't know it yet… And I swear I'll grow stronger for when the time comes.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.