Civilization

Taking an arrow each from their respective quivers, all 3 girls quickly shot an arrow up into the sky aiming at the floating red dots. At the same time, we reposition ourselves with our backs to the wall. With my enhanced vision from the Eye of the Roc, I could catch glimpses of the moving creatures however, their movement speed was too fast to be hit by an arrow.

Assuming the first arrow missed, the 3 girls took aim once more firing at the closest red dot. Unexpectedly, the creatures dart around creating rays of red light, crisscrossing in the air. One of the red dots starts to zigzag downward, appearing in front of us in mere seconds. Revealing a giant bat the size of an adult with deep red eyes, 2 dirty yellow fangs, and leathery wings with touches of fur on the edges.

"SHIT! A GUIAFAIRO! COVER YOUR EARS!" - Travys

Quickly following Travys's call, I cover my ears with my hands whilst running to the front and stabbing forward with my front spider legs. Simultaneously, the Guiafairo opens its mouth wide revealing smaller teeth behind the fangs. A high pitch screech comes out of its mouth piercing through my poor attempt to block the sound with my hand and stunning me before my spider legs reached the monster.

"TAUNT!" - Travys

Travys bangs his shield loudly with the flat side of his sword, stopping the monster's attack. The slight hesitation allows me to attack twice with my legs, stabbing into the left wing of the monster. Thrusting forward with my trident, I attempt to follow up on my previous attack whilst Travys has its attention however, another Guiafairo block my path zipping down from above and pushing my spear downward.

Helping me out, Luna pounces on the monster, jumping over our heads and biting down on its neck. Her large fangs shine as she activates Hyper Fang dealing more damage to the monster. She wasn't the only one helping me out, Tsugi presses close to me swinging his ax at the monster hitting its wing and pushing it outward. JenJen snipes its head piercing through the eye with a deadly arrow.

Facing the first monster, Travys blocks an attack from its legs with his shield, allowing time for Howard to swing his ax at the monster's side. The heavy hit pushes the monster into its comrade and as Luna leaps back onto the stairs, Rosanna and Kumiho shoot it with another 2 arrows each piercing through an eye.

"Watch out they are coming. Bronze Skin! " - Song

Covering his body with a thin bronze layer, he meets the monster head-on, blocking a bite with his shield and retaliating with an upward swing with his ax. Rebecca, who was nearby, attacks with a goblin knife but fails to pierce the skin, forcing her to back off as Luna follows up instead. Swiping the monster with her paws, she scratches its belly causing green blood to ooze out.

"Over here too! Cleave!" - Kaede

Kaede engages with a monster attempting to attack Kumiho as the monster flies straight toward her from above. Kaede's ax strikes the monster's claw and with the additional strength from Cleave, she pushes the monster away, allowing Kumiho to fire 5 arrows in quick succession. Following her attack was Rosanna, helping to secure the kill.

"Quick Fire!" - Kumiho

"Straight shot! - Rosanna

The monster falls down to the bottom of the Abyss along with the first 2 monsters that were killed. Despite its quick speed at the start, the monster slows down once it engages in close combat, making it easier to hit compared to when it was flying around in the air. Its strength is also a lot weaker than I expected, after seeing Kaede being able to repel an attack with a Cleave.

"Travys, give us some insight on these monsters. It seems like you have fought them before." - Ian

"Well Kingston, you can say that. These monsters are like noob bashers. If you don't know that they can stun you with the screech then most players will die to the following attacks. However, if we are able to stop that attack the Guiafairos are easy to kill. They don't have a lot of HP and their Strength is on the low side. The skills consist of a bite attack, a screech attack, and an enhanced Agility ability." - Travys

"So they hit fast but not hard?" - Howard 𝑓re𝘦𝔀𝗲𝘣𝘯𝘰νℯ𝒍.c𝗼ｍ

"Basically. They will do a lot of damage if we get stunned by the screech attack. I, unfortunately, died to one a couple of days ago." - Tsugi

"So what if there is a group of them like this? Anything special?" - Ian 𝙛𝑟𝑒e𝘸𝑒𝗯𝘯𝗼𝘃el.𝒄𝒐m

"Nothing. Just attack any bat that looks like it will screech." - Song

"Done. Summon Spider!" - Ian

The ring on my hand glows slightly, as a spider appears. I order it to climb the wall behind us and attack any monster that comes near it. At the same time, Predator Instinct activates as monsters start to fly down, a total of 10 bat monsters instantly surround us and without surprise, they open their mouths wide.

"Enhanced Agility! Emerald Gaze! Cleave!" - Ian

"Dragon's Roar! Warrior Strike!" - Travys

"Hurricane Arrow!" - JenJen

"Beat Down!" - Song, Tsugi

"Double Shot!" - Rosanna, Kumiho

"Cleave!" - Howard

Activating a series of skills the moment the Guiafairo becomes stationary, we retaliate as quickly as possible, eliminating any chance for the screech ability to activate. The moment my attack hits the monsters, a chain of explosions rings throughout the Abyss, tearing through the monster's flesh and burning the area.

Travys's Dragon Roar momentarily stuns a monster before he strikes its head with his sword. Following his strike, JenJen's arrow bursts a hole through its chest whilst Rosanna and Kumiho attack different monsters each stopping the screech. Song and Tsugi attack the closest monster as well with 3 consecutive downward ax strikes while Howard secures the kill with a Cleave.

We hit all 10 monsters that appear before us, with Kaede and Luna attacking a monster near them, making all monsters unable to activate the skill.

"ATTACK!" - Ian

With all monsters now slowed by my Emerald Gaze, we were able to kill them even faster than before despite more monsters surrounding us. A brutal battle awaited us as monster after monster dashes toward us. Explosions rang in my ear louder than any screech or shriek could, but that didn't stop me from stabbing and thrusting at any monster near me.

My spider legs were also doing work, as they attacked monsters outside my range as well as helped Travys, Howard, and Song who were next to me. Surprisingly my summoned spider was also putting in its fair share of damage as it leaps to bite monster after monster, dancing through the air as it stops each monster it poisons from using its skill.

After a hard-fought battle, we were finally able to take a break once all the monsters were killed. I had no idea how many Guiafairos were killed but most of us collapsed on the staircase after the battle. Rebecca activates the healing item, helping us recover any lost HP as well as wash our fatigue away.

"This healing item is amazing, Rebecca." - JenJen

"Thanks, Jen! It's very helpful after a battle, but sometimes I will need to use it during the battle." - Rebecca

"How are there so many monsters? We haven't even gotten that high up the staircase either. Maybe 1 or 2 stories?" - Tsugi

"I think we are about 3 stories high." - Song

"Should we go down and collect the loot?" - Ian

"Walking back down, only to walk back up?" - Travys

"It's we either do that or we leave it down there for anyone to take it." - Rosanna

"We can send 2 people down and just bring up the important items?" - Kumiho

"Let's do that. That way we will be able to at least acquire items that might be useful for us. At the same time, the rest of us can rest up for a bit while someone collects the items." - Ian

"Then, Rebecca and JenJen?" - Travys

"I'm fine with going." - Rebecca

"Me too, follow me Rebecca." - JenJen

The two girls head downstairs after the effects of Healing Pulse wear off. In the meantime, I made sure Luna, Kaede, and Howard were okay with the current circumstance. With no arguments, we all relaxed and had small conversations while waiting for the two girls to come back up.

Every so often, I would look upward, observing the small patches of amethyst light, just in case something reveals itself accidentally. I could see Rosanna looking in the same direction as I was and assumed that she had a similar ability that allows her to see further into the distance.

Travys, Song, and Tsugi were making sure their weapons were sharpened as much as they could before the girls came up and after a while, Rebecca and JenJen came back.

Confirming that nothing happened down below, the girls showed the loot that we had acquired after fighting with the Guiafairo, 3 daggers, and a skill book. However, before we could all check on the stats, a high-pitched screech echoed throughout the Abyss.