Somnia Online by K.T. Hanna (reading strategies book txt) 📕

his back on her before she could respond, and while grateful that for the first time she could really remember in a while, Risk hadn’t been a complete douchebag to her, she wasn’t exactly sure what he’d been getting at.

These damned quests had nothing to do with her. She’d have thrown it all away if she could. Killing was always easier for her…when she had the time to put into learning the fights.

Murmur got busy Mezing the second incoming group before it hit caught up with the second. Keeping them separated was vital to fewer deaths while fighting them. Though not boss level, these were hefty raid trash. They were about double as difficult to deal with as the groups they’d been eliminating on their way to this massive cavern. Her stuns, even though they weren’t always successful against the Shalan, were vital to helping prevent the Serrated Edge attacks. For now, anyway.

Luckily, the Shalan were very susceptible to ice, as most things in the zone appeared to be. It definitely made the mages’ damage spike nicely, and the rangers had ice arrows they could use as well. All in all, with the effects on most of the melee weapons, the ice buffs made for a very effective fighting force.

That the Serrated Edge had no telegraphed warning, except for a split second ability bar that passed in the blink of an eye, was damned frustrating. They were standing one minute and then they were performing a diving kick in which their back legs shot through as they did a somersault, twirling them around in a circular motion like a break dancer and severing anything in their path.

At least fighting them on land and not in water made it easier for the raiders to move out of their way. The water slowed all the movements of the raiders down as long as it didn’t pertain to spells, dealing damage, or healing. Avoidance measures? Nope, let’s allow real-world physics to affect those sorts of movements. She would have rolled her eyes if she thought it made the locus look any different.

Holding down three with her Mez wasn’t uncomfortable, but she did have to make sure Annulment was in place. Keeping to the lip of the ramp, they managed to remain far enough away from the other guard patrols that they didn’t draw their attention. Two groups at a time was a manageable amount.

Usually Murmur would have been perturbed by the fact that none of the other patrols seemed to see them. However, huge stone pillars blocked a lot of views. They weren’t carved or ornate. Nothing truly pretty about them. But they appeared to be made out of raw rock. She’d ruled out stalagmites and stalactites because they weren’t the right formation, but these pillars were roughhewn rock, stretching from the floor up around twenty-five feet from the top of the cavern.

The massive area had about nine of them at a quick glance, which meant there were potentially at least nine fights for them to get through before they could free the turtle, if that was even the way they were supposed to complete the quest.

A massive roar echoed out, and Murmur swiveled to try and figure out where it was coming from. The only place she’d thought anything else could be had been in the cage, but the turtle cowered there, trying to make its massive self as small as it could, and it was failing abysmally.

Refreshing her Mez, Murmur sent a thought out to Snowy for him to go and find the source of the roar. The raid kept slogging along at the group of guards, finally breaking into the ones she’d been holding immobile. Murmur moved in Snowy’s direction, wanting to see for herself. That roar had her worried, like the quest had lulled them into a false sense of security and there was much more to this encounter. Well, really, it did tell them. She’d just hoped it had exaggerated.

You know I don’t exaggerate things like that.

If this is your quest… Murmur paused, sighing.

Somnia took a moment to reply. They’re all my quests, but no, I didn’t trigger it. I just altered it so it was doable. Frankly, with all the crap in the current version of Somnian dungeons right now, it’s amazing this one is even functioning.

What do you mean by that? Murmur was genuinely surprised.

I just mean there’s only so many hints I can give—so just pay attention. Things have been twisted and aren’t as they were planned. It’s all the help I can give you without warning HIM.

Murmur waited a moment, but it seemed Somnia was finished. Rescue him from even the opponents you can’t see at first, eh? She frowned, fully aware that the raid had almost defeated their first set of Shalan since the quest appeared. Maybe killing a certain amount of them released their captain or something…

Snowy slunk back, his stealthy movement only noticeable because she was specifically looking for him. He sent her pictures of what appeared to be a cracked section of rock walling, but knew it was probably some sort of hidden door or passageway.

“At some point in the fight, we’re going to trigger a massive boss mob. Conserve mana.” At least she hoped she wasn’t wrong. Conserving mana was always a good idea anyway.

The first group down, Devlish waited until everyone’s hit points and mana replenished. First lot down. It was time to see how many more it would take.

Inching away from the top of the ramp, the entire raid moved as one, approaching the first pillar on the right. Anti-clockwise, sure, Murmur could deal with that.

Even as they moved, though, Snowy’s hackles stood on end, and she could feel the growl low in his throat as he kept his gaze on where he’d stealthed to previously. If he was concerned, then Murmur wasn’t about to let her guard down. Readying herself for the next wave of incoming, she grimaced slightly before reaching out beyond the apparent cave