Dungeon Runner (Book 1 and 2)

Stepping Up, Chapter 82

The attack came out of nowhere.

The tunnel had widened until they could stand side by side, and Tibs wondered if this would qualify as a room when he felt the essence above him shift, and before he could work out what was happening, creatures dropped on them.

They were numerous and fast, armed with swords and shields. Tibs had a sense of lean stone creatures as he worked with Jackal and Khumdar to create space for Carina and Mez to join in the fight.

Even using his bow as a staff, Mez wasn't effective in close range and Carina only had ranged attacks.

Tibs iced the floor, but they didn't fall. A glance as he blocked a sword with his shield showed him they had claws that dug into the ice. Their faces were dog-like, with sharp fangs they sometimes tried to bite him with.

Would Sto call them Doglings?

Once the creatures were all destroyed, Tibs let go of Water and used his essence to stop his wounds from bleeding. He caught his breath, then looked at the others. Jackal's stone body was scratched, but they didn't go deep. Carina had managed to keep them at bay, while Mez only had bruises.

Khumdar's leg was broken, so Tibs went to him and wrapped it in essence. "I need to practice with Purity, so I can figure out how to properly heal." He stepped away and channeled Water, studying what happened to Khumdar's wrap. It remained as he'd set it.

"You're bleeding again," Mez pointed out.

"This is why. The essence I use on you stays, but on me, it changes to whatever element I'm channeling." He iced his wounds.

"Why don't you just switch to Purity, heal yourself, and then back," Mez said. "That's not going to be long enough for you to screw things up, is it?"

"It isn't that simple," Carina said, while Tibs focused on going through the rubble instead of acknowledging the archer's tone. "It's not just pushing essence in. New clerics will practice night and day before they can get that right."

"It is unfortunate that watching others struggle to achieve results does not impart the knowledge of how they succeeded."

"I sensed how the clerics healed during the siege," Tibs said, "but until I can trust my actions while channeling Purity, I can't practice it." Not that he thought how they did it would work for him if copying how Carina used her element hadn't before.

"Then try it now," Mez said.

"No," Jackal replied, taking a sword from the rubble. "If something goes wrong, and he hurts himself worse, it puts everyone at risk. We stick with what we know works for now." He looked around. "Does anyone know what happened?"

"I think the dungeon's using the same kind of doorways it made for us to bypass floors to keep the creatures out of Tibs's sensing range," Carina said.

"Smart woman," Ganny commented.

Tibs considered what Mez said. He couldn't just switch to Purity, but he could switch between water and his element easily and without affecting his behavior. The problem was maintaining what he'd made once he switched.

He could manipulate outside essence even while channeling a different one, so his problem was how to get his element from outside without drawing it from his team. He looked at the broken creatures. They had none left. Once they died, any essence they still had returned to Sto, not that they had much then. The level of essence they had seemed to indicate how much life they still had.

He'd have to remember that going forward.

He'd also have to practice pulling his essence out of them a little at a time. Sto didn't want him to kill them that way, but he'd have to be okay with a slight drain. But that didn't help him now. The ice would crack the instant he had to move quickly, and he'd bleed again.