Time Elapsed: 02:36:57

They regrouped outside the dungeon. All of them were a disgusting mess, but that didn't matter. Excitement ran through the entire team. After days of constant struggling, they finally made it through the first ten rooms of the Deep Mines.

"I don't care what's next," Snow proclaimed. "I'm just glad to never see those creepy worms again."

"How do you know there won't be worms in the next one?" Kiah asked.

"Because that's not how these dungeons work. It's always something different."

"Then what do you think it will be?"

"Hm," Snow adopted a thinking pose. "Maybe it will be somewhere with snow! Like a nice park in the winter. We'll have to fight snowmen, but they'll never attack me because they'll see me as their friend."

Kiah burst out into laughter. "Yes, okay. I believe you, Mr Snowman."

Severance rolled his eyes and wandered a little way into the mining tunnel. "I'm going to change my clothes."

"Go ahead," Snow called after him.

Amused, Severance quickly pulled off his soaked attire in the privacy of a deep shadowed area of the tunnel. He tossed them into Inventory, making a mental note to add them to the burn pile when he got back to the Veiled House. He was certain that gross worm blood was something that would never wash out.

He wiped himself off with another old torn shirt that wasn't as filthy, before pulling on a new set. He even changed his boots. Feeling human again, he returned to the group.

"My turn," Kiah said. She patted him on the shoulder as she passed, disappearing into the shadows.

Severance leaned against the wall near Jack Coyote. The tank didn't show the same jubilation as the others, but Severance was sure Jack was satisfied. The guy just didn't know how to smile. Either that, or his face had never learned how to bend that way.

"How long do you think it will take for the other teams to reach the checkpoint?" he asked. From what they've seen, there had to be at least one, if not more, team challenging the Deep Mines now.

"We have a solid head start," Jack answered. "As long as they don't progress faster than we did, we should be able to maintain the lead."

"That's as long as we don't mess up."

"Then don't mess up," Jack Coyote returned. His lips twitched, and for a second, Severance thought he'd seen something he shouldn't have. Was that a smile?

He suppressed a shudder. Nah, couldn't be.

***

After a short rest, they headed back into the Deep Mines.

This time, they found themselves in a new place. It was twice as big than the previous setting in the mine, but it was still closed off by canyon walls on all four sides. Open sky allowed the sun to shine directly down upon them. That alone made it a huge improvement.

Of course, it couldn't all be perfect.

The entire team stood in knee deep water. It was crystal clear with a lovely blue-green hue, while pale sand shifted beneath their feet. Little white fish darted about in the water, completely unafraid of the presence of humans.

"This isn't so bad," Kiah said. She pointed at the far side. "Look, there's even a waterfall."

True to her words, there indeed was a slow trickle of water down one of the rocky walls. It ran steadily into the closed off pool that they currently stood in.

"Oh boy." Severance could see where this was going. "We're going to drown, aren't we?"

"Hm." Jack didn't bother denying it. "I would suggest staying in Earth Dance, Severance."

"What, you don't want to be electrocuted?"

Jack gave him a mild look.

"Guys?" Snow sounded a little nervous. "The waterfall's growing bigger."

Before their eyes, the slow trickle had increased to a steady flow. Something big and gray flopped over the top and fell alongside the waterfall. It the water with a big splash.

"What was that?" Severance already had his weapons out and Earth Dance activated. The surface of the water rippled around him from the wind.

Another gray shape splashed down, followed by a few more.

"Ah, it's a fish!" Snow cried.

As if triggered by the cryomancer's voice, the gray thing leapt out of the water like a dolphin. It smacked right into Snow's chest and knocked him down. Jack Coyote waded over and delivered a quick cut. The water turned pink and the gray fish rolled off of Snow.

But instead of floating, it sank to the bottom of the pool.

Noticing that Snow had taken some minor damage, Severance set down a lazy Radiant Dome, then sloshed closer to the others.

More and more of the gray fish were plopping into the pool from the waterfall. They weren't exactly threatening, but they leapt out of the water towards Severance and the others with disturbing accuracy.

Severance dodged as one flew at him, then slashed it with his war fan. It fell and sank. A second jumped out. It too, died after a single cut.

"This is too easy," Snow declared. He simply threw out water lashes to smack the fish out of the air. "Ice Wave." With a wave of his wrist, he carefully froze the far side of the pool, slowing down the rush of fish.

"Don't be complacent," Jack's warned. "Have you noticed that none of the fish are disappearing?"

"And that the water is getting higher," Kiah added.

Severance had noticed that. It was just above his knees now. He waded through the water, kicking lightly at a couple of the fish bodies. They were large and somewhat heavy, tumbling slowly across the sandy floor.

Jack pointed at the wall to the left of the waterfall. "Everyone, stack the bodies there. If they're too big, try and kill them in that area."

"Got it!" Snow eagerly shouted. "I'll freeze them in place!"

Jack's orders didn't need to be explained further. Everyone caught on to the idea instantly. The bodies sank, didn't disappear, and the water kept rising. It wasn't rocket science; they needed to build themselves an island to stand on.

Eventually, the wave of fish ended. The water was now thigh-high, and a decent pile had been created against the one wall.

As Severance hauled one of them over by the tail, the System chimed.

Room 11 cleared.

With a heave, he tossed the fish onto the pile. With all the gray bodies piled up, it wasn't enough to break the surface of the water, but it did create an underwater platform of sorts.

The group gathered near the pile. Soon, the waterfall increased in size again and another round of gray fish began to fall. Mixed in with them were little spiky ball-shaped creatures. They reminded Severance of pufferfish, especially when they abruptly expanded their spikes the instant they got close to somebody.

Snow was the first to be tagged by one of their spikes. It didn't break the skin, but he froze in place, unable to move. A blinking debuff appeared next to his name. It only lasted for five seconds though, and Snow was able to move again soon after.

A temporary paralysis? Severance grimaced. How annoying.

After that, he was careful to avoid the weird spiky creatures. As the water levels rose, it became a little harder as his agility became affected. It wasn't so easy to move quickly with water slowing him down.

Despite this, there was nothing particularly lethal about creatures. It didn't take long before they managed to kill them all. Severance used his war fans to scoop them up and toss them onto the pile. They didn't have much mass to them, but hey, everything counted, right?

Room 12 cleared.

The water was now up to their waists.

As the waterfall continued to shower them with generous gifts, Severance began to feel a growing dread. He didn't want to see what room 20 looked like.

The big gray fish continued to jump out and attempt to knock them down while the little spiky balls floated about and paralyzed everyone they could get close to. And the latest addition was even worse; weird gelatinous eel-like creatures that were several feet long. Thanks to their clear gelatinous nature, they were difficult to see in the water.

Severance soon found himself wrapped up by one of them. It coiled around his legs, preventing him from moving even a single step. He scowled and hacked at it with his fans' razor-sharp edge until it fell apart. But by then, a little spiky ball innocently brushed past his arm.

A subtle tingle ran through Severance, and he found himself frozen in place. With perfect timing, a gray fish soared through the air and smacked into his chest, knocking him flat. He promptly sank underwater, staring helplessly up at the rippling surface of the water above him.

His heart thumped in his chest as a rising panic nearly overtook his brain. The fear of drowning was an instinctive thing, spurring him to fight his way back to the surface. Since he couldn't move, the whole experience was a dozen times more terrifying.

At least it was short-lived. The second he could move again, he scrambled to his feet and made for the growing pile of dead creatures.

He hacked at a faint shimmer that got too close, revealing it to be another eel. It died easily, and he swept it towards the pile.

Two dark fish flew over his head and flopped down onto the pile, courtesy of Valentin. The knightglaive had little trouble, simply slashing at everything that neared him and then using the tip of his glaive to flick them out of the water and towards the pile.

"Ugh." Severance was the first to clamber up onto the slippery heap of dead fish. Now the water was up to his shins, making it much easier for him to move. "I think I like the mine better."

A spiky fish floated over to him.

Pivot Cut! Water splashed in an arc as he moved. The fish died in an instant, sinking down to join the rest of its dead brethren.

Light laughter floated over to him. Kiah was steadily wading through the water like a tank. Her summoned blades circled around her like a protective shield, keeping everything at bay. Because the fish didn't have much attack power, they failed to disintegrate even one of her blade summons.

"I think this is interesting," Kiah called out.

Severance made a face. He very much disagreed. Two of his greatest abilities were unusable in this terrain. With Sky Dance and his Agility unusable, there wasn't a whole lot he could do.

A loud splash caught Severance's attention. He turned just as Jack Coyote fell over into the water. He'd been caught just like Severance had been.

"Ha! I'm with Kiah. This is fun!" Snow snickered. He sent out a freezing wave around himself. The surface of the water turned to opaque ice. That turned out to be a mistake, which Snow didn't realize until he suddenly couldn't move. Three of the eels had approached unseen beneath the layer of ice and curled around him in loving embraces.

A few seconds later, Snow joined Jack Coyote in the water.

Despite these minor setbacks, the System soon chimed again.

Room 13 cleared.

If one stood in the pool, the water would have reached their chests. But up on the ever-increasing pile of bodies, the water only reached their thighs.

Severance was joined by the rest of the team on the pile. The water was now too deep to fight properly in the rest of the area.

The waterfall continued to spit forth creatures. It now added a slender dark fish that streaked through the water like lightning. It had a mouthful of barbs, and as the team soon discovered, it liked to latch on and suck blood like a leech.

Severance turned in the water, slashing at anything that dared approach him. With how much everyone was splashing around, it was hard to spot the gelatinous eels, so people frequently got caught.

With a squeal, Kiah lashed at a pair of leech fish that had stuck to her legs.

"Are you still having fun?" Severance asked her. He spotted a spiky fish and batted it away.

"No," Kiah hissed. "I do not like these things!"

Severance snickered. But his amusement soon faded as he felt sharp pinches on the back of his calves. He twisted and saw he'd gained his own leechy friends. "Aw, crap!"

The water level continued to rise. And the creatures continued to come, growing more and more irritating as time passed.

They managed to clear Room 14. By then, the water was neck high. On the pile, it was only about waist high, but there were quite a few bodies that hadn't made it to the pile. It was apparent that they weren't going to last much longer at this rate. Still, they fought gamely on, refusing to give up.

In Room 15, the first truly dangerous creature appeared. It was small, with sickle-shaped fins that were incredibly sharp. With a simple brush, armor would be scratched and skin would be split open. Even worse, the slightest taste of blood sent them into a frenzy. They would gather where there was blood and swim in excited circles. It was like being in a whirlwind of blades.

Surprisingly, Valentin was the first to die. He'd made the mistake of ignoring the leeches. All it took was a single drop of blood for the sickle fish to be barging in the front door and inviting themselves to dinner.

Kiah's summoned blades fell and she was the second.

While Reviving Valentin, Severance was caught by a spiky fish and became paralyzed. But because he'd kicked off a leech fish earlier and hadn't bothered to heal it, the sickle fish found him. He was the third to die.

It was... not a pleasant death.

Soon after, the team found themselves outside the dungeon. They were a soggy, unhappy mess.

"I take it back," Snow grumbled. "That was worse than the first one."

Green wind blew through the mines as Severance healed himself. He sat against the wall, feeling rather miserable. "Is this a bad time to say I can't swim?"

Someone threw a glove at him.

Despite himself, Severance let out a tired laugh.