Chapter 022 Misjudgements

The 'Pods' greatest gift to humanity, for all their technological marvels and the implication thereof, is that of dreams.

-Proffessor Leaton Shaakmi, G.M.T.I., Transcript of intro to the first lecture of 'Technological Impact on the Modern World 402: Pods'. Olympus.

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"What made you want to be a 'Battle Chef,'" Neron asked as he took another bite of the stew. It was quite good.

Cuholy seemed to agree, her face an absolute mess as she lapped up her own bowl.

"Must you cause such a mess?" Jorry snorted derisively from his position coiled up around a beam installed in the corner of the room. A few bulges in his body were all that remained of his own dinner. "It is unbecoming of the minion of a dragon. You are to be fierce. Noble. You represent a future world ser-"

"Shooo good," Cuholy practically moaned, cutting off the serpent's lecture, much to his displeasure.

"Our older brother is part of the Greatest Guild," Belen gestured to Luca with a spoon. "He treated me to a meal when I first started. Really fancy stuff. Most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. Created a new character in Calderine, and got these two to play because I needed goons to get me materials."

"I'm not a goon," Luca said in mock offense. "I am a henchmen. Much more respectable. We have a union and everything. And you're in violation of our contract." He then ducked out of the way of his older sister's swatting hand.

"You're already amazing," Enzio offered with a smile. "And your buffs will only get better once you reach the third Step, I'm sure of it."

"Thanks," Belen gave her friend a smile and turned back to Neron. "The goal was to be someone who could turn monsters into food buffs that give things like extra stats, or spells or something like it."

"Resourceful in the field, useful for combat, and delicious," Neron nodded. "A wise decision."

Furu had mentioned that most monsters were inedible without special preparations. The subtext was that sourcing food in the wild for any large number of combatants was a major impediment in adventuring. The caloric intake for a Martian or an Orc were much larger than traditional humanoids, and that was exacerbated by burning calories in traveling and combat. Having someone available who could open up such a major source of food as monsters would be invaluable.

"What about you Kaisar?" Enzio asked with a twitch of his lips as Belen looked away shyly from the blunt complement. "What made you choose a Beast Master Nature?"

"I did not, not really," Neron admitted easily, keeping up his facade of transparent naivety. "I did not know what I wanted, so I created a generic Nature. One thing led to another and, well." Neron waved a hand over his fur covered muzzle and flickering tongue. "I found Cuholy and Jorry, so when I reached my first Step it gave me a pseudo Beast Master skill. Not as effective as the usual Taming or Dominate but it works well enough." A lot of words to say essentially nothing new while keeping them thinking he was being forthcoming. Then, as if just thinking of it, he asked a question to divert the topic. "Actually, you said the greatest guild? Which one is that? I thought there were... five? Six? Player guilds at the top."

"Not the greatest guild," Luca snorted a laugh as he set down his bowl with the others. "The guild's name is 'Greatest.' It's not small, but its still only in charge of like three towns north of Leidon. My brother and his partner thought they were being funny, but it's just confusing."

"Ah." Neron rose to his feet to grab the bowls and move to the hole they'd dug into the corner of room that tilted down hill. He began to concentrate on casting Scrub. "It must help with recruitment though. Those looking to join the greatest guild will naturally find them."

"Sure, but it also caused a bunch of trouble," Belen chuckled. "Would you be happy to apply to the 'greatest' guild only to find out its leaders were barely level two hundred? And that's just now. Other guilds weren't pleased. They got their asses kicked."

"If it has worked in the long run then it was the right call," Neron gave a good-natured chuckle as he began to pass his hand over the dish. The remnants of the meal detached and slid out onto the ground.

"Speaking of," Luca began. "How much more to this dungeon? We've been at this for weeks now and still no boss."

"That's because we spend most of our time digging," Enzio pointed out. "In actual distance, even if we add all the side tunnels, we haven't even covered a full kilometer. Some dungeons can be huge."

"True, but it is odd that we haven't run into at least an elite," Belen sighed. "Dungeons are usually so much busier than this. I've barely gotten three levels from this whole thing."

"This is my first actual dungeon so I do not know if this is right," Neron said, as if hesitant to speak but at the looks of the rest of the party he continued. "Well, the benefit of a dungeon is population density right? More monsters in a smaller environment? And because you have to fight a larger number, it is harder combat? So it is a multiplier on growth?"

"That's right," Enzio nodded. "It's also believed you get a bonus for fighting against the dungeon's Spirit, so that gives a bonus too."

"Right, but what if it is just a small population of monsters? Relative to the size of the dungeon, I mean."

"You mean we found this place right after it became a dungeon and it hasn't had time to grow?" Belen asked, looking around the room they'd carved out as a hub.

"Or, it could be that this was a dungeon for something else before the coati took over," Luca guessed. "They don't usually live in caves, do they?"

"It's probably the first," Enzio shook his head. "If it had been around for longer someone would have found it already."

Those two were not necessarily correlated, Neron thought as he let the trio descend into the topic without him. These tunnels were sprawling, rather than concentrated, with only a few entrances. Animals and the like would have found those entrances, but the forest would have hidden most of it. Even if someone was looking for them, which they wouldn't be because they were unknown unknowns, if there were no monsters living in them then they would have been ignored. Calderine had only pushed this far south in the last century, and it was still relatively barren of people compared to the capital, as proven by the fact that there was still a forest at all, instead of being transformed into the heath like the center of the polity.

It was only the advent of Players that meant this region was more than a handful of logging towns and the despite that the infrastructure still hadn't caught up, which meant excursions spread deep rather than wide. Players were more interested in the frontier than the space between towns that did not benefit them.

Neron actually fell closer to Luca's thoughts than the other two. Not that there wasn't a good reason to believe that this dungeon was relatively young, at least for the coati, but there was no reason for the creatures to establish one underground instead of carving out a territory above ground if they had the capability. That they hadn't suggested it was the tunnels themselves that let them grow. Supporting this was the size of creatures and their uniformity. They were individuals, sure, but the fact they didn't have a Self despite being monstrous suggested they were born with this race, like the goblins Neron had hunted, rather than evolved individually.

Neron's current working theory was that a similar, if not smaller, cave system existed and a small group of coati had found it abandoned. Using it as a place to hide from predators, one or two might have evolved and they helped the rest do so. A few breeding pairs and they'd be able to grow a small but stable population without attracting attention. The newer generation, already strong monsters and far from Blessed, would have a harder time developing Selves but the dungeon would have already formed. If this place went undiscovered for another few years then it would probably Break as breeding continued without a natural predator. 

Neron knew there was none in the area that could take on these creatures reliably, at least none that anyone had reported. Any semblance on one would have been hunted by the Natives to drive it off. That was just an initial theory though. It could be wrong and he was a bit interested in discovering more once they interacted with a creature with a Self. Even if that would probably mean the end of their dungeon run. 

Jorry would hate to be out in the cold again and the snake was also quite pleased at their growth speed, seeing as Neron spent more time in God's Nature than the others. They were weaker, thus had more room to grow from every fight than the other Players. Neron could would only be able shrug at that, unable to really change the outcome when the party was wiped out, only spin it to his advantage. And it was practically guaranteed.

Medea, his sisters, and other sources all agreed on one thing; unless you had overwhelming force, the first dungeon run was going to end in the adventurers getting slaughtered.

There was a big difference between running into the odd coati looking to use a certain exit versus facing a dungeon with its Spirit locked on to them and willing to send wave after wave of monsters at them.

As Neron cast Spring, letting the water flow over his hands and the dishes, he looked toward Cuholy. The fox was looking healthy. Fur had regrown, her bones no longer poked out, and she was much more energetic. She was currently spread out on her back with her tongue lolling out in a foxy grin as Belen rubbed her full stomach with a laugh, leg thumping away.

More than the dungeon, it was her Neron was curious about. Not her past, for he truly did not care. What he cared about was that moment, that single choice he'd force her to confront.

When people are at their most desperate, they reveal their core. Neron did not cast any judgement on what that core was, he just needed to know, to see Cuholy's. Only then could he make a decision on if she'd be fit to travel with them long term.

A small part of Neron, he would admit, was also just plain interested in the choice itself. He'd never seen anyone pushed that far, to their absolute extreme. Not really. His world was too safe and too calm for it to happen. He knew it did, it was even common in the past when survival necessitated placing oneself in those situations regularly. 

So, for a man who'd studied humanity from its infancy to its dominance, the voyeuristic tendency of a historian who studied and obsessed over what were the worst days in someone's life, the chance to see it from up close was too much to pass up. 

There were no wrong answers. No moral judgement. Just the blank eyes of a Beast looking upon a fox and demanding an answer.

******

"INTRUDERS!" The coati called out loudly. "You dare enter our home? I smell the blood of my children on you! How many have you slain!?"

"Be careful guys. This is an Elite," Luca guessed.

"Why do you say that," Neron asked. He was right, but he shouldn't be able to tell. It was Enzio who answered, tone dry and sarcastic.

"If this isn't a boss room I'll eat my shoe."

Neron wondered at that for a moment. Was such a method a reliable way to tell an creature with a Self from one without? Certainly, beings of import would have lessers do tasks for them, but that did not mean they were sedentary or that there those without a Self couldn't rest in larger rooms.

There was no visual difference between the 'Elite' coati and every other they'd killed since beginning the dungeon excavation. Perhaps it was a touch larger? It reached Neron's belly button instead of his waist. Beyond that it was a standard creature, with mottled black, white, and grey fur puffed out in a threat display, with sharp claws on each paw and a long, ringed tail raising in the air. Its long snout was pulled back in a snarl as it watched them warily, waiting for those it had called to appear. It was smart enough to recognize time was on its side. Not that it didn't pose a threat on its own, but rather it was clear it recognized the disadvantage of fighting a group alone.

With a plan that did not actually require winning this fight, Neron was more interested in the cavern they'd found it in and was fine letting it call for help, thus he did not push the party to attack it as soon as possible. There were no other creatures visible, though their smell/taste was all over the place, leading to and from various tunnels that lined the walls. If he focused for a little while, he might be able to track the most recent traces, but it was confusing melange of fur, musk, blood, mud, a touch of water from a small puddle in a corner, and the stench of decayed bodies emanating from a half buried mound of bones.

But the room itself was more interesting than its contents. It was too large. Too... symmetrical. 

Not that it had flat walls and a clean floor, oh no. It was still covered in dirt and stone, with roots poking out from the ceiling and irregular indentations that suggested on and off again digging. But, and this was what stuck out to Neron the most, unlike the tunnels they'd been carving their way around, it was tall enough for him to be unable to reach the ceiling by hand. 

Width could be explained. The piles of leaves, branches, and refuse indicated this was a dwelling place for many of the monsters. They'd need plenty of room to fit comfortably. But height? Not only wasn't it needed, it wasn't possible unless they'd systematically dug from top to bottom in order to create the room as it was. And, if that were the case, why were did the corners line up so the ceiling was roughly the size of the floor? Would it not serve better if the lower level was wider for better accommodation? And all that led Neron to examine the room in close enough detail to notice one other fact.

The room was, roughly and with many irregularities of stone and dirt, hexagonal.

Neron let his mind wander through possibilities and ideas even as he idly took position beside Belen to the right of the creature they were all facing. Enzio was on the left, spear in hand, while Luca stood in the middle and slightly ahead of the rest. His shield was up and he advanced toward the coati, who retreated a step for every one of the Guardian's.

"Is it running away," Belen asked softly.

Neron didn't see a point. Its hearing was better than theirs and it wasn't bothering to quieten its voice. Despite that, Neron kept his own voice low. No point in giving the game away if they thought it necessary.

"No. It is intimidated by how many of us there are and it is hoping for help."

"You have grown arrogant in slaughtering sucklings and the unaware, intruders. Soon, you will feed my children and our growth."

It was always interesting to Neron how he could 'hear' animals despite them not actually making noise. Jorry had never made a noise loud enough for a human to perceive, yet they'd shared full conversations. The most the coati was doing was letting out low growls and snuffles, yet it was fully articulate and Neron could distinguish tone, inflection, and even gender.

It was female. It was angry, surprised, off put, but not scared. It's initial call of 'intruders' had been a rallying cry it expected to be answered. Yet the party was not attacking. Why? Neron's goal would be accomplished whether they won or lost but shouldn't these three be doing everything to succeed?

"Cuholy," Neron called, holding out the hand not grasping his staff and the fox hopped from Belen's back and up his arm, avoiding Jorry's coils, and taking her place over his shoulder. Her claws sunk into the leather of his jacket, fastening herself in place.

"Thanks," Belen rolled her shoulders and neck now that the burden was gone.

"Watch for Adds," Luca said, still advancing slowly. "They'll be coming out of the tunnels. I'll keep the boss distracted while you guys deal with them as soon as you can. Before they show up, try and get one of its legs."

"Right." "Leave 'em to me."

Both Enzio's and Belen's response were fast and succinct but Neron didn't respond as Jorry asked a question.

"What're 'Adds?'"

For a moment, Neron did not know how to answer for he did not know. But, with context clues, and a half remembered passage on gaming vernacular, he was able to piece together an educated guess.

"It is short for 'Add-ons.' It means it will have reinforcements." While talking to Jorry, Neron tilted his head to answer the question, just enough that it could look like he was scanning the tunnels pockmarking the wall.

Or that he could be answering Cuholy. 

"Keep an ear out for them."

Luca's entire focus was on the monster so he didn't react. Belen turned her head, giving him an odd look for 'explaining' something to nobody, but Enzio's eyes were locked on the fox, narrow and calculating. To his credit, it only took a moment to refocus on the monster they were facing. Neron had no idea if he realized the implication or worth of a creature with a Self, nor if he did that he would act on it. Still, the message had been delivered.

And not only to his party members.

"A rival!?" The elite coati had shifted slightly, still back tracking but now facing Neron. As he was the only one who could hear its words, to others it just looked like it was facing the physically largest threat. "You think to raid our den for your growth? Fine! Stay here and become food for our children. Attack the intruders!"

"They're already here!" Cuholy squeaked out in fear as a half dozen coati burst from the tunnels lining the walls, their voices silent even as claws scrambled through stone and dirt to draw near to their prey.

In that moment, Neron realized he'd been wrong.

"Ambush!"

Thump!

The elite hadn't been waiting for backup, it had already been there. She hadn't been retreating, she'd been leading them deeper into the room, pulling them further from their escape while placing more tunnels, and the coati hiding within, so they could be surrounded. It was a simple yet cunning trap on par with any sapient being could think of.

More importantly, it had tricked him!

Not deliberately, it probably did not know he could understand it, but there was no denying the surprise in its voice was fake. It had known they were coming and set up well in advance, otherwise Cuholy would have heard the coati getting into place. Yet, unlike every other creature its 'voice' had matched its actions in its deceptions and Neron had not thought to doubt it in the least.

No animal had ever 'lied' before.

A lot of things happened in quick succession.

"Defend!" Luca's skill extended his shield just in time to block off the Elite's lunge, knocking him back a few steps but he kept his feet, a steel wall keeping the matron from the thick of the fight.

Which left three players, a snake, and a fox, to deal with the remaining six monsters.

"Ah!"

Make that three players and a snake. The fox was going to be useless.

"Jorry!" Neron called.

"Ready!" 

"We have these two," Neron told Belen as he turned to face two who'd come in near their entrance. As he did, he swung his arm out. 

Jorry took the given momentum, added his own lunge, and crashed into the face of one of the coati. It reeled from the impact. Jorry began to slide. Tiny fangs sunk into an eyelid. With a hold, coils lashed up and around a neck. Claws scrabbled on scales. Bloody trails along a sinuous body. Jorry did not let go. A staff, swung like a bat, crashed into ribs.

Then the other coati was on Neron and he could no longer help the snake.

"Do it fast," Belen called back from behind him as Neron stepped back from a claw swipe, sliding his staff from under the coati Jorry was riding to sweep up the lower half along the ground.

There were times where Neron lamented not having a sharp edge on his weapon. His reinforced staff was sturdier than most basic weapons but its killing power was far lower than even a simple spear. There was a reason humanity had evolved from sticks and stones to bladed weaponry. Blunt force trauma could kill, it was just easier to do so with a sharp blade or a pointy end. Despite all that, there were times where Neron really appreciated having a weapon where one end was just as good as another.

His staff carved a furrow in the dirt, lashing upwards and sending the stone and sand into the coati's face. It reared back with a snarl, and the butt end of the staff jammed itself in its open mouth. Not fatal, but it gave him leverage. With a heave, Neron forced the coati to stand or it's upper rostrum would snap. It tried to back off, desperate to get his weapon out of its gullet, but Neron pushed. With its height, closer to the natural line of his arms, he exerted more forced than ever and pushed the monster over. 

Still trying to escape, it attempted to roll away but Neron rode it to the ground, lodging his staff firmly down its throat. It choked, flailing limbs lashing out trying to claw at his legs. If he stepped away, protected his lower body from the sharp claws, it could escape.

So he didn't step away.

Neron tilted his shins so they were facing the claws, protecting the fragile and important ligaments with the bone. It left him with an awkward bow to his legs but the flailing of the creature did little more than carve lines of blood through his boots and chipped his shins. 

Or at least, that was what he expected, considering he'd seen Luca take a similar strike not too long ago. But Neron was not Luca. Luca was a Guardian on his second Step, and spread his stats in a two to one ratio of Body to Control. His Body was at least three times Neron's and the damage he received reflected that focus.With the searing burn and horrible wrenching force, Neron realized immediately that despite his best attempts he was still treating the world too lightly, too much like his world. 

The damage was far more extensive than he expected, his bone chipping and flesh mangled in great rows. The stinging pain arrived instantly, God's Nature muting it into a hot line against his legs and he was able to keep his feet. For now.

A few Scabs would not heal this. He'd need professional healing if he wanted to regain full mobility.

It was perfect.

"Cuholy!" Neron snarled out through a hiss of pain, trying to keep his balance as the coati thrashed and buckled. "Finish it!"

"What!?" The fox, still on his shoulder, cried out in terrified surprise. Her claws, if anything, sunk deeper into the leather of his jacket. "How? Do you see the size of that thing!? I'll die! I'll seriously die!"

"If you do no not tear out its throat right now, I can not help Jorry." Neron managed to stomp one of his feet on the left arm of the coati, pinning it place. He didn't have enough leverage and force to break bone. "Now tear out its throat!"

"I can't!"

Neron looked over his shoulder at canine eyes wide with panic and fear.

"Then you will die."

Throughout this entire exchange, which had lasted less than a minute since the fight started, his mind had remained perfectly clear. Thoughts tumbled in a race, but never in a panic. Never without losing sight of his goal. He didn't feel fear. His blood was pumping, his heart rate was up from the adrenaline, and he was very conscious that he could be dying in a very gruesome manner in only a few minutes, yet dispassionate analysis was all that flowed through Neron.

The ambush, their disadvantages, his injuries, the pain and confusion, all of it flowed into and out of him without stirring a single true emotion in him. His goal remained perfectly, harshly clear.

Drive Cuholy to act.

If Cuholy helped now, he'd leverage it to get her to help in the future.

If Cuholy didn't help now, Jorry was almost certainly dead. The coati at Neron's back would attack him and free the other. It would all snowball from there. He'd leverage the guilt to get her to help in the future.

Or she could run away. Give it all up. Never fight. Never grow. Never live.

Either she helped now or she didn't. Either they succeeded or they didn't. Either they lived or they didn't.

Fight, flight, or freeze?

Choose, his eyes told her. Choose to act or choose not to act. Choose to fight or choose to die.

Panicked eyes swam from his gaze to the coati to the fights behind him. She could see the whole fight better than he could in the dim light. Neron could guess the others were not yet successful in slaying their foes.

No matter what she choose, he would not judge, only adapt. But she must choose.

Choose.

Choose.

Choo- "AHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Neron let out a smile as Cuholy flung herself from his shoulder and down onto the coati's face, claws scrambling in a panic, tearing through eyes, skin, and nostrils as she rolled, falling in the dirt beside it.

"The throat!" Neron ordered, putting more force in the staff chocking the monster to keep in place.

"Whyyyyyyyyrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!" Neron's grin grew wild and feral as the fox's jaws clamped around the neck of the monster, even as she cried out her protest. Fangs and claws tore into tough flesh and blood, ripping away chunks and splitting veins.

The coati, for the first time, screamed. A wordless, guttural cry of pain interrupted the silence the coati had had operated in.

"Nooooooooooo!" A wail of grief tore from Elite monster behind Neron and he heard impacts on metal. Luca grunted. Swore.

"Good job," Neron told the fox after a few seconds. The coati was still yet she continued to tear into its throat. "Stay close to me. I will give you another opening."

Turning, Neron made a limping stride toward the coati Jorry still struggled with, surveying the room as he did so.

He...might have underestimated the other Players in his party, just as he'd done the monsters. Freed from the tight confines of the tunnels he'd largely seen them fight in, they were fully able to display the higher capabilities of someone in their second Step.

The boss threw itself with reckless abandon against Luca's shield, clawing and using its greater mass to try and get past him to where its lessers fought. Luca didn't budge. The Guardian had planted his feet and, knowing he only needed to stand his ground, had decided that was exactly what he would do. Forgoing offense entirely, he'd simply braced and held on. Every time the coati impacted his shield, he pushed, dispersing the force and causing a rebound. Whenever it tried to overwhelm him with numerous attacks, he planted the shield in the dirt and refused to budge. It honestly looked like a stalemate that could go on for hours, if the monster didn't tire itself out first.

The other two couldn't force such a deadlock, outnumbered as they were. They also did not have active combat skills to help them fight.

They were still winning.

Belen was a fluttering shadow in the dim light of the room. She moved far faster than Neron had seen her do before, and each time she did, she was just out of reach of an attack. It wasn't a ballet, nor was it effortless, but her equal distribution into Body and Control gave her a preternatural situational awareness while still let her move fast enough to take advantage of it. Any opening she could take, she did, scoring a half dozen cuts across both of the coati. None of them were fatal, but if this kept up and she stayed careful, she could bleed them out.

Enzio had his back to the wall, was barely keeping the monsters off of him by threatening them with his spear, and despite that, he was also looking like we was going to be the final victor. His tactic was to take advantage of the psychology of the monsters, similar to what they had done in the tunnels, and demonstrate why the spear was the preferred tool for killing for a huge part of human history. So long as his spear remained a threat, neither of the coati could get close without risking an injury. Monsters in God's Nature were not mindless creatures. They too had the instinct of all living things to avoid pain, injury, and death. And that fear gave Enzio the space and time to focus on his spells.

Despite putting his two most recent points in Body at Neron's recommendation, Spark remained his most developed attack ability, and in the few weeks since they'd started to excavate this dungeon he'd further refined it in combat. A pinprick of flame, barely bigger than a thumb, shone on the tip of his spear and he jabbed it forward. The blade hit the Spark, shooting it forward like a pool ball and into the face of a coati. It reared back, the instinct of life to avoid fire unavoidable, and Enzio swung his spear at an angle, trailing fire in an ark as he interrupted the other monster's charge and driving it back. It would take longer to achieve the same effect as Belen, but it would only take a lucky strike from one of his fire balls to the eye and he'd incapacitate one of the creatures.

Neron took this all in for a heartbeat, reevaluated their chance at success and living through this fight, factored it into his plans for Cuholy, and made his judgement call.

He'd help them win.

Neron reached Jorry's side to find the snake no longer latched onto the creature's face and neck, instead tightening around its torso where he'd smashed its ribs. Normally a poor choice for constriction, the damage Neron had initially caused must have cracked or broken a few of them and Jorry was able to take advantage of the pain to further pressure it to prevent it from doing serious damage to him with its claws. It flailed, trying to get leverage when every movement of its arms caused it pain, spit and blood frothing from its snout as it tightened its arms against its torso, doing further damage to itself in exchange for trying to crush the snake in between its arms and body.

His staff crashed against the back of its skull with as much force as Neron could generate and the coati fell.

It was still alive, the skull being one of the hardest bones in the body and the bulk of these creatures, combined with Neron's leg injury preventing him from complete leverage, meant that nothing cracked but it was stunned.

"Ooof," Jorry grunted out as he was half crushed by the monster, but Neron did not let the chance pass, falling on the back of the monster with his staff held horizontally to press down on its spine

"Go!"

"I haaaate thissssssss!" Despite her cry of reluctance, Cuholy ran up and beside him and Neron half rolled away to give her access to the thing's neck.

The coati took his movement as an opportunity to try and buck him off and Neron clenched his teeth as further stinging radiated from his leg scratching across the ground. Jorry, still half buried, lunged whipcord fast at the monster's face, sinking fangs into the delicate flesh of the snout and holding on. The coati physically could not stop itself. 

It sneezed.

Cuholy tore out its throat in a blur of fangs and blood and flesh. Neron held it down as it rode through its death throes.

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhhahahahahahahaha." Cuholy's voice tapered from a scream of fear into a laughter that was slightly unhinged. "I did it!"

"Good job," Jorry grunted out, his voice a wheeze from the pressure of both the coati and Neron's body. "Now get off me."

Neron rolled onto his back, holding the fur of the monster as he did so to drag it with him and freeing Jorry.

"More are on their way," Jorry said as Neron picked him up to look over his injuries. 

They weren't deep. Snakes did have bones, quite a few of them in fact, and their ribs extended the most of their body giving them a degree of protection beyond their scales. Usually their ribs were quite small and fragile, even for larger snakes, but as far as Neron understood Jorry was almost wholly dedicated to Body, which make him denser than he should be. He wouldn't be able to win a fight head on with a coati, but he was no longer so fragile that he was at risk of dying to injuries as superficial as this.

"Whyyyyyyy," Cuholy cried regretfully, her manic euphoria leaving as quickly as it had arrived as she scrambled up Neron's uninjured leg and back to take her usual place over his shoulder. Her head turned on a swivel, as did her ears, as she tried to locate the creatures the snake had sensed. Neron just asked. 

"Where?" He spoke under his breath, not desiring to reveal Jorry also had a Self.

"Above." Neron scanned the ceiling but there were no tunnels on ceiling. "They're digging. Quickly."

Unlike bones, snakes did not have ears, in the traditional sense, and that led to number of myths people still believed to this day about snakes being deaf. That was wholly untrue. Snakes could 'hear' just fine, if at a lower decibel range than humans. Their method of perceiving sound was just different. They used their incredibly sensitive bellies and loose jaws muscles to take in the vibrations of sound through their bones, not too dissimilar to old fashioned hearing aid headphones that transmitted sound through the skull. 

Airborne sound could be heard, though it was specialized for loud noises to avoid larger creatures, but their true skill lay in sound passing through the ground vibrations. More than even predators, large creatures stepping on them by accident was something they avoided at all costs and sensing footsteps in the ground was an evolutionary advantage more than worth loosing ears.

"How many," Neron asked as he let the snake wrap around his arm once more. Even if he could have left Jorry on the ground to get a better sense of the incoming threat, that was just asking for him to get killed without a vantage point or hiding place. He simply wasn't fast enough to be a genuine threat on his own without an ambush.

"Can't tell. But they're almost here."

For a second Neron considered his options. Their party had an advantage but without knowing how many more monsters were going to arrive he could not guess their likelihood of survival. He'd half planned on loosing and dying, but with Cuholy having chosen to fight twice now it might be more effective to associate those actions with success.

"A little help!" Belen called out as she saw him standing there and Neron made his own choice.

He'd continue to try his best to fight and win. If he failed, he could work with that but it wouldn't do for Jorry nor Cuholy to lose their confidence in him if it looked like he was trying to take a dive. Neron wasn't skilled enough in combat to fake it effectively, so he'd give it his all.

"There are more coming," Neron 'defended' himself as he quickly made his way toward the Battle Chef with only a slight limp. The pain wasn't extreme, but the loss of mobility was significant because he could not put weight on it without risking collapse. His staff helped a lot. "From the ceiling. I can not tell how many."

"Fuuuuuck!" Luca cursed as the Elite coati tried to tackle the edge of his shield to get around. He re-positioned and kept his footing, but had slipped back a few steps. "Try and kill as many as you can before they get here."

"My children!" The coati had also heard Neron's words. "More of our band are on their way to deal with these invaders. Continue to distract them and stay alive!"

Neron didn't comment on either Luca obvious order or the monster's response. Like the mice and rats in Calderine, they did not verbalize any response to their leader's commands, simply shifting to follow their orders in a silence Neron never experienced when dealing with undirected beasts. The lesser coati's were not obvious in their change of tactic, still threatening Belen and Enzio, but they ceased committing to attacks in full in the few seconds it took for Neron to reach Belen's fight.

One of the coati fighting the woman broke off, turning to face him and standing back to back with its companion. It puffed its fur and tail up, spread its arms, opened its snout in a wordless hiss, lunged slightly forward and then backed away again, threatening to charge. A threat display, meant to ward off predators or, in this case, slow them down, for the rest of their troop to join them. Neron had used this tactic against goblins a while ago and thus ignored it in favor of his own threat display.

His staff added to his already prodigious reach and his jab forward had it backing up further. He shifted forward at an angle and repeated the move. The coati faked another lunge but backed up in the end. Two steps forward diagonally, sweeping his staff up in another spray of dirt, and the coati flinched to protect its eyes. Neron committed to the jab this time, actually hitting the creature in the shoulder and it recoiled.

Right into the back of the other monster Neron had positioned it behind.

Both stumbled and Belen took the chance. Dashing in, her dagger lashed out, scoring a cut across the monster's face and eyes. More of a flesh wound than anything fatal, it still reared back from the pain and shock, exposing its neck. Belen's cleaver sank into tough flesh, stopping when it reached bone and lodging in place. With a mighty heave, and a spray of blood, she tore it free from her victim. Leaving it to die, she stepped around its falling body and toward the back of the coati Neron continued to distract with his probing attacks.

Another two minutes and they could have finished off all the lesser coati.

Another five minutes and they could have killed all those present.

They did not even have five seconds. 

The ceiling opened up and more monsters fell to the ground, landing on their four paws amidst large chunks of rectangular stone and waterfall of dirt that fell in a flow that narrowed and slowed to a trickle.

It was not a coati.

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