Chapter 55 – IMProved Tactics

Creeping down the stairs with Eron in the lead, the trio were careful to be as quiet as possible, wanting to get the jump on whatever mobs were waiting for them- imps, most likely, as he doubted hellhounds had climbed dozens of floors to end up in a random apartment... of course, it was possible, just as it was possible that it was another type of monster they hadn't spotted yet.

They could hear the raucous chatter of the monsters, completely unintelligible to them, well before they reached the door, as well as the sound of things being tossed around haphazardly, and the barely audible crunch of glass- from a broken window, perhaps, though Cam knew it could easily be other things as well.

Reaching the doorway ahead of them, Eron held up a hand for them to stop before cautiously leaning out just enough to peak around with one eye, his upheld hand quickly flashing five fingers... then five again, clearly the count of monsters that he saw, before pointing straight up.

Pointing up for imps, down for hellhounds... and Eron hurrying back to them would have meant something new; A simple system they had quickly worked out, but, as long as it worked, that was good enough for them.

Glancing back briefly to be sure they had seen, Eron held up three fingers, counting them down silently... and, when the last finger fell, he pulled up his Haunted Cudgel and rushed into the room, with Cam following just a second behind.

The plan was simple. Eron rushed forward to get the attention of the imps, while Cam followed in specifically looking for a broken window they may have come through, then moving to block it and prevent their escape. Mero, as the weakest, was tasked with holding the door and chipping in from there with her bow...

If an imp got past her, the group would have to chase it through the building to avoid it alerting more of its kind... but if one of the flying monsters escaped out of a window, being so high up, then their only chance of stopping it would be her bow and their one real ranged spell... which was a damage over time spell, which couldn't be stacked, running the risk of the mob surviving it.

To say nothing of the possibility that, even if they did kill the fleeing mob, an imp falling dead from the sky could still bring attention they didn't want.

The cacophony in the room ramped up just as Cam stepped inside, Eron already among the mobs, throwing out his hand to wash the group in fire before he started swinging his cudgel... and, unfortunately for Cam, the broken window was actually some sort of glass door, leading out onto a balcony- on the opposite side of the room, past all of the imps.

But they had planned for a possibility like that.

With the imps in disarray, Eron muscled his way through- which wasn't that hard, as the mobs were still half his size, and not the strongest physically-, tossing imps aside as he rushed past to take position in front of the broken door and trapping them between the pair.

And, with their attention on the man that had just rushed through them, only one even noticed as Cam came up behind them, swinging his dadao and activating Cleave.

Cleave

Mana Cost: 10

Weapon Requirement: Melee Slashing

Effect: Deliver a sweeping slash against two nearby enemies, dealing weapon damage to both.

The screams of imps rang out as his heavy weapon slammed into the nearest pair, launching both of them into the backs of their comrades with its increased weight, and Cam didn't hesitate to repeatedly activate the Ability as he waded into the group, wanting to thin their numbers before they could get organized or strike back- and Mero's Twin Shot flying past, close enough to almost worry him, certainly helped with that.

Your clone's(Eron) Fan the Flames burned Lesser Imp for 26 damage(Fire)-(1 damage Resisted).

An origin check matters: the author posts this chapter on NovelPhoenix, but this reproduction was made without approval. Reading there supports the author.

Your clone's(Eron) Fan the Flames burned Lesser Imp for 26 damage(Fire)-(1 damage Resisted).

Your clone's(Eron) Fan the Flames burned Lesser Imp for 26 damage(Fire)-(1 damage Resisted).

Your clone's(Eron) Fan the Flames burned Lesser Imp for 26 damage(Fire)-(1 damage Resisted).

You slash Lesser Imp for 20 damage(physical, slashing).

You slash Lesser Imp for 20 damage(physical, slashing).

You slash Lesser Imp for 20 damage(physical, slashing).

You slash Lesser Imp for 20 damage(physical, slashing).

Your clone's(Mero) Twin Shot struck Lesser Imp for 12 damage(physical, piercing).

Your clone's(Mero) Twin Shot struck Lesser Imp for 12 damage(physical, piercing).

Lesser Imp(Lvl. 10) has been slain. +150 Xp

Lesser Imp(Lvl. 10) has been slain. +150 Xp

Cam's eyes widened in alarm. Not at how much damage they had been able to dump on the imps in such a short time, or at how quickly the first two died... But because the imp had resisted some of the fire damage! Mobs with Resistances generally weren't seen until Floor 20 at the earliest, yet these mobs clearly had Fire Resistance... which just didn't make sense to him.

Even if it was clearly low- only 5%, his mind calculated without even really thinking about it-, he had never heard of any mob this low having any from of Resistance!

But this wasn't the time to be shocked, or to think about such an anomaly- and his mind flinched at just the word 'anomaly', praying it wasn't really the case...

A puff of green spores erupted, covering the group of already panicking monsters- Eron casting Lesser Toxic Spores on them-, pulled Cam from his shock, and he reflexively activated Iron Skin to guard against the imp's return damage... but, instead of striking back with their sharp looking claws, fire crackled in their hands before being flung out.

Thankfully, not all of it was aimed at him- and not all of them hit their targets, either.

Lesser Imp's Fire Dart seared you for 15 damage(Fire).

Lesser Imp's Fire Dart seared you for 15 damage(Fire).

Lesser Imp's Fire Dart seared you for 15 damage(Fire).

Lesser Imp's Fire Dart seared your clone(Eron) for 15 damage(Fire).

Lesser Imp's Fire Dart seared your clone(Eron) for 15 damage(Fire).

But that was the last thing the imps got to do, as the Bigger Bunnis the trio had summoned joined the fight, launching themselves horn first at the mobs; With Cam practically ignoring the mana cost to spam Cleave, Mero launching Twin Shots as fast as she could draw the bow, and Eron enthusiastically battering the ones closest to him, the Imps were falling faster than they could cast.

"The good news is that Imps have really low HP, apparently." Cam said as the last one was smashed into the floor by Eron. "The bad news-"

"-is that they can fly and have a ranged spell!" Eron chimed in, frowning down at the corpses. "So fighting in the open is a bad idea."

"Oh, it gets worse." Cam continued, causing even his mischievous clone to pause. "They have five percent Fire Resistance."

"We've never heard of Resistances showing up this early!"

"Seriously? You don't think-"

"We may have gotten an Anomalous Tenth Floor." Cam nodded, fully agreeing with his clones grimaces. "Between the size of this Floor, the fact that we got demons- which I've never heard of this low- and the Fire Resistance..."

"Shit."

"Yeah, shit is right."

"The only thing we can do now is push through." Cam sighed- it figures that the one time his two very different clones were fully in agreement.. is when things looked like they were going to shit. "And we absolutely are not fighting out in the open! The last thing I want is to be forced to scrambled while imps fly around above, raining hell on us!"

"Heh, demons raining hell..." Eron chuckled, making the other two roll their eyes at him once more.