"I see... Indeed, I lack experience... This is my first real foray into adventuring after all..." Marianne replied, a little downcast. At times like these, she really felt the difference between her and her team mates, who were all more experienced than her in life and death combat. But, like the elf girl said, there was nothing else she could do other than continue on and gather experience with time as her only teacher.

Marianne followed Fariha down the tunnel, with the elven girl taking the lead since she had better sight than her. As she walked, she certainly could feel the difference as the white underskirt she was wearing was now gone at the front, so no fabric brushed with her legs and tights. In exchange, she could feel the coldness of the tunnel going straight into her insects down there. She hoped they wouldn't be that bothered with it. Checking the edge of her dress however made her realize that her underskirt wasn't really there the more her hands got near the center where the rip started. At said center, after she felt the fabric of her red outer dress she could feel the silk of her pink panties directly. This made her blush once more as she ordered her insects to cover the area. Luckily, it was dark and she was only with another girl so it wasn't that embarrassing to her.

Suddenly, she could hear a roar coming from her front. She could tell it was an orc's roar, so it had to be Gormarr. So he had gone ahead before them, it seemed. And judging from that roar, he should be in the middle of a battle right now. Marianne soon found out what opponent the orc was facing, as she saw the gigantic rat ogre at the end of the tunnel. She only saw it thanks to the torch lying on the ground. Marianne didn't immediately make the connection that it was Siph's torch, unlike Fariha. She also didn't really notice Slyvia being there, thanks to her poorer eyesight.

Suddenly, Fariha pushed her to the side, into a little crevice in the wall of the tunnel. She had no idea why she would do this until she heard a dozen of footsteps marching from behind them. The dwarves were rushing through, determined to have their revenge for their fallen king. After they went through, Fariha told her to support them in combat versus the rat ogre, while she would go after Siph. Marianne nodded in agreement, as she felt her skills could be served better in a support role, now that her mantis was unusable.

Arriving at the end of the tunnel, she was greeted by a dazzlingly bright room. So sudden was the change in brightness that she had to close her eyes for a moment. When she opened it back, she saw the ogre fighting against the dwarves. But she also saw her comrades fighting as well, with Gormarr being on the front line as usual while Slyvia looked around for a good weak spot for her blade to land.

Marianne quickly ordered her bees to swarm the ogre. She saw how Gormarr had wounded the beast on the neck. And with the wound still being fresh and open like that, it was the perfect target for her to focus her bees' poison into. If she could get the poison right into the creature's bloodstream, surely it would become far more potent, she reasoned. Nausea, dizziness, and muscle-ache. The ogre would soon feel all that. Perhaps even the lethal effect would activate sooner though she doubted that it would kill the creature right away. Nothing was ever that easy in the rifts.

[@Rekaigan][@Zelosse]