[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/4DgO1VH.png[/img]
[color=FFC6C6]Word Count: 555 (+1 exp)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]8[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 101/80 
[b]Location[/b]: The Under - Colorless Woods[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●●●[/color][color=gray]●●[/color][/center]
Only when the Brood Mother's spirit appeared, glowing in grayscale, did Primrose relax. It was minute, but she let her shoulders fall and she sighed. The monster was dead, and its spiderlings were scared away for the time being. The Seekers had a chance to regroup, heal up, and thank their insectoid ally. The dancer went over to the others, giving a nod to Rubick as she was glad he'd survived the ordeal when it looked like he'd been taken out, same as her. Despite the Koopa prince's confidence, Primrose had to agree with the elder wizard - some time to recover would be best before they stumbled into anymore webs. To that end, she once more summoned the flame of Warmth to continue healing herself where she left off, and the others Seekers as well to supplement Junior's own spells.

With Silitha's spirit and the mask fragment collected, plus some other spider spirits for good measure, the group decided to head back the way they'd come.

[color=D34C25]"I was going to suggest the same,"[/color] Primrose mentioned, casting a glance at the paint and torches that would lead them back to the underground temple. Then she looked to Barnabee, the knight that had assisted them. [color=D34C25]"Thank you for jumping in to help us."[/color]

She hadn't truly expected that would be the last they saw of Barnabee, but that he followed along with them was a bit of a surprise. He wasted no time in explaining himself, his mission, the situation in his homeland... and then asking for help. [i]That[/i] came as no surprise, as Primrose thought that he'd wanted something from them when he decided to tag along. He was not subtle at all. 

[color=D34C25]"A coup, hm?"[/color] She considered Barnabee's tale, amused that Bowser and Kamek brushed him off so quickly. This kind of thing did seem outside the realm of the Seekers' goals... at first glance. Barnabee had mentioned the riches of his queendom, and perhaps the royal treasury had something they needed.

[color=D34C25]"Barnabee, would you happen to know anything about that mask Rika is holding?"[/color] she asked, pointing the girl out to the hive Knight. [color=D34C25]"Or might your Queen Vespa? What it's used for, where we might find the other pieces..."[/color]

She glanced at the Koopa King, then after a moment instead turned her attention to his advisor. [color=D34C25]"It may help us, to help them."[/color] [i]After finding the others, of course.[/i] She didn't voice the last part, taking it as granted. They had to make sure everyone else was alright before they got too far separated. 

As they got nearer to the ruins where the Temple of the Black Egg waited for them, Primrose made one more suggestion. [color=D34C25]"On the topic of masks... we should check if this fragment fits into the space on that door. It may only be part of the full thing, but its shape should still fit if its one of the masks we are looking for. If not, well..."[/color] She trailed off, not needing to continue the statement. If it didn't fit at all, they'd have to keep an eye out for "fakes." They wouldn't be able to take the first mask they saw, or they'd have to grab as many as possible and try them all. Either option sounded tedious, but it was better to check now then later. 

[indent][/indent]
[center][img]https://i.ibb.co/rHBxLGZ/therionbanner.png[/img]
[color=BC8DBF]Word Count: 1510 (+3 exp)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]5[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 61/50 
[b]Location[/b]: The Under[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color]●[color=gray]●●●[/color]
[i]Stress Level: 32[/i][/center]
Therion certainly hoped that this room would be the last, as Nadia suggested it might be. He could think of a few people that would have fun in a changing dungeon like this, fecal and decaying monsters notwithstanding. For the thief though, the uncertainty was grating on him. Sure there was always some unknown factor in adventures like this, but the way these basement levels were set up like a game with a new horror behind every door... it was wearing on his nerves. So when Jesse made it possible for the entire group to go into the boss room together, Therion figured they could make short work of it. 

[color=BC8DBF]"Let's make this quick,"[/color] he said, stepping into the chamber. 

The area was wide, dim, and in a state of decay and disrepair. It looked more similar to the stone hallway he and Ms. Fortune had fought ghosts in, so he mentally prepared himself for specters to appear. He didn't strain his senses for long, as the enemies made themselves known in the most conspicuous way possible. A shout from somewhere above them rang out, setting off a chain reaction of bubbling flesh and other body parts that delivered monstrous beings directly into the room. Therion sneered his distaste for the gruesome entrance, and the opponents themselves. Their forms looked human, but pulsing crimson flesh covered great swaths of their bodies. As though to signal the start of the fight, a massive leg crashed down from the ceiling directly toward the Seekers.

Therion dodged out of the way, and then he immediately slunk towards the edge of the chamber where the arches cast deep shadows. 

It wasn't an efficient use of Sectonia's Haste spell, but there were plenty of other fighters to take advantage of it. Plenty of targets for the monsters, and hopefully plenty of time to figure out a way to take down that giant. It was hard to tell if it was even a human leg, not just from the size of it but the sagging sacks of skin that seemed to make up the entire limb. Either way, it must belong to the 'boss' of this room, so it was the most important target. 

[i]Easier said than done,[/i] he thought to himself. The giant stomped down frequently, but she was quick. Ms. Fortune managed to take a chunk out of the leg, but it didn't seem to slow the boss down whatsoever. Would they have to drag the giant down to them, or sever that leg and hope she bled out?

The stone bricks in the wall beside Therion rumbled, bleeding skin out through the cracks that reformed into a massive bulging eyeball. It's pupil swiveled and then looked at the thief - thoroughly spooked, Therion drew the stinging dagger from beneath his poncho and in one quick movement drove the poisoned blade into the squishy eye before backing away from it. [i]Not gonna let me play it too safe, huh?[/i] The eye partially collapsed without delivering any new enemy from it, though there other eyes and hands elsewhere in the room that managed to drop off more cursed combatants. 

Now that he was forced into the fight, Therion intended to play hit and run. It was the type of tactic he was good at, so he darted into other Seekers' fights backstabbing and debuffing. Usually not enough damage for killing blows, but enough to distract the Brawlers and Witches and open them up for others to capitalize on. Then he'd move on, quick enough to avoid any retaliation. When the giant's foot came down Therion was always quick to get out of the way and pepper the limb with throwing knives while it pulled away into the darkness above.

An eerie darklight glow in his peripheral vision alerted Therion to a spell being sent his way. Already on the move again, he turned to find an Ascended Witch had had enough of the thief's hijinks and was targeting him directly. Her staff was raised high, the head of it silhouetted against a dark halo. The sight of it inspired something fearful in the thief, he felt his heart start beating faster as the Fate's Reveal found its mark, briefly enclosing him in a wisp of darkness. When it wrapped around him the physical damage it did was completely overshadowed by whatever he could feel it doing to his mind. By reflex he raised the hand not wrapped around his dagger to his head, his ears flat and his face pained.

[i]Dark magic.[/i] And a dangerous kind at that. These witches were trouble, the kind that shouldn't be left alone for long. Though still reeling from the mental attack, Therion sprinted toward the Witch banking on the hope she wouldn't expect the tactic from him after he'd been playing keep away before. It worked, she was beginning to shift into a defensive stance when Therion reached her. He drove the dagger forward in both hands, right into the Rapturous Cultist that managed to intercept the attack in time. The Cultist had reached out as if to catch the blade and it stabbed right through both of his hands. With a frustrated growl and a flick of the dagger, Therion cut the tendons in the Cultists wrists and shoved him away. When the Cultist stood back up and was determined to get in his way, Therion cut his throat.

The Ascended Witch had slithered away on the tentacles that wrapped around her legs. If her twisted mouth could smirk, Therion got the impression that she was doing it now. 

Now that they were separated it would have been easier to go after a new target, but there was only one enemy between himself and the witch: the hooded Cultist Priest, escaped from the tiger's clutches. He decided he could make it by, and so he went after his quarry.

The cloaked priest turned its hooded gaze on Therion as he went to move past, giving the priest a wide berth. Its robes rippled as the flesh underneath it moved, subtly telegraphing an attack. Therion expected a spell, or an eldritch appendage to lash out similar to the other enemies, and these he was prepared to avoid. He wasn't ready for the Priest's robe to part from the middle and its mass of flesh to short forward, forming a long bone spike that easily closed the distance between the two of them. Therion's eye widened and he hastily dodged to one side. He avoided a killing blow, the sharpened spinal cord of the Priest piercing his abdomen and glancing off his lowest rib where it forced the spike downward and it cut through his left side before retracting back underneath the dark cloak.

While suppressing a cry of pain Therion bolted, suddenly desperate to put as much space between himself and the priest as possible. His hand was pressed hard into his side to staunch the bleeding that he could feel was happening. That spike had been excruciating, much worse than any stabbing Therion had suffered before. His mind, too, felt scrambled and injured, like the stress of the situation was being transformed into pain.

Therion cursed, then wheezed, taking temporary shelter in one of the rooms alcoves once more. He may have avoided instant death, but a couple more like that and he'd end up dying anyway. [i]New plan is to stick to the old plan,[/i] he told himself, trying to get his breathing and his heart rate under control. He also needed to heal, but before he could fumble with a potion he became aware of someone - or something - approaching him.

[color=BC8DBF]"Came back to finish the job?"[/color] he said as the Ascended Witch raised her staff. She bared her teeth, and Therion bared his in return. He didn't know if she was going to cast the same spell she before or she was going to try and fling him back into the thick of battle, but he wasn't going to give her the chance either way. He sucked in a sharp breath, knowing this was going to suck, then dashed forward toward her again. His body glowed slightly with a Boost, and with no devotee to get in the way this time his dagger struck true. 

He plunged the weapon into her chest once, twice. Due to HP Thief he could feel the witch's lifeforce being siphoned into himself, and the wound on his side closing up via magic or however it worked. He'd never questioned it before and wasn't about to start now as long it worked. Now that he'd patched himself up some Therion finished the witch off and hung back from the rest of the fighting. When he found an opening he'd go back to hit and run in order to tag team the loathsome witches while they were engaged with someone else. His breather only lasted a few moments before the giant leg came down on his location, sending Therion running along the edge of the room while he looked for his chances.