Chapter 97 - A-G-22097 Part 4 (1/2)
Determined to clear through the Fanged Rats as soon as possible, MyrkLys picked up their pace. Using the camera function on their Watcets, Gabby and Benny captured the crude map Cynrik had drawn and had it up in the form of a hologram as they trekked through the winding tunnels.
Surprisingly enough, Gabby's idea was actually to put the map in everyone's hands. When she voiced how unfair it was for Cynrik to be the only one not lost in the network of rocky caves, Benny and Brance came to her defense. After a brief argument before leaving the first nest, Cynrik eventually yielded to the little girl. As a result, everyone but him, who had memorized the whole dungeon, was walking with their arm extended out, watching the digital picture of the map floating in the air.
”Honestly, you guys are so unruly. Why is it so hard to just follow me?” Cynrik aired his dissatisfactions while pouting. As much as he hates losing to someone like Brance or even Cinyah, it was worse to be vetoed by Gabby, who he considered the annoying little sister of the group.
”That's rich coming from you, Big Brother. Aren't you the KING of being ”unruly,” just let it go? You win some, and you lose some.”
”Yes, Cynrik, we all know how my little sister gets when she doesn't get her way. Would you rather spend the next four hours hearing her complain about being lost over and over in a loop?” Even Benny chimed in with a comment.
”Tsk, y'all drive me nuts.” Seeing how smug Gabby was acting thanks to defeating him in a verbal confrontation made Cynrik wanna rush forward and snatch the sour candy from her mouth.
”Everyone look alive; we are nearing the second rodent's nest.”
{Cyn, are we goin with the same strat as before?}
{For the most part, yeah, it really depends on how many rats there are. If there's a sizeable amount like in the first nest, we can start with Gabby finishing her quota. Then it'll fall to Benny to start his.}
In Brance's perspective, it seemed Cynrik was a bit more annoyed than usual, so he decided to bring it up.
{You good? Since we got here, you've been a bit…I don't know…off.}
{Sigh, it's these fucking cave walls. I'm not sure if it's the Egress Cores doing or something weird with the Mana flow here, but my [Mana Sight] is basically showing me static. If it weren't for me having the map, we'd actually be totally lost. Just about the only time, it works properly is when I have a clear line of sight on the monsters. Not to mention, losing control of my bloodlust isn't exactly ”fun.”}
Unexpectedly Cynrik was relatively open and responded, rendering Brance momentarily speechless.
{Don't worry bout me, Brance; I'm good.} Sensing his words were causing Brance stress, Cynrik decided to gloss it over and play it off as if it wasn't that big of a deal.
{Besides, once Gabby and Benny finish up with their rats, I can let loose a bit and chip away at my own task. That should calm me down for a while.}
{If you say so…}
Weaving through a handful of twists and turns in the tunnels, the party arrived outside the next nest and went into stalk mode. Like hunters sneaking up on their prey, all four of them walked while crouching low to the ground; eventually, when they were barely out of earshot of the mischief, Cynrik waved them closer so he could distribute roles in a hushed tone.
”I wanna try something a bit different this time. Although, unlike the last nest, this one has fewer rats, I only counted seven, one of which is a tad bit stronger than the others. So don't worry about the big one; I'll lock it down with a new skill I've been meaning to test.”
”Our objective this time is to work on our versatility in combat. The first nest was pretty sloppy initially, and it took us a while to fall in line together. If our opponents were stronger, there's a good chance we would have ended up in danger. Gabby, at the start, when Brance rushes out to draw their aggro, I want you to toss out your {Confusion}. Try hitting all of them except for the big grey one; the more you hit, the easier this will go. Then, Benny, I want you to herd them together with either [Wave] or a few well-placed [Water Sphere]. The goal is to corral them while they're under the effect of Gabby's skill.”
”We will be primarily working on our CC or crowd control skills in a group battle setting. Unfortunately, it wasn't viable to try this at the last nest, but this is an excellent opportunity since there are so few rats.”
”Brance will be there to back yall up with his [Taunt], and I'll be dealing with the big rat nearby, so feel free to go a bit wild and test yourselves. I want us to be confident if we are forced into a situation where we are at a considerable disadvantage. The more experience you get, the less likely you'll be to panic if you get surrounded. Everyone got it?”
”Yep, yep”
”Copy”
”Copy”