Chapter 32: Aberrant

Chapter 32: Aberrant

Derivan would have frowned, if he could have. The lights in his armor dimmed to show his worry.

Helping Misa was, of course, easier said than done. None of them had any idea how they could get to where she was, and Kestel was frantic through the telepathic connection, telling them to find the delve team.

That telepathy faded into a horrified silence as the flames faded and revealed a corridor full of blackened skeletons in front of them.

Sev, Derivan, and Vex all tensed. The fact that all those skeletons were upright didn't bode particularly well for them, since it meant they were more likely to be monsters, but none of them seemed like they were about to attack if anything, they looked about as depressed as skeletons could look.

So much so that Derivan couldn't help but speak. "Are you... alright?" He asked, cautiously.

What are you doing? You need to find the delve team, someone on the research team snapped. Kill them and get it over with.

Derivan ignored whoever that was, focusing instead on the skeleton that stepped forward a lizardkin skeleton, judging by the snout and tail. The defeated slump of its shoulders turned almost angry when he spoke, and it snapped at him. "What do you think? If you'd been just a second faster"

"They still saved us," another lizardkin skeleton pointed out, putting a hand on the first one's shoulder.

"We could have survived if we ran back into the room! And if they'd just done it faster"

"That's not how it works and you know it, Ixiss," the second skeleton said.

Ixiss?A voice came through the telepathic connection, sounding horrified. Was it Kestel speaking? The emotional balance was different, and made it harder to identify.

"Are you the backup?" A third skeleton asked.

There was a short pause as the adventurers and the research team, really processed that this was the delve team.

What... happened to them? That was definitely Kestel; still emotionally off-balance, but slightly clearer.

"We are," Derivan replied, looking down the corridor. He was worried. He could hear fighting in the distance.

"How did you get in?" The first lizardkin skeleton Ixiss, Derivan remembered asked suspiciously. "That shouldn't be possible. I swear, if you're another dungeon trick"nove(l)bi(n.)com

"Ixiss," the skeleton that had a hand on the lizardkin's shoulder hissed again. "Give them a chance to explain before you start threatening them!"

"Uh," Vex spoke up, raising a hand. "One of us has a skill that lets us... get through dimensional boundaries like that. But we're still in contact with the research team, so if you need to verify anything"

"Tell me what our delve team code is," Ixiss immediately said.

AA63, Kestel said over the telepathic link, sounding tired.

"AA63," Vex repeated dutifully. Derivan had no idea what that meant. Some kind of numbering system? Vex seemed to know, though, with the way he sagged slightly.

Ixiss... had eye sockets, and so couldn't narrow his eyes at them. He still managed to give off the impression that he was narrowing his eyes at them, stepping forward and rattling his tail in a threatening sort of way, which was astonishing considering he couldn't have been a skeleton for long. "Fine," the lizardkin hissed at them. "But if I so much as smell a hint of betrayal"

"You'll have to forgive him," the other lizardkin skeleton finally said, using her grip on Ixiss' shoulder. Her posture was significantly friendlier than his, and she gave them a relaxed, evaluating sort of look. "He's a little on edge. On account of the whole being turned into skeletons because a dungeon monster snuck in and posed as one of us."

Yes, it's an Aberrant. But physical attacks are what Aberrants are weak to, Kestel said. It shouldn't be immune to them.

Aberrants are a known type of monster? Derivan asked.

Yes. We've encountered them in a few dungeons. They're always immune to magic and have a physical core that we need to hit for them to take health damage. They have a skill, [Ethereal Body], that makes other hits just whiff through them if you don't hit the core.

"Great," Sev said out loud. "An aberrant Aberrant. Do we need to try magic?"

Bad idea, Kestel said quickly. Aberrants are a problem because of the arcane mana. They're able to absorb and transform most types of magic.

"Don't you have something you can do about that?" Sev said, raising a brow at Vex. "You did it to the Overseer."

"...I might be able to," Vex said, frowning slightly. "But it might not be a good idea. We need to understand why it's immune to attacks, first."

"Do you think it's a system glitch?" Sev asked suddenly. "The system's obviously been more unstable than usual lately. And there's whatever happened with the delvers..."

Vex was silent for a moment, but then his eyes sharpened a bit. "...I think you're right. My spell wouldn't work. Derivan, we're going to need you for this."

It took more time than Misa wanted for her to be able to gather herself, but gather herself she did. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, really. An hour? Maybe two? Probably not nearly that much, but she had no real concept of how much time had passed; she was still trembling slightly when she got to her feet, but she took a breath and tried to let her emotions pass through her.

Meditation. Vex had taught her how to do it not too long ago. She'd thought it was a waste of time; who knew it would be proving itself useful here?

There didn't seem to be any way out of the... bonus room, if it could be called that. The whole place just looked like a perfect replica of her village and the field surrounding it. Which meant that the only way to leave would be to succeed or to fail.

Illusion or not cruel or not Misa was not going to let her home be destroyed in front of her a second time.

Part of her did wonder, though, what would happen if she traveled away from the village. There were open skies above her and no walls that she could make out. She knew what direction the monsters had come from the first time around. Would it be the same this time? Could she go there, and see what had happened?

Vex would know. He always knew the little intricacies of how dungeons worked. Misa abruptly realized that her team must be wondering what had happened to her, and, feeling a little frantic, tried to check the message interface through her system.



Time differential is too significant for system-based messages to operate in real-time.

...Huh.

There was a message waiting for her from Sev, blinking in the system; it was just four words. [We're coming to help.]

Her heart still stung a bit from the situation she was in, but she couldn't help but smile slightly anyway. No hint of hesitation, no hint of doubt. They didn't even know how they were going to do it, but they were going to do it anyway.

Well, if anyone would figure out how to join her, it would be them. Hopefully they'd find a way to deal with that Aberrant, too.

Feeling a little better, Misa took one last deep breath, staring fixedly in the direction of her village, before finally heading towards it. She could still hear the sounds of her friends and family all faces she hadn't seen for what felt like a lifetime. She was bracing herself for it, really. She'd long assumed that she'd never see these faces again...

If nothing else, it would at least be an opportunity to commit them to memory, one last time. It was an opportunity she didn't think she'd ever have.