Nathan adjusted his gauntlets as he surveyed the area to the best of his ability. The blinding sunlight of the Porcelain Forest made him uneasy. It was difficult to gauge the guild's position, much less track the FOEs who roamed the area. Encountering Olympia on the 18th floor earlier hadn't made him feel much better, either - she had summoned several Mortal Hunters in a large, exceedingly bright area, causing quite the headache for everyone. Mortal Hunters had incredibly sharp scythes, capable of cutting through to the bone - with particularly vicious swings capable of amputating limbs. The Metroid Guild had to be careful - they didn't have the personnel to spare in case someone was badly hurt or even killed. Time was running out to find the Abyssal King - he may be approaching the sick princess already, and the Metroid Guild was likely the only group capable of stopping him.
As Nathan pondered the situation, Yukiko appraised the state of her comrades. Kyle was almost untouched, but that was to be expected because he was the most fragile member of the guild. Kaitlyn's shin guards were a little scuffed up, but she was largely fine because she was too fast for most monsters to hit. Shadow was in similar condition for similar reasons, although he was incredibly tired ever since he had taken up the Shogun mantle. He had trained himself to use the cover of his guildmates to sneak up behind monsters while they were being attacked, and get a sneak stab in with his oversized Katana. He did this as often as he could, and it made him tired quick, but other than a thick sheen of sweat and some heavy breathing, he seemed no worse for wear. Yukiko herself was somewhat scuffed up, although her healing qi kept her in good shape most of the time. It was Nathan she worried about - he had trained himself in the use of shields and defensive maneuvers and spent most of his time provoking the enemy into attacking him, and Parrying whatever attacks he could. What he couldn't block took its toll on his body - cuts, bruises, and the occasional gaping wound peppered his largely exposed chest. Yukiko could not convince him to wear heavier armor - he refused, saying he couldn't move as fast. So Yukiko spent more and more time healing he alone.
Nathan didn't seem to notice the pain his body was in, though. He had really come through for his guild since venturing into the fourth stratum. They had come to increasingly rely on him as their enemies got stronger and stronger. He had become the de facto leader of the guild, even though they had agreed to make all decisions together. The deeper they found themselves in the endless Labyrinth, the more they relied on his leadership.
They gathered their things, and headed deeper into the bright forest. They hadn't travelled far when Kaitlyn pointed out the Somnovore rambling about the mud ahead. It hadn't noticed them yet, so they sneak up on it to the best of their ability; when they had reached striking distance, Kyle let off an enormous fireball at the giant sheep. It charged them, and they began the fight. Nathan began taunting the sheep immediately by yelling and pelting it with rocks, causing the sheep to focus the brunt of its attack his way. It began repeatedly charging him, and he expertly parried three of its attacks, while taking the following attack at its full force. Yukiko began her qi chanting to mend his wounds.
During all this, however, Kaitlyn, Shadow, and Kyle were throwing everything they had at the oversized ram. Kyle had been chucking fireballs as fast as he could, so fast, in fact, that sometimes he was able to send out two fireballs as though he were sending one. Kaitlyn was circling the Somnovore, peppering every inch of its frame with bullets from her oversized handgun. Shadow was barely visible, a living blur, as he seemed to stab at the goat-sheep from every angle. It would appear to the casual onlooker that there were at least two Shadows, perhaps even three.
The Metroid Guild had come into its own. Combat was now much more routine for the group - still dangerous, mind, but the level of danger had reached a plateau. The seasoned warriors knew to be careful, and knew they would likely take quite a beating, but their confidence had grown to such a level that they would attack FOEs on sight, so long as no other FOEs were directly nearby. They had heard tales of numerous guilds being wiped out by a single Mortal Hunter - they had cornered three down, and wiped them out mostly unharmed. They took what they could from the corpses, and sold them for profit while also purchasing three sets of armor for their front line made out of their hard skin.
* * *
It hadn't been this way for long, however. After besting the giant robot who guarded the entrance to the fourth stratum, they found themselves woefully unprepared for the tough fights that lie ahead. Shadow had become almost useless; it had turned out that his training in the elemental Zodiac magicks was a waste of time. He spent a week back at the Explorer's Guild training in the ways of the Shogun.While he was there, his guildmates recruited some local Armoroad farmers to help them gather materials in the Labyrinth: Moon, a young man eager to own his own farm, and his girlfriend Karen, who was interested in helping him. They were fairly new to the dangers of the labyrinth, and could not be counted on to defend themselves, so the remaining members of Metroid got them in and out of the dangerous maze as fast as they could. They were largely successful - they harvested materials most of Armoroad had never seen, along with some very rare things they had. Moon and Karen were able to buy themselves a farm on an island not far to the north of Armoroad, where Moon had decided he'd retire and raise a flock of sheep. They stuck with the Metroid guild, though, and tended to their matters in town while they were gone and helped train new recruits.
When Shadow returned to the main group, they decided to test his new abilities by going back to the volcano in the third stratum. They had run from the mother dragons they saw there a few months back, but they felt they may be able to take them on, now.
Shadow proved to be inspiration for the party because he single-handedly proved his worth almost immediately. He expertly sliced the dragons into pieces as his guildmates largely played distraction. Though he hadn't seen actual combat in a week (a long time, by the standards of the guild before he began his training), he had cemented himself as a permanent member of the main force.
Nathan spoke with Shadow after the great Dragon Hunt, as the villagers of Armoroad had come to call it, and the two came up with the idea that Nathan would study the ways of the Hoplite, to better improve the party's defensive capabilities, freeing most of the party up to attack more aggressively. Kaitlyn, meanwhile, studied the ways of the Ninja with Shadow, so she could more expertly dodge enemy attacks - her lithe frame didn't support heavy armor and she preferred not wearing much protective gear anyway. Kyle, annoyed that his only use thus far had been his Zodiac magick, sullenly taught himself to use a crossbow - quickly becoming capable of doing as much damage as, if not more than, his comrades.
The Metroid Guild found itself on the brink of solving the mystery of the labyrinth, and pressed on to discover as much as they could. Hopefully, they'd be able to stop the Abyssal King as well, but only time will tell...
