The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

25; The Ambush.

A moment of silence passed as their faces paled in fright. They have been careful as they advanced and no one had the courage to dare step foot to explore countless of the corridors and pathways they had crossed on their way here. But now, they were about to be trapped by the vile beasts and just the thought of it made everyone's heart fill with despair. For a moment all of them stood still, a thousand horrifying thoughts running through their minds of the terrible fate awaiting them.

Lukas's mind whirled to action, his heart pounding but his face terrifyingly calm. Once bitten twice shy and for him it was enough to feel helpless once within a single dungeon. He took it all in, the hall they were in, the blue shimmering light above the walls that deeply contrasted with his orb of light, the ragtag team he was about to face life and death with and the fact that he could hear the scampering sounds from the very room he was about to tell them to escape to; so much for their last path of escape.

"Gather your wits together!" Lukas's authoritative voice hit them like truck, snapping them back from their stupor." Separate and gain some ground. Do everything in your power to stall the damn beasts as I need a more than a few seconds to set up a grand protection spell." With that he didn't even wait to check of they were following his orders as he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and summoned all of his focus on one of the hardest spells he had learnt the past few weeks that might just save them from this predicament.

Almost in sync, they all took a side forming a half circle from where they stood. With grim and determined faces, they readied their shields, staves and bows all in response to Lukas's call, nervously waiting for their terror to arrive.

And arrive it did. In huge droves of putrid and rancid rats that streamed inside the rectangular hall like a sea of beasts intending to swallow them whole. Everywhere; from the pathway they came from, to the hidden cracks on the walls, the hall was filling in with so many of them that it was like mass of darkness that desired to devour the little light they had, shinning above them like a beacon of hope. They were everywhere, in every nook and cranny, filling the hall with such a stench that their motes of light could barely prevent the ungodly smell from assaulting their senses.

But they weren't about to give up so easily, and the first one who made a move was Mira with her powerful awakened fire.

In a flourish of her amber staff, forcibly pushing her mana, she practically materialized a wall of fire. Flaring and stoking the flames to a high degree of hotness that basically haltered their advance. The flames danced in such a conflagration that it singed and curled the glossy furs of any nearby rats form its heat alone. The fire cracked and fizzled in the air, illuminating Mira's figure as a Mistress of Fire and at that moment she radiated so much power that everyone around her beside Lukas could see the vestiges of a future powerhouse.

Renesme was not about to being outdone. She pulled her exquisite bow with all her strength, collected so much of her mana that it shone in her hands in a blazing green, muttering a few words under her breath.

"Cloudburst Cascade"

And right as she finished, with an audible twang, a bright green arrow carried itself high into the air and to the ceiling like a star before it exploded into shards of smaller arrows that showered over the beasts like an avalanche of death. With just a single burst arrow Renesme gracefully cleared a wide patch on her side without any fluster.

Meanwhile on Geoff and Rexsi's side, they were forced to work together. Rexsi as a shadow rogue lacked large means to clear them all up like Mira and Renesme but working together Geoff proved to work to best of their abilities. Geoff heaved his shield as he rushed straight in the midst, bashing the rats aside like a bulldozer, ceasing their rush for just a short moment. And that moment was what Rexsi needed as he took out a pouch from his waist, filled his hands with dark powder and then swiftly blew to the oncoming beasts spreading the fine grains to their side of the hall. It didn't even take a breath of time before Geoff who was in the midst of bashing the beasts senseless with his ornate shield and slashing them with his sword, found himself surrounded by a cloud so dark and heavy it almost seemed as if was devoid of any light.

Taking the short moment of distraction, Rexsi seemingly assimilated into the dark cloud, with only a short squeals and shrieks heard in his wake. With Geoff's quick thinking, he slammed his huge shield into the ground and then his whole body shone in a silver radiance, taunting the nearby confused beasts to converge towards him as if he was the only threat that existed in the canopy of darkness. By the time the cloud of powder had settled, every single rat around them had fallen, with only a streak of blood on their throat. Geoff was singularly impressed and silently horrified as he learnt an important lesson. Shadow rogues were a force to be reckoned especially in the dark.

It was at this moment that Lukas's eyes snapped open. He had to tune out all the explosions of spells and descent of arrows to really pull the spell he was about to cast to a completion. The amount of hard work he did this past month was not a joke as he had to reestablish his foundation, correcting almost all the flaws his previous host had and then familiarize himself with his elements while still mastering new spells to add into his inventory. Suffice to say he had prepared extensively.

A flickering light emanated from his Starlight Staff, a he held it with both his hands and used it almost like pen as he etched an uncommon rune to the floor. Just by a glance almost every one could tell it was an advanced rune, as it had more strokes to it than the previous runes he had inscribed onto the walls. Ever since he had learned on how Sigils relate to some very specific spells he had used all his strength to learn this one in particular, in preparation for his first dungeon run. And he was just about to find out if days of his continued efforts will pay off.

"Sigil of Protection; Dome of Light"

He chanted under his breath feeling a huge amount of mana instantly channeled from his body. If it was in the past with how he had found the body, he was absolutely sure he wouldn't have been able to cast such a spell. His Starlight Staff slammed on to the rune and in a silent explosion of light a large glass dome of light, glistening with a metallic sheen materialized around him filling the dark shimmering hall with warmth and light. The rest of the group stared in amazement, and it took Lukas's shout to make them realize the very obvious thing they should have done next.

"What are you all doing? Get in!" with that Rexsi, Renesme, Geoff and Mira all entered swiftly. The glass dome didn't even hinder them, almost as if they were passing through air but when the first wave of the underground rats rushed after them, they immediately crashed into it almost as if a steel wall existed in front of them.

"Can it hold?" Geoff asked in a worry. This time, the wave of beasts was unlike anything they encountered. They had pelted them with powerful spells and skills, killed so many of them but they were tens more all bashing against the dome like a dam that threatens to engulf them all.

Lukas took a deep breath as he simultaneously channeled the spell and visualized the godly statue in his mind palace in order to recover some of the mana lost. "For now it will hold…" He didn't even get to finish his sentence when …

BANG!!!

The sound reverberated across the hall. All of them were filled with dread as they saw visible cracks forming on the surface of the dome, like a sharp melody that nearly destroyed the very little hope they had just obtained. Will this be the end of them? They wondered. Gnawed by rats, underneath the surface where they couldn't even signal for help if they wanted to.