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“Can’t decide if this is good or bad luck…” Sophia muttered, rubbing a hand over her face as exhaustion threatened to steal away her focus.

“We were so close…” Kira growled, staring at the map in her hand and then down at the remnants of the bridge that should have taken us to the safe spot. A simple location that had been reinforced with orbs and skills, such that it did not change, and allowed adventurers a place to rest.

The location itself might be fixed, but the bridges to it changed as per the dungeon itself. Not as much concern, normally – we could see far enough to trace bridges that were in existence back to where we could backtrack and finally make our way.

Except, we had been pushing hard to get here and were nearing our limits. Even then, it would not have been as bad but…

“I’m happy we found the boss. Just don’t know how we’re going to get through all that stone,” Brand said, staring at the massive stone imp that was taking up the spot in the middle of the hoodoo that led straight to the safe zone.

Brand’s concern was probably why no one else had killed it either, even if its presence and location was so clear to anyone trying to use the safe zone. There were quite a few others who might have utilized the simple stone hut that was dug into the ground, but we could not see a single face. Which told me that the cowards had chosen not to get involved.

“Don’t think even Lin could punch his way through,” Yorrick said. “Right?”

I had to say, it was a bit of an ego boost that there was even a question in his voice. I, unfortunately, had to agree with his assessment. There were multiple boulders in the way making up the imp’s chest, such that I had a better chance of prying the monster open than punching my way in. Doable – maybe – if I had time and leverage, not so much when it was a living elemental prone to attacking.

“Sophia?” I muttered, gesturing below. “Could you position your mirrors to shatter its core?”

The woman frowned, leaning forwards and concentrating. After a long moment, she let out a huff of breath and sat back. “No. Too far. I need to get closer – and its natural aura is blocking me from putting it too close. If it was charging…”

She could do it, the same way she could position her mirror in front of a charging man’s heart. Might work, might not – a lot of her skill was about timing and focus, pushing against every creature’s natural aura and resistance to things being conjured on them or in them.

“I could maybe shift my skill?” Brand offered.

“To what?”

“Any of yours but…” He trailed off, not needing to explain that ours weren’t that useful. “I could use Inamit’s to push it…”

“But?”

“I don’t have a lot of strength. Can’t really shift that much weight.”

“If I had enough time, maybe I could burn through it, but my wisps would burn out before they could break through their defenses.” Kira said. “It might just be you three.”

“Could we just use that bridge, sit you there and let you keep attacking it?” I gestured to the particular bridge I meant, one that was definitely too small for the massive creature to cross.

“No, it’ll just reinforce the bridge. Such tactics have been tested – and discarded – before,” Kira replied.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” Yorrick muttered. “My shield would break before we got through all that.”

No one had a direct answer for him, not at first. Not until the idea that had sparked at what Brand had mentioned percolated through to become a nice, robust concept. I tapped the ground, drawing the attention of my group.

“I have an idea.” A slight pause, as I added, “I’ll need all of you to help though.”

***

“Not exactly what I thought you meant when you said you needed my help,” Yorrick complained as he reluctantly handed over his shield. I slipped it on over my bracer, fighting it a little to make sure it sat properly. If the elemental grabbed the shield, it would snag on the outer lip of the bracer for sure, which was partly why I didn’t wear one at all.

As it stood, I couldn’t do what I planned without it. Even then, this felt incredibly dangerous. But considering there was a light sheen of sweat on Yorrick’s face and how he kept glancing at the edge every few moments, I knew trusting him on the bridge that was part and parcel of this plan was a bad idea.

“Not enough space. If I need to dodge, can’t have you blocking my way.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Less for me.” I tapped my chest. “Both my skills should give me a damn good chance of surviving, at worst.”

Turning to the others, I smiled at Sophia who was the other, major player in this. Kira’s wisps could help, but I couldn’t be certain how much they could do. Even Brand was involved, though his addition was mostly to give him something to do rather than any expectation he could contribute.

I slid along the thin stone bridge, this one quite a distance from where we had been and having forced us to bypass two others. It was about three feet across, large enough to comfortably cross but not too wide. Not far behind me, Sophia followed, edging along as well.

I was two thirds of the way there before the stone imp looked up, staring at me without speaking. I unhitched the sling I carried and began spinning it around before sending the first stone rocketing forward to strike the monster. It hit an arm rather than body, but, as expected, it left a crack behind.

The problem with the granite around here was that it was strong but easily crackable. No idea what the term was, but with enough force, it shattered. Pieces of it would fall away, though the area beneath would be left mostly untouched.

Good for building, especially if you needed to make square blocks, but terrible for durability overall if things kept impacting it. Loading up the next stone, I took my time sending it straight through the air to the monster, watching as it skipped underneath the upraised arm to crack against one of its chest boulders. More cracks, a few portions breaking away.

The stone imp rose, and my breath caught. I forcibly made myself keep breathing, to calm my thudding heart as it strode forward. Its attention was entirely focused on me and thus it missed the way the Razored Fractal Mirror appeared low to the ground, just near its legs.

Slivers of stone came apart as it walked right through the mirror, slicing portions of its legs off. It didn’t even seem to notice the damage, lacking nerves in the stone itself. It was something we had noticed with most imps – they could recognize impact, but Sophia’s mirrors were so sharp, there was barely any. As for the loss of stone, it might have noticed it if it wasn’t getting peppered by my own attacks.

Those were much more bothersome, as each stone impacted near its core. The stone imp boss dared not let me keep attacking it without retaliation, so it kept focused on blocking my attacks with its arm. Slowly, it trundled forward, each moment a new mirror appearing in the way to cut off another portion of its leg, shaving the right leg down inch by inch.

As the creature trundled closer, right up to the edge of the platform that was – thus far – too thin for it to cross, I tensed. The question was: what now? To little surprise, it triggered its own stone manipulation ability. The pathway leading to me expanded, pulling rock from its body and the hoodoo itself as it reinforced the ground.

Stomping forward, the earth rippling as the bridge – its side, mine not as much – grew, I worried briefly that the trembling in the bridge would break my balance. That concern grew with each moment, as I sent stone after stone at it, and the bridge beneath me thinned out.

“Get out of here!” I snapped at Sophia, making an executive decision. “Kira – get ready!”

Tucking the stone sling into my pouch and sealing it, I started running. Right at the boss, knowing that it would not give up now that I’d angered it. It was either me or him, and I definitely wasn’t intending to have it be me.