Sword and Claw

Book One: Chapter 10

While floating over the table, two plates flew straight toward the party.

"Look out!" Sora and the others ducked before the plates hit them.

The plates flew over them and shattered into the door behind them. When they thought it was over, all the plates, silverware, and goblets spring toward them.

"Stand back!" Paul jumped to the front of the group and held out his arms.

Korsol used Divine Shield!

His golden energy bubble spread around the entire party. With the shield up, the attacking utensils crashed against the bubble, exploding like tiny fire crackles.

Who knew how much damage Susie's party would have taken. Paul took ten damage when the plate exploded in his face. More would be fatal.

Paul lowered his arms down after the last fork popped against his shield before his divide shield vanished.

"Is that it?" Amy asked.

On the table, all the plates and silverware appeared. All back at their similar spots, until they floated up again.

"Use divide shield again!" Susie shouted.

Paul raised up his arms.

Korsol used Divine Shield!

His shield appeared over the party before the dining wares shot toward them again. Like last time, none of them could penetrate through Paul's divine shield.

"I can't keep this up," said Paul. "My mana will run out."

"Can you move while using your skill?" Susie asked.

"Yes, but only for one minute. We should run straight to the other side."

"Then let's move!" Susie turned to Sora and Amy. "Ready?"

Sora and Amy nodded.

Good thing the next staircase wasn't far.

"Go!" Susie shouted.

Paul sprinted while keeping his arms up. The shield followed him as the dining halls crashed around the party.

It looked like a ghost was throwing the wares after each ware respawned on the table to attack again. Maybe there was an invisible ghost inside the dining hall or the sorcerer was using magic to defend his upper floor.

If the sorcerer was using magic to move the wares, then he probably knows Sora's companions were inside his castle. But how could he know that?

Sora didn't spot any creature or item that could warn the dungeon boss. Perhaps the traps would have attacked anyone who wasn't Vax. Or maybe the dungeon boss was programmed to know everything.

"Almost there!" Paul's shield blinked after he moved past the table.

"Oh, no!" Amy shouted.

Paul's shield faded away by the time they reached the staircase. But nothing was too late.

"Move!" Susie dashed up the staircase.

The dining wares didn't fly after them, but they still ran toward the door. Susie reached the door and pushed it open without taking her time to check first.

She stepped into a rectangular chamber with six pillars against the walls. Far to the left was an open archway instead of a staircase. There might be another chamber close by.

"Follow me slowly," said Susie. "Any hidden trap might be in here."

"Hopefully not another high-level monster either," said Paul.

Sora hated hidden traps, which he couldn't see. But he knew the further the players move inside the dungeon, the harder it gets.

As the party walked together through the chamber, Sora stared at the pillars. They were statues of female lizards, holding up the ceiling. He could tell they were females because they had large breasts with only skirts on.

How inaccurate.

Female reptiles wouldn't have breasts if they were real. All reptiles were not mammals and none of them needed milk for nutrition.

But Sword and Claw Online don't truly care about realistic genetics. Giving female lizard breasts was probably meant for mindless fan service. Anything could have breasts in the world of SCO, no matter what species they were.

When Susie approached the archway, a stone door suddenly closed in front of her. "What?"

Sora heard ringing noises and saw the pillar statues' eyes glowed blue. Each statue opened her mouth and blasted water to the floor. The water quickly covered the stone floor beneath the party's feet.

"This place is going to flood!" Amy shouted.

Drowning inside the game as possible to the avatars. When submerged, the players will have two minutes to receive air. If they don't manage to surface for air, they will instantly die and log out.

Water breathers, like otters, can stay underwater for five minutes. But they have their limits just like the other races. Too bad nobody could play as fish-men, who could stay submerged forever.

"Look for something that can stop the water!" Susie shouted.

Sora and the others spread out as they splashed through the rising water. Already the water reached their waists.

"Damn, this is cold!" Paul shouted.

"Keep looking!" Susie shouted.

Sora checked around the pillars but found nothing. The game designers must have left something in this chamber to help the players escape. It wouldn't be much fun if nobody could escape from one chamber.

When the water touched his head, Sora climbed up the pillar and grabbed onto the statue's breasts. How embarrassing.

Suddenly, the statue's chest shook and moved back with a snap. Then the statue closed her mouth, stopping the water.

Sora widened his eyes. "Hey!"

"What is it?" Amy asked while splashing in the water.

"Push the breasts on the statues! They will stop the water!"

"What?"

"The breasts on the statues will stop-"

The water rose over Sora before he could finish. He quickly held onto his breath and paddled his legs to stay in the mid-water.

Two minutes to breathe!

Two minutes should be enough. Sora could swim fast to the other pillars before the timer runs out.

His companions swam around after the water touched the ceiling. There was nowhere out now until Sora could push all the statues' upper tops. If he takes too long, all of them spawn back outside.