Conquering His Cold Heart

The Icy Talons slowly made their way through the receded doorway, keeping a close eye on their surroundings lest they activate a more lethal trap. Their caution was unnecessary.

The revealed room was elongated like a hallway, widening the closer you got to the other side. The same solid ice walls blocked any attempts to escape, funnelling the party towards the contraption and two ornate doors that rested at the end.

Two doors, two choices, which would lead to safety, and which would lead to danger. Thankfully the group didn't have to guess.

"What's behind door number 2." Krief read the bold writing from what looked like a description pedestal you'd find in a museum.

"The door on your left will lead to safety and a consolation prize, the only price will be time whereas the door number 2 will test your skills. You'll face off against a powerful enemy for the chance to win big. The choice is yours brave adventurers."

The Icy Talons looked at one another in confusion, this 'trap' was far beyond the norm of what they were expecting.

"So….we can choose?"

"Guess so." Lando shrugged his shoulders before directing his gaze to their Captain, it would be his call after all.

"Well Captain what do you say, do you want to attempt the trial by fire or take the easy approach?" Rodger asked with a glint in his eyes, his vote was obvious.

Royce was thus on the receiving end of 5 pairs of young, enthusiastic eyes that wished to test themselves, risk it all for a chance at glory and to say that he himself wasn't moved would be an understatement. Though every veteran bone in his body was screaming at him to choose the safe option his heart refused to listen.

They were in pretty much peak physical health, their equipment undamaged and their supplies untouched, why shouldn't they take a little risk, it was only the 2nd floor after all.

Royce stood silently as his thoughts clashed against one another with neither winning out. He was their Captain, their safety was his responsibility, he really didn't want to make a rookie mistake that jeopardised their lives especially after all his sermons.

"…..We should take the sa…"

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"Captain let's try it." Before Royce could declare his decision Lando the Guardian spoke out, followed quickly by Lawrence, Rodger and Krief, Gabbie remained undecided.

"But.."

"I know what you want to say Captain and you're probably correct but sometimes you just gotta risk it. We're adventurers we live and die for the thrills of our profession.

This is one of the times we just gotta go with our gut and mine's telling me we should fight and win big." Lando was determined to test himself, his instincts were telling him to challenge the unknown regardless of the consequences. Though logic probably dictated that Royce's choice was best, sometimes adventurers needed to listen to their instincts.

Good intuition was a hallmark to being a great adventurer.

Royce looked into the eyes of Lando and felt his unwavering determination. "Haaaaaa fine let's do it." Royce was convinced.

"Hahahahahha" The Icy Talons broke out into manic laughter as they started checking their gear and prepared themselves for a daunting battle.

"[Protection]" Gabbie cast defensive spells on Lando and Royce and a speed buff on Rodger while Lawrence enchanted Krief's bow and Lando's shield with the earth element.

"Everyone got their potions and spare weaponry at quick access?"

""Yes Captain.""

"Alright then, let's do this thing, Icy Talons on three, one two ICY TALONS!!!"

""ICY TALONS!!!"" The party engaged in their pre battle ritual before Royce led them through the door on the right, otherwise known as door number 2.

DON!!!

The door quickly slammed shut behind them once they were through preventing any possibility of retreat. Unless they defeated what lay within they'd be unable to leave.

Patches of ice covered the floor making it hard for the Icy Talons to keep a firm stance but given their location they were used to having to battle on ice, this wouldn't be much of a detriment to them. But that wasn't all, Large stalactites pointed menacingly downward from the ceiling and gnarly stalagmites rose from the floor, creating obstacles and barriers for ranged weaponry.

The room was fairly large, perhaps 50 metres each way in the shape of a large square with the guardian resting dead in the centre atop a beastly throne, its eyes opening slowly when the door slammed shut.

The Icy Talons were silent as they stared at the monstrosity slowly starting to rouse. The beast that was initially lying prone rose to all fours and glared at the intruders. Its massive bulk crushed several small bones as it reared up to stand over 4 metres tall.

"Fuck! it's a Lagombi." Krief cursed as he readied his arrows and prepared to move behind cover.

A Lagombi is a D-rank monster that specialises in power and bursting speed. Its powerful legs grant it insane jumping power that allows it reach prey at breakneck speed. From there it can easily crush it with its bearlike arms or bite down with its oversized teeth.

Though average in strength for its rank it is still a D-rank monster something the Icy Talons would struggle against. Thankfully however it wouldn't be an impossible battle, just hard and a fair bit dangerous, injury was likely.

"Lando you know what to do."

"Yes Captain." Lando moved ahead of everyone else and raised his massive shield forward before smacking its face in a taunting motion, redirecting the Lagombi's ire to him. He didn't yet have a taunting skill, but he knew how to get a beast's attention.

"ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!" The lagombi was having none of it. It locked eyes with its prey before tensing its powerful leg muscles in preparation for a jump.

"It's gonna leap! Everyone spread out!" All but Lando dashed to the sides and readied themselves for a counterattack.

"[Earthen weight]" Lawrence quickly cast another spell on Lando that increased his weight, perfect for a shield warrior. While Krief took stock of the many stalactites on the ceiling, thinking up ways to use them to their advantage as well as be on top of any that were about to fall due to the ensuing chaos.

Rodger and Royce moved to pincer the lagombi once it landed relying on Lando to endure and redirect the beast's lunge.

"Here it comes!"

Boom!

There was a large burst of noise the moment the lagombi kicked off from its throne and a moment later the massive creature that surely weighed over a tonne could be seen rocketing towards the solo Lando with devilish look on its face.

The lagombi hadn't seen much action since its birth so it was a little overexcited by the sudden arrival of the Icy Talons. It planned to relish in this fight and leave not a single member of the group alive. That would surely please master, right?

Unfortunately despite its mass and power its moves were easily predictable especially by someone as skilled at his job as Lando. Mere moments before contact Lando took a simple sidestep and parried the beast's charge with perfect timing. Lando was painlessly buffeted away by some residual momentum which he turned into a violent spinning motion.

"[Shield bash]" With a loud booming voice he activated a skill causing his massive shield to glow yellow and become more solid.

Dong!!

With the combination of his [shield bash] skill and his violent spinning force Lando smashed his shield against the side of the Lagombi's temple knocking it off its feet and making its head spin.

"Now!" Royce gave the order and moved in tandem with Rodger to attack the temporarily stunned Lagombi at its weakest points.

"[Sword slash]"

"[Monkey's fist]"

Blood erupted from the Lagombi's rear as Royce's sword sliced into its rump while Rodger's [Monkey fist] targeted the beast's rear left knee hoping to cripple its jumping ability. Unfortunately the lagombi's bones were just to hard, Rodger barely even managed to induce a small crack before they needed to retreat.

The lagombi let loose another roar as it wrapped its head around to face off against the one who stabbed it in the rear.

"Oh no you don't your opponent is me." Lando didn't let such an opening go free, he slammed his heavy shield down on the lagombi's right forepaw, breaking one of its toes and drawing the beast's ire back to him.

Following that the party engaged in tactics that kept the Lagombi between Lando, Royce and Rodger, preventing it from attacking their more vulnerable rear guards and or getting some distance. A lagombi's lunge was deadly if not properly handled.

Through the use of specific tactics, well-coordinated teamwork and the occasional crashing down of a stalactite, slowly but surely the Icy Talons chipped away at the beast, drawing more and more blood as time progressed. The Lagombi soon found itself lacking in strength, its vision darkening and its body becoming cold, it was dying.

"ROOOOOAAARRRRRR!!!!" The lagombi refusing to accept such an outcome was overcome with the colour red and the strong desire to take down one of its attacking with it at the very least.

"Shit! Its gone berserk!" Royce hollered in desperation through heavy breaths, holding such a powerful creature in place was not easy. Though none of them received much in the way of injuries the exhaustion was very real.

Upon seeing the red in the lagombi's eyes and hearing Royce's words the Icy Talons attacked with all they had, hoping to bring down the mighty beast before anything disastrous happened.