Given Bayard's character, he was both loved and loathed. The knights exited the safe room with a quick gait following behind obediently all the same.
Occasionally, they would run into traps. They weren't usually anything to write home about though. Rock slides, pitfalls, skeleton traps, nothing they couldn't breeze past.
"Si-Sir!" One of the knights from the back yelled with clear nervosity.
Bayard raised an eyebrow and turned to locate him. He saw how the knight languidly carried himself and realized what was likely going on.
"Sven, you need to work on your stamina" One the knights next to him said with pity as a form of advice.
"I- I know!" He yelled somewhat exasperated. Truthfully he just suffered from a condition. He was however never willing to admit as such since it would prevent him from becoming a knight as he had always yearned.
"Alright, let's take a break" Bayard didn't make things tough for him. He even held a hint of admiration for him. His demeanor was praiseworthy.
Thus, the clanging of the armor and their heavy steps stopped reverberating within the confines of the long hallway as they warily took a short breather.
But soon, rattling bones replaced their steady noise. Some of the more athletic knights instantly got to their feet and unsheathed their refined blades.
Bayard in particular stood at the forefront looking towards the end from which the sounds originated. He caught sight of a short glimmer.
"Brace yourselves!" Bayard unhurriedly yelled. He was unhurried because to him, the attack posed no problem.
The attacks were flames. Hot red flames that charred the walls as they crept towards their direction. They seemed threatening and starving for flesh in the eyes of the weary knights.
Bayard however performed a simple gesture. A stomp.
The ground shook briefly before forming into a wall that sealed the hallway without issue. The light and warmth the flames brought seemed to have been nothing but a myth as the knights on the other side felt the dungeon's usual cold and eerie temperature.
"This wasn't in any of the reports!" A young knight shouted with grit as he tightly gripped the hilt of his wizard steel sword ready to defend himself from a surprise attack.
The skeleton they should be facing was said to control the earth's elements and nothing more. To add to the confusion, the zone in which they took a break was still not too far from the spawn.
Bayard's face which was unamused and unshaken then hurriedly turned towards the area from whence they came. Being alert, he managed to feel the soft vibration of footsteps through his earthen affinity.
Not too far at the other end was a green crystal-like skeleton. Its hollow sockets were swept past the group before it quickly dashed away. This put Bayard in high alert.
"They are scouting!" He roared with anger. He felt that the chances of the young master being alive had grown significantly slim.
***
'Well done' Ed praised Zephyr who he had sent to scout out the enemies. The classes contained more than just manipulating mana. It was also about applying it.
Zephyr's body was partly an elemental crystal, it was easy for him to swiftly move about through wind mana. That is to say, bones are not good for conducting mana. Yet, given that mana crystals are basically solidified mana, Zephyr's application was top notch.
'The world is full of positive and negatives' It's all about perspective and experience. Without the necessary knowledge, one might fail to see the potential advantages or disadvantages of a thing or proposal.
'Which is why I decided to scout this time' And it brought great results. Through signs, Zephyr gave Ed the information he required to amend his plans and actions accordingly.
'Sixteen knights…' That was the most important thing to take note of since it gave him great versatility.
One of the problems with creating the bulky vacuum array was that it would be easily destroyed by an explosive or powerful spell before getting a chance to suffocate the person. If their state of mind wasn't where it should be then it might be possible but it was an unlikely scenario without some preliminary work.
Luckily, sixteen knights had come knocking. Ed had gotten a headstart on the array but was ready to stop mid preparation. The only potential wrench now would be if Zephyr didn't properly learn the signs or misidentified a person.
'For his own sake he'd better hope it isn't the former' He had used instruction to pass on the signs so any failure on that part would imply Zephyr failed to capture the knowledge.
Ed didn't dally after concluding his thoughts, Zephyr could have led the adventurers towards their direction in his escape. He couldn't be too sure about the skill levels of every knight. It was entirely possible that one of them was some sort of beast with infinite stamina.
He hurriedly entered the hallway where he was working on the array to finish the preparations. He smirked inwardly as he raised the ground and continued his drawing of runes.
***
Bayard could have chased and tailed the skeleton. The problem was that he would be leaving behind the tired knights. That would be an unwise move by all accounts.
They therefore had continued resting. They rested for five more minutes and got an inevitable move on.
Some good that came off the short encounter was the knights' alertness. Even the more lazy ones had a sharp look and a ready hand at their hilt. They would not let their guard down even when clearing a room of regular skeletons. Who knew how far the scheme went?
After many arduous minutes that challenged their mental fortitude, the knights finally came upon an abnormality as they entered a new room
"Trap!" Bayard yelled as he stepped back into the hallway they came from. The knights that followed him did the same but…
It was nothing but an activation. The formation did nothing but shine brightly and dazzlingly on the ground.
...Or so it had seemed as the knights behind Bayard suddenly yelled in either both surprise or pain.
Hot magma was pouring out of the ceiling and falling on the knights who had stepped back accordingly.
"Aa- Aaah! Ge-Get it off!" Was the reaction of one of the knights. His entire body was encased in hot lava. His armor felt scalding to the touch as it began to melt away under the oppressive heat. Even the mana reinforcement he used right in the nick of time could not save him from various 1st and 2nd-degree burns.
B-class knights of higher levels and or with water affinity were comparatively safer but expending lots of mana.
Bayard angrily unsheathed and stabbed his heavy sword on the ground. With a loud smash, the ground trembled and lifted accordingly to push the knights away from the trap and the deadly lava.
The result? Some of the knights were pushed back although still covered in magma. The ones whose B-class ranking was on the lower end still suffered greatly. Sven for example found his lungs to have difficulty breathing after incidentally inhaling some of the deadly toxins found in magma. Others would likely not find a lady partner in a good while.
'I ended up having more ink than anticipated so I cooked that up' Bayard then heard a voice, as if sentences were being spoken or transmitted directly to his mind. His expression turned indignant under the helmet he had equipped.
"Dastardly tricks!" To make them retreat due to their high alert was certainly no fair in his rigid mind. He was a man of direct confrontation. Most of all, he was angry. To let such a thing happen under his watch did not reflect on him nicely. He didn't want to lose any lives either whenever possible.
Bayard was scanning the room with his angry gaze but… there was no one!
"Sir!" One of his knights anxiously called out in warning.
The walls next to them suddenly broke apart and swords and other sorts of weapons came swinging towards the heated knights.
Bayard himself was not an exclusion. His face contorted before briefly returning to its usual calm and indifferent state. His anger was getting the best of him, the lowly trick being currently exhibited had been clearly detailed by Samuel Oakley. To fail to notice in a timely manner could be pinned on none other than him, the leader.
With a swoosh, his heavy sword stroke the interloper. It was hard to believe such a girthy thing could move so swiftly but it had, the anti-skeleton's skull was sent flying without an ounce of resistance.
"This fodder, finish them!" Bayard said referring to the skeletons' ranks. Since he could so easily eliminate them, his knights would at most take a minute.
Some of his knights had been severely temporarily impaired by the lava however resulting in some delayed responses.
"Urgh…!" One grit their teeth as a mace hit their exposed back. Their molten armor was pressed on their mana reinforced skin.
Ed had yet to appear and chaos had already fallen, Bayard's prospects were looking bad. But at the same time, in the face of overwhelming power, what good were tricks?
Bayard mimicked his earlier move but this time in a much more threatening manner. He viciously slammed his heavy blade on the dungeon's floor. The ground trembled, it shook as if scared as a large fissure ran across it and swallowed some of the anti-skeletons into it.
"Show yourself!" Bayard shouted with hawk-like eyes. His gaze seemed to peer into every single detail. Wall, ground, ceiling, nothing was spared from his scrutinizing eyes.
The knights who stood next to the fissure had a mixture of awe and fear. They felt lucky to have gone in with Bayard on their side.. Surely, they would be able to survive.