It rushed towards me and I got to see two arrows impact its side before I rolled away, jabbing out again with the knuckles, but they glanced off the chitin. With an effort, I began to charge up another spell, this time trying it with Gravity Field. I wasn’t sure what the effect would be, but I made sure the adventurers, myself, and Deacon were left out of the targeting.
Then the smaller one hit me full on, the pincers catching me in the body and pinning one of my arms to my side. I started punching it, the hand still free had the knuckles on them, but it was still flying and dragging me along with it. There were shouts of panic, but I released the spell as I felt it start to lift from the ground with me in it’s grip.
The bug fell hard into the ground, the gravity increased by however much the overcharge boosted the spell. It scraped off Deacon’s shield and a lot of my forearm as it did, leaving a bloody strip of flesh hanging off. I didn’t waste time, though, and punched into it with the knuckles. Then, I sent Fire Manipulation through the knuckles.
The bug burst into a bonfire. I had to actually step away as it seemed to ignite and burn hotter than it had any right to. As it burned, I pulled my skin back to where it was supposed to be with a muffled cry and cast Heal, the flesh mending before I returned my attention to the big one. It had changed targets, but not to the one I’d expected.
The armored man was glowing faintly red, and had taken the bug’s charge full on, divots in the earth where he’d been pushed back, but not nearly as much as something that size should have been able to. Is he using a trait? I didn’t know, but I ran towards the massive insect and checked if I could cast Piercing Flame again. It didn’t take a lot of mana to activate External Spells, but Overcharge was making it difficult to judge how many more I had.
The guy must have seen me coming, because he moved, knocking the bug’s head away so it wouldn’t see me approach. I jumped up and pointed the spell directly at the spot where the chiten split so it could use it’s wings. I launched the blast, and it missed the target, but punched straight through the shell and into the wings, which caught fire and quickly spread. It’s scream of pain actually rocked my head back, and I had trouble forming a thought.
Then it started to flail around, knocking the armored man away. It swung it’s pincers at me, impacting me mid torso and sending me flying. I rolled with it when I hit the ground and came up on my feet with my hand dragging the ground to try and slow my momentum. I then launched myself back at the big bug.
The fire had slowed down after consuming the wings, but it still flared it’s carapace out like it was trying to take off. When it couldn’t, it started to scuttle forward on it’s six legs and I ran forward to meet it. I sent off another Piercing Flame, uncharged this time but that didn’t seem to matter to the spell. It drilled into the thing’s pincer and severed it, removing half a meter from one of the prongs.
There was an angry scream from the bug, and I tried to slip to the side. It whacked me with it’s horn, though, and I heard a crack as Deacon’s shield took the brunt of it. It didn’t knock me away as far as it’s last couple of blows, but I still had to roll to get back to my feet and lunge forward again. It was starting to make me dizzy how many times I was getting knocked around, but I thought I could handle it.
The armored guy ran past me, I’d lost track of him during the fight, and hammered into the bug wiht a full body tackle, shield first. It was angled so the bug would get knocked up and onto it’s back, which I planned to take full advantage of. The knuckles disappeared and I drew the sword from Personal Armory as I jumped up again. Then I plunged down, sword tip first, and drove it into the bug’s abdomen.
It flailed, and I held on with my legs braced on either side of where the sword was stabbed in. Taking a deep breath, I channeled mana through the blade, the sword igniting as if the edge suddenly gained tiny jets to spew flames from. The bug rolled back and forth on it’s back violently, it’s insectile legs clawing at me to try and knock me or the sword off. I couldn’t hold on for much longer, so I let it toss me, leaving the sword embedded.
The armored man helped me up and I leaned on him, more tired than I’d initially thought. Oddly enough, it was still burning. Something about the mana in the blade was keeping it lit, though it was fading. As I looked around, I noticed that two of the other large bugs had been filled with arrows. The one I’d taken out was still where it had fallen. The last one was pinned to the ground by a column of wind.
Breathing hard, I kept watch on the boss, and when I had enough energy to I threw another Piercing Flame into it. It went deep into the creature’s carapace, exposing the burnt mess of it’s flesh. It’s movements were slowing, though, and I was hopeful that it wasn’t getting back up. I heard the armored guy say something, but I didn’t hear him, “What?!”
“We should get back to the barn!” He shouted, still presenting his shield to the large bug, “I don’t think it’s getting back up!”
I shot another Piercing Flame into it, but started back for the barn before I saw it hit. I got a notification, though.
- 1x Trait Upgrade Token
- 1x Boss Slayer Title Token
- 1x Loot Radar Trait Token
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I got inside the barn and went into an office to slump into a chair. Despite the shields, something must have gotten through because I was hurting all over. I was too tired to use a Heal spell to fix it, but not too tired to pull out my new flask and drink.
The armored guy showed up a few minutes later and pulled off his helmet. “It’s a good thing we ran into you. I don’t think we’d have survived that.”
He looked familiar… “Tingle?”
His face split into a grin that showed his smile despite the beard. “You remember! Yea, I found a new group.”
“Congratulations. They working better?” I asked, offering him the flask. He turned me down, so I just shrugged and took another swig.
“Yea! Rill has been great at keeping us out of trouble, and Sarah is really good with Wind Manipulation. With their help, I’ve gotten over six hundred bugs so far.” It was clear from his words and the way he held himself that he was proud of his new team.
I checked my own kill count.
Summer Screaming Storm
Mission Type: Extermination
The Prius Cicada have entered their active season several years early and must be dealt with.
Objective: Kill Prius Cicada
Reward: 100 EXP per Prius Cicada killed. Bonus Rewards every 100 kills.
Current Kill Count: 3,180
I sat up a little straighter, “How much is it after killing that big one?”
“Oh, let me…” I watched his eyes go wide. His mouth tried to form words, but he was struggling, making strange sounds with his mouth. Finally, “WAS THAT WORTH 500?!”
I couldn’t help laughing at his outburst as he collapsed into another chair in shock. “Maybe I should go look for more of those.”
“Maybe!” He shouted, incredulous. “That’s almost as much as four days out hunting these things!”
“Four days?” I asked, leaning on the desk in the office. “That seems a little low.”
He sighed, “Well, I’ve only been getting credit for larger bugs. That and killing a LOT of the smaller ones. People have been out here long enough, though, that almost all of the ones bigger than a hand and smaller than a strider have been taken out.”
I shook my head, “Makes sense. I bet your wind mage, Sarah?” I asked, to confirm, and he nodded, “She’s probably sitting closer to my numbers.”
“Why, how many do you have?” He asked.
“The boss put me over 3,000.” I said, claiming the experience and rewards as we talked. I had another title upgrade for Insecticide at 2,000 that I still hadn’t used. I was mostly interested in the random rewards, but I wouldn’t open those until I was home.
“By the core sea, that’s impressive!” Tingle said. “I did notice you used a lot of spells, maybe I should pick some up, what do you think?”
“A little magic is never a bad idea.” Deacon said, coming into the room. “Your friends should be fine, but if you have any recovery tinctures or potions, I’d split it between you three. It was a rough fight.”
Tingle actually went over and hugged Deacon, much to the bard’s surprise. “And without you, it’d have been a lot worse. Thank you.” He looked over at me, “Both of you.”
We watched him head out and Deacon closed the door. He lit a magic stone and it was only then that I realized the room had still been dark. “Huh… I wonder why he didn’t turn a light on.”
“He might not have realized either how dark it was. I don’t have a sight enhancing trait, unfortunately, though I make do with the Tremorsense skill.” He closed the door and took the seat Tingle had left.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. Deacon did accept my offer of booze, and after passing the flask back and forth a couple times, he finally asked, “So. How do you think that went?”
I sniffed in irritation, “It could have gone better. Pretty sure without your shields I’d be in a couple pieces.”
“Maybe. I was a bit concerned when it grabbed you.” Deacon admitted. “The mage and the ranger needed my active help more than you two did, though.”
I ran my hand through my hair, before getting frustrated at the loose strands that had escaped their hair tie. I undid it and started to redo it. “I think if Tingle hadn’t been there, I’d have been in trouble. At the very least, I wouldn’t have been able to hold its attention away from you or the other two.”
“And the other bugs?” I heard the question in his voice, wondering what I’d have done about them. “If it had been just us, how would you have handled them?”
I paused to think about it. What would I have done? The one had almost started to take me up into the sky. I had my ring, but there was no guarantee I’d have been able to stay on the ground. Then there was the fact that if all four had been able to focus on me… “I might have been fine if I’d used Gravity Field better, but the fight would have taken longer.”
“And if I hadn’t been shielding you?” He asked.
I slapped a hand to the desk, “I’d have been fucked, alright? Is that what you want me to admit?” I regretted the outburst as soon as I’d done it, but I was in pain and still a little dizzy from getting knocked around. “Sorry.”
Deacon looked at me for an uncomfortable amount of time before letting out a huff of air. The he smiled gently at me, trying to put me at ease. “My fault. It’s a habit I picked up with my old party. Talk about what went wrong and what went right. Take a bit of time to plan out variations on the fight.”
I finished tying my hair back up before putting my elbow on the table and propping my head up in my hand. “It’s fine.” There were a few more moents of silence before I asked, “What about you?”
“Hm?” He raised his eyebrow.
“What would you have done if I hadn’t been here?” I asked. “If you didn’t have to protect us the whole fight.”
“Oh, I’d have killed all of them in a matter of seconds. You need the fighting experience, not me. I’d have played a song and dessicated everything in a kilometer.” He shrugged, “But it’s better you and those adventurers get the practice.”
I blinked as I considered that. Wait… he’s strong enough to just… do that? “If you’re that strong… why are we stalling on going after Melvin?”
“Dani… while I’m strong, the person you’re describing is likely more on your level than mine. Different scales of power, and all.” He leaned back and scratched at his chin, “I don’t know what he’s like or how he’s going to react to us. As much as it probably won’t help… I at least want Elayne there as backup.”
I stared at him as I took his argument in. I couldn’t find any flaws, not any glaring ones anyway. It really was a matter of safety. “Any idea how long the swarm is supposed to be around? I still need a few thousand more if I want to afford my new tonfas.”
Deacon shrugged, “No clue. However, it’s rest time now. Stay here and I’ll keep an eye on everything. Try and get some rest.” He stood up and headed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
I reached out and turned off the mana light, returning the room to darkness. It was weird watching detail fade from the environment only for it to slowly reappear in different shades. I didn’t mind the darkness, though. It was soothing, and as I leaned back in the chair I couldn’t help but wonder if things would be alright when we got back home.