Legacy of the Fallen
Page 61
Needless to say, I took the second option.
“Arrrgh! Fuck!” The curse practically flew out of my mouth as I grabbed hold of what passed for the Gloomstalker’s arms, willingly impaling my hands onto the sharp spines that protruded from them.
This is what I get for losing Splinter! I berated myself mentally, trying to focus past my newest set of injuries as I caught the descending limbs and pushed against them, just barely managing to stop the Gloomstalker’s claws inches away from my chest. Exhausted from what had already been a fatiguing battle, it was all I could do to keep the claws at bay, my muscles straining under the creature’s superior positioning.
Hissing angrily at my desperate attempt to preserve my life, the Gloomstalker threw its weight against me, forcing the barbs even deeper into my palms and causing its claws to sink just a bit closer to my chest. Reeling from the pain, but unwilling to surrender, I clenched my hands as tightly as I could around the creature’s arms, feeling blood begin to ooze into my gloves. Feeling the strength drain away from my arms, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep the creature at bay forever, a point driven home as one of the two blades sank low enough to pierce flesh.
I guess this is going to hurt even more than it already does! I thought grimly while gritting my teeth in preparation for what I was about to do, a desperate idea having come to mind. Taking a heartbeat to brace myself, I channeled Shocking Touch into my hands and let it flow into the Gloomstalker before I could have second thoughts.
Instantly, the massive insect began to thrash in my grip as its body seized, the motion from its movement causing the already intense pain in my hands to intensify. Yet despite the agony, I did my best to hold onto the creature, using the opportunity to shift my legs out from under it and brace both of my feet against its chest. Not letting up in the only avenue of attack I had, I sent another Shocking Touch into the Gloomstalker, causing it to hiss and thrash wildly for a second time as I began to push it away with my legs.
Enraged by my attempt to get away, the oversized bug threw itself against me even harder, its instinct driven mind unable to fully comprehend the extent of my strategy. As I extended my legs, I maintained my steady grip on the two arms that I had grabbed hold of, no longer needing to push against them to keep the creature at bay. Instead, I began to force the creature away from me with my legs, the movement causing its arms to stretch until they were fully extended. It was only when the sound of cracking chitin sounded from the two limbs that the Gloomstalker finally understood what I was doing, its angry attempts to close with me suddenly turning to a panicked thrash.
With a burst of energy, I savagely yanked on the creature’s two arms while thrusting my legs against its chest with every ounce of strength I possessed. Holding for the briefest of moments, I felt the Gloomstalker’s arms resist my pull, before suddenly giving way with a sickening crack as the limbs that I was holding tore free of its body. With all resistance vanishing, the Gloomstalker fell away from me in a spray of black ichor, a wailing cry of pain echoing up a heartbeat after.
“Gah!” I yelped in pain as I lay gasping on the ground, the Gloomstalker temporarily forgotten while I looked at the bloody mess that was my hands. The barbed spines of the creature’s arms had rent my palms wickedly, causing a steady flow of blood to pour from them.
Better my hands looking like this, rather than my face or chest, I thought acidly as I forced my hands to unclench before gingerly pulling them free of the barbed limbs, hissing softly in the process. Once my hands were free, I forced myself back up onto my feet and turned my attention towards the now writhing Gloomstalker a short distance away from me, seeing a dark well of ichor that had pooled around its body. Staggering over to the dying creature, I didn’t hesitate in delivering a savage stomp to the creature’s head to put it out of misery, all while I fished to open my belt pocket, finding it difficult to open with my torn hand.
Finally managing to get the clasp undone, I reached inside and pulled out a single glass vial filled with a familiar red liquid that every Adventurer ever born recognized. Thumbing off the stopper, I brought the vial up to my mouth, watching a small description appear in my vision as I tipped it back.
Minor Healing Potion
Item Class: Magical
Item Quality: Average (+0%)
Weight: 0.1 kg
Use: Regenerate 250 hit points over the next 10 seconds.
Downing the potion with barely a second thought, I immediately felt the strange liquid begin to do its work on my torn hands and the rest of my body, the bruised and broken flesh rapidly knitting itself together. Breathing an intense sigh of relief, I allowed myself a momentary pause, which was promptly interrupted by Lazarus’s voice.
“Are you okay, Lyrian?” he shouted, pitching his voice over a shrieking cry similar to the one that I had heard just seconds earlier. “Because if you are, we could sure as hell use your help over here again! Ah! Shit! Ransom—”
Whirling at the half-giant’s voice just as a loud burst of magic drowned out everything around me, I caught the tail end of a flaming blast that filled the jungle with smoke and the smell of burning vegetation. But before I could even begin to think about moving, a shape that I recognized all too well staggered backward out of the acrid mist, its body charred from the recent blast of magic as well as several more wounds that I didn’t recall seeing from earlier in the battle.
Damn, that thing is still standing! I thought incredulously as a tag appeared in my vision, pointing towards the still smoking creature as it forced itself back fully onto its feet, where it then towered nearly half a body length over me.
[Twilight Grove Deathstalker] – Rare Boss – Level 19
Making the Gloomstalker that I had just killed appear like an innocent kitten in comparison, the Deathstalker was a paragon of its kind, improving on everything that defined its already vicious siblings and turning it into a veritable whirlwind of carnage.
Carnage being exactly what it had wrought since its arrival.
Pushing aside the chaotic memories of earlier in the fight, for the time being, I instead forced myself to focus my attention on the ferocious creature as my eyes searched for the one thing I needed to get back into the fight.
Splinter.
Good! It’s still there! I breathed with a sigh of relief as I spotted the hilt of my blade protruding from the side of the Deathstalker’s shoulder, exactly where I had thrust it into before being unceremoniously slapped away by a flailing claw and sent tumbling across the ground. Now…to get it back without somehow killing myself.
Conjuring and discarding half a dozen ideas, I quickly came up with a plan that I was reasonably confident wouldn’t result in my untimely end. I forced myself to sprint towards the creature, watching its movements carefully as I closed. With it still reeling from whatever magic Ransom had unleashed, I only had precious seconds to recover my weapon before it resumed its rampage.
Reaching the point of no return a short distance away from the Deathstalker, I leaped high into the air and triggered Blink Step, my vision blurring into colors before suddenly snapping back into focus an arm’s length away from the creature’s back. With momentum still carrying me forward, I barely had enough time to process my change in scenery before I slammed into the giant insect, causing it to stagger forward from the impact.
Pushing aside the sharp stab of countless barbs that covered the creature’s carapace, I threw one of my arms around the Deathstalker’s neck to keep me from falling, while my other reached out to grasp Splinter’s cool hilt. Just as my hand wrapped itself around the sword’s base, I heard a shrieking hiss erupt from Deathstalker as it twisted violently in pain.
“Not quite what I was expecting you to do, Lyrian!” I heard Lazarus shout from somewhere in front of me. “But hell, if it works!”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t have much of a choice!” I replied, struggling to hold onto the creature as it began to thrash in an attempt to dislodge me. “I had to get my damn sword back!�
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“Well now that you have it, put it to use!” Lazarus called back, the ichor covered tip of his sword appearing briefly in my vision as he swung it towards the Deathstalker. “Ransom and your cat are dealing with another two of the smaller bugs!”
“Shit,” I cursed softly, realizing that I hadn’t heard anything from Amaranth since the battle had started, before having been jumped by a Gloomstalker the moment that I had recovered from my landing. Yanking Splinter free of the Deathstalker’s shoulder with a spray of ichor, I mentally reached out towards my familiar.
Receiving a mental growl in acknowledgment, I was forced to turn the entirety of my attention back towards the writhing creature that I was currently hanging off as it worked itself up into a frenzy. Clinging on for dear life, I felt the flesh on my chest and the arm that I had wrapped around the Deathstalker’s neck tear painfully as it desperately attempted to shake me loose, the creature’s cruel barbs digging into me. Maintaining my grip on the Splinter’s hilt, I sent yet another surge of electricity into the nightmare-sized creature, feeling it jerk wildly as its muscles spasmed.
Taking advantage of my distraction, I felt a heavy blow from Lazarus slam into the Deathstalker, the impact causing the creature to suddenly buckle and drop down to a knee. Hissing at the unexpected movement and the pain that it caused, I found myself staring almost directly into Lazarus’s face over the creature’s shoulder, a bleeding cut across his brow having covered it almost completely in blood. Then as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished, forced to duck under the Deathstalker’s sweeping claw as it struggled to buy some time to regain its balance.
Time that I wasn’t about to give it.
Tearing my sword free once more from the Deathstalker’s back, I tightened my grip on the blade’s hilt and then yanked myself upwards with the arm I’d slung around the creature’s neck in one explosive burst of energy. Letting out a ragged gasp as the spines continued to dig into my body, I thrust Splinter into the base of the Deathstalker’s head, using both my strength and momentum to drive it upwards through the hard chitin until I felt the blade exit through the other side. At once, I felt the creature go limp from the blow, the flailing movements of its body losing all sense of coordination as it pitched forward, just barely catching itself on its claws before it hit the ground.
Gritting my teeth at the Deathstalker’s stubbornness, I twisted Splinter savagely and delivered a final Shocking Touch, all resistance fading away from the creature as the electricity traveled the length of my blade and coursed into its skull. Landing on the ground with a heavy thud, I felt the creature deflate under me as a pair of timely prompts appeared in my combat log.
You have slain a [Twilight Grove Deathstalker]!
You have gained Experience!
“Finally!” Lazarus rasped from nearby, causing my head to spin in the direction of the voice and spotting the man leaning heavily on his glass-steel sword while holding a badly bleeding arm to his chest. The Deathstalker had clearly managed to land its fair share of blows on the half-giant during the fight. “I was starting to think I’d never see that fucker dead!”
“It was a close thing,” I agreed in an exhausted tone, hearing a vicious growl from Amaranth echo out from the jungle, reminding me that the fight wasn’t quite over yet. Pulling both myself and Splinter free from the dead creature, I couldn’t help but wince from the newest round of wounds that covered my body. “You going to be able to keep up with that arm?”
“Just watch me,” Lazarus growled, pulling his large weapon free of the ground. “Let’s go!”
Rushing towards the sounds of the battle, it only took us a heartbeat to find both Amaranth and Ransom fighting back to back against the two remaining Gloomstalkers, and even less time for us to enter the fray. With my vision blurring into a spray of colors as I triggered Blink Step, I arrived behind the Gloomstalker threatening my familiar with Splinter already in motion, the blade’s razor-sharp edge slicing through the creature’s elbow as if it were paper.
Landing heavily on top of it, I heard the familiar crack of chitin as Amaranth drove his weight down onto the Gloomstalker, seconds before his powerful jaws found its neck, easily piercing through the hard shell that protected it. With another crack, the cat snapped his head viciously, putting an end to the wounded Mantis, the single moment of opportunity being all that he needed to turn the tables on the creature.
Glancing up from the sudden and brutal end, I managed to look up just in time to see Lazarus’s sweeping blade catch the other Gloomstalker directly in the side of the head. The impact took the surprised creature off its feet and sprawling onto the ground, where a bright blast of fire from Ransom and a stab from Lazarus put it out of its misery.
Just like that, the fight was over.
“Damn,” Ransom heaved with exhaustion, his posture slightly bent over with both hands on his knees as he tried to catch a breath. “That was close. Too close! Shit!”
“You’re telling me,” I said with an equally exhausted sigh as I considered our losses. Out of the group of eight Adventurers that we had started the day with, only the three of us were left standing, in addition to Amaranth, of course. “Anyone see what happened during the ambush? I didn’t even see the others go down.”
“The big one dropped down on us from above,” Ransom replied, shaking his head at the memory. “It landed with both claws in Cadmus, then sliced Myr apart a second after. They really didn’t have a chance. After that…”
The half-orc warlock shook his head and motioned to the burnt and trampled vegetation surrounding us as if that explained everything.
“I saw Edanea go down,” Lazarus added in a quiet voice. “We got caught in a no-win situation after the second pack of Gloomstalkers rushed out of the jungle. She managed to buy Connor, Thorne and I enough time to take the first pack down while you and Amaranth kept the Deathstalker busy.”
“There was a second pack of those things?” I asked, completely dumbfounded that I missed them in the chaos. “I didn’t even see them…”
“At least six of them according to my combat log,” Ransom confirmed, his breathing having finally evened out. “After Edanea went down, it all became a scramble, and something got Connor soon after. I never saw what happened to Thorne though.”
And mine most likely too, I added as an afterthought, realizing Thorn’s train of thought. Amaranth’s death would have likely weakened me past the point of being able to keep up with the Deathstalker, assuming the shock of his death hadn’t caused me to freeze at an inopportune time in the first place.
“Well,” Lazarus stated after a moment of silence. “We managed to kill the Deathstalker in the end…which means there’s one less rare boss wandering this jungle.”
“Small victories, right?” I said, trying to project a sense of optimism in my voice that I didn’t quite feel. “Doesn’t seem like it’s our day for a Runestone though.”
“Not today,” Ransom added in a disappointed tone. “We should probably grab any drops from the creatures while we still can, then make our way back to the camp. After the beating we just took…going
any further today is just asking for something else to jump us, if not The Beast.”
“No complaints from me,” I told the warlock while checking the arm that I had used to hold onto the Deathstalker and realizing that my antics had seriously damaged the armor. “Looks like I’m due for some repairs too. This jungle isn’t easy on the gear at all.”
“No,” Lazarus agreed as he waved at the loot bag that now marked where the Deathstalker’s corpse had just been a few moments earlier. “About the only thing this place is good for is the experience bar…and loot of course.”
“That sounds about right,” I said with a dry laugh as I walked over to the bag and took a look inside, watching the items appear in my vision.
Deathstalker Claw
Quantity: 2
Item Class: Magical
Item Quality: Mastercraft (+20%)
Durability: 0/0
Weight: 2 kg
Deathstalker Fangs
Quantity: 20
Item Class: Magical
Item Quality: Mastercraft (+20%)
Durability: 0/0
Weight: 4 kg
Deathstalker Chitin
Quantity: 10
Item Class: Magical
Item Quality: Mastercraft (+20%)
Durability: 0/0
Weight: 20 kg
“And we have even more crafting materials,” I announced in an unsurprised voice, having grown used to the pattern that the game followed. Choosing to lean on the realistic side of things, wild creatures in Ascend Online were never considerate enough to drop fully forged weapons and armor when they were killed. Instead, choosing to consistently drop the raw materials needed to create something useful, relying on a crafter to give it shape.