This skill worked on both humans and animals. It had a one-hundred-percent chance of ruining my enemies’ aim as well as a twenty-five-percent chance of having them attack their allies instead.
Malicious Whispers 2 that I had also learned and fully upgraded decreased the cooldown of Malicious Whispers 1 to thirty seconds. So when an alien bug was about to spat a blob of acid saliva at us, the spectral voice whispered into the creature’s ears, messing up its aim. Also, every now and then, the mysterious voice made some of the alien bugs turn on their allies, making them attack them with their mandibles, pincers, and scorpion-like tails.
However, despite our powerful skills and our best efforts to keep the monsters at bay, the alien bugs were getting closer and closer to us.
Nate’s Active Ability allowed him to deploy a rectangular energy shield in front of him. However, since the creatures were coming at us from all directions, there was not much use of it now. So the British guy employed his Ultimate Ability instead, and the dome of the energy shield formed around us. Some of the alien bugs got trapped inside the shield with us.
Nate’s Ultimate Ability was way more powerful and useful than his Active Ability was, so he had learned almost every skill for his Ultimate Ability by that point. Thanks to one of those skills, which was called Kinetic Grasp, all allies gained increased speed while our enemies got slowed down when inside the dome of Nate’s power shield.
That was why the alien bugs that got trapped inside the dome were slowed down. We killed them one by one before they would have reached within biting distance. Before dying, one of them managed to spat a glob of acid saliva at us, but it was moving so slowly through the air that we had no trouble avoiding being hit by it.
The other creatures were outside the dome of the energy shield and could not get in. They attacked the translucent wall of the shield with everything they got but did little to no damage to it.
We looked around us. The aggressive creatures surrounded the energy shield from every direction, attacking it with mandibles, tails, and pincers. They were everywhere. Yet since Nate had learned almost all skills for his Ultimate Ability, his shield was very strong and could hold up for some time.
Moreover, in addition to the skill that could slow down enemies trapped inside the dome shield, Nate had learned some more useful skills for his Ultimate Ability. For example, one of them could automatically heal us when we were within the dome shield. Right now, however, none of us was injured and needed healing.
Another useful skill that Nate had recently learned for his Ultimate Ability was called Projectile Deflection. Thanks to that skill, the dome shield had a chance of deflecting enemy projectiles. So when alien bugs spat blobs of acid saliva, some of it bounced back instead of splattering across the translucent wall of the dome shield. However, the deflected acid saliva deal no damage to the monsters.
We continued to fire at the alien bugs surrounding the dome shield from all directions. Thanks to another skill Nate had learned the bullets we fired got infused with dark energy when they passed through the translucent wall of the dome shield, which resulted in them exploding on impact with enemies, dealing additional damage to them.
However, there were way too many creatures around us. There was no way we could deal with all of them. We had only so much ammo while every monster we killed was replaced by two others.
“We need to get outta here,” Vlad yelled. “As soon as the shield disappears, we’re dead.”
“I’ll make a portal tunnel,” I said.
I activated my Ultimate Ability, and my body instantly became half-visible as I entered the so-called void space. While in this state, I could not attack enemies and they could not attack me. My movement speed got increased. I placed the first portal and dashed out of the dome shield. When I passed through the translucent wall, my speed got increased even more thanks to another skill Nate had learned for his Ultimate Ability.
As I ran past the alien bugs, some of them tried to charge at me, but they dealt no damage to me, their mandibles and pincers going through me as if I had no physical body. Seeing that they could not hurt me, the creatures lost interest in me and resumed attacking the convex wall of the dome shield instead.
I ran as fast as I could. The maximum length of the teleportation tunnel was 250 meters. So when I was two hundred and fifty meters away from the dome shield, the second portal was automatically created and my Ultimate Ability got deactivated. I was no longer in the void space, so my body became physical again and enemies would be able to hurt me.
With a thought, I sent a text message to my teammates.
David: Portal’s created, guys. Use it.
Vlad: Finally.
A few seconds later, the three teammates of mine burst out of the second portal.
“Is the shield destroyed?” I asked them.
If the shield was still holding, then the alien bugs would not be able to get in the first portal and step out of the second one, which would buy us some time to get away from them.
Before anybody could reply, we saw several aline bugs burst out of the second portal.
“Does this answer your question?” Vlad said with sarcasm when we killed the creatures.
I hated that enemies could use my teleports. It kinda negates their purpose. My portals should give my team a chance to get away from enemies. However, since our foes could use them to chase us, it kinda made my portal useless in some cases.
I really hoped there was some skill for my Ultimate Ability that would prevent our enemies from using my teleports.
“This is strange,” Nate said. “My shield should’ve stayed for way longer. It means that those creatures managed to destroy it. They are very strong indeed.”
“And there are too many of those damn critters on this freaking planet,” Vlad yelled as more alien bugs began to pop out of the second portal.
After we killed the bunch of the creatures, the Russian re-deployed his battle drone and had it deploy three mini-turrets as well as mines in front of the second portal.
“Now it’s time we run,” Vlad said.
We wheeled around and began to race away from the second portal. Behind us could be heard the sounds of explosions as mines got triggered and the crack of gunfire as the turrets and Kolobok fired away at the swarm of the alien bugs popping one after another from the second portal. We did not look back. We just ran as fast as our legs could carry us, trying to put as much distance between ourselves and the monsters behind as possible so they would lose our track.
At some point, the explosions, the gunfire, and screams of dying creatures could no longer be heard. We slowed down and looked back. The alien bugs were nowhere in sight.
“I think we gave them the slip,” Tamerlan said.
“Damn,” Vlad grumbled, panting. “When was the last time we were forced to run away from enemies instead of chasing them to finish them off?”
“I don’t remember,” Tamerlan replied.
“Duh, it was a rhetorical question,” Vlad said as he rolled his eyes. “So you didn’t have to answer that, stupid.”
Tamerlan did not say anything this time.
“I feel like I’m level 1 once again, doing my very first mission,” Vlad grumbled.
“I feel the same way,” Tamerlan said.
“What are you talking about, dumbass?” Vlad snarled at him. “On your first mission, you had us helping you, which is why you were able to complete it without much trouble.”
His chin set, Tamerlan said nothing. From the look on his face, it was clear that he was sick and tired of Vlad.
“I hope the reward for completing this mission will be greatly increased,” Vlad said. “This mission turned out to be way more difficult than we were told it would be. You hear me, Echo?”
A message from Echo popped up before my eyes. It read, “You will be awesomely rewarded if you solve the mystery of this planet by completing all the objectives, main one as well as add
itional ones.”
“We better be,” Vlad grumbled.
A mysterious voice suddenly spoke in my head.
You are in danger. There are lots of enemies behind you.
I instantly jerked my head to glance over my shoulder and saw the swarm of alien bugs crashing through the foliage after us. The creatures must have already destroyed all the turrets Vlad’s drone had deployed.
My teammates noticed me looking over my shoulder and looked back as well.
“Goddammit,” Vlad yelled. “They just won’t give up!”
I quickly checked the Map and realized we were not far from the base the scientists had set up on this planet.
I told this to my teammates, and we ran in the direction of the base, with lots of alien bugs hot on our heels. If we managed to get to the scientists’ base, it would be somewhat easier for us to hold out against the monsters. So we did not bother to fire back at our chasers. All we wanted was to get to the scientists’ base as soon as possible.
At some point, after his Active Ability recharged, Vlad deployed his battle drone and ordered it to hold position and attack the creatures to buy us some time. He also had Kolobok deploy mini-turrets and mines.
Up ahead, the trees opened out into a clearing, in the middle of which sat the abandoned mobile base of the scientists. It basically was a long container on tracks.
As we ran for the mobile base, I spotted something on the roof of the container. It looked like a formless mass. It seemed to be organic. There was no time to study it, though. We just ran toward the mobile base.
As I got closer to the door, I slowed down and closed my eyes. My skill, Third Eye, instantly kicked in, allowing me to check the interior of the mobile base for enemies and traps. There were no traps or foes inside the base. Also, thanks to another skill I had recently learned, Ubiquitous, the very last skill in the Passive Ability Skill Tree, I could blink into the mobile base right through the outer wall. I did not employ this skill, though.
“It’s safe, guys,” I said. “There’s nobody inside.”
“Of course, there’s nobody inside, genius,” Vlad said to me. “Otherwise, the scientists wouldn’t’ve been missing and we wouldn’t’ve needed to be on this freaking planet.”
As we got to the entrance door, I looked back over my shoulder. What I saw surprised me a great deal.
The swarm of the alien bugs stopped about fifty meters from us. They all just looked at us but did not attempt to get any closer.
“Why’d they stopped?” Tamerlan asked no one in particular.
“I don’t fucking care,” Vlad said. “Let’s get to safety while we still have a chance to do so.”
And he burst into the mobile home. The rest of us followed suit. Nate was the last to get in, so he closed the door behind him. We found ourselves in a spacious living room that doubled as a lab. Lined up along the walls sat some strange scientific units. I had no idea what they were used for, because I was no scientist.
There was a window nearby, so I stepped up to it and looked out. The alien bugs were still out there, standing fifty or so meters from the mobile base. They seemed unsure of what they should do next. A few seconds later, they stirred and began to move away.
“They left,” I said.
“It’s strange,” Tamerlan said. “I expected them to charge at this house to try to get to us.”
“Me too,” I said.
“I wonder why they just left,” Tamerlan said.
“I don’t know,” Vlad put it. “And I don’t care. Probably they realized we would smoke them all if they dared to attack us.”
“Right,” I said. “That’s why we’ve been running away from them and locked ourselves in this house.”
Vlad did not like my sarcasm. He glared at me, but before he could say anything, Nate said, “Let’s check this place out, guys.”
To the left, there was a cab. I could see the driver’s seat and the steering wheel. The mobile base could be driven like a regular car. To the right, set into the opposite wall were two doors. One of them led into the toilet, another into the bathroom.
We continued to study the mobile home. We were looking for notes or any clues that might suggest where the scientists had gone to. We did not find any, though. We found a laptop of one of the scientists but without knowing the password could not log in.
What we also did find was the lack of destruction of any kind. I had initially thought that the scientists had been attacked at their home, but it looked like I had been wrong. They might have been attacked when out wandering around instead.
However, as we continued to examine the home, we found something that might suggest that the mobile home was not actually abandoned. We found three cups of coffee that still contained dregs. And it looked fresh as if the coffee had been made earlier on.
“I think they may be alive and well after all,” Nate said.
“Me too,” I said, nodding my head. “At least they were alive earlier today.”
“You guys must be out of your mind,” Vlad grumbled. “What makes you think that they are still alive?”
“Look at the cups, you dummy,” I said. “Someone drank coffee today.”
“It doesn’t prove anything,” Vlad grumbled. “Did you already forgot what just happened? We barely ran away from those bugs. And we are very experienced warriors, mind you. So do you really believe that those fragile scientists could survive on this freaking planet?”
“First of all, we don’t know anything about them yet,” I said. “Being scientists doesn’t mean they can’t handle themselves. Second, those bugs avoid getting close to this house for some reason.”
“But the scientists ain’t here now,” Vlad said. “They are somewhere out there. If bugs attack them—or most probably already attacked—they are dead.”
Before I could reply, a message from Echo popped up before my eyes. It read, “Warrior, I have just scanned the nearby area and found an entrance to a cave. You might want to check it out. The Map has been updated and your Playable Area has been expanded.”
“Okay,” Vlad said. “Let’s check it out.”
We opened the Map to check where the cave was situated. It was pretty far from the mobile base. Without our Humvee, it would take us a while to get there.
“Damn,” Vlad grumbled. “It’s too far away.”
“We have no choice,” Nate said. “We have to go there.”
The Russian clearly was not all that keen on leaving the mobile base, which seemed to be a safe place to be in.
“If you have another idea where we should look for the scientists, we’re all ears,” I said.
“I could do without your sarcasm, Dave,” Vlad said.
We looked out the windows but did not notice any aline bugs outside.
When we walked to the entrance door, Vlad looked at me and asked, “Is it safe for us to get out?”
“I guess,” I replied.
“What do you mean, ‘I guess’?” Vlad snapped. “Doesn’t your stupid Passive Ability tell you if there are enemies nearby?”
“Well, it tells me if there is a large group of foes nearby,” I replied. “It doesn’t tell me anything now, though. So I guess there are no bugs in the immediate vicinity.”
“Great,” Vlad said. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Let’s go.”
He swung open the door, and we got out of the mobile house. After consulting the Map one more time, we headed in the direction of the cave. We moved swiftly through the foliage but tried to make as little noise as possible. We were not keen on attracting the alien bugs’ attention again. There were way too many of them in this place. There was no way for us to defeat them all.
Surprisingly, we reached the entrance to the cave without encountering any alien bugs. I closed my eyes to use my Third Eye skill. No dangers were inside the cave. At least within fifty meters of the cave entrance. It was as far as Third Eye allowed me to see.
We ent
ered the cave. I expected it to get darker as we got deeper into the cave. However, the deeper into the cave we went, the brighter it became.
The tunnel we walked down opened out into a spacious cavern. We stopped to look around. There was something along the lines of roots coming from the walls. Just like the leaves on the local trees, the roots were glowing from inside, filling the cavern with bluish light.
However, we were not looking at the roots—or whatever it was. Instead, our eyes were glued on something else.
Attached to the walls, there was something that looked like translucent cocoons. Each of them contained an organic-looking object. We stepped closer to one of the cocoons for a better look.
“What the heck is that,” Tamerlan muttered when we looked at the thing inside the cocoon.
“I don’t know what the heck is that, but it looks disgusting,” Vlad said.
The cocoon seemed to be filled with some liquid in which floated what looked like an embryo. The longer I stared at it, the more it seemed to look like a yet-to-be-born alien bug.
I stepped away from the cocoon and looked around the cavern once more. There were similar cocoons glued to the walls, each of them containing an embryo of an alien bug.
“Looks like someone or, most likely, something has been growing these things for a while here,” Nate concluded.
“So we need to find the mother of these monsters and killed it,” Vlad said.
There was a rustle coming from the deeper parts of the cave. All of us instantly spun around to face in that direction. We saw some creature step from the shadows and brought our guns to bear on it.
“Seems like we’ve found the mother,” Vlad said, eyeing the creature standing thirty or so meters ahead of us.
The monster was huge, about the size of an elephant. And it was ugly, too. It kind of looked like an average alien bug but did not look exactly like it. It bore a resemblance to a mantis due to its triangular head on a long neck and a pair of pincers in front of it.
The Weaponized: The Complete LitRPG Series Page 36