The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  Current Attack: 5

  Increase the melee attack of your dragonling by +1

  10

  Flight Speed II

  Increase Flight Speed by 10%

  20

  Convert to Ability Points

  Allows the Purchase of 1 Ability Point

  40

  Chameleon I

  Your dragonling’s body will change color by 5% to match the surrounding environment

  20

  Convert to Characteristic Points

  (Size, Race, etc adjustments still apply)

  Str 5, Agi 33, Dex 34, Con 13, End 18, Int 80, Wis 80, Chr 18, Luc 18

  Allows Purchase of one Characteristic Point that will be added to base value

  10

  Darkvision II

  Gives Darkvision with a radius of 100 yards

  20

  Psi Poison

  Your dragonling’s teeth and claws will now exude a stronger psi poison. The poison now causes a slight amount of health, mana and stamina damage. Chance of spell misfire increased and now there is a slight chance for spell backfire.

  40

  He was tempted to boost her armor again, but he’d already given her a further two points of defense. Him being a mother hen wouldn’t keep her alive. It was important to make her well-rounded. Flight Speed was definitely a possibility, as was Chameleon. She was already pretty fast though, and he didn’t have the points to get Chameleon to a useful rank yet.

  Richter wanted to increase her Psi Poison trait. She had already proven herself a great help against magi. The fact that he could harvest the poison from her was also clutch. It turned his arrows into, if not wizard killers, something that would still ruin their fucking day.

  What he turned to though was the fact that she was invaluable for recon. Their psychic connection let him know whatever she saw in real time, and the Traveler’s map basically made her as good as a satellite for anyone standing near him. In less than a week they’d be taking a portal powered by Dark magic to some undisclosed location; he was willing to bet someone else’s left nut that it would be dark as shit there.

  Nodding to himself, Richter chose two crystals. One was from a level eleven prowler and another was from a level twelve tusker. He pulled Alma down from her perch atop him and held her in his left arm. Then he brought the crystals in contact with her skin. A prompt appeared.

  You have brought your Psi Crystal in contact with a Mental creature. Would you like to expend the energy to enhance your soul familiar? Yes or No?

  He chose “Yes.” The slowly spinning light in the crystals focused on Alma. The dragonling almost vibrated with pleasure as she devoured the energy. A beam of energy flowed into her mouth and eyes for a second, then a large pulse shot from the psi crystals into her. The jewels turned to worthless grey rock. Alma lay back, using his arm as a hammock and purring in intense satisfaction.

  Know This! Pure psychic energy can enhance the characteristics of your Psi Dragonling. Each level of a Psi Crystal equates to 1 Psi Point. Current Psi Points available: 23. Any unused Psi Points will be lost after 24 hours.

  Now that she possessed the raw psychic energy, he made his choice.

  You have purchased: Darkvision II. Your familiar may now see up to 100 yards in pure darkness.

  Total Psi Points Remaining: 3

  The greedy glut cracked her eye open a moment later, gaze locked on the other four gems. Her tone was as innocent as a cat staring at a mouse, *Wonderful Master… What are you going to do with the other crystals?*

  With a roll of his eyes, Richter just dropped his left arm and let her fall to the floor. The dragonling let out a squawk of protest, but between flaring her wings and her natural agility, she landed on her feet.

  *Don’t be greedy,* he thought to her. Richter could have used the psi crystal he still had from the alpha dreemar. With it, he would have had more than another forty Psi Points to spend. He wanted to keep a higher-level crystal in reserve though, just in case he needed to supercharge Alma’s abilities. The dragonling started complaining, but Richter didn’t pay enough attention to hear if it was about him dropping her or that she wanted more psi crystals. Randolphus phased back into view.

  “The tunnel branches several times up ahead. I observed several small packs of tuskers and a few solitary prowlers. Their levels are only one or two higher than what we have already seen, however. The greatest preponderance of tusker tracks continues down the main tunnel. I suggest we clear out the side passages as we go. The monsters I’ve seen shouldn’t pose any serious danger to us.”

  Everyone was in agreement, so the party made their way down the tunnel. It was made of rough-hewn stone, just like the passage leading to the Entrance Chamber. After a dozen yards, the floor transitioned from grassy dirt to rock. The tendrils of roots hung down from the ceiling, and in random places, tufts of grass and other plants sprouted from cracks in the rock. Here and there, small rivulets of water ran down the walls. The air was cool, but not cold, and patches of moss gave off a faint light.

  The tunnel was wide enough that four of them could walk abreast comfortably, but they kept their formation tighter than that. The decaemur knight took the lead with Yoshi right behind him, the two of them being the most expendable and strongest respectively. Richter and Randolphus came next, followed closely by Hisako and Beyan. The Hearth Mother had cast a spell that illuminated everything for a hundred yards in each direction as if it were noon, feeling the moss was not sufficient. Terrod and Sion pulled up the rear, looking behind them periodically to ensure nothing would flank them.

  Just as Randolphus had said, there were only a few beasts here and there. None of the side tunnels extended more than seventy yards. Some terminated in dead ends and others in small caverns. The monsters were dealt with quickly. A few more blood-red orbs appeared, giving a handful of coins. After clearing each side chamber, they moved further down the main passage. It was clear to both Randolphus and Richter that the prints they were tracking were increasing in frequency as they went deeper.

  The tunnel twisted this way and that, sometimes rising in elevation but more often falling. After another twenty minutes, Richter started hearing loud squealing noises. The tunnel turned sharply so they could not see much further ahead. Randolphus stealthed and went to investigate. When he reappeared a few minutes later, he nodded and said, “We have found the Lair.”

  The Spy described it as a large cavern, though not as large as the first room. It flared outward like a lady’s fan. Only tuskers were in the room, but there were more than a hundred, and their levels ranged from ten to twenty. One boar in particular was half again as large as the rest. The bony spines coming from his body were much thicker, and were black as opposed to the white of the other tuskers. The worst part of the layout was that there were no obstructions near the entrance. A few large rocks were situated at the rear of the room, but as soon as they entered the room, they would be seen. Richter and Randolphus could probably slip in with Stealth, but against a hundred monsters even they would be overwhelmed.

  “I suggest we attack head-on,” Randolphus stated, surprising Richter. “The Lair beast is distracted right now. I believe we could remove a large portion of their number at the start of the battle, and we have little other choice.”

  “Why is it distracted?” Sion asked.

  Randolphus winced slightly, “You will see.”

  “Whatever, man,” Richter replied. He was in a good mood after the easy battles, so there was humor in his voice. No matter what Randy was hinting at, it couldn’t be anything his party couldn’t handle. The Spy also would not have advised a frontal assault if he thought it wouldn’t succeed. Richter sent Alma to scout ahead so he could see it for himself. The dragonling flew a short distance and grabbed ahold of the wall before slithering around the corner. Her darkvision served her well when the tunnel turned sinuous and Hisako’s light was lost from sight. A minute after she’d left, Alma saw the cavern and discovered what Randolphus had been
referencing. Richter’s own eyes widened.

  “Well?” Sion asked, impatient now. “What is it?”

  Richter opened his mouth but didn’t speak, looking at Randolphus. The chamberlain just smirked and shrugged in response. Turning back to the sprite, Richter made a half-wince face and brought his hands almost together. Then he separated them, rotated each ninety degrees, and brought them almost together again. “They’re… making baby tuskers. Especially the big one with the black spikes… I feel bad for that lady monster.”

  The plan they came up with was fairly simple. They would enter the cavern with the tanks out front. Sion and Richter would imbue their arrows and take out as many as possible before the battle began. Hisako would slow the monsters’ advance with a crowd-control Earth spell. After that they would just let the tuskers come to them and kill them as they did so. Their tactics were a bit cocky, but then again, their party was insanely overpowered. Everyone buffed up again and they attacked.

  Hisako cast a quick Light spell, a white glow surrounding her hands. To Richter’s surprise, when she began a second casting as they approached the Lair entrance, no light surrounded her hands. Her first spell must have been to remove the telltale glow that casters normally made when using magic. It meant that the tuskers would have zero warning before her attack. After three seconds, she stepped into the room and released the energy she’d summoned. The tuskers immediately began squealing in alarm and anger, but the damage was done.

  A forest of six-inch stone spikes erupted, extending the width of the cavern and covering twenty yards of its length. The barbs were angled in multiple directions, seemingly at random. One of the pigs closer to the cave entrance was caught in the AoE and panicked. It ran this way and that, spikes scoring against its belly. Though hard, the spikes were also brittle, and more than a few snapped clean off on the tusker’s own bony protrusions. That didn’t save it.

  It eviscerated itself and a loop of intestine caught on one of the spikes. The sow ran another three feet, its own organs falling out behind it before it collapsed. A spike pierced its brain when it fell. Richter looked at his ally in shock. Apparently, when Hisako heard “crowd control,” she thought “horrifying bramble of eviscerating spikes.” Hearth Mother… Australian for badass.

  Yoshi, Terrod and Beyan’s pet rushed into the cavern as soon as Hisako had finished her spell. Richter and Sion followed right after and began to imbue. Randolphus stealthed and moved to the side, while Beyan and Hisako took up the rear. Even as Richter poured mana into his shot, he used Analyze on the largest monster.

  Name: Koran EbontuskerDisposition: Angry

  Ebontuskers are an evolution beyond Koran Tuskers. The bony protrusions on their body have been hardened to greatly increase their attack. Their enlarged size also increases their Health, Stamina and Strength, while their coloring helps them hide even in plain sight. Packs of tuskers led by an ebontusker are almost rabidly aggressive and will fight to the death. What ebontuskers are most known for, however, is their incredibly intense mating practices.

  Level: 22

  Health: 712Mana: 20Stamina: 712

  Strength: 31

  Agility: 21

  Dexterity: 22

  Constitution: 64

  Endurance: 71

  Intelligence: 2

  Wisdom: 3

  Charisma: 5

  Luck: 10

  “That thing is a lot stronger than the others,” Richter called out.

  “No shit!” Sion responded, staring at the boss hog. It had to weigh a ton.

  The two friends kept imbuing their arrows while the keening and squealing from the tuskers continued on the far side of the spikes. After seeing the first tusker die so horridly, Richter thought the rest might stay on the far side of Hisako’s spell. All of them immediately started rushing forward though. Monster after monster foundered on the spikes, but they also destroyed the rocky obstructions in the process. In the meantime, the ebontusker just kept rutting on top of the sow beneath him, not at all worried by the attackers in his lair.

  Richter and Sion kept pouring mana into their shots. The tuskers got closer and closer. The ones in front began to act like a meaty plow for the monsters pushing from behind. It wasn’t planned at all as the beasts weren’t capable of that, but pushing a wall of dead bodies in front of them greatly reduced the damage many of the tuskers took crossing Hisako’s crowd-control spell’s AoE. Fortunately, it also slowed them considerably. Five seconds passed, then ten. Both of the Companions had hundreds of mana invested by the time the first tusker broke through the rock spikes. The two friends released simultaneously.

  The concussive booms were deafening in the confined space of the cavern. Richter’s party knew what to expect, but some of the tuskers panicked and drove themselves onto rock spikes. Not many of them, but the imbued arrows had a devastating effect. The tusker that Richter targeted turned into chunks of flesh when the high steel arrow detonated against its face. The shockwave spread out, doing damage to any other creature within six feet of the attack. They were also afflicted with Mind Fog, Stun and Psi Crystallization randomly. The first effect was the most common by far and basically caused horrible confusion. Though it didn’t directly harm those afflicted, it could be disastrous in larger groups. That was made obvious when three of the tuskers started attacking their fellows, a fourth ran to the side impaling itself on spikes and a fifth just started running in circles like a dog trying to catch its own tail.

  The rest of the monsters cleared the spikes and raced towards the party. Richter shouldered his bow and drew both his mace and elementum short sword. He took his place with the tanks and the battle was joined!

  The chaos seed bellowed as he swung his mace down in an overhand swing. The extra points of Agility made moving so much easier. It didn’t increase his attack speed, but aiming precise strikes seemed easier now. When he had first learned about the perks of various stats, the prompt had made it clear there was more to each than what had been stated. He’d never been in combat immediately before and after increasing his Agility. It was now pretty obvious that the stat was increasing his accuracy with melee weapons. There seemed to be two direct results of that. One, the likelihood of him landing a successful strike increased. Two, he had a chubby as big as a whale because battling in the Dungeon was one of the most awesome experiences of his life!

  Hisako seemed content to continue as support. She cast a spell that increased the Strength of the entire party by +10%, then just cast a ranged spell whenever a shot of opportunity appeared. Sion continued firing arrows, while Sapir shot blasts of Air magic at the beasts. The pixie’s mana ran out after one beam, and his attack wasn’t too strong, but one tusker was Stunned. Sion finished it off with a well-placed arrow to the throat. The sprite called out praise to his meitu’pixie and Sapir’s wings fluttered in pride. Beyan cast Death magic and fired off Dark bolts from his wand. Randolphus backstabbed and fought off any other tuskers until he could fade back into Stealth again. Then he would restart the process.

  The tuskers died one after another, but the battle wasn’t completely one-sided. Despite the battle prowess of Richter’s group, the large number of the creatures coupled with their natural attack and defense meant that some damage got through. The decaemur knight was knocked down and had to fight its way back up. Terrod had blood on him from two minor puncture wounds, though Hisako healed the damage almost as quickly as it was caused. Richter had been bitten on the leg and a spine of one of the tuskers had scored against his side. Almost none of the damage made it through his armor though. Only Yoshi escaped the melee completely unscathed.

  Alma dropped almost ten of the creatures at once with a well-aimed Psi Blast. It brought some respite from the immediate press of battle. Red blood dripped from the ends of both Richter’s mace and his elementum blade. The small gobbets of flesh clinging to the mace were somewhat gross, but there was no denying the weapon was effective. It was much less “clean” than using a sword, just beating creatures
to death with wet smacking sounds, but for better or worse, Richter was still having fun. After Alma used her primary attack, the chaos seed fell back a step, leaving Terrod, Yoshi and the undead knight to take over tanking duties for a moment.

  More than half the beasts were dead and another thirty were injured. Amazingly, the ebontusker was still in the back of the cavern, doing his business. Richter had heard about being happy as a pig in shit, but this was ridiculous. The chaos seed was somewhat offended that the monster didn’t think he was important enough to even quit fucking and start fighting. Unable to help himself Richter started to shout.

  “Hey pig… pig fucker! Come fight!”

  The pig just kept rutting.

  Okay, Richter thought glaring at the monster. We’ll fix this problem now. Right now! A mental command was all it took. Alma fired a lightning bolt directly into the sow that the ebontusker was enjoying so much. The bolt sizzled into the tusker, creating a Stun effect. That finally got the ebontusker’s attention. Just not in the way that Richter wanted.

  The huge pig monster glared across the cavern and locked eyes with the chaos seed. With a savage grunt, the creature shuddered and the body of the sow finally slumped to the ground. The ebontusker finally started moving towards the party with a determined stride, priapistic member leaving a dripping trail.

  Richter stared at it in disbelief, “Did… did that motherfucker just finish?”

  “Yeah,” Sion responded even as he shot another arrow at a tusker. “And he made eye contact with you first. I saw it!”

  “Mmhmmph,” Richter commented furiously, still staring at the ebontusker. He realized he was so angry that his head had started nodding ridiculously fast. “Okay. Okay. Let’s do this!” He hung his mace from a belt loop, wanting one hand free for casting. Stepping back up to the line, he laid into another tusker, the elementum blade splitting its skull easily. Brain matter and chips of bone flew when he yanked his short sword out of its head.