by Seth Ring
“The juggernaut bugs are massive and plated in the same armor that is on the big eggs. They have big claws and a mouth full of teeth. Needless to say, they are rough. Last, but probably most dangerous, there are the elemental bugs. They are the smartest bugs and can cast magic. Some fly, some burrow, some rush towards you and light you on fire. Oh, and some shoot icicles at you. Just depends on what sort of element they carry.”
“What about the large eggs? What is inside them?” Velin tapped her staff on the ground, shrouding Bluefire in a warm glow.
“Uh, nothing as far as I know. They seem to be the hatching spots for the other bugs. They’ll all have an opening on the back side where the eggs come out. As far as I know they are indestructible but can’t attack. When we get into the next cavern we’ll start seeing the bigger, more dangerous bugs.”
“In that case, why don’t we push through a bit faster? Since the tube bugs are endless there is no point in staying here any longer.” Velin called up to Thorn. “Let’s move to the next room.”
“Sounds good. Can everyone keep up?” Thorn looked over his shoulder at Priss.
“Just worry about yourself. We’ll be fine.”
“Haha, sounds good. Alright, folks, hang on.”
Rolling his shoulders, Thorn began to spin his tetsubo around him. Taking a step forward, his weapon continued its high speed rotation, ripping through the side of a tube bug that got too close. Crouching slightly, Thorn burst forward, his large strides carrying him into the middle of the tightly packed enemies. His tetsubo blurred as it picked up speed, crushing through the tube bugs like a bulldozer.
Behind him, the rest of the team rushed to keep up. Bluefire and Priss both cut down the bugs on either side nearly as fast as Thorn, focusing on chopping them apart as fast as they could without worrying about landing finishing blows. Heidi and BrokenBlade, running behind the two DPS, finished the injured bugs off while Vivi and Mina cast their best area of effect spells.
The limited intelligence of the bugs caused them to rush toward the party without any semblance of order, like fruit throwing themselves into a blender. Pushing forward swiftly, Thorn and the rest of the players were soon in the middle of the large cavern. Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, Thorn checked to see that everyone was managing to keep up.
“Looks like we’re all good, so I’m going to be speeding up. Any issue with that?”
Hearing no complaints, Thorn increased his speed again. Soon he was moving so quickly that his spinning tetsubo could barely keep up and most of the enemies in front of him were being crushed by his weight as he waded through them. The team behind him had no trouble keeping up as they rushed to the entrance to the next cavern. Arriving at the tunnel that still had tube bugs boiling out of it, Thorn called for Vivi.
Waving her hands in a complicated pattern, Vivi quickly drew a glowing circular rune in the air and pushed her hand out toward the cavern entrance, sending it tumbling forward. Spinning in the air, heat began to gather around it. Small clumps of dirt were pulled from the ground, turning molten as they settled onto the glowing runes and soon it had turned into a raging ball of lava.
Passing into the entrance, the heat radiating from the spell burned the tube bugs to a crisp as it floated down the tunnel. Once it arrived at the halfway point, Vivi snapped her fingers and the molten symbol exploded into a storm of lava, turning everything in the tunnel into ash. The walls of the tunnel were scorched with molten earth and began to glow as they absorbed the intense heat.
“Mina, would you mind helping me out?” Grinning at the destruction she caused, Vivi looked over at Mina who nodded and cast a [Blizzard] down the tunnel. The ice storm passed over the glowing rock, cooling it down until it was safe to walk on.
“Thank you, ladies. Alph, can you cover our back?” Thorn asked as he led the way into the cooled tunnel.
“Yup, no problem.”
Once everyone was in the tunnel Alph splashed a line of his rapidly expanding foam on the ground, creating an instant wall behind them. As the wall of foam cut them off from the light generated by the [Sticky Light] potions, Thorn realized that there was a subtle glow coming from the walls. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw thousands of tiny veins running through the rock, producing the weak light.
“What are these?”
“Hmm? Oh, the roots? They’re energy paths that lead toward the World Tree. The closer we get the bigger and brighter they will be. Which is great because I won’t have to waste more potions.”
“Do they pose any danger to us?” Velin asked, flipping open her notebook.
“Nah,” Alph waved his hand. “At least, not that I know of.”
“Hm. I don’t like this.” Velin sighed as she flipped her notebook closed and put it away. “I guess we should continue as normal. But everyone should be on the lookout for strange things. With the World Tree being corrupted, it’ll pay to be cautious.”
“Hah,” Priss snorted disdainfully, “sounds like someone is getting cold feet to me.”
“Hey, what is your problem?” Her eyes narrowed, Mina stared up at Priss. “You’ve got a serious chip on your shoulder, don’t you?”
“What? You have a problem with my attitude? Well suck it up, shorty. Unless of course you want us to leave you here.”
“Leave? Feel free. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t make a difference if you were here or not, tusker.”
“For a pipsqueak you’ve got quite the mouth. Better watch it before I close it permanently.” Sneering, the half-Orc stepped forward and glared down at Mina.
“Enough.” Before Bluefire could say anything, Thorn’s voice echoed in the tunnel.
Thorn crouched near the entrance to the next cavern since the tunnel was not quite tall enough for him to stand up. The glowing red eyes of his helmet cast a bloody illumination on the arguing ladies.
“Now is not the time for this. If you have a bone to pick with us, wait until we have completed this quest and we will be happy to discuss it with you to your heart’s content. You have been hired to assist us with this quest, and I expect you to do your job properly. Otherwise Athena will hear about it.”
Hearing the calm threat in Thorn’s words, Priss knew that she could push it no further. It was one thing to antagonize one of the Society’s customers, but entirely another to poke at someone with a direct line to Athena. The leader of the Society of Roses was normally fiercely protective of the members of the Society, to the point of covering for their faults. If she was that protective of her guildmates, Priss could only imagine how protective her leader would be of her only living family member. There was no way that Priss would bet against Thorn in this case.
“Hmph.” Turning around, Priss ignored Mina, dropping the argument.
“Mina, let it slide for now.” Thorn could tell from Mina’s stance that she was ready to launch a spell at any moment. “This isn’t the time for a team fight.”
“Fine.”
“Alph, anything we need to know before we go forward?”
“Um, no? I don’t think so? I mean, I’ve never fought my way through like this. I always used potions, which was way easier. Messier, but easier. But really messy. I confess, as much as I like potions, this way is better.”
“Wait, you mean you have done this by yourself?” Hollowgen cocked her head to the side as she stared at the alchemist.
“Oh yeah. At least once a week for a few years. It isn’t that hard with the correct set of potions. First you use a [Greater Softening] potion to make all of the bugs’ shells soft, and then you use a [Greater Elemental Tornado] potion to deal with all of the bugs. Of course, you have to use a [Super Adhesion] potion to make sure you don’t get blended along with the bugs. Oh, and a [Deep Breath] potion so you don't drown or breathe in liquid bug.”
“Umph.” Covering her mouth as she gagged, Hollowgen waved for him to stop.
“Like I said, this is way better. Anyway, the next room has spitters and spike bugs. Then there is one mo
re room after that with the juggernauts and the elemental bugs. Then we will be back into the central room of the tomb where the World Tree is. It’ll be Ms. High Priestess’ turn at that point.”
“Thanks. Let’s reorganize. I want both tanks at the front, and both melee DPS on the right. I’ll take the left side. Hollowgen, you and Vivi are in charge of the spitters. Mina, it’ll be up to you to help slow down the spike bugs. Velin, you and Akira will be responsible for healing and buffing. Alph, keep working on that potion.”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
The second cavern was narrower than the first but just as crowded, with tube bugs packed tightly together everywhere Thorn looked. Dim light radiated from the walls and ceiling, revealing a few large eggs dotting the cavern floor. Each egg sat up on a small hill, with hollows between them were the tube bugs emerged in an endless stream.
“Huh.” Tapping his tetsubo on his shoulder, Thorn looked around at the sea of bugs. “Alright, new plan. Alph, do you have a way to clear them without killing us?”
“Um, not yet? That is what I’m working on though. Once I’ve finished this new potion it should be able to specifically target the corruption in the bug’s blood. Everything else I have just causes mass extinction.” The alchemist’s wide grin looked eerie in the dim light, causing Mina, Vivi, and Hollowgen to edge away from him as he pointed at Thorn. “Well, except for you probably. I haven’t tested how it’d work with your stone skin and plus, your armor is Dwarven, so it probably is sealed. But the rest of us would be puddles within two minutes.”
“Well, that’s no good. How about some sort of crowd control? We need to get past those hollows, but it looks like that is where the tube bugs are spawning. What about the [Sticky Light] potions? Can you make that foam hard? So we can walk on it?”
“Sure, I can work on that. I’ll need about fifteen minutes to adjust the potions.”
Swinging his wooden crate off of his back, Alph opened up his mobile alchemy station and began to mix various things together.
“Look alive everyone, we’ve got bugs incoming. We’re holding here to defend Alph while he works on the potions. I’ll take the center, with Heidi on the right and BrokenBlade on the left. Priss and Bluefire, you’re on the outside. DPS, do your thing. Watch out for ranged attacks.”
BrokenBlade and Heidi moved up to the front of the group, taking their places next to Thorn as the swarms of bugs began to move toward them. The two girls planted themselves and began to draw aggro from the swarms while Thorn cleared the space between them. The team had stationed itself at the entrance to the tunnel that passed between the two caverns to prevent the bugs from being able to wrap around them.
As the waves of bugs rushed into them, the two melee DPS players on the ends of the formation began cutting down the bugs that tried to pass by the tanks. Behind them, Mina, Vivi, and Hollowgen rained death down on the bugs from afar. Over and over waves of bugs rushed forward only to be decimated by the ranged spells or ground to paste against the tanks’ shields.
A few minutes went by before they spotted the first new enemy. It was Hollowgen who noticed it first, calling out in a low voice.
“There is a new bug at two o’clock, along the wall. Looks like a spitter.”
The new bug looked similar to the tube bugs, but with a big pouch that jiggled as it pulled itself along the ground and an extra pair of legs. An extra layer of the leather armor covered its stomach, protecting the acid sack.
“Take it down.” As curious as Thorn was about the creature, he was not overly interested in having to deal with flying acid.
“On it.”
Hollowgen spun in place, drawing three arrows from the air and settling them on her bow string. Drawing her string back, she held the three arrows for a breath as she aimed. With a twang the three arrows left the bow, flying in three different directions before curving back toward the same point on the spitter.
[Triple Piercing Arrow]
The three arrows all arrived at the same moment, stabbing into the spitter’s skin, rupturing the acid sack and sending scalding liquid splattering across the surrounding bugs. With a desperate screech the spitter exploded into pieces, further spreading the burning acid.
“Great shot!” Vivi cheered for her teammate.
“Thanks.”
Unphased by the compliment, Hollowgen had already reloaded her bow, her eyes never pausing as she continued scanning for other spitters. Finding another one hiding at the edge of one of the nearby hollows, she raised her bow again. This time a single arrow rested on her bow string as she drew it back to her cheek. Holding the arrow for three breaths, the arrow’s tip glowed brightly.
[Power Shot]
Releasing the string, the arrow blurred through the air, leaving a line of light connecting Hollowgen and the spitter that slowly faded in the dimness. The bright tip of the arrow punched through the spitter’s plates of armor, breaking the acid sack that it protected. Another small explosion rocked the cavern as the spitter writhed, sending acid splashing across the nearby tube bugs.
“Mina!”
“I see them.” The short Ice Witch had created an [Ice Wall] shaped like a pillar to stand on since she could not see over Thorn and the tanks, so when Thorn called her name she was already beginning to cast at a group of three bugs that were hurtling toward the group.
The three bugs were curled up into circles, looking like thick tires with three rows of spikes. Four sets of shovel like appendages dug into the ground as they rotated, propelling them forward with incredible momentum. The three bugs moved in a straight line toward the tanks, crushing tube bugs under their spiked carapaces without care.
Remembering Alph’s words, Mina conjured a deep blanket of snow with her [Avalanche] spell, dropping it on the two spike bugs in the front. The thick wet snow slammed into the first two bugs, covering them and slowing their mad rush to a crawl. Following right behind them, the third spike bug hit the patch of snow and dug its shovels in, trying to push past it.
[Sub-Zero]
The temperature around the spike bugs plummeted in an instant, trapping all three bugs in ice as the wet snow froze completely, sapping their energy and life. As they struggled to free themselves, a spinning ice sphere flew abreast of them, releasing a barrage of [Ice Spikes] that shot into their unprotected sides with unerring accuracy.
Two of the spike bugs soon fell, the combination of the [Ice Spikes] and the chilly temperatures proving to be too much. The last bug managed to break free from the thick ice, but before it could move more than a few feet the [Ice Spikes] ended its life. Still, more spike bugs and spitter bugs emerged from the gloom of the hollows.
As more and more bugs emerged, Thorn stepped back to join Hollowgen. BrokenBlade and Heidi shifted their positions to close the gap that he left in their formation as he put away his tetsubo and got out his arbalest again. Together, he and Hollowgen began to clear the spitters, sending out magically charged arrows and siege bolts as fast as they could.
Vivi joined Mina in raining death down on to the charging spike bugs, her lava walls burning them to a crisp as they crashed through and her lava balls lighting them on fire as they careened wildly through the tube bugs. Between the devastation caused by the exploding spitters and the carnage from mindless charging of the spike bugs, the tube bugs were soon decimated, relieving much of the pressure on the tanks.
The frantic pace of the battle continued to build as more and more bugs emerged from the hollows. It had only been ten minutes since they had entered the cavern, but Thorn was starting to get worried. The rate at which he was burning through bolts was dangerous and he knew that he could only last a few more minutes firing at this rate.
The rest of the group was starting to show the strain of the fight as well. They had been fighting nearly non-stop for a few hours now and while they could still use their abilities, the mental and physical fatigue was beginning to build up. Even the healing spells that Velin had been using to keep them full of energy were
no longer working quite as well.
“Alph, how is it going?”
“Nearly there. Just under five minutes.”
“Any way you could speed it up?”
“Speed it up? Are you serious? I’m already going way too fast as it is! You want to wipe us all out? If I get any of these measurements wrong we’ll be suffocated, poisoned, and melted before you can say holy terra! Without four minutes and twenty three more seconds of boiling the reaction will not be delayed enough to keep the potion from exploding as soon as it is mixed. And without the poison mixed in the bugs will just eat their way through it before we can cross to the other side of the cavern! Alchemy is a sacred and absolute art! Shortcuts are the mark of a charlatan! A scam artist!”