by Seth Ring
Hunching his shoulders slightly as the torrent of sound and spit flew from Alph’s mouth, Thorn shot another spitter, sending the bugs around it to a burning death.
“Would a higher temperature help?” Velin’s words were calm as she recast one of her buffs on Mina.
“What?! You...actually, yes. It probably would. Provided it was applied evenly around the potion that would probably work. At least eighty percent chance.”
“Vivi, can you spare a [Lava Ball]?”
“Of course.” Vivi paused her hand motions and turned around to face Alph, conjuring a [Lave Ball] around the bottom of his potion.
The thick magma curled around the glass, causing it to glow with heat. The potion inside the beaker began to boil instantly, collapsing into itself until a deep emerald gel substance was left. Alph grabbed the potion with a thick glove as Vivi dismissed the [Lava Ball], and he poured out the emerald gel onto his box. Taking out a knife, he cut it into even pieces and flicked them into six waiting vials. Quickly capping the vials he shook them up and slotted them into his bandoleer. Shoving everything back into his box, he swung it onto his back and darted forward, shouting over his shoulder as he passed Thorn.
“Let’s go! The first one blows in sixty seconds!”
“Follow closely!” Thorn yelled, his voice shocking the girls into action. The two tanks led the way, activating their charge abilities to clear a path through the crowds of enemies. As soon as they began to falter, Thorn charged from behind them, jumping over their heads, his landing crushing countless bugs.
Forging forward, he drew his tetsubo and an equally large greatsword from his inventory and began clearing a wide path. The girls followed behind him, Alph carried forward in the center of the group. As they rushed forward, the crowds of enemies grew thicker, forcing them to slow down. The closer they got to the first hollow, the more enemies piled around them.
The spitters and spike bugs that they had been clearing began to turn toward them from both sides of the cavern. Thick globs of acid began to land around them as the spitters unleashed their payloads. One of the globs landed by Thorn’s foot, burning its way into the cavern floor and making him glad that the spitters lacked precision aim.
Five groups of newly emerged spike bugs turned sharply, their spiked armor cutting deep swaths in the tube bugs swarming around them as they lined up to charge at the players. Digging their shovels into the ground, they launched themselves forward with dizzying speed.
“First one is going to blow, get down!”
Drawing one of the vials from his bandoleer, Alph threw it forward into the hollow. As it tumbled through the air, a cracking sound rang out as the glass was unable to hold the pressure back.
*ting*
The vial shattered completely, a viscous green glowing foam boiling out into the air. The foam fell toward the ground, quickly expanding to a patch over fifteen feet wide and six feet thick with no sign of stopping. Under the players’ incredulous stares, the bugs that were caught in the foam melted like candles thrown into a bonfire.
“Ah! We’re too close!” Screaming his head off, Alph fled back the direction they had just come, running surprisingly fast.
Panicked yells broke out as the girls imagined getting caught in the thick, poisonous foam. They turned and ran as fast as they could, using all of their movement abilities with abandon. Making sure that the others were safe, Priss risked a glance over her shoulder, only to see the foam a few feet away.
The tall half-Orc had been standing in front of Vivi to shield her from the charging spike bugs and was not able to move fast enough to escape the foam. Gritting her teeth as she saw the rapidly growing glowing foam coming toward her, she closed her eyes and braced herself, only to find herself caught by a large hand that wrapped around her waist. A faint hiss sounded and abruptly she was flying, held by a massive metal Wolfkin.
Landing with a crash, Thorn put Priss on her feet and looked around. Mina and Vivi were doing their best to block the charging spike bugs with [Ice Wall] and [Magma Wall] spells while BrokenBlade and Heidi were shielding the rest of the team from the acid that flew over. Bluefire was the only one who stood apart from the rest of the group, clearing any bugs that got close with sweeps of her magical blades.
“How long till the next one goes?” Thorn asked Alph, who quickly counted on his fingers.
“Forty seconds, give or take?” Everyone near Alph quickly moved away from him.
Nodding, Thorn called for the team to gather up and began running back toward the thick pile of foam that covered the area where the hollow had been.
“How on earth are we going to cross the foam of death!?” Hollowgen stared at Thorn’s back like he was crazy. “What on earth is he doing?!”
“It’ll harden within five seconds. And we need to get to the next hollow before the next bomb goes off!”
Arriving next to the six foot tall pile of foam, Thorn knelt down on one knee and held his hands out, one at calf height and the other near his sternum. Sensing what he was doing, Mina darted forward and stepped on his hand, and then on his knee, walking up him like a set of stairs. Rushing all the way to the top, she summoned a set of ice walls behind the group, managing to deflect a spike bug that was chasing them.
“Hurry up!”
After a moment of hesitation, the others followed Mina’s example and ran up to the top of the foam. Once everyone was on top, Thorn pulled himself up and they began to run forward, crossing the thick block of hardened foam as quickly as possible.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
“Alph, you better throw the next one soon, otherwise we’ll get trapped up here!”
As they arrived at the end of the hardened green foam, Mina looked at the alchemist nervously.
“Hey, can you put down two ice walls on either side? I want to send the foam that way,” Alph asked, pointing toward the entrance to the next cavern.
“Whatever you do, do it quickly!” BrokenBlade stepped up next to Alph and swung her large sword around her head, warding off a glob of acid.
“Do you mean like this?” Mina pointed her wand at the ground, dropping two [Ice Wall] spells about ten feet apart on the cavern floor.
“Perfect, that should help.”
Reaching for the next potion, Alph pulled it from its spot in his bandoleer and opened it up. As soon as the potion touched the air it began to activate, sending a column of foam into the air as he tossed it to the ground. Blocked on three sides by the hardened green foam and the two [Ice Walls], the potion expanded, spilling out from between the two [Ice Walls] and shooting toward the cavern’s exit.
It only took six seconds to completely expand, creating a path roughly ten feet wide and sixty feet long. Once it had finished growing, Alph waited for five seconds and then stepped onto the top of it confidently, walking forward as, with nervous looks, the others followed.
“I’ve got good news and bad news, Thorn.” As they walked, Alph continued to throw out his potions every minute, covering the hollows and extending their path, allowing them to bypass the crowds of bugs.
“Good news first.” Thorn sidestepped a glob of acid, carefully watching for more ranged attacks.
“Well, the good news is that the tube bugs and thin-legged bugs are spawned in this room, so we probably will not have to face them any more.”
“Ugh, thank goodness.” Mina shuddered, sending a swarm of [Ice Spikes] to knock down a spike bug that was trying to climb the side of hardened green foam.
“Don’t cheer just yet. Bad news is that the potions I have will explode before we get to the next room and I don’t have anything that can deal with the juggernauts or elemental bugs. They are the whole reason that I retreated in the first place.”
“Alright, we’ll figure it out.”
Once they were about twenty feet from the cavern’s exit they rushed down from the top of the foam path and bolted for the exit. A churning crowd of bugs followed them, but Alph covered the tunnel in a liberal amount of
his instant wall, blocking the way.
“You realize that you are blocking our way out, right?” Priss asked Alph, tapping on the hardened foam.
“Don’t worry, it’ll only last about twenty four hours. After that it’ll dissolve.”
“Oh, great. So if we don’t finish within a day we’ll have an endless amount of bugs attacking us from both sides.” Priss rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall of the tunnel, exhausted. “Whose idea was this to try and clear this quest with only ten people? This is a multi-guild scale quest at the very least.”
“We’re managing so far, aren’t we?” Mina did not miss the opportunity to pick at the big half-Orc.
“Oh, please. We’re exhausted, or at least close to it, and the only reason we’ve made it this far is the walking weapon of mass destruction over there.” Just thinking about the glowing green foam melting the bugs made her shudder. “If we keep going like this we’re dead, without a doubt.”
“Priss is right, you know.” Bluefire jumped in before Mina could respond, turning to look at Velin and Thorn. “If the next room is anything like the two we’ve just been through, we’re going to be in trouble. Healing spells only reach so far and we can’t log out because we’re still tagged as in combat. Alph saved us with his potions, but unless he can pull off that trick again, we’re in a lot of trouble.”
Seeing everyone’s eyes turning to him, Alph held up his hands defensively.
“Sorry folks, I don’t have enough material for a repeat performance. And even if I did, the juggernauts wouldn’t care. I don’t have an adhesive that is strong enough to deal with them.”
Silence fell over the group as the weight of the situation settled on them. Crouched down in the middle of the tunnel, Thorn sighed and scratched Akira under the chin. He could feel the fatigue that the others were talking about starting to fray the edges of his spirit.
[Master, here.]
Looking down, he saw that Akira was offering him one of the pastries that she had stored in her belt pouch.
[This will make you feel better, master! I took some bites out of it because I was hungry, but I left the sweetest part for you!]
[Thanks, Akira.] Taking the half-eaten sweet, Thorn removed his helmet and tossed the treat into his mouth. Grinning widely as he tasted the delectable morsel, he waved his hand and plate after plate of steaming hot food began to appear in the dim tunnel.
Steaks, soups, bread straight from the oven, flaky meat pies, roasted corn, bowls of fruit, and pitchers of frothy drinks spread out around him, filling the tunnel with a wonderful smell. Seeing that the others were swallowing their saliva, Thorn gestured for them to dig in and began eating himself as he spoke.
“Well, we only have one path right now, and that is forward. Might as well have a good meal before we face whatever is coming up.”
The hot food did wonders for the spirits of the group, and soon they were chatting and joking together as they shared the meal. Even Priss seemed to put down her attitude in the face of three different kinds of pudding. Akira kept herself busy getting different bits of food and distributing them to the party, all the while carefully storing bits of food in her pouch.
It did not take long for them to eat their fill, and everyone’s mood was much better when they were done. Thorn cleared the plates, finishing anything that had been left before putting the plates away in his inventory. Putting his helmet back on, he turned to lead the way into the third and final cavern.
“Everyone be on your toes, we might have to adjust quickly.”
The third cavern was better lit than the previous two, with thick mana veins running across the walls and ceiling. The gentle glow revealed a room as large as the second cavern, its flat floor dotted by clumps of rocks. The birthing pods of the previous caverns were gone, replaced by a single massive egg in the center of the room. Large groups of spike bugs patrolled through the stone piles, weaving in and out of each other whenever a group met. The jiggling sacks of the spitters could be seen glowing as they marched here and there.
“Ah, praise terra, there is only one juggernaut.” Alph wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead as he peered around Thorn.
Opening his mouth to ask Alph where the juggernauts were, Thorn’s words died in his throat as Bluefire pointed her finger. Under the group’s astonished gaze the giant egg began to shift. Rocking in place, the egg suddenly rose, six thick legs unfolding and slamming into the cavern floor.
“Tha...That’s huge.”
“Is that the juggernaut?” Even Thorn could only swallow as he looked at the monster towering more than twice his height.
“I mean, if that isn’t then we’re in a whole lot of trouble.” Priss’ face was pale behind her grey-tinted skin. “Like I said, we probably should have invited some other people.”
“Well, it is too late for that.” Thorn’s gaze hardened as he stared at the big bug. The corruption of the smaller bugs had been minute, a tiny scratching at the walls of his mind. But for whatever reason, the nauseating feeling of corruption was radiating off of the large bug, making his fingers clench.
Used to being the biggest thing around, the sight of the giant bug set something alight in Thorn’s chest. It was a single pinpoint of the excitement that he had grown familiar with, but it shocked him more than the full-blown feeling ever had. With a small gasp of surprise, he put a hand to his chest, the corners of his lips curling slightly as the burning urge to throw himself into combat kindled. He had not felt this feeling since his fight against Courdum the Stone King when his heart was petrified. Sucking in a deep lungful of air, he flexed his claws.
“Are you okay?” Ever vigilant, Velin noticed his heavy breath.
“Never better.” The tone of Thorn’s voice had changed and the underlying intensity caused the people around him to step back.
“How on earth are we going to deal with all these bugs? Maybe we should call for the rest of the Roses,” Bluefire asked, shaking her head at the impossible task before him.
“We’ll just kill them.” Thorn’s voice conveyed the excitement that was gradually building in him.
“We’re going to kill that?” Priss asked skeptically, pointing to the juggernaut stretching its legs.
“No, I’m going to kill that. When the juggernaut comes over, I’ll deal with it. Velin, I’ll probably need you and Akira both, and while I’m dealing with the big guy everyone else will need to clear the chaff. Bluefire, you’re in charge of the team.”
Ignoring Priss’ open-mouthed stare, Velin nodded her head seriously. She and Mina both began to double check their gear, getting ready for the coming fight. After a moment Heidi shrugged slightly and joined them, making sure her armor was in order. The ladies from the Society of Roses stared at each other in shock until Bluefire coughed and jerked her head. Stepping to the side, she spoke in a low voice, fixing each of her team members with a firm stare.
“Thorn is in charge here so we follow his lead. If he says we fight, we fight. Just make sure you don’t let down the name of the Roses, alright?”
“Sure, but when we get back Athena is gonna get an earful.” Sneering, Priss spat on the ground as she turned away.
Once the whole group was ready, Thorn led the way forward, his long strides forcing the others to jog to keep up. The first bugs to notice their group was a patrolling pack of spike bugs who veered toward them as they rounded a tall pile of rocks.
Before they got close Vivi had erected a [Lava Wall], causing them to burst into flames. A few of the spike bugs in the back managed to make it through the wall as the majority of the lava hit the bugs at the front of the group. As their companions let out deafening screeches, burning to ash, they continued their mad dash toward the players, trailing smoke.
“Well, that will bring everyone to the party. Form up folks, we’re in for a rough one!” Bluefire’s voice was firm, a testament to her many years of experience commanding teams for the Society of Roses.
The death cries of the spike bug
s quickly drew the attention of some of the surrounding bugs who rushed over to join the fight. A quick barrage of [Ice Spikes] cut down the few spike bugs left in the initial group, and the whole team got ready to receive the next wave. Standing at the back of the group, Thorn looked down at Velin.
“Any buffs you can help me with?” Thorn was itching to attack the juggernaut, but after everything he had been through in the Labyrinth, he had more than learned his lesson.
“Yes. Increased strength, speed, armor, and health.” Waving her staff, Velin cast a golden glow on Thorn. “Once you’re in the fight I can activate more abilities and support you with ranged attacks.”
[I can help you too, master!]
[Thanks, Akira. I’ll be counting on you.]