This was an actual store. A place to buy and presumably sell gear and equipment. The old man hobbled behind the counter and took a seat on a stool, leaning against the glass counter. “Here we are. Brimley’s Depository. High quality weapons, armor and whatever charms I’ve collected. And it’s all for sale.”
“This is unreal,” Trig said as he unrolled a large blueprint from its cylindrical holder. “Look! A trap design for a self-contained snare system. You don’t need to affix the rope to any support structure!”
“Ah yes, that one there is quite the winner,” Brimley said with a chuckle. “No longer bound to tying snares to trees, just one coil and a bit of Bloodpoints is all you need.”
“So you want…you said charms for this stuff?” I asked, looking at a suit of reinforced metal armor. It was well maintained, polished and looked quite ready for combat.
“Sort of,” Brimley said, nodding at that and gesturing towards a small sign. It read This Shop Accepts Rubis Only. “As part of my agreement with your home base, I can only accept those coins of yours. Fortunately, I also purchase charms for coins. Just don’t tell the home base that! They like to control where their money goes, I guess. I think they give them out as rewards for hunts. But I’m not about to turn customers away, so I technically follow the rules. Or at the very least, violate the spirit, but not the letter of the law.”
I glanced at Trig who gave me a curious look back. There was a Venator base somewhere? And they were centralized enough to have their own currency? No…that couldn’t be…
I tried to control my breath enough to ask him to clarify, barely getting the words out as the excitement began to overtake me. “Where is this base?”
Brimley raised an eyebrow at me. “I’d assume it’s where it always is. Unless it moved and you two are lost. In that case…I’d have no clue.”
Trig went to speak. “We’re not—”
“At liberty to talk about the base’s location,” I said, quickly interrupting him. I didn’t trust this man enough to talk about Hunter’s Hope yet. “I just was curious to see what you knew.”
Brimley growled at that. He could clearly sense something was wrong with us but wasn’t sure. He also did not seem interested in playing his hand, and so he merely leaned back. “Last I spoke to one of you slayer types, your base was located far to the northern region, past the Shadewood.”
My heart rose at those words. More Venators? And just past the woods! Trig broke out into a wide grin and slapped me on the back. With news like this, there was no way Hunter’s Hope would dare abandon this world. What if…what if these people were organized already? What if they had a city? Or…
Easy, Josiah’s Storm emoted, interrupting my unbridled hope. Temper yourself.
The bow was right, I couldn’t let my imagination run wild, not when I had a far more important task ahead of us. Recovering the Vessel was still a top priority. “What must we do to earn your assistance in reaching the Shadewood?” I asked. Going around the mountain sounded like an exhausting trip, for the range was huge and we had no way of knowing the length. If this man knew how to make it through the mountain and quickly, we would save a huge chunk of time! The only question was whether we could trust him. But…he didn’t seem to be too shady. Strange, for certain, but fairly friendly.
“Ah, I’m so glad you asked!” he said, pointing to a large circular hatch in the middle of the shop. “Like I said, I just need you two to do what comes naturally. After that, we can talk about getting to the Shadewood. And perhaps even negotiate how much that wonderful trap blueprint costs.”
Chapter 8
“So he’s like what, five foot nine?” Trig asked as we walked through the caverns alone, following the exact instructions the old man had given us. “So maybe to him, a large monster is only like…just a bit bigger, you know?”
“You think a hinge of that size is meant to trap something slightly taller than a short old man?” I asked, pointing to the massive metal hinge sticking out of the ground. Four hinges were lined up on both sides, supporting the enormous trap door mechanism we were standing on. Our weight alone would not trigger the door, but beneath we could hear something rustling and thumping.
“I’m just saying, let’s be hopeful all the way up until reality gives us a sturdy smack,” Trig said, kneeling down and pressing his face against the long seam in the center of the trap door. This device was built for giant beasts, not humans, so Brimley had never bothered to conceal it. After all, monsters simply did not seem to comprehend trap mechanisms. At least, the big ones didn’t.
“See anything?” I asked, stretching, readying for the carnage to begin. My head was a bit in the clouds as I thought of this supposed Venator base. Who were they? Holdouts from the old days, separated from the rest of the world? People like me, who had found instruction and direction, only to rebuild the Lodge from scratch? Or…was Brimley just an old loon, either half-mad or senile in his old age, mixing the past with the present? It was hard to tell. He was savvy enough to stay alive this long, though he seemed completely uninterested in revealing his actual abilities. Traps aside, we had no clue what we were dealing with.
“It’s big alright,” Trig said. “It’s blue! Skin too, no fur. Can’t really make out what it is, I’m just seeing blue skin. He seems stuck.”
That was the exact problem. Whatever had made its way into the “Concave Release System” was simply too big to get out. Too big or too stubborn. Either way, we had to get rid of the thing before something else big came snuffing along, looking for a meal. From the way Brimley explained (and from the constant sound of traps going off), the Shadewood produced a significant number of monsters on a daily basis, many of which wandered into these mountains. If the release system remained clogged, larger beasts would begin tearing through the tunnels and eventually find Mr. Brimley.
“You ready?” I asked, reaching down and grabbing hold of one of the trap doors. They only swung one way—down—which meant we’d have to break it. Fortunately, I was strong enough to do so with ease.
“Pop it open,” Trig said, drawing his twin daggers and dropping down into a combat stance. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
I nodded, took a deep breath and dug my fingers deep in between the large crack. Finding a grip, I pulled with all my might, straining to lift the large, unwieldy trap door. The hinges disagreed with my decision to press up and tried to do their job, but my might was no match for them. With a heave and a grunt, I pulled the entire trap door up, breaking the hinges in one fell swoop.
“Hot damn! I would not want to arm wrestle with you,” Trig said as he glanced down into the pit. Immediately, a long, rubbery blue tentacle came firing upwards, grabbing hold of him and yanking him down into the hole.
“Trig!” I shouted, tossing the door up and diving down into the hole as well, bow instantly appearing in my hands.
Below was a colossal blue crescent-moon-shaped monster, one I had seen before. A L’Gara! It was huge, twice the size of the regular L’Gara I had fought before, though…weren’t these underwater creatures? What in the hell was it doing out here?
This particular creature seemed to struggle to move, for it normally used its many tentacles to propel itself forward through the water. Instead, it was lying on its side, its enormous body jammed in between the two moderately large holes that connected to exterior tunnels. The creature seemed to be stuck on its back, though the six tentacles jutting out of its upward facing side were able to grasp at us without a problem.
“Now how come it grabs me when you’re the one who opened the damn thing?” Trig said from his safe position on the ground. In the tentacle of the L’Gara was a facsimile of Trig, a shadowy illusion made of magic. It pretended to recoil in terror as the beast swallowed it whole.
“Maybe it likes you more,” I said, firing a few shots in midair. The beast let out a groaning, huffing sound, not quite a roar, but brought its tentacles upwards to block the shots. Ea
ch arrow sank into the rubbery blue tentacle, incapable of causing any significant damage.
I landed beside my companion, watching as the horror tried to reach us, unable to see where we were. Its eyes were on each side of its massive head, but the way it was turned over meant it would have no peripheral vision. Tentacles whipped and grasped everywhere, searching for us.
“Use lightning,” I ordered as I drew out my lightning bow. Electrical energy crackled on the top of the tip of the arrows, ready to unleash their power. The L’Gara was a water creature and this one seemed to be no different. Though it didn’t seem to need water to survive, it was not adept at moving on the surface.
I fired a few electrical shots, watching as the great creature convulsed, arcs of electrical power surging through its skin. Tentacles flailed at us, uselessly swiping left to right. Trig and I were cut from the same cloth, fast movement and heightened reflexes. We had no trouble dodging the blind swipes of the beast’s protruding limbs. I fired arrows, while Trig threw a few grenades, stunning the beast so badly it was unable to do anything other than convulse and shriek.
Before I could ready for a stronger attack, there came a sharp sensation at the back of my head, a warning from my danger senses. Turning around, my eyes widened at the sight of something crawling towards us from one of the other cavern openings. There were three holes of different sizes and the smallest hole (nearly 15 feet tall!) had a strange spindly beast, pale as a corpse with all the blood drained out.
It wasn’t particularly wide, but it sure was tall. The creature was humanoid, with four sets of legs, its clawed feet pointing both forwards and backwards. Its arms were similar to the legs, with four sets of arms, nearly seven feet long. These arms swept every which way, feeling for something, clawed hands scraping the cavern floor and ceiling, making an occasional high-pitched whine with its claws—a whine that seemed to echo everywhere at once.
The head of this tallbeast was, for lack of a better word, split in half. Though the creature had a round head, like a human, there were no features upon it. The head split wide down the middle, with jagged teeth lining the interior on both sides, snapping up and down. Its flexible neck could spin in any direction and it never ceased snapping.
“Trig, handle the L’Gara,” I ordered. “We’ve got a visitor.”
“On it!” Trig said, his voice muffled by the sound of more explosions. I aimed my bow at the tallbeast’s center mass, figuring the head probably had little chance of holding anything important in there. Its cylindrical body probably held the vitals.
The tallbeast’s fingers slashed the top of the cavern roof as it lurched forward, and then suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The arms all flew upwards and spread out into a wide stance ready to grab at me.
I wouldn’t let this abomination get a chance to even get close. I drew Josiah’s Storm and fired a few regular arrows at the creature. As soon as my arrows left the bow, the tallbeast let out a hideous screech, one that caused an influx of echoes to assail me. Fortunately, I had an ability that allowed me to draw strength from the roars of giant creatures, but behind, I could hear Trig let out a yelp in surprise and pain.
His cry distracted me, for just a moment, and before I could react, the tallbeast was charging forward. The arrows sailed into its pale forearms as they swung up to form an X, keeping its body safe. All four legs seemed to bound at high speeds, but I was ready. I dropped down onto my back and fired a power shot, burning mana to increase the speed of my arrows so I could bypass its reflexive defenses.
Yet, as I fell back to avoid its forward charge, the tallbeast suddenly changed directions. Its legs sprang up and claws flipped upwards, grabbing hold of the ceiling. It didn’t break stride as my arrows flew past, harmlessly bouncing against the cavern wall.
I tried to roll out of the way, seeing the attack coming plain as day, but my reflexes just weren’t fast enough. The tallbeast dropped from the ceiling atop me, its four arms and legs all clawing in unison. Being on the ground gave me somewhat of an advantage here, for I was able to curl into a defensive position, blocking the rending claws with my armor.
The claws cut and swiped, digging deep into my blackoak greaves, splintering the wood with ease. I held my defense for a few beats, waiting for it to show signs of tiring, but this thing never seemed to run out of energy. My armor wasn’t going to hold for much longer.
I sent the command to my suit to switch from being a mere set of light armor to the much heavier, reinforced Titanframe armor. In an instant claw met metal as the heavy suit wrapped around me, encasing me in a bulky, rigid protection. This change did not seem to register for the tallbeast, and it continued to claw away at my chest, though now it was trying to break through several layers of monster bone reinforced with steel.
The suit’s design was not really meant for a person lying on the ground, meaning I was stuck. I could wriggle out of the suit, but that thing would shred my flesh in a matter of seconds. Already, I could hear the sounds of the bone fracturing and the steel beginning to open up as the tallbeast slashed away in a frenzy. My only defense was that my head was concealed by the helmet of the frame. If the tallbeast saw my exposed head, it would undoubtedly try to get me.
“Trig!” I shouted. “Status?”
“My legs are fine, it was just a glancing blow,” Trig replied, his voice addled and woozy. He sounded out of breath and in pain.
Gritting my teeth, I decided to chance pissing this tallbeast off. I raised a heavy, armored hand and lunged at one of the beast’s arms, catching it by the wrist. It was strong, but I was much stronger. With a grunt, I yanked down with all my might, rolling to the left, trying to throw it off me while also getting up at the same time. The armor did not want to comply with this kind movement, but I made it work.
There came a loud snap as I pulled on the arm, and much to my dismay, the damn creature’s arm popped right off, like it was nothing more than a rotting tree branch. The beast stayed in place, its now three arms violently tearing through my armor, continuing to burrow through single-mindedly.
“Damn it!” I shouted, releasing the arm. I should not have done that, for the moment the arm came free of my grasp, it immediately came to life and began to slither like a snake into my armor. I shuddered from the sheer grotesqueness of the sight, the pale, body-less arm squeezing itself into one of the small holes the beast had created.
Next thing I felt was burning hot claws rending my stomach, tearing through my skin like it was nothing. I stifled my pain and immediately pulled the quick release on the suit, prompting the ejection mechanism to disengage me from the interior. I crawled out of the large armor, grabbing at my gut, seizing hold of the violent, wriggling arm and pulling it out of me. It had almost burrowed inside, and I could see blood pouring everywhere.
Yet, in spite of this injury, the Amorphous ability from my charm paid off, big time! The blow to my midsection and intestines was treated as nothing more than a simple attack on my body. Yes, my health dropped by 20%, but injuries of that magnitude were usually fatal, though not right away.
I snapped the wrist of the boney arm, causing it to fall limp, and threw it aside, staggering away from the Titanframe. The tallbeast seemed not to notice that I was missing, continuing to tear through armor, more and more. Its back was exposed, and I took the shot, summoning my bow to my hands. Yet, before I fired at its hind parts, a thought came to me. The limbs popped off, right? I glanced at the dead arm on the ground. It had shriveled up after my killing blow, useless and impotent. Shooting the whole creature would get it right up on me, and my tunic and slacks were rugged enough for hiking, but not for resisting claws of that strength.
I strung up a multi-shot and angled my weapon so that I could hit the creature’s underarms. “Let’s see if this works,” I muttered, firing three arrows at once. They sailed through the air with lightning precision, striking each underarm at once. Immediately, the joints began to glow bright yellow and the tallbeast let out a h
ideous scream. Green blood sprayed everywhere as the limbs popped right off, struck with overwhelming force from my enhanced bow.
The creature turned and bounded towards me, leaping left and right, armless but still in possession of all four legs. I fired as fast as I could, but it was too quick. Too quick for my bow, yet how about magic? I snapped off the Weigh Down spell, targeting the back legs of the tallbeast. The invisible weights of telekinetic force wrapped around the limbs, causing it to sink down in midflight, its legs jerking backwards at full force. The body twisted back and forth like a ragdoll, and I fired more shots at the legs that weren’t weighed down, hitting them and causing them to detach.
In the distance, I could see the disembodied arms slithering around the ground like snakes, but these were not intelligent, nor particularly aware of their surroundings. They slashed and cut at nothing, sometimes striking each other, like animals with no sense of self.
Without its front legs, the tallbeast had no chance. It tried to move, but each weight slowed it down so greatly that it almost looked as if it were moving in slow motion. A hailstorm of arrows quickly put the defenseless creature down. Without arms to defend itself, or legs to leap about, it was little more than a stationary target.
The beast slumped over, dead. The wriggling limbs all ceased to move as well, shriveling up and dying, one by one. This fight was over, but the battle wasn’t done. I turned, clutching my stomach, and tottered towards the sounds of fighting back at the main trapdoor.
Trig was battered and bruised but still standing. He was panting hard, his chest rising and falling rapidly, yet he didn’t back down.
Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure Page 4