Unusual Enemies - A LitRPG Adventure (The Whispering Crystals, #2)
Page 7
I was a little surprised at this at first, but it turns out conservation of energy is not a thing in this Realm, which is why I can use just 1 Onkh of Qi to form almost 5 Onkh of Toxic Energy, making Infuse quite a fuel-efficient Skill. It also explains why Kaitlynn’s maximally charged 10 Onkh Astreum Blast packs such a punch.
Either way, it’ll take about forty minutes or so for Kaitlynn to be fully charged again, as the time it takes to fully charge unexpectedly seems to be roughly an hour, independent of the relative size of our Qi Pools.
Thankfully, it doesn’t come to another fight just yet. We creep through the underbrush uncontested until we hit upon the river. It’s pretty hard to miss, actually, as it starts to our right in the form of a huge Hydrumfall, coming out of the bloody grey wall itself.
It then meanders a bit, with the riverbanks not very high above the Hydrum, to the point where we are now, before bending sharply to the right and disappearing into the forest in the distance.
Well, actually, we’re up on a hill overlooking the bend in the river, and more importantly perhaps, the collection of ramshackle huts on its shore there.
It’s a froggo village, and it’s crawling with the fat buggers. I count at least a dozen of them, and there’s bound to be more in the huts. The tribal village doesn’t have much in the form of fortifications, just a couple of watchtowers, but I still don’t feel like storming it.
Dave seems to agree with my assessment. “Looks like we’ll have to give this place a wide berth. I’d rather not tangle with this many Hoig.”
However, that’s when I spot something that makes my stomach drop. “That’s going to be difficult. I think I know how we’re supposed to go down the river now.”
I point at the wooden barge, moored in the bend of the river, smack dab in the middle of the froggos’ village.
A ways farther from the village, sheltered by a dense copse of trees, we discuss our next move.
“I say we go stealth,” Alec starts, “wait till Twinset, sneak in after dark, take the barge, and get the frig out of there before the froggos catch on.”
Jacob hums. “That would be safest, though I feel like we might be missing out on some bonus Trial Points if we evade combat...”
“Be that as it may,” I say tersely, “we’re not exactly equipped to take out the whole village. And I’m sure the fight will come to us, regardless of if we go looking for it.”
Kaitlynn smirks at me. “Aww, why so pessimistic? Who knows, maybe things will be easy for once!”
I give her the ol’ stink-eye, but she just smiles back mischievously. Brat.
Dave clears his throat. “If you could stay focused please, ladies? Now, unless I’m mistaken, the last Twinset we witnessed occurred maybe an hour before we left Hub Two. We spent roughly forty-eight hours inside the preparation rooms. A single cycle of the Twinstar takes about seventeen hours and thirteen minutes, so three cycles take about fifty-two hours. That means the next Twinset should be in three hours or so.”
I blink at him. Wow, quick maths! “Good,” I finally say. “That should be plenty of time to recharge our Qi and plan our mission.”
Alec perks up. “Ooh, what should we call it? Mission ehm... not impossible?”
I apply my palm to my face.
Dave shakes his head. “Dude. Lame.”
“How about, ‘Operation Frobin Hood’?” Kaitlynn weighs in cheekily.
I smirk at her, brow raised. “Honestly, that’s only marginally better.”
“Oh yeah, what’s your idea then?” she asks, a challenging glint in her eye. Then she assaults my sides, thereby preventing me from coming up with anything, thus shooting herself in the foot. Even though her assault doesn’t really penetrate my leather armour, I stand by this explanation.
“Operation Barge In and Barge Out,” Jacob deadpans.
A beat of silence follows.
“Dude, awesome,” Dave says, nodding approvingly. Alec—grinning widely, his own terrible idea forgotten—goes for a high-five.
Kaitlynn relents her assault, saying, “Okay, that is a good one.”
“Nice,” I agree, “Operation Barge Out for short. Let’s get planning then.”
Crouched in the bushes with Alec underneath a magnificent night sky, I fidget impatiently.
I throw another glance at our target, the guard near the river’s edge, one of the few guards the froggos have posted. Alec had actually suggested we sneak up on him by diving underwater—or under-Hydrum I guess—and flowing along the river. I might have actually considered the plan, except for the part where, if things went wrong, we’d end up fighting the amphibians in the Hydrum.
No, we’ll have to do things the old-fashioned way: wait for the distraction, sneak up, and knock him out.
Finally. I activate the second mode of Boost Physical and continue the countdown on my fingers. Alec tenses up and nods at me.
When I get to zero, Jacob makes his move maybe 100 feet to our left. He throws a stick into some bushes, causing them to rustle. Simple but effective.
The closest froggo guard looks over with what might be a frown. It’s hard to tell in the dark... on a giant frog. He opens his massive gullet and retrieves a crude axe from inside, before moving to check out the disturbance. The froggo guard in front of us readies his blowpipe, turning to stare at the bushes without much tension in his body.
Which is what we’ve been waiting for. Alec and I sneak out behind his back, and slowly make our way towards him, while Kaitlynn remains on lookout.
I ready my own blowpipe, with its special payload, while Alec lifts his hammer overhead with some difficulty.
Thankfully, the knifegrass beneath our feet bends without creaking. I flinch after stepping on a twig, but it’s too Tough to snap under my weight.
Despite the favourable conditions, our target still eventually notices our approach, somehow, but it’s too little too late.
The moment he turns, I dart forward and unleash a controlled burst of Aether into my blowpipe. A generous helping of Dreamcloud powder rushes out of the other end, catching him full in the face.
I checked out the darts I found, of course, and they turned out to be full of Toxic Energy, by the grace of having been carved from some kind of woody Toxic plant. That wouldn’t do much in terms of silencing opponents, however. Toxic Energy in its base, Purpose-less form just weakens and drains Lavi, after all. We considered things like coating the dart in Dreamcloud powder—maybe wetting it first, so the powder would cling to the surface—but ultimately none of those ideas seemed terribly practical, and we didn’t really have time or proper test subjects to try them out on.
This delivery method at least has a better range than just tossing it by hand, especially if I use it.
And it works like a charm. The froggo’s alarmed eyes turn glazed and confused right before Alec’s hammer crashes down on his head from behind and sends him sprawling with a dull thud.
Alec pulls out a stone knife, and silently finishes the job by slitting the guard’s, well, upper torso. Not sure if I can call it a throat on a being that hardly has a neck.
He does it like he does most things: enthusiastically. It’s an odd and slightly disturbing thing to see.
Over in the bushes near Dave’s position, Kaitlynn and Jacob perform a similar two-pronged strike, with Kaitlynn rushing in with a handful of powder, and Jacob finishing the job with a thrust of his sword.
Near simultaneously, Dave executes the riskiest part of Operation Barge Out: he shoots an arrow at the guard in the watchtower.
We considered tying a pouch full of Dreamcloud powder to his arrow but ultimately decided against it, as it might affect the flight path in unpredictable ways. And if Dave misses and the guard raises the alarm, this operation is basically over.
> Thankfully, he doesn’t. His arrow flies true and hits the froggo square between the eyes. It slumps down silently.
Silence reigns and we wait with bated breath. That was the final guard on this side of the village, but the question remains, did any of the guards farther out notice?
Ultimately, nothing happens. Looks like we’re in the clear. I carefully reload my blowpipe in the dark, then take the guard’s as a spare while Alec loots his gullet and the rest quietly make their way towards us.
I take a glance at the determined faces around me and nod. “Let’s go,” I whisper.
And we’re off, sneaking downstream next to the river into the village proper. Small, partially dug-in huts are spread haphazardly across the shore. We give them a wide berth.
My heart beats in my throat as I creep through the sand that covers the thin beach near the river. I’m not quite as tense as I was during Kaitlynn’s rescue, but it’s close. In fact, I even find it a little exciting. After all, our plan seems to be working!
Of course, as soon as I think that, a froggo stumbles out of his hut right in front of us to stretch languidly.
His eyes open and he freezes in place as he notices us.
CHAPTER 9
I’m on a boat
I REFLEXIVELY LIFT my blowpipe, but then hesitate, as I’m too far to deliver its payload. Dave doesn’t have the same issue. He shoots a hastily drawn arrow point-blank at the startled froggo. The froggo barely dodges, and the Greysteel projectile zooms past his cheek, leaving a scratch from which big drops of green blood well up.
The froggo inhales.
A flash of yellow erupts from Jacob’s Focus Crystal as his ability sends him flying. The edge of his shield slams into the startled froggo’s swelling throat, before he can make a sound. The creature gurgles and goes sprawling back into the hut. Jacob stumbles back, brought off-balance by the impact, and Kaitlynn makes use of the opening to duck inside the hut. The knife in her hand flashes and a spurt of thick green blood comes flying out.
It remains silent after that. I let out a quiet exhale, and lower my blowpipe. That was close.
Kaitlynn steps out of the hut and pulls a face at the green goop on her armour. I shake my head.
We press on.
After another minute or so of sneaking, we reach the simple dock made of carefully stacked rocks. Some vines tied to wooden poles hold the barge in place.
It’s a twenty-foot-long, flat wooden boat, that appears to be carved entirely from a single piece of wood, up to and including the small cabin at the back. Even the movable parts, like the steering wheel in front of the small cabin and the rudder behind it, seem to have been cut from the same tree.
Dave quickly takes charge, putting Jacob and Kaitlynn to work untying it with some gestures and undoubtedly some telepathic commands.
I turn to face the village together with Alec. It seems almost like a ghost town in the tranquil dark, but I know that appearance is deceiving. We spotted at least two dozen Hoig earlier.
As my eyes rake over the sleeping nest, a glimmer catches my eye from a nearby hut. I frown and move a few steps to the right.
My eyes widen. The structure I’m currently ogling is actually a little bigger than the rest, and stands a little higher, on wooden poles. What catches my eye, however, is the glimmer and glow of crystals inside, and particularly, the altar from which a fully crystal trident rises up.
A weapon with the Toughness of crystal, wouldn’t that be crazy strong?! You could probably pierce through Greysteel with that! With enough Strength, you could probably ram that sucker straight through Jacob’s shield... as a purely hypothetical example, of course.
I swallow thickly. Alec by now has caught on to what I’m looking at and turns to me with glittering eyes.
I hesitate for only a moment before I turn back to the barge to flag down Dave. He comes over with a frown, eyes scanning the village behind us.
“What’s wrong?” he whispers.
“I just spotted the motherlode,” I whisper back excitedly, before pointing back. “That building appears to be some kind of temple. Didn’t the appraisal say something about the froggos worshipping crystals? Well, that place is chock-full of them. I want to take a look.”
“I’ll come with,” Alec quickly says, shooting me a conspiratorial wink.
I’m pretty sure Dave saw that, but I appreciate the backup nonetheless.
Dave frowns. “Wait. What if it’s a trap?”
“C’mon, we gotta take the risk,” I say. “Look at that trident! If you guys ready the getaway car, we’ll take care of the heist.”
He glances back at Kaitlynn and Jacob who are working diligently to untie the barge, hesitates for a moment, then turns back and nods. “Fine. I’ll inform the others and take over lookout duty. Just be careful, you two.”
I turn around before he can change his mind. There’s no way I’m ignoring a room full of treasure.
We sneak over to the wooden stairs that lead up to the entrance and look around. I may be greedy, but I’m not stupid. If there’s valuable stuff there’s bound to be—
My heart skips a beat when I spot it. Backlit by the crystals lighting up the room, the thin wire which stretches across the entrance before disappearing into a hole in the doorpost is actually rather noticeable, if you’re paying attention.
Silently, I point it out to Alec. His eyes widen.
Wary of other traps, I look beneath the building. It’s rather dark, but I at least don’t see any obvious things sticking out beneath the floor, nor any cliché holes in the ground with spikes at the bottom.
I wonder what the tripwire triggers. Judging by how primitive the froggos are, I honestly doubt they’d have any sophisticated mechanisms.
Satisfied with the lack of real security, I carefully walk up the short stairs to the entrance. One of them creaks and I freeze, but it remains silent. I reach the top and carefully step over the tripwire.
Alec follows me inside, careful to skip the creaking stair and step over the tripwire as well. I set foot through the doorway and my breath catches. Spread out on tables and shelves around the room is a ridiculous amount of crystals in all shapes and sizes and glowing in all the colours of the rainbow. Some are as tiny as a fingernail, others too big for us to even carry.
Alec takes off his backpack and starts loading up, seemingly at random. Probably for the best. Meanwhile, I slowly move towards the main prize, warily testing the floor in front of me with each step before I put my weight down.
The back of my neck is prickling. It feels too easy, even if it is in the middle of a village full of murderous amphibians. There must be another trap.
But the trident is gorgeous. The mostly transparent crystal is lined with jagged, glowing blue veins. Its surface is a little rough, making the blue light spread diffusely. It sticks out of a hole in the middle of an otherwise empty altar, made of a large slab of rough, off-white rock.
If there was going to be a fancy contraption anywhere, it would be here. The altar reaches all the way to the floor, so I can’t see what’s below that hole.
Could it be one of those traps where you have to quickly replace the object with something of the same weight to avoid triggering it? If so, what should I use, my spear? I suppose I could always buy a new one if the trident turned out to suck.
Of course, that’s all based on speculation, however. I might be better off just grabbing it and running after Alec has filled his pack. Worst-case scenario might be a shower of toxic darts from hidden mechanisms in the wall. Or actually, I guess an alarm going off might be worse.
My fingers itch to just grab it, but I’m determined to be smart about this. Maybe I can see something from beneath the hut that tells me—
Something clatters on the ground behind me. I spin around with my heart in my throat.
Alec looks at me sh
eepishly. “It gave me a shock,” he whispers, before gingerly picking the crystal up regardless and sticking it in his backpack, which looks pretty full. Alec seems to agree, huffing exaggeratedly as he hefts it on his back.
Rolling my eyes, I turn back around and—
The trident is gone.
For a split second, I stare blankly at the hole in the altar. An inane part of me wants to look inside to see what was below it.
The rational part of me forces me to look up, to find two large eyes with horizontal pupils mockingly staring down at me from the dark space above and behind the altar.
I raise my blowpipe as fast as I can, but a long arm appears from the dark and casually backhands me into a table full of crystals. My blowpipe spins away, unleashing its contents in a cloud over my head.
The large froggo jumps down, the wood trembling under his weight. Dazed, I can only stare at his hulking figure. Unlike the other froggos, this guy—which I immediately dub ‘the chief,’ in my head—is wearing armour. Worse, he’s wielding the beautiful crystal trident.
As he opens his gullet, I catch a glimpse of a deep blue crystal embedded deep in his throat. “Kill the intruders!” he croaks mightily, his voice no doubt reverberating through the entire village.
I nod agreeably as he says it. Naturally, killing intruders is a good policy. A little voice nags in the back of my mind, however. Something about the ‘intruders’ including Kaitlynn, and like, me. Wait, what the hell am I thinking?! Shaking my head, I manage to clear my mind from the effect of the Dreamcloud drifting down around me.
My face is throbbing. Groaning, I try to get upright and retrieve my spear from behind my backpack. He really did a number on me.
Thankfully, I’m not alone, so before the chief can use his trident to turn me into a shish kebab, Alec storms him, hammer raised high and crackling with lightning.