Item: Verdant Virtue
Verdant Virtue renews awareness. They can be eaten raw or soaked in water and turned into an Epidermal Strip.
Item: Verdant Virtue Petal
Effect: Postpone fatigue. Extended use brings diminishing returns.
Item: Verdant Epidermal Strip
Effect: Completely eliminates the need for a night's worth of sleep. Extended use brings diminishing returns.
"Here goes the scary one," I whispered, trying to will myself on. The red petals had been hard enough for me to handle, and I was ready for the stem to be even hotter. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case. Instead, I was delighted to find they had a light crunch, a pleasant change from the fibrous chore the other two had been.
Skill: Organic Scrutiny
The ability to investigate and identify the effects of an organic item.
Base score - Twenty-Seven
New score - Twenty-Eight
Organic Scrutiny only applies once all of an item's core components have been investigated.
Item: Crimson Cluster
Crimson Clusters create heat. They can be eaten raw or moistened into a slurry.
Item: Crimson Cluster Petal
Effect: Prevent the negative effects of Cold
Item: Crimson Cluster Slurry
Effect: Highly flammable
Effect: Poisonous
Interesting...
For better or worse, all three of the colors were too useful to leave behind. I looked over at the furry creature as it decapitated wide arcs of flowers with the oddly long arms and snapped up the heads in its claws before they hit the ground. Its sack was almost full, and I eyed it with unrestrained jealousy.
That was what I really needed. Braiding the stems of the flowers together or filling my pockets with petals wasn't going to cut it.
There were a few more of the bulky creatures in the distant parts of the Swathe now, though the closest one by far was still my grunting friend. I'd been around it for long enough that I felt comfortable approaching it.
As I did, I tried to remember everything I'd learned about introducing yourself to large animals back at the shelter: no sudden movements and no confrontational eye contact.
As I got closer I could see that it had two types of eyes. The lowest pair were round and warm, not particularly bright but certainly not threatening.
The others were different, crystalline and sharply faceted. They were insectoid, glittering wickedly in the light as they spun in their sockets. I couldn't shake the feeling that they were assessing me, trying to gauge exactly how much of a threat I was.
Slowly, I held up my hands. "Don't worry. I just want to look at that bag, that's all. If I study it for a second, maybe I can learn how to make one, too. I promise I'll give it right back, okay?"
The long, segmented arms attached to its back stopped working as the insect eyes somehow sharpened their focus on me. I felt like a specimen beneath a microscope.
This was going downhill fast. "You know what, never mind. I can see that you're way too busy to chat."
Quick as a whip, one of the spindle arms lashed out at me. Instinct took over and I ducked. The sound of the air parting in the wake of the claws told me that, if I'd been any slower, I'd have ended up like the headless flowers.
I jumped back, dodging a follow-up attack and managing to fall on my ass at the same time.
How could it be this fucking fast? I'd barely been able to see the attacks coming, and now that I was sprawled out like this, the next one was sure to skewer me.
I was just out of its reach, but once it took a step forward I'd be dead.
It didn't happen. The creature just stood there, broad feet firmly planted. The faceted eyes spun faster and faster as the long arms grabbed at the soil, digging the claws in as it tried in vain to drag the unwilling body toward me.
I didn't realize what was playing out in front of me until the thing planted on the furry creature's back reared up. As it did, the top pair of eyes peeled away and I looked on in horror as the parasite slowly withdrew a dripping two-foot spike from the back of its host's neck.
No longer slowed by the bulk of the thing it'd been riding, it rushed me.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It could have killed me right then and there. I was paralyzed by the speed of the thing, unable to decide whether I should try to dodge to the side or just scramble backwards. I couldn't manage to convince myself that either action would have been successful, since the reach of those arms was overwhelming.
As dire as the situation was, at least part of my brain was still working overtime. It may not have been able to get my body moving just yet, but that didn't stop me from trying to work out a way to bring this thing down.
I'd been thinking of all of its limbs as arms, but I'd been mistaken. Now that it didn't have its host to help support its weight, the mosquito-thing had to use some of its limbs to keep itself upright. If it didn't, it'd fall face first on to the spike.
That frightening proboscis was as interesting as it was intimidating. Right up until a couple of seconds ago it had been the stuff of nightmares, but I was close enough now to get a good look at it.
I'd been assuming that the lethal-looking spear would be its main method of attack, but I was pretty sure the hollow tube was too flimsy for that.
In fact, it might not even be willing to attack me with it. Obviously it was still something to stay the hell away from, but the way it favored its claws was sending a message loud and clear; the spike was too valuable to risk on prey that may still be able to fight back.
It reared up above me and paused, making a thickly wet noise instead of striking. A dark liquid began to pump along the length of the otherwise transparent hypodermic attached to its face. Some of the fluid sprayed from the end, and I shivered involuntarily.
It reminded me of the way the doctors and nurses squirted the excess dose from a syringe, a sight I'd seen far too often.
I jumped back. The fluid hadn't really been aimed in my direction, but it missed me anyway. What was left in the air made everything taste sour.
The eyes spun again as it bobbed its head from one side to the other. I couldn't be sure, but it felt like it was trying to guess how much of that shit it'd need to fill me with in order to make me as docile as the other poor beast had been.
"Come on, asshole," I growled under my breath. I had nothing to attack it with, and running from it would surely only buy me a vicious backstab. "Don't just stand there. End it, so I can get back to the glade and ask Toot how to fuck you up next time."
It was still waiting, choosing instead to bide its time.
Of course, I thought. It didn't want to kill me. Not yet, at least, because that wasn't how parasites worked. A healthy host was a useful vessel. There was no point in damaging a body it was planning on owning.
I felt the back of my neck itch as one final realization dawned on me. If I didn't die, there'd be no respawn. I'd be a prisoner to its chemical demands for the rest of my thirteen days. All of the time I'd been supposed to spend learning the ropes would be wasted in one fell swoop.
That pissed me off. Glancing over at the furry thing still standing over there made my temper flare even more. The mosquito's last victim hadn't moved a muscle, and I had only to look into its weeping eyes to see what horrors soon awaited me.
I'd been gathering flowers because they might prove useful later on, and this mosquito bastard was down here collecting bodies.
"Last chance," I lied, trying to convince the thing above me that I meant business. "Walk away. This field's mine now."
I guess my Bluff failed, because the insect didn't budge. It obviously didn't think much of my ability as an opponent, which meant my threat had been baseless. Even if it did understand me, could I really blame it for ignoring me? My flesh was no match for its exoskeleton, and whatever musculature I owned didn't have a hope in hell of wrestling it to the ground. It was built for the kill, complete with fast attack
s and a huge reach advantage.
But all those clear-cut bonuses made the insect incredibly arrogant. Having been rightfully accused of arrogance as well, I was no stranger to how careless it made you. This thing could have stabbed the needle down on me at any time in the last thirty seconds, but it was so satisfied that I was helpless it preferred to wait for the perfect opening to present itself.
The stubby mandibles on either side of the needle's foundation ground together, making a noise that sounded exactly like a hollow, chitinous chuckle. The head bobbing it had been doing became more emphasized, and that made me even more sure of what I was seeing.
It was fucking laughing at me.
That was the last straw. I didn't like being toyed with. I'd spent too many hours over the last few months feeling exactly like this, helpless beneath the gaze of something far too big for me to ever contemplate fighting. Cancer is a soulless demon that enjoys every moment of your suffering, and for this creature to do the same thing was just too damn much for me to take.
I had just gotten a reprieve, however short, from the headaches and the nausea and the thoughts of suicide. I wasn't about to let it get taken away. I wouldn't have expected anyone to cope with the level of frustration and anger that coursed through me, which meant that I wasn't surprised at all when my rage made me get up and charge headlong at the piece of shit in front of me.
Now that I finally had an opponent I could take a swing at, I wasn't going to miss the opportunity. I blitzed straight at the nearest leg it was using to support its weight, since the rest of it was out of reach.
The Citadel had given me roughly similar abilities to those I had on Earth, which meant that a flying kung fu jump kick wasn't on my list of assets.
I could punch though, and I took a wild, angry swing at the joint that connected the lower part of the limb to the segment above it.
Skill: Rage
The ability to ignore common sense and act without regard to personal safety.
Base score - Forty-two
New score - Forty-three
Effect: 20% increased damage, 20% decreased chance of success.
Reminder, no skill may drop below 5%.
Bonus Effect: Once per Citadel Enmeshment, the negative effect can be ignored. In addition, subsequent attacks on the same target gain a cumulative 5% greater chance to inflict Critical Damage. Your ability to use Rage will end for the current Enmeshment once the Critical Hit is achieved.
Would you like to enable the Bonus Effect of Rage now?
"Yes!" I shouted, roaring the word so loud that the mosquito actually twitched, peering down at me even closer. I didn't know what the hell an ‘enmeshment’ was, but I'd work that out later.
Right now, I was ready to inflict some pain.
Skill: Melee Strike
The ability for your body to inflict physical damage.
Base score - Eleven
New score - Twelve
Or not... I missed, but I didn't let that get to me. With a skill that low, it had been bound to happen.
The mosquito batted me away with an almost gentle bump that nonetheless sent me spinning. I managed to stay on my feet and took another crack at the joint. This time my fist glanced off of the shiny exoskeleton, tearing a big line of hurt up my arm but doing nothing to the target.
-2 Hit Points
Skill: Melee Strike
Base score - Twelve
New score - Thirteen
It didn't even bother to dodge, and instead of knocking me out of the way again it just stood there and took it. It must have decided that the best course of action was to let me wear myself out.
My third attack went just wide, and my fourth was so comically off target that I actually stepped forward, slipped, and gave myself a black eye against the armored leg.
The words felt like they started in both ears and rushed toward the middle, crashing together painfully in my brain.
"Not quite," I muttered. I lashed out with a decent snap kick, but I started too far back and ended up missing by a hair.
I planted my feet and timed my next punch perfectly, swiveling my hips and driving all of my body weight through the target, aiming at a spot a couple of inches inside the joint. It felt right from the moment I threw it, and I knew before I even made contact that this one was going to be the one that did it.
Critical Strike
Skill: Melee Strike
Base score - Thirteen
New score - Fourteen
My fist blasted through the exoskeleton, sending shards of chitin cartwheeling away. The leg had been planted in the ground, and the lower part of it stayed right there as CAV-THRI-WHATEVER reared back without it. It shrieked, and the noise blasted through my mind and the air at the same time.
As good as it felt to do some damage, I wasn't out of the woods yet. The stump stopped pumping the thin gruel that passed for blood, and I backed away as it tested the stub against the soil.
It was hobbling, but CAV still had more than enough mobility to run me down. I decided not to give it the chance. Thankfully my rage was fading already, which let the all-consuming anger take a backseat to the plotting I had to do, if I was going to use this moment to the fullest.
Here goes nothing...
I stepped up, ready to take a swing at the other arm on the same side of its body as the limb I'd just amputated, and promptly fell forward on to my face. I lay there, summoning all of my nerve, trying to blank my mind in case it had found a way to put more than just its voice in there. If I moved too soon, I'd be right back where I'd started, fighting an opponent that could beat me in any of a dozen ways.
If I waited too long to dodge, though... Well, then I'd be this thing's bitch for a while. C'est la vie, and all of that.
I held my breath, trying to cheat and use my peripheral vision to watch the angle of its remaining legs. It would have to lower its body in order to drive the spike in. If I was fast and I was lucky, maybe I could get out of the way.
It took its time to line up the strike, not bothering to conceal the movement. Even now, after what I'd just done to it, CAV was so sure of its victory that it actually laughed one more time before its body tilted and its head flashed forward.
Now!
I threw myself to the side, rolling as far from where I'd been as I could. I banged off one of its arms, but it didn't take a swipe at me because CAV had other things to worry about, just then...
The soil was soft. I'd noticed that as soon as I'd started trekking across the field. It had jammed the spike into the ground all the way up to its face, and the momentary constriction made it panic. Its horrid, insectoid eyes spun wildly only a couple of inches from my face, glaring at me with more malice than I'd have thought possible.
So much for the cold, calculating insect that had thought me its lesser. Now it was just a pissed-off animal, the potent mix of fear and anger rushing through it doing the same thing to its brain that my own rage had done to me.
Despite the threat, CAV froze for a second.
I didn't.
I'd gotten over the shock of being outmatched early in the bout, which gave me time to bunch my legs up underneath me and pivot my hip against the ground, bracing my shoulders against its arm as I lashed out with as devastating a kick as I could manage. I was far too close to miss, and the bottoms of both my feet slammed into its eye. I felt it crunch beneath my boots as the impact made it squelch yellow ooze.
I'd really wanted to attack the base of the needle, but CAV's face had been too close to the ground for me to get a clear shot. Now that its eye was out of commission, the mosquito yanked its head up a little, clearly groggy. Half of the dangerous syringe was still in the soil, but I could reach the spot where it connected between the mandibles, now.
I pushed myself to my feet and lunged, managing to get a clean strike off that nonetheless missed. It did
n't matter. My attack may not have hit what I was aiming for, but my body still accidentally fell across the trapped proboscis, snapping it off cleanly at the base. I had been right about the organ being fragile, and my desperate flailing sheared it off without much resistance.
CAV squealed and chittered in agony. It didn't have most of its mouth anymore, and more of that pallid goo was pouring out in waves as it appeared to vomit up parts of its pressurized internals.
My victory was short-lived. This thing might not be able to resume its career of hijacking minds or any aspirations of winning a marathon, but it was no longer unsure of how to handle me.
By destroying the needle, I'd made death the only suitable option.
I was still too close to make a break for it, so I made a grab for the leg I'd bumped up against, trying to get another shot at that damaged eye.
That didn't work out the way I thought it would. All the mosquito did was lift its leg and shake me free, sending me tumbling through the air before I hit the ground and rolled a few yards in the direction of the Glade.
The Glade...
I was up on my feet and running before the idea had a chance to fully form in my head. The Glade was a dead end. The last time I'd been in it, those oddly corkscrewed trees and the vines with the purple thorns had closed me in. I knew they wouldn't let me past them.
They couldn't, because every game has a starting point.
But I didn't need to go farther than the spot where I'd discovered Toot. I sprinted for it now, struck by how little physical progress I'd made in the Citadel. I'd gone, what, three hundred yards total and died once. And now I had something angry and wounded charging along behind me, limping badly but still gaining ground with every step, intent on tearing me apart.
It turns out that I can run pretty fast when my life depends on it. I heard CAV's uneven stride change and dodged to the right, barely managing to keep my balance as a set of claws tore up the section of flowers I'd just occupied.
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