“Prepare yourself while I scout the area,” Karo said and focused on Isha while retracting his attention from other party members.
Isha ground her teeth while staring back at the creep. In response, Karo smiled and closed his eyes. Still facing the girl in red robes, eyes closed or not, he could still see.
Seeing the creep wasn't peeping at her anymore, she started checking her vials in agitation. Damien was standing just beside her which eased her mind a bit. Her exquisite rouge sleeve-cuffs fluttered as she tucked those vials in, at the quickest retrievable position. Damien pulled out his swords from their sheath a few times and returned them back, and then did the same with his reserved daggers, to check the swiftness. All the while thinking as if he was sliding those blades into Karo’s head. Yu checked the sturdiness of his giant shield and the strap that tied it to his left hand. Then he thrashed the huge metal lump into the ground a few times, just to be sure.
Una only had her spear and chainmail armor hidden under her top. The pike was two meters in length, with a razor point shining silvery in that dark arid environment. It reflected her confidence despite the least amount of preparation, contrary to Ghun. He again went through all of his pockets making sure that each bomb was in the right position.
Christian was the only one who had nothing to do, so he observed all his party members.
Back to Karo, who despite his serious look with closed eyes, was leisurely asking Quro about the area while watching Isha’s action.
‘Scan the area for Articore groups with the least numbers.’ Karo ordered absentmindedly, focusing his attention wholly on Isha’s serene beauty, which was in chaos. He enjoyed her graceful presence, showing ungainly actions induced by his presence. The way her beautiful eyes avoided him at any cost, he found it cute.
‘What fun are you getting out of this charade, you creep?’ Quro chose to ignore his command and asked in his usual annoyed tone.
’Is it a sin to have feelings for a beautiful girl?’ Karo fought back as if Quro had condemned him for the most heinous sins. His brows creased. It looked weird with his closed eyes.
‘Considering she has a guy, and given your age, it might as well be.’ Quro scoffed.
‘Age you say?’ Karo just smiled and opened his eyes. Still observing Isha and Damien he lifted his right hand and pointed downward diagonally. To the naked eye, there was nothing to spot. But to Karo, every monster within 800 meters range was visible.
“I found three Insect-farms, the first one is 150 meters down that direction, protected by three Articores.” Then he pointed straight in front of him, “The other one is 110 meters from us in that direction, with 5 Articores, and the Last one is 30 meters behind me, with 8 Articores”
“What is an Insect-Farm?” Una asked, sharpening her gaze at Karo. In her experience hunting Articores, she had never heard of this term.
“It will be easier to show. Choose your pick.” Karo gestured around, “It’s an obvious choice.”
Una also pointed in the direction of the Articores group down in the Cavetree, “That one.”
“Before we dive in, can I at least have a weapon on me?” Christian didn’t feel like going empty-handed.
Karo unfastened his sword along with its sheath, tossed it towards Christian and started walking in a certain direction. The newbie almost failed to catch it and wasn’t in the state of mind to appraise it. Not that he would have made any sense out of the weapon’s attribute. He just thanked Karo in a formal reaction.
They followed behind Karo in one of the many holes of the Cavetree they were in. Sticks cracked with every faltering step they took down the depth of the dead forest. Buzzing insects, which they never heard before, prickled at their nerves. Rustling leaves' movement stirred with their feet, keeping them attentive to every subtle motion around them. Slowly making their way down the putrid caving made of wood-waste, they patiently waited for its end.
Light shrunk back in fear, refusing to follow them in their endeavor as they kept going deeper and deeper. They could barely see the other person. Karo was walking in the forefront, followed by Una. Ghun and Isha were in the middle as they had paper deference for being mages. Yu and Damien were forming the rear, their back laced with metal gears.
“It’s getting hard to see. Can you use a light spell to illuminate.” Karo’s voice gave Isha a scare when she heard him up close. Hurriedly twisting her fingers in intricate patterns, she fast-cast a basic light spell. Like a torch flaming up, the spell revealed faces. She found Karo standing beside him.
Damien stepped between them, “Listen Man! Venerable or not, Jestful or not, Rightful or not! I will fucking kill you if you try to sneak up on her one more time.” he had spoken each word with enough sharpness that it could have pierced a stone. Other members of the party weren't happy either at Karo’s weird behavior.
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Karo nodded with a smile and went back to his position. ‘Boy! I got the chills,’ Quro had commented, but Karo didn’t reply.
Their remaining path was uneventful. “Put off the spell. We are there,” Karo informed in a hushed tone, and Isha stopped pouring mana into the spell.
They walked a few more steps following Karo, and low light from another Cavetree opening ahead welcomed them. Karo went first with a quick few steps, then peeked in from the edge of the wall, guiding the members behind him to do the same. And so they did.
A certain coldness, not the feeling, but the sensation of a moisture-heavy environment washed over them. Not long after, the cold feeling struck them as well, sending a chill down their spine, when their eyes laid upon the scene unfolded in front.
In a 50-meter-wide space, a meter-thick and 30-meter-high high tree trunk stood upright. Termite frass covered its entirety while wood-boring beetle larvae infested its internals. Providing company to its lonely presence were three Articores. Leisurely picking one larva at a time and filling it in their stomach, as there was no head. The creature had different physiques than humans. They sported seven fingers in each limb, arranged circularly around each limb end with no palm to speak of. Two tennis ball-sized eyes, one in the place of the head, and the other one where the genitals were supposed to be.
One of the creatures was lingering on the top of the tree. The other two picked their food from its root area. Having symmetrical limbs, Articores were capable of walking on either two limbs out of any four or with an option to walk on all fours if the need be.
“What you see in front is an Insect-farm. This little knoll is made up of a dead tree and fungus by the Articores, to grow wood-boring beetle larvae and other insects.” As Karo explained, the Articore on top slid down to the middle of the tree trunk. It then took out the remaining chews from his mouth and pasted them on the tree trunk in an empty space.
“H. How.. c. can this be possible? Articores are mindless cannibals.” Una let out as she clasped her spear with as much strength as possible.
“Only low-level Articores or the ones on the surface which don’t live in colonies are mindless. We are in the middle of the southern region of Alka plains. 700m deep, at the boundary of one of the biggest colonies of Articores.” Karo casually revealed. All the colors left from Una and Ghun’s faces.
An Articore usually had the same size and mass as an average human. So there was no advantage in terms of physicality, contrary, Articores were more nimble compared to average humans due to their flexible limbic movements.
This is much worse than what I went through. Damien imagined his past experience with this environment, and he instantly unsheathed his companions from his back. No matter their mighty appearance, those swords couldn't provide the confidence to back it up.
Karo shifted to Christian, "My friend, it's time for you to shine. Though it's not too late to back out if you want."
Christian shook his head in denial, "It's for me," then he turned to face the whole team and asked, "Do I attack alone or we as a team?"
"We are a team," Damien said more to himself than to Christian, "We attack together, later these Articores will isolate you."
"We have around an hour to finish these three. The next bunch will crawl to this place after that. These are Guard Articores. They switch from one Insect-farm to another on the boundary of the colony." Karo had finally finished telling them all was necessary.
"Let's start then, Ghun and Isha, on my mark."
Ghun grabbed a throwback bomb from his backpack and put a distance of two arm's length from his party member. He stretched back his hand and broke a small lid of the bomb situated on its top. Every muscle from his forearm to his collarbone tensed as he aimed at the root of the Insect-farm. Vibrant gasses and alchemical substances went into turmoil, threatening to break free in an explosion.
The mage, on the other hand, was more spectacular. Isha’s fingers started moving in intricate patterns, and indistinct words left her mouth. Karo watched the charming beauty in an utter daze as she hissed and moaned to call upon nature and its elements to do her bidding. “IRAS-NICMO-ERA-INFERIAS….”
They acted on her call, as she started levitating three feet high mid-air, while a shearing hot fireball manifested in front of her. She held back the last invocations vocal.
Yeah, feel free to use a huge ass fireball in this arid environment! Karo came back from the daze when saw the fireball. ‘Quro contain the fire from the after-effect of the spell once fired.’
‘Surely your grace.’
Karo wasn’t the only one who got attracted by her actions. The Articores, who were busy with their meals, turned towards them in sudden maneuvers.
Looking at their eyes, the horror came back to Damien, his posture faltering. Fear was imminent in his eyes. Christian, on the other hand, grabbed the borrowed sword hard, and its first effect triggered.
[Granting +10 compsource state.]
“Go,”
“FIARO-RASKA” On Una’s mark, Isha fired first, but Ghun’s hand recoiled much faster, and the bomb shot like an artillery shell.
The Articores, which were pacing towards them, dodged the Bomb as Ghun got hindered by their dominating presence, but the spell hit on point. It threw them back with minor injuries. They got back up.
Una’s team had a rule: If ambushing, do it with a big bang. It was all good until the bomb hit the Insect-farm. In a moment of flash and boom, the whole Cavetree was littered with larvae.
Chaos ensued. Funnily, it was Christian who ran in the forefront towards the Articore with a warcry,”Hhyyaay…”
Just at the moment of his glorious clash with them… The Articores passed him without laying a finger on him. Straight to Damien, who was frozen in his place.
Una turned towards Damien in a moment of panic. He was the Fearsink. Yet again.