Vile casts Gravity!
Squire's movement speed has dramatically slowed!
Squire's agilty has dramatically decreased!
Vile casts Gravity!
Squire's movement speed has dramatically slowed!
Squire's agilty has dramatically decreased!
Vile casts Gravity!
Squire's movement speed has dramatically slowed!
Squire's agilty has dramatically decreased!
Apparently the effects of the spell stack. I guess that's a good thing, although it certainly doesn't feel like it. I resume my awkward canine push ups, but they're far more difficult this time with the three overlapping spells, not to mention Slave sitting atop my back. In all fairness, her presence makes very little difference. Her weight doesn't even come close to matching her toughness, so she's just as heavy as a common dainty house cat. That said, it certainly doesn't help. I do appreciate her desire to assist, however. Even if she's just sitting there, I can't help but notice that she shows no signs of feeling the gravity spell whatsoever.
"This magic could be useful as a trap. Not so much in an open area, but in closed quarters such as a narrow hallway against a close ranged attacker it could prove quite effective." Slave says, effortlessly maintaining her balance as I struggle to rise up.
"Yes, quite a few of my spells are very situational, but that doesn't make them useless." the rat nods, standing outside of the spell aura. I can't blame her. Slave might be able to shrug off the effects, but I imagine that it would squash the rat flat, perhaps literally. "How are you doing over there?" Vile grins to me.
"I've been better." I whine. For the briefest of moments I had considered a rare sarcastic response, but it was hard to justify being rude. Also, sarcasm isn't exactly a strong suit of mine. This was important training, and I am glad for the assistance. My newly built up endurance will help a lot. I had assumed that the stat was only good for enduring pain and taking less damage, but I suppose fatigue does represent a sort of damage, and this training? There's no denying that it's painful. I'm sure that I could handle a single gravity spell fine by now, but three at once? I felt like my legs were about to break, but each time I fell to the ground, I, somehow, managed to rise up again.
Base strength has increased by 1!
Technically, that was the second point I had earned, and I was very much glad to get it. Seeing that number come up makes the whole thing feel worthwhile. Well, almost, anyways.
"Okay, that's enough." Vile says. The sudden dispelling of the enhanced gravity catches me off guard and I rise up more quickly than expected. I fear that the sudden jolt might send Slave flying off me of, but of course she doesn't seem to notice, demonstrating her usual impressive balance and coordination, and hops off to return to the side of her rat mistress as though nothing unusual had happened.
"What kind of training are we doing next?" I ask, panting heavily, simultaneously eager and dreading the response.
"None. We're done training. Now it's time to rest before the coming battle." Vile says, reaching up to stroke the purring Slave under her chin.
"Really?" I say, a little wary. On one hand, I'm rather relieved, but on the other... there's still an awful, awful lot of those spiders out there. Sure, I'm stronger now, but I don't feel that much stronger.
"You still have room for growth, but you're at the point where the period of time between attribute enhancements won't be able to be measured in mere hours. There's a chance that you might be able to get another point or two if we remained here for a few more days, but we've lingered here long enough. We'll get an opportunity to strike soon, and I want us all well rested and ready when it comes."
"Okay. That makes sense." I say, still very much anxious about the coming battle. The glassy eyed spiders still sit there, feet away from the barrier, unmoving. I haven't actively noticed any more arriving, but I would swear that there are more of them here than there were yesterday morning. "So... when do we attack?"
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"When the time comes, you'll know." The rat smiles. I don't smile back. Why does she have to be so cryptic? Can't she just tell me?
On the plus side, I really am glad to have an opportunity to rest, and more importantly, eat. It's time for a well earned meal!
Both Vile and Slave look to me with expressions bordering on disgust as the rat works to mix some of the earlier gathered herbs, along with bits of dried meat into a small metal post which she heats with magic. Where did she get that, I wonder? I'm too focused on my own meal to care. I'm sure glad that I saved so much of that slime from earlier... the red and blue flavors mix together really well!
"How can you eat that stuff?" Vile asks. Slave, wide eyed, nods in agreement, both pulling as far away from me as possible without risking exiting the barrier.
"How can't I? It's delicious!" I say, well aware that my snout is now covered in translucent green goo. Okay, I'll admit that I'm a bit of a messy eater, but given Vile's general state, I can't see how she's in any position to judge. "Are you sure you don't want any?"
"No!" both say, simultaneously, as though terrified that if they didn't state it loudly enough, I would somehow force it upon them. That's silly, of course. As much as I would enjoy sharing the experience with them, I certainly won't complain about there being more for me.
"Be sure to rest early." the rat says, making a point to avoid looking to my half eaten meal. "We'll probably get our opportunity tonight, maybe early tomorrow."
"Is there a specific plan?" I ask.
"Most of it is obvious. You, focus on taking out as many opponents as you can, as quickly as possible. The more that we can weed out their numbers early on, the less attacks will be coming your way and the greater chance you'll have of survival. I'll be fighting with you, and doing the same. Slave, focus on evasion. Try to avoid all of the web attacks, but I'll be honest: I don't like your chances. There are just too many of them, which will be striking all at once from multiple directions. Maybe you'll get lucky, though." the black cat lowers her head, clearly disappointed by her role in the attack, but having no intention of debating it. "If you do get webbed, focus on trying to break free. Even unable to move, you'll draw a lot of attention, and be taking a lot of attacks which I'm sure you can handle. Each death weaver which is focused on you will be one less hit per round that Squire has to deal with."
The black cat perks up a little on hearing this, her spirit somewhat renewed, to know that she'll still be able to help in her own way.
"I'll focus on burning both the spiders and the webs. Both are flammable. Whenever I can, I'll throw a fireball your way which should free you and hurt anything crowded around you a good deal. I might not always get a clear shot, though, so you can't count on it. You'll largely be on your own."
"Don't worry. I can take care of myself." she says, proudly. Vile smiles to her in response and nods before turning back to me.
"I'm sure that you can figure out the rest. Use that skill of yours to free yourself whenever you get webbed. I'll be riding on your back, and should be small and close enough to you that it won't be an issue for me. Oh, and you are going to find yourself poisoned, but don't focus on curing it. The damage will be minimal, and you can't afford to be giving up attack grounds when facing so many enemies at once. Healing will likely have the same problem. If you do find yourself in a dire situation and on the verge of death, just run. Try to create some distance between yourself and the enemies, recover, and return if possible."
"Wait, are you telling me to leave Slave behind?" I ask, looking to the black cat. She doesn't seem the least bit concerned.
"I can hold out on my own for a while. Even if the absolute worst case, where it turns out we're hopelessly outclassed, your top priority is getting Mistress to safety. It's better for just one of us to die than all of us." The cat replies.
I certainly don't like the sound of that, but after giving it a moment's thought, I decide that it's not a significant problem. "Nobody is going to die here." I say, fully believing it.
"That's right. There's no need to worry." Slave says with a sigh, "This is difficult for me... you know, having to put the safety of mistress Vile in someone else's paws. I would never have dreamed of doing this just a few days ago, but in the end, I guess I'm just too weak. I can't handle everything myself, and need to rely on you to protect her."
"I-I know how you feel." I say, softly. "I felt the same when we fought the AbyssalWood Alpha when Vile told me to step aside and let you take point. He was my enemy, and I wanted to fight him toe to toe, but instead largely stood on the sidelines, focusing on healing, and well... it kind of hurt." I pause, "But you know what? In the end, it worked out great! We won a decisive victory, and I learned that, well, sometimes it's not so bad to depend on others. It can actually feel pretty good. You know, knowing that you have people out there that you can rely on."
The black cat blinks and chuckles, eyes closed. "You're not wrong."
I am tired enough to sleep, but unlike the others, it doesn't come easily for me. It isn't because of fear of the coming battle. Well, not entirely, I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't a factor, but there's something more. I do have people that I can rely on. I'm grateful to them, and I feel as though I have demonstrated that gratitude. There's someone else, or maybe something else, however, which I have also been relying on, heavily, all this while. I'm not so certain that I have made my gratitude to it so apparent.
I have made many short and simple prayers to the past, namely directed to my fallen foes. I don't know what exactly happens to a creature after it dies, but I imagine that whatever it is, a little positive energy sent their way might not help, but I can't imagine it hurting. I could always pray for victory tomorrow, but that seems rather unfair. As ugly and creepy as those spider creatures are, I'm sure they want to win just as much as we do. We're all just trying to survive, and it would be wrong to expect anyone else out there, uninvolved, to take sides in the conflict.
Instead, I simply pray. Not for the souls of the departed, not for victory, not even for the safety of my lost master, simply expressing gratitude to... well, I don't even know who. To someone, something out there which had blessed me with these powers, as I never would have made it this far without them.
As I do, I close my eyes, and fear I had immediately fallen asleep. I see something, although calling it seeing might be overstating things, somewhat. It's more just the concept of an image, almost a dream but not quite. A sense of warmth and light. A soothing sensation which I don't directly feel, but perceive nonetheless.
"Good girl." a melodic, soft voice says so quietly within my mind that I question if it is even there, as intangible hands stroke my fur, not solid enough to offer that pleasant massaging sensation, but I'm not complaining about their lack of mass or strength. It's been a while now since I had been petted, and I had forgotten just how much I missed it. Of course I can't add this one to my accumulated tally. After all, that is just for unique pets, and I know that I have felt this one once before.
Base faith has increased by 2!
---
Slave: "Is every fight going to require this much set-up?"
Vile: "Hey, planning is important!"
Slave: "Oh, I'm not denying that, it's just that it's been two arcs in a row now where the bulk of them has been spent setting up a single fight."
Squire: "That just means that it's going to be a super exciting one, thought, right?"
Vile: ...
Slave: ...
Squire: "Right?"
Vile: "It's turn based combat. It only gets so exciting."