The moment the monster breached their safe zone, S-2's hex shield erupted from its braced arm with a brilliant energy pulse designed to repel such threats. The creature, however, was not deterred.
Sam's heart raced as she witnessed the Blight Craven, which was already slowed by the System penalty upon entering the safe zone, deftly evade S-2's shield at a full sprint. The creature's black claws left deep furrows in the hardened magical composite material of S-2's armor as it dodged around the hex shield blast and ducked under the sentry droid's sword swing. This sight filled her with a mix of anticipation and determination. This was going to be a frenetic battle!
S-4 was in its path now, firing a beam of energy from its mana rifle, but the maddened monster didn’t slow. Instead, it slid beneath the white-hot plasma beam, its momentum bringing it past the droid as it slid on the soft grass. Using its claws again, it severed one of S-4’s legs cleanly as if slicing through butter.
All of this unfolded in half a heartbeat. Sam, fully aware of the creature's relentless assault, knew she couldn't evade all its attacks. But that wasn't her plan. She was a magic-slinging tank who never hesitated to blow herself up if she thought it might help her in a fight, after all. She was built to withstand and absorb massive damage. A manic grin spread across her face as she and her companions engaged the lightning-fast beast in a brutal dance of claws and magic.
***
Cara stared at the System message with a hint of surprise. When did the church lose a Moonblight? The occurrence was so rare she had only seen it once in the past one hundred cycles. The message read:
Warning! A Void-favored soul is trapped in a monster in your vicinity. Assisting in destroying this monster and releasing the soul will be rewarded. Will you assist in freeing the Void's chosen? Please note this request is optional, and no penalties will be incurred for refusing. Also, this creature can cause permadeath, and your soul will be ejected from this plane of existence should you fall in battle. The creature's location will be shown upon acceptance of this quest. Accept request Yes/No?
Cara knew better than to turn down a request like this. Sure, there may be no physical penalties for rejecting the request. Yet, everyone with any sense knew refusing to help the Void was never a good idea. Usually, saying no meant the person would never get another special quest from the System. But even that could drastically affect someone's progression, especially at higher levels, as those types of quests were sometimes necessary for breakthroughs to get past bottlenecks in class and race progression trees.
Cara selected ‘Yes’ and immediately felt the general location of the monster, which, from her time in the church, she knew to be a Blight Craven. Cara summoned her combat helmet and launched several drones, sending them ahead to map the area and locate the creature before she engaged in her hunt. This was going to be a dangerous battle.
Blight Cravens were notoriously deadly. The only other one Cara had fought killed half a dozen acolytes and a bishop before they could take it down, and that was with over fifty combatants. Although she thought they would have suffered fewer losses if so many combatants had not clogged up the battlefield.
She let her drones get a kilometer ahead of her, viewing the map they created that was displayed in her helmet's visor. Once the drones were far enough ahead, she set off toward the Blight Craven’s location in a slow run. Cara was happy the System recognized she quit the church because there was no reward for church members the last time this happened; had they failed, every church member in the battle would have been penalized with permanent stat decreases. The blights only existed because of the church, after all.
Something that surprised Cara most was there weren't stricter penalties for the church when it came to their enslavement of the blight souls; from what little she knew of The Collective and the Void, she assumed the church would have been eradicated long ago, for their enslavement and treatment of the Void's chosen…whatever they were. All she knew was they weren't voidlings or part of The Collective, yet they somehow resided in the void realms, and the Church of the Light could summon them without being penalized by the System or the Void.
Cara stopped her musings and focused on the map her drones were creating for her as she trotted in the direction the System was sending her.
A few kilometers ahead, her foremost drone sent a link requesting to broadcast a live video feed directly to her visor. Opening the video link with a thought, Cara watched the video in confusion for a few seconds; she saw a wolf, two droids, a human, and a…slime. They were all actively battling the Blight Craven, which was darting around them, looking like a grey and black blur as it lunged in and out, attacking and dodging. Blood and nanofluid coated the churned and ruptured ground around the strange assortment of combatants. The viscous fluids reflected the violet, red, and black magics arcing in every direction. Then Cara recognized the violet magic and the Pathfinder and cursed under her breath.
She took her rifle from her back and took off toward the battle in a dead sprint, checking its charge as she ran.
***
"Dammit, this thing is fast!" Sam shouted as the Blight Craven dodged yet another of her shield walls and all of her Arcane Bolts, which she was firing at a rate rivaling modern submachine guns from Earth.
When she first saw the creature, she assumed it would be like fighting Naris at a higher level. But this was nothing like battling the Moonblight; it was more akin to fighting a grey ghost that could move faster than sight, with claws that could cut through anything and couldn’t be hit with magic.
A cry from Lupie nabbed Sam's attention, and she looked to her companion in time to see the vicious fangs of the Blight Craven sink into her friend's throat. The monster didn’t latch and drain as Naris would have; instead, it tore out a mouthful of Lupie’s flesh and darted away.
“How did it get over there so fast?” Sam thought as she tracked the blurry image of the creature, which was now strafing toward S-2. Sam charged Void Bolts with her mana threads. She dismissed her sword and shield, opting to form arcane claws on her fingers instead. This enemy was too fast for ranged combat, and Sam was no swordswoman. If it wanted to fight, she would meet it claw for claw! She would channel her inner schoolyard brawler and scratch its eyes out!
Sam opened a portal behind S-2 and was about to jump through when a searing pain sliced across her back, and she felt her life force drain significantly. Whipping around, Sam came face to face with the Blight Craven, which was impossible because it was still blurring toward S-2.
“What the—” Sam was cut off when the monster’s long, thin arm shot toward her, its claws already red with her blood. Sam’s hand instinctively came up to block the attack, but she was too slow, and the creature’s long, sharp claws sliced right through her wrist, severing her hand from her arm.
The attack didn’t stop there, and the Blight Craven’s fingers sank deep into Sam’s shoulder. The creature lunged forward, its mouth open, ready to sink its teeth into her throat.
Sam surprised the monster when she caught it by the throat with the instantly regrown hand it severed, arresting its forward momentum. She and the creature's other hands shot forward simultaneously, each sinking magical claws into the other's chest. Powering through the pain of having her life force drained, which she now knew she wasn't immune to, Sam formed spikes in the palm of her hand wrapped around the Blight Craven’s throat and yanked using the spikes to rip its throat out.
Only nothing happened. Sam was left confused when her attacker became incorporeal. Her hands lost all resistance, and she slightly stumbled as she passed through the grey mist the blight turned into. She could only stare as it ran off toward Lupie in a grey blur.
Nul explained what happened when the slime said, "Stupid fake monster! Take Void Bolt!"
“Lupie, look out!” Sam yelled to warn her companion, then added through their party chat, “It can create a projection of itself to switch back and forth! We must assume we are fighting the real one no matter what.” Then she asked, “Do any of you know how to dispel illusions?”
“Negative,” both droids said in unison.
Lupie was too busy to answer as she flicked a tentacle spike at the Blight Craven attacking her flank. The spike flew past the creature's side as it smoothly dodged her attack, digging furrows in the soil to gain purchase. To Sam's amazement, it leaped and kicked off the air to propel itself onto Lupie's back, immediately impaled on the wicked spikes of her blood armor.
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“No, not impaled!” Sam thought, a hint of fear creeping into her as the spikes passed through the creature's body, jumping from Lupie's back to sprint toward Nul, “It’s fake! Where is the real one?”
Her thoughts were projected through the party chat, and S-2 answered her unspoken question, "My thermal detection located an enemy combatant circling the battle arena, maintaining a distance of approximately ten meters from the center of our squad."
Sam was thinking fast, trying to figure out how to kill a swift creature that could also create illusions of itself that could switch between instantly. She had an idea and asked, "S-2, did the thermal presence change when the creature dodged Lupie’s attack?”
“Affirmative, the thermal location transferred via suspected teleportation less than point seven seconds after evading the attack from the Bloodmorph.”
Sam thought, "That's why it could kick off the air; it wasn't really there." With that understanding, she quickly shouted, "Everyone, watch its feet! It cannot hide its mass. If it is disturbing the soil or grass, that's the real one!" Then, an idea struck her, and she added, "Aim at the ground and throw as much soil and debris onto the creature as possible! Lupie, see if you can hit it with some blood. We can mark the real one through physical contact; nothing will stick to the fake projection! But we may have to keep tagging the real one every time it switches! Also, keep us updated with the true thermal location, S-2!"
Not waiting for her companions to confirm her instruction, Sam took her own advice and began peppering the ground with arcane and void bolts, kicking up dirt in small puffs in the path of the grey blur. She also started flailing her mana threads wildly, hoping to strike the actual creature randomly. Sam made the threads as thin as possible so the Blight Craven would have difficulty detecting them. She knew Nara and Naris could see her arcane magic, but they both confessed it was still difficult to detect.
All of them were now shooting the ground to fill the battlefield with as much debris as possible. Again, Nul came up with the best idea yet: "Attack both same time; no can dodge."
“Yes! You’re a genius, Nul!” Sam shouted over the chaos of magical projectiles flying and impacting all around the area, “Lupie and S-2, focus on the one circling us. Nul and I will try to pin down the one attacking.”
The group got to work on executing Nul’s plan. Sam zeroed in on the grey blur dashing between them while Lupie and S-2 took off chasing after the real monster. Lupie threw void spikes while S-2 switched to its rifle to blast the area with mana lasers. Now that she knew what to look for, Sam could plainly see both Blight Cravens attacking them. Where before, she had only thought it was a remarkably swift creature.
Focusing all her mana threads on her target, Sam did her best to keep at least one thread inside the manic creature, which she noted was the incorporeal one. That way, she would know the instant it turned or switched or whatever it did.
As Sam tried to keep up with the creature's movements, Nul teleported around it, firing void bolts left and right. That is, until the slime came a little too close, and Sam’s thread told her it just switched and became corporeal. She didn’t have time to warn Nul!
With lightning-fast reflexes, the Blight Craven lashed out, scooping a chunk out of Nul's side!
Sam's heart skipped a beat when she watched Nul take the brutal hit. The void slime kept its composure and landed an attack on the Blight Craven, blowing a hole in its palm with a void bolt before teleporting away.
Sam didn't waste the young slime's sacrifice. She opened a portal directly in the path of the screaming Blight Craven and tackled the monster, sinking her arcane claws into its chest and peppering it with arcane bolts from her threads.
They were still falling when the creature switched, and Sam passed through its body to land face-first on the battle-churned ground. She instantly jumped back up to see the creature's blurry image streaking toward S-4.
“Nul, are you alright?” She shouted as she resumed her attacks on the Blight Craven, already upon the downed droid. It dodged a beam from S-4’s rifle and sank its claws into the droid’s torso right where its core was located.
“Core compromised activating detonation sequence,” S-4 said, and then it exploded in a violent ball of violet and black shrapnel!
Since Nul still hadn't answered, Sam was worried but couldn't help thinking, "Hey, no fair! That's my job! I'm the only one allowed to blow up around here!"
***
Nara’s party reached the Naga Tribe a day after Sam painted the sky. Initially, they were met with hostility since they weren’t traveling with a caravan and didn’t have trading passes, which, according to tribal law, marked them as trespassers upon the Elf King’s domain.
Fortunately, they were traveling with the Elf King’s daughter. As soon as Parish made her presence known, their reception went from charged spells and spear points to a welcome feast with the Chief and private accommodations within the tribal safe zone.
Nara's quest locator stopped when they entered the Naga tribe's campground. This occurrence bothered her more than she wanted to admit. Out of respect for her companions, who had sworn their loyalty to her even though they barely knew her, Nara told them of the development. After some discussion, they all decided it meant they were supposed to find something or someone in the camp that would either end or further their current quest.
So, they spent that day and the next getting to know the people of the Encarta Tribe, which they learned was the name of this particular branch of settlers here in the Beastlands.
At Parish and Nara’s insistence, the party asked everyone they met if they had seen a violet-haired woman wearing a void slime for a hat and riding a giant red wolf. On the second day, their questioning paid off when one of the Naga children mentioned one of the tribe's hunters was attacked by a red wolf girl and a purple mage with a void slime.
Upon hearing this, Nara and Parish rushed to ask the Chief. He was reluctant to speak of it at first. Once they convinced him that Sam, Lupie, and Nul were their friends and they were separated during a fight with Children of the Light, he eventually told them of Sebastian's unfortunate meeting with Sam, which nearly resulted in his death. The Chief eventually became more amicable to the group as they talked. The fact that no tribe in The Beastlands liked the church weighed heavily in their favor; that and the fact that Parish was his King's daughter didn’t hurt either. The generous Chief even told them of the expedition to locate the void slime and its companions, hoping to bring them back for training. He lamented that he could not provide a guide for them, explaining that the hunter that encountered them and knew their scent had gone missing, presumably to chase after the expedition even though he was ordered not to.
Parish expressed their thanks and promised to speak of Tribe Encarta’s generosity to her father when she next saw him. She reassured the Chief they did not need a guide and only requested a travel pass for her group in case they encountered another of the tribes. He happily provided a ceremonial spearhead with the tribe's crest magically etched into the steel. Then, she and Nara darted off to round up the rest of their crew.
They all decided that if Nara's quest locator did not kick back on, they would try to search for Sam until it did. Nara was slightly concerned that she may be making a mistake and voiced as much once everyone was gathered. The general consensus favored searching for the enigmatic Pathfinder until they found her or something else presented itself.
As they were leaving the campground's boundaries through a closely guarded ward barrier, one of the younger Slithian females, commonly referred to as a Lamia in the Slithian tongue, blocked their way.
Seeing this, Nara’s companions immediately closed ranks around her and put their hands on their weapons. They didn’t draw the weapons, but their actions and stances were clear: do not try anything stupid.
Nara's party's reaction caught Cliss, Sebastian’s life mate, off her guard, causing her to freeze up. Seeing the interaction, the gate guards tensed at the standoff, and they, too, reached for their spears and swords. They quickly set themselves defensively around their Chief’s niece, prepared to defend her with their lives.
Cliss broke out of her momentary surprise and exclaimed, “Oh, so sorry! I am so sorry! Please stand down, Commander Rece!" She and the rest of the Nagas spoke Hallista's standard language, accented with much hissing due to her species.
“What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself immediately, or stand aside and let us pass!" Chad spoke the sentence in the most assured and commanding voice the group had ever heard him use. It was so commanding and forceful that the gate guards, who outnumbered them two to one, all winced and shrank back slightly. Even the unshakable happy-go-lucky Brenda stared in surprise at the back of Chad's helmet.
"No, no, no, this is not what I wanted. I am so sorry!" Cliss all but wailed as she pushed and slithered between the guards in front of her. "I only wish for a moment of your time, Lady Parish. I have a humble request of you."
Nara was about to berate Chad for using a skill because that is what she assumed he did, but to her surprise, Parish stepped forward, laid a gentle hand on Chad's pauldron, and sent through their party chat, "Thank you, Sir Chadwick. Everyone stay alert while I speak to this young slithian royal.”
Nara felt Naris slip up next to her, taking Parish’s place. Nara was thoroughly confused now but trusted her companions; they knew much more than her of the complicated workings between the Kingdoms.
“Speak, Lady Cliss; you have two minutes of my time,” Parish said in an official voice.
“What is happening?” Nara asked through their chat, “Why are you being mean to her but were so polite with the Chief?”
Nina answered Nara as Parish interacted with the nervous young snake woman, “It is a matter of rank. Parish is the Princess of the Farenth Tribe, the ruling tribe of the Beastlands. She is technically the highest-ranking individual in this camp, but the Chief gave her no reason to pull her rank. He welcomed and housed us without requesting compensation, as is his right as a tribe leader, and treated us fairly while we were here, so she had no reason to use her influence. I also believe the Chief and Parish's father are old friends."
Brenda chimed in, “Let those two,” she flicked her chin at Chad and Parish, “handle this little interruption. They know better than anyone the intrigues of the court. The young Lamia speaking is of royal birth, but so far down the line, she has no right to stop a Princess without good reason.”
Everyone stopped chatting when they heard Parish say, “Very well, Lady Cliss, I will be certain to tell him should we cross paths, but I can assure you he is in no danger from our companion or the void slime, especially if they have already encountered him and let him go freely. He likely annoyed or surprised them when they first met, but I know for certain Miss Samantha holds no grudges.”
Nara saw the snake woman, who she now knew as Lady Cliss, still wringing her hands in worry, and Parish, seeing it too, added, "Please relax and trust my words. If it helps, I can personally attest there are those in my own party who have been at the receiving end of Miss Samantha's wrath and are now her friends. As I said before, I will keep a lookout for your mate Sebastian and relay your message, but the Beastlands are vast, so I make no promises I will see him."
Lady Cliss finally nodded, and with one last heartfelt apology, she and the guards slid aside to let them pass. One of the mages at the gate disarmed the protective runes, and Nara's party passed out of the camp without further incident.
Nara realized more and more each day that she had much to learn before she would consider herself a prospective queen. Her inner thoughts were interrupted when they were about fifteen minutes from the camp, and the World Quest gave her a destination—or at least a pull in the general direction of what she hoped was a destination.
Having rested in the camp, the group started off quickly toward their destiny.