[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger Alpha - Level 11. You are awarded 103 experience points]
[You have gained a level. You are now Level 2. You are 493 experience points from Level 3]
The notification of the first tiger’s death came in just as Fogwarth absolutely brained the second one, sending shards of bone and globs of pink brain outward in a shower of gore. I read them as Fogwarth raised me from the falling, convulsing beast and began a home run style swing for another leaping tiger to our right side. I felt a small sense of joy flood in as I mentally shoved away the prompt regarding my second level. I had done it. We had done it. I wasn’t totally sure if it was the combat experience or just my usual Companion experience, but no matter what it was at least progress.
“Back to the jungle with you!” Fogwarth shouted, knocking the tiger out of the air and sending it into a second one. “My word! This is quite fun!”
“To our left!” I yelled, blinking away the fresh blood that nearly splashed into my eyes.
Without hesitation, Fogwarth spun around entirely with me at the ready, totally wrecking a sneaking cat that thought to get the jump on us.
Literally.
With so much momentum behind his blow the cat popped like a birthday piñata, leaving only organs and viscera where toys should have been. I won’t lie, I was a little bit repulsed. However, I could still acknowledge the us or them mentality. This is how this strange world was, and it was beat em’ or join em’.
“Die!!” I screamed as the wreckage of what was once a tiger fell into a heap of flesh.
[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger - Level 9. You are awarded 89 experience points]
[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger - Level 7. You are awarded 68 experience points]
The two that he had sent into one another were now launching themselves at us, although the one that had attacked before was definitely slower. This time I watched as Fogwarth threw me into the ground, gripping the shaft of our weapon and launching himself like an Olympic pole vaulter before pulling me up and slamming me down right between the two creatures. To my astonishment the sheer force alone caused the wind to ripple out from my armor, sending the second cat flying while the other made a squelching sound and slid away like a rag doll.
[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger - Level 8. You are awarded 94 experience points]
The numbers per kill weren’t exactly adding up to me, and I tucked that away for later.
I wasn’t just a workaholic/alcoholic, you know. There was a time in my life when I had friends and played games. My friends and I mainly played shooters together, but I had dove into my fair share of role-playing games as well. As far as I knew enemies typically gave the same amount of experience per kill, or it went up in normal increments. If I was actually now gaining experience for myself then maybe it was Fogwarth’s cut, who knows. But if I wanted to survive I’d have to figure this world out.
When I was done smearing the dirt with tiger guts, that is.
Fogwarth activated some other ability and covered the ground between us and a tiger a yard or so away in a single second, clouds of dirt wafting in his wake. With his charge already powering his blow he shifted me to a lower grip, angling me close to the dirt before swinging me upward in a massive uppercut arc just as he stopped his movement. The blow was devastating as we Molly-whopped another of the larger tigers right in the gizmo. I felt the reverberations of my armor meeting bone, the vibrating shattering of its jaw and teeth, the final moment when a protruding steel spike carved up into its brain and shut off the lights for good.
[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger Alpha - Level 11. You are awarded 132 experience points]
My eyes bulged at the number that popped up in my interface thing. That was a bit higher than the first alpha, forcing me to question this system even further. I tucked it away for later with the other questions and tried to just focus on the main objective.
I was already two-thirds of the way to my next level, and these tigers were standing no fucking chance against us.
The roars and growls settled around us like an orchestra ending their composition. There were low rumbles of residual rage coming from the throats of the beast, but they began to pull back one or two steps at a time, all while their eyes stayed trained on us. We had destroyed a great number of them, bringing their forces to barely a handful left. I watched as the smaller tigers sunk back into the shadow, nearly being swallowed by it, as the alpha predators stayed just a bit ahead to guard their retreat.
It was one of the rare moments when I felt like silence could be just as deafening as rolling thunder. It was all still, all calm, as the alphas retreated and the pattering, soft sounds of their paws through the underbrush receded.
“Yeah, you better run!” I shouted, feeling my lips pull into a smile. “Run away!”
“I had feared this was to happen,” Fogwarth said, gripping the weapon’s shaft tightly and spinning to monitor his surroundings. “Our hunters have reported of such beasts before, but never has one found purchase in our walls and orchards. Oh, sir berry, I fear this may not be as rewarding of a battle.”
“Fogwarth, we won,” I said, now nervously scanning around my peripheral as he continued to brace himself. “We won! Right?”
He nodded. “Aye, sir berry. We won the skirmish. Yet, I am afraid the true battle is moments from commencing.”
The silence shattered.
It scattered like shards of a broken mirror as a guttural, bloodlusting sound bellowed out from the brush around us. It was enough to rumble the loose dirt and shake the tall blades of grass. The pools of tiger blood did the ring thing like when Godzilla approached in the movies. I could feel the tremble of the ground shoot up through Fogwarth and into me with its steady pace.
“What is that?!” I tried to shout, but my voice seemed to be buried amongst whatever was making the sound around us.
Through the dark of the underbrush came a glowing orb. A dead, ghastly blue like a haunting specter, with a single white ball in the center. At first it seemed like the size of an ordinary tennis ball, but with every rumble it grew and grew until it appeared almost as big as I was. The thundering sound intensified like the echoing cry and a fire station’s alarm.
Then its paw reached out of the shadows.
This tiger was the tiger to end all tigers. Its body pushes through the underbrush, revealing more of its massive frame as the gray, overcast daylight struck the Orange of its fur. It had one shifting ghastly blue eye with a white pupil, and it stood at eye level with Fogwarth while on all fours. From its paws to its shoulders there were chunks of graying bark that looked like armor and grew right from its flesh. More covered its back and head, with a vicious wooden spike growing from its forehead.
But it was the eye that captured me. The other had been sealed shut with a deep scar that ran from its ear to its nose. The remaining eye seemed to flicker like candle flames as it danced from Fogwarth up to me and back again, clearly knowing I was also a living creature.
It bared its fangs at us, and they dropped in yellow-tinged, foamy saliva.
“It is a [Brush Tiger Matriarch], sir berry,” Fogwarth said as he took a step back, readying the weapon. “Our Royal hunters say it is a bad omen should we ever meet eyes with one. They say only death follows the pale blue eyes of a matriarch. And, by the dying God’s names, I am inclined to believe them!”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Oh for fuck’s sake!”
Fogwarth began to bellow out his laughter as the creature met him with a roar, and the two competed for who would be the first to part the clouds solely with their voices.
Before I could even grasp the situation, Fogwarth hammered me down into the earth. He once again called on his ability and sent out a shockwave of stalagmites rippling out in a wave against the matriarch. I watched, anxiously preparing for the earth to pierce the great beast as I was hoisted back upward.
The matriarch lunged. With one swipe of her massive claws she sheared the oncoming spikes, spraying out shards of earth and stone as they broke harmlessly to either side of her.
Fogwarth was ready. He somehow anticipated that she would be powerful enough to cancel his attack! Just as she sliced the earthen spikes, Fogwarth had used his charge attack again, meeting the unprotected jaw of the colossal tiger with another of my spiked metal uppercuts. I felt the wind snap around us as I flung forward, I felt the monstrous force of my armor against the tiger’s chin, and I thought I even heard the familiar sound of cracking bone.
But I was wrong.
The attack merely caused the beast to take a single step back, and she regained her footing quick enough to lash out with another swipe. Fogwarth barely had time to raise the haft in defense. I screamed out as the claws connected, fearing that they would be powerful enough to carve metal like microwaved margarine. I could barely see them connect from my vantage, but I felt the shutter of the metal pole as the claws raked it, and the slight bend as continuous pressure was applied. I was frightened at the thing’s raw strength, but immensely glad that Fogwarth didn’t choose to parry the attack using my end of the weapon.
If those claws hit me just right I’d be one juiced Barry.
“Got any more abilities you’ve been hiding or what?” I shouted in a panic, feeling the tiger begin to press Fogwarth back a step.
“Ah! Why yes, yes I do!” He answered with a strained, trembling voice. He managed to disengage the matriarch for a moment, sliding the paw down to his right then following up with a diagonal strike of my spiked steel that the tiger adeptly dodged. Fogwarth took a long breath, then readied himself again. “That is why it is more unfortunate that I must tell you the flaw in both my new class as well as my former. I cannot utilize a majority of my abilities without a weapon equipped. And you, my dear, sweet, delicious berry friend, do not register as a weapon, I am afraid.”
“So it’s my fault that we are about to get slaughtered by this absolute unit?!” I exclaimed just as Fogwarth activated his charge again and this time followed it up with a horizontal swing.
The cat easily leaped over the swing. I whizzed by so close that I could nearly feel the fure of its underbelly as it carried right over my face. In a blink the matriarch was on Fogwarth, its heavy weight and huge size proving too much for even Foggy’s new form! Claws met armor and tiger met inch worm as Fogwarth was taken to the ground, nearly dropping me in the process. The beast bit downward, snapping its jaws at Fogwarth’s head and letting its fangs scrape over his helm and pearl horns. A scratch formed, then another, and soon the fangs were scoring his helm and digging away at the metal protecting his soft flesh. All the while Fogwarth fought back, holding the metal pole of the weapon rig tightly as he shoved at the tiger to create any kind of space.
“No!” I screamed, wishing I could do something, anything, to help Foggy get the beast off. “Get the fuck off! Get off!”
“Sir berry, listen,” he began, cutting himself off as he reflexively tried to stop another bite. “I-”
“No, don’t you even say it,” I said back. “Don’t even say it, Foggy! Don’t be a martyr for my sake!”
“No, sir berry, I-”
“I won’t hear of it!” I said, blueberry tears beginning to slowly creep down my cheeks as the matriarch finally dug away enough of the armor to see bits of unprotected skin. “You’re not going to sacrifice yourself for me!”
As the words left my mouth there was a sound of two thuds, one after another, that rang out in the brush clearing. The matriarch howled, screaming in pain and leaping backward off of Fogwarth as she desperately jumped around at whatever had caused the thuds.
Fogwarth scrambled up to his feet and held me at the ready.
[Fogwarth has added Ak-Lok to your Adventure Party. Two open spots remain]
[Fogwarth has added Ix-Lok to your Adventure Party. One open spot remains]
Notifications came up in my vision and I read them quickly before shoving them away. I could see it now. I could see the causes of the thumping noises we had heard. The matriarch had been struck by two massive arrows; one on fire and charring her fur and flesh, while the other had encrusted ice from tip to tail, radiating with frigid energy. She roared and fought to remove the arrows by rolling or smashing against the under brush. After only a few more moments the power in the arrows faded, leaving them to crumble into splinters after her next roll.
I was grateful for the archers even if I could not see them, and I assumed they were the two golems we had added to our party. I glanced around but there was no sign of them at all. As if they could understand my thoughts, two more glowing arrows flashed out of the deep shadows buried in the underbrush, the ice one landing its mark on the paw while the other connected to the back leg. Not wanting to waste the distraction, Fogwarth jumped in with his mace at the ready, and let us swing a decisive blow against the matriarch. My spiked ball came down on her bark-armored back hard and the sound of cracking bark or bone echoed out into the vast underbrush.
[Stun Applied. Foe is stunned for 7 seconds]
“Ha!” I exclaimed as the notification came and went. “That’s what you get! Stupid ass tiger!”
Fogwarth let out a joyful huff then swung me back upward in an uppercut against the massive creature's head just as 2 seconds remained on the debuff. Another crack of bone against my steel carapace and the beast back stepped, head whipping back from the blow this time.
It roared again, sweeping out with its claws the moment the [Stun] effect disappeared. The came too quick this time, each of the claws rending gashes into Fogwarth’s chest plate with one claw managing to cut into his skin a bit, leaving a spatter of blood on his once pristine new armor.
“Gah!” Fogwarth exhaled with a touch of pain, stumbling back and using me to catch himself.
Two streaks of vibrant color carved out from the underbrush again; one with the dancing yellow and orange of flame, the other the chilling blue of arctic cold. Both of the massive arrows struck home, cracking into the bark armor of the matriarch and sending it into another frenzy with their elemental effects. This time I was able to get a full view of the arrows and was shocked to see that they are so large, easily the length of Fogwarth’s entire arm and as thick around as a Red Bull can. I also noticed there wasn’t any blood from the arrow wounds, the fire seeming to cauterize one wound as the frost froze another.
The matriarch turned her back on us for a moment to scan the darkness for the two archers, and that was the only window Fogwarth needed to get us back in the action. He leaped, me raised high over his head as he descended with a powerful downward arc.
She dodged it by only a hair, the force alone blowing her back and disorienting her. As if it were choreographed, two identical figures rushed out from the shadows, one leaping from above as the other slid in low. They were a blur of gray stone, only their titanic sized bows visible to me as they approached. Each released an arrow, this time they were not imbued with whatever their fire and ice magic was, and both plowed into the tiger, splintering and shattering on impact.
Fogwarth and I went in again, this time with a horizontal strike as if we were banging a gong. Wooden bark cracked and snapped as we hit the armor of the creature’s ribs. The golem landed side by side, one harboring a flaming orb in its left hand as the other drafted an orb of pure winter in the right. They lobbed them underhand like they were pitching a little league baseball game, both orbs gentling arcing through the air.
“Oh… fuck…” I said in fascination as Fogwarth drew me back to block a chomp from the mommy cat.
They hadn’t lobbed them like baseballs at all. They lobbed them like hand grenades.
In a burst of color that would make any firework enthusiast proud, both orbs hit home and exploded with swirling flames and shattering ice. The beast, whose fangs were wrapped around the pole of our weapon, shuttered from the impact. The ferocity in its ghastly eye suddenly began to fade and the strength in its jaw vanished. It stumbled drunkenly backward, barely able to hold itself upright and struggling to look in our direction at all.
Fogwarth sighed, gripping the weapon tightly and raising me up to our zenith once more.
“It is over,” Fogwarth said.
He dragged me down, ripping the air itself as he did so and smashing the beast right at the top of her skull. The wooden horn shattered, the bark that armored her head blew apart, and the beast collapsed to the ground in a heap of tiger meat. I felt the last twitches of life fade away before Fogwarth drew a few deep breaths and pulled me back up to lean on his shoulder.
[Your party has slain a Brush Tiger Matriarch - Level 21. You are awarded 328 experience points]
[You have gained a level. You are now Level 3. You are 622 experience points from Level 4]
I sighed in relief at a battle hard fought and hard won, seeing the devastation around us with new eyes. Tiger flesh, bone, and blood, churched and carved earth, the remnants of embers and the lingering crystals of ice. If this was the aftermath of an altercation against some tigers then I was truly terrified of what the war the King spoke of might look like. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, and beings who all wielded spells and weapons just like us? It would have to be absolute carnage.
And yet, I smiled. I smiled wide and I smiled proud. Not at the battles that would come or the death we had caused today. I smiled because of a notification that I could only hope would pop up at some point.
[You have 1 unspent ability point. Please choose an ability from the Angiomancer skill tree. Ability points that are not applied within 24 hours are randomly assigned to an available choice]
Fuck. Yes. Magic powers here I come.