Well, crap. I'm looking at what remains of the twigling and I'm not liking what I see. The plant of course is fine, completely untouched by the blast. The huge blast left a massive scorch mark on the ground and was probably audible for miles around. It probably also scared off everything for miles around, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure most animals avoid the direction the sounds of explosions come from. Just great, now I won't be able to hunt things, unless I go out to them. I could probably take on a few deer with the twiglings in tow, but anything bigger than that will probably eat me unless I bring a lot more twiglings. Being low level sucks, I can't take on higher level things without my home field advantage. Which means I can't level up, which in turn means I can't fight things. Of course I can use the plants but being out of my pod makes it prohibitively expensive, being out of the network would make it more so. Eh fuck it, I'll make more twiglings. If something happens to come in before I'm done I'll kill it first, otherwise I'll go hunting. I've got no shortage of materials now with the over dozen corpses I have stacked up around my base. The large half corpse that was in my range when I first woke up is nearly consumed, and the other corpse is already gone. I've been making alot of twiglings, and now it's time to make some more.
I set to work, but about thirty minutes later something pops into my range. At first I'm as giddy as a child in a candy store, but as I see the available selection my excitement drops and horror starts to creep in.
Samuel (Human, Level 31 Tracker)
Bob (Human, Level 30 Warrior)
Oh, oh no no no no. Why are there people here!? There shouldn't be people here! This is the middle of bum fuck nowhere, why here!? Ok calm down! They don't know I'm here yet, they are acting way too calm to know I'm here. The warrior has a short sword on his hip and full leather armor covered in various papers and what look to be seals. The tracker is also in full leather armor, but his seems to be painted green to help with concealment and lacks paper or seals, he seems to be wielding a shortbow that is currently strapped across his back with his quiver. It looks like they are investigating the twigling. But it's burned badly and broken apart so they shouldn't be able to recognise it. Just keep calm and wait for them to leave, I'll listen in just to be safe. I might be able to use the blast plant on them too, they are a little far but if I use plant manipulation to smack two of the bulbs together the resulting explosion should at least knock them around enough that the twiglings can finish up. Problem with that plan is a second louder explosion might attract more attention so I'll have to clean up fast. I deploy the twiglings to about three fourths of the way there and listen in on the two in the meantime.
"What do you think it is?" Bob asks
"No idea, never seen anything like it before. Kinda looks like a bush with legs but it's hard to tell, clearly this was the victim of the blast plant."Samuel replies.
"So where did it come from?"
"Somewhere in that direction, two miles ish from where we are now." Samuel says as he points off in the direction of my pod.
Fuck! Change of plans, I order the twiglings to pursue until destroyed. Then I gave a second order, return to base. Then I slap a shield spell and all the temp buffs on them to boot. They should chase them down until they kill them or lose complete track of them, only then should they return to base.
"Should we…?" Bob starts to ask.
"Shhh!" Samuel shushes him and puts his hand up while staring intently in the direction of the incoming twiglings.
"Run!" Tracker says while grabbing his friend and dragging him along.
"Wha?" Bob starts to ask something but is cut short by Samuel pulling him into a run.
"Run damn it, that thing's friends are…! Samuel screams but is cut off.
I grow out the stems of two pods on the blast plant and smack them together, both rupture simultaneously. The resulting explosion falls short of killing them, the fireball not even halfway to reaching the two men, the shock wave however was enough to send both of them fly back. The tracker slams violently into a tree and lets out an agonized scream while the warrior just tumbles around but manages to avoid major damage. The warrior is the first to recover, promptly springing back to his feet and drawing his sword. Once he was sure it was clear he turned and ran over to the groaning tracker who still lays against the tree.
"Come, we have to go!" Bob.
"Ahhh! I can't, my leg is busted."
"Shit, we gotta move before enemies get here, no way they didn't notice that explosion."
"Leave me, whatever those are, they're getting closer. Go back to camp and warn the others. Ahh! That blastplant going off wasn't a coincidence."
The warrior spits a curse then turns and abandons his friend. Well that was quick, too quick, I don't think the twiglings are gonna catch him. Damn it! I'd stab him myself but I don't want them to know I'm here specifically, and trying to directly stab them would just scream 'hey there is a dryad around here'. The warrior leaves my domain unimpeded while the twiglings continue to thunder towards his last known location and the downed tracker, who has now taken out his bow and nocked an arrow. He's not going to get very far being unable to move…. Actually that gives me an idea. I've played enough multi-player games in my lifetime to know that knowing is half the battle, can't believe I'm thinking this but thank you rainbow six siege. This seems like a perfect opportunity to learn a few things, like how many friends he’s got. I cancel the twiglings previous orders, they weren’t going to catch the warrior anyway. Instead I order them to surround the tracker and disarm him…. They don't understand the disarm part of the order. So I tell them just attack his weapon until it breaks then back up, that they understand fine. I guess twiglings aren't designed to take prisoners, I’ll have to try and fix that later. As the first twigling comes into the trackers view he wastes no time losing an arrow that impacts the twigling square in its bulbous lower torso area. All it does is stagger it for a moment before it resumes its charge, while I start remotely healing it using my new skill. The tracker lets out a curse as he sees both the green light envelope the twigling and more of its companions burst out of the bushes. He gets another arrow off while the twiglings close in on him this time managing to injure the remaining level eight. It staggers but like the level thirteens resumes its charge. He's in the process of knocking a third arrow when the twiglings finally get to him, he throws down his bow and pulls out a dagger from his armor. The dagger immediately starts to glow a strange blue color so I focus in to see if I can get a description.
Magic Dagger?
???
Yea that thing probably has an enchantment or some other mystical bullshit, still won't save him from the horde unless it can do some stupid anime style move and kill all the twiglings at once. The man expressed great surprise when the twiglings seemingly ignored him and instead opted to smash his now discarded bow before backing away. They stood staring at each other for a few seconds before I gave a new order to the twiglings, bring him to me. They surge forth, grabbing the man before he can get any meaningfully swings off and lifting him into the air while pulling in all different directions. Don't pull him apart you idiots, and stop grabbing his broken leg, I can't interrogate him if he comes in screaming bloody murder from pain beforehand. Slowly the horde of twiglings moves back towards my pod, holding the man aloft while he screams profanities and other classic lines like 'I don't want to die' and praying to his gods for salvation. Ain't no gods here buddy, only me and my twiglings. I start the draining process and mentally prepare myself for what is to come. I'm hoping he will tell me what I want to know without any coaxing, but I get the feeling I'll be getting my hands dirty, and either way I can't let him live. The memories of my last 'death' surface, the agonizing pain, the feeling of life slipping away, feeling my hope shatter, I won't go through that again.
Finally the group gets back to the little spot I call home. I order the twiglings to wrestle the dagger from his hand since he hasn't dropped it on the way over. The first thing one of the dumb little bastards does is grab it by the blade and cut itself. I facepalm, the sap having drained enough to allow me to do that at least, then heal the stupid thing. Another twigling finally gets a hold of the hilt and yanks the dagger free of his grasp causing him to curse and thrash about some more. It's all pointless, the twiglings have an iron grip on him and I've already healed the few minor cuts he managed to inflict on the way over. I'm going to handle this personally, as dumb as it may seem. I need to get out and get some air, and I get the feeling my presence will make the interrogation more… effective. The last of the sap drains away and I run my hand through my hair to help knock away the leftovers. I stand up in conjunction with my pod's petals opening and stretch myself out, cracking a few joints in the process. Feels good to be up and about after being podded up for so long. I step down off the pod and head out the door, which is on the opposite side of the building from where tracker boy got dragged in, so I have to walk around.
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By the time I get around to the front the tracker has been thrown down by the twiglings and is currently holding an arrow in each hand while yelling and screaming at them.
"Come at me you stupid things, I'll take at least one of you with me!"
"Oh please, you wouldn't even be able to scratch them with those. Good try intimidating the barely sentient bushes though." I said as I rounded the corner of my little house.
The man stopped his rant and turned to look at me, immediately going wide eyed. He looked at me, and by the time I realized where he was staring and moved my hand to cover my chest he had turned his gaze further down. Oh what the hell am I getting embarrassed for, he'll be dead soon anyways. I pull my arm away and straighten my back, then address the man.
"Enjoying the view? You might want to worry about my friends here instead."
With a snap of my fingers I also send a command to the twigling to grab his arms. They lunge forward and latch onto the man, holding his arms in place and leaving him nowhere to go. His face turns to rage as he continues to thrash against my minions then he spits at me and curses me out.
"Screw you, you damned vile abomination! May you fucking burn in Thrill’s wrath for all eternity and Wither play with your soul! Fuck you!”
Wonderful, I'm guessing he’s going to be non cooperative. That's fine, I'll just have to apply some motivation. I walk over to the man as he continues to rant and rave about how I’ll face the gods wrath and burn for eternity in the most painful fires and blah blah blah. I grab the fingers on his left hand and bend them backwards as hard as I can all the way back. There is a tearing sound combined with a crunch and a few pops, when I release my grip the fingers dangle loosely from where they are attached to the palm. Now he’s gone from screaming at me to screaming in general, yelling in agony as tears start to form in his eyes.
“I’d suggest you shut the fuck up before I really lose my patience. Now, you’re going to tell me what I want to know or there will be more of that. If you tell me everything I want to know quickly, I might let you crawl out with what's left of your limbs.” I whisper in his ear as he seems to come back from his screaming.
"Fuck you" he says in a defiant tone, then he spits in my face.
I reach up and wipe the spit from my face, thankfully I had my mouth closed and it missed my eyes.
"Alright, how many of you are there? What are the class compositions?" I ask while reaching over to his other hand.
He stares at me defiantly for a few moments, so I grab his fingers and start to slowly push backwards. He tries to push back, but as a monster and a paladin I'm much stronger and easily keep bending his fingers back. Eventually he starts to scream again but I keep pushing, if he has the energy and breath to scream he can answer my question. Slowly his fingers bend back until I start to hear a tearing sound, then I jam them back even more with all my strength until I hear the crunch and pop of the joints popping.
"Well, I can do this all day. Oh that reminds me." I say with an evil smile.
The man looks over in horror as I reset the fingers I just broke and then start healing them. It takes about thirty seconds and six hundred mana, but his fingers are in perfect working order again. That is until I bend them back a second time, the same sounds as before repeating as he screams in agony while I let his fingers flop limp. I take a step back and observe the man now sobbing, tears flowing down his face.
"Still not talking huh? Fine, I didn't want to resort to this." I say as I move my hand down to his crotch and grab.
Feels weird grabbing another man's nuts, then again I'm not exactly a man anymore am I? The man squirms and finally relents with tear filled sobs.
"Alright! Alright! I'll tell you whatever you want to know! Just please no more!"
"How many of you are there?" I ask in a stern voice, making sure to keep my grip tight but not crushing.
"Fifty six! We brought sixty eight including myself! Fifty seven are from the church and the other eleven are hunters! Please!" He screams frantically.
Fucking damn it! I don't want to pick up and leave, hell I don't know I can escape another witch hunt. But maybe I don't have to, I've got a little over two miles of radius in my domain in every direction except the mountain. I've been killing shit higher level than me since I got here. I might be able to pick them off, especially if they don't know what they're dealing with. All I need to do is pick them off bit by bit. Then maybe, just maybe.
"What are the class compositions?"
"uh um, I'm the only tracker, the hunters have three archers, four warriors, and three mages!"
"What kind of mages?"
"Uh, one is water something, the other is a novice geomancer, the third I don't know, I think he's a generalist but I haven't seen him cast."
"What about the other fifty five?" I ask while applying a little more pressure since the man has been losing his sense of urgency.
"Ah ah, I'm talking all right! Most of them are warriors, I think ten or so are archers but I never bothered to count! The only other ones are the deacon and his bodyguard! The deacon is a priest and the guard is an apprentice knight!"
"What kind of priest is he?"
"Light priest! But he won't cast any spells himself, he looks down on everyone else! Says we aren't worthy of his blessings! Please, that's all I know!"
Hmmm that's actually good information. I think I'd actually let the guy go if it didn't result in witch hunt two, murder the dryad Boogaloo. But I have a few more questions.
"Why are you out here? Why are the church and hunters working together?"
"I got hired to guide the expedition into the valley area and help them find the night stripe they are after! The other ten hunters were hired to act as monster control! The church wants the night stripe, something about the deacon pissing someone off and being told to go get a fresh pelt!"
"What are the group compositions? How many to a party or squad? Or do they just work it out on the fly?"
"The hunters are two groups of five, hired separately! One group has two mages, two archers, and a warrior! The other group has one mage, one archer, and three warriors. The church people normally work in groups of ten but the composition varies!"
So, the church probably runs eight fighters and two archers to a group on average. The hunters, who the hell knows with that composition set. Sounds like one group melee and the other ranged.
"Are the water and the geomancer are in the same group?"
"Yes, the generalist is in the other group!"
"Good, now, next set of questions." I say as I loosen my grip a little. A good incentive will get more out of him willingly, which is easier than prying it out of him.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I, I didn't, I sensed more of the bush men, the twiglings coming when they charged us."
"So you only knew about the twiglings and not me?"
"Yes, I can only track creatures of species I've seen before using my skill. They don't even have to be alive or a full corpse, even small pieces will do."
"Are there any others in your group capable of tracking?"
"No, I should be the only one.”
“Alright, your camp, where is it?”
“Um, um, it's three miles that way.” He says while gesturing with his head up the valley, in the exact opposite direction he and his friend came from and the opposite direction his friend ran.
Does this dude think I’m stupid? I mean, it is possible his friend ran to get help from a group that's out and about. But, that stutter at the beginning leads me to believe he’s lying to me. That displeases me, so I tighten my grip again and he starts to squirm and scream.
“Do you think I’m fucking stupid? You and your friend came in and he ran off the other way. Tell me where it really is, out with it!” I shout at him.
“Ah, ah ah! OK! OK! It’s five miles the other way! I swear, it’s five miles.”.
The other way is south I’m pretty sure, it’s to my right if I look at the mountains on the other side of the valley. The sun rises behind the other side of the valley so yea, south is approximately that direction down the valley.
“How guarded is the camp?”
“What do you mean?”
“Guard rotations, layout, out with it!”
“There are usually ten men on duty but its random, the deacon's tent is in the center and everything else is just placed around where we could find room!”
Now for the final question, and the most important one.
“Alright, good to know. Now, do you think your friends are going to leave since they think your dead?”
“I don’t know, they probably don’t think I’m dead quite yet!”
“Stop lying to yourself, think carefully, would they return home if you died or would they keep trying to kill the night stripe?”
“No, the deacon wouldn’t allow it. He’s too stuck up to return home without his goal, he’d sooner run everyone else to death.”
Shit, I was afraid of that. I take a step back, release my grip, and let out a sigh. I’m going to have to deal with these people, or get dealt with myself. I hate this, I hate people, I hate getting hunted. So I'll hunt them first, it's me or them, and I don’t plan on dying again. They want a war, I'll give it to them before they even realize I'm here. I step forward again and grab the man by his neck while pulling my other hand back and into a fist.
“No please, you said you’d let me live!” He screams while thrashing desperately to try and break free, tears running down his face.
“You didn’t talk fast enough.” I say calmly as I drive my fist straight into his face at full strength.