Seeing George and Becky holding their positions, he let the Desert wraith engage with its area of effect. The flock came into view roughly fifty meters away, and by now they managed to halve the distance so the time to mess around was gone.
To follow up, he sent both his stiletto and Storm wisp to focus on the matriarch and tossed his javelin into their midst.
"Woah," he exclaimed as he felt his body toss the weapon with noticeably more strength than he expected. The more surprising thing was, he also possessed heightened reflexes to keep the aim true and as it left his hand, the projectile cut through the air like an arrow.
It caught one of the juveniles in its mouth and pierced all the way through, turning it into a corndog and killing it instantly. By the time he recalled his weapon, another two juveniles fell down, killed by black arrows shot by Luke.
John noticed Connor standing still from the moment the enemies were spotted, and now he understood why. What started as a tiny blue crystal between his hands now transformed into a fist-sized chunk of the white substance radiating out intense cold.
"Get ready, lads!" he yelled out and lobbed the thing in a neat arc over George's head.
The incoming pack of constrictors dodged to the sides, but as it flew into their formation, Connor shouted, "Boom," and the thing popped like a bubble, sending out a pale ripple of energy. It took mere moments before all juveniles affected by the explosion fell down and their bodies shattered into dozens of small pieces of frozen flesh.
"Great job Conny!"
"Thanks, B," he replied with a wide grin on his face.
Only a single juvenile, two Alphas, and the matriarch remained capable of flight, and as they continued forward they collided with his wraith. The matriarch veered left to dodge its tightly packed form, but a simple command from John made it expand into a five-meter-wide cloud of superheated sand and cover the massive snake's head.
Seeing the favorable situation, both George and Becky charged, closing the remaining distance between the incoming beasts and meeting them in the middle with a sickening crunch.
Their leader moved with an agility that belied his stature and the blow with his round mace smashed the Alpha's head in a single blow. Becky, unable to keep up, arrived a second later and enhanced her thrust with some unknown ability that pierced through the other Alpha's body. What followed was a clever use of the creature's momentum against it as she stepped to the side and guided the pierced snake head-first into the ground.
"Nice," John cheered.
Meanwhile, Luke took down the last juvenile and they all focused on the enraged form of the matriarch which flew out of the burning cloud at a wrong angle and smashed right into the thick branches of the nearby tree.
John could see its bottom covered in blood and his stiletto repeatedly stabbing in and out of its thick hide. Using the opportunity, he threw another javelin which penetrated all the way through its side and nailed its three-foot-wide body to the tree.
Roaring in desperation, the beast tried to flee. Fortunately, the javelin held firm, making it feebly writhe in pain and tear the wound wider. Another lightning bolt struck its head, and with the overwhelming damage from his stiletto, wraith, wisp, javelins, and Luke's arrows the monster slumped down, dead.
Recalling his javelin unpinned the colossal corpse, letting gravity take its course and pull it through the branches until it collapsed on the ground with a loud thud. The reward… four blue piles and an uncommon card.
"Is it just me or are these beasts much weaker than the undead Rothounds back home?" John asked with a thoughtful expression.
That was the equivalent of a dozen zombies, two Rothounds, and their Alpha, but we killed the normal blue monsters in a single hit and their matriarch in a couple of seconds…
"Indeed they are," spoke George, "I believe the undead are made to be much more resilient. What they lack is intelligence. Have you seen any that were capable enough to plan an ambush or retreat when put in an unfavorable position?"
"The better question is, what did you get?" Asked Becky.
"Hmm, let me check."
John willed his deck to open and looked at the card on the top of the pile.
[Heavy impact
Can be linked with any ability bearing a projectile tag to cause a moderate knockback on impact]
As he was reading through the description, he picked up on a hushed conversation between Luke and Connor.
"... you see how… …lities the …uy us…" Luke softly whispered.
"Yeah! How…" their voices grew faint as they walked further away.
I hope that kid won't try anything dumb, he thought and finished reading the card. It was an upgrade for the common variant he already had on his wisp, so he switched them out and closed the deck.
"Ehh, an uncommon Heavy impact. Nothing great but better than what I had before," John answered with a shrug and walked to the matriarch's dead body.
"Are you really okay?" Becky asked as she joined him by the corpse. "You look sick… or poisoned?"
Looking at the dark-grey veins branching over his forearms, John sighed, "Yea, I am fine. It's… It doesn't matter."
That was something he would not share with anyone. The same went with the other epic or unique cards because it was wiser to hold them close to his chest.
"Anyway, let's move on. The time is running out and there is a lot more prey to be hunted down."
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Nodding, Becky called out to others and they soon reformed into a tight formation.
"Where now?"
"I believe we should follow the previous direction," George proposed with a nod toward the other side of the corpse.
"By the way, John, I couldn't help but notice the blue tattoo on your hand. Care to share what kind of monster it was?" Asked Becky who promptly joined John's side.
"Oh, sure. You see, I came upon this clearing, and…"
They spent the next three hours together, taking down a few more packs of constrictors, dozens of thrashers, a couple of strange living flowers, and two more Craylisks.
The most intriguing find was a massive wall of vegetation they stumbled upon thirty minutes ago. It was a tangle of branches, vines, and bushes climbing as far as his eye could see, and even Luke said he had no idea how tall it truly was.
Connor proposed to climb over it, but that idea was very quickly shut down. There was no way for it to be the expected path, and also no one else was keen to risk the fall. That led them to turn right and follow the wall for the next half hour until finally, they spotted a wide tunnel leading inside.
"Ehh… lads, I don't see shit in there."
"This might be a problem," agreed George. "How are the rest of you capable of navigating in darkness?"
"No problems here," offered Luke.
"Not great," followed Becky.
"No problem here either," John agreed with Luke.
"Alright, I am not completely blind so I will take the lead with Luke," George started planning. "John, can I count on you to take care of Connor and Becky? I should be able to fight in the darkness, but I won't spot anything in the distance so I won't be able to quickly assist if something attacks from our flank.
As they stepped into the tunnel, the thick canopy over their head blocked all rays of light and turned the already gloomy jungle into pitch-black darkness.
"Uhm, guys? I think this is going to be like one of those labyrinths cut into the vegetation," John informed the group as he observed the branching path twenty meters ahead.
His prediction turned out more truthful than anyone hoped.
"For fucks sake, Luke! We went through here twenty minutes ago. Are you sure you know where to go?" George cursed, slowly losing his patience as they kept stumbling in the endless maze for the last four hours.
"I… I don't know," Luke replied with a defeated sigh. His confidence was utterly crushed as the odd maze kept their whole group stuck.
It was all strange, and if John didn't feel his gut telling him that despite the odd terrain and recurring landmarks they were making progress, he might have also been more impatient.
Over that time, they killed two plants in the same rank as the Craylisk, dozens of odd insect-like creatures, and uncountable amounts of small plants that served as stationary targets that shot a light dose of neurotoxin.
"Wait, this is it!" Luke yelled out again. "That path to the left is new, I am certain. It will take us further in."
Connor had it by far the worst because as they ventured deeper, the light became so dim he couldn't even see the ground he walked on.
The only reason he was able to do anything was because of John's wisp and wraith. Both of his minions served as sources of light, giving Connor barely enough to navigate the maze and defend himself against the living roots that sometimes surged out of the thick walls.
"Light!" Connor cried as they rounded another corner.
The tunnel widened into a four-meter-wide room, and on the other side… a clear path leading outside.
There was one problem though, and it was the creature inside, blocking their way.
[Verdant Thornweaver {D}]
Its massive form stretched across the entire width of the tunnel, and the being resembled an amalgamation of a plant and a beast.
Its moss-covered limbs extended outward, anchoring deep into the earth and melding seamlessly with the surrounding foliage. A mesmerizing display of vibrant blooms adorned its branches, each full of light-colored pollen that continuously rose into the air like smoke from a bonfire.
To contrast its intimidating extremities, in the center of the vines—like a spider in the middle of its web—sat a two-foot-wide bulbous head composed of several layers of delicate petals.
"Uhh…" John scratched his head in thought. Something about it felt familiar, but why?
"So what are we waitn' for?" Asked the restless Connor. "Let's get out of here!" Not seeing anything off, he stepped into the room.
Still in thought, it took John too long to react to his sudden movement, and after it clicked, it was too late.
"Watch out!" Yelled Luke as he watched one of the vines in front of them whip forward and shoot three finger-sized thorns toward Connor's chest.
"Wha…" Connor, lacking any military training, turned back and looked at Luke in confusion.
Fuck! Seeing the Thornweaver attack and Connor cluelessly standing in the middle of the hall, John jumped after him, throwing him to the side while commanding all his minions to engage.
As he dragged the kid's body down, he felt a stab to his right shoulder. It felt as if he was stung by a wasp. The same happened to Connor who yelped out in pain, cradling his right forearm.
"Galanthar's blessing!"
"Are you guys ok?" Becky asked as she carefully advanced toward the bulbous head.
As John came out of the tackle he focused on the creature before him, trying to feel any weak spots or vulnerabilities.
Ohh, this is not good…
The weak spot was its core, but that was snuggled in the middle of the petals, and from John's intuition, those were one of the strongest parts of its plant-like body. However, his gut also let him know that extreme cold would severely hamper its offensive abilities.
"Connor hit it with the frost spell!"
"I… But…"
"Now!"
Seeing him shut up and use his ability, he recalled the wraith back and watched the small freezing crystal arc through the air. It was barely half the size of the one he used previously, but that was because back then he had time to channel more power between his hands before release. Nonetheless, the ability impacted one of the vines that attempted to swat it out like a bug, shattered, and released a wave of chill.
The effect became immediately obvious as all the bulbs on its vines crumbled and fell apart, stopping the generation of the pollen covering its massive form.
"Good job Conner!" Becky applauded and zoned in on the opening. "George, protect Luke while I finish it off."
Becky proved herself a capable fighter, dodging the incoming thorns and a swipe coming for her legs, closing the distance, and activating her ability. Her spear surged forward and impacted the bottom side of the petals. Unfortunately, they proved too tough and the spearhead slid under their side and struck one of the seven vines holding it in place.
The vine parted under the powerful stab, leaving behind a thigh-sized stump bleeding out green liquid.
"You didn't like that, did you?" She taunted its colossal form.
With a high-pitched screech, the Thornweaver opened its bulbous head wide open, revealing a pulsing fist-sized organ, but also releasing a large cloud of purple pollen right into Becky's face.
Oh no… Seeing the cloud spread out he finally remembered why the creature seemed familiar. It was the same flower he had to face during the Crucible of flesh.