Breathing slowly, trying to keep his senses up, he decided to spot any of the creatures, likely around him. Looking up at the sky, the sun beat down heavily on him though soon it would be blocked by the jungle he was about to enter. It was fortunate having the suit, which would keep the internal temperature at a comfortable setting. Thoughts of him sweating his balls off during the summer when he was hanging out with friends and trying to stay cool went through his mind.
"Han, I'm in position," A woman's voice informed him.
"Do you see the other team, Ruby?" Han asked.
There was a pause before Ruby answered, "There are too many monsters for me to get close." With determination in her voice, she suggested, "I could try picking off a few of them."
"No! If you were to go by yourself, we both know that you'd be killed almost immediately." Han quickly said, thinking that Ruby was going to try and go for it. "We've done this enough, so you should know better than to just dive into a mob. I still need you to locate the other team."
Han realized that he was tapping on the hilt of his weapon, again. Lately, this had become a habit of his whenever he needed to think about a tough puzzle he was trying to crack.
"Little Brother, I'm waiting. We know what needs to be done." A familiar voice teased him.
He sighed in frustration at his sister's voice. "You just want to go crazy in that mob. The problem is that you sometimes go too wild and forget what you're meant to be doing."
"I'll behave this time. I promise." Jennifer whined in a cute voice, knowing that Han would eventually concede to her wish.
Bringing up the map in his helmet, he moved his eyes to indicate for the map to reveal any nearby enemies. In a matter of seconds, Han was looking at a map of where his team had traveled. A large portion of the area was still concealed in the Fog of War. Looking to where Ruby was situated, there was a considerable spotting of purple dots. He sucked in his breath, not expecting such a large mob just congregating in one of the major forks.
"If we don't get rid of the mob, then the other team could position themselves in a more advantageous spot," His sister continued her attempts to get him to unleash her.
"You're only allowed to disperse them, not do anything else," Han ordered her in his sternest voice.
"Sure thing, Team Leader," Jennifer happily said.
"I'm being serious, Jennifer! You know who we're up against!" Han begged her.
All Han could hear was the sound of Jennifer happily humming away. On the map, he tracked Jennifer's indicator rushing towards the large mob.
"You sure that was a good idea?" Grace asked.
"Can you go back her up, but keep an eye out and maintain communication with Ruby. The last thing we need is a scout or assassin from the other team appearing out of the blue and leading the rest of them to us." Han sighed in resignation.
"Sure thing. We don't need a repeat of last week's game." Grace sounded exhausted after remembering the complete mess that was made.
"Ruby, once Jennifer and Grace have cleaned up as much of the mob as needed, I'm going to need you to proceed deeper into the map," Han said. "Remember to use your reveal crystal when you notice a good spot. The longer this goes on, the worse it's going to get."
Han slowly positioned himself to quickly take advantage of the opening. With his position in the team, he likely had one of the more laborious tasks to complete. Making sure not to draw any attention to himself and redirecting the monsters' attention, Han moved at a fast pace though not with wild abandon like his sister.
"Han, I passed by some monsters, so make sure not to pull any aggro from those things," Grace warned him.
"Thanks for the heads up," Han saw the small group that she was talking about. There was a pinging noise and symbol that attracted his eyes to the monsters. If Grace didn't run into them and alerted him, Han may have stumbled onto the group. He wasn't worried about defeating such a small number of creatures, but it would cost him valuable time.
His eyes looked to the darkened areas of the map as Han tried to anticipate what the other team was planning. It was likely that he would be fighting the guards of the other side by himself, his sister and grace getting likely getting tangled up by the monsters and opposing team.
Sticking his hand into his belt and felt a couple of jewels ready to be used. It would come in handy when he would be up against the guards.
As he was getting closer to where Jennifer and Grace were fighting, he saw a couple of serpentine monsters and a tiger looking beast. Seeing that the serpents had green and black colors on its back, he was eager to see if he got lucky. The snakes had a diameter big enough where they would barely fit through a doorway, but it was long enough where if it coiled it would be the size of a small mom and pop store. At the very end of the creatures was a large stinger. Whenever it stuck out its tongue, Han could see rows of teeth angled back. At the front of the mouth was a set of teeth tucked away. Not only would he have to worry about the stinger, but he would have to look out for those poisonous fangs.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Even with the suit on, those fangs would be able to pierce through his armor and kill him instantly. It would definitely not be a fun experience, feeling inner organs dissolving away. The stinger would paralyze him, but at the same time, he would get to enjoy the sensation of his flesh being stripped away. Having the neurotoxin would leave him completely vulnerable. He would get front row seats, watching the monsters fight over his body.
With the tiger, it kind of looked like a chimera, a mixture of various animal types. There were places where bone seemed to be jutting out, providing an exterior armor. The tail was a serpent with three heads, each one looking around for any enemies. The horns and claws of the tiger would be something he needed to be wary of, but compared to the serpents it wasn't as big of an issue.
Pulling out the sword on his back, he effortlessly unfolded the blade which gave it a jackknife appearance. Locking the hilt into place, he kicked the ground and headed straight towards the tiger.
Two of the snakes on its tail noticed him and hissed. This caused the tiger to quickly look at him and bare its fangs at Han.
With practiced precision, Han swung one of the ends down and decapitated the tiger. Rolling over the body of the tiger, he used the momentum gained and cut off the snakes the tiger had for a tail. The last thing he needed was those things to get lucky and bite him.
Seeing his attack, the two serpents coordinated with one another in a pincer attack. One of the snakes opened its mouth and revealed the rows of fangs, while the other one had its stinger ready.
"This is where the real fight starts...," Han said at the creatures.
In a split second, the one on his right launched its head at Han's body. Out of the corner of his eyes, Han saw that the one on his left speared its stinger at Han's head. As the two creatures' attacks were heading towards him, Han quickly raised his sword and had it slanted. With skills he honed during his time inside of the training area, he redirected the head of the snake on his right.
If the snake could talk, Han was sure it would be cursing Han. Because of his weapon being designed the way it was, it made a perfect ramp for the monster. Han grunted as his legs took the brunt of the attack with the suit compensating a little to absorb the shock. It took only a moment before he heard the satisfying sound of the stinger entering the mouth of the snake. Judging by the two different fleshy noises, Han could tell that the stinger had pierced through the snake on his right's head. The other snake hissed loudly, likely due to the fang from the other one piercing its tail.
Han laughed, seeing both snakes writhing in pain. Though the one with the stinger piercing its head was likely twitching from reflex. It would probably be similar to seeing a dead person's feet twitching, even though the person had their head crushed. Not wanting to take any more time, Han got out from under the two snakes and ran to the one on his left. Seeing slight foaming of its mouth, Han figured that the venom from its buddy's bight had affected it.
"Time to end this," Han said as he jumped and spun himself vertically, using his body to act as the axis of a gyroscope. Moving his arms, he pulled the blade closer to his body and caused himself to spin faster. Extending one of his legs out and pushing the weapon away from him. The sudden extension made him drastically increase his speed for a moment. Even though the snake was giant, it wasn't able to withstand the force generated.
A whistling sound was heard and then sucking noise. Slowly the head of the snake fell off and rolled on the ground.
Like a practiced gymnast, Han landed on his feet and spun his sword quickly to get rid of the blood before collapsing it back and placing it into its holder.
"I wonder if I got lucky with any of them," Han grinned, seeing the corpses of the three large monsters. Pulling out a blade from his side, he quickly began to cut into the creatures and hoping that the time spent would not be a wasted effort.