They circled their own unoccupied hill at the height of the saddle towards the next hill, spotting a stream. Saving on elevation might not have been necessary with their Running skills, and they chose the path consciously.
When they arrived at the next saddle after jogging for a few minutes they put down the aberrant monster and left to inspect the hilltop.
As they got closer their footing grew looser and wetter. Instead of landing on a thin couple centimeter thick layer of moss, they sunk into the ground a hand width with each step, drenching their shoes but not feet, and leaving a cold and clammy feeling behind. The heavy boots they had been given by the Oregon Zoo protected them against the humidity for now.
“Should we turn around,” Max asked after more than ten steps of sinking halfway to the edge of his boots.
“We are going to need water anyway,” Jamie said. “How long have we been here? An hour, maybe two or three. Sure, we are fine now, but think about how you are going to feel in another hour or two. I’m already thirsty.”
Shrugging, she kept walking, passing him.
After a few more minutes of slower and slower walking, they reached the first shrubs that they had seen. Their wet branches wouldn’t lend themselves to burning though and were too flimsy to be used in any kind of construction. All the shrubs they came across shared those characteristics though they did increase in size. Max and Jamie didn’t bother to make a small detour to check out others.
They reached the top both drenched in sweat. Max had insisted that they check out the plateau. Just to make sure that whatever fed the stream would really be a safe source.
There was a distinct upside to having reached the top. Their feet only sunk in by a couple fingers' width. Shallow enough to allow for a decent walking speed. And that they had gained access to a small lake.
The downsides were manifold.
Around the pond lay three Roe Deers, looking at them threateningly.
> Sunken Roe Deer – Floor One – Level 2 – Mini-Boss
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> Drenched Roe Deer – Floor One – Level 0
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> Drenched Roe Deer – Floor One – Level 0
As quietly as he could Max whispered into Jamie’s ear.
“We should head back. The big one is level two and a mini-boss. Whatever that means.”
In response Jamie only nodded, slowly taking one squeaking step back at a time.
Their retreat was not to be. The larger of the three had lifted its head and was looking directly at them. A breath later it stood on all four, pointing the two pairs of antlers directly at Max.
We need an advantage if we want to get away. Max knew what he had to do. His pitchforks special effect was able to cause slight debuffs in opponents. What if there was a range of debuffs that could be applied? What if one of those debuffs was a slow?
Having learned from previous fights, he took heavy steps through the soggy ground towards the deer, building up speed so he could activate Sprint.
“Run,” he yelled before dashing at the creatures ahead of him. The other two deer that had only gotten up slowly in reaction to the boss’ actions had jumped up as Max’s voice reverberated through the marsh. With him being able to sprint even with such footing, Max hoped that he would be able to catch up to a fleeing Jamie.
Because she had to flee. Those weren’t chickens. There was no way she could actually harm a deer without a real weapon.
Sprint kicked Max into overdrive, and he got to the drenched deer in just seconds. The recently risen opponent was still getting a grasp on the situation when Max thrust his pitchfork at the monster, interrupting Sprint’s accelerated footwork but keeping the impulse of its effect.
The pointy end of the pitchfork penetrated deep, almost half a hand’s length.
Max tore, and the deer bleated in agony. And everyone was stressed.
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The pitchfork wouldn’t budge. But due to the angle of impact, he had been able to keep the beast at bay, using the wooden handle to keep maneuvering away from his opponent. It had, however, been hard to keep an overview of the remaining two opponents. The other drenched deer had followed Jamie for all he could tell. Which wasn’t ideal, but she would hopefully get away. There was no way the deer would be able to utterly outpace her. And even if it did, it seemingly didn’t have great offensive methods.
That left the sunken deer, the mini-boss as his final unaccounted opponent.
It wasn’t chasing Jamie, instead, it stood where he had first seen it, antlers raised wardingly towards Max and his opponent, snout extended into the half-empty pond.
Max blinked, trying to see what exactly was going on. Impossible from his vantage.
The pitchfork finally dislodged and the drenched deer bleaked again, even louder than before. It had taken several attempts did he manage to pull it free.
That raised the question, which he only had a fraction of a second to answer. Try and finish off his current opponent or run.
The answer was obvious. They needed access to the pond, or at least the small stream and if the deer weren’t willing to share, one of the parties had to make place. Max didn’t want to make place. He didn’t even want to be here really. But since he was here anyway, he might as well do a good job of it.
Fully ready to take his current opponent out of the fight for real he took three steps and thrust again, piercing the already retreating deer only barely. He kept up as the deer reorientated itself, trying to get its antlers between the vulnerable body and painful pitchfork. It worked partially. The most recent hit had been to the monster’s flank. One of the front legs struggled to keep up with the rest of the movement, giving Max an opening to once again hit the same part.
The pitchfork dug in deeper.
Seemingly having enough of being the next closest thing to a target dummy the deer disregarded the pitchfork that impaled him and pushed. Max, who hadn’t really anticipated that, stumbled as his weight was suddenly redistributed.
Yet, even in his fall he managed to keep a firm grip on the pitchfork’s handle. Still skewered the deer pushed Max through the wet moss, and shrubbery. It took several meters of being pushed and evading angry hoof steps before Max gained a semblance of control and was up on his feet again. The deer had tried to prevent as much with erratic movements of its torso, but all for naught. Already injured it hadn’t been able to muster its entire strength and speed.
The sunken deer hadn’t been idle meanwhile. Max only saw it briefly in his periphery. Where there had once been a pond, several meters across, was now an empty hole. Within stood an angrily huffing deer.
That’s not good, he thought as he observed the small swell of water flowing towards him. A first swell might have already hit the deer he was fighting. What stood out as he observed the current situation, was that the deer’s feet were already clad in water up to its knees.
Shit, one is drenched the other is sunken. One is passively affected. He hated that he hadn’t realized the connection earlier. His Analyze had told him, that there was a synergy there. It was right in the name.
As the water flowed further up the deer Max’s heart cried out. He couldn’t tell what was going to happen, but unless the water animated the drenched deer, he had an easy solution to the issue.
Instead of lamenting his oversight, he sprang into action, closing the small distance between him and his foe, just as the water sped up to encompass his opponent. With all his might he rammed the pitchfork into the unprotected slow-moving head of his target. The first hit pierced an eye, squelching in a disgusting manner. The second penetrated further into the struggling opponent. The third and final penetrated halfway.
It shuddered, before sagging slowly to the ground. The air slowly escaped its lungs, causing a soft whistle before its muscles stopped holding it up. With a soft squelch, it fell over and landed in the soggy water-drenched moss.
Max had already turned away from it and was inspecting the other remaining opponent.
He noticed from his periphery that the water that had slowly been building around the doe’s legs and body dripped down as though robbed of all the cohesion and magic giving it life.
I have no clue what it can do, but honestly, I don’t care to find out right about now. Instead of standing and facing off against the mini-boss he took measured steps back, away from his opponent. As he saw no direct action he changed into a trod, running backwards until he almost crashed into a bush. Then he turned around and dashed towards where he saw Jamie brawling with the other drenched deer.
Even hindered by the muddy and slippery mires, with Running and Sprinting activated together, he caught up to his friend and deer both deeply concentrated on combat. Max’s feet sunk into the soft moss, drawing him further into its depth with each step – or so it felt to him. His muscles strained against the suction caused by his steps, and murky water splashed around him. The previous soft smell of old water became stronger, reminding Max of hiking in the mosquito-infected pacific northwest.
And something in his mind, his very core dwindled with each fast-paced step. Draining from him.
Until Sprint stopped working just as he had covered a bit over half of the distance. Fifteen seconds later he’d reached his friend.
Without sparing more than a glance at the deer-riding Jamie he thrust his weapon at the dripping opponent repeatedly. Nine stabs later it stopped moving, allowing Jamie to get her right leg out of under the monster’s heavy torso.
“Hey, I almost had it,” then her cheery mood dropped as she looked over his shoulder. “We got incoming. Shit, I thought you’d managed to deal with both of them. Is that the big guy or the lacky?”
“Big one, listen I got a plan, but I don’t know if it will work. It earlier used some sort of water manipulation, I think. Either way, I will take it head on and you will try to seriously injure one of its legs. Once it lacks mobility finishing it off should only be a matter of time.”
Jamie nodded. “But we need to get better footing if we are going to do this seriously.”