"I'm a little confused," Dakota says as we walk. "If you really have that much Magic, then how are the rest of us supposed to stand a chance? You're a bit stronger than we are and you were barely cracking the spiders' shells, weren't you?"
Dakota, Lucas, Wyatt, and I are walking through the woods, wearing trip packs to gather any items we find as we walk. Dakota's pulling a larger wagon meant for carrying heavier items, since he's the muscle in this group. It's big enough of a wagon that if we had horses, one would probably be pulling it. Dakota's holding onto a bar and is pushing rather than pulling due to the size.
We'll be needing such a big wagon for this trip, though I haven't told them why yet.
It's been almost a week since Dakota, Tessa, and the builders arrive and things have been pretty alright here. Some work has been done, but not a whole lot has actually happened. Mainly, it was just prep work for the houses and the work on them.
Two have already been constructed; one for the builders and one for Tessa. Chance and I prepared most of the materials, though the builders also helped cut the wood and Patrick told me the sizes to make for the bricks and slabs. Since I have the highest Magic out of everyone here, it was decided we'd use ones I conjured for the added durability, to reduce how strong of an infusion we have to give them to resist the magical energy in the air.
The semi-large house for the builders was the first one constructed, along with their workshops for smaller projects. Tessa's house was the next one, and it's similar in size to mine but has a few rooms inside. Now, the builders are working on the house for Trent and Grace along with their respective work spaces.
The four of us aren't really needed for the construction work, so we're off on another mission. Tessa, Todd, Mr. Baxter, and Collin's familiars are handling watching the camp for threats so there's no concern about danger to the others.
Today's mission is to act as our first time working as an actual group in combat. Trips out are normally done in pairs or trios, and I often have either Todd or Tessa with me if I don't have Dakota, and the same goes for the others. We've never gone out as a group of the four of us before.
Which means we need to get in some practice fighting as a team against monsters. Everyone I've fought with so far, we've adjusted easily enough to fighting alongside each other. They've all had similar luck. That leads me to believe that it won't really be a problem, but it's still better to practice this before heading into the Dungeon – or attempting to take on the spiders, as I was just explaining to them.
"I have 83 Magic right now," I say. "While the rest of you have 40-50 Magic or Strength. When I fought them, I had 71 Magic, so still a bit more than the rest of you. Part of today's thing is to try and get you guys some more Levels, too."
"The might difference didn't seem to make a difference against the s-spiders," Lucas says. "It was my attacks that were killing t-them. Constitution seems to not be a flat rate for the full body."
"Right," I nod. "Lucas and I were talking about that after you guys fell asleep last night. We think that it's more like an 'average' of the entire body's Constitution."
"Sort of like how Strength isn't the same for every muscle a person's body," Dakota says. "I'd thought about that, too. Would make sense, since some creatures have scales and flesh and the two parts don't give the same resistance when struck.
"So you're thinking that the insides of monsters are probably a lot weaker," Dakota continues. "And once they're cracked open, I can break through the weakened skin and Lucas and pierce, with Wyatt helping to distract the others?"
"Yeah," I say. "Or Wyatt and Lucas can focus on the crowd control aspect and you and I can focus on tearing up their insides after I soften them up. Wyatt's bombs are pretty helpful at disrupting attacks. Though he's got some that can also damage their bodies."
"I have to avoid using ones that are too strong," Wyatt says. "Partially to avoid damaging the surroundings, partially because if they're too much stronger than me, they'll give me nothing for Classes. Tried that with a breezestep deer yesterday."
Wyatt doesn't stop examining the forest around us as he walks, which doesn't surprise me. It looks a fair bit different to him now thanks to the new glasses that he's got.
Chance managed to make some lenses that let Wyatt see, completing them shortly before bed last night. The glasses fit on him nicely and have frames made from metal my brother crafted and enchanted. From the three hours of muttering curses, it seemed like getting the curves of the lenses proper enough for Wyatt to see through was a pain in the ass and Chance does not want to have to replace them, so those are enchanted for durability as well.
Due to the silvery coloration of the enchanting runes, the enchantments were set along the sides of the lenses, so they aren't visible due to the frames concealing them.That avoids obstructing Wyatt's vision.
Though the problem of him not being able to see clearly has been solved, Wyatt says he likes being able to throw a potion and just blast a wide range of stuff without needing a lengthy spell cast and a lot of spent Mana. He even worked a little on his aim for shooting the bottles with [Air Bullet], for if he has time to cast it. I'm sure he'll still use [Air Bullet] to attack as well, since not every fight will need an area attack.
"Makes sense," Dakota says. "It makes the fight too easy if the attack is significantly stronger than the monster is, so the System probably also has in a factor to consider how strong an item is in comparison to the wielder as well to avoid abuse."
"Carter, where are we going?" Wyatt asks. "This is toward the site for the dairy plant, right?"
"We're closer to the school, actually," I correct. "Not that it's there anymore, it's just more of the forest."
All of the younger plants that sprouted up are now more mature plants, though the growth continues due to the Mana in the soil. There are a variety of trees here, and some of them are rather tall while most have thicker trunks regardless of height. Even the ones that didn't become a magical variant are adapting to the area and becoming more resilient to damage, too.
I'm honestly considering asking for my house to just be built out of those. There are still a few skinnier varieties that could be used for a nice-looking log cabin.
That may have actually been a better idea for everyone else's houses, too. The trees are already adapted to this area, so they'll last longer as the Mana in the air continued to increase. But even the homes we currently have are really meant to be temporary, so it's not too much of an issue.
Due to the increased growth, nearly the entire area is just a forest, a clearing, or a water source as either a lake, pond, or stream. Some of the land has shifted to form inclines or short cliffs, and I think they're actually still changing elevation.
Navigating this area based on memory alone is starting to become difficult due to the shifts. The undergrowth doesn't help, nor does how close together some of the trees are, causing us to need to turn often after as walk.
"Collin and Todd had their magihawks scout some areas for me," I say. "And I want to try and make the area as safe as possible before we head into the Dungeon, since it might take us a few days."
Even with multiple combat-capable people at the camp, it's still better to try and reduce the overall threat level of the area. That way, those at home can focus on relaxing more than worrying about potential dangers.
"So the plan?" Wyatt asks. "Kill a bunch of shit?"
"Kill a bunch of shit – and make the stonefang snake queen spawn," I tell them. "Stonefang snakes show up fairly often in the yards and while they're slowing down on that, I'm suspecting it's because there are so many of us rather than their numbers being reduced. And while the builders can fight a little bit, Trent and Grace can't."
"Since monsters get mollified after their royal is slain," Lucas says. "That should make walking around easier. Collin's and Todd's magihawks seem to be taking care of the fliers, so those aren't as much of a concern."
"You talked with Lucas about it?" Dakota asks.
"Nah," I say. "I was just waiting to see if anyone would ask. Guess Lucas realized the reason once I said."
"Yeah," Lucas nods. "So the goal is to take out the queen of the snakes today?"
"Yup," I answer. "Since we're doing this in the morning, we'll have plenty of time to rest and recover the rest of the day."
Our plan is to head to the Dungeon tomorrow, and thinking about taking out a couple royal monsters didn't happen until while Lucas and I were talking last night. While Lucas made breakfast, I prepared our packs for both of the beasts I plan on us provoking into appearing. The others don't need to know that the plan is for us to take on two of the local royals today, but I'm sure they'll be fine with it.
I might have to give up reaching a second Level 10 Mastery Threshold before Status Level 2, but the benefit of this area being safer is a worthy reason to sacrifice that. Hell, I may even hit Status Level 2 today if the attacks are enough. That would make the Dungeon a little easy for me, but the quicker we can go through it, the better.
And having the rest of them be stronger before setting foot inside? Also worth the sacrifice of a little bit of extra stats.
"Where's our destination?" Dakota asks.
"The site for the high school," I answer. "There's apparently a stream that flows through that area, and Ventus told Todd that he's spotted a lot of the snakes near that."
"The stream used to be barely a trickle," Dakota says. "It ran on the school's property, right at the back. But with all the changes that's going on, I wouldn't be surprised if it's bigger."
"It is," I nod. "It's widened to about three feet and is roughly four inches deep based on what Todd was able to glean from the bird, and it flows down to what may have been a former stream location? It's a pond now, and is on the property from the church that was across from the high school. Todd says it's behind the parking lot, right before a steep slope up that's now larger."
"I don't understand," Wyatt said. "I destroyed, like, dozens of the snakes back when I was first testing the bombs. The queen didn't show up then."
"Yeah," I say. "It may have been because of how quickly they were dying. You were wiping them out in groups, after all. We don't really have enough information to know for sure, and the golems weren't helpful when I asked."
"You asked them?" Wyatt asks.
"Figured it didn't hurt to try," I shrug. "Anyway… over there. I can actually see one."
"That's a big boy," Wyatt says as the others look. "Think it's the queen?"
The stonefang viper we're looking at is around thirty inches in length, making it longer than all of the ones any of us have encountered so far. Though its brown-and-grey pattern should make it easier for the creature to camouflage into the forest floor, and though it should actually be able to slither around beneath the undergrowth, we can see it easily enough. Right now, the snake is resting on a rock with its head over the stream that apparently ran by the high school.
As I learn more about the area, I learn just how much water there was here. Streams, natural ponds and lakes, and artificial ponds and lakes are everywhere, and I only knew about a few of them. This area really had plenty of water sources and the terraforming is only expanding and connecting them.
Hell, it's to the point that I straight-up received a notification a couple of days ago informing me that some of the terrain alteration wished to bring a stream through the area our camp was. It was a for a spot between my house and Todd's and between the shower house and Trent's and Grace's house. After some discussion, we decided I could give the go-ahead instead of declining the request.
We did have to remove all of the items stored on the ground in that area first and right after we finished clearing the space for it… the stream formed. The ground shifted and "fell" away in a space about twenty-one feet wide to create a stream bed about fourteen inches deep.
I say "fell" away because it seemed to fall inward and vanished. Immediately after that finished appearing, small stones begin to form, creating a rocky bed that looks somewhat natural, and then crystal-clear water began to flow through it. Some holes are scattered around in it here and there, like a natural stream might have as well, those holes ending up around two to three feet in depth.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
In a few spots along the stream, there are short waterfalls between half a foot to three feet in height, dependent on the terrain's inclines.
Tessa, Todd, and I followed the stream south to where it ends, which turns out to be a river that most certainly did not exist before. That river flows out of the lake at what used to be a sports park, which is now quite the massive lake with cliffs forming around its edges and streams flowing into it from four points, three of which are on that budding cliff, resulting in a trio of waterfalls.
The fact that I received a request to allow the change alleviated a fear of ours – that the shifts to the environment would force themselves upon us and damage or homes.
Though it also meant I had to make a new bridge… not everyone wants to walk through water that's nearly up to their knees.
The stream we're at right now seems shallower than that, and the stonefang snake hasn't noticed us yet. It looks to be drinking from the water, oblivious to the world around it.
"I'm not good against monsters that are lower down," Dakota states. "Anyone else want to handle it?"
"Lucas is already on it," I point to Lucas, who's in the middle of casting [Thorn Shot].
We've all done some practicing with our magics and other skills over the last week in preparation for the Dungeon run, and Lucas managed to bring [Thorn Shot] up to Level 4 through his training, up from the Level 3 he'd brought it up to using Skill Points after the spider fight. Now, its casting is only ten and a half seconds.
The moment the thorn finishes forming, it shoots forward and slams into the neck of the beast, slicing straight through and ending its life.
"Everyone get ready for the big fight," I say. "The reason I suspect we can get the queen to show up here is because according to the familiars, all of the stonefang snakes that come here are bigger than the ones we've been facing. They're probably a more elite version of them, so taking down several in a short time may cause the queen to take notice."
That was one of the theories I had about how to get her to show up. If there is a stronger variant of them, then the queen might view the lesser ones as more disposable – but not the stronger ones. If I'm right, then that explains why the queen didn't show up for Wyatt's little testing hour.
"Better to get ready before the big fight starts than wait until we think it will," Dakota pulls off his pack. "Nobody meet her gaze when she shows up. Based on what Carter's experienced, the royals have other tricks and it wouldn't surprise me if she can inflict the stone curse with her gaze."
"Might not matter if it's by eye contact," I pull off my own pack. "Since I doubt it'd matter if we met her gaze or not, but still good advice. Everyone has more potent cures for the stone curse in their packs. Make sure to have one on you for the fight."
"Got it," they all say.
We discuss potential plans as we double check our gear, then we store our packs on the wagon and move that out of the potential battle area. Lucas takes care of two more snakes that he spots as we do this, having fewer checks to do than Wyatt or Dakota. The latter of them also takes off his hoodie and shirt, just in case.
Since Lucas will be using [Summon Vine] during the fight, he stops after his third snake and Wyatt and I handle taking out others. That spell is extremely expensive – it costs 300 Mana and takes 50 seconds to cast at base (45 since he trained it up to Level 2) – so he wants to save the Mana to cast it. He actually has to drink some potion to restore enough to make sure he has the necessary Mana for when the queen shows up.
While Wyatt and I target and take out the snakes, Dakota and Lucas keep an eye out for any approaching ones and alert us to where they are. At the same time, Dakota also rips out some of the undergrowth to make it easier to see anything drawing too close to us.
Nearly half an hour passes before we've killed every single one we can find in this area – then Lucas begins casting again.
"She's here!" I call out upon identifying the spell circle.
Wyatt reaches down to his belt and pulls off two of the bottles while Dakota begins casting a pair of identical spells, both with a greyish-white coloration to them. Like me, he has [Multicasting], though the spell he's casting takes 17.5 seconds normally with it being Level 3, so it's going to take him a bit to finish that. I cast an [Air Bullet] and shoot it straight at the queen the moment I spot her, casting another immediately upon finishing the first one.
She dodges the attack, but I'm not too concerned by that. As long as my attacks keep her at a distance, we'll be fine.
The queen of the stonefang vipers is even larger than the others by a significant amount. While I can't see how long she is, her thickness makes it clear she's tougher than the others by a long shot. Roughly a foot in diameter, we've seen no other snake anywhere near her size before.
"I knew she'd be big," Dakota comments as we start to scatter. "But damn is she big."
"Yeah," I say as I continue shooting [Air Bullet]s at her. "Get ready."
Dakota's holding his spells at just-before the casting completion time, just like Lucas is going to do with his. The queen's dodging my attacks, but it's keeping her from getting too close to any of us. While she might be a royal monster, she's not lightning-quick like the smaller snakes are. Fast enough to avoid my attacks, but not to dart in and strike us between spells.
For a being her size and toughness, she probably doesn't need speed. However, that means that she's probably got some other tricks up her sleeves beyond just inflicting the stone curse with her bite and possibly her gaze.
That concern is proven correct when, after two minutes of being unable to get close to any of us, the queen stonefang viper begins casting six [Stone Bullet]s, all of which are aimed at me. I can't take out that many at once, but I don't need to.
We've all gotten far enough away that Wyatt can use one of the two bombs he's holding and he throws it at soon as she starts casting. Contained within the three-ounce glass bottle is a pinkish-purple liquid that billows out into a cloud of matching color upon release. It's not a dense cloud and only expands about ten feet in radius, the latter a result of Wyatt figuring out how to lessen the range without decreasing the strength.
The moment the queen is shrouded in the mist of [Mindblast Bomb], her spell circles shatter and she flicks her head some. Rather than stunning those within its cloud, the potion bomb attacks the mind. I take advantage of the queen's disrupted thoughts to strike her face and eyes with [Air Bullet]s, managing to shoot off twenty-eight before the cloud dissipates enough she can resist its effect.
Despite the number of attacks I shot at her, the snake only has light wounds, her scales cracked and broken in some places and only one of the shots managing to draw blood through them. The shots I landed on her eyes were more successful, taking out her vision.
I'm not stupid enough to think that means she won't still have something to help her fight us, though. The squirrel queen could cast with her tail and the owl king could use flight magics. There's no telling what the snake queen might pull out of her bag of tricks.
Hissing at me, the queen begins to slither her way toward me, moving faster than she was before but still not as fast as her minions. I move to the side a little and she adjusts her path to follow. I took out her eyes yet she can still see.
Can she see through vibrations in the ground or something?
"Too slow!" Dakota shouts as he lands on the snake, grabbing it with both hands near her neck.
Both of his hands and forearms are covered in gauntlets formed of compressed air, visible only because of the way they affect the flow of light and the darkness around their edges. He might not be heavy enough to weigh himself down if hit with too much force, but he's more than strong enough to hold the hundreds of pounds of the snake. It's matter of whether or weight and Strength are enough to break free.
She hisses at him as she whips her head around, managing to bite his right arm. He didn't grab close enough to her head to stop that, but I think his magic gauntlets helped soften some of the bite.
"Wyatt, now!" Dakota yells, and Wyatt throws the second potion bomb he was holding, another [Mindblast Bomb].
Dakota's Mind isn't strong enough to resist it but I guess he's willing to take the hit to it to hold this out. His magic gauntlets fade a moment after Wyatt's attack succeeds, the warrior frozen from the assault on his mind with only slight jerks of his head as he attempts to fight against the attack. The same goes for the snake queen, which had begun to turn its head to the other side, mouth open and ripe for shooting attacks into.
I hold off on that, however, as Dakota wanted to buy time for Lucas. Attacking now would only mess with that.
Two spell circles that match Lucas's brown-and-green one form, one halfway down the snake and the other near her mouth. Both are seven inches wide, and three-inch-thick vines quickly rise up out of them. At Level 2, Lucas can summon two vines with a single cast of [Summon Vine], meaning he doesn't need to extend his casting or use more Mana for it.
The vine around her body begins to wrap around her and lift her up while the one by her mouth first gags her and wraps around her head, then pulls her up to try and string her up in a tree. He couldn't get her back end as there's a length limit to the vines based on his Magic, but the vines squeeze her tightly enough that even moving her back end around shouldn't break her free too fast.
Still stunned by the potion bomb, Dakota is simply knocked off of the snake by one of the vines to move him out of the way. I run in and pull him back, then tip some of a pinkish-purple potion into his mouth. A recovery potion to let him come back faster.
"Thanks," he shakes his head. "You do your thing. She got me with her curse."
Part of Dakota's right forearm has already turned to stone, indicating a faster rate of spread as we'd expected. However, it's slow enough he's got minutes before he needs to worry. The antidote reverts any stone-turned flesh back to what it should be, so there won't be any long-term effects once he's treated.
Since he has that taken care of, I begin weaving one of my longer-cast spells. Or rather, two of that one. A pair of wide, greyish-white spell circles form in front of my hands as the snake starts wriggling the rest of her body in an attempt to free herself. That fails to free her so she begins casting six [Stone Bullet]s.
"Is she aiming at herself?" Wyatt asks.
He's pulled out another pair of potions, one of which is a [Mindblast Bomb], the other of which is a [Windburst Bomb]. Lucas is drinking some mana potion right now, too, and I guess what he's thinking. He doesn't need much extra Mana to control the vines as long as he hasn't ended the [Summon Vine] spell, but he can also repair them with it while it's still active and if he cancels it, he can use [Plant Mastery] to do the same things.
"Yup," I answer. "Hold off! Lucas! Don't worry about trying to mend the vines when she breaks them! Let her fall!"
"But-!"
"My aim's good enough!" I say as I stop the casting right before the finish point, to hold the spells ready.
If the queen shoots at the vines to break them, then some of her own attacks might wound her – which would make my own attackmore efficient.
No longer needing to worry about mending the vines, Lucas cancels the spell… and immediately begins casting it again. He'll bind her up again if needed. Good thinking.
"Wyatt, the moment she drops, stun her again!" Dakota calls out after the first six bullets pierce vines and the queen begins casting another six. "That'll give Carter time to ready another round if the first doesn't work!"
"Got it!" Wyatt calls back.
It takes the queen three more rounds of [Stone Bullet]s to break the vines enough that her weight snaps them the rest of the way, allowing her fall to the ground. She turns her head and hisses at Dakota, only to be struck in the head with a glass bottle that shatters on impact. A pink cloud of magic spreads out and the queen begins writhing in pain.
The moment before the potions struck her, I completed the casts and shot forward the pair of [Air Missile]s I'd summoned. One slams into her head and the other into her side, both breaking through her damaged scales with the force of their impacts. Her front end is thrown back as blood splashes out, but the queen still isn't dead. There would be at least one notice in my vision if she were.
With the size and speed of my [Air Missile]s, some of the cloud of mind magic was dispersed and the rest fades quickly. Before I can finish my next pair of [Air Missile]s, the stonefang snake queen has begun to recover from the effect and the cloud is mostly gone.
"Not this time!" Dakota comes in from the side, landing on her neck as he grabs her mouth, arms wrapped in [Air Armor] again. "Learned from that mistake!"
He's pinning her mouth to the ground so she can't bite him.
The moment he sees a [Summon Vine]s target circle appear, Dakota quickly jumps off and back. Now free, the queen tries to turn and bite him, only to find herself held to the ground by vines attempting to squeeze her.
Lucas left gaps at where the previous two [Air Missile]s struck even without being able to get a good view of that part of her. His casting skills are damn impressive.
Upon seeing those openings in the binds, I shoot at the queen. She's already begun casting her [Stone Bullet]s to break free, but it's an effort which proves futile as my attacks slam into the larger wounds already there.
Notifications popping up in my vision inform me that the queen of the stonefang vipers is dead.
You are now a Level 22/50 [Elemental Mage] +20 Mana +0.006 Mana Regen +2 Magic +2 Mind +2 Skill Points +2 Attribute Points You have gained 2 EXP.
You have completed a Quest! [Quest Type]: Slay [Requirement]: Slay the Stonefang Snake Queen [Reward]: 8,000 syscre, 5 [Mana Crystals]; 3 [Earth Maginiite]; 3 [Curse Maginiite]; 3 [Poison Maginiite]; 1 [Basics Pack]; 1 [Hunter's Pack]; 5 [Health and Healing Pack]s The queen of the stonefang snakes is a powerful foe, much stronger than her subjects. Though slower in speed, her Constitution and Strength more than make up for it and her stone curse more than enough to end the unprepared. Taking her on is not for the weak of body or lacking in skill. Those who can overcome her might and taker her out, however, will find their area spawning fewer stonefang snakes.
"She was a tough one!" Wyatt comments as Lucas hurries over to examine Dakota's arm.
With our healing amulets and how little damage Dakota took thanks to his magical armor, he probably won't need more than a cast or two of [Lesser Heal] from Lucas to finish recovering. Chance figured out how to strengthen the healing factor of the existing amulets a little and did that for all of them. Once he figured out how, he also tweaked all of the ones that needed us to recharge them to draw in ambient Mana as fuel.
"Now I see why you wanted the wagon before today," Dakota says as he looks at the remains of the stonefang snake queen. "So we could transport this back, right? We can get a lot of scales or hide from her. A lot of meat, too."
"Her bones will be good for alchemy, too," Wyatt says. "Those potions I used had bones from lullaby owls and magihawks in their recipes, among other things."
"If I'd known you had those," Dakota tells him. "I would've used one of the [Mind Boost Potion]s in my pack. They were still in there during the fight, though, so I couldn't grab one during it."
In each pack is two bottles of [Mind Boost Potion], which boosts a user's Mind stat by 10 Points for three and a half minutes if the full dose is consumed. It would have been enough for him to try and shake off the effects of the potion bombs that Wyatt threw.
"Actually," I say. "Those are for another fight I was planning on today."
Everyone gives me unamused looks.
"Once we're all rested up and our loot is put into the wagon," I say. "Who wants to take on the king of the magihawks?"