A fungal tentacle stretched out of the corrupted spring and swung at him at full force. He was too enraged to even attempt to dodge it. The attack landed on his chest and he was sent back flying.
[Minor Regeneration activated.]
It was just a scratch, he stood up and launched himself at the tentacle. It swung again, but this time he was ready, he stabbed the spear into the tentacle inflicting the Blue Dust debuff on it. The tentacle trembled and even began to shrivel. The shrivelling appendage wasn’t his real enemy; the abomination was. The monster wrapped friendly lamia using a spindly tentacle and was bringing her towards his mouth.
He was running in a mad dash right towards the monster, jumping from one flat stone to the other. A single mistake and he could fall into the corrupted waters. The tentacles were shooting out of the water, trying to grab him, but he was too fast. He felt energy coursing through his body, he felt empowered and stronger than he should ever be. But most of all he was enraged.
He kicked off the stone making a long jump, he flew like a record-breaking athlete towards the mouth tentacle. While still in the air he thrusted the spear, the blow was so powerful it snapped the appendage in two; then he landed on another flat stone like a pro gymnast and turned towards the abomination.
The lamia of course fell into the water, her body landed in the viscous corrupted sludge; it didn’t drown but floated on the surface. Upon touch with the skin thin purple veins appeared, slowly spreading through her body.
He would have done something about it, that is if he wasn’t under the negative status effect. All he wanted to do now was to destroy this monstrosity, so he kicked off the rock and jumped again. He was flying through the air like a cannonball, the monstrosity didn’t even bother to swing its tentacles at him, instead, it opened its already large mouth wider and right into the mouth he went.
That was a huge mistake.
Just before the mouth could close and crush his body, he released every last pinch of Blue Dust he still had. The dust went right into fungal pores clogging them and then reacting with the mucus inside. It made a sizzling sound. Instead of finally closing the mouth the abomination opened it again and coughed hard.
The unpleasant smell of rot assaulted his nose and burned his eyes. [De-buff active: Miasma]. The gust was so strong it threatened to blow him out of the mouth, but he wanted to stay, he had to stay. So he slammed his spear into the base of the mouth and held tight. The monster had an incredible ability to move air through its body; the current was powerful enough to lift him. His feet were dangling in the air and If not for the anchored spear he would have been blown away. With the moving air, the Blue Dust was cleansed from the fungal flesh, and he had another ace in his hand.
[Life Steal activated.] He didn’t need to kill a thing for the perk to activate, keeping it inside someone's body long enough would also do the trick.
Soon, his eyes and lungs felt much better, and even his mind much clearer. Abomination was large and he only needed so much health, the life force pooled into the Slayer Spear regardless. The spear shaft began to glow and even buzz from all of the excess energy. It was glowing red like a hot iron rod and even felt like one in his hand. And then it just exploded into a ball of red energy.
[Assassin Strike activated.]
like a grenade it sent fragments of IronOak wood in random directions. He too was sent out of the mouth by the explosion with several of the fragments lodged deep in his armour. [Tough Skin activated.], [Spell Deflection activated.], in the end, all damage was negated and he crashed on the surface of a corrupted pond.
He avoided the explosion damage but the water of the corrupted spring did its thing: [De-buff active: Corruption.] However, there was good news too. The monster shrieked in a horrendous cry, its tentacles trashed aimlessly and the fungal skin began to sizzle. If he didn’t know any better, he would say that someone just cast a terrible spell or debuff on the cancerous lump of a monster. The jerking of the tentacles stopped and its body shrivelled making it look like a wrung-out rag, like a puppet whose stuffing was taken out; deflated and defeated. [Fighting +25000exp].
The Corruption slowly drained him, he could feel it eat and burn at his skin. On the upside, he no longer felt like the embodiment of wrath; his mind was so much clearer. So, he pushed through viscous liquid towards the unconscious lamia. He scooped her out of the oil-like water and frowned at her sorry state. Her otherwise pristine skin was tarnished with violet veins of corruption. With passing seconds he could see them spreading, aiming for her heart. The poison was spreading through his body too so he moved hurriedly towards the rocky border of the spring.
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The debuff was more than just a negative effect, it was eating at his armour and he could feel the segments making it come loose one by one. By the time he reached the edge, his armour was completely in tatters. He pushed the lamia out of the water and onto the rock, her clothes too were now gone, eaten by corruption. And finally, by reaching the rocks, he left the waters of the corrupted spring.
The debuff disappeared, but he could still feel the lingering effects of it. He looked at the lamia with worry and then made a sigh of relief. The violet lines tainting her body had stopped growing and were even shrinking. Whatever it was, it was temporary.
Out of the water, and into the fire. [De-buff active: Myconid Spores.], and it couldn't be worse because he slumped on his side next to the lamia. He was paralysed!
However, he didn’t need to be worried because he could see his spiders doing well. The spiders were experts at dealing with pesky plants and trees so it was no surprise that they were demolishing the myconids like they were nothing. The struggling Lamia were rescued by his brave warriors, and the ones who couldn’t move were carried aside so they aren’t in the way.
The violet lines infecting friendly lamia’s body diminished to nothing, her eyes shot open and she began to stir. She looked in confusion all around her and then her serpentine gaze settled right on him. The look she was giving to him wasn’t neutral, it was a bit scary and even predatory. Of course, the myconid spores were still affecting him and her.
He worried for the worst, but a spider ran to his rescue, likely to check if he was alright and then put him with the rest to the side. Indeed, the spider nuzzled right to his chest to feel his heartbeat and then chirped happily with relief.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him. Go, sss, help the others.” She waved the spider away.
That was very kind of her, but still, that look she was giving him… He saw her cheeks turn pink. Was there a reason to be blushing now? Even if the two were without any clothes, Lamia never seemed to care about the small details like that.
Her body began to coil around his. She was so close! He felt things he didn’t have the right to. He remembered that some snakes would constrict their prey before eating it and indeed her mouth opened displaying rows of pointy teeth. The serpentine tongue probed the air in anticipation. And then… There was a kiss?
He was both surprised and frustrated. If only he wasn't Paralysed he would be able to do something about her negative status effect. It wasn’t because he didn’t like that kiss, or the one which came after, no, this lamia was a surprisingly good kisser. It was the fact that she would probably remember her action and once she sobered up from the Charm debuff… well it would be embarrassing for the both of them. But there is a saying: when life gives lemons make lemonade; and this lemonade was delicious!
She was moving her body ever so slightly, either coiling it up or down. Her lips were like silk and her skin surprisingly cool and smooth. The embrace was tight but it wasn’t unpleasant. It was very much to his liking until…
“Seed me with your eggs-sss.” The lamia hissed with a burning passion.
Her hand moved to the area which he had designated as a danger zone. The Charm debuff was scary! He was very lucky not to have gotten it while fighting the myconids. He didn’t even want to imagine the ramifications.
Either way, for better or worse, the Charm debuff seemed to be contagious because he would be lying if he told that he wasn’t excited. Well obviously this was not the time nor the place for youthful indiscretions like this but then life gives lemons…
The black pupils inside her deep green eyes suddenly contracted forming thin horizontal lines, she blinked twice and hissed.
“SSS! Oh my.” She relaxed the muscles in her tail. “What have I done.” She said with a burning red face.
Yeah, there were fewer and fewer spores in the air, of course, the debuff would not last and he could feel the strength already returning to his body.
[De-buff expired: Myconid Spores]. “I was paralysed.” He said in his defence.
“I knew. SSS, that’s-sss why I…” She hid her face behind her palms, “SSS!” and opted out to run away.
“Wait!” He shouted but lamia either was too far away already or didn’t even want to listen so he let a defeated sigh out. “Ahh, this has almost gotten too dangerous.”
Neither of them was to blame for what just happened, so instead of dwelling on the situation he concentrated on the current matter. The myconids were dealt with and the spiders were almost done clearing the cave out of fungi and mushrooms. The nest of the infestation was cleared and the myconid spores weren’t tainting the air. However, the corrupted spring still remained, still corrupted, still with the desiccated remains of the abomination.
Without the spores interfering with his sense of smell, he could smell the reek of it – the smell of miasma and rot. He wanted it gone, so he jumped from one rock to the other and back towards the source of corruption.
“Harvest Material.” He invoked the perk.
The monster literally exploded into particles of light flashing the entire cavern; probably just another side effect of this broken perk, after all the abomination was quite large. He blinked the bright light away and took a deep breath of fresh air; he had almost forgotten how good it felt to breathe normal air.
The huge boss monster must have dropped some loot. It had to!
“There is it?” He was peering into the waters looking for anything. “Is this it?” He immersed his hand in the water to retrieve a perfectly cubic shape.
[De-buff active: Corruption.] No, it was not the cubic shape, he had gotten the debuff even before he touched it. “So the spring remains corrupted.” He ignored the tingling sensation on his skin and fished out the cube.
[Dark Essence]. The system informed him that it was some sort of crafting material. Like the name implied the shape was black and if he turned it at the right angle he could see a purple whirlpool swirling inside it. It was filled with something… he didn't have the right word for it, there was just some sort of a presence inside.
Just in case he tested the water again. “No, still corrupted.”
The hot spring was the heart and soul of Lamia village, it could not be left corrupted, and he feared that it might spawn another monster.
“I have to cleanse it, but how?” He had no real solution, unless… “The elves might know something.”
He nodded happily. That’s what the allies were here for, to help each other.