Joe watched where the twisted purple tree stood on the edge of the Dourfore for a good fifteen minutes. During that whole time, he saw no signs of movement other than the occasional bird crossing through the sky. No beetles picked through the grass that he could see. Kaid remained standing in the bright sunshine a little ways away from the spiny mass of roots. The tree itself gave no indication it had any ability to move, even though its burrs could creep along the ground.
Joe had also been checking on Kaid’s physical state while he watched. The gnome’s health and stamina were both ticking down faster than Joe thought should be normal. The day was hot, but it was just early summer hot. It was not like they were under a blazing desert sun. Something else was weakening Kaid. Joe was pretty sure the little man’s depletion was a result of the Beguilburr’s domination. Either the effect alone burned out those enthralled or maybe, somewhere in there, Kaid was fighting it, eating through his strength, trying to break free. Kaid was not in danger just yet but Joe doubted at the rate his resources were dropping that he would last until morning.
Joe’s other focus was picking out his targets for his oil. Right next to the Beguilburr was a dead tree. It had been choked by the carnivorous plant’s prickly roots. Another leafless trunk stood a little way behind it. These would be perfect targets to coat in the fuel. If he could get those burning, no matter how green the Beguilburr was, the fire should engulf it. On the other hand, a pint of oil was not a lot. If his throws went badly, the whole plan could fall apart.
When Joe felt pretty sure he would have no surprises he checked to make sure everything was where it should be. He had not lost anything on the way here. Being as ready as he could be, it was time for Step One. This step was, of course, getting Kaid out of there. Before Joe set anything on fire he had to get the little man to a safe distance. The first part of accomplishing this was Joe’s favorite part of this whole scheme.
Joe jumped off the rock and moved to a point where he could see Kaid through the grass. He was about ten yards away from the little nightmare. Taking out the handful of rocks from his pocket, Joe could not help but grin a little. ‘Fair is fair. I wonder if I can get him in the nose?’ Joe tossed the first stone which hit Kaid in the middle of his chest. Joe scoffed at himself for missing. While he kind of wished he had increased his Dexterity, he knew he had made the right choice in picking Vigor. Even so, it would have been nice to be able to reliably bean the annoying scoundrel with one of the pebbles. Joe kept trying. He was able to pelt the gnome with every one of the small rocks so far, just not exactly in the spot he was aiming for. Plonking a stone off of Kaid’s head would just be a bonus if he could manage it, but he really only needed to get the attention of the enslaved gnome or the plant controlling him.
After three more tosses, none of them a headshot, Joe was almost out of rocks. By this point he had moved halfway closer, and yet there was still no reaction from Kaid. Joe realized the stones idea was not working. Clearly, the Begilburr did not care about Kaid’s discomfort. Changing tactics, Joe wedged the torch under his armpit. He put his pinkies on either side of his mouth and blew a painfully loud whistle. This huge multi-toned trill was one of those stupid things Joe was unreasonably proud of himself for. During one of his long at-home bedrest confinements, Joe had figured out how to make his whistle a thing of beauty, much to the chagrin of his home health aide. On hearing it, Joe was so glad the goofy skill had translated its way from Earth to Illuminaria.
The blaring sound did the trick. Kaid’s eyes lifted and locked onto Joe. The gnome started to trudge forward, rolling his shoulders to limber up his arms. Joe started to backpedal, still tossing the last of his stones to make sure he kept Kaid’s attention. He purposely was going slower than the enthralled little butcher, trying to draw him deeper into the grass. Suddenly Kaid’s arms dropped to his sides, hanging lifelessly. As the blades slipped from his fingers, the little guttersnipe dashed forward, quickly closing the distance between them. Joe squawked. He spun around and took off running too. He had been expecting to be stalked, not charged. Wanting to make sure Kaid stayed on his tail and not turned back, Joe started to bellow out the first thing that came into his head, which turned out to be a goofy sea ditty. Shouting ‘What do ya do with a drunken sailor, OH what do you do a drunken sailor’, Joe managed to keep the little pursuer hot on his trail.
One of Joe’s biggest concerns during this part of the plan was encountering a beetle or another monster while he was luring Kaid away. The last thing he needed now was one more complication. As soon as he thought they were far enough away from the main plant, Joe stopped running and downed the [BiteBark] potion before turning to face the short knave. Grabbing his homemade pouch off his belt, he concentrated on the enchanted stone as Kaid burst from the grass drawing a long jagged dagger. Joe lobbed the pouch and shouted “Udaan!”. Kaid’s knife dug a fraction of an inch into Joe’s outstretched wrist just as the little burlap bag hooked into the wad of burrs on his chest. The amputating strike came to an immediate stop. Thanks to the flesh-hardening elixir, the blade did not even break his skin.
Not wanting to waste a second, Joe ran around Kaid, sprinting back towards the Beguilburr. He healed his arm on the move and stopped only to pull off three burrs he saw stuck to his legs. He ran around the web of roots and smashed the first glass bottle against the dead tree, coating it in oil. Joe grinned broadly. He could not believe his plan was working. Suddenly sure that he was going to win, Joe jinxed himself.
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A tearing pain ripped into his ankle. Joe looked down to see a nearly desiccated mottled rat digging its way through his boot and trying to get into the flesh below. The few seconds left on the potion were enough to thwart its attempts to burrow into his leg. Two large burrs were stuck in its coat. Screaming and yelling, Joe started battering the creature with the unlit torch in his hand. Somewhere in those blows Joe must have hit a rock or activated the striker in some other way. The end of his club burst into flames. Joe jammed the now-burning head of the torch onto the creature's back. The rising heat scorched his fingers but it was much worse for the already suffering rat. The creature let out a plaintive squeak and curled into a ball.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
Limping away from the roots, Joe saw more of the emaciated rodents stirring near the base of the tree. Not waiting for them to come after him, Joe pitched his second bottle straight at the malevolent tyrannical menace. His throw was dead on. The glass bottle shattered against the Bugilburr’s bark. Joe's last toss was not as well thrown. He missed the further dead tree. Pissed at himself for rushing, Joe hobbled backward and lobbed the torch up against the first oil-soaked trunk. The lamp fuel caught instantly. Flames quickly crawled across the ground to the main plant. Given how dry the trees were, he was almost positive they were not going out unless someone had a firehose handy.
Flames were climbing upwards on both trees. As he healed his rat-torn ankle he watched the windows start piling up on the edge of his eyesight.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
You have slain Lowland Gnaw Rat.
Ignoring the lingering pain in his sore ankle, Joe danced a quick jig until he saw Kaid stepping out of the grass. The gnome was still moving slowly, but faster than he had been when Joe left him. The enthralled thief was aimed straight for the Beguilburr, his face set in a rictus of determination.
“Oh damn it!”
Kaid still had a fair amount of ground to cover but the Slow Stone was clearly reaching the end of its charge. His only chance was catching Kaid before the gnome recovered his full speed. Joe dashed across the distance between them. Kaid, getting faster with each step, was solely focused on reaching the burning tree. Overcoming his natural instinct to soften his tackle, Joe held nothing back. He pounced on Kaid, driving them both back into the weeds. Suddenly Joe was holding a porcupine of daggers. The miniature terror in Joe's grasp stabbed and slashed at him from almost impossible angles. Thankfully, the cutthroat was still moving somewhat sluggishly. Joe thought about trying to rip off the burrs, but he found he had no time. He could barely hold on to the blade-flailing wildcat and heal himself. There was zero time or limbs for anything else.
As one of Kaid’s knives punched through his bicep, another slashed at his neck. The heavy leather shoulder strap on his backpack prevented the strike from digging too deeply. The folded leather split in two and Joe’s pack began to flop around as the pair rolled around on the ground. When a long dagger slammed fully into his chest, Joe knew he was in trouble. Instead of immediately withdrawing, the beguiled Kaid began to saw the blade back and forth. Joe had never felt such pain before. Even the mind-breaking pain of his tumors did not compare to the dagger cutting through his insides. Joe shoved Kaid away and slapped his hands on his chest. Even the feeling of his innards knitting themselves back together was somewhat sickening.
“Kaid! Come on, man! Snap out of it!”
Joe shook off the dangling pack and tried to get up. Still pouring what healing he had left into his wounds, he was pretty sure he was done for. His mana was almost tapped out and given how fast those last cuts had been coming, the Slow Stone surely must be out of juice. His eyes found Kaid again as the small killer was also slowly getting back to his feet. Exhaustion and dehydration had clearly taken their toil. The gnome was weaving on unsteadily on his little legs, shuffling not at Joe but towards the growing blaze of his loathsome master.
Knowing it would take too long to free his staff, Joe grabbed the second torch. Stumbling himself, Joe scrambled after the entranced lemming. He caught Kaid just in front of the deadly roots. There was no more time for subtlety. Swinging as hard as he dared, Joe brought the torch straight down on Kaid’s head, praying the thief’s enhanced endurance would prevent the blow from killing him.
As Kaid crumbled to the ground Joe popped open the Party screen panicking. He let out a deep breath. Kaid was unconscious, not dead. He picked up the little man and wearily trudged a ways back from the rising wildfire. Even though there were still beetles in the area and a grassy plain was a terrible place to watch the growing conflagration from, Joe did not have it in him to move any further just yet. He watched the Beguilburr burn as he pulled the spiky balls off Kaid. A pop sounded behind the tree as the third vial burst, adding to the blaze.
After a few minutes, Joe knew he had won. The tree was completely engulfed in flames.
You have slain Mesmeric Beguilburr.
You have reached level 4 in your Healer Class.
You have reached level 5 in your Healer Class.
Just knowing the vile plant was eliminated was even better than the rewarded levels.