Tusked Tarz has severely injured you. You have lost 43% of your Hit Points.
You have gained the following conditions: poisoned (moderate damage per second), paralyzed (involuntary muscle spasms).
The wound filled with the manticore’s toxin couldn’t have been in a worse spot even if Joe somehow managed to get his deadened limbs working again. It was right in the middle of his back, a spot he would be hard-pressed to reach even in the best of circumstances.
And these were far from the best conditions. He was hanging off Tarz’s claws, which were hooked agonizingly through his chest muscles and onto his ribs. The poison was wracking him with torturous contractions, causing his limbs to flail about. Blasts of wind were shoving both of them around, causing his weight to constantly shift, grinding the claws ever deeper into his side.
Joe knew what Step One was; he needed to expel the poison so he could get control of his body again. Yet to do so, he needed a hand to cast [Dispel Rot], and there was no way he could aim his hands while the poison was causing his body to spasm uncontrollably. Catch 22.
‘Or is it,’ Joe wondered as a thought struck him. All this time, he had been using his touch spells with his hands, but maybe that was a choice he was making. It 100% felt the most natural to direct his magic with his hands, but thinking it through, there was no reason he could not cast [Healing Touch] with his toe, for example. [Dispel Rot] was not even a touch spell, though immediate range was only a few feet away. Still, why couldn’t he cast his spell from inside his own chest and not from his hands?
Joe focused his attention inward. He tried to find his heart, but with everything else going on at that moment, he couldn’t find the calm he needed to hear his heartbeat. In these crazy conditions, Joe needed something obvious. He thought about trying to flex a muscle in his back, but between the convulsions and the erratic flight, that was impossible as well. Joe could barely catch a breath, let alone …
Breath. Breathe. He could breathe.
Joe pulled in a huge gulp of air and cast [Dispel Rot] through the lungs he was utterly aware of. As he expelled the air out of his mouth, the spell launched itself out of his lungs. The witchy magic shoved the caustic toxins outwards like a horde of mini-bulldozers plowing through his veins. Joe felt fluid and pus spurt out of the hole in his back. He was oddly thankful that mess was unlikely to splat onto anyone, given the empty streets and raging storm.
With the toxins removed, Joe repeated the process with both [Purge] and [Healing Touch]. He was careful to remain limp so as not to alert the manticore. He hoped the beast wouldn’t spot the end of his convulsions, but Joe wasn’t going to try to imitate those.
Step Two was escaping the clawed grapple he was in. They were too high for Joe to lock onto anything below him. That meant that Step Three would require some quick thinking since it involved not pancaking onto the streets below.
Joe kicked himself for not buying a Feather Fall item or potion. It was one of the staple items he made sure every one of his characters had, and yet he had failed to grab one in this new life.
He had a [Potion of Oaken Hide] that would improve some of his physical resistances, but it did not reduce bludgeoning damage, which is what planting into the cobblestones would be.
His [Potion of the Behemoth] would make him bigger and stronger, which might be helpful if he was fighting Tarz, but that was a battle he was sure to lose.
Joe had struggled with a level 8 elite beast. He was pretty sure a level 24 elite chimera would destroy him in a solo fight. He had gotten lucky the first time by surprising the monster, and that help was obviously pouring in to join the battle. Joe would not have surprise or backup this time.
He had the [Band of Beguilment], but Joe had never practiced with it. He was unsure how strong the charm effect was. Being a higher-level elite monster, there was a good chance the effect would be resisted. If the item failed to enthrall Tarz, then Joe would have to try and get away after he had just alerted the manticore he was functional again. Joe really did not want to get stung again.
What else did he have?
Joe mentally flipped through his relatively small list of items until a really dumb idea occurred to him. He had no idea if it would work, but waiting until Tarz had him where the beast wanted him would surely be the end for him. He reached carefully to his dim-bag and withdrew a hairy fur bundle, ensuring he had a firm grip on it.
Step Two time. Joe focused on the base of the creature's tail and activated his trusty talisman. He blinked out of the grip of the piercing talons, and, for the briefest of moments, his feet were touching the underside of the long segmented scorpion tail.
Then, of course, gravity and the hurricane winds ripped him away. Joe spun wildly through the sky. It felt like he was moving as much across as he was down. His ears picked up a furious bellow from his attacker, but he had no way to orient himself by it. His whole focus was on not losing his grasp of the shaggy wad of hide in his hands.
Item [Hide of the Hunter] (Rare): Soulbound, Self-Repair (Major), Damage Resistance (Major), Vulnerability to Silver (Major)
Morphic (Can grow and shrink in size from 1x1 to 15x15 feet. Can alter its shape into forms ranging from a simple wall-hanging to complex clothing.)
Predator Instincts (The hide retains its original hunger. Anything placed within its jaws will cause them to bite down. If the object fits entirely within the mouth, it will be consumed, temporarily animating the hide. The duration, power, and control over the animation are determined by the value of the item consumed.)
Joe’s original thought was to create a parachute or a glider, which might have worked if he was just falling, but as he was buffeted on all sides by typhoon winds, he realized that would never work. This meant now he was plummeting out of control from the sky, and his plan was a load of crap.
‘Would animating work?’ he considered for a terrifying second, but since he had zero experience with this mass of shaggy furred pelt, he had no idea. And no time to experiment either. He quickly made two new plans.
Idea one: At the last second, try a parachute to cut some of his falling speed, then teleport to the side of a building and try to use claws to slow himself. This idea was likely to break all of his fingers and toes, but it might prevent him from hitting the ground at terminal velocity.
The other idea was to form the hide into a balloon around himself, kind of like one of those air-filled zorbing orbs people use to roll down hills in. Major damage resistance would be a huge plus to his survivability, provided he did not end up crashing into a silver-smith’s shop. The increased area would catch more wind, which could be a good thing, though, in a hurricane, it very well could be a very bad thing instead.
With no time to think about it, Joe went with Option 2 since he already knew that parachutes, even last-second ones, and hurricanes would not be a good mix. Now, the only question was how to form the ball and not lose his grip on it. Joe looked at the taxidermy-like head and the fierce fangs. This was going to hurt, but he was low on options.
The moment his hand passed through the jaws, they snapped down onto his wrist. Between the protection from his gloves and his hand's major physical damage resistance, the pain was not too bad until Joe started unfurling the hide bundle. As the pelt twisted in the wind, the teeth began to saw through his gauntlets. One of the long fangs cut its way down to skin and started slicing into him.
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The only good thing about the painful clamp was Joe managed not to have the hide torn away from him. He could barely hold the fur-slick pelt, even digging in with the claws on his left hand. The two would have been pulled apart if the jaws had not been locked around his wrist.
Joe mentally commanded the hide to wrap itself totally around him first. He would form the globe once he was sure he was safely inside it. When he was fully enveloped, Joe started to push out the sphere’s walls. Once he had the beginnings of a bubble, his momentum completely changed. The whole contraption slewed sideways, with Joe tumbling around inside. This, of course, caused the jaws to saw even deeper through his wrist. He commanded the fanged maw to release and healed his bloody arm, all the while being thrown around the small ball of werewolf skin like a pinball.
You are impaired. You have gained the following conditions: vertigo, nausea.
Joe stretched his arms and legs out fully, digging in with his heels and fists so as not to punch a claw through his bubble. The hide had a ton of resistance, but he didn’t want to take a chance. It took all of Joe’s [Morphic Form] enhanced strength to stay in place.
Your skill [Morphic Form] has increased to rank 12
The ball was still spinning, but at least he was not tumbling out of control inside it. Using [Purge] on the dizziness, he removed the feeling he was about to throw up, allowing him to concentrate. The ball needed to be bigger, and he needed to be anchored in the middle of it. The fact he was being dragged by the winds sideways instead of falling meant he should have much more time than if he was simply falling out of the sky. It also meant he might no longer be over the city anymore. He might be somewhere out in the southern hills or over the ocean.
Joe focused on his zorbing orb. He commanded the sinews to begin to crisscross the open area. He’d eventually work them into a harness, but he wanted to ensure the whole thing didn’t just collapse first. When he had a dense web built, Joe grabbed hold of a handful of the tendons and willed the orb to expand.
As soon as the ball’s diameter grew another foot, Joe could feel the air pushing on the wall of the orb. He reinforced the bungy-like sinews, keeping them all as tight as bowstrings. He also kept an eye out for leaks. Most zorbing orbs were segmented, like oranges. This would be far more stable, but it would use more material. Joe calculated out a fifteen by fifteen square into the area of a sphere and came up with roughly eight and a half feet across. That felt like a good cushion. The math to how much material he would need for segments was not something he could do without pen and paper … and definitely not hurling through the sky in a spinning furred ball.
Your skill [Purge] has increased to rank 15
His stomach was settled again. He had to do something about the spinning. It was making it impossible to think straight. Joe focused on the wolf's head and pushed it out through the wall of the orb. He kept extending the skin, pushing the head away on a lengthening tube of hide, like the tail of a kite. The plan quickly proved to be a success. The winds were still tossing the bubble around, but the drag from the tethered head stopped the ball from twirling like a top. With the web of sinew, Joe could even hold himself roughly in place.
As Joe was trying to think what to do next, his life-bubble suddenly plunged downward. Joe had just managed to orient himself, so he was not ready for the abrupt descent. He was afraid that this was it, that he was about to smash into the ground. A second later, the sphere slewed sideways again.
‘What the hell was that?’ he thought.
Joe knew very little about weather or meteorology. The only thing he could think of was warm air rises and cold air sinks. So, maybe he just hit a spot of cold air. That could mean he was over the ocean. The hot days would have heated the land up more than the ocean. He recalled that most hurricanes formed in the summer months, so warm water must be part of the equation. Still, he was feeling confident in his assumption. It might be his only shot at not being splattered across the hard earth.
He had no idea if the hide would even save him. Also, who knows where he’d end up if he stayed in the orb? Typhoons were hundreds of miles wide.
Joe prayed he was not making a huge mistake. He willed the bottom of the ball to open, hoping he would be able to seal it quickly if he was wrong.
The good news was, his guess was spot on. He looked down to see walls of gigantic churning waves rising and folding a hundred feet below him. The bad news was, opening the orb destabilized the construct. The fur collapsed tightly around him as Joe and the skin dropped out of the sky.
The impact jarred every bone in his body, but he sensed the hide absorbed most of the collision.
Your Hide of the Hunter has taken critical damage. It has lost 94% of its structural resilience.
You have taken severe damage from falling. You have lost 72% of your Hit Points.
You have gained the following condition: broken leg (left tibia).
Joe felt the bone snap as he and the shaggy mass of flesh slammed into the ocean. The only thing that likely saved them is they were not hitting a flat surface of still water but slicing diagonally into massive moving waves.
Joe was dragged down, trapped by the heavy clinging hide. He barely had time to grab a small breath before water filled the fold he was stuck in. This problem he knew he had the answer for, and so did not panic. He worked his hand to his mouth and sent a mental command to his [Alchemist’s Belt]. An instant later, the vial appeared in his grasp, already uncorked.
Item [Potion of Endless Breath] (Common): When you drink this potion, you will feel your chest swell with air. Strangely, you feel no need to exhale. For the next hour, you will not need to breathe. This duration will be diminished if you speak.
With that worry removed Joe first healed his broken leg before extricating himself from the sodden furs. He knew the shin would still be sore for a while, but if he used some judicious numbing from [Deaden Flesh], he should be able to swim with it.
He willed the bundle of hide in his grip to shrink back to its smallest size again. To his dismay, the mass remained inert. The huge pelt stayed huge while it dragged him downward. Joe did not want to drop the treasure, but he could not dump it into his dim-bag at its current size and water-logged weight. He’d be willing to put up with getting everything in the dimensional bag soaked, but if he overloaded the bag, it could burst.
Joe thought back to the damage messages. The one for the hide had been very similar to his own. On a whim, he tried to do what he did best.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 42
You have repaired 3.7% of the damage to your [Hide of the Hunter]. Underlying structural damage is preventing any further external repairs at this time. 100% Self-Repair estimate: 2.25 days.
‘Better than nothing.’
Joe focused on the pelt again, and it sluggishly responded. He was able to morph the bulky mass into a tight block, instead of a folded sheet. This reduced the surface area, expelling much of the absorbed ocean. He tried to shrink the cube, but the trophy seemed unable to comply any further.
He crossed his fingers and simultaneously burned a charge from his ring while willing the dim-bag to take the hide. The bag took the wet wad and remained intact, which meant his assumption worked. Joe had guessed the ring would clean away at least a portion of sea-water from the pelt. The trick was to clean and store at the same time, before the fur refilled.
As Joe finished healing, he was finally in a state to start planning ahead. He was a long way under the ocean, but he still had at least ¾ of an hour before he needed to worry about breathing. The first step was to figure out what direction land was. For that, he would need to swim up to the tumultuous surface.
Joe looked at his hands and recalled how he had been able to reshape his feet for traction. Surely, webbed fingers and toes should not be that difficult. Activating [Morphic Form], Joe watched as his already long fingers extended longer. The skin at the intersection of each digit grew up between the fingers. His feet went through similar transformations.
He sensed there were more morphic changes he might be able to perform, but he could tell they would come with a heavy drain on his stamina. Since he could be miles from shore, Joe decided not to drain one of the resources he would need to survive the ocean.
The reformed digits worked perfectly. He was able to grab the water and drive himself through it with ease. Unfortunately, the first time he kicked with his left leg, the extra pressure the webbing exerted sent a sharp pain lancing through the limb. He couldn’t help but groan, letting a small portion of his precious magical air escape. Joe healed and numbed the area before resuming his upward swim.
Joe had to start fighting even before he fully reached the surface. The waves were more extensive than many castles, and they were perpetually in motion. He wasted at least ten minutes battling the surf until he was finally able to see a glowing line far in the distance. The fact he could see the lights at all was heartening, but they were a long, long way away.
Keeping the location fixed in his mind, Joe dove back down to the smoother waters and started swimming hard for shore. Joe prayed that his constantly terrible sense of direction would not act up. If he got the angle wrong, he was done for.
He was swimming at at least Olympic-level speeds, but he likely had only half an hour of air left from the potion. After that, he was not sure what he was going to do.