"Look out!" Luis called out a warning, leaping back towards the rest of the group and shoving Jade and Siora aside. He was just in time. The monstrous spiders, their ambush foiled, gave up on their stealthy approach and dropped heavily to the ground. The two beasts landed with heavy thuds that made the ground tremble, one of them coming to rest right where Jade and Siora had been standing a moment before. The good news was that Luis's push had prevented them from being crushed. The bad news was he was now standing right in between the pair of monsters.
Luis drew the greatsword from his back, guiding mana into a spell as quickly as he could. The process of accessing and shaping the magic in his mind was still novel, and it took precious seconds to achieve the level of focus needed to draw mana through the unfamiliar channels that now suffused his body.
"Obstrego!"
* Spell: Shield Burst
* Rating: D level spell
* Cost: Medium mana
* Duration: 10 seconds
* Cooldown: 60 seconds
* Effect: Gain a temporary magical shield that provides protection against physical damage. The shield will break early if subjected to too much stress. When you cast this spell, all nearby allies also gain the shield. Barriers granted to allies have reduced strength proportional to their distance from the spell's origin.
A shield burst to life around Luis, forming into a translucent bubble around him. He was just in time. Even before the bubble had fully expanded, an impact sent him staggering forward into one of the spiders. The one behind him had lanced out with one of its spindly legs, slamming it into his back. The magical shield crackled as it deflected the blow, a web of thin cracks surrounding the point that had been struck. Luis righted himself quickly, his pulse spiking as fear and adrenaline coursed through him. The spiders were terrifying. They were as large as small horses and were covered in coarse black hair that bristled like needles from their body. Each of their long legs ended in a sharp point, and Luis had no doubt that they were capable of skewering even someone of his size. Would his new breastplate be enough to deflect that sort of strike? He didn't want to find out.
That left one option: As Uncle Julio always said, 'the best offense is a better offense.'
"Haaa!" Luis shouted out something between a yell of fear and a battle cry, swinging his massive sword in a wide sweep around him. The spiders hissed as the blade bit into their flesh. They backed off, skittering away from him on their creepy, too long legs.
Don't give them a chance to recover!
Luis was no expert at fighting, but he'd gotten into a few brawls in his years. One thing he did know was that you never wanted to have an opponent at your back. He had to get out from in the middle of them. Looking around, he took stock of the situation. Jade and Siora had recovered from Luis's push. The elf was backing away from the fight, frantically searching for something in the satchel she carried slung over her shoulder. Jade was already charging at the spider closest to her, dagger out and looking more pissed off than afraid. Both were also protected by faintly glowing barriers, although ones that were visibly less potent than the shield surrounding Luis. He didn't see Naomi, she had been further off to the side, out of the way of the spiders' ambush. With a silent prayer that she was ok, Luis made a snap decision to join Jade in her assault on the closest of the beasts. That would leave the other one free to act but, if they could eliminate one of them quickly enough, that wouldn't matter.
Jade shouted an incantation just as Luis closed in to striking distance with the spider between them. A bolt of darkness shot out of her hand, striking the monster and causing a cloud of fog to coalesce in front of its many eyes. The beast shrieked with a horrific, screeching 'click-click' sound, opening and closing its giant mandibles and flailing wildly as it suddenly went blind to the world. Luis fought down a spike of revulsion at the sound, bringing his greatsword up in a slash aimed at the spider's bulbous head. The spasming creature, more by luck than design, jerked aside, causing his blow to slam into its thorax rather than its face. The blade bit in deep, sending a gout of black blood spattering to the ground. The monster staggered, shrieking again, just as Jade slashed through two of its legs from behind. With a mighty heave Luis pulled his blade free of the creature, bringing it back for another-
WHAM!
A sudden impact from behind shattered Luis's barrier, sending him spinning to the ground. He hit hard, a dull ache reverberating through his back from the force of the blow. The other spider had caught up to him, clubbing him from behind with a massive foreleg. It attacked again before he could regain his feet, lunging in to chomp at him with mandibles the size of his forearms.
"Down! Abajo! Bad spider!" Luis shouted, kicking out at the creature. His foot connected solidly with its face, sending it sliding backwards with a hiss. He swiped his sword in warding sweeps at it, an awkward motion while lying on his back, and scrambled away through the undergrowth. He had to get up, to get back in the fight-!
A thunderclap of sound burst through the clearing, loud enough to send needles of pain stabbing into Luis's ears. A shockwave passed over him, a wall of sound that slammed into the offending monster and sent it staggering back to crash hard into a tree.
"Come on!" Naomi shouted. She was standing over him, feet planted in the ground and strumming her guitar. It crackled and hummed with arcane energy, steam rising from it in wispy curls. "Help Jade! Before it recovers!"
He could barely hear her through the ringing in his ears, but her pointing finger was clear enough. Naomi gestured to where Jade fought the other, wounded spider. It was hobbling about, blood pouring from several wounds, two legs dragging uselessly behind it. Now was their chance.
"Nice going!" Luis said, a little louder than he'd meant to. She offered him a hand and he accepted, letting her pull him back to his feet. "Give us a boost?"
"You got it!" Naomi's voice had a slight quaver to it. She looked scared but was doing an admirable job of holding it in check. Luis gave her a thumbs up.
"Doin' great, amiga! We're counting on you!"
She nodded, took a deep breath, and started strumming out a fast and heavy riff on her guitar. She began to glow faintly as the magic took hold of them, and Luis felt energy flow into his body. He suddenly felt light on his feet, agile and swift.
"Stay away from that one!" He said, gesturing at the spider she had flung into the tree as he turned back towards Jade.
"I'll keep it occupied!" That was Siora. The elf had been crouched by a tree, doing something with a pair of vials. She held one up now, its contents bubbling and smoking. Luis didn't have time to ask what she was planning to do. He just gave her a nod, then dashed towards the battle. He drew upon another reserve of magic as he did, further enhancing his speed beyond the boost Naomi's spell granted.
* Talent: Guardian Dash
* Rating: D level talent
* Cost: Medium stamina
* Duration: 5 seconds
* Cooldown: 30 seconds
* Effect: Gain increased movement speed for the duration. Has an increased effect if you are moving towards an ally.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The jungle blurred around him as Luis's legs propelled him forward with astonishing force. The stacking effect of the two buffs was greater than he'd anticipated, the enhanced speed more than a little difficult to control. He careened towards the battle between Jade and the wounded spider, trying to put on the brakes.
Oh crap. Stop! Pare, pare!
Too late. Luis slammed into the spider at a dead sprint.
----------------------------------------
If it hadn't been for Luis's shield spell Jade was pretty sure she would've already been eviscerated by one of the enormous spider's forelegs. As it was, the barrier managed to absorb a total of 3 of its powerful strikes. She learned two lessons in quick succession. One: Luis's spell provided a substantial level of protection and could deflect multiple heavy attacks from a monster. And two: While the spell barrier could absorb quite a bit of energy, it did not break the laws of physics. That was made apparent when the giant arachnid swung a leg at her like it was a baseball bat. Sure, the shield stopped her from being pulverized, but the impact still launched her into the air to slam painfully against a nearby tree.
"Kinetic energy…" She groaned, pulling herself to her feet as the spider chittered angrily in her direction. "Still a thing…"
The barrier was gone now, finally shattered by this latest blow. She had used its protection to good effect though, taking risks she never would have while vulnerable. Now the spider was moving much more slowly, dragging two lame legs behind it and bleeding from numerous other places where her blade had sliced its body. Jade grimaced, half from a stab of pain in her back as she turned to face it, half from the situation. She'd already used her blindness spell and, while she could still see the creature's weak points via her Vital Sight talent, Jade wasn't thrilled at the prospect of engaging such an agile creature at close range with only her leather armor for protection.
But there was nothing else for it. The spider was coming for her again, albeit more slowly now that it was wounded. She had to finish it off quickly, before the other monster overwhelmed her companions. Raising her dagger with a snarl, Jade--
Started in surprise as Luis body slammed the monster in the side, so fast she didn't even see him coming.
CRUNCH
The spider's shriek mingled with Luis's shout as he impacted, somehow managing to send it tumbling onto its back even as he crashed to the ground alongside it. In the same moment Jade felt the magic of Naomi's lively tune sink into her body granting an unexpected, but welcome, burst of energy.
She didn't hesitate, dashing towards the upside-down monster with enhanced speed. The spider was fast, but it couldn't compare to Jade's lifetime of agility training combined with Naomi's magical boost. Jade ducked under a swinging leg, darted between two more that tried to impale her and then leapt, twisting in midair to avoid its chomping mandibles. She planted her feet on the monster's head, using it as a springboard to send her arcing through the air to land with a solid thud on its squishy underbelly. Immediately the monster began to twist and buck, trying to unseat its unwanted passenger as it squealed in outrage.
Years of practice on the balance beam kept Jade's feet steady as the monster rocked below her and, before it could recover, she plunged her dagger deep into what passed for the monster's neck. The weak spot was helpfully highlighted by her talent as a vulnerable area, and her blade found its mark. With one vicious strike she tore a gaping hole in the spider's throat, sending a gout of black ichor spraying into the air to cover her body with foul smelling gunk. The creature warbled a pained cry, jerked twice, and died. Before she could do anything else, a notification popped up.
* You have defeated: Giant Spider
* You have gained 120xp.
Holy shit. Her hand was trembling, breaths coming hard and fast. She dismissed the window, suddenly realizing how close she had just come to dying. Any one of its stabbing legs could have disemboweled her, armor or no.
I did it…
But she hadn't done it alone. Jade shook her head, mind snapping back to the present.
"Luis!" She shouted, looking around for her friend.
"M'ok! I'm ok" He grunted, staggering to his feet a short distance away. He leaned against a tree, using it to support himself, and gave Jade a weak grin and a thumbs up. "Meant to do that."
"Uh-huh." Jade grunted, already turning to check on her other companions. Naomi was standing with her back to a nearby tree, still jamming away on her guitar. The magically enhanced chords blasted through the jungle like they were at a rock concert, each note buzzing with energy. Siora was next to her, a smoking green vial held in her hand. The other spider was facing them but, rather than advancing towards them, was slowly backing away from a wall of wispy green mist that had formed a barrier between them and the monster.
Alchemy?
Jade hopped off the spider's corpse and jogged up to them, her body alive with the energy of Naomi's song. The remaining monster was clearly hesitant to approach any closer, and Jade took the opportunity to finally examine it.
* Giant Spider
* Level: 4
* Creature Type: Beast
* Origin: Labyrinth-born (Monster)
* Description: It's a spider, but bigger! Really, these things don't need anything else to be scary. Unless you're weird and think they're cute.
"Rude." Jade grunted to herself, closing the window. It was equal to her in level, no wonder they were dangerous.
"I have its attention." Siora said, waving the vial in a swishing motion in front of her. More smoke poured out the open end, adding to the swirling wall. Jade caught one whiff of whatever it was and immediately took 5 steps back, wrinkling her nose in disgust. The stench was unbearable; like something had died, and then spent several days rotting under a hot sun.
"Fuck…! That reeks." She coughed, waving her hand in front of her nose to clear the air. Just a hint of the foul substance had been enough to make her eyes water.
"Yup!" Siora said with, considering the topic, a disconcerting level of pride. "It's my special recipe. Monster repellent stink bomb! Isn't it great?"
"Ahh…" Jade had no idea how to respond to that. Fortunately, she was saved from having to by the spider. The creature shrieked in anger, its clicking mandibles audible even over Naomi's music. The sound drew everyone's attention back to it. The monster was stalking back and forth in front of the barrier of putrid fog, hissing at them. It was clearly unwilling to approach the foul odor, staying about 30 feet away from them as it prowled from side to side.
"That." Naomi said, making a face. "Is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."
"The stinky smoke?" Luis asked, catching up to them.
"The spider!"
"It's not that bad." Jade muttered. "I kind of like it…"
"You would." Naomi rolled her eyes, still strumming her instrument.
"So, what now?" Luis asked, carefully keeping his distance from the putrid barrier.
"I'm almost out of this." Siora warned, giving the vial another shake.
"We can fight it." Jade said. "My blind spell is ready. You have your shield?" She asked Luis.
"Almost." He said, with a glance at his interface.
"Great. Use it when you can, then we'll go in together." Jade decided, checking their surroundings to make sure there really was only one more of the monsters. "If we gang up on it, it shouldn't-"
Unfortunately, the spider wasn't accommodating enough to wait for them to finish planning. Without warning the monster reared up on its hind legs, chittering angrily and presenting its bulbous underbelly to them. Jade recognized the danger a moment too late.
Splat!
Several globules of sticky webbing slammed into the four of them, enveloping them in strands of silk. Siora cried out in surprise, her now-empty vial falling to the jungle floor as Jade was thrown back against a broad tree. The webbing adhered to the bark, holding her in place as she struggled to pull free from its tight embrace. It was futile, most of Jade's body from neck to waist was covered in spider silk. It was deceptively strong, barely yielding as she heaved against it. Her companions weren't faring much better, each of them equally caught off guard by the unexpected attack.
The spider clacked its mandibles in what Jade interpreted as triumph. The smoke between them was starting to clear. It took a few tentative steps forward, then hissed and skittered back. Jade had a feeling it wouldn't be waiting much longer.
My dagger…!
It was still in her hand. She twisted her wrist, trying to saw through the threads pinning her arm against the tree.
Too slow…
Naomi called something out, but it was muffled. Jade couldn't make out what she'd said. Would one of her spells help? Perhaps her new binding enchantment, Chains of Shadebloom? No, she couldn't reach the ground to place the rune. Her mind raced through possibilities even as fear twisted knots in her chest. Her breaths were coming fast and hard, hands shaking as she continued to slice at the webbing as quickly as she could.
The spider was approaching now, chittering with satisfaction as it beheld its prey. Whatever she was going to do, it had to be fast… Or their short time as wayfarers would come to a sudden, violent end.