I volunteered, but Alistern decided just to take the guard and Zeek. I am not sure why. I don’t think I was being slighted. Maybe he wanted better rewards for his guard. Myantha and Hilke were also left behind, but they got to study the tablet and join the ‘discussion’ regarding it.
I looked at Tāwai. Tāwai cocked his head at me. I used my Seeker's Intuition. There was something good not far away.
“They are shafting us. Shaft, shaft, shaft!” Tāwai can get quite agitated about some things.
“They are expecting the Trial to give them the good stuff. Fools,” I replied.
“Take, take, take,” said Tāwai.
“Yeah, the Trial will only give you the minimum it can. You have to take everything else, and there is something not far away.”
Tāwai cocked his head again, “Bring she-elf?”
“I think we will keep this to ourselves. If we need help, we can come and get it.”
Tāwai bobbed his heat up and down in agreement. “Take everything.”
I think Tāwai has shortened our motto. I like it. Rob, Tāwai and I slip out of the base camp and head out. I switch my feathered hat for a plain leather helmet. This will protect my head more, but I like the look of the feathered rancher hat.
I also equip Lightreaver and Shadowbane. Juth’s tutorage has raised my Basic Spear Skill to level 7, but I am still not keen on the spear. These are my preferred weapons. I am feeling good and ready to steal some shit.
I am not looking that good, though. The Ratfur vest and Hog chaps need to go as soon as I can. I want my Dance of Death armour back. I hope we find a town with some craftsmen so I can get it repaired.
We get attacked about halfway to our target. Neither Tāwai nor I saw it until it moved. It just looked like a long stick. It was a preying mantis-type creature, but instead of sticks for limbs and a body, it had logs. I managed to block the first blade arm coming down on me, but there were two of them, and half of Rob’s tail was sliced right off. The thing was long and thin, like several logs of wood held together at the joints by skin and… something.
I sliced into one of its legs with a Burning Strike, and it felt like chopping wood. Rob’s bite only left teeth marks as well, so I am guessing his poison will not be super effective.
It had six legs, but the front two were its main attacking weapons. The other legs also had blades on them, but it would only kick out occasionally. It did have a bite on it.
Tāwai Dive Attacked its head, and I saw several wind blades cut into it before his Lacerating Claws left marks. The Wood-Mantis was not significantly damaged. This was going to be a fight of attrition.
I reluctantly sheathed my blades and brought out an axe. I liked the axe better than the spear, and this was the fight for it. I started moving through the forms of Basic Axe. It has been a long time since I have practised it, and it is only Level 5.
We went to work whittling away at the tree that was the Wood-Mantis. As I worked, my mind went back to the rainbow attack I had been trying to create. How did the Radiant Strike work? I used it to watch what it did. Burning Strike was more effective against this creature, but it was not a treat to us now that the ambush had been expended.
I ran the colours of the rainbow with my axe strike and then compared it with Radiant Strike. Short to long wave lengths did feel better than the other way. Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. Radiant Strike left a lingering effect like Burning Strike, but it was much more subtle. It seems to come from the very nature of light. The name Radiant captures the nature of it. It radiates out and spreads. A Radiation effect.
Can I add that effect to my rainbow? No. I don’t have to add it. It is already there in the nature of light. All I have to do is figure out how to release it. Release it and focus it. Focussing it is what I can do with Light Manipulation.
Chop, Radiant Strike, Chop, Crushing Blow and the leg falls off.
Rainbow chop. No, that does not work. I worked with Light Manipulation to split the colours and release the damaging radiation. I worked at it with the next few chops and then it clicked, or, maybe I should say, the light of realisation hit me.
The next chop with the axe included the damaging version of the rainbow and a Skill slide into place. The darker colours were actually more damaging than the lighter colours, and they lingered, and the lighter colours added damage to the darker colours.
This was not the best opponent to use it on, but it was good practice, and it was more damaging than Radient Strike and even Burning Strike.
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When the Wood-Mantis finally died, we reattached Rob’s tail before doing anything else. It will be much easier for his regeneration to reattach it than to grow another one. I tied it in place and then wrapped it in bandages. It will stuff his camouflage for a while, and if he uses it in a Tail Smash, it will definitely come off. If he is careful over the next couple of hours, then it should be reattached. It would take him some days to regrow it.
Rainbow Assault was the name of my new Skill. Its damage was comparable to Frostshade Rend, but each would have their preferred opponent. Frostshade Rend leaves a lingering cold in the wound, but Rainbow Assault leaves a damaging radiation that breaks apart cells. They both hinder healing in their various ways.
I noticed my Light Manipulation also went up. It is now Level 9. Basic skills max out at 10, but advanced skills go higher. The manipulation skills definitely do. Some people can also break the maximum limit on basic skills, but I don’t know how. I suspect it is being highly compatible with the skill and/or some item that is used.
I would expect my Frostshade Rend and Rainbow Assault would go higher than ten. They are advanced skills, and their damage should keep rising with their level.
I harvested the Wood-Mantis and got lots of wood. A Living type of wood. I have no idea what that means, but I might be able to sell it to Suda. I also got a wood-chopping axe with bonuses against wood monsters. I stored it away to sell.
I jogged beside Rob rather than ride him. He was much more flexible when I was not riding him, and I didn’t want to do anything to dislodge his tail. My Rejuvenating Aura is speeding up the Regeneration.
We hit a small swarm of mosquito monsters before we got to our destination, but Tāwai was much more proficient with his Air Manipulation and now had Poison Cloud. I added Nights Embrace and Umbral Cold, and they didn’t stand a chance. The loot was poor. A blood regenerative potion and some coins. Neither the few mosquito cores nor the Mantis core had any skills.
Our destination turned out to be a crack in a very large trunk of a tree. The trunk was large even by this trial's standard. The diameter was about the size of a city block in Al’drossford. A city block in Al’drossford fitted 8-10 houses, which was the diameter. Most of the trunks at this level are about half that.
Nothing was coming out of the trunk crack, but it was large enough for Rob to enter, let alone me. The only difficulty was that it was several of Rob’s body lengths above the branch we were standing on.
“I look. I look,” Tāwai squawked and flew up to the crack. He had Darksight, which was much better than the Nightsight Rob and I had.
He landed on the edge of the dark crack and then carefully hopped inside. Everything was silent as we waited, watching the crack. And we waited and waited. What was taking him so long?
I suppose I can hope that he has found a treasure chest and there are no monsters. Nah. There is no way that will happen; it is too far-fetched to even consider.
Then Tāwai popped out and glided down to us. Nothing was chasing him, and he didn’t look damaged.
“Free chest, no monsters!” Tāwai squawked. “Free chest, no monsters!”
“Liar, liar. Rindel’s piss is fire,” I responded, giving the report the seriousness it deserves.
“Squawk! Piss fire, piss fire.”
I just raised my eyebrow. Tāwai settled down. He is getting good at reading human body language.
“Bats, bats and more bats. Stinky bat shit. Piles of Batshit.”
“What type of bats do you know?”
“Bloodsuckers, bloodsucker bats.”
“I think they are the worst kind,” I said. “Your feathers will protect you, but Rob and I are vulnerable. Can we flood it with your Poison Cloud?”
Tāwai shook his head, “Too big, too big.”
That meant the space was too big—at least, that is what I hope it meant, not that the bats were too big. At least it will be dark, and Umbral Cold will be effective.
What about my light spells like Flash, as they are night creatures? Flash will upset a lot of them and may not be that effective as they navigate with an echolocation ability. Wait. They will probably also use that in an attack. That also probably means my illusions will not work. That limits our options.
“Your air skills are probably our best weapons,” I said. Tāwai just looked like that was only what he would expect. “Rob’s tongue should trap the bats, and I can throw darts.” I looked at the crack. “The trunk can’t be hollow, or it would have fallen. However, the bats may go up and down a long way. How big are the bats you saw, Tāwai?”
“Two, two of me.”
So, twice the size of Tāwai. “That is a big gap,” I said, “either there are a lot of bats, or some are bigger,” I looked at Rob, “possibly Rob-sized.”
“Lots. Lots, and more lots,” Tāwai said.
“Yeah, probably both,” I agreed. “It is almost noon, so if we test the ones near the entrance, they will be reluctant to follow us back out into the day. Hopefully. Can we trap the entrance?” Tāwai just looked at me. “Yeah, not easily. I need to learn more wards. Some nets would help. I will get some at the next town.” I came to a decision, “Tāwai and I will go in and test the bats. You stay at the entrance, Rob. For now, you are our backup and trap.”
I equipped the Lightreaver dagger and the Haladie. This would be close quarters, and there may not be much manoeuvring space. We climbed up, and Tāwai and I went in while Rob positioned himself nearby in camouflage.
There was not a lot of light. Nightsight struggled with seeing much beyond the entrance. I envied Tāwai’s Darksight. I looked through Spectral Vision (Heat), and there were a lot of warm bodies. Too many to count. It's too many for me to get a sense of the size of the place.
I cast the charm Glow on a knob of the tree, and the light increased for my Nightsight. OK, the cavern was about a house-size deep, and it went up beyond my sight and down beyond my sight. Every surface and knob had bats hanging from it, and they were asleep. The entrance was the only clear space, and I guess they avoided the light.
The worst thing, though, was the stink. The horrible smell of bat droppings. I had to stop myself from gaging.