The draconic monster shook off the vestiges of its annoyance with the light of Danna and prowled towards him with a growl. Gi’s arm still hung limply at his side, but the rest of his body was functioning normally despite his exhaustion. Without the increased rank of his physical stats from [Beyond the Veil], his ability to fight this monster head on was negligible. His ability to even dodge was slim as well, but regaining control of his mind meant that he could use his traits again and Danna’s upgrade hadn't come without boosts of its own.
Stats
Strength - F
Agility - E
Vitality - F
Wisdom - E
The monster rushed him, letting out a roar through the darkened trees. Its claws sent ash from the ground swirling into the air of the small clearing, but Gi didn’t hesitate. Feeling confident in the power he’d borrowed from Danna, a small drop of sunlight appeared on his finger quickly burning to a sharp intensity that made it difficult to look at. A beam shot from his finger about the speed of a crossbow bolt but as broad as a piece of firewood.
The monster was still too damn quick and dodged to the left, but the enlarged [Arcane Bolt] managed to strike its vestigial wing, scoring a deep chasm into the monster’s flank. The wound sizzled from the burning sunlight. The monster roared again and reoriented itself for another mindless charge. It took a couple seconds for [Arcane Bolt] to recharge and without something else, there was no way he could dodge.
Luckily, he had something else.
[Speed Boost] activated, shooting up his Agility to only a little less than he'd had with [Beyond the Veil]. Gi slid to the side, slapping the creature’s claw out of the way to prevent it from ripping open his stomach. This time, its long neck curved around to bite off Gi’s adorable head. Eyes widening, Gi leaned far back, his tail the only thing keeping him up as the draconic monster's teeth snapped shut right in front of his eyes.
Internally, he could feel [Arcane Bolt] tick off cooldown and he pressed his finger directly into the beast’s throat. Its claw rushed towards him now that he’d proved immobile, but his [Arcane Bolt] hit first. A firewood sized hole punched through the softer scales of its neck and shot through the top of its jaw, burning out one of its eyes.
It flailed backwards, letting out a yelp that sounded more like a giant kitten than a ferocious monster. Its claws dug at the wound, twitching in pain, but its eye landed on Gi. Like with himself, it seemed this pain had rocked whatever hold the Old Ones had on it. Interestingly enough, as soon as its mind took back over, it gathered its still twitching paws together and prostrated itself on the ground. It laid its neck out to him and partially rolled it over, presenting its softer scales to him.
Gi looked in its good eye and an understanding bridged between the two of them. Gi walked over, one hand holding his ruined arm. “You got a bad rap. Our roles could have just as easily been reversed here. Hell, they almost were.” Gi pressed his finger to the draconic monster’s chin and it gave him a small nod. [Arcane Bolt] activated and it seared a hole right through where Gi expected its brain to be. Its death was nearly instant, just one small twitch, and then it laid still.
[Corrupted] Fighting Drake defeated!
Can not receive additional Soul Orbs. Current Soul Orbs 30 of 30.
He considered the now desiccated creature and felt again that some remorse was missing from him, but it didn’t bother him. He’d discovered his purpose and this monster was just a stepping stone to that. With Danna’s brilliance, anything was possible.
Gi started to walk towards where he thought the entrance to the forest was. Exhaustion laid into him. Hours of fighting using a power beyond his body’s ability to cope made each step a wobble as he walked. He was going to get out of here, find Poe, and rest up. Then he’d begin his rise.
A snapping twig forced Gi to look behind him where a strange two legged bipedal creature was. It looked like a kangaroo without the arms if you had put a giant baby’s head on top of it. Its eyes were like two giant luminous orbs that were burned into its featureless face. Without hesitating, Gi sent an [Arcane Bolt] its direction and the creature was obliterated. Despite the bar of sunlight only being a little bigger than the size of a fist, all but the creature’s feet were burned up. What terrified him more was the system message that popped up.
Superficial damage to Ghast Swarm (Elite.)
No kill notification, no rewards, and this swarm was apparently an Elite. “Fuck.” A strange undulating cry erupted from deeper in the forest. It was quickly joined by another voice and another until the entire forest was vibrating with that horrible sound. Gi had already taken off running as far away from those cries as he could. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
His cursing didn’t help his beleaguered breathing, but thankfully, fear brought new life to his limbs. He tore through the damned forest as fast as he could go, but the forest resisted. Where before he’d moved through it easily, now it felt like every root and brush rose up to snag or trip him. He quickly acquired a litany of small cuts across his lower body.
One of the still crying creatures burst from the trees to his left and Gi immediately dropped it with [Arcane Bolt].
Superficial damage to Ghast Swarm (Elite.)
Every few seconds a new one would pop up out of the trees and Gi would blast it down with his newly empowered trait. Soon enough though, his internal energy started to flag and his own charged shots came slower and slower while the number of Ghast chasing him increased a hundredfold.
Now each time the forest grabbed at him, he’d stumble and one of the Ghasts would bite at his heels. Gi’s strength was enough that he’d return to running immediately, kicking off the attacking Ghast, but the wounds piled on. Once the bulk of the swarm caught up, Gi would use [Speed Boost] to get himself back ahead, but each time, they’d slowly overtake him until he could hear their cries just behind him and feel their teeth on his legs.
His [Arcane Bolt] remained in reserve for when one of the swarm members managed to get in front of him. Over the course of an hour, he’d even once tried to [Stealth] after losing them, but there were just so many that there was simply no way to hide from them all.
Only his devotion to Danna kept him going. She had trusted him enough to save him and to be her leader in this world of monsters. If he fell here in this damned forest, her trust in him would die here. He couldn’t let that happen. As he ran, he entered an almost trance. Pain. [Speed Boost]. Cries in front. [Arcane Bolt]. Pain. [Speed Boost]. Each footfall felt harder than the last, but he’d let his body burn out before he’d give up. He wouldn’t waste the chance that Danna had given him.
It took him a few moments to realize that a beam of sunlight was warm upon his face. He looked up to see that the sky-ocean had grown dark, but a few beams of sunlight still pierced through it making the Playground not as dark as it could be. As his mind slowly came to the conclusion that he must have escaped, he slowed, turning to look behind him. The Ghast Swarm still cried at the edge of the forest, but they refused to exit it into the still somewhat lit plains.
Gi smiled, stumbling to a halt before his legs collapsed and he fell onto the ground.
****
Without the feeling of his Boss connecting him, Poe panicked. He raced back to the forest, but even his dismay couldn’t bring him to enter. His [Empath] trait refused to go inside, knowing that he’d somehow be corrupted by whatever was within. So he flittered back and forth along the edge of the forest as the sky-ocean slowly dimmed to night.
“Boss!” He started to yell, wondering where he had gone. As the hours drove on, Poe started to wonder if his Boss had actually died. It was possible, he supposed. His [Empath] skill gave him an innate understanding of what was sent across their bond, but death still didn’t seem right. He'd have felt that.
Poe’s wings soon grew tired and he flew to rest outside of the forest, finding a small tuft of grass to hide in. He’d only rest a few minutes and then he’d continue his search. It wasn't long before is head drooped and he eventually fell asleep.
A strange cry jolted him awake, his heart pumping as it grew in volume as though a thousand cicadas were replaced with crying babies in the middle of the night. At first, he cowered in the tall grass in which he hid, but something else caught his attention.
His [Empath] bond had come back! The Boss was alive!
Poe shot up into the air, his eyes tracking towards where his bond told him that the Boss would be. He watched as the Boss burst from the trees and slowed almost a minute after exiting to see the strange creatures at the edge of the forest, spouting their strange cries. Poe shivered as he looked at them, but since it seemed they weren’t coming out, he rushed over just as his Boss fell to the ground.
“Boss? Boss! You’re hurt!” And that was an understatement. His entire body seemed to be covered in strange scars that formed an almost script of unintelligible meaning. His legs were littered in cuts, bites, and other scrapes that bled freely from where he’d fallen. “Boss?”
Poe didn’t get any response and it seemed like he was unconscious. Without his Boss to guide him, it took several long seconds for Poe to get a proper plan together. First, he had to stop the bleeding. Second, he needed to get his Boss somewhere safer than this.
Poe’s first jaw unhinged and the mouth on the end of his tongue spat out a webbing onto his Boss’s legs. Each use of [Web Shot] closed another small group of wounds and he used it on cooldown until his Boss was wrapped up in a half cocoon. From there, Poe drifted over him, letting his insect legs scoop up under his body. A quick test pull told him that the Boss was too heavy for him to lift, but Poe had more traits from his time as a slime too.
[Strength Boost] gave him just enough juice to pick up the Boss, carry him a few feet, and then get him back to the ground gently. Poe repeated this move until he got his Boss to the river where he gently laid him in it. Thankfully, his Boss floated naturally and Poe’s strength was just enough to get them pointed back towards the waterfall.
Some strange fish shot out of a group of reeds, but Poe spat a [Web Shot] over the surface of the water and used [Strength Boost] to move them past their territory. By the time they’d returned to the waterfall, Poe was exhausted. He’d overtaxed himself with [Flight] and his other traits, but as far as he could tell, his Boss was still alive and that was good enough for him.
He used one last [Strength Boost] to get his Boss around the backside of the waterfall and then covered him with grass. Settling in to keep watch, Poe mumbled, “Successful Poe Mission…,” before he promptly fell asleep again.