Snow crunched as Kahari rolled out of the way, a stinger nearly as big as he was tearing up snow and dirt, flinging it into the air. Winter had fully set in across Altesia at this point, and even only being it’s third day, snow had already fallen twice. Angry buzzing filled the air as the massive Soldier Wasp Queen tore her stinger from the soil, mandibles large enough to split a cow writhing as she turned on the human that had invaded her domain. Unfortunately for her, where she was now alone, Kahari had six others to help him against her. Winter had brought most of the hive into hibernation, only the Queen’s guards and herself remained active at all in the crisp air. Three of those guards lay dead on the ground, but the Queen was basically unscathed, only some slight scorching on one side indicated anything had hit her at all. Heartseeker was discarded in the snow not far away, Kahari only had his sword in hand having lost in the early clash with the Soldier Wasp Queen. Sweat drenched his form, he was currently uninjured, but he was pressing his stamina. Once the guards had been out of the way, they’d had to tear open the hive itself to draw out the Queen, and they hadn’t had very long to rest.
Chara was moving sluggishly, Fotia and Pagos did not respond as quickly to her, and she didn’t respond quickly to the threats around her. Even bundled as warmly as she was, her vulnerability to the cold was obvious to anyone that could see her, and on top of that she was just as tired as the rest of the gathered heroes. She backed away a little bit to catch her breath, eyeing the large monster carefully as she began casting some Fire Magic intended to warm her up and restore some of her energy.
Nissa was in the best condition of all of them, her Dryad’s Soul and her nature as a Druid/Wizard multiclass had given her greater reserves to draw from. Perhaps more accurately, she recovered more quickly thanks to her ability, and her magic was geared towards recovery and support, allowing her to restore and prepare herself. She maintained her distance from the angry Wasp as she worked her way around to help Chara with her flagging energy, putting a hand on the small girl's back and casting some nature magic to further boost the Marionettist.
Bedora for her part didn’t seem all that tired, but the dried blood caking her armor told it’s own story. She was at full health at the moment, and didn’t need any direct support, though she had plenty of it between Kahari and Kalise. She moved in next to the Wasp that was still trying to chase Kahari, and slammed the spike of her Warhammer into one of the Queen’s large, segmented legs, getting around the chitinous armor to tear at the vulnerable ‘muscle’ below. It didn’t seem to do a whole lot, but it did leak some green blood as Bedora was forced to back away or get kicked by the flailing legs.
Kalise was around the other side, while her helmet hid her face, her heaving chest told the story of her own weariness. Her dark blue hair cascaded down her shoulders, matted with mud and blood, mostly those of the fallen Wasps. She swung her left hand, holding her cutlass, as she lept high into the hair, aiming to dig into the Queen’s wings, trying to keep her grounded so she could not flee them. Not again, this was their third time trying to face her down, and both other times she’d managed to escape, thanks to other Wasps and her now destroyed Royal Guards. The cutlass did bite into the wing, but it was like trying to cut through a plate of metal, and was halted only about a quarter through the wing. She didn’t know if it’d stop her from taking flight, but it should slow her at least a little if she did.
Kahari finally managed to recollect his magical Glaive thanks to the distractions of his friends, and came back to his feet as he began casting.
“Wind Blade!”
The blade slashed through the air, and slammed into one of the Queen’s other wings, but cut in even less than Kalie’s blade, though it still did some damage. That was odd to Kahari, Soldier Wasps were supposed to be vulnerable to Air Magic, though not as much as Ice Magic. Didn’t matter, they had to deal with her, and he didn’t have many ranged options. He grumbled to himself as he used Stutter Step to dash in, using the added momentum to bring Heartseekers blade in against the Queen’s injured leg. The chitin cracked, and some more green blood oozed out, but he hadn’t broken through her armor plating, and had to roll to the side to avoid her bladed front legs as she swiped at him. Once he got to his feet he called out to the others.
“Watch it, she’s resisting Air Magic!”
Bedora let out an audible groan and adjusted her grip on her hammer. Less control, more damage, they’d been hoping to rip the queen apart with two of them using Air Magic.
“She’s a Variant?! Damn it! She is NOT an E5!”
Variant’s were rare monsters that had weird or additional powers compared to the typical example of their kind, usually an element they could wield, and resisted. This meant that this particular Queen had access to some kind of Air element abilities that they hadn’t seen yet, and this complicated matters for them. Till now most of their foes had been in the F category, fairly weak. Just going from F1 to E6 was a near doubling in power, and typically Queens were in E5. Bedora did some guesswork.
“Looking at an E4 maybe E3, don’t hold anything back. This has gone from a hard fight to a deadly fight. Kailse, focus on her wings. Chara, help Kailise. Nissa see if you can bind her to the ground. Kahari, you’re with me. Help me wear her down so we can find a better opening.”
Bedora was quick to throw out a new strategy for them.
“Got it!”
“Right!”
“Understood.”
“Alright!”
The group all called out together. This was easier said than done, but a hard plan was better than no plan. Kailse backed away a little and began chanting. While she by far had the weakest magic of the group, she was also officially their highest level member, and the only one with Water or true Ice magic, thanks to her Naiad nature, they were easy for even a martial class to level. Pagos had some of it’s own, but they were sourced through enchantments and static in strength till reworked.
“Binding Water!”
Ropes of pure, clear water sprung from the ground, drawing moisture from the air and snow rather than Kalise’s mana, and wrapped around the Queen’s injured wing, tightening till they were taught, and began pulling. The tear in the wing grew a little bit, but the Queen was tough, and evidently smarter than they thought, whirling on the Naiad and using her bladed limbs to cut into the ropes, the first strikes glancing off, but after a few more severing one of the four that had found their mark.
“Thorny Vines!”
Another set of bindings, this time thick vines covered in thorns wrapped around the upper wing of the Queen’s right side pair and began pulling as well, the thorns putting holes into the wings as they twisted tighter and tighter. Next to her Chara, now reinvigorated, moved with Pagos and Fotia, the two lightweight puppets jumping onto the Queen’s back and ascended her form. Pago’s bladed arms flashed and drove themselves into the thinner chitin at the base of the torn wing, restricting it’s movement further and trying to remove it at the base. Fotia’s claws flashed and started adding new, if small, holes and rips to the upper right wing. They’d need at least two destroyed or rendered useless to ground the Queen.
The Queen roared in agony, and a magic circle appeared beneath her feet. Bedora and Kahari didn’t have time to warn anyone before a whirlwind appeared around the Wasp, throwing them clear of the Queen, Fotia and Pagos joining them as they lacked the strength to cling on. Thankfully the bindings remained attached, but the Queen finished severing the third of the watery ropes, the last one fading as without it’s brothers it lacked the power to hold the Queen at all. Now she turned and began cutting into the vines, not biting quite as deeply but still working her way through them.
Bedora managed to roll with her landing, coming to her feet before retrieving her javelin. Aiming it, she flung it as hard as she could manage, catching the Queen in the face, but all that did was crack some more chitin as it glanced off the thick armor. Still, every hit was a little bit more health drained from the monster, getting them one step closer to winning this. Bedora lifted her armor, and charged back in, slamming it into the injured leg, causing it to buckle slightly due to the weight placed on it, but it wasn’t much more than a stumble. Against something so large, it wasn’t much.
Kahari had not been so lucky when he had been flung back, slamming into a tree hard enough for his vision to go white, and drive the air from his lungs. After a moment he managed to force himself back to his feet, and healed himself a little, which helped his vision return more quickly. Grabbing his glaive, he charged back in and thrust with it, using it’s tip against the injured leg they’d been focusing on. This time he bit into the actual meat beneath the chitin, but it wasn’t very deep. Still, it meant they had finally broken past her armor enough to cause some real damage.
Kalise began chanting once more, raising her hand and aiming at the damaged wing on her side of the insect.
“Ice Shard!”
An icicle flew through the air like an arrow, landing home and biting quite deeply. Queen was still vulnerable to ice at least. The hole it left was quite a bit larger than the icicle should have left behind, it’d definitely done extra damage, and with the new gap, that wing likely couldn’t generate any lift. Grabbing her sword, Kailse broke into a run, and jumped onto the Queen’s back, used stutter step to ascend as quickly as possible, and started trying to hack at the wing Nissa was doing her best to keep bound.
Nissa kept chanting, every time the Queen severed one vine, another quickly replaced it. Her mana was dropping quickly from this, but she had some potions to restore with, and keeping the Queen occupied was…
She didn't get to finish the thought as the Queen, realizing the futility of the vines, suddenly rushed forward, slamming her elephantine form into the little fairy. She was driven into the ground like wet paper, and only the tree behind her stopped the Queen as she collided with it, uprooting it and falling over with it as her bulk in the snow prevented her from stopping.
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Kahari watched Nissa’s health drop rapidly in the party screen, clinging on with only a few points left. He rushed forward and grabbed her broken body, dragging it away from the flailing Queen as she struggled to get back to her feet. The Sun Fairy was unconscious, and in really bad shape. Bedora bellowed in fury and used everything she had to leap into the air, coming down hammer first onto the back of the Queen, striking as quickly as her rage fueled her desire to kill the thing that had nearly killed her sister.
Kahari fumbled, his fingers numb from the cold, as he retrieved a healing potion from his own Bag. As he struggled to uncork it, Kalise stepped between them and the Queen, a wall of ice rising between them to help shield the pair better. She continued onward, jumping to the top of the wall and then off it to land on Queen’s abdomen, stabbing at the flexible chitin where the abdomen extended from the Queen’s waist, using her temporary vulnerability to stab at this more vulnerable section of her armor.
Nissa’s health rose perilously slowly as the healing liquid made it’s way down her throat. Kahari discarded the vial and produced another one, finally getting the girl back to about a quarter health, which brought her back to consciousness with a groan.
“Woah woah, don’t move too much. Almost all your bones are broken, or at least all the ones I can see.”
Nissa couldn’t so much as nod against the pain, instead Kahari frowned as she began chanting a complicated spell. He rested her gently into the snow, she was likely healing herself and he needed to get back into the fight. Before he could get far, he heard.
“Restoration Bud!.”
Her voice was weak, but after a moment Kahari noticed that she’d gone from about 80% of her mana bar, to nearly empty as a pink, glowing magical bud sprung from the ground and wrapped itself around her. He watched her health climb rapidly as he rounded the wall, watching the Queen as she finally got back to her feet. He came in quickly, driving Heartseeker’s blade back into the wounded leg, blade biting deeply into the meat as it forced it’s way past the damaged chitin. The Queen shook herself, forcing him to back away and shaking Bedora and Kalise off her back.
Before she could do anything else, Pagos made an appearance, two icicles slamming into her chest as the Ice-based puppet changed it’s tactics. It may be built for close range, but Ice Magic was Ice Magic. Both icicles found their mark. The first opened a large hole in her armor, the second bit deep into the Queen behind them. Bedora noted this as she jumped up, trying to get the spike of her hammer to catch on the hole. She missed, and glanced off the webbed cracks spreading out from the hole, still doing some damage but not what she wanted.
“It’s extra vulnerable to Ice Magic! The Air Magic boost came with a downside it seems. Kalise, Chara, focus on Ice, forget Fotia entirely. Kahari, help me finish off its legs. Nissa is basically out of this fight, she doesn’t have enough mana left, and we used the last of her mana potions against the guards.”
Her voice was interrupted a few times as she had to dodge and weave around the Queen’s blades, but she eventually got everything out. There was no sound of confirmation, just another scream of pain as an icicle from Kalise slammed into her other injured wing, tearing it off entirely and hopefully grounding her. Chara dropped Fotia’s wires, and focused all her magic and attention on Pagos. Kahari moved back in, but before he could strike, Bedora moved in front of him and caught the flailing blade of the Queen to the side of her head.
A normal person would be dead, but Bedora had her damn Indestructibility.
“Checkmate.”
She declared against the pain as her health locked in 33%, for the next two minutes she literally could not be hurt, and as a Mauler her damage just jumped considerably. Her muscles groaned as magic flooded them, and her hammer struck home rapidly on the injured leg, even as the Queen hit Bedora over and over again. While she could stumble the Amazon, and even drove her to her knees at one point, the insect could not or refused to understand nothing she was doing mattered beyond damage Bedora’s armor.
Strike after strike struck home, before the eight blow tore the leg off entirely, leaving the Queen standing on only three. She didn’t have much time to shift herself before Kahari was in her thorax, Heartseeker digging deep into the gaping wound that was now pouring blood. Unfortunately, a wasp’s heart was in their abdomen, and was still shielded by way too much chitin and muscle for Kahari to try and go after, but more damage was more damage.
The Queen’s wings buzzed as she tried to take flight, lifting a few feet off the ground before her wings gave out, dropping her back down, and without all four walking legs to absorb the impact, she stumbled and listed to one side. Bedora didn’t give her time to recover, using her hammer to drive the wasp onto her side, exposing the underside of her abdomen, and the thinner armor there to Kalise and Pagoss. Kailse was nearly out of mana, but Chara had plenty to work with, and icicle after icicle slammed home as Kahari pulled his weapon free, struggling to keep his grip against all the green blood. Bedora did her part to keep the wasp on it’s side, it’s movements slowing as it weakened, but it was still going.
It was at this point that vines whipped from the snow and wrapped around the entire beast, clinging it to the earth and preventing it from returning to it’s feet. Nissa, still clearly aching and exhausted, was stranding on the ice wall, panting as she used what reserves she had to buy her team every ounce of time she could. The entire party kept raining blows on the wasp, but it took another two minutes to finally finish the beast off, with Nissa having maybe enough mana to have kept it bound for five or six more seconds. With the Queen’s death, herself and the three dead guards all puffed into smoke, leaving behind some raw materials, and a pair of oval eggs the size of a small dog.
The entire party just kind of collapsed to the snow, panting and aching against their bruises, breaks, cuts, and plain exhaustion. Kahari was the first to rise as he looked down at the sizeable pile of materials the Queen had dropped. He could identify the pair of blades she left behind.
“Greater Soldier Wasp Queen of Storms Blade, E2.”
Bedora sighed as she sat up from the snow.
“Those blades are normally E4, the Queens E5. She must have been an E2 or E1. Keep her shit, we’re getting a bonus, she was much stronger than expected.”
Kahari nodded and began gathering materials as Bedora marched over to her tiny adoptive sister, giving her a giant bear hug.
“You scared me half to death Nissa.”
“I know, none of us expected it to charge me.”
“Let’s get back to camp, I think we could all need a nap.”
“How about a week of naps.”
“Maybe in Ixul.”
Kahari took stock of everything he gathered. Two more blades from the royal guards, they ranked as E6 material, five vials of F1 Wasp Venom, and two vials of E5 Queen Wasp Venom. Three chunks F2 Wasp Chitin, and a whopping eighteen chunks of E2 Greater Wasp Queen Chitin.
“Queen’s Chitin is E2, she was E2. Looks like it has some inherent air magic qualities, though it kept her ice vulnerability, I might be able to compensate.”
“New armor for someone then.”
Kalise said as she poked the chitin with her foot, surprised at it’s weight.
“Maybe a shield instead, that stuff is heavier than it looks.”
“It’ll get lighter when worked as I get rid of some impurities, but yeah, best I can do with her stuff is maybe medium armor. Almost certainly heavy.”
“Works for me, I’m a Guardian, heavy armor and shields are part of my whole set. Bedora wouldn’t mind some heavy armor either.”
“We’ll see in Ixul…”
The party gathered everything together before grabbing the eggs.
“Tamers and Summoners will pay top dollar for Queen Wasp eggs, especially with her Air element.”
Bedora noted as they packed everything into their Bags and made the thirty minute hike back to their camp, about two days downstream of Kalise’s home village. After a quick check on their wards, they threw together a fire, and decided to check their levels before starting dinner and sleeping. They’d move out tomorrow, head back to Ixul.
Kahari and Bedora were the only ones with any mana reserves left, and after a quick tally, announced the party’s full comp.
“Lets see. Kalise the Guardian, level 14. Bedora the Mauler, level 12. Nissa the Wizard and Druid, Level 13. Chara the Marionettist, Level 9.”
Kahari announced before Bedora moved to him and did the same.
“Kahari the Arcanist, Level 9. One more level and you're both at Silver, Kalise will go Gold at 15. Not too bad, maybe we can get you to 10 on the way back if we pick a few more fights.”
Once they were done, they ate a quick dinner of warm stew, before the entire party passed out. Kahari would mend their gear in the morning, then it was time to get back to Ixul.