CHAPTER 110: Carthraga
The Bobomon boss lunged forward. As it did, the rocky ground underneath him shifted, throwing him off balance. Under one foot, the ground lowered, and under the other it rose. Elias smirked while using his [Landslide] spell.
Randall lunged forward towards the tail, using [Shock Lance]. A loud noise accompanied his spear thrust as a bang of lightning entered the tail along with the spear, trying to paralyze the giant’s nervous system. At the same time, Andrea used [Speed of Light] to momentarily boost her Agility and raced to the creature’s chest while he was bent forward from catching his balance.
Her hand on his chest, she cast [Along the Flow] to feel and then pull on the electricity created by Randall’s skill. She drew it into the Bobomon’s heart, where she felt it doing damage. The Bobomon choked, then spat blood. He swung with an open hand to hit Andrea, but Brittney had arrived, and his fist was redirected as she used [Deflect] along with [Firm Stance] to keep from being knocked away.
“[Turn Away],” announced Tom, as he used the skill. It wasn’t strong enough to completely distract the war stomper, however it was enough to cause its eyes to flick to the side. He had already used the skills [Long Reach] to lengthen the area of damage from his sword and [Quick Step] to get in close. Then Tom released [Quick Strike] and the lengthened blade pierced through the boss’s right eye.
“[Step Back],” roared the Bobomon in anger as he flashed in red from the skill use. Without needing to balance or to get control of himself, his skill took him 20 feet away from them. Blood seeped from his tail, drizzled from the spear still in his neck, and dripped from his mouth. The blood sizzled as it hit the ground, steaming.
“You primitive native!” the invader shouted furiously. “You think you are my match?! You think your skills and classes can compare to mine?! I will crunch your bones and feast upon the marrow within!”
“Primitive?” scoffed Tom. “Have you even looked at the décor in here?”
“Mock all you like, for now you have made me mad!”
“And we wouldn’t like it when you are mad?” asked Brittney in a teasing voice. Abbey kept giving her heals whenever she took a hit, so she was feeling fresh for more fighting.
“I didn’t like him when he wasn’t mad,” retorted Alissa.
“Still you jape? You pathetic specks will die! Feel my signature skill, [War Stomp]!”
The Bobomon flashed red as his foot struck the ground like a clap of thunder. Everyone in the room, including the Leputi and dying den mother were thrown 10 feet into the air.
“[Step forward]!”
Like when the Bobomon retreated, this time he appeared in their midst. He swung his club sideways, looking to hit everyone in a circle around him.
“[Steady Ally]!” shouted Brittney, righting everyone in the air as they prepared for the hit.
“[Ascending Vitality],” announced Alissa, giving everyone a sudden infusion of durability.
“[Toughness], [Proper Stance],” used Lucas to increase his own durability and put himself in a position to attack even in the air. Randall had already gotten out of the way using [Thunder Crash] to drop to the ground, releasing a burst of electricity around himself that hit the big invader’s leg.
Lucas was second in the line of the Bobomon’s swing, and he swung his own hammer, striking it against the club. The stone club chipped but didn’t break, while Lucas’s hammer bent. It did enough to disrupt the club’s swing.
While most were easily landing on the ground, Randall rushed forward once again using his skills to thrust and hack at the tail. Andrea didn’t need to be on the ground to use her [Volt Cutter] as she chained the attack in the invader’s face, scorching his nose and remaining eye.
Tom used [Baffle], and the big guy froze for just a moment, shaking his head minutely to disrupt the skill’s effect. The attacks continued. He swatted at them, and swung his club, but speed was not his forte. The group couldn’t do large damage, but they were leading to a death from a thousand cuts scenario.
Those who were quick would dodge in and out to strike. Brittney always seemed to arrive in time using [By Your Side] to get there quickly. Alissa would [Quick Step] in and then [Take Life] or throw empowered [Water Ball] when she had to stay back. All this while Elias shifted people around or shot spells and Andrea flung lightning.
Ashtala couldn’t believe it. The warriors were holding their own. She had landed roughly from the [War Stomp], though she had seen Adam pop straight in the air, arms still folded and landing in exactly the same position. Abbey had even cast a [Mid Heal] on her after her fall to make sure she was fine.
Their power might have been lacking but they were supporting each other and using complimentary strikes to do more damage. They also didn’t seem to be slowing down while the Bobomon was flailing, not showing any technique to his attacks. Ashtala marveled as she watched, until she heard Adam speaking.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked Joseph harshly as he hobbled up.
“My arm’s broken,” muttered the slouching and bleeding man.
“So what?” asked Adam while staring at him.
“My spear is too.”
“And that’s enough to stop you?” taunted Adam.
Ed had been coming closer and used [Reduce Wounds] to improve the arm and then [Purifying Heal]. Abbey also hit him with a ranged [Walk it Off!] and [Mid Heal]. After that Joseph was standing as if he was fine, even though his armor was dented and there was blood all over him.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Dude, you sound like my dad,” complained Joseph.
“Your dad talks like that?”
“No, not really. He would have grunted and given up. He also doesn’t give me nice things like you do,” admitted Joseph.
“Well, add this to the list of gifts,” said Adam as he handed over the broken handle of his war hammer. Joseph hefted it.
“It’ll do. Can I get a lift?” asked Joseph.
“Now you sound like a kid,” teased Adam, though he put his hands together, interlacing his fingers.
Joseph jumped into the hands and Adam threw him with velocity at the Bobomon’s face. Skills were used, [Sturdy Weapon], [Multi-strike], and [Deadly Penetration], as the war hammer handle was speared right into the invader’s open eye. Joseph sank up to his elbow, all of him coated by the liquids that sprayed out from the impact.
The strike caused the war stomper to stumble backwards, where the damage Randall had been doing to his tail came into play as it bent back further than it should have. The boss actually whined as it fell onto his back, tail further ripping off.
Then all the warriors set upon him with vigor. Ashtala watched as even the supports rushed forward and stabbed, hit, or cast into the large body that was squirming on the ground.
“You too,” Adam said, startling Ashtala. She looked down at the squiggly knife that he offered to her. She swallowed hard while looking up into his face.
“Are you sure?” she asked, disbelieving anyone in the universe would have shared this XP with dead weight.
Adam just nodded at her and then went back to watching the end of the fight. Both Ashtala and Rahsha rushed to the body and found safe spots to stab, getting very little penetration, but doing enough damage.
Ashtala screaming as she stabbed. All her emotions, all the oppression she had felt through her life, and all the sorrow that she didn’t know she contained came out in those screams and stabs. Even after a kill notification appeared she continued to vent on the corpse in front of her.
Bobomon “War Stomper [42]” slain. 30,825 shared XP gained.
“Wow, that is a lot of XP. It gave me a whole level,” marveled Randall.
“The dogs seem to give us three times as much for their level,” said Brandon as the group made their way over to the den mother and took turns getting their hits on it.
“Three heads? Maybe three times the levels?” speculated Brittney.
“It is unknown why, but the Carthraga gain levels three times faster than other creatures,” said Ashtala, panting while getting control of her emotions. “I’ve never killed them, or heard of it, so I don’t know about gaining three times as much XP from killing them. However, they must have that amount stored within.”
Carthraga “Den Mother [38]” slain. 87,478 shared XP gained.
***
The Rift pillar was in the room they had fought in, next to the stone throne. Adam couldn’t think of a less comfortable chair. He was beginning to wonder how backwards all these races were, focusing on only war and levels instead of comforts.
Only one door came off this room, and it led through an even larger tunnel to more large doors. There were hundreds of yips and high-pitched howls that could be heard even before they arrived at the sealed door. Everyone was on alert, and the two Leputi hid behind the humans.
When Adam pushed the door open, everyone stood stunned. There were hundreds of the three headed dogs, except they were all small level zero pups. They were separated into groups of 14 by round rock outcrops, keeping each pack separate from each other. Each pack has the remains of meat in them and some fluid that was definitely not water.
The group spread out and walked through the pathways between the packs. The little pups seemed to lack the aggressiveness or violence of their leveled counterparts. Alissa and Andrea, even Abbey, reached down to pet them. The pups seemed fine with being touched, even climbing over each other to get to their hands. All the while Rahsha stood behind Alissa, gripping her robe for dear life and whimpering warnings to her.
Ashtala waited by, or rather behind, the door. She wasn’t even willing to enter the room.
“I think we found some beasts for Gerald to work on taming,” Adam said. There were a lot of nods in agreement.
“This would be quite a force for us if we can bring them up right,” agreed Lucas. “I’m sure we have people accustomed to working with animals that we can bring in.”
As Adam continued to walk through the packs of Cartraga pups, he heard one voice different than the rest. A whimper and whine sounded out from a nearby group. Thirteen of the pups were yipping at Adam like in the other groups, but the last pup was smaller and looked like it was starving.
When Adam reached down, he noticed that the pup had a malformed front right paw. Its toes hadn’t grown properly, and the paw was much smaller, affecting its ability to walk. Curiously, he reached towards it.
The right head tried to pull away from his hand, the middle head growled, and the left head bit his hand. The teeth couldn’t get through his skill since it was only level zero. Adam pulled out some jerky from one of his pouches. He put a piece in his own mouth, and then broke another piece into three, offering them to all the heads. The middle head wouldn’t eat it, but the other two did. After that he spent a bit of time feeding them and sharing some of his water.
When he felt like the pup was acting affectionately towards him, Adam put the pup in his large front pocket, where it was able to peek out. The items in it were moved to his other pockets, or he ate them right there to make space.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Adam noticed that most of the group was watching him. Except for Tom, who was suddenly enthusiastic about sorting through the Carthraga pups until he found one to his liking and shoved it into his pack along with some of the meat that the beasts had been eating. Adam just shook his head and tried to ignore it.
He also didn’t mention the affection he felt through his connections with the girls at the cuteness of him sitting and taking care of the infirmed animal. Or the looks of terror from the bunny girl peeking around the door to the room.
***
“Excuse my intrusion, your Excellency,” Ashtala addressed Adam nervously. He was getting ready to claim the Rift control crystal for this base, stopping for her. “It may be impertinent of me, but I was curious how your warriors were able to defeat an enemy so much stronger than them.”
“Two reasons. First, it was a good matchup for them. Strong and arrogant but slow is easier to overcome than too fast. They would have had a more difficult time against the den mother and no chance against both,” he explained.
“What is the second reason?” asked Ashtala.
“There is an advantage that natives can get. I’m not sure invaders know about it, so I think I’ll keep it to myself,” said Adam. “It won’t be as much of an advantage if they knew.”
“If that is your wish,” Ashtala said, disappointment tinging her voice.
Adam touched the control crystal to the pillar.
Owner of Dimensional Convergence Rift has died…
…no new Inheritor found. Ownership presented to possessor of Control Node.
Would you like to take Ownership of this Dimensional Convergence Rift?
[ Yes / No ]
Adam selected Yes.
Ownership of Dimensional Convergence Rift has been taken by a native. Invasion ended.
…All natives included in Dimensional Convergence Rift will receive the title “Invasion Conqueror”.
Invasion Conqueror
For defeating an enemy of your planet and preventing their rampage from continuing you will receive +2 to all stats. Claiming more Dimensional Convergence Rifts will increase this title.
This was the 14th Rift that the group had taken. They had 28 more of each stat thanks to that plus 5% to all stats the initial title had given them. Adam smiled inside. This was still just the beginning. There were so many more Rifts for his team to conquer. The voice inside his soul, where the corruption came from, felt quite pleased with him.
With the progress of his team, 6 more levels for each of them and the information they would gain from the Leputi, they were in a better position against the invaders. The only thing that could make this better would be if Nick and Lamar were here to grow with them.