CHAPTER 141: Proving Their Worth
“This is by far my least favorite Rift,” complained Randall, not for the first time.
Everyone was walking in the muck. It wouldn’t be right to call it a swamp. Swamps were wet, humid, and smelly. This place had the smelly going, but the wet seemed like a different kind.
There was about two inches of glop under their feet, and it was everywhere. And sticky. Like walking through glue. Lifting a foot took effort no matter how much strength they had and made a disgusting sucking sound. Placing the foot back down created equally disgusting farting noises. Both Randall and Joseph had laughed at the noises in the beginning, but that had gotten old quite quickly. Now they took turns complaining about it.
“And the bugs!” declared Andrea before reaching her hands forward and using [Lighting Spread]. A swarm of bugs, each the size of her thumb, was fried. The burnt smell mixing with the mucky smell made a lot of people cover their noses. A few made retching noises.
Entugo “Hatchling [7]” slain. 137 XP gained.
Entugo “Hatchling [5]” slain. 87 XP gained.
Entugo “Hatchling [8]” slain. 142 XP gained.
…
Entugo “Hatchling [6]” slain. 106 XP gained.
The insect corpses fell into the muck and were very slowly absorbed by it. Still, they took their time walking around the area. Their group, the Leputi, and the General’s Guard spread out, walking in two lines while clearing out any of the swarms that came for them.
This Rift felt a little larger than others but also didn’t have as much to it. Trees, muck, and swarms were all they encountered so far. The swarms of hatchlings were made of low levels so weren’t rewarding much XP or taking long to wipe out.
Slowly moving to the middle of the invader base, the trees gave way though the muck remained. On a mound in the center was a castle. Or an approximation of a castle mixed with a hive, if it had been made by young kids on a beach where the tide was rolling in. It was a little taller than two stories, about 100 feet wide.
Deformed round windows were in it with bulges sticking out of the walls below them to resemble balconies. There was no smoothness to the material it way made from, as if dirt and clay had just been plopped on top, layer after layer.
The raised ground that circled the castle didn’t have the muck on it, looking more like fused sand. Unfortunately, the muck didn’t come off their boots just because they stopped walking in it, so even on the new solid surface they stuck and had trouble moving quickly.
“This can’t be all of it,” stated Brittney. “We haven’t encountered anything worth fighting yet and even all the swarms we killed wouldn’t fit inside that.”
“There is going to be an underground, isn’t there?” whined Randall. “What is the matter with all these aliens and their undergrounds?”
“But Lord Randall,” responded Rahsha, following Alissa carefully while looking in all directions as if he was her personal bodyguard, “under the ground is comfortable, private, with plenty of rooms to build.”
“It’s also cramped, has less air, and loads of things that could fall on you,” snapped Randall.
Rahsha looked downward in shame at the tone in Randall’s voice, so Alissa petted his head. That perked him up.
“Oh? Are you claustrophobic?” teased Alissa.
“Hell no!” Randall vehemently exclaimed. “I just don’t like being in small spaces without a way out.”
“That’s what claustrophobic means, dumbass,” chided Joseph.
“While Joseph and Alissa have a therapy session for Randall, how about the rest of us take on those things,” said Tom, pointing to a growing number of insect-human hybrids that were coming out of the building.
They were more bug-like than humanoid, though they walked upright on their four legs with their abdomen protruding backwards almost like a centaur. An exoskeleton covered them.
Their heads were flatter, like they had been squished from the sides, causing a ridge and crest starting from their neck and reaching through the middle of their face, top of their heads, and around to the back. They had compound eyes and antennae to the sides of the ridge. Their jaws and mouths were more like a human’s though, hinging only downwards with needle-like teeth.
They had two arms, from the middle of their thorax. No wings were visible. Their hands had three long fingers, or two fingers and a reverse thumb. The fingers were long, hooked, and sharp.
The tags above all the gathered Entugo were the same, “Soldier Caste,” with levels ranging from 24 to 29. The soldiers didn’t seem very difficult. Even with about 50 of them still filing out of the castle door opening, they were still lower level and outnumbered by the approaching group.
“This can’t possibly be all of them,” complained Tom. “We need more XP than this.”
Then a new group came out of the castle. They were about 25% taller than the soldiers and twice as thick. Their bodies looked heavily armored and less disjointed between their parts. Quite a few more spikes and blades were on their arms, shoulders, and back. “Commander Caste” was on their tags, with levels between 32 and 34.
“Better?” asked Lucas.
“Yuppers,” nodded Tom.
Then the swarm came. The fifty soldier Entugo rushed forward, splitting into groups with a Commander behind each of them. They tried to scratch, claw, grab, and stab the Sentinels.
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Shields warded off the attacks as buffs were cast. Lucas called out directions. He had their defenders move to the outside of the groups of Entugo, trying to force a few at a time into pockets of fighters. The ranged stayed in the back, casting spells to get hits while also trying to draw more into their kill zones.
The healers were staying close to the front, behind the shield bearers. Some still required touch to cast their heals, while others had developed weaker area heals or had a bit more range on their spells.
The exoskeletons of the Entugo soldiers were tougher than expected, but a skill driven attack could crack through. Joseph, Lucas, and a few others were able to take them down in a single well-placed hit. More technical or speedy fighters, like Randall and Carlos, would strategically aim for the joints, incapacitating them for others to get hits in.
Alissa went to any downed invader and would drain a bit of their life using [Take Life], a spell requiring touch, while also lowering Fido so he could bite any exposed area. With Carthraga getting three times the XP, Fido’s levels increased quickly, as did his size and biting power.
He started slightly larger than palm size, and it didn’t take long for Alissa to put him down. At level 13 he came up to Alissa’s knee. At level 18, his jaw strength was able to crack through the soldiers’ exoskeleton.
Entugo “Soldier [26]” slain. 1,420 shared XP gained.
Entugo “Soldier [25]” slain. 1,298 shared XP gained.
While the soldier proved easy, both from a strategy and strength perspective, things were thrown out of order when the commanders would step forward. They were built like tanks, their armor able to resist the attacks from most of the Sentinels and Leputi. Only the core group was able to crack their shells, and that still took a few hits.
The commanders were slow, plodding creatures, but their strength was legit. Even though their attacks would normally be easy to dodge, the limited space forced too many of the shield bearers to take hits that knocked them into others or dented their shields and armor.
The spikes, spines, and blades coming out from their body and limbs also made it difficult to target their joints. They often overlapped the joints, like a frame reinforcing them. Those spikes were also a danger as they made the commanders’ movements into weapon attacks, even if they were just walking or swinging an arm.
Areas where the commanders entered would have their positioning thrown off, allowing the soldiers to get attacks in on the fighters, healers and defenders. The defenders would need to use their shields to protect against the commanders, so they relied on their teammates to step forward and engage the soldier Entugo. The kill zone formation was quickly discarded, and the fight became chaotic and tightly packed.
Lucas, Randall, Andrea, and Joseph took responsibility for the commanders, fighting their way through the swarm to get to them. Without much room to move, Randall struggled with his spear. There wasn’t enough room to swing or parry. Several times he would push away from the other humans and into groups of Entugo so he could use [Thunder Crash] and [Trailing Bolt] to clear small groups of them.
Joseph didn’t have as much trouble as Randall even with his spear since his skill set was more towards straight line attacks, ignoring speed and technical fighting. [Deadly Penetration] and [Under the Seam] were great for getting through the exoskeletons. [Headhunt] could one shot even the commanders if he could get a precision hit on their necks.
[Unmoving Steps] and [Follow Thru] allowed him to keep his path while clearing the way ahead. Joseph took plenty of hits but [Reap What You Sow] returned a bunch of that damage back on his enemies, throwing them off when they hit Joseph. A ranged healer made sure to keep Joseph targeted.
Andrea was also a powerhouse in this fight. [Lightning Spread] tore through groups of soldiers, rarely strong enough to kill them outright while doing enough damage to drop them to the ground where others could get hits in. [Volt Cutter] would allow her to get through even the armor of the commanders, and [Along the Flow] would let her direct that energy into their bodies to their hearts and brains if she got close enough to touch them.
While Andrea might have less defense, she was smaller in size and had increasing agility to dodge with. [Speed of Light] would allow her to bolt forward in a straight line to get away from attacks and [Static Shield] increased her defenses so weaker attacks didn’t reach her while giving a shock to any Entugo that touched the shield. If she really needed to create space around her then she would use [Discharge] to knock the creatures away from her and into each other.
Lucas’s class of [Quartermaster] was focused towards becoming proficient with all aspects of weapon combat. It was tough to notice the benefit to his skills [Balance] and [Proper Stance], but in such close quarters using [Ideal Direction] and [Empower Blow] allowed each of the swings of his hammer to clear space while splattering the weaker Entugo. [Toughness] and [Evade] still allowed him to take a few hits while finding the best place to take the least strikes.
The fight had seemed like it would be quick in the beginning, but soldiers and commanders didn’t stop coming out of the castle. What started as 50 soon became 100, then 200, bloating by the hundreds. The humans were already slowed from the muck on their shoes, and the falling corpses were limiting where they could engage the invaders at.
Carlos and Elias guided the ranged. They told them where to attack with Elias sometimes raising a muck covered platform for a person to get a better angle. As more enemies came out of the castle, Carlos called for the ranged and support to pull back, giving the melee more space to engage in. Everyone in their groups flashed red as elements of all kinds blasted towards the castle while barriers and shields helped cover those in dangerous positions.
Through it all, Tom strode confidently. He helped control the fight using [Baffle] to confuse the soldiers and [On your Knees] to slow the commanders from arriving at their groups. [Seek the Truth] was an odd skill in that he could use it on allies or enemies. It would boost the effect of the words he used. In this case he talked up the greatness of the Sentinel Army. That helped boost morale, enthusiasm, and confidence. Attacks were sharper and more precise. Humans stood their ground rather than being pushed back in places he used the skill. The whole time he spoke and those who heard his words were inspired by them.
When an attack would reach Tom, usually it would pass through him, as [What’s Not There] led his enemies to attack the wrong spot while his counterattack using [Illusion Strike], mixed with [Long Reach], made them think his attacks were coming from a different place.
All the while Brandon kept up as many buffs as possible, and the healers kept people in the fight. Lamar’s attacks were also the most devastating of all next to Joseph’s, as the arrows enhanced with [Deep Blade] would pass through multiple enemies, blowing large holes in their exoskeletons and bodies, opening them up to attacks from the army. He even used [Take Your Time] to build the strength of his attacks as he waited for the enemies to line up for a good shot.
Over 40 minutes of fighting, the exhausted humans managed to take out around 2,000 of the bug men. Even with enhanced vitality they were exhausted. Several people had called for personal retreats, always them to take a breather while some moved into critical positions to keep the enemies at bay.
For a few minutes, victory was in question when new doorways were created on the crumbled sides of the castle as new waves of the Entugo came out. Carlos was able to notice it coming using [See Life] and [Valuation], allowing Lamar and Tom to delay the new groups enough for the humans to pull back while tightening their positions.
In the end though it was exactly what the group wanted. Large amounts of XP to push them towards their Tier 3 class evolution and practical experience in battle to hone their skills and teamwork.
They spent an hour eating, drinking, healing, and recovering before deciding to go into the castle. Eventually though it was time, and they pushed forward to see what waited for them inside.