The goblin village woke up at the first light of the crystals. I felt refreshed after a night behind the walls of the village. Vel was her usual self when it came to get out of bed. I managed to drag her out with the promise of some food. The first meal of the day was served at the same place the banquet had been. Vel and I only took a few fruits each, not wanting to abuse our guest's generous hospitality.
We waited for the hunter and scout teams to prepare and leave before we did ourselves.
"Let's see if we can get our gear checked before we leave," I said.
"Good idea," Vel gave me a kiss.
I knew where the various workshops were from our small tour the previous day.
The first we visited was the bowyer. I was fairly confident both of our bows were still in good shape but I wanted the opinion of a professional.
"Greetings Dark Ones," the goblin greeted us, "do you need my services?"
"I'd like to get my bow checked."
"Of course," he grinned, "though I'm not certain I can match your craftspeople."
I summoned my bow out of storage and presented it to him. The goblin didn't flinch at the casual use of a storage item but his eyes widened at the sight of the bow.
"By Gaia," he whispered. "This is an ancient creation."
He took the bow and examined it in detail. He checked the flex on the limbs and the string as well as the balance. The bow was several sizes too big for him to use properly but it didn't seem to matter too much.
"It's in good condition, excellent even. You will need to replace the strings and lubricate the mechanism in the future, probably next season."
"Thank you," I took the weapon back and bowed to him.
"It was a pleasure to hold such a creation."
Vel skipped having her own bow checked and we moved on to the armorer. The goblin appraised us as we approached his small open air workshop. The exchange went quickly there as well. Our armors had a few scratches here and there but nothing that would compromise their integrity.
Ready to continue our journey, we bid our farewells to the crafters and the rest of the Sandcrook tribe.
A team of scouts escorted us to the edge of their perimeter where we parted ways. From there, Vel and I continued in the direction of the ruins.
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The first part of the trip until lunch was quiet.
We met several more Baron Vipers and Duke Cobras, they were swiftly dispatched and we continued on our way.
Near a pond, we found a pair of Storm Tortoises lounging about. They were usually calm unless provoked but it seemed we had personally offended those ones as they attacked without hesitation. Their ability to use both lightning and water magic made them powerful opponents, especially since they were at level ninety.
I kept their attention on me with my own use of lightning and earth while Vel struck with her bow and plants. She ensnared both of them and managed to paralyze them for long enough for me to strike. I fired my own bow and enhanced the arrows with a weaker version of the trick I had used in the village.
> Your group has defeated [Storm Tortoise (Level 96, Rank 4)]
> Your group has defeated [Storm Tortoise (Level 97, Rank 4)]
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Experience gain increased by 20% for fighting against a group
> Essence Absorption collected 16 ES
Their cousin the Moss Snappers, which we encountered next, were much easier. The plant magic wielding monsters fought with Vel for control of the surrounding vegetation while I peppered them with lances of solar fire.
> Your group has defeated [Moss Snapper (Level 91, Rank 4)]
> Your group has defeated [Moss Snapper (Level 93, Rank 4)]
> Your group has defeated [Moss Snapper (Level 92, Rank 4)]
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Experience gain increased by 20% for fighting against a group
>
> Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
>
> Essence Absorption collected 24 ES
It was after we took our small break for lunch that trouble visited us.
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A blur entered my sphere and I barely had time to raise a barrier to protect myself. Pain flared on my legs and I barely held steady.
At my feet was a dark colored feline with gray spots. It was about as high as my knees and one of its claws was piercing my trousers right above the knee.
> [Alpha Barbcat (Level 132, Rank 5)]
It has a long segmented tail whose end had partially pierced through my barrier. The flared end contained a poisonous spike which had almost stabbed my stomach.
I kicked it away from me and delivered a scorching Arcane Strike at the same time. It gave a cry of protest and started to circle Vel and I, more wary of its prey now. Its tail waved around like an angry snake, likely as a way to distract us.
I started to cast Rejuvenation but the barbcat charged at me. I rolled to the side and barely managed to avoid the follow up tail strike. Vines sprouted from the ground and grabbed one of its legs. The distraction gave me enough time to finish my healing spell.
The barbcat turned around to face Vel and readied for another lunge. I hastily cast Earthen Orchestra to prevent it from doing so. The earth burst forward and tried to envelop it but the cat dodged out of the way.
We were facing a truly dangerous enemy.
Vel pressed the attack again, harder this time. Her magic flared stronger and the entire ground started to turn into a deadly trap. A shield of wood appeared in front of her and stopped the poisoned spike from reaching her. I fired an empowered bolt of lighting and managed to stun the monster for a precious few seconds.
The cat managed to dodge the first few stakes that burst from under its feet but was caught in the end. The poisoned tips forced it to disengage and it started to circle us again. I was hesitant to use Dark Moon to create a mist or use shadow magic, the loss of visibility could be deadly to Vel if the cat had means to see through the spells.
Instead I tried to imprison it. I cast both Earthen Orchestra and Dark Moon, the terrain under the cat sank and tried to swallow the deadly feline. The cat dodged the tendrils of water coming from the top reached it in time and started to envelop it. I followed it up with a lightning orb. The barbcat seized and the bubble of water enveloped its body fully.
As long as I could hold the spell, it was a stationary target.
I felt pain in my abdomen. A small spike had embedded itself through my armor.
> Poisoned by [Barbcat Venom (-50 HP/s, 120s)]
My concentration broke and the water prison splashed down.
"Lis!"
I raised my bulwark spell around me just in time. The barbcat was on me the instant it freed itself. I watched my health and mana slowly tick down. Some quick math told me I would die in less than one minute if I didn't cast a healing spell.
One saving grace was that the spike on the cat's tail hadn't regrown. It had been a last resort attack. The cat was attacking my shield relentlessly while I used Rejuvenation to offset the damage I had taken from the spike and Cleanse to remove the venom. The latter only worked partially, the venom was weakened but not gone. I would need more time to fully purge it, time I didn't have.
"Get me a distraction!" I shouted.
I unsheathed a dagger and prepared myself. Vel started to grow branches and vines full of thorns around my attacker. They started to form a cage and close in on the monster from all sides. It stopped its attack for an instant and I jumped backwards, leaving a trio of Arcane Mines behind me.
The cat triggered them as it tried to pursue and the paralysis from the lightning effect gave Vel enough time to trap it completely. It started to hack at the vines with its claws but the vegetation grew faster than it could destroy it, at least until Vel ran out of mana.
I used Rejuvenation again to offset the damage the poison was continuously doing to my body. I pulled a phial of anti-venom from my pouch and drank it, the damage slowed down even further but didn't stop completely. From my quick math, I was out of the danger zone for the moment.
I cast Dark Moon a second time and created the water prison again and this time, there was no escape. Vel grew spikes inwards inside the cage, turning it into an organic iron maiden, while I started to freeze the water. Drowning and beset from all sides, the barbcat panicked and only accelerated its demise.
After a few more seconds, it fell unconscious and died.
> Your group has defeated [Alpha Barbcat (Level 132, Rank 5)]
> Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
> Experience gain increased by 100% for fighting an alpha
> Experience gain increased by 100% for dangerous encounter
> Experience gain increased by 50% for defeating a monster above your rank
> Essence Absorption collected 10 ES
>
> Skill Poison Resistance reached rank 3, level 7 (+2 levels)
>
> Reached Level 85 (Rank 4, +2 levels)
> Gained: 20 ES
"Are you alright?" Vel asked with worry.
"I'm good, anti-venom did its job," I reassured her, "I'm healing myself back up."
"Let's find somewhere to camp," Vel said, "it's too dangerous in the open."
I agreed. I cast Rejuvenation again and drank a health potion on top for good measure.
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I leaned against Vel who was reheating the broth from super. Night was still a few hours away but with the day's excitement, we both decided to take a break there. I had healed myself back to full on the way but my mana and stamina were running low.
"That was some impressive manipulation you did," I said, "you've gotten a lot better."
"The items you gave me are … powerful," she said, "it feels like I could just move the whole forest if I wanted to. Everything is just so … easy."
"Well, I'm glad you have them then," I kissed her cheek.
We spent some time relaxing after the meal. I pulled out the enchanting books and started to read them. I could see them with my perception skills and, in a general sense, they worked a bit like spells but I wanted to better understand them. If we found traps or another sealed door in the ruins, I wanted to avoid stumbling in the dark and relying on my intuition.