Sam picked up one of the empty monster skins, and climbed into it. It was hot and very sticky. But Eduardo had done a good job of cleaning it. The final phase of their plan was now in effect. Using these monster skins, as well as their auras, to blend in, they would traverse the dangerous ground below them in safety.
Sam waited until everyone was in their suits, and then he leaped down onto the ground. Mimicking the rolling gait of the monsters that the skins belonged to, Sam walked slowly across the ground. This was for two reasons. Firstly, it would make it seem like he was confident of defeating any threat that came towards him, which would hopefully deter the weaker monsters, and secondly it allowed the weaker members of the party to keep up. Sam had to prevent him from snorting at the mental image in his head of his appearance as he moved. He could not see it now, but he assumed that he looked like a mess, with baggy rolls of skin hanging off his sides. It would be realistic enough, but it would look like he was half starved. That also raised a good question. What exactly did the monsters here subsist on? Presumably they ate each other, but Sam had never seen that happen yet. In fact, in the first valley, they had worked in concert to hunt the party down. In any case, some System trickery was going on here. These were all monsters that Sam had never seen before, so they had either been transported here specifically for the protection of the hammer, or they had migrated here to be closer to it. Maybe the monster population or Earth was segregated based on the region that they were in. This snowy area seemed well suited to the kinds of monsters that dwelt here.
As they crossed the rocky ground, a few of the monsters in the caves came out to investigate the interlopers. A single burst of Sam’s aura sent them packing, and after that there were no more disturbances. They reached the other side of the cave riddled ground a bit later, and by then some of the smarter monsters had realized that something was up. None of the monsters thus far had possessed any desire to leave their territory, and upon seeing that Sam and his group were attempting to do so, the monster finally left their caves in pursuit.
“Damn it!’ Sam cursed under his breath as he saw the monster behind him start to run. “Hurry up!” he shouted at the others, as he began to hurriedly scale the rock wall that separated the valley from the next part of the mountain range. Small bolts of lightning and globs of acid pattered against the wall next to him as he climbed. Some of the monsters possessed ranged attacks, and they were using them now.
Sam tore off the monster skin as he climbed, and threw it backwards at the monsters behind him. Some of the more animalistic ones started to target the monster hide, but the more intelligent ones kept aiming at Sam. As they saw that he was a target that they could not crack, they began to fire on the others. Lao was the lowest down, and he was forced to create a Dao shield over himself that looked somewhat like a turtle’s shell to protect himself. It reflected the attacks back at the monsters below, who quickly learned to not target him. However, none of the others had any protections, save for Pyotr’s earth armor, which he was unable to use in this situation. They just had to take the hits as they came, while trying to dodge them to the best of their abilities.
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By the time that they had reached the top, everyone’s armor was blackened, except for Lao’s. They had all taken significant damage from the lightning as well, and it took a few minutes for the involuntary muscle seizures to stop. There were still a few more mountain ranges left, and at this rate they would be hard pressed to make it to the center. Sam clenched his fist unconsciously as he looked up at the beam of light piercing the sky. He would claim that hammer, and no monster was going to stop him.
Over the Atlantic
Rodney Kane grinned as he caught sight of land for the first time in over a day. It had been a long and lonely trip over the ocean, but it had all been worth it for the sight that he now beheld.
A titanic castle, one that seemed to have been built for giants, loomed over Cornwall. In the center of the castle, a beam of light broke through the clouds and into the sky above. This was where Excalibur lay, and Rodney was going to be the first to claim it.
As it passed over the first bit of land, his plane started to sputter and fail, causing it to tip downwards. He desperately tried to get it back under control, but it was too late. It plowed into an empty field, and it was only thanks to the enhanced armor that Rodney had so wisely commissioned for it that it did not crumple like a tin can.
Cursing as a trickle of blood ran down his scalp, Rodney got out of the plane and into the shadow of the castle. It was easily five miles tall and spanned tens of miles in width. Even more interestingly, it seemed to be under siege. There were faintly visible encampments circling the castle, and the outlines of trebuchets and other kinds of medieval siege weapons could be seen. Rodney gritted his teeth. Had someone already gotten to this before him?
A rustling in the crop rows startled him, and he wheeled around towards the noise. An androgynous suit of armor stepped out from between two rows of corn, and spoke.
“What is this? A vile construct of witchcraft? Art thou a wizard, foul creature?” It said, pointing at the airplane. Its voice was clearly male, but the lack of resonance in it told Rodney that there was nothing within that armor, save for a disembodied presence. In addition, the manner that it spoke seemed like it had been programmed to act like this.
Rodney sighed in relief. He was beginning to understand what was going on here. This was a preconstructed scenario, in which he was supposed to take the side of the invaders in order to gain access to the castle, which contained the weapon that he was searching for. The only thing that he had to do now was prove that he was not some sort of wizard, as the knight had accused him of being.
“I am no wizard. This construct that you see next to me is simply the remains of a monster that I killed. What kind of knight are you if you cannot identify such a beast from its corpse?” Rodney said, imbuing his words with the small spark of energy that he was cultivating towards creating a Dao. He was not there yet, as he had focused mainly on System enhancements, but he was close. The knight took a step back as if it had been struck by his words, and it went silent for a moment.
“Very well then, good sir. If thou will come with me, then thou shalt be able to speak with mine commander.” The medieval accent was getting even thicker the more that Rodney spoke with the knight, and mainly to avoid the deluge of cringeworthy speech that was raining out of its mouth, he followed it. Rodney Kane had no time for idiots, or those who dared to waste his time.