Chapter 100: Operation Waterways
Felix Sythias’ POV (continued):
I took flight and began flying us towards the lake at the back of the cavern. From this high up in the air, and with the decent lighting from the ceiling moss, I could now see all the way there unobstructed. In our small amount of time here, we hadn’t gone this high before yet, so for the first time since we got here, I could see the whole lake at once.
It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. One might almost describe it as massive. It had an odd shape, though. If you squinted, it almost had the shape of a five-pointed star. That was either a funny coincidence, or it might actually have been a five-pointed star years ago and time had worn away at it since. The tunnel’s existence made me think the second possibility wasn’t impossible—not that we’d ever know.
I flew slowly to save energy, so getting there took a while. But at the halfway point, Alex spoke up for the first time since we took off.
“I can see the monsters now,” he yelled. “I think my improved Attributes improved my eyesight as well. It’s really weird to be able to see so far. It’s only indistinct blotches, but they’re definitely moving around. And are those… ducks?”
Alex was right. The monsters were milling about around and in the water. From large dogs and spiders, to large ducks, to fishlike monsters swimming around in the lake. Huh, I could make them out better than usual, too. The air must be clearer down here than up on the surface for me to make them out so well. Odd. It might be because of the—
I shook my head to get rid of the distracting thoughts and focused back on the monsters milling about by the lake-site and realized to my surprise that several had taken off and were heading towards us. They must have spotted us coming. And Alex must have spotted them, too.
“We have incoming!” he yelled, trying to be heard over the rush of the air.
I couldn’t turn my head to respond right now, so I just grunted an acknowledgement and yelled a response back, hoping he would hear me despite me facing the wrong way. “I saw!” I yelled back. “Sit tight, I’ll deal with them!”
I felt Alex hunkering down in my saddle, pressing himself flush against my back and shifting around, making the drag he caused significantly less. Good, that would help with the fight.
I angled myself upward to gain altitude and began beating my wings harder. We climbed at a steep angle, getting closer and closer to the moss covered ceiling. I didn’t stop climbing until I spotted what I was pretty sure was a large flytrap of some kind hidden among the moss, ready to snatch up anything that flew by. I didn’t want to get too close after spotting something like that.
The monsters followed my example, climbing to gain altitude. Whoever had the height advantage had the advantage during an aerial battle. If I were higher, I could swoop down, lob things at them with greater ease, and use gravity against them. It would be easier to dodge attacks that way, too.
Clearly the monsters, however stupid, were aware of that, too. Unlike me, though, they did not notice the flytraps in the ceiling. By the time they got within range, half the monsters were already dead, snatched out of the air by nasty plants. Neat.
I crashed into the closest of the surviving monsters, talons outstretched. I didn’t waste any time grabbing and clawing at its wings. It tried to claw right back at me, but my scales were way harder than its weak skin and feathers. Like all flying monsters down here, it wasn’t too strong. Finally, I sliced a wing open and caught the other in my talon. With a ruthless squeeze, the bones in the wing shattered and the bird let out a terrified screech before going limp in my grasp, paralyzed from the pain. With a heavy spin, I swung around and threw the bird at the next closest monster.
I missed completely, but the other bird still swerved and crashed into a large bat. While they were distracted and angry at each other, I swooped in and crushed a bird and sliced open a batwing. They both dropped like stones and I continued onto the next monster. In total, there were about fifteen monsters left, and I took them down one after another. The damned beasts had no coordination at all, allowing me to pick them off with ease.
When the last bat dropped down fifteen minutes later, I was pretty damn exhausted, though. My wings ached, and I was having trouble getting my breathing to slow down again. So I quickly landed at a nearby outcropping of stone on the side of the cave to catch my breath. Alex immediately jumped off my back to check out my injuries.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?” Alex asked.
I waved him off. “I’m fine. Well, I think I have a few scratches here and there, but I’m fine. Just catching my breath.”
Alex sighed with relief, then waited with me until I recovered. A little while later, he climbed back on and we continued towards the lake. Soon, we were flying directly overhead. No more flying monsters came to attack us, so we’d probably gotten them all.
The lake was absolutely crawling with monsters. Large dogs and other monstrosities patrolled the edge of the lake, and the center of the lake was squirming with monstrous fish, large ducks, and other horrors. And they were all staring up at us, which was immensely unsettling.
I scanned the lake for good places to land, but most were either way too close to the shore and thus extremely dangerous. And others were way too deep into the lake, where I’d be vulnerable to attacks from below as well as from the ducks. On top of that, I wouldn’t be able to take off from there again. Taking off with wet wings was hard at the best of times, let alone when I’m carrying a ton of water, without a ground to push off from.
Finally, I found a good landing spot, though.
“I’ll land there!” I said to Alex, pointing at a sandbank somewhat deeper into the lake. “Both groups of monsters won’t be able to get there! Except maybe the ducks. Can you handle the ducks?”
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I glanced over my shoulder and Alex looked a little unsure, but nodded. “The highest is only level sixty,” he said. “I don’t think I can kill any of them, but with my improved Attributes, I should be able to hold them off, at least!”
“Alright, I’m going in, then. Prepare to fight the moment we land!”
Alex just grunted his acknowledgment, and I swooped down. We’d be going in for a hot landing. A slow glide would give them too much leeway. We sped towards the water, but a few moments before we crashed, I unfurled my wings. They jerked painfully as they slowed us down, and we still smashed into the water quite hard, but we got down safely.
Water splashed around us as we hit the surface. I stood up in the shallow water, the surface maybe just about reaching to my knees. Without thinking about it, I leaned down and took a quick few gulps, savoring the low viscosity, coolness, and tastelessness of the water. I snapped back to attention when Alex prodded me in the side, though. Glancing around, I found that the water here was too muddled. Our landing had thrown up the sand and silt. I took a quick few steps to the side until the water became clear again. Then I lowered myself down, so the bags were just above the water and turned to open up the first saddle bag. It’s then that I noticed the ducks speeding towards us from behind.
“Alex, behind us! It’s your turn now. Deal with them while I fill up these bags!”
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Alex Sandclaw’s POV:
I watched the approaching duck monsters with trepidation. Like most of the monsters down here in the caves, the ducks were grotesque things, with oversized and malformed bills filled with sharp edges and teeth, and patchy blood-red feathers. They were huge, too, each the size of a large dog. It wasn’t all that big for a monster, all things considered, but their levels more than made up for it. The closest one was level 45, and I knew some had even higher levels than that.
The ducks were speeding towards us at terrifying speeds, water splashing up behind them as they swam through the lake. I readjusted the grip on my spear and sat up straighter. Seconds later, the first was here. It charged at Felix, without a doubt intending to knock us over. I didn’t let it. With a swipe of my spear, I made it stumble at the last moment, causing it to fall over and tumble around in the shallow water. It still crashed into us, but with much less force than before. Still, Felix was knocked back a bit and had to catch himself at the last moment with his wing, getting it even wetter in the process.
I cursed, realizing that this wouldn’t work. They would just keep pummeling us until we fell down into the water where they would tear us to pieces. With no other choice left, I leaped off Felix, straight at the next duck.
The duck, surprised by my sudden action, tried to dodge. But I’d caught it completely off guard and it couldn’t avoid getting struck by my spear. I didn’t get a kill notification, but from the way the monster was bleeding, it was clear it was out for the rest of the fight.
I turned to the next monster, but to my dismay, I found two arriving at once. But I didn’t let it deter me. I thrust my spear forwards, but the ducks dodged. I slashed sideways and managed to catch the left one in the neck. It quacked in pain and reared back, leaving me to deal with just the one. Except that more had already arrived. I took a step backwards to create some distance and struck out again.
This continued like this for a while, and I managed to keep the monster at a distance, if only barely. I’d strike out at any coming too close, causing them to jerk back or dodge away from me. But as more and more arrived, I had to take more and more steps back, getting ever closer to Felix. I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer, but I didn’t have much choice in the matter.
Things turned bad though, when I stabbed a level 60 duck. My spear pierced deep into its flesh, but before I could pull it back out, the monster violently spun to the side. I refused to let go of the spear, and if it had been of higher quality, the beast might have been seriously injured. As it was, however, the strain was too much for the wood to handle and the spear split in half. I looked dumbfounded at the broken spear shaft in my hand for a moment before a loud quack brought my attention back to the battlefield.
I launched the broken shaft at the level 60 duck, buying me the moment I needed to draw my sword. This was one of the worst places ever to have a swordfight. The water slowed me down, so I couldn’t dodge like I was used to, and it limited my footwork. But again, I had no choice.
“Felix!” I yelled. “How much longer?”
I couldn’t risk looking over my shoulder, but a second later, he answered. “I’m almost done! Just a moment longer!”
I cursed again, feeling like an old sailor, and continued observing the ducks. Their beady eyes watched me as they tried flanking around me to get at Felix. One tried to rush by, but I knocked it back. Another used my distraction to push past. I twirled around and buried my blade deep into its back. The monster quacked angrily and flapped its wings in an attempt to get away. Unlike last time, though, I didn’t let it destroy my weapon. I tore my sword out, a spray of blood and feathers following its arc.
> [You have slain Dire Duck(lv. 47)]
It was the first of the beasts I’d killed, but there wouldn’t be a second. The ducks did not like me killing one of them. They all quacked their fury and rushed at me at once.
“Felix!” I yelled.
I slashed my sword at the nearest duck and immediately followed up with another and another. My blade didn’t stop moving a single second, each movement driving a duck back. But for each duck I drove off, another two were there to take its place. There was no end to them, and I soon found my back pressed against Felix. I was barely able to keep them from attacking him, and I cut off more than a few stray feet and wings.
“Done!” Felix yelled, and I felt relief crash through me. “Let’s get those ducks away, and then we’ll get out of here.”
Felix flared his wings, knocking a few ducks back, then he swiped at the closest one, sending it crashing into the water.
“Get on!” he yelled, and I obeyed. I jumped onto Felix’s back and quickly sat down in the saddle, not bothering to strap in.
I tapped my foot on Felix’s side. “I’m ready!”
Felix struck another few ducks, then spun around, knocking the whole group back with his tail. He flapped his wings and leaped into the sky. His wingbeats were heavy and strained as he slowly climbed in altitude. I glanced at the wings and saw steam coming off them. I figured Felix was probably using his magic to dry his wings as we flew.
As we gained height and speed, Felix’s flying became more steady and he eventually fell into a rhythm of climbing a bit, then gliding for a while. I could tell from his laborious breathing and the heavy sounds of his wingbeats that this was no easy task for him. Still, we made it back to camp in one piece, though the landing was more of a soft crash than a real landing.
“I’m going to be feeling my wings for days…” Felix complained.
I gave him a hug. “It’ll be fine. At least we have water now. Speaking off, let's take a look, shall we?”
Felix nodded and turned his neck as I walked over to his side. The saddle bags looked heavier than ever, sagging under the weight. The straps and the leather held up really well, though. There wasn’t even a single sign of tearing or wear.
I opened up the flap and looked inside.
The bag was almost half filled with water. Our days of being vampires were finally behind us.