17. THE HEROES RETURN
Nanoc lay on his back, gasping for breath. His head was still spinning from the speed in which he had been slammed on, eaten, and then thrown up by the boss toad, GLUP!. In all the history of the universe, no gnome had ever survived such a vicious attack. Nanoc sort of wished he hadn’t, either.
“Do you know, you’re naked again,” Dren. “I suppose the beast’s stomach acid melted your pants… and your skin, too. Is that painful? It looks painful.”
“Who cares about pants? Everything hurts and I’m dying!” Nanoc groaned. “Why didn’t I already die? I bet its that damned banana again, keeping me just alive enough to suffer? Stupid fruit!”
“Do you know, I believe that you can’t take any damage while using the berserk ability,” Dren explained, kneeling beside the gnome. “That’s how you survived the toad’s innards... but are you concussed, gnome? There are no bananas here.”
Nanoc vaguely remembered reading about the berserk’s avantages when he was awarded the ability, but his fury had taken over and he had stopped caring. He’d survived the toad, but he could feel the vestige of his health slipping away.
“I’m dying, elf,” he said softly. “Tell my nan… tell my nan…”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be quite fine in a few moments,” Dren said.
“Don’t… lie,” Nanoc whispered.
“Do you know, devotees of the god of Knowledge can’t lie,” Dren said, although this was actually a lie. “Here, this will help.”
The field scholar poured a crystal vial of healing potion over Nanoc’s wounds, which began to smoke and heal with startling speed. Nanoc had heard that most healing potions would only return a small portion of life, but this one had been brewed by a master alchemist and was extremely powerful.
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Healing potion!
You are fully healed! Poison, Acid, and Shock affects removed! You still smell, though!
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“Do you know, the best healing potions are made from unicorn horns and the young leaves of mad-root plant,” Dren explained. “I was given one when I left the university, to use in emergencies.”
Nanoc stood up. He felt better than he ever had before. He stretched, feeling free and relaxed. His bones were back where they belonged, his muscles had reformed, and even his skin was as good as new. He jumped a few times, throwing his hands in the air. It was a glorious feeling.
“Do you know, you are naked again,” Dren reminded him.
Nanoc stopped jumping. The scholar made him an new pair of pants from a dead toad and passed them over without further comment.
“Thanks,” Nanoc said, standing up. “For the pants, but mostly for the potion. You saved my life.”
“As you saved mine,” Dren said. “There aren’t many people that would jump into a toad’s mouth for my sake. The university only gave me one healing potion due to the expense, though, so I would suggest not doing that again. I—”
The lizardling hero appeared from behind the tree. Once she saw that Nanoc and Dren were alone, she stepped out and the rest of her party joined her. Well, most of them, anyway. Two of the blockers were missing. The others had been roughed up, too. The elven striker had dropped his spear and held one arm against her body, and even Nial Liv had mud on his face. Rellik was dragging the body of a horned bane toad behind her. She dumped it on the ground and sat down beside it, exhausted. The rest of the heroes rounded up Nonac and Dren, forcing them back toward Nial Liv.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Why aren’t you dead, gnome?” the hero demanded.
“The elf had a healing potion,” Nanoc said.
“Ah? How lucky for you. Does he have another?”
Dren shook his head. Nial Liv accepted this answer with a philospohical shrug.
“Talf is dead and I can’t find Pord,” the lizardling scout called out from nearby. “Has anyone seen him?”
Nial Liv simply waved the lizardling away. Blockers were cheap to hire, mostly just beefy, naive peasants that the Guild recruited by the dozen. Few survived long enough to win the bronze badge of a senior apprentice. Still, they had their uses, and now two were missing. The elemental archer glared at Nanoc and Dren.
“Thank you,” Dren said to Nial Liv.
“For what?”
“Do you know, that boss would have killed us if you hadn’t attacked,” the scholar explained. “So I guess you saved our lives.”
“Do we get a reward for it?” the hero snapped.
“No, sorry, I—"
“Then it wasn’t intentional. Or permanent. Get out of our way, idiot.”
Nanoc sighed. He wasn’t just a clerk anymore, but the Guild still treated him like trash. To be fair, though, it seemed that Nial Liv treated everyone like badly, even his own party. Nial Liv gestured for his scout to come towards him, and the lizardling did so.
“Rotcel ‘Loc, I’ve heard horns of a bane toad head are worth something. Be a good lizardling and cut them off for me, would you?”
He pointed his bow at Rotcel ‘Loc and the lizardling hurried over to the dead toad beside Rellik. She drew a long knife but hesitated to get too close to the fallen toad.
“I’m a treasure seeker, not a toad hunter,” she said. “This is not what my contract—”
“Just do it!” Nial Liv snapped. “And you, elf, drag the other toads here. We aren’t going to come out of this without something to show for it.”
Rotcel ‘Loc swore under her breath. “This is degrading, by the eggs of my ancestors,” she muttered. “I only pray my aunts and sisters never learn of it.”
The scount wasn’t being rude by ignoring the men in her family; her species reproduced asexually and all lizardlings were born female. When asked by other raced if they thought this was all rather strange, lizardlings would give a little sigh and say: “compared to what, exactly, hmmm?” and really, they had a point. The lizardlings a carnivorous species, mostly scouts and hunters, dangerous and quick, who looked down on eating anything grown in the dirt.
Rotcel ‘Loc swore prodded the dead toad with her knife, unsure of where to even begin.
“I’ll cut the horns off if you let me keep the knife afterward,” Nanoc said to Rotcel ‘Loc, surprising her.
Rotcel ‘Loc handed him the knife without argument. Nanoc took it, nearly fumbling the handle. He’d never used any blade longer than a bread knife before. He was probably going to cut his own finger off. Unless… he’d earned a new skill point when he leveled up, perhaps that would help? It did.
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New skill: Good with knives
Whether you are cutting vegetables or fighting to the death, this skill will ensure you get the job done right. Upgrade now and receive a free set of steak knives!
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Nanoc gripped the knife tightly. It suddenly felt like it fit in his hand. Nanoc stepped forward and cut the toad’s horns off, careful to keep his new pants clean. He passed the horns to Rotcel ‘Loc. She pocketed them without enthusiasm.
“My thanks, kind stranger. My name is Rotcel ‘Loc, and I am a treasure hunter. I seek out enchanted diamonds and rare artifacts, forgotten statues, cursed necklaces, and the like. This…” she waved dismissively at the fallen toads. “This is basically agriculture. What if I earned a level in farmer, by the merciful gods? My family would never live it down.”
“Don’t lizardling farm at all, then?” Nanoc asked.
The lizardling scoffed, shaking her head in amusement and disgust.
“I—”
She glanced to one side and drew a throwing knife in her hand, holding it ready.
“Who goes there?” she demanded, staring at a bush.
“Hello!” Dren called out. “Heroes? I think I found your missing blocker.”
It was the dwarf, Pord. GLUP! had slammed the blocker so hard into the forest floor that he was embedded into the mud, face up but completely stuck.
“I can’t get out,” he said grumpily. “Does anyone have a shovel?”
The other heroes gathered around, but only to laugh. None of them made any effor to help the dwarf out of the mud. Nanoc shook his head as the lack of loyalty or care the heroes showed each other. He walked forward and grabbed Pord by his armor.
“I’ll help you get out,” he said.
“What are you going to do, gnome? Write the mud a stern letter?” Rellik mocked. “Everyone knows gnomes are pathetic.”
“Not this gnome,” Nanoc said. “Watch this!”