As they ran through the forest, Gus kept checking behind them and urging them to go faster. Apparently, the monsters hadn’t caught sight of their prey yet, but there were a lot of them headed this way.
Max pulled out a hammer and a drill. It was almost all his remaining weapons. He had given Lily and James hammers earlier, but the three of them had dropped their weapons as they ran through the forest. The only charged weapon he had left in his pouch was the huge hammer Gus used in his troll form. Yang still had her charged saw, but that was it.
He pulled up his system screen and double checked his mana. Full. That meant he could do one thing while they ran. He could make a new saw, or supercharge his hammer or drill. Augment to be specific.
When he applied the Augment card to his saw, it duplicated the cutting spell on activation. He didn’t want a hammer that did that. He might want a drill that shot out piercing ray.
He shook his head. He couldn’t experiment while he was literally running for his life. He tucked the drill away. He scooped up a branch and activated his Circular Saw card. When the motes of light cleared, he held a saw. A charged saw, since it always started with a spell loaded up.
They ran on, trying to keep up the pace without wearing themselves out. Max was impressed that Gus wasn’t slowing down. The bearded man had a gut, but must have corded muscle underneath. He was able to keep running while continually checking behind themselves.
“They are going to catch up with us,” Gus said. “We got maybe five minutes.”
James swore and tried to run faster. He was already flagging. They had run for their lives not long ago and he hadn't recovered fully. They weren’t going to get far, even without Gus’ time limit.
Max glanced around. The blue forest was to his left. It might be time to revisit entering the forest again. If they grouped up, he might be able to keep them out of range of the electric attacks. Might. It had been tough to survive when everyone was fresh, it would be almost impossible now that they were all tired.
A better option would be to turn and run into the thickest part of the pine forest. The problem was that they each smelled of monster guts so they definitely couldn’t hide. Finding a defensible spot in the forest didn’t seem likely either. There was no way to funnel the monsters or prevent them from swarming every side.
In the distance, a pointed tip rose above the Douglas fir. The dungeon tower he had seen before. They needed to turn to the left or right now if he wanted to avoid the mandatory quest to clear it. Ebba had said mandatory quests were rare, but the news reports were full of them.
Max needed to make a decision now. Left or right. A quick or slow death. He looked ahead, mentally shouting at himself to make a decision. He didn’t want to choose either.
A surge of determination hit him and he slowed down.
“We can’t keep running. Everyone, stop here. We are gonna hide in the trees nearby. Gus, stay where you are. When the monsters get close, use your Warped Mirror card on the trailing monster. Then take your troll form potion,” Max said. While he talked he pulled out the long hammer.
“Yang. Once they engage, use your saw right away. The magic disc should be able to kill one monster on its own, and the cutting disc can cut through anything for about five minutes after that.”
She nodded and faded from sight.
“Lily, James, both of you climb a tree. Get as high as you can and stay hidden.”
“I’m not going to hide and let you fight for us,” James said around gasps for breaths.
“You aren’t. I just want you out of melee range so I don’t have to worry about protecting you. Use your decay on everything at least once. After that, go ham with your Glass Shards. Lily, you know what to do.”
Lily grabbed James and said, “Come on. Climbing takes time.”
Gus tsked. He accepted the hammer and laid it on the dirt next to him. “I’m not sure if I like the idea of paying bait. I know I’ll heal, but it still hurts, you know?”
“I know. I’m sorry, I really am,” Max said and stepped towards the closest pine tree. “This is the only way we can control their approach. I’ll jump out after I use both drill arrows. I won’t leave you there to be a punching bag.”
Max dropped Yang’s pack and knelt behind the tree. He pulled out the crossbow and lay it next to himself. He had the two drill-bolts for it and then it would be useless. Then he had one each of a hammer, drill, and saw. He had been making more tools every chance he got, but they kept getting broken or lost.
He checked his mana. Even after making the saw, he still had enough for a hammer. He reached up and broke off a branch and transmuted it into a tungsten war hammer. It was a bit heavy, even sized for himself, but he didn’t think this fight would last long enough for that to matter. Either the monsters or the humans would all be dead soon.
The first monster caught sight of Gus and let out a howl.
Max focused and inspected them in turn. He was getting faster at this.
Boar Wolf Level 24
Scaled Spider Level 16
Scaled Spider Level 19
Scaled Spider Level 18
Feathered Tiger Level 26
Five monsters bore down on a single human.
Gus nervously gripped the large hammer as they galloped closer. With a dramatic flourish, he made a blue monster appear behind the slowest one. The fake feathered tiger dug its talons into the hindquarters of the real one and opened up deep gashes.
The monster turned and slashed at the doppelganger. A single swipe was all that was needed to turn the summoned monster into a puff of mana. The feathered tiger turned and rejoined the chase, but at a greatly reduced speed.
Gus quaffed the troll form potion and underwent a rapid change. His skin turned gray, his muscles bulged out, and his veins pulsed angrily.
The lead monster opened his mouth and a crackling purple energy formed inside.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Max took the shot he had been lining up. He timed it perfectly to hit the lead boar-wolf in the face. It hit the bone just above the eye socket. A normal arrow would have deflected away, but this one had its magic pierce active. The drill-bolt sunk deep into the monster’s head as a yellow light flashed out the back of its skull.
It tumbled to the ground, its body slowly catching up to the fact that it was dead.
The trio of scaled spiders hopped over the corpse without missing a beat. They skittered towards Gus as he readied his hammer.
Distortions in the air flew out, James applying Decay to each green scaled spider.
Yang appeared out of nowhere and targeted the trailing spider. She fired the magic disc and a silvery circle flew out, slicing off all of the monster’s legs on the right side. Green blood spurted out, painting the ground as it slid to a stop.
At the same time, Lily’s drop bear fell from the top of the tree, accelerating as it fell faster and faster. It slammed into its target with full force, killing the same spider Yang had mortally wounded.
Max tsked at their lack of coordination, but refocused on the fight. He had finally reloaded his second shot and aimed it at the remaining two scaled spiders. They were both in front of Gus, dancing just out of range of wild swings from his hammer.
One was braver than the other and attacked. It leapt over him, twice as high as Gus was tall. Troll form Gus ignored the high flying spider and pounced on the timid one. This time the monster didn’t get out of the way in time. Gus’ tungsten hammer activated its super strike and pulverized the monster. Green blood painted the ground.
The other monster landed where Gus had been and Max took his shot.
Once again, Max’s projectile was magically enhanced and sunk deep into the monster’s body. This time it didn’t hit anything vital. One of the eight legs was out of commission, but it was able to move just fine without it. The scaled spider skittered forward and knocked Gus onto his face. The hammer went flying.
Max dropped his crossbow and scooped up the drill and his steel hammer. Shards of glass shattered on the scaled spider’s face, distracting it for an instant.
It was just long enough for Gus to wriggle out of the way. The scaled spider’s fangs only found dirt. There were two sizzling holes where the impact had missed him.
Gus was on his back now, but still held down by a pair of green scaly legs. He punched one, but the leg didn’t move. Max arrived then, activating his hammer’s super strike in a horizontal swipe. The blue spell knocked three legs clean off the spider.
With only four rear legs left, the spider pitched forward, spurts of green blood going everywhere. Its fangs hit Gus’s upraised arm and sank deep. He yelled in pain and terror, pushing the monster off him. Max helped by slamming his hammer’s spike into one of its many eyes and pulling.
Together, they got the monster off Gus. He scrambled away as Max finished the job. It took three more two-handed hammer blows to put the final scaled spider down.
Max allowed the hammer to drop when the monster finally stopped twitching.
“Guys! There’s one more!” Lily yelled from above.
They had forgotten about the feathered tiger. Yang was dancing around the striped monster, just barely avoiding its swipes. James was using his glass shards to keep it off balance and Lily was having her mushroomantis jump in and out of range.
Somewhere along the line, Yang had lost her saw and was holding her right arm against her chest. Her sword was in her left hand which was the only thing keeping her alive.
Slash after slash sparked off of the short sword. Yang gave ground, not even trying to counterattack.
Max sprinted forward, activating Levitate to run faster. He looked down at his last weapon. A charged handheld drill. He didn’t know he was going to use it when the monster’s arm was as long as his body. One talon was longer than the drill.
He came up on the feathered tiger from behind and noisily slid to a stop. The monster spun and swiped at him. Max leaned out of the way, but not fast enough. His drill was knocked out of his hand. The talon would have sliced right through his hand if it wasn’t for his gauntlets.
Max growled in frustration and pain. He backpedaled as the monster swiped at him again and again. Then he remembered a magic skill he rarely used. He reached out towards the drill on the ground and activated the gloves.
A blue hand shot out and grabbed the drill. It shot back into his hand just in time for Max to use it. He activated its pierce and stabbed at the approaching feathered paw. The bright yellow light shot out and sliced through the paw and cut off a talon.
The feathered tiger shrieked in pain and anger as it looked at its paw. Yang and Mushy attacked then, each from a different side. Mushy slid close, and activated a half dozen mantis blades into its chest. At the same time, Yang swung her blade down on its feathered neck. Her blade cut deep.
It wasn’t enough to decapitate it, but it was a mortal blow. The monster made a plaintive cry and stumbled to the ground. An orb appeared over the corpse, white with flecks of yellow.
Max checked around and didn’t see any other monsters approaching. No new threats. However, Gus continued to be a threat to their finances.
“Gus, seriously? I thought you said you wouldn’t eat the monster cores anymore. You know how valuable those are,” Max said with resigned disappointment.
“Ég þurfti það til að lækna,” Gus said and pointed to his injured forearm.
Max sighed, “The spider bite is taking longer to heal and you wanted to keep your troll regeneration? Fine. But stand away from the other orbs. James, Lily, get down here and grab them before he does.”
Yang walked closer to Max. She didn’t have to say a thing. Max reached into his belt and pulled out his first aid kit. When he was ready he gently took her arm.
The feathered tiger had cut through the chitin gauntlet she had been wearing and sliced all the way down to the bone. He hurriedly took the remains of the gauntlet off her and wrapped up the arm tightly. He would have to readjust the bandage when the bleeding stopped.
“I’ll try to figure out a way to shrink my gauntlets next. That way this won’t happen again,” Max said.
Yang grunted and looked away. Tears were slowly dripping down her tattooed face. That must have hurt more than she was willing to admit.
He sighed and finally allowed himself to focus on the system messages.
Medium amount of essence gathered
Minor amount of essence gathered
Minor amount of essence gathered
Minor amount of essence gathered
Level Up
Medium amount of essence gathered
Nice. He had leveled up. It was a bit disappointing that the scaled spiders had been worth less. They had poison and seemed rather deadly to him. Still, he had another two points to assign to his system, which made him happy.
Gus shouted, “Krakkar, við höfum félagsskap!” and pointed south.
Max turned to see movement in the distance. It was too far to see details, but it looked like a moving carpet of brown. It was a horde of monsters, probably the boar-wolves. He made a snap decision.
“Time to go!” Max shouted and stuffed his first aid kit back into his belt.
“We can’t outrun that many,” Lily said.
“I know. That’s why we are heading straight for the dungeon. Ebba said its walls are impenetrable.”
“What? No. We can’t trust anything she said. Besides, what if there is a mandatory quest and we have to do more floors this time?” Lily said as she started running.
“That horde is certain death. At least the dungeon gives us a chance to survive,” Max said. “Gus, gimme that hammer and grab Lily and James. We need to run faster.”