Chapter 8: Tribulations

“Run!” Heather said. Riley sheathed his sword and grabbed Nermit following the group. They crashed through the woods and shouts behind them let them know they had been discovered. Blinding pain shot up Riley’s leg and he stumbled, almost dropping Nermit. Adrenaline dulled the worst of the pain and he pushed through, keeping up with the group.

The party veered to the right and Riley followed them, seeing through large gaps between the giant trees were three giant walking mushrooms. Their bodies were in the shape of men with paper white skin that puffed out like a marshmallow and a white spotted red cap covering their heads.

Amanita Man - Level 24

The mushroom men saw Riley’s party and followed after them, running through the woods. More creatures appeared ahead of the group. Looking to his left Riley saw a group of the infected bunnies as well. The forest had gone from being empty to teeming with monsters almost instantly. Every monster in the area was converging on their location. Heather turned the group back towards the clearing the stag had been standing in.

The sounds of battle could still be heard coming from in front of them. The gun fire not pausing in it’s assault on the infected stag. They were trapped, surrounded on all sides.

“The cave!” Riley shouted, “Into the cave,” he turned and saw what he was looking for. The giant hole in one of the trees which the stag had been standing in front of previously.

“You can’t call it a cave if it’s in a tree,” Scott yelled as he followed Riley inside. The base of the tree opened like it had grown that way, the walls covered in bark that felt unnatural to Riley. At the end of the living hallway was a wooden door with a single star on it.

Trial of the Commander

“Riley, drop Nermit, prepare for battle,” Heather commanded. Riley found himself following her orders without question, without any hesitation. He turned to find that they were not alone in the tunnel. Two of the giant mushroom men had followed them inside. The tunnel was narrow enough that only one of them could attack the group at a time.

Riley raised his shield as he stared down his foe. His leg was still burning from the bullet in it and there wasn’t much room to dodge in the tunnel but he didn’t like his chances standing and taking the attacks on his shield. “What are we doing?” Riley asked as he watched the mushroom men approach. Seeing the group stop the monster slowed, knowing it had them trapped.

“We don’t know what’s in the trial and we need a hundred points to get a healing potion for Nermit,” Heather explained. “Riley, duck!”

Riley ducked. A wave of arrows and a blue bolt hit the first mushroom man. There were a lot fewer arrows than Scott had used on the horde, but Riley didn’t have time to ponder that as the mushroom, now enraged, ran forwards. Riley ran to meet him.

Riley’s body score had increased to 30 and he felt more in tune with himself than he ever had before. The mushroom man’s first strike was a blur to Riley’s eyes but muscle memory saved his life as he just barely ducked out of the way. The wall of the tunnel exploded into wood chips. Riley used the opportunity to attack with his sword and the strange energy coursing through his body did… something. The feeling was gone almost as soon as Riley felt it. It had done something the moment it made contact with the monster but Riley didn’t have time to figure out what.

Heather called for Riley to dodge again and Riley dropped. Another wave of attacks flew over his head and Riley jumped back to his feet to take advantage of the opening. His sword barely pierced the soft flesh of the creature but that was all his Leech skill needed to activate and Riley’s leg healed just a little bit more. The mushroom man must have been slow for its level as Riley was just barely able to stay ahead of its attacks. Each one with enough power to kill Riley on the spot. Riley dodged for all he was worth, his leg flaring in pain every time he was forced to move. But there was nothing else he could do, if he didn’t move he was dead.

Arrows and spells flew over Riley’s head as he fought the mushroom, distracting it at critical moments. Finally fed up with the dance the mushroom changed tactics. It opened its mouth and a wave of spores flew out right at Riley. A burning sensation spread across his skin and some of it got into his lungs burning him from the inside out. The pain was too much and Riley stumbled which was the only thing that saved him from the Mushroom man’s next attack.

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I’m going to die, Riley thought with a level of detached calmness. He was wheezing, his lungs and throat raw from the damage of the spore attack. It was too much, he had had too many close calls today. The fighting in the arena, the horde, being hunted, and now trapped in a tunnel with a over-powered monster. Riley wanted to give up. To just let the monster kill him so he could reset, to try again. His mind was in a fugue, not understanding that there was no trying again. Something bubbled up from deep within Riley. It was that moment when a boss absolutely destroys you in a game, where you’re down to one hit left and they are at full health. Where you accept your defeat and the pressure is lifted. Where you take risks you never would have before because you’ve already accepted your fate.

Riley dropped his shield and started attacking. Riley swung his sword with reckless abandon, barely pausing in his offense to dodge the monster’s devastating attacks. Instead of backing away from the strikes he stepped forward, closer to the monster and used the time the monster took to pull its arm back for another attack to get in three attacks of his own. The energy coursing through Riley’s body grabbed something from the Amanita Man. As Riley attacked he felt like he could just barely grasp at what that something was. He just needed a little more. Another attack.

“Riley, duck!” Heather’s voice broke Riley out of his focused state and he complied, dropping to the floor as a wave of arrows hit the Amanita Man full force. Riley noticed just how much damage had been done to the monster. It didn’t bleed but it’s entire body was covered in rips in it’s pristine white flesh. The final wave of arrows was the final straw and the mushroom man collapsed backwards.

Riley leveled up three times and he put all of his stat points into his Body stat raising it to 36. Some of the fatigue Riley was feeling sloughed off his body. Energy returning to him limbs. His lungs were no longer burning from the spore attack, it had healed at some point during the fight.

The second Amanita Man reached down and grabbed its now deceased companion by the leg before tossing it back out of the tunnel. Riley prepared himself for the next round of the fighting. He had been broken out of the mental state he had been in previously and couldn’t settle back into the same mindset. But he had learned from that fight. He knew the monster’s patterns now. He could predict its attacks and knew which ones he could exploit and which ones he couldn’t. Riley fought with everything he had. Spells and arrows distracting the monster at just the right moment so Riley could take advantage and attack or dodge as needed. The party working in a beautiful synchronicity. When the Amanita Man opened its mouth to released the spores Riley retreated letting the spores hang in the air in front of him. But they were trapped in a tunnel, there was nowhere else for the spores to go, they continued forward.

Casey stepped forward for the first time this fight. She had picked up the shield Riley had dropped and used it to fan the spores back towards the entrance of the tunnel. Seeing this the Amanita Man charged and Riley stepped forwards again. He had to remember to thank Casey after this.

With every swing of his sword Riley tried to reach for that ephemeral power inside of him. But he couldn’t get into the same mindset he had been in before. The power slipping through his grasp as his mind was focused on surviving the fight. Before too long the second mushroom man fell down dead.

Riley leveled again and he raised his Body score again. Riley checked his point total. He had 23 points which he transferred to Heather. “How many points do we have now?” Riley asked, breathing heavily. The tunnel was clear for the moment, but gunshots could still be heard from outside the tree.

“90 points total, we’re still ten short.” Heather was breathing hard as well, her skin sallow. She must have pushed herself hard to cast her spell so many times in a row.

As if on cue more enemies appeared in the entrance of the tunnel. They were the infected bunnies this time. Riley grabbed his shield and stepped forward, ready to fight again. He was exhausted from the previous flight through the forest and the fighting. But he was healthier than when they started the the fight. His Leech ability having taking care of the bullet in his leg at some point.

With the new points in his Body stat Riley was able to barely see the bunny as it launch itself at him. Even though he could see it he couldn’t react in time, the bunny ramming into his chest forcing the air out of his lungs. The other two infected bunnies turned into blurs heading for Riley as well and it was only luck that put Riley’s shield in the way of one of the attacks. The other hit his left shoulder and Riley heard a crack as his arm broke.

Riley was scrambling as he stepped back and raised his shield in front of him. They were too fast for him, he couldn’t do anything. He had no chance at hitting them. The bunnies launched themselves at Riley again and then Casey was there. She stepped out of the shadows behind the bunnies stabbing down with her dagger and skewering one of them in the head killing it instantly. The other two bunnies reacted in unison turning around and launching themselves at where Casey was.

Casey was gone before they got there. She had somehow dodged the vicious blurs without her skill. Moving to attack them while they were still turning around Casey killed a second bunny. There was only one left and it attacked again. Casey was slammed into the wall of the tunnel, the attack having hit her. Still he face was grinning as the bunny was pinned to her body, it had skewered itself on her dagger. A trickle of blood dribbled out of her mouth and Casey flashed Riley a bloody grin.