The familiar yellow tint and the sharp lines of Battle Mode appeared in his vision as Oskar tried again to reach out with his senses and get a handle on the creature’s size.
Is it normal for these things to hide from scanning abilities?
// Um, creatures evolve faster in our world than yours. So, the answer is maybe, but it would take it the creature needing that trait for survival, and I just don’t see that being the case here. That means you either have a variant creature, or maybe it has natural protection from an unusually high Spirit Rank. //
Well, damn.
Something caught Oskar’s attention in retrospect, though. There seemed to be a void of life that gave him, if not a scan of the creature, at least a general idea of what they were standing on top of.
“Guys,” he whispered as the sand continued to rumble, “if this is a Sandwyrm, it’s magnitudes larger than the one we faced in the arena.”
Nearby, both Touwon and Erik said the cool Kobold curse word he’d forgotten to ask about, and Oskar felt a mild pang of jealousy that Touwon might talk with Erik and not himself. Touwon pulled his bag around to pull something out, and Sara jumped onto Erik’s shoulder with a meow.
But then again, it’s not like I’ve tried directly talking to him. Erik hangs out and watched him work. Guess that’s on me. I’ll do better… more motivation to survive this.
“It would be dumb to let this thing make the first move,” Oskar said, and after a moment, Fox nodded.
“That is a truth. Be careful, Oskar.”
He shot into the air with a burst of Sora and then wrapped himself in Talau as he lifted above the fallen dunes.
I’ve got to get a hit in before it decides to attack.
There was no running from this thing, though. Penny, from somewhere below it, gave him a general read on where it was and what direction it was moving. He told her to make sure she was out of the way when he was on his way back down to use his Momentum Transfer.
Well, it was actually more like “when you feel me get closer, flee,” but the Pangolor seemed to get the gist. She seemed confident she could give him a strike point and still have time to get out of the way, and he trusted her, even if it made him nervous.
His speed increased dramatically as Sora gained momentum, and with Talau and Rakiyu doing their thing, he had almost no drag in the skin close swirl of magic around him. This wasn’t Resonating Ward at all; it was increasing his speed and empowering Sora more so than Talau, but it felt right for what he was doing.
He rose into the sky for as long as he dared, unwilling to lose the chance for a clean hit. The thing was unbelievably massive; it had been moving underneath them for over thirty seconds, but was now beginning to circle the group. It was still moving slowly, though, likely assured in its trap once it had them fully encircled.
So, I’m guessing it circles us and then either attacks with its head underneath, crushes us, or uses the sand blast attack?
// Sounds reasonable, but something this big is old, and I’m sure it has a few more tricks up its sleeve. //
Well, either way, it’s time to mess up its plan.
Oskar hoped, as he turned and rocketed back down, his spear in a white knuckled grip, that he could penetrate deep enough in the sand to land a significant blow.
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His PUB used Penny’s location and the information she’d given them on the Sandwyrm’s speed to mark a spot in his vision that was far enough away from the group to ensure their safety. He warned Penny he was getting close, and then pulled on Sora further, now moving faster than he ever had before. His ears popped, but he set his jaw and prepared to strike, empowered by whatever his magic was doing, as he closed the final gap to the sand below.
The swirl of magic around him was not enough to fully protect him as he struck the sand with a perfectly timed Momentum Transfer. Numbness lasted a second, then searing heat hit him as an explosion flung him out of the massive hole he’d created.
His body rolled, stinging and in pain, and he jerked his head around to see what the hell had happened. His ears were ringing, and the world was otherwise completely silent, but he was able to pull himself to standing again with only a little stumble. As feeling returned, the stinging intensified, but he ignored it, looking for the others.
Fox was standing straight up, which was odd since he could still feel the ground shaking, even if it was fading. Erik had his hand on top of his head, and he could see his brother mouth “holy” something or another, and then his brother began laughing. The other Kobold was standing at the edge of the hole, looking down and scratching his chin thoughtfully.
The sand near Touwon rippled as Penny appeared, and she walked over to check out the hole that Oskar had created and bounced a good ten foot away from. Pulling out a waterskin, Oskar drank as much as he could in a gulp, and almost immediately, his ears popped. His hearing didn’t return, but he could already feel some relief from the stinging he felt all over his body.
Oskar leaned the spear on his shoulder, not yet trusting himself to walk, and shook feeling back into his hands after putting the waterskin away, and noticed small dots peppering his arms and hands that stung almost as bad as his face. His breaths were coming in faster than they needed to, and he took a deep, purposeful breath as he tried to tame the rush of fear and adrenaline that washed over him.
I don’t like explosions. Also, I think I hit a little harder than I meant to. There’s no way I killed it, though, right?
// No, but dude… you more than scared it off. I bet that thing hasn’t felt fear in decades, maybe longer. I’m not sure how long they live… but you just knocked the hell out of that thing. //
What caused the explosion, and why are my face and arms full of sand? This hurts like crap in case you were wondering.
// Sorry, friend. But can you please please please… go look in the hole. Touwon’s flabbergastment is making me insanely curious what he’s looking at; I had no idea he knew how to be flabbergasted. //
There’s no way flabbergastment is a word. Also… thanks.
// It’s a word until you find a dictionary to prove me wrong. And you’re welcome. Until then, go! Go look in the hole! //
The PUB was a great distraction from the wild beating in Oskar’s heart, and the chatter helped him calm down a bit.
Opening his mouth and trying to force a yawn to pop his ears again, Oskar walked forward and looked down into the hole to see what could possibly have caused the explosion.
He wasn’t sure exactly what he expected, but a smoking, fifteen-foot glass hole was not it. There were dots of blue in the glass that looked suspiciously like the cobalt-colored grains of sand that dotted the desert floor. The hole seemed to go nearly ten feet horizontally under the sand before the glass turned to wyrm meat again.
That wasn’t anything I did directly, right?
// No, it looks like there was an adverse reaction to something. Erik’s PUB and I are trying to figure out what could have caused it. My scans are not giving me anything unusual other than that’s a lot more blue sand than typical. Like… a lot more. //
Touwon gave me an appreciative nod and climbed down into the hole to gather samples.
Standing there, Oskar’s hearing returned slowly; the ringing subsiding slightly as Erik made his way over to check in.
“No need for heals, man. The water is doing enough.”
Oskar’s voice sounded muffled and distant to him, but Erik nodded skeptically as he looked at the tiny crimson specks of blood covering Oskar’s arms and face from the blast of sand.
“You knocked the piss out of that thing. If it has a momma, it’s on its way to her now.”
Face scrunched in mock worry, Oskar said, “I’m not ready to meet that thing’s parents. We’ve only had just the one date.”
“Yeah, but it let you use your spear.”
Laughing, Oskar finally felt the last of the adrenaline leaving his body, his breathing regulated, and the pressure in the base of his skull subsided. Oskar threw an arm around his brother and felt Sara batting at his hand playfully from atop his brother’s bag.
“I guess you could say it’s getting pretty serious.”