Our torches didn’t do much to keep the mobs away. The bugs looked like huge white mosquitoes (five times the size of their terrestrial cousins) which hadn’t seen the sun in years. Since they lived in darkness, they had long lost their sight. I wondered what they used to orient themselves? Echolocation?
They acted in an organized manner, immediately cutting off Ivan from the group, and clinging to the entire surface of his massive body. He replied with curses and obscenities as the poison slowly made its way into his bloodstream.
My lightning bolts killed only a handful of mobs (their place was instantly taken up by more bugs), and the torchlight didn’t seem to do much to harm them other than slightly char their skin.
“A stone! Give me a fucking stone!” came Ivan’s muffled voice. He was slamming himself against the walls in a desperate attempt to shake off the bugs.
Does he mean a rock?
“Ronin?” Spider asked, seemingly aware of what Ivan needed.
Ronin nodded and threw off his coat. We saw a rather small humanoid, which soared into the air almost immediately and, hovering there, threw out his hands forward as if launching an invisible projectile.
An invisible wave of force swept away some of the bugs circling Ivan. Spider was already tearing apart the wall, digging his steel legs into the stone. In a couple of seconds, a huge stalactite fell next to the already limp Ivan, knocked down by Spider’s blow. Hearing the crash, Ivan clenched his fists and slammed the ground, making a hole.
Small rocks and chunks of the shattered stalactite flew toward him like metal to a magnet. After a few moments, they formed a sort of armor around his hands and began to move up his body, forming an impenetrable shell over his skin that crushed the bugs with a nasty crunch.
Ivan was yelling frantically. I was shooting bolts. The rest of the team was waving their torches, and the Goblins were getting rid of the mobs that were still stuck to the big guy. Finally, Ivan was completely covered in stone armor. A moment later, a bright flash appeared between the cracks.
“It’s the Stone Warrior,” Spider explained, piercing a bug that had crashed into Ivan’s armor at full speed. “It draws strength from rocks.”
I looked back at Ivan in surprise.
“Just how much did I miss?”
“Quite a lot.” Valkyrie smiled, turning green.
I stared at her in wonder. She was neon green. Was this some kind of a combat state? The speed of her attacks increased and the longsword flashed in her hands. Spinning, she cut any mob that dared come close.
After half a minute, Ivan regained his strength, got rid of some of the stone armor, and joined us in cleaning up the corridor.
***
Ronin, still hovering in the air, gathered energy and sent another wave at the swarm. This time, it was much more effective: the wall got twenty new crimson stains. If the corridor was a little narrower, he’d be able to kill way more. But there was enough space between the walls for the bigger bugs to soften the blows with their wings, or even avoid a collision altogether by flying closer to the center.
Nevertheless, their number was gradually decreasing. Despite Ivan almost dying, stingers stuck in our bodies, and the poison that our immune systems were struggling against, we seemed to be winning.
“Everyone, get ready!” Valkyrie shouted, pausing mid-swing to listen to something. Her Sense of Danger worked flawlessly.
There was another buzzing sound from Rosh’s cave, much louder this time. A second swarm, three times the size of the first, flew into the corridor.
Rosh seemed to be stalling, waiting for help that was about to descend into the lower caverns through a nearby tunnel and join the rest of the swarm in slaughtering the intruders who dared enter their home.
***
Time seemed to stand still.
Ronin was barely able to move. Exhausted and angry, he wiped a drop of sweat from his brow and tensed up, preparing for the final blow.
A tornado of white bodies burst out from the cave. The bugs, without stopping, rushed toward us to devour us all at once. The wolves howled: they were the first to get bitten by the bugs. The Goblins swore, desperately trying to get rid of at least some of the mobs with their scimitars.
Shaking, Ronin, unable to even wipe away the blood that was dripping from his nose, slowly raised his hands. A strong electric charge seemed to pass through his body. His most powerful attack flew out of his hands just as he began to fall unconscious and hit the buzzing swarm. It pushed it back, leaving no more than thirty smears on the walls.
***
“I can’t believe it! How?!” Ivan shouted, voice muffled by the stone armor.
I had to admit that, even I was amazed by what had happened. According to Valkyrie, who was standing closest to Willow, when the bugs were a couple of feet away from the group, flames burst from Willow’s body, enveloping her in a crimson glow for a moment. There was the smell of burning fur but Willow didn’t seem to feel pain. Fiery wings sprouted from her back and spread out as a triangular symbol appeared out of thin air in front of her.
A stream of incendiary mixture shot out from the little eye that appeared in the middle of the triangle. Before they could even figure out what was going on, the bugs turned into charred corpses and fell down where Ivan shattered them into dust with powerful punches.
We barely managed to catch Willow before she lost consciousness, following Ronin’s example. Luckily, we managed to wake them up pretty soon. Spider shoved some grass under their noses (he always carried a small supply of medicine with him). The pungent smell of the herbs made the two wake up almost immediately.
The only problem was that Rosh was blocking the path leading to the fragment.
***
I was certain that he was aware of the fact that the entire swarm had been turned into an ashen carpet that now covered the tunnel’s floor.
We caught up to Rosh who was already halfway to the next tunnel located in the southern wall of the cave. His massive weight proved to be a challenge even for him: he had apparently become addicted to the fatty worm meat and was now unable to move very quickly.
Valkyrie, still in her battle form, caught up with the fleeing enemy in a few leaps and pierced his stomach with her sword. It would’ve been better if she hadn’t. The stench that filled the air was so strong that the poor Ronin, still weak from fighting, vomited for the second time. Valkyrie immediately dodged Rosh’s arm, while the Goblins flanked him and attacked.
Ivan, like a battering ram, knocked the bastard to the ground and showered him with blows of his hardened fists.
“Two-zero, asshole.” I chuckled, kicking his corpse.
***
Rosh Ze Rol was finally no more. He was obviously on the verge of insanity, having spent years alone, forced to kill both mobs and players with his bare hands and eat their raw flesh. Who wouldn’t go crazy living like that?
His dwelling was a medium-sized cave connected to a tunnel system by two passageways. The entire space was littered with garbage, feces, various corpses (including those of his unsuccessful experiments), as well as rotting worm corpses.
“Seems he liked to eat their heads...” Spider mused, looking at the decapitated mobs.
“Don’t...” Ronin pleaded, once again wrapped in his hide, trying not to look at the bodies scattered about the cave. This task proved to be quite difficult as the entire floor was covered with the whitish slime that had previously covered the worms.
The fragment (which I noticed as soon as I activated Third Eye) was located on a small altar in the farthest part of the cave. There was no light here. Rosh, like the mosquitoes, used some kind of echolocation to move about, so the use of the altar as a decorative piece was dubious. Rosh must’ve needed it for something.
Then again, maybe one could still admire decor through echolocation. I couldn’t know. I still had eyes.
In any case, we had no desire to admire the interior for long. I went to the altar, which was basically just a pile o
f bones, and picked up the fragment. It wasn’t much bigger than the other one I had.
“We’re done here, then?” Ronin muttered, eager to get out of here as soon as possible. “Or do you plan to give that thing a proper burial?”
There was nothing else to do here so we followed the impatient Ronin out toward the second tunnel that spiraled upward.
I put the fragment into a small bag, which I slung over my back. I’d deal with that later. Right now, I was more interested in Willow’s skill. Ivan’s stone armor and Valkyrie’s ninja-like slicing skills paled in comparison to whatever it was that she had done.
Willow was on top of Rat, exhausted. Ronin had refused the pet’s offer to carry him, proudly stating that he could walk on his own. Judging by the expression on his face, he had regretted the decision almost immediately. But, to give credit where credit was due, he could walk on his own.
“I know what you’re wondering... The skill’s called Phoenix.” Willow chuckled. “Why didn’t I tell you before? I tried! Remember, at the Burgundy base? Thing is, I can’t really control it...”
“How come?” Spider asked.
“It activates automatically... It happened before, but never like this...”
“It activates when she’s in danger,” Ronin interjected, panting. “When she’s in mortal danger. So far, we saw three forms: fire tornado, the flamethrower thing, and fiery braces in case of hand-to-hand combat. There were times when it didn’t activate, though...”
“What good is it then if she can’t control it?” Valkyrie asked.
I had noticed that the girls didn’t get along too well, which was odd since Valkyrie was a kind and sympathetic person. She was old enough to be Willow’s mother, so why she was acting like a jealous teen was beyond me.
“Oh, like turning into Hulk and killing one target per hit is super useful in a pinch,” Willow replied sarcastically.
“Listen, you—!”
“Ladies, now’s not the time,” Spider intervened, realizing that their rivalry needed to be nipped in the bud. “Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here.”
To our surprise, getting out turned out to be easier than getting in. No one was eager to return the same way we had come from and risk running into Worms. In addition, the tunnel from which the second swarm had flown out led straight to the already explored upper floors.
We were a couple of minutes away from the exit when Ivan suddenly said:
“Guys, we forgot something.”
“What?” Fang asked, looking around. “We’re all here.”
“The worms. Remember Spider’s suggestion?”
“C’mon, he was clearly joking.” Valkyrie laughed but there was doubt in her eyes. “Right?”
“Why would I joke about something like that?” Spider said. “Ivan, Loki, let’s go back to the tunnels...”
***
Catching a few small worms was a simple task. They didn’t even put up a fight, unaccustomed to fighting anything other than a buzzing swarm. But getting them out... That was a different story.
Rat could easily carry five of them but the problem was how to attach these slimy, twitchy fuckers to him. We had no idea. Even after calling the others for help, things didn’t get easier. Ronin, tightly wrapped in his hide, flat-out refused to help us. I couldn’t blame him. He looked like he’d vomit again if he so much as touched one of the worms. The Goblins didn’t have enough physical strength to carry our prey as it was almost the same size as they were.
In the end, we followed Tail’s suggestion: two worms were placed on Rat’s back and supported by the Goblins who rode by him, and Willow who was sitting on the pet, still unable to walk on her own. Two more were dragged by Ivan and Spider, while Ronin helped me with his gravitation-controlling skills.
We finally made it back home.
While Spider was arguing with his superiors about the worm farm idea, I ran to my house where the first key fragment rested on a small bedside table.
“Um... Key?”
A semi-transparent hologram appeared in front of my eyes, made up of bluish light. The fragments soared into the air and took their place within the hologram.
The Compass has located the next fragment.
I hurriedly opened the mini-map and froze, moving my mouth in mute horror as I read the name of the familiar location.
“The Uncharted Lands...”
Chapter 7
TWO FANATICS
After leaving my house, I immediately went to find Pavel.
Work was in full swing, and no one seemed to stand still: people were running from the slowly but surely growing stockade and embankments to the industrial zone, from the industrial zone to the Cherry Tree and back. The Goblins were carrying resources, dragged carts with logs, and even mined coal in the northeast. Compared to them, I seemed like I was slacking off.
Everything that happened in the faction followed an already thought-out plan, and the limited workforce was used wisely.
My Worms had already been put to use and had dragged all the supplies from the Burgundy base to ours, filling Amoeba’s and Elf’s lab to the brim with numerous drugs, powders, medicines, herbs, and dried parts of some particularly rare and valuable mobs.
In response to my questions about the chemist, Greek, running toward the caves, shouted:
“You can forget about talking to Elf for the next week! He’ll be stuck in his lab for days! Though, Amoeba left for the Valley this morning. Haven’t seen him since.”
Weird. I thought to myself. Amoeba had asked not to come with us so I had assumed that he had some really important matters to attend to. The fact that he had been gone for a while made me worry.
Greek was right about Elf. The chemist had locked himself in his laboratory and let no one but his Goblin assistants in, who brought him ingredients, and sometimes hurriedly opened windows and doors to let out the acrid black smoke that filled the house after yet another failed experiment. The results wouldn’t take long: Elf was now hard at work on the development of two drugs at once.
As I was told later, on the evening of that day, Elf suddenly opened the door of his lab, and, accompanied by the soot-covered Goblins, went straight to the hospital, carrying several clay pots in his hands.
The contents of these pots turned out to be a healing potion, which Elf, under the careful guidance of Doc and Spider, smeared on the wounds of the patients who were still in critical condition. Spider was particularly concerned about Bat on whom he had performed the surgery last night. He was, unfortunately, still in danger of dying even though the operation went smoothly. Elf didn’t spare the medicine and all but poured the contents of one of the pots directly into Bat’s mouth, and rubbed the ointment from the second one all over his back, which was covered with fresh sutures left by the operation and Spider’s medicinal cobwebs.
But all of this happened in my absence.
After visiting Pavel, I intended to check what was going on in the Valley. After Graybeard’s death and transferring the location’s ownership to Kay-Si, the place, as well as the paths leading to it, were safe.
Nevertheless, I had to make sure that Amoeba was all right. And I kinda wanted to see how Kay-Si was doing too.
***
Pavel, who was working on a plan for the faction’s further development, looked up from the parchment and called over White who was tinkering with our first generator.
“Tell Elanor to make us tea.”
White nodded, shook my hand upon seeing me, and left. A minute later, a Goblin walked into the room, carrying two large mugs full of steaming hot tea.
“Thank you, Elanor.” Pavel took a sip of the herbal tea and sighed contentedly. “I’m listening.”
I finished my drink with relish and gave him a brief report of our expedition.
“Five more fragments, you say? And where’s the next one?”
“In the Lands.”
Pavel’s eyes widened but he didn’t show his surprise in any other way.
>
“Do your guys already know?”
“I’ll break the news tonight. Right now, I need to go to the Valley and make sure Amoeba is okay.”
“Good idea. He’s been away for quite a while... Since you won’t be going to the Lands until tonight or tomorrow, once you’ve checked the Valley, go talk to Spider. He’s been on about those Worms that you guys brought over... Lend him a hand, will you?”
“If I have time, sure.”
And while I understood the importance of Spider’s idea, its implementation was rather complicated. Pavel seemed to be on the same page as me. He didn’t see what the Worms were capable of yet but he was smart enough to figure out their use from our reports. Then again, Pavel was known for giving even the craziest ideas the benefit of the doubt. The generators were a good example.
I also asked him about Greek’s misadventures and how he had been stuck with the cattle for two days now.
“He didn’t do anything. Being idle will do him well, however. Last night, he almost missed the attack of the brown lynxes,” he added dryly.
***
Sitting astride on Rat and squinting at the bright rays of the setting sun, I finally set out for the Valley. Besides us, Worm and its six clones were moving in twisted lines along the snow-covered path. Winter had finally arrived. Snowflakes fell on us, no longer melting from the first touch with the cooling ground, and every day the air became cooler, making you think about the best ways of warming up and protecting yourself from the upcoming cold. Fortunately, I had already taken care of my clothes needs: in addition to the thick snakeskin, I had gotten myself a pair of thick pants, and cloth armor similar to Willow’s. It wasn’t chainmail, but it was much warmer. The family of Goblin tailors who had moved into a large house in the south of the base had already received an order to make jerkins. According to Korzh, from whom I first heard about this, those should protect us from the cold. At least somewhat.
During my trip, I dealt with my skills and levels to kill time. After killing Rosh, all the members of the expedition were rewarded with a nice amount of experience. This was especially good for the Goblins and the wolves, who gained at least fifteen levels. As the highest-level player, I only got six levels. But that number still seemed impressive now, as it boosted me to level one hundred and one, which meant that I now had twenty-four skill points.
Reborn: Evolution: A LitRPG Series (Warlock Chronicles Book 3) Page 7
