"Haha hey, fuck you."
"Wow," said Warrion, a bit taken aback.
"I'm sorry. That was mean. I didn't mean that," Garath explained. He'd never really grasped the concept of playful banter.
"No worries," said Warrion, shrugging. "You're a caster, soon we may even find a dress for you to wear with your tiara."
Garath smiled and flipped off the Assassin. He was relieved that Warrion wasn't the type to be offended by his sense of humor - an aspect of his personality best described as sadistic - that had pushed away more than a few friends throughout the years.
"Sharon, you get the next set, okay?"
"Yes dear. That's fine," was her simple response.
"Let's go get it," said Garath, his glowing eyes burning white with battle lust. He dismissed his Flayer and Fel Hound back into the depths of his mind in order to shape shift.
From his position at the edge of the cave, Garath's skin was dusted by the thin layer of mist swept away from the impossibly high, cerulean waterfalls of the cove. It wasn't a lot of water, but he couldn't help being reminded of a boy scout trip in his youth to Havasu Falls in Arizona. Even just hiking near the larger waterfalls, the entire scout troop was soaked to the bone after a few hours.
The dampened Party of dungeon divers shimmered into a murder of Crows, standing together on scrawny black legs at the cave mouth. The four of them took off with a low trajectory, barely skimming the surface of the water to avoid being detected, then climbed sharply as they reached the center platform, using the pillars of the ornate gazebo to avoid being seen. They landed atop the structure, above the unaware group of Naga protecting the platform. From there, they were able to get a better look at the rest of the cove.
Between their position atop the center platform and the curtain of waterfalls walling off the far side of the cove, a row of five tall statues stood on a track raised out of the water. The track ran in between the two (still guarded) platforms ahead to the waterfalls beyond before splitting into a T at its base. The falling blue water furiously pounded at five square slots protruding off the track and under the cascade.
Garath looked on, perplexed, at the track and statues from atop the gazebo. He wondered if it was some kind of dungeon puzzle like in Zelda or Skies of Arcadia. If so, it looked obvious that the statues would have to be moved down the track and placed on the square slots beneath the pounding blue water - potentially in a specific order. Either way, he would give the statues further consideration after eradicating every last Naga from their beautiful little cove.
The last mobile patrol was also in view and Garath tried again to Inspect the larger Naga, this time with more luck - and a fair dose of chagrin.
S’thys Zor
Humanoid - Naga
Health: 1,875/1,875
Level: 19
Station: Commander
Rage: 0/100
Description: unknown
S'thys Zor looked like an absolute beast. Strapped to his insanely muscled back, he wore two of the Naga tridents - each significantly larger than those Garath had been stockpiling in his Items panel. The huge Naga swam with a massive, powerful tail back and forth in front of the track housing the statues from one platform to the next, popping out of the water to look around at seemingly random intervals. Garath puzzled over the safest way to pull one of the groups without alerting the patrolling, hulked out, and frankly terrifying S'thys Zor.
*Maybe we should pull him first,* Garath suggested with a projected thought to the Party channel. He nodded his beak toward patrolling group from behind one of the gazebo's pillars.
*Shouldn't we fight him last?* Athios asked astutely.
*Yeah, I'm with Athios. Giving that a hard fuck-no, G,* Warrion agreed.
*I thought that too,* said Garath, *but his path is so erratic.*
As if to prove his point, S'thys Zor and his two bodyguards stopped and reversed direction, then popped up out of the water to look around.
*Dude. He's fucking jacked,* Warrion observed.
*Seriously.*
*I have an idea,* Athios said. *G, you can just dismiss your pets on command now, right? Are there any limitations for that?*
*Uhmmm,* thought Garath, running the question through his mind and recalling the results of his tinkering in the cave just after he had bound the Flayer to Earth. *I'm still experimenting with it, so I couldn't say for sure. I can summon and dismiss them instantly now that they're bound to Earth, but I haven't thoroughly tested it. What did you have in mind?*
*Well, first we take out the group on this platform. Then, we hide behind the pillars while you have your little imp go get the big one's attention. When S'thys chases it, have your little demon kite him toward the waterfalls, then we pull the group on the right. If at any point he's going to kill your demon, just dismiss it - or let him, that thing creeps me out. If the imp can keep him busy long enough, we may even be able to clear both platforms.*
*That could work,* said Garath thoughtfully, running through the scenario in his mind. *If we pull the group below us to this side,* he gestured to the cave side of the cove with his beak, *we can probably use the pillars and avoid pulling the boss.*
And that is just what they did. By their third group of five, the Party had worked out all of the kinks and were ready to rinse and repeat their method. On the cave side of the gazebo, the Party shimmered back into human form.
The skirmish was joined when Athios pulled the Sentry through space-time to join them atop the gazebo. As Warrion moved to silence the horn blower, Garath and Sharon dropped from the rooftop to engage the other four. The one thing they didn't account for when making their plan in crow form was just how slippery the glistening rooftop of the gazebo would be with larger, flatter feet. Warrion lost his footing as he lunged toward the Naga Sentry and fell to all fours. With his hands occupied by two lethal daggers, the Assassin quickly lost control and rolled off the roof - leaving the Sentry free to accomplish its one job in life. It lifted its seashell-like horn and blew. Coooeee! Coooeee!
Almost immediately, a second and third horn sounded off from the Sentries on each of the far platforms. Coooeee! Coooeee!
"Fuck," was all Garath could say.
Chapter 32
Clash in the Depths
The Naga below the gazebo roared and hissed sounds of triumph as their reinforcements slithered into the water and swam to their aid. S'thys Zor popped up, levitating above the flowing water. His blue skin emanated a red flash, then a blue one, then red again and again, the colors flashing faster and faster until a bright, dangerous purple hue covered the named Naga head to tail. The hulked out snake-person bellowed a hissing roar, or maybe a roaring hiss - Garath couldn't be sure. What he was sure of was that the sound produced by the rumbling Naga Boss was best described as blood curdling. S'thys Zor hiss/roared again and pulled the enormous tridents from the straps on his back, then held them up threateningly with heavily muscled arms.
Garath had definitely had his fun with the summon and cast battle style but, between the thirteen incoming Naga and the five they were already locked in battle with between the pillars of the gazebo, it was time to get a little more creative. He shifted into cat form.
When he made the change to cat form, the effects of what he was learning to identify as a tainted soul became more apparent - his urge to strip the Naga of their precious experience points multiplied exponentially. Though the effects in his human form were becoming more noticeable after using only a handful of tainted soul spells, his cat form almost brought on another personality completely. He no longer had a care in the world about what happened to his friends back at HQ, so all-consuming was his hunger for greater power. The only thing on his mind was the bliss of absorbing Exp from the slaughter.
Garath took in the situation in an instant, dashing between the pillars of the gazebo as he made his way toward the Hypnotist stationed on the central platform. With the Sentries no longer a priority, the Hypnotists had to go down first. A single paral
ysis during a fight where they were so vastly outnumbered would almost certainly prove fatal.
*Sharon, go Crow and get back on the roof. Sling heals from there,* Garath ordered. *Warrion, Hypnotist incoming left is yours, Athios figure something out for the one incoming right side. I've got this one, call it when your target is down.*
“What about the big one?” asked Athios as she dropped from the slick roof of the gazebo.
Garath didn't have an answer for that. Unexpectedly, it was Sharon that answered her question.
"I'll hold him off with Roots," she said, already back in human form and gathering her will into a cast on the far side of the gazebo's roof.
Careful to avoid eye contact with the Naga caster, the adorable Necrologist jumped back to avoid a jab from a Pikeman protecting the caster, the trident pinged off the ground harmlessly and he darted past the melee units. Now with four Naga in range, he released the instant cast of Blight. A deep purple energy shot out in every direction in a circle around him, infecting the four Naga with its damage over time debuff. His next move was yet another dive into the unknown for the Necrologist.
For the first time, Garath focused his will to activate Plague. No magic energy denoted by some ominous color left his body as the nearly 200 Mana was paid. Instead, he felt the Plague spread unseen in a one-hundred-meter circumference around him like an aura. As the disease reached the edge of the center platform and beyond, he felt his deadly poison enter and take hold in each and every Naga in the cove. Without taking Health regeneration or resistances into account, the seven damage-per-second from Plague should bring the entire lot of enemies down within a few minutes.
"I can't get to my Hypnotist," Warrion called, engaging three Pikemen on his own at the waterline of the left side of the center platform. The caster stayed in the safety of the water with the Pikemen between her and the clashing melee taking place on shore. The Hypnotist held her staff of pulsing cobalt energy toward the Assassin, her hands took on a magical blue glow as she channeled a spell cast.
*Get out of range then,* suggested Garath, but it was too late.
The Naga Hypnotist released her spell and a ribbon of cobalt magic shot from her hands and into the Assassin. Warrion stopped moving suddenly, half way through what likely would have resulted in a critical hit to the neck of a Naga Pikeman. His arms and shoulders drooped, limply grasping his daggers - a vacant expression on his face. Curiously, the Pikemen he had been fighting stopped their attack as the Hypnotist's spell took effect.
Garath saw a new debuff icon appear next to Warrion's nameplate. He willed more information to present itself even as he dodged trident after trident in his nimble cat form and the HP of the four Naga he was fighting dwindled from his DoT spells. His feline jaw clenched as he read the prompt.
Warrion is afflicted with Naga Charm and will be under the command of Naga Hypnotist for one hour, or until the spell is interrupted.
Time Remaining: 59 minutes, 59 seconds.
Garath knew it was on him to get the Assassin fighting for the right team again. Athios' Mana was already below half as she transported herself onto another platform and away from the five chasing Naga determined to end her life. Sharon was fighting a losing battle from the roof - casting Roots to bind S'thys Zor in place on the far side of the central platform. The Strength Attribute of the massive Naga allowed it to rip the Roots away after only a few seconds. Luckily, those few seconds were just enough for Sharon to cast Roots again, entangling the enraged Naga until he was able to break free again, and then be entangled again on repeat. She wouldn't be able to hold him forever, as repeatedly casting - even a low cost spell like Roots - would bottom out her Mana before long. The Naturist was in no position to help.
The health bars affixed to the Naga surrounding the Necrologist were already below half and falling fast. Dark purple energy shot out again from his diminutive feline form, contrasting ominously from the pure white, innocent looking kitten. With Blight's debuff renewed, Garath was ready to make his move and free Warrion from mind control.
As luck would have it, Warrion was already heading his way... with raised daggers and a deer-in-the-headlights expression. Garath dodged another trident then jumped onto its wielder, sinking his needle-like claws into the neck and shoulder of the Naga.
‘I really fucking hope this works,’ thought Garath to himself as he attempted yet another wild combination of untested magics that he had never even fathomed before the moment of action.
With his dense, efficient feline muscles coiled tight, Garath launched himself into the air with as much power as his ten points of Strength, packed into the athletic cat form, would allow - the result was tremendous. And for the first time, Garath’s jump in the form of a House Cat went exactly as planned.
The distance of the forward leap in the direction of the oncoming, charmed Assassin would, sadly, never be measured. As soon as his claws left the blue skin of the Naga Pikeman, a tingling sensation started to prick on the back of his neck. By the time he was a few feet in the air, the sensation had spread over his entire body. His arms extended outward, spreading into wings. His white fur gave way to black feathers and his hind legs tucked into his torso as he shimmered into crow form.
Warrion had closed the distance from the edge of the platform and was leaping to attack, but the Assassin wasn't Garath's target. He flapped his wings and climbed a few inches, barely avoiding a leaping dagger strike from Warrion - a strike that definitely would have hit its mark, had the trajectory of Garath’s launch not been altered. With the wind beneath his wings, Garath gained altitude quickly to avoid the Pikemen extending upward with their long tails and swiping gold-tipped tridents at him as he passed over head. Easily ten feet above melee range, he tucked his wings and set aim on his real target - the Hypnotist. The enemy caster was channeling to keep her mind controlling spell active with her eyes closed and hands outstretched as she stayed above the water by treading back and forth with her powerful tail.
The mind controlling bitch never saw it coming. At the peak of his dive, Garath initiated the shift back into cat form. His black feathers gave way to white fur and his already tucked wings retracted back into furry little paws. As soon as he was able to, the fuzzy, falling Necrologist focused his will into a Death Bolt, hoping to time it to land on the Hypnotist's face as he did.
Miraculously, his timing and aim were perfect. He released the bolt of black energy and reached out with extended claws, latching on just as the enemy caster reeled from the unexpected blow to the face. Between the surprise attack and the massive spell backlash from having her Spell interrupted, the Naga Hypnotist was in a world of hurt. Her HP had dropped to below ten percent and Garath knew his Plague debuff would finish her off.
Garath leaped a second time off the slimey blue skin of a Naga and shifted back into crow form. Shifting from one animal form to another felt much the same to Garath as shifting to or from human form did. With a bird's eye view, he took in the situation - there were definitely goods and bads.
Each member of the small Naga army was infected with Plague and had been taking steady damage since the fight had begun, good. Warrion hadn't wasted a second of his new found freedom and was facing off with the last of the Naga Pikemen from the far left platform, good. Sharon was running out of Mana as well as options with the ever enraging S'thys Zor. The Pikemen accompanying the dungeon boss were on the roof of the gazebo, approaching the Naturist from behind, bad. Athios was being chased from platform to platform by four Pikemen and a Sentry, but had somehow managed to dispatch the Hypnotist on her side, bad and good. In all, the situation was pretty dire.
*Athios save your Mana, go crow and kite them to Warrion, fight them together. I'm going to help Sharon,* he projected the combat orders to the party.
"Thank God for that, young man. I can't believe I let you... Ackk!" Sharon screamed bloody murder as a trident impaled her from behind. She fell to her knees coughing up blood from a punctured lung as the Naga retracted its weapo
n and prepared to finish the helpless Naturist.
The blow never landed. Garath shifted from crow to his natural form just before crashing into the back of the unsuspecting Naga, bringing his full one-hundred and ninety pounds barreling into its back. The impact landed them both on their backs atop the slippery roof and they tumbled, tangled and struggling, grappling off of the gazebo. The second Naga on the roof reacted quickly, slithering off the roof to attack the Necrologist that decided to drop in on their Sharon stabbing party.
Sharon was not doing well. The Naturist lay limp, dripping crimson atop the glistening rooftop. Her vision was dimming but she could still make out the numbers on her flashing Health bar that read 77/655. The blinding headache from Mana depletion and constant expenditure made it impossible for her to focus enough to cast a healing spell, even if she had the Mana to do so. With her last ounce of strength, the seventy-whatever-year-young Naturist summoned both of her Endless Potions into existence from her Items panel and raised each of them to her lips in turn, then let her head rest back on the wet, bloody rooftop of the gazebo. Her Health and Mana both jumped by 10% and continued to rise as she lay on the roof. The Epic quality potions saved her life but wouldn't be able to use them again for another ten minutes.
With Sharon no longer restraining S'thys Zor, the oversized cobra-man roared triumphantly and finally joined the fight. He slithered surprisingly quickly, closing the distance to the gazebo in seconds - where Garath was still wrestling with the Naga he had used as a landing pad moments before. Luckily, the second Pikeman that had been on the roof held his pointed weapon at the ready but didn't strike, careful to avoid friendly fire without a clean shot at the struggling Necrologist.
When Garath caught a glimpse of the approaching boss out of the corner of his eye while grappling with a creature that had most assuredly invested much more points into Strength than he had, he made his move.
The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) Page 29
