Nova Terra: Guardian - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 4)

by Seth Ring

  “One tube bug, express delivery.” Grinning cheekily, she winked at Thorn and then turned to monitor her spinning orbs.

  Amused, Thorn picked up the tube bug and tossed it to Alph who was standing at the back of the group, his eyes shining. Opening up a vial, he dripped a few drops of potion on the ground and kicked the tube bug into the growing foam. A few more drops on top of it made sure that the tube bug was firmly bound as it started to wake up.

  Pulling out a small dagger, he cut the thick skin of the immoble creature, gathering some of the blood that spurted out. Next to him, Velin watched with interest while making notes in her book. Occasionally she would look at the fight, but seeing that everyone seemed to have things well in hand, she focused on documenting what Alph was doing.

  As the two spell casters took care of the creatures on the flanks, Thorn and Hollowgen began to fire their ranged weapons. Thorn’s arbalest shook the air as bolt after bolt flew across the cavern, slamming into the long legged bugs. Next to him, Hollowgen’s fingers flickered as a steady stream of arrows flew from her bow. Though not nearly as destructive as Thorn’s bolts, Hollowgen’s arrows seemed to have eyes of their own, always finding weak spots on the bugs they targeted, proving no less effective as she downed bug after bug, leaving them littered across the cavern floor like pin cushions.

  Despite the effectiveness of the team’s ranged attacks, the horde of bugs seemed endless, and the wave of enemies soon drew within thirty feet. BrokenBlade glanced over at Heidi one last time. Seeing Heidi’s nod, BrokenBlade took a breath and activated her primary tanking ability, [Warrior’s Challenge]. A ringing sound echoed from her strange sword, pressing forward in a wave that encompassed the front ranks of the charging bugs. Thorn could tell the difference instantly as the bugs’ attention suddenly shifted toward BrokenBlade.

  “Come on!”

  Letting out a shout, BrokenBlade strode forward, stopping five steps in front of the group. Swinging her blade to the side, she grabbed one of the angled handles and redirected it to spin around her head. Her blade began to rotate around her body in a steady rhythm, cutting through the air with a ferocious whistle.

  The whistle produced by her blade seemed to infuriate the bugs, driving them into a frenzy as they threw themselves at her, only to be battered aside by the spinning blade. Thorn quickly noticed that BrokenBlade used her sword as a shield more often than as a sword, smacking the incoming creatures aside instead of cutting into them.

  For a moment Thorn was worried that BrokenBlade was going to be buried by the sheer weight of the creatures’ bodies, but before she was overwhelmed a glowing blue fist smashed into a bug’s side, launching its broken body back over the heads of the horde. Bluefire stood a few steps behind BrokenBlade on her left side, her magical weapons smashing into the bugs that tried to bypass the tank.

  On BrokenBlade’s other side, Priss’ whirling axe cut the approaching bugs into pieces with ease. The half-Orc’s muscles glowed with a faint red energy that pulsed every time she cut into another enemy. As the glow deepened, her axe began to get faster and faster, cutting through the bugs more easily.

  Behind BrokenBlade, staying clear of the spinning sword, Heidi held her shield loosely as she waited for her time to take the pressure off of BrokenBlade. That time came quickly due to the sheer number of enemies.

  BrokenBlade had been continually swinging her sword for over five minutes when it began to slow slightly. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, BrokenBlade lifted her hand, holding two fingers over her head.

  “Got it.”

  Hearing the words from behind her, BrokenBlade spun to the side, pulling the attention of the crowd that was still fixed on her away from the center of the player’s formation. Heidi had lifted her shield and was waiting for the moment when the bugs’ attention was pulled to the side. Activating [Burning Like A Flame], she charged forward, taking BrokenBlade’s position at the front of the group.

  [Earthen Spear Wall]

  The energy of her charge flowed into the ground as Heidi’s shield slammed down into the rock, stopping her charge in exactly the same spot where BrokenBlade had stood a second earlier. The energy rippled through the ground in a fan shape, spreading into the crowd of bugs and knocking them back. Razor sharp stone spears ripped their way out of the ground, skewering the nearby bugs and creating a clear space in front of the team.

  [Ride The Waves]

  As the bugs surged back into the space created by Heidi’s [Earthen Spear Wall], she began to weave back and forth, slipping past their attacks with infuriating ease, driving them into a frenzy. Watching the bugs redouble their efforts to attack her, BrokenBlade backed off to rest.

  Hollowgen was about to stop shooting and cast a spell on BrokenBlade to help her recover faster, but before she could a bright glow flashed from the top of Velin’s staff and a golden light settled on BrokenBlade, restoring her stamina.

  “You focus on damage, I’ve got the healing covered.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Hollowgen said as her hands continued to flicker, sending arrows into the massed crowd of enemies.

  BrokenBlade could feel her strength returning as Velin’s spell brought her back to full energy. As she waited for her cool downs to finish, she kept a close eye on Heidi, who was still weaving back and forth. Just before Heidi’s [Ride The Waves] ability ended, she swapped into her [One With The Mountain] stance, planting both feet firmly on the cavern floor.

  *DONG*

  Using the pommel of her sword, she struck the back of her shield, sending a peal through the cavern. For the briefest of moments Thorn could have sworn all the bugs froze and then looked at Heidi. That moment was gone in an instant and Thorn saw all of the bugs swarming toward Heidi as if their lives depended on it.

  Sharp claws and teeth pounded her shield, but despite the storm of attacks she stood as solid as a mountain, completely unmoving as the force of the attacks was spread out across the floor. As more and more bugs crowded in front of Heidi, climbing over each other in their eagerness to attack, Thorn called to Vivi.

  “Can you drop an AoE fire spell right in front of Heidi?”

  “Sure.” Vivi immediately switched from maintaining her magma wall to casting a new spell. “Priss, cover for me, please.”

  “On it.”

  Priss gave a low roar and spun quickly, blasting all the nearby enemies back. With a smoothness that pointed to countless hours of practice, she stepped forward and to the right while Vivi stepped back two steps, falling neatly behind the half-Orc. Finishing her spell, she pointed at the packed throng of enemies in front of Heidi and spoke the command words.

  [Greater Flame Swirl]

  From thin air heat began to gather, spinning around in a giant swirl. The super-heated air burst into flame, sending gouts of fire swirling through the ranks of the bugs who had packed around Heidi. The flames had incinerated all the enemies directly in front of her, giving her a respite from the horde. Once the enemies were cleared, the spell started to fade, but Heidi quickly swapped her stance for the third time.

  [Inferno Shield]

  Heidi gritted her teeth as her shield began to glow, directly absorbing the flames that swirled around in front of her. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she could feel her skin beginning to burn. The potion that Alph had given her had protected her the last time she used [Inferno Shield], but it had worn off days ago.

  Soon the whole spell had been sucked up and her shield was glowing white hot. With the spell gone, the bugs surged forward again, filling the space that had been cleared. A quick glance backwards showed Heidi that BrokenBlade had already recovered and was ready to take her place again.

  [Burning Like A Flame]

  Bursting forward, Heidi took three steps into the incoming crowd and released the effect of her [Inferno Shield]. A wave of heat poured into the bugs, turning them to ash instantly. Panting, she fell back past BurningBlade who had just stepped forward.

  “Akira.” Thorn called out, sending another
bolt into the crowd.

  [Got it, master!]

  [Royal Grace]

  A warm light washed over Heidi, relieving her burning skin and healing the damage she had taken. Waving at Akira to show that she was okay, Heidi faced the front again, keeping watch on BrokenBlade who was once again waving her sword around her body.

  Over the next forty minutes the team repeated the same sequence six more times, with BrokenBlade tanking for four minutes and Heidi tanking two. Over and over they crushed the bugs that rushed toward them while Mina, Bluefire, Priss, and Vivi destroyed bugs on both sides. Yet, despite the number of bugs they killed, there seemed to be no end to them. Looking over the battlefield, Thorn frowned.

  “Hey, Alph, what is going on? Why aren’t the numbers being reduced? Alph?”

  Thorn nudged the alchemist a few times until he looked up from examining the blood of the tube bug that Thorn caught.

  “What?”

  “Can you shed some light on what is happening here? Why are we not making progress here?”

  “Um, because you are not as cool as my potions? Haha, no, but really, have you tried moving forward? They really do have endless numbers so standing here and fighting isn’t actually going to help. I’d guess that their gestation period is short enough that they’ll respawn before we can kill them all.”

  “Are you serious? That would have been nice to know before we stood here fighting for half a day!”

  Priss’ annoyed voice carried over from where she was fighting. Dodging a feeble swing from the tube bug she had just cut in half, she kicked out, her boot smashing in the teeth of another tube bug that was jumping toward her.

  “Priss!” Bluefire’s voice was heavy, her annoyance obvious.

  “Well, now we know. And it isn’t a bad thing that we’ve gotten the chance to learn how to work together.” Thorn spoke slowly, doing his best to keep his temper, even in the face of the half-Orc’s bad attitude. “We’ll need to change up our formation to move forward. Bluefire, Priss, you’ll be with me in the front. Tanks will take the flanks to protect the casters. Hollowgen, you’ll be responsible for calling threats. Any questions?”

  “Yeah, what is our formation in the front?” Bluefire paused to ask between crushing tube bugs.

  “We’ll be going with a rough diamond shape. I’ll take point with you on my left and Priss on my right. Heidi will cover the right flank and BrokenBlade will cover the left flank.”

  “Wouldn’t it be best to have the highest DPS taking point?” Priss asked as she cut a tube bug in half.

  Under his wolf head helmet, Thorn rolled his eyes. Putting his arbalest away, he drew his tetsubo and rested it on his shoulder as he strode to the front of the group.

  “Yup, and that is why I’m taking point.”

  “You think you…”

  Priss’ words had barely escaped from her lips when Thorn stepped past BrokenBlade and stomped on the ground. His foot sunk into the stone and the resulting shockwave blasted the nearby tube bugs up into the air. With a casual swing four of the unfortunate creatures exploded in a shower of blood. The fifth was caught in Thorn’s other hand and tossed at one of the large armored eggs. Smashing into the leather plates, the tube bug was smashed to a pulp against its hard brethren. Turning his head, the glowing eyes of Thorn’s helmet raked up and down Priss’ body, sending a chill down her spine.

  “Yes, yes I do.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  Thorn’s annoyance at Priss’ rotten attitude was put to good use as he began to forge the path forward through the cavern. The multitude of tube bugs and swarms of long-legged bugs were swept aside by broad strokes of his tetsubo, leaving a thick trail of goo behind him. Every stamp of his foot crushed a bug to paste and every swing of his weapon cut a swath through the packed crowd of enemies.

  “Priss! Keep up or swap out!” Bluefire shouted at her companion as she followed Thorn into the fray.

  Jerked from her disgruntled shock by Bluefire’s ringing voice, Priss pulled her eyes from the massive figure leading the way and began spinning her axe, neatly bisecting a long-legged bug that was trying to stab her with its claws. Seeing that a gap was opening up between her and Thorn, she moved forward quickly, disregarding the attacks from the bugs that had swarmed into the space. A sharp sting on her thigh made the barbarian grimace, but she did not falter as she caught up to Thorn.

  “Thorn, that is too fast.” Velin called out, calmly casting a healing spell on Priss. As the golden light closed the small wound on Priss’ thigh she continued “Wait until we get used to your rhythm.”

  “Sure thing.”

  Suppressing the urge to rush into the middle of the cavern, Thorn took a deep breath between his steps and continued to push his way forward, clearing a wide path at the front of the group. To his left and right Bluefire and Priss were widening the path to keep the pressure off of the healers and damage dealers, while BrokenBlade and Heidi dealt with the few enemies that did make it close.

  Mina, Vivi, and Hollowgen walked in the center of the formation, raining deadly area of effect attacks from a distance, wiping out swaths of the bugs as Velin kept her eye on healing the group. Akira rode on Velin’s shoulder, casting her support spell on Thorn every few minutes to keep him in top form. Next to Velin, Alph was still fiddling with the vials of blood that he had collected.

  Every few minutes he would run forward and give Thorn a [Sticky Light] potion before retreating back to where Velin stood. Pausing, Thorn held the latest [Sticky Light] potion in his hand, looking up at the ceiling of the cavern for a good spot. Seeing a relatively flat area, he threw the potion, watching it spread out, increasing the illumination of the area. The bugs were surging forward again in a wave, so he resumed his slow walk forward, killing bugs with every step.

  “Alph, you fought your way through this area before, right?” Velin’s question caused everyone in the group to listen carefully.

  “Yeah, quite a few times in years past. Though, I’ve mostly been just culling their numbers for the last few years. Not much point in getting close to the tree so it's easier to wipe them out en masse.”

  “Are there any enemies that are more difficult than these?” Bluefire asked, cutting through two leaping tube bugs with the glowing magic blades that extended from her tonfa while delivering a neat snap kick to another, crushing it into a pulp.

  “Oh yeah. Just wait till we get to the closer caverns. These guys are just the small fry. We still have the spike bugs, the juggernauts, the spitters, and probably the elemental bugs when we get close.”

  “Alph, it would be helpful to have all of this information now, rather than later when we’re actually fighting them.” Velin’s calm voice cut off the angry words that Priss was about to speak. “Can you give me a rundown of the different types?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure. Hold on. Let me try this.”

  Alph carefully weighed a greenish potion in his hand as he looked around for a good place to throw it. Seeing a clump of enemies near the entrance to the cavern, he wound up and lobbed the glass vial at them.

  From the front of the group Thorn watched the potion soar over his head nervously. The concoctions that Alph created were undoubtedly impressive, but their unpredictability made Thorn sweat. The potion landed in the middle of the enemies, sending a puff of green smoke into the air as the vial broke open and splashed the bugs with the green liquid.

  Startled by the sound, the surrounding bugs rushed to where the potion had landed, milling around as they tried to find the enemy. Unable to discover anything, they soon turned around and resumed their slithering toward the group.

  “Huh, that should have done something. Maybe too much Xilipi? Hmmm.”

  “Alph! Before you get lost in that, can you tell us about the enemies that we’ll be facing?”

  “Oh, right, yeah.” Lifting his head from the potions he was about to mix, Alph furrowed his brow. “There are a bunch of other, bigger bugs that we’ll fight soon. The closer we get to the Wo
rld Tree the worse it will be. There are bugs with really sharp spikes that roll up and try to run you over. If you get caught by a bunch of them they will crush you into a pulp.”

  “Do they have a weakness?” Hollowgen asked, pausing between arrows to scan the cavern’s exit.

  “Yeah, if you can hit them on the side they fall over. Oh, and slowing them down makes them just about useless. They only do damage when they are moving quickly. Then there are the spitters.” Alph’s eyes lit up as he began to talk about the different creatures. “The spitters do what you would assume, they spit acid. Each bug has about five shots before it has to rest to regenerate acid. It takes between seven and ten minutes to regenerate depending on the size of the bug.