Chapter 102: End of Battle, Time for Food
Chapter 102: End of Battle, Time for Food
/Once there was a story of a sun turned red.
Not a moon, it is common ground that occasionally the moon will be tinted by dark forces and shine down on Chronagen with malicious light. We have known for years that occasionally, a red moon will appear, causing troubles for any who look upon it.
But the sun is not like the moon. Vah is in the sky, giving warmth, giving life. The moon only sustains dark nights, gives a shimmer of hope where there would usually only be darkness, so malevolvence is less surprising.
Vah in the sky, the sun, is always reliable. Sometimes it may become heated, sometimes it may disappear for longer than we would like, but it is reliable. Always warm, always kind. Sometimes mildly angry at those who aim to bask in his light too much, punishing them with sunburn, yet those who love it dearly are rewarded with protection against its fury.
I thought so too, until I heard the story of when Vah turned his back. When the sky turned scarlet and black, not with red light of fury, but the crimson of blood. I heard the sun went away, leaving a hole in the sky. I heard the hole shone with hatred, a circle casting dreariness and sewing sorrow. And I heard that when Vah turns his back on us, there is nothing to do but run./
- - - - - -
Whatever he was fighting, it surely wasn't one entity. Those spells were too small for one person to keep up, especially without chants or focus assistance. In the middle of combat, it made no sense to replace ones mouth unless it was highly important.
To magicians it generally was that worthwhile, but not worthwhile enough to have such complex magic going. No, he was sure of it. The main creature was one that fed off magic, using the feelers to immobilize its prey, then maybe sting into them and suck their core dry, a little like a spider. But for that, a human body wouldn't be necessary.
No, the body was to become a trap for wanderers who didn't know what they were seeing. It was malleable, its skin elastic, and maybe able to shift colours. But Avery was certain that its insides were, at least partially, hollow. Rather than with muscle, it was filled with some sort of creature, maybe insects, that were able to instinctively cast magic, using some sort of hivemind.
Similar beings had been sighted before, though mimicking language certainly wasn't a very common trait. The smaller creatures probably lived in some form of symbiotic relationship with the magic eating husk, maybe being allowed to fully consume the physical body of their combined prey?
For now, he didn't need to know. Once the creature was registered, he would know in more detail. For now, at least the skin-husk around the skeleton was most certainly damageable. He could even harm its feelers, they looked about as tough as sinew. Not easy to break, but it should be doable, and very painful for the thing.
Of course, targeting the smaller creatures inside would be harder, but as long as they didn't leave, the shock from his attacks would be distributed among them. Such a strategy might work well if the attack doesn't hit heavy enough, but he was certain that even though they may shift, he was crushing them against each other and that kick had probably killed some of them. If it didn't, he'd have to employ some more Skills.
All in time, Avery thought to himself, still watching the creature as it slowly got up, the skin stretching as grains of sand were summoned to patch it up. The lower half of the monster's face was now more or less a swirling mass of dust, kept up by whatever things lived inside it. It would need that to chant spells if it wanted to avoid getting those feelers near Avery.
He was also sure it used charm magic in its voice, and perhaps some sort of spell on its eyes, though that one seemed to need full contact and visibility of the target's eyes as well. He would need to keep his goggles tinted, no matter what.
Having found some more confidence, Avery entered a fighting stance. His thick muscles coiled underneath, white vapour rising from his skin as sweat glistened and evaporated. He took deep breaths of the air, most of it scorching hot, but it was air nonetheless. He had dealt with tougher environments before, and he might need to deal with even tougher ones yet.
So Avery focused, his attention on the fight, and every muscle in his body taut, as he waited for the standstill to be broken, only to have his world turned upside down a moment later.
The ground beneath him began to move, shooting one of his legs upwards with little effort, and spinning him around. The same moment, he saw the creature's feelers move towards him, now covered in shells of dense rock, as they smashed into his chest, knocking all the air out even after he softened the blow with his hands.
Soon, another hit followed as rocks raised from beneath him, the spikes being stopped by his chainmail, but still feeling like someone took a metal bat and smashed it against his back. The pain felt hot on his skin, but luckily he had turned to the side slightly before it hit him, letting the attack move him to somewhere he could get solid footing.
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he looked at the thing he was fighting. He'd very clearly blown its human disguise, it didn't even bother to blink anymore, simply staring at him, as its feelers waved in the air. Avery took a couple moments to gather his bearing, catch his breath while lightly jogging to not be an easy target for ranged attacks.
Then, after recuperating for a second, he lunged again, covering the distance between them in a moment. "<Ribcrusher>!" he yelled, pulling his knee upwards. This time he didn't wait for the thing to flinch, simply going for it. Another faint probably wouldn't have worked, so instead, he decided to go with a big blow.
Not half a second later, his knee slammed into something hard. The thing had made something akin to an exoskeleton with magic, halting his attack. When he tried to pull back though, his leg was stuck, and in the second it took to free himself, the monster landed another attack. It opened its mouth, and a blast of boiling air flew out, hot enough to seriously burn his skin, not to mention his windpipe when he breathed in.
Avery choked almost immediately, recoiling from the pain as he spat out lungfuls of air, but the damage was done. His breathing was now more ragged, and it wasn't doing great for his stamina at all. Gritting his teeth again, the guildmaster began to gather his remaining strength. There wasn't much left in the tank, but it would have to do.
Taking one deep, painful breath of air, Avery pounced. He flung himself forward, at the creature, and punched. The attack was much quicker than his kicks, and while it didn't pack as much force, he scored a good hit on the thing's cheek, hopefully disorientating it. To help with that, he additionally activated <Bloodlust>, and the moment it froze, Avery dealt out two swift kicks to both its knees, hearing as they snapped and bent how knees were never meant to.
The monster let out a screech, and very quickly its plated feelers slammed toward's Avery's head, but just in time, he dodged. He put all his weight on his left leg as he raised the right one up, his center of gravity shifting. Then, he extended the right forwards, using the momentum from dodging in a kick that slammed right against the creature's skull, and once again he could feel snapping and shifting underneath as it was flung to the floor.
Unrelentingly, Avery then began to deal more attacks. Before the thing even landed, his left foot made contact with its forehead, and he quickly rained a flurry of kicks onto its back and chest, feeling himself squashing whatever the fuck lived beneath it.
Only after half a minute more did he stop, when the notification rang out.
Exhausted, Avery fell onto his butt. The system told him that the hive of things inside the mimic human was also done for, so he worried little. Some of them may be alive, but they certainly wouldn't be able to cast any magic, and they weren't strong enough to feed on him, probably.
Almost immediately, Avery drank half a healing potion. He called for a fire mage, too, wincing from the pain in his chest, but soon he got his assistance. Luckily not too late, he thought as he watched the mage heat the potion and evaporate it, so he could take a deep breath of some healing mist.
Usually, this kind of thing would be seen as wasteful, but in case of inhaling toxins or actually injuring the respiratory tract, it was better than breathing in liquid healing potions. Some richer seekers that specialized in toxic or extreme environments sometimes even brought capsules in which they stored specially made healing gas.
But none of that mattered for now. He'd won.
- - -
"YOU'RE FUCKING WHO?!?" As soon as Mercury got his sense back, he immediately took to screaming, as was understandable after meeting literally someone you learn about in history books.
"... I'm not 'fucking' anyone, beast."
"No, that's not-! It's a figure of speech, old man," Mercury said, shaking his head.
"Hm. Sure. Certainly, yes," Alexander scoffed.
"I- Sigh. Alright. Fine, you know what? Fine. My name is Mercury, mister 'waiting to die' the great. That tell you anything?"
"Should it?" he raised his brow, confused. The man still had his hands crossed in front of his chest, making his already large build seem even bigger.
"... Apparently not."
Then, for a couple seconds, the room rang awkwardly quiet, until Alexander sighed at the same time as Marsh wanted to start talking.
"Ah, sorry, I-"
"Nono, I'm sorry, you start.
"No, I mean, please-"
"You. Start," Alexander eventually said, sitting back down in his chair.
"Alright, fine," Marsh said, taking a deep breath. "Why do your introductions have to be so dramatic?"
"Hm?" the old man furrowed his brows, and it seemed like the air in the room grew almost thick.
"The 'owning the silence' bit, grandpa. I mean, isn't that a bit old fashioned? I bring someone over for the first time, do you have to try and scare them away?"
"No, I mean I didn't mean to, but-"
"You didn't mean to?" Marsh asked. "Then why do that every damn time?"
"..."
"Don't give me that look!" Marsh yelled.
"Look, kid, I'm sorry, it's-"
"It's alright, Marsh," Mercury said. "Honestly, I found it pretty cool. It has more weight when you know who he is, trust me."
As Mercury spoke, old man Alex raised a brow at him too. "A beast, defending my name?" I-"
"Call me beast one more time and you'll need someone else to defend your face," Mercury calmly replied, though his undertone was more than sharp.
"Thanks for understanding, Mercury," Marsh said, flashing the cat a smile. "Grandpa, could you maybe use his name, and introduce yourself properly?"
"I- fine," the old man said deflated. "Hello, Mercury. I'm Alexander, formerly of Macedon, though it holds little value now. Marsh is my grandkid. I love them very much, please be nice. I apologize for being rude before."
"Why did you say you're waiting to die?" Mercury decided to ask.
At the question, Alexander's face seemed to light up a bit. "I'm old. All old people know that the march of time is inevitable. Also, I've seen enough conflict for more than the two lifetimes I've led. Honestly, I want nothing more than to sit in the sun and watch as the days pass. See Ria age a little, watch Marsh grow up some more, and then rest."
"I suppose no one wants a big dose of war," Mercury said, watching as Marsh got a bit embarrassed at Alexander's sentimentality.
"No," the old man shook his head. "When I was young, I thought I did, the rush of battle, the blood boiling in my veins, the feeling of the horse between my legs, but those days are long over. My hot head has cooled down over time, and I feel as though war no longer calls for me. I even died of sickness, rather than battle."
"Heh, good on you. I choked on my food."
"..."
"..."
"Yeah, I know, I know," Mercury said. "It sounds pretty dumb, and it really is, but it happens."
"How did you manage to survive in this hostile place, Mercury?" Alexander then asked, his curiosity now peaked.
"Well, you know, if you don't roll with the punches, a modern capitalistic corporate office setting will really tear you apart. You go through all kinds of depression, so honestly, I think the fresh air here really did a lot for my motivation."
"I don't think I knew half of those words," Marsh said.
"Me neither," Alexander agreed.
"Food is ready!" Ria yelled, and almost immediately, the old man rose from his seat. He looked a bit like a bear when standing, but Mercury couldn't look at him that way anymore. Alexander was... not like what he'd expected. He admitted when he was wrong, which was a rare trait among old people, and Mercury could appreciate that.
"Let's talk about it more later, Mercury. Will you eat with us?" old Alex asked.
"I'd love to," Mercury replied with a smile.
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