Sofia could still sometimes hear the echoes of the group talking, but they weren’t as loud as the first time. The winding path she had taken through the tunnels only muted the sound more and more after each turn.
Every way forward has a Thrombber, bad luck… What now? Can I kill one silently, if they scream like the other two it’ll probably attract not only the headhunters but also the other monsters nearby.
Right then, the bird that she had left near the entry point of that tunnel unsummoned itself, which they were ordered to do if there was a chance they would be spotted. They already tracked me down to this tunnel?! Alright, calm down. Two things. An escape route and a way to slow them down…
As a test, she had one of the far-off birds in the tunnels near the entrance attack one of the Thrombbers. The skeleton bird died. Then she did the same with another one, this one survived after a quick fly-by and fled. Stop if you’re not being chased.
The bird kept flying through the tunnels, soon reaching the main mine. Great! All birds, attack! Lure as many of these things as possible in the tunnel I’m in, and no more unsummon on sight, attack the people if you can.
Tiny birds or not, they were still level 142, that had to count for something, she thought. Surely they could give them a scratch or two, or at least make them waste some mana. According to her tracking, about fifteen Thrombbers and bird duos were currently en route toward her enemies.
Looking at the eight birds that were still with her and Pareth, she had one of them do the same to a Thrombber in one of the paths ahead while she hid in another. That left her barely out of yet another of the monsters’ vision. She was using the winding shapes of the tunnels to her advantage to avoid detection. As soon as the path was clear, she left the occupied tunnel and entered the now free one, and my new friends will even get to be slightly encircled. I’d lead more to them from this side but I don’t have many birds left.
The first undead birds reached the group and died, soon followed by the intense sounds of battle. Sofia ran, her seven remaining birds were splitting ahead to scout the different paths and coming back to her in waves. Fear me, slimes of the world, for I am now a master of echolocation too! Or birdlocation. Doesn’t sound as good. Ah, here’s another one… there’s no real place to hide for it to get past me. Take care of it, Pareth.
‘You have defeated [Male Thrombber - lv. 129]’
Sofia didn’t even have to stop running, Pareth ran ahead and disposed of the monster before she could reach it, piercing it thrice with a light lance. It made a lot of noise as the creature screamed, but the people chasing Sofia could already follow her anyway.
I need to buy anti-divination items next. So many safeguards to have just to be left alone…
Sofia kept following the birds, turning left and right until she found a gallery that was a long single line, of maybe around sixty meters.
That’ll have to do, I can’t risk getting trapped in a dead end. If you all want a piece of me, you’ll get it.
She left a bird at the entrance and as she ran, shoved a potion vial into her mouth. I should find another kind of potion container if I can… How long do I have? Bird, position.
A bird flew back from where Sofia came and eventually died, giving her the exact position of her pursuers.
I have like twenty seconds, more than enough. She thought as she reached the other side of the straight tunnel, she backed herself against the wall. Ok, concentrate. Pareth, grounds, I need the defense buff, and stand ready next to me with the greatshield.
I can’t do so many things at once… She opened the book and summoned the lone soldier, quickly ordering him to ditch the bow as she shoved the projectile speed catalysts into his hand, one held the legendary catalyst and one had a regular one. Staggered strikes to prevent counters… Graveyard almost ready. Can I hide the tombstones?
Sofia tried to control how the things would appear, and found mild success, managing to at least have them all spring up near the walls instead of the middle of the gallery where they could hinder her attacks. Graveyard skeletons gather near the entrance, stay fully underground, catch them when they walk over.
Setup done, now armor…
Using an [Angel’s bolt] in a tight underground space was dangerous, reckless even, the explosion would have nowhere to go and a cave-in was the least terrible outcome. And that’s why Sofia used two.
“Alright Pareth, you better be ready to jump in front of me…”
Sofia took aim at the other side of the tunnel through the catalysts before the lightning’s radiant blue light obstructed her vision.
Soon the skills in both her hands were ready. But the graveyard skeletons on the far end showed no signs of movements. The pursuers were late to the party. Sofia endured and kept the skills ready, the lightning bolts kept compressing into thinner and thinner rods of plasma until they almost felt solid to the touch. Every second the pain was mounting, the armor around her hands was burning away. Even the healing potion she drank could no longer keep up with the damage the angel bolts dealt to her body, until Sofia couldn’t hold her screams anymore. It was hard to think of anything but pain, no longer fully contained by the skill’s protection, lightning was coursing all over her body.
She held the bolts for a total of twenty-eight seconds before the signal from the graveyard skeletons came that her targets were in place. After what felt like an eternity, Sofia finally released them.
The explosion was near instantaneous, and it was on par with the one that had made her blind and deaf in Zangdar when the whole inner city blew up.
Pareth was the one to take most of the blast but Sofia was still knocked out.
A cast of [Greater heal] later, Sofia woke up, being carried by a half-charred Pareth running through the collapsing caves. There were Thrombbers here too, also very busy escaping, they did not even pay the duo any attention as they rushed through. Follow the monsters, they know the way, Sofia managed to convey to Pareth as she tried to adjust. Her body was still busy rearranging itself and bouts of pain came as her nerves grew back from the effects of the healing spell. She scrambled to check her notifications. Four! I got them all?!
‘You have murdered [Duraud - Cannoneer lv. 233]’
‘You have murdered [Tagadur - Assassin lv. 205]’
‘You have murdered [Golend Ironhelm - Captain lv. 249]’
‘You have murdered [Tiar- Sea Shaman lv. 180]’
‘You gained a level!’ * 5
There was a silent one…
Of course the level 250 survived. Well, four out of five isn’t too bad. Also with these names and classes… I’m being hunted by dwarves?
Pareth kept running but the collapse slowed down and stopped. If I’m lucky the diviner might get stuck in the collapse and die suffocated, but I guess she’s a dwarf as well so that won’t happen… I think the monsters are all running toward the main hive. It could be dangerous to follow them but that’s also my best shot at finding an exit without the birds.
There were still a few birds left that had been already scouting ahead and not caught in the explosion, but faced with the hundreds of junctions in the tunnels, there wasn’t much they could do. So she kept following the fleeing Thrombbers until, as predicted, she entered the main Hive.
The descriptions hadn’t lied, the humongous cavernous chamber was home to countless white fungus covered pillars the spider legged worms were busy taking care of. The tunnel led to exactly nothing but a precipitous drop, as the Thrombbers could latch onto the pillars. There had to be at least a hundred meter drop, she could not see the bottom, and there were about fifty or so meters between her and the cavern’s ceiling. There’s pillars everywhere. I can’t fly here, my wings are too large…
Sofia immediately noticed the outliers in the monsters, twice as big, with many more legs and a long chitinous stinger, the female Thrombbers. They had also noticed her.
How ca- Sofia’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden surge of mana behind her, and Pareth tackling her ‘out’ of the tunnel. Sofia felt the heat move above her before she saw the fireball keep going straight and exploding against a mushroom covered pillar.
‘[Way of the Fool] reached level 7’
Hanging by the tip of my feet again… Been a while.
Pareth did not have the same capabilities, falling down to the depths of the hive’s main chamber.
This… even if Pareth was to catch me. I think if I fall I’m done for without my wings…
Is it time to finally use Sorrow’s skill?
Sofia saw the swarm of Thrombbers, both male and female, all rushing toward her, enraged by the explosion. She also heard the footsteps of the diviner, origin of said explosion, only slightly slowing down as they neared the exit of the tunnel. She had a lot of mana moving around her, Sofia could clearly feel it, moving in a sphere around her, likely a long-lasting defense skill. The person stopped only two meters away.
Sofia did nothing. She had a few options for what to do next.
“You deserve death!” Zerilda spat in rage, raising her scepter to stab Sofia’s feet which were barely holding her in place, upside down against the cliff.
No magic? This’ll be even easier than I expected.
Sofia could still sometimes hear the echoes of the group talking, but they weren’t as loud as the first time. The winding path she had taken through the tunnels only muted the sound more and more after each turn.
Every way forward has a Thrombber, bad luck… What now? Can I kill one silently, if they scream like the other two it’ll probably attract not only the headhunters but also the other monsters nearby.
Right then, the bird that she had left near the entry point of that tunnel unsummoned itself, which they were ordered to do if there was a chance they would be spotted. They already tracked me down to this tunnel?! Alright, calm down. Two things. An escape route and a way to slow them down…
As a test, she had one of the far-off birds in the tunnels near the entrance attack one of the Thrombbers. The skeleton bird died. Then she did the same with another one, this one survived after a quick fly-by and fled. Stop if you’re not being chased.
The bird kept flying through the tunnels, soon reaching the main mine. Great! All birds, attack! Lure as many of these things as possible in the tunnel I’m in, and no more unsummon on sight, attack the people if you can.
Tiny birds or not, they were still level 142, that had to count for something, she thought. Surely they could give them a scratch or two, or at least make them waste some mana. According to her tracking, about fifteen Thrombbers and bird duos were currently en route toward her enemies.
Looking at the eight birds that were still with her and Pareth, she had one of them do the same to a Thrombber in one of the paths ahead while she hid in another. That left her barely out of yet another of the monsters’ vision. She was using the winding shapes of the tunnels to her advantage to avoid detection. As soon as the path was clear, she left the occupied tunnel and entered the now free one, and my new friends will even get to be slightly encircled. I’d lead more to them from this side but I don’t have many birds left.
The first undead birds reached the group and died, soon followed by the intense sounds of battle. Sofia ran, her seven remaining birds were splitting ahead to scout the different paths and coming back to her in waves. Fear me, slimes of the world, for I am now a master of echolocation too! Or birdlocation. Doesn’t sound as good. Ah, here’s another one… there’s no real place to hide for it to get past me. Take care of it, Pareth.
‘You have defeated [Male Thrombber - lv. 129]’
Sofia didn’t even have to stop running, Pareth ran ahead and disposed of the monster before she could reach it, piercing it thrice with a light lance. It made a lot of noise as the creature screamed, but the people chasing Sofia could already follow her anyway.
I need to buy anti-divination items next. So many safeguards to have just to be left alone…
Sofia kept following the birds, turning left and right until she found a gallery that was a long single line, of maybe around sixty meters.
That’ll have to do, I can’t risk getting trapped in a dead end. If you all want a piece of me, you’ll get it.
She left a bird at the entrance and as she ran, shoved a potion vial into her mouth. I should find another kind of potion container if I can… How long do I have? Bird, position.
A bird flew back from where Sofia came and eventually died, giving her the exact position of her pursuers.
I have like twenty seconds, more than enough. She thought as she reached the other side of the straight tunnel, she backed herself against the wall. Ok, concentrate. Pareth, grounds, I need the defense buff, and stand ready next to me with the greatshield.
I can’t do so many things at once… She opened the book and summoned the lone soldier, quickly ordering him to ditch the bow as she shoved the projectile speed catalysts into his hand, one held the legendary catalyst and one had a regular one. Staggered strikes to prevent counters… Graveyard almost ready. Can I hide the tombstones?
Sofia tried to control how the things would appear, and found mild success, managing to at least have them all spring up near the walls instead of the middle of the gallery where they could hinder her attacks. Graveyard skeletons gather near the entrance, stay fully underground, catch them when they walk over.
Setup done, now armor…
Using an [Angel’s bolt] in a tight underground space was dangerous, reckless even, the explosion would have nowhere to go and a cave-in was the least terrible outcome. And that’s why Sofia used two.
“Alright Pareth, you better be ready to jump in front of me…”
Sofia took aim at the other side of the tunnel through the catalysts before the lightning’s radiant blue light obstructed her vision.
Soon the skills in both her hands were ready. But the graveyard skeletons on the far end showed no signs of movements. The pursuers were late to the party. Sofia endured and kept the skills ready, the lightning bolts kept compressing into thinner and thinner rods of plasma until they almost felt solid to the touch. Every second the pain was mounting, the armor around her hands was burning away. Even the healing potion she drank could no longer keep up with the damage the angel bolts dealt to her body, until Sofia couldn’t hold her screams anymore. It was hard to think of anything but pain, no longer fully contained by the skill’s protection, lightning was coursing all over her body.
She held the bolts for a total of twenty-eight seconds before the signal from the graveyard skeletons came that her targets were in place. After what felt like an eternity, Sofia finally released them.
The explosion was near instantaneous, and it was on par with the one that had made her blind and deaf in Zangdar when the whole inner city blew up.
Pareth was the one to take most of the blast but Sofia was still knocked out.
A cast of [Greater heal] later, Sofia woke up, being carried by a half-charred Pareth running through the collapsing caves. There were Thrombbers here too, also very busy escaping, they did not even pay the duo any attention as they rushed through. Follow the monsters, they know the way, Sofia managed to convey to Pareth as she tried to adjust. Her body was still busy rearranging itself and bouts of pain came as her nerves grew back from the effects of the healing spell. She scrambled to check her notifications. Four! I got them all?!
‘You have murdered [Duraud - Cannoneer lv. 233]’
‘You have murdered [Tagadur - Assassin lv. 205]’
‘You have murdered [Golend Ironhelm - Captain lv. 249]’
‘You have murdered [Tiar- Sea Shaman lv. 180]’
‘You gained a level!’ * 5
There was a silent one…
Of course the level 250 survived. Well, four out of five isn’t too bad. Also with these names and classes… I’m being hunted by dwarves?
Pareth kept running but the collapse slowed down and stopped. If I’m lucky the diviner might get stuck in the collapse and die suffocated, but I guess she’s a dwarf as well so that won’t happen… I think the monsters are all running toward the main hive. It could be dangerous to follow them but that’s also my best shot at finding an exit without the birds.
There were still a few birds left that had been already scouting ahead and not caught in the explosion, but faced with the hundreds of junctions in the tunnels, there wasn’t much they could do. So she kept following the fleeing Thrombbers until, as predicted, she entered the main Hive.
The descriptions hadn’t lied, the humongous cavernous chamber was home to countless white fungus covered pillars the spider legged worms were busy taking care of. The tunnel led to exactly nothing but a precipitous drop, as the Thrombbers could latch onto the pillars. There had to be at least a hundred meter drop, she could not see the bottom, and there were about fifty or so meters between her and the cavern’s ceiling. There’s pillars everywhere. I can’t fly here, my wings are too large…
Sofia immediately noticed the outliers in the monsters, twice as big, with many more legs and a long chitinous stinger, the female Thrombbers. They had also noticed her.
How ca- Sofia’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden surge of mana behind her, and Pareth tackling her ‘out’ of the tunnel. Sofia felt the heat move above her before she saw the fireball keep going straight and exploding against a mushroom covered pillar.
‘[Way of the Fool] reached level 7’
Hanging by the tip of my feet again… Been a while.
Pareth did not have the same capabilities, falling down to the depths of the hive’s main chamber.
This… even if Pareth was to catch me. I think if I fall I’m done for without my wings…
Is it time to finally use Sorrow’s skill?
Sofia saw the swarm of Thrombbers, both male and female, all rushing toward her, enraged by the explosion. She also heard the footsteps of the diviner, origin of said explosion, only slightly slowing down as they neared the exit of the tunnel. She had a lot of mana moving around her, Sofia could clearly feel it, moving in a sphere around her, likely a long-lasting defense skill. The person stopped only two meters away.
Sofia did nothing. She had a few options for what to do next.
“You deserve death!” Zerilda spat in rage, raising her scepter to stab Sofia’s feet which were barely holding her in place, upside down against the cliff.
No magic? This’ll be even easier than I expected.
