Todd changes targets, redirecting his [water spear] toward a bug that comes at Ranger Drew from behind. The bug raises its stinger before a finger’s width of water punches through its abdomen. It’s flung to the side and off the second step of the platform.
Todd spins and lunges towards a decapod that is trying to circle around the defenders. He drives his ixwa down into its thorax and it punches through the dense layer of shell. Writhing, the creature swings its bulging tail around to sting Todd. He deflects the barb with his wrist guard, rips his spear out of its body, and then kicks it under its chin. It goes rolling down the ramp, then drags its body as it bleeds out onto the stone.
His hand whips out and he scans for opportune places to put a skill. His ixwa drips with goo.
They’ve been at it for three hours now. Bodies litter the platform, sometimes in pieces. The crabs come in irregular intervals and inconsistent group sizes, without rhyme or reason.
Sometimes their attacks are spaced so close that the group hasn’t finished killing the prior one. Sometimes they get minutes of downtime. On occasion the swarm is small enough that Ranger Drew and Joe handle it on their own. On the other hand, they’ve nearly been overwhelmed by a big group once.
Joe’s new sword has been a godsend. He whirls with it and cleaves crabs one after another. He has some trouble keeping the edge aligned with his swing, he’s no trained swordsman. But the blade is heavy enough that it batters his opponents all the same.
Ranger Drew is a terror. His spear glows hot with internal radiance and he mows through bugs one at a time, with efficency and brutal force.
Somewhat unexpectedly, it’s Candra who struggles now. Her scepter is only maximally effective when striking their heads, and their tiny brains are difficult to pin down. She does damage to them, bursting internals, but their primitive bodies are often mobile even under severe duress. She screams in frustration and she bashes with her shield. She fights with precision windows of success and demands ever greater accuracy of herself.
They’ve picked up two more orbs. They’ve missed one.
It turns out that the glowing balls of light represent additional build points. Claiming them adds to their total available in the crystal. They’re at two hundred fifty points.
Todd holds his last two energy replenishment pills in his pocket where he can get at them quickly. So far he’s been keeping his reserves topped off by absorbing from a nexus crystal when he has the opportunity.
So far, none of them have been stung yet. Their armor and their dexterity has been sufficient to keep them out of harm’s way.
The problem is the monotony. They aren’t growing tired of body yet, their vitality is too high to wear out so fast, but their minds are growing lax and bored of fighting the same creatures over and over again.
Todd feels himself botching strikes that he should have been more careful taking. So far it hasn’t cost him, but he chastises himself all the same.
He stomps on the face of another redburr crab, shoving it backwards. Then he spins about, searching the far reaches of the chamber for another orb.
Candra falls upon the rolling bug and slaps it thrice with her weapon before she has to redirect to another threat.
From the left side, Todd sees a glow peeking out from behind a distant column. Excited, he stabs a crab through its mouthparts and then skips left a few steps. Checking the timer on the next wave, he finds the period large enough.
“Build points!” Todd calls out.
“Go for it!” Joe calls back.
Joe swings his sword low and severs the front limbs of a crab. It falls clumsily on its front parts and he lines up a long stab to finish it off.
Todd turns and runs. His lungs feel like they’ve been fluorinated. He doesn’t have to push himself, but he does anyways. If there are any bugs left by the time he gets back, he can help.
His upper legs sting terribly. They’re unarmored, and the whipping antennae of the redburr crabs have lashed them several times. They itch as his vitality works hard at healing the long red bruises.
Finally, Todd reaches the floating orb. It fascinates him. He wonders what the text inside of the floating light says. But he doesn’t waste time, he taps the ball in the side and it flies off towards their crystal.
The run back is interrupted as two bugs have veered off course and move to intercept him. Breaking stride, Todd swerves hard and increases his speed to circle around them. He runs himself ragged. The crabs pursue him relentlessly. He plants his boot down and his ankle is under intense load as he cuts left again. Antennae whip at his shins and leave abraded scuffs on his armor.
Todd rushes back to the others with the two wedge shaped crabs hot on his heels. A web flies overhead and slaps down on one of the two bugs. Joe pivots over and chops the other one nearly in half at the midsection. Todd’s legs burn, but he lunges and stabs the entrapped crab in its head.
The four of them stand over corpses and rest. They don’t say anything except the occasional word of encouragement. Ranger Drew makes a hand gesture and compels them to form up again.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The timer ticks down. More beasts appear. The trial continues.
A few hours pass. The bugs are no longer coming out of one tunnel. They have spread to the right and left as well. The four cultivators have to spread out to tackle them. Todd starts having to tear through his cosmic energy to hold his own position.
He sits unaffectedly right next to a dead redburr crab. He holds a nexus crystal in his hands and sips on the energy desperately.
“So what do we want to buy?” wheezes Joe.
Candra wipes her face with the crook of her elbow. “I want to get the arrow one. We’re getting overwhelmed.”
Todd wants to ask a question, but he’s too busy.
“What do you think, Drips?” Joe asks.
“Arrow sounds fine,” Todd murmurs, trying not to lose concentration. His brows furrow as his streams fluctuate.
“Should I just place it?” Joe asks.
Todd calms the flows and settles the influx. His eyes open and he stands.
“It’s fine. Let me place it,” he says.
Todd hops up the innermost ramp towards the hub crystal. He connects to it and selects the [lesser force arrow turret] out of the list. The holographic overlay of the pillar appears in his vision and he directs it slightly to the side. The image turns blue when it’s free to be placed.
When Todd locks in the position, a violet monoclinic crystal bursts from the stone with a tiny seed pasted to the apex. The crystal grows up like a needle that thickens at impossible speed. As it forms, runes appear on its surface and a fractal congeals in a ring around the top of the stone. The little seed bursts open into a green shoot that circles around the crown of the crystal and darkens, forming a living brown vine. There is a flare of fire and more runes carve into the surface of the wood. Once it’s stable, the crystal glows with a dull internal pulse.
“That’s cooler,” Joe notes.
Todd looks the pillar over once and then gets back on the floor to continue replenishing his energy. He’s still going to need it.
Four hours later, Candra flies through the air. She slaps the floating orb and then yanks backwards at breakneck pace. Bugs nip at her heels and she vaults over them in a massive tucked leap. She hits the hard ground and stumbles, rolls, then regains her footing.
Todd is pressed by three crabs at once and he can’t handle it. He fires a [water spear] into the compound eye of the bug at his left and it tears into its delicate nervous system. It flails. Nevertheless, the stubborn thing doesn’t die.
Another larger crab rears on its back legs and scythes with its nasty front limbs. Todd feints and pulls back, trying to bait out those arms to get a clearer shot at its vulnerable body. The third creature swings around his side, raising its stinger to get him from behind.
A tearing sound rips through the air as a vector of force shoots out into the mass of crabs surrounding Joe. The webbing flings out towards Ranger Drew’s flank.
There’s no help coming. Everyone else is bogged down. Todd plants one foot far back and then twists into a brutal side kick into the end of the rear crab’s abdomen. It is thrown five feet and its plating is cracked and leaking at the impact point. Todd’s spin carries him back to face the cutting bug and he parries one sharp arm with his ixwa. It’s not a good enough opening. Antennae lash against his gambeson and he shrugs them off. He parries again, and he uses his arm braces offensively to block some of the other cutting arms. But Todd doesn’t feel confident taking the strike, so he pushes his cosmic energy into his fractal and blasts the bug in the face.
The crab screetches, part of its shell is severed and splits like a lobster tail popping open. Todd dives through the backspray, grabs one arm, spins the thing, and follows through with a stab to the top of its head.
His gloves already have deep cuts in them, but they’re tough, durable leather. They’ll last a while longer.
He hunts down the two injured crabs and delivers the coup de grace. Candra returns to the formation and pulls pressure off of Ranger Drew.
Todd assigns both points to his dexterity and closes his menu. The next wave of bugs are already on their way.
Another two hours later and Todd swallows an energy replenishment pill. He fills the [Shui We dipper] from his canteen and charges the dose with a careful flow of energy. Once it’s ready, he swings the tool over to the lips of Joe.
Joe grimaces. His leg kicks. A puncture wound near his knee oozes. “Do you this is going to work?” he asks through grit teeth.
“I don’t know. But the pixies said that water healing is cleansing,” Todd offers. “It’s our best bet.”
Joe accepts and drinks down the full draught in one long go. He lets out a smack of the lips and shivers.
“Is it working?” Candra asks. She carries Joe’s sword over her shoulder.
It’s too long for her, but the group needs it in action. It’s simply too effective.
Joe stretches his leg, pumping it twice. “I don’t know. It feels a little better, but I’m not sure.”
Ranger Drew paces angrily a distance away. “Moron,” he mumbles to himself. “Should have been more careful.” His eyes glaze over as he looks at the countdown.
Todd steels himself he watches the seconds count down. This next wave is going to be difficult.
Holding Candra’s scepter in his left hand, and his ixwa in his right, Todd wails on a sickly gray variant of the the crabs. This type of creature has shorter legs, but pronounced, barbed mouthparts. Sticky yellow fluid drips from their mandibles.
It doesn’t matter what the stuff does, Todd doesn’t intend to get bitten. He stuns a crab on his right with a blow to its head, then he runs it through with his spear. Pushing through, he forces the crab forward in order to avoid the bugs at his sides. The force arrow turret buzzes and then a rippling projectile punches into a crab at his side, giving him some relief.
Todd kicks the body away and turns to batter another opponent. The longer he fights, the more he gets used to the fact that his reflexes and speed are supernaturally sharp. He weaves in between monsters and targets the joints in their armor. He dodges and kicks and strikes.
He’s still pressured hard.
Joe stands at the crystal. He hobbles a little bit, one leg stiff. [Armor breaker] is in his hands. He’s had to deal with one or two crabs that have gotten through the rest of them. It isn’t ideal. Still, he’s recovering. Or at the least, he’s acclimating.
They’ve been forced to miss another orb. It’s an annoying disappointment. There’s no way they’re going to be able to sleep unless they get more towers up to cover them.
Still, the amount of cosmic energy Todd is gaining is massive, and he’s pushing towards level fifteen at a brisk pace. The four of them are holding strong and the mobs of beasts are just fuel for their growth. No doubt, the challenge will grow more difficult, but for now at least, the humans are in firm control of the battlefield.