BlueShear
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Chap. 31
🕑 Added 2025-01-06 18:28:01 +0000 UTCCHAPTER THIRTY ONE
As they made their way deeper into the well lit forest, jumping over roots and balancing atop fallen moss covered logs, a stark divide appeared amid the gaggle of young children. Two diametrically opposed factions whose thoughts and ideals could not be bridged by mere words alone, no matter how lengthy or involved the dialogue.
“We should help!” Donald exclaimed, making the rather impressive stick he’d found earlier in the brush whistle through the air with every exaggerated swing.
“We are helping,” said Alice, readjusting the straps of her backpack to make her point—eyes never leaving her little bros sweat stained back, even as she navigated the treacherous terrain.
“But I’m tired of picking up stinky old rocks! I want to kick some freakin monster butt!”
“They’re not stinky, they’re pretty,” Sanya declared. “And besides, probably they’ll just kick your butt, silly.”
“Y-you don’t know that!”
“Uh huh. And who screamed like a baby when the monsters jumped from the bushes that ti-”
“Aah! I can’t hear you! La la la! I’m not listening!” Donald shouted, plugging his ears.
“We should just do what were told. Anyway I like picking up rocks. They’re smooth and shiny. Way better than scary monsters.”
Now, if only her little bro would see it her way, then maybe she wouldn’t have to worry so much. Then again, without him fighting off the monsters in the first place, how were they to find more of the smooth shiny rocks? Alice sighed. What a terrible predicament she now found herself in. All this inner turmoil was taking years off her life, she was sure. Her little bro would be the death of her, she was certain of it!
Daniel scoffed.
“Of course you would think that. You’re a girl.”
That was when a well aimed kick planted itself in his backside, making him stumble. Stick raised high, he rounded on the attacker, only to shrink back just as suddenly.
“And whit’s tha’ supposed to mean?”
Squinting, Skye got up real close and personal with the backpedalling lad, till their noses were almost touching—untamed mane of red hair giving her fearsome freckled countenance a measure of gravitas.
“Ah! N-n-nothing! I just… umm…” the boy audibly gulped.
Eyes bulging, he looked around frantically, as if for a lifeline. His eyes settling on the only other boy his age.
“Y-you get it, right Jimmy? Some stuff, girls just don’t understand. Stuff like killing monsters. Stuff like that! Right Jimmy?!”
Jimmy Yoon took one look at the pleading Donald, one look at the glowering Skye, before sweeping his gaze out over the forest with a sage expression.
“Hmm. It is sure nice out today. Good weather.”
Skye’s lips quirked. Donald’s eyes bulged. Betrayal writ large on his face.
“Ch-chance?!”
Chance opened his mouth to say something, caught Sanya’s knowing smirk, then closed it again with a scowl—effectively sealing Donald’s fate. Skye rounded on him, a fire alight in her eyes.
“Now. Whit did ye mean when ye said girls cannae hunt monsters?”
“I-I never-! I didn’t-! Eep!”
Just as it looked like Donald was in for the tongue lashing of the century, a voice interrupted their bickering. Or rather, the clearing of one.
“Ahem!”
They all turned to find a less than happy infant with arms crossed, a foot tapping impatiently on the forest floor.
Immediately they slumped. Looking down, they shifted their feet sheepishly. Everyone but Skye, that was. She lasted for a little bit longer.
However, ultimately the undeniable maturity that practically exuded from this deceptively tiny infant had her sullenly staring at her toes as well. The boy nodded appreciably, spun on his heel, and began confidently striding forward once more. Pointed towards a destination only he was privy to. The other, equally incomprehensible infant, floated along by his side. Her wide amber eyes drinking everything in ravenously.
The group of kids shared a look—a practiced look that was becoming increasingly common—before they each turned and hurried after the two anomalies, not eager to be left behind.
As they passed—all good cheer and joy filled laughter—two yellow ringed pupils glinted from the shadows. The good natured mascot—resembling a purple furred tabby—watched the children blithely trot past. It’s body so still that, except for the slow track of its feline eyes, it might’ve been mistaken for a statue. Until it moved, that was. Gliding. Flickering. Routinely disappearing behind tree cover. Seen and then hidden. Seen and then hidden. Until it passed behind a sickly, pencil thick sapling, and vanished from sight entirely.
+++
The first sign they were nearing the monster den was a notable shift in the general terrain.
Gone was the sparse, largely flat woodland. Forested hills now rose high in the distance. The path they could easily trek becoming narrower and narrower, as moss covered cliffs hemmed them in to either side. The beginnings of a semi-dry gorge lay ahead of them, with the soft loam under their feet being replaced by the hard rock of an uncovered riverbed—the occasional trickle of water winking from between cracks and crevices in the stone.
The second, of course, was a stationary system message hovering before the entrance of the winding gorge, that plainly stated as much.
-|—Candy-Hide Boar Den—|-
|-|—Lower F Grade Area—|-|
(Lvls 15 - 30)
(Suggested Lvl Before Entering: 25 - 35)
(Hint: It is highly recommended one attempt this challenge with a suitably high leveled and well equipped party.)
As they approached, Richard noted how the message wasn’t just hovering mid air like he’d thought. Instead it seemed to be part of a semitransparent force field that spanned the entirety of the gorges entrance. Richard frowned, reached out and placed a palm on the light blue forcefield.
You are currently too low level to attempt to clear this den.
Richard’s frown deepened. What was this? It wasn’t going to let him in? Richard pressed harder.
Please reconsider. There are other zones far more suited to your current grade and level.
He pushed harder. The forcefield beginning to bow under his palm.
Consider using a lower-grade zone to train and level. Once you’ve reached a sufficiently high threshold, come back and try again!
He leaned all his weight onto the stubborn force field, and, at long last, it gave way with a pop. Suddenly, it was as if he slipped through a statically charged membrane, the skittering discomfort lasting for but a moment, before he was drunkenly stumbling forward on the other side.
Once he’d righted himself, Richard looked back at the forcefield to see if he’d done any lasting damage.
Nope, looks good as new. So what was that then? A friendly warning? Enough to keep the idiots from blithely killing themselves, but not enough to deter anyone truly determined to go through?
It sure looked that way. Case in point, the kids were quick to follow his example. Bowing the semi-transparent wall under their combined weight, before suddenly slipping through all at once. He didn’t try to stop them. As far as he was aware, every single one of them was a beneficiary of Liora’s Blessing, so if anything truly dangerous did happen to slip past him, it was unlikely they’d be harmed in any meaningful way. Traumatized, perhaps, but then, he hadn’t been the one to insist they come along, now had he?
In short order, every member of their little “party,” had made it through the non-barrier.
Every member of their group, that is, but one. The creature slipped out from behind a mossy stone outcropping, and casually sidled up to the force barrier. It placed an oversized paw on the transparent field and pushed. Nothing happened. It placed both paws on the field and strained. The membrane didn’t even budge. Tail lashing in irritation, the creature leaned all its considerable weight on the, seemingly, flimsy barrier, yet, no matter how hard it tried, it just couldn’t seem to break through.
The creature stepped back and glowered at the impediment. Richard had to resist the urge to grin maniacally. This could be a trick, after all. And yet, going by the palpable waves of annoyance bleeding off the creature, literally setting the ambient mana to trembling, he didn’t think that was the case. But then, that begged the question. Why was the creature stopped cold when they were easily let through? It didn’t make any sense. Unless…
Are the restrictions for being over-leveled far more stringent than being under? Or maybe it’s like I first suspected, and this thing isn’t actually supposed to be here inside the tutorial in the first place.
Either way, the simple fact that it couldn’t follow along and scrutinize his every action opened up so many avenues for rapid advancement. He almost couldn’t wait to get started. And so, ever the pragmatist, he didn’t. Spinning on his heel, he began marching through the steep sided gorge. After a few apologetic looks and words of comfort spared for the irate kitty, the others quickly followed after him.
Minutes passed and their trek was both slow and eventful. Where they’d run across patrols of six to seven boars at a time on the outside—sometimes one after another—inside the twisting gorge that was their den, it wasn’t uncommon to run into a dozen at a time. Sometimes more. Twice the blade of his dagger snapped off in the ribcage of a boar, forcing him to buy and sharpen a new one in the middle of combat. Dodging in-between rocky outcroppings until he could find the time to peruse the points catalogue.
By the time the last of the beasts had been put down, signaling the end of that uncomfortably close engagement, Richard had adopted a new choice of weapon. One he probably should’ve selected from the very beginning. One with far more range.
•-|—Broken Spear—|-•
•[Poor]•
He really didn’t know what he’d been expecting. Upon making his purchase, what immediately appeared before him was a crude looking spear—exactly as advertised. One who’s shaft had clearly been snapped in two, then later “repaired” with copious amounts of duct tape. It cost him five-hundred and ten points to both repair and then sharpen his sorry excuse for a weapon—the weapon repair kit similar to the whetstone token, in that it also came in the form of a coin, if far larger and entirely made of silver—leaving him, by the end of it, with a far sturdier, if still bland looking spear.
•-|—Standard Spear—|-•
•[Common]•
Good enough, he supposed. And so, better armed and better informed, he continued on his forward march.
+++
Richard thrust his weapon forward, sticking the gigantic beast through the belly before twisting the shaft and pulling it free with a slash. Splashing its rainbow colored innards all over the rocky ground. The beast fell with a squeal of pain. Missing him by inches in the skidding tumble that followed.
Far too near and closing fast, the pounding sounds of hoofbeats ricocheted off the mossy walls of the dead end he now found himself in. Richard ran forward, leapt atop the writhing beast, and used its back as a stepping stone to launch himself onto a nearby ledge. Where he’d just been, a narrow stone recess with very few avenues of escape, three charging boars slammed head first into the unyielding stone wall of the cliff face.
BANG!
One particularly unlucky boar barreling into its gutted companion from where it lay bleeding out on the ground. The sudden collision turning all of its momentum into sudden flight—the beast flipping through the air, end over end— only to collide moments later with the moss covered wall. Shaking what felt like the entire gorge with a bone rattling impact.
Richard leaned down and stuck each of the stunned beasts several times all across their tough hides. With his lack of leverage, coupled with the distance, the strikes didn’t penetrate deep, though they were better than nothing, and the effort cost him little. In any case, it gave them something to think about as he leapt down from his perch and ran them through proper. Still dazed from their head-on collision with the gorge, they could do very little to stop him.
That done, he stepped back, spun. Slashed the eyes of another charging beast before twisting—letting it stumble past. More came. From his left this time. Another slash and another pig was blinded. He lurched back. It’s tusks narrowly missing his neck. The sound of hooves approaching from behind made the constant pinging sound the system insisted upon pestering him with all but meaningless. Without even looking, he jammed the butt of his spear into a crack in the stone. When he turned, he saw the beast was nearly upon him. He had less than a second to aim, so he targeted the largest area he could find.
The beast rammed its chest into his spear with such force, that the shaft of his weapon threatened to snap from the strain. Creaking and bowing precariously—resembling, in that brief, terrifying moment, the letter c. Thankfully its hide gave before his weapon did. The iron tip slipping between ribs to puncture the vitals that lay beneath. The beast literally skewering itself on its own momentum.
As the beast attempted to remove the pointy thing lodged in its chest, to no avail, Richard didn’t even try to retrieve his weapon. Instead buying and repairing a whole nother spear, for a sum total of 710 points. Thankfully, these beasts weren’t exactly stingy when it came to points distribution.
•-|—(You have slain an enemy: Candy-Hide Boar [Lvl 22])—|-•
Experience Gained. Participation Points Gained.
[+220 Participation Points]
Still, that was the fifth time he’d lost a spear in that manner, and the costs were beginning to add up. Not that he would’ve given up the extra range it offered for anything else in the world, mind you. Just having that extra bit of reach had saved his hide on countless occasions already.
I just wish the repair kit didn’t cost so darn much.
About an hour had passed since they’d first entered the monster den, and his Mighty Monster Slayer senses were telling him they were getting close. Richard quickly finished off the last of the stragglers—the beasts having grown to at least five an a half feet tall at the shoulders, several timeshis puny height at the head—before he set off to round up all the kiddies. Situated on a ledge some ways distant, there were a few close calls as they attempted to navigate their way earthward, but everyone, minus a few scrapes, eventually managed to get down safely.
Feeling the elites presence keenly in his mind, like the warmth of a far off bonfire, Richard decided it’d be prudent to break for a quick lunch. After that, he’d see just how challenging a Baby Mode elite could possibly be.
<Watcher> What did you think about the fight just now? Were you scared? Frightened? Excited? How did it make you feel?
Richard, not for the first time, attempted to establish some line of communication between himself and his charge. It would be rather difficult, after all, to teach her about her vast potential, were he unable to even get his words across. As it was, he still wasn’t sure if he was wasting his time or not. Hovering some eight feet in the air—never straying too far from his side, even as he ducked and weaved between terrifying monsters that dwarfed him in size—the little empress paused. Amber eyes going distant for a time.
<Penelope Green> … interesting…
Then her eyes focused and she began floating forward once more—curious gaze drinking in everything around her. As ever, her response remained exactly the same. Richard sighed. She might not have even been talking to him, for all he knew.
Ah well. At least she is replying. That’s promising. Right? Maybe with time she’ll move on from monosyllabic replies. Two words, for instance, would be a remarkable change of pace.
And yet, it was just as he was about to call for a quick lunch, when a familiar ping sounded in his mind.
<Penelope Green> … hungry…
<Penelope Green> … food…?
Richard snapped his head upward so abruptly, anyone else might’ve flinched back in surprise. The girl, on the other hand, merely met his gaze calmly, if with a pleading cast to her cherubic expression. Nearly vibrating with excitement, he did his best to maintain his composure.
Wouldn’t do for her wisened mentor to act all un-wisenedly after all.
<Watcher> Yes, food. We’ll eat in just a moment.
And at that, the precious little infant empress beamed.
Comments
Grant Prater
thanks! monosyllabic means one syllable. "interesting" is a tetrasyllabic (four syllable) word
Gopard
Thanks for the chapter! Lol the ancient hidden Baby Master trope who would have thought!
