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NBB3 - chapter 7: Troublesome zombies
🕑 Added 2021-11-04 15:15:24 +0000 UTC"Make sure you-"
"I know!"
"Stop interrupting-"
"Just keep moving, brainless," Sumil shouted while she ran between two six-meter high boulders.
Ahead lay her target, nestled in a deep wedge in the mountain. A Kaot lord that had been tossed down earlier in a massive battle between more Kaot Lords. The battle was still raging far above, roaring and explosions echoing down towards them. This Kaot Lord was a small one with two massive legs and tail and a headless torso covered in thin, nimble tentacles. Well, small for a Kaot lord. It still towered over her and Galg, easily twice as tall.
Galg zipped from a spot to her left to one close to the Kaot-lord. The monstrous entity roared a challenge, a split opening in the middle of its torso, showing thick white gums and a throat lined with rows and rows of concentric needle-sized teeth.
"Sure, big baby. Just try me," Galg shouted, and his body changed into a blue lightning bolt that shot towards the Kaot-lord. The bolt crackled against the tentacled flesh, then bounced back, changing into Galg, who landed in a heap on the ground.
"I can't get through," he projected to Sumil.
"You're not supposed to! Now go and distract it as you are supposed to," Sumil hissed in her sweet voice.
Galg muttered something that sounded unpleasant, but she had no time to spend on him. Twenty yards was her optimal range, and she was about to reach it when the Kaot Lord saw her.
Too late, she thought, smirking nastily. She raised both hands, and crackling balls of blue energy formed on her palms that began growing larger rapidly.
The Kaot lord must have felt trouble as it jumped forward, all of its tentacles directed at her.
That's new, Sumil thought, then grunted as her arms vibrated from the strain of keeping them in place. But it's fine! Why don't you just come closer? She continued holding the energy, feeling it build up on the palms of her hands. She waited until the Kaot lord was halfway, then released the two balls that were now each the size of her torso.
They shot forward, crackling and swirling. Mid-air, the Kaot Lord, tried to swat them away with its tentacles. The balls shredded the thin, bendable appendages, then slammed into his chest, lacerating the flesh as they drilled through, shrinking as they did. The impact halted the Kaot Lord's forward motion, and he slumped onto the ground, held standing by the swirling mass of blue energy. When half of his chest and surrounding flesh had turned to strips, the energy balls disappeared with a last slight poof.
Take that, Sumil thought as she stood bent over, her hands on her knees as she tried to keep from falling over. The attack had drained all of her energy but had been worth it.
"Now it's your turn," she shouted as she saw the Kaot lord totter, about to fall flat down.
Galg whooped and turned into a blue bolt that shot across the area, separating him from the Kaot lord. He struck the cavity of flesh just and punched a hole straight through, exciting the other end in a cloud of white liquid and gore.
The Kaot lord thudded on the ground, unmoving aside from the occasion twitching from its tendrils.
"Get its mana-core before the others come down," Sumil said as she grabbed a small mana-orb from her waist armor pouch. It was crudely crafted from a blue hide, stripped from another kaot, and shaped into a belt with a few pouches and a few lengths falling down her legs. Something about running around in her new naked flesh had felt wrong, but she'd not been able to pinpoint why.
"Mana-core she says. As if we are that lucky," Galg muttered as he shook his skull.
He blinked forward and crawled into the hole inside the Kaot-lords twitching corpse.
Ten seconds later, he crawled back out, covered in goo and bits, but carrying a fist-sized, square mana-core. He took one look at his slimy arm and sighed.
"How did you know?" he asked, changing into a lighting bolt and appearing in front of Sumil. The layer of filth was gone again, and he was back to his pristine white self.
Sumil straightened and turned away from the mountain. Behind them, the slope led back down another mile or two before ending in an area separated by hundreds if not thousands of small ravines and crevices. Further away and to the left led into more sections of the mountain range, while the right led to a hilly area that eventually ended on a long stretch of dusty yellow plains.
"A guess," Sumil lied while pinpointing their hiding cave and the quickest route to it.
She wasn't going to tell Galg about the status window. The odd skeleton was already weird enough, having come up with its own evolution pattern that seemed more powerful than anything she had seen. Well, anything besides what Solus and Tirella have, she thought. Or me…
A high-pitched scream tore through the wind-filled silence of the mountains, and they both looked back and up. Far above them, on the previous empty hilltop stood a small shape. Two burning red eyes stared at them, and a second later, the screech repeated as the shape jumped down, and four wings unfurled.
"Let's get the hell out of here," Galg shouted as he turned into lightning that swished across the rocky mountain slope.
He just runs off again with the mana-core, Sumil thought. She glared after Galg before beginning to run forward. Some of her energy had come back from draining the small mana-orb. It wasn't nearly enough for another big attack, but plenty for what she had to do. Besides, her mana-regen was so much higher now that she could feel it filling her back up.
Holding her hands below and behind her, a stream of small blue energy balls shot from them, propelling her a few meters into the air. She angled them and shot forward like a cannonball, hissing after Galg. She was moving fast, faster than she thought even Solus could move, but compared to the blue bolt of lightning, she seemed to be hardly moving. There was no chance of catching up.
Another screech came from behind, and she rotated as she flew, taking a quick look behind. She felt a slight content at the ease at which she did the maneuver. It had taken her such a long time to learn it, to Galg's hilarity. The flying Kaot lord was plummeting from the top, its size already impressive while it was still this far. One of the big ones, she thought, a stab of fear coming deep down as turning back around.
It didn't matter. It wouldn't catch either of them.
Moments later, she reached the bottom of the mountain, aiming for one of the larger ravines that she knew would give easy access to their camp. A shadow fell over her, but she didn't need the light to see. With some focus, everything turned into shades of blue, brighter than any day could ever grant. In the distance, Galg stood beside the entrance to a smaller crevice that split off from the big one. Moments before she was there, she stopped firing the energy balls, using a few to slow down. She landed easily, running forward without tripping.
Training works out, she thought.
A deafening roar came from behind as the flying Kaot hovered at the ravine entrance, unable to enter due to its massive bulk.
"Noisy fellow, isn't he?"
"Yes," Sumil replied. She had long since gotten used to Galg's odd way of speaking. "Let's head back. We have what we need, and I'm done with this world."
"You still think this will work?" Galg asked in disbelief. "That insane AI hasn't left that place ever since we tried to get out the first time!"
"It will work," Sumil said as she walked away into the smaller ravine. "Because I know exactly how he thinks."
Galg watched her move away, then shook his head, blue lightning crackling between the white spikes that crowned his head. "Yeah, and he knows how you think," he muttered before following him. "I just know this is going to end badly," Galg looked after Sumil and lowered his voice. "But not for me. I'll get out of here either way."
--
Solus scanned the massive underground cavern.
"I've seen enough, pull back," he hissed.
His form moved back as Laron pulled his head back from the opening that led into the cavern. The undead sat almost two meters away, hidden behind a corner, and Solus was glad to feel the strain of moving far from the other recede.
"Kaots there are, are there?" Laron asked, looking at Solus.
"No. I only saw some simple wanderers move around. If those are still here, there shouldn't be anything more dangerous around."
Laron smiled and rose. "Good, good! We leave from the dark, the dark we leave?" he sang.
"Yes," Solus said, hoping it would be that easy.
He didn't have to make any light now, as the cavern ceiling glowed dimly red. Laron moved around the corner and towards the small opening at the back of the corner.
"No way down… down… down…" Laron whispered, taking a step back from the dead drop that
led into the cavern.
Oh right… he can't just jump down, Solus thought.
"You can climb down," he finally said as he looked at the many cracks and handhelds on the cliff. It took a whole lot of convincing, but eventually, Laron believed him and sat down on the edge. A few moments later, he was slowly climbing down the wall, slowly at first, but as he got more comfortable speeding up.
Solus watched for anything moving down below.
It seems empty, he thought when Laron was more than half down. The undead was proving a great climber, his arms thickening from their weight, which seemed enough to start his ability.
I'll need to figure out how much he can really do. Solus had just finished the thought as he saw a shadow move between two piles of stone debris.
"Stop," he whispered, pulling up his mana-overlay.
Below him, Laron froze, hanging from the fingertips of one hand while the other was midair. For a moment, his balance was secure, then his downward momentum caught up, and he lost his balance. He caught onto another ledge, thudded into the stone, then hung in precarious balance from the cliff.
"Why, what?" he whispered.
Solus didn't immediately respond, his gaze transfixed on the dozens of red blots that were streaking from a small dark hole to the far side of the cavern. Kaots! They were still some seconds away, but by how they moved across the side of a wall, he knew they would catch Laron in his current position. Closer to them, below the rocks, was a dense green and yellow spot of mana, hidden from view.
Too late to climb back up, and it's too dangerous where we are now, Solus thought.
"Climb down as fast as you can. There are climbing Kaots coming!" Solus said.
"Kaots, Kaots!" Laron howled, his hands clenching around the rock as he seemed to become petrified.
"Laron, move!" Solus hissed, turning to Laron as he noticed the other wasn't moving.
Laron didn't respond, his hands gripping the stone so tightly slight popping sounds came from his fingers. He had a terrified look on his face.
Shit, he needs to move! Solus thought, turning to the danger. The red blotches were almost at the green and yellow one, and Solus had a flash of insight. Praying it would do something, he made the stone where the green and yellow mana was, burn as bright as he could.
The green light popped up below, a stark contrast with the constant red glow that came from the ceiling high above them. It was also bright enough to highlight a six-legged Kaot as it climbed across the side of a piece of rock. It stopped, its short, stubby head snapping towards the light.
Spiderling, Solus thought as images and information rushed into his mind. They had the same red glow as Kaots, but they were something else.
The spiderling made a soft, sniffing sound, then its two rows of six red eyes flashed, and beams struck Solus' green glowing rock. The green light flashed out, replaced by a red haze just like the light from the ceiling.
Wait, Solus thought in shock. He turned his gaze up; the still-active mana-overlay highlighted a mass of red mana, moving and swirling around. The entire ceiling is covered with them.
"Laron, drop down and start following after the lights," Solus ordered.
Laron was still hanging on in shock, and Solus snarled. "They aren't Kaots! Let go now, or you are going to get eaten!"
For a moment, Laron didn't react, then he sighed and pushed himself from the wall, startling Solus.
"Good, no Kaots!" Laron said as he swirled midair."
A deafening howl caused him to fumble his landing, and he crashed into a boulder, slid off, and slammed into the ground below.
Solus swirled along with him, trying to get his bearings. When he finally did, he searched for the thing that had roared. The soft tapping of feet came from everywhere, but he saw nothing but stone and red mana-blurs rushing towards them. Still, without his overlay, he would have seen nothing at all. Plotting a course towards the area with the least spiderlings, he noticed the green and yellow mana was rushing towards a dense cluster of them.
It's hunting? He thought as he created a glow on a nearby rock.
"Follow the green light!" he said, finding that Laron was already moving.
Laron's muscles had bulged massively from the way he had slammed into the ground, and he explosively jumped through the labyrinth of rock and boulders. His muscles shrunk a bit each time he jumped, but they reverted when he slammed into a rock.
Solus kept spinning around, trying to keep an eye on all of the spiderlings. More and more were closing in on them, barely leaving any path clear. To his surprise, those close to the other being were fleeing away, leaving the only opening clear of red. It did mean they would have to move close to it, and he still only saw green and yellow mana.
"Run, running, slam, slam," Laron whispered as he kept moving at a breakneck speed.
No other choice, Solus thought, creating a patch of green light in the direction of the being. Laron ran towards it, whispering to himself all the time.
A few seconds later and a bunch of corners and jumps, Laron lept sideways through a ruptured and split boiler to stand face to face with a forty-foot-long, rock-grey creatures in the process of gobbling up a writhing and struggling spiderling.
A serpent, Solus thought, more information bubbling up. The image from Viridi's memories didn't match with what he saw. The thing ahead of him looked more like a cross between a viper and a wyrm, with closable jaws and lidless, white eyes. A bright green pupil contracted as it focused on them. Instead of scales, it had a mat grey hide, with small wounds, that compressed where one of its coils lay between two rocks. Its skin reminded Solus of the first evolution of the zombies.
As soon as the creature saw them, its massive head turned towards them, and it swallowed. A lump traveled down its neck towards its thicker midsection. The flesh inside showed something was pushing and struggling inside as if spiderlings were trying to escape from the confines of its stomach.
I hope it has had enough to eat, Solus thought.
Along the two boulders the undead serpent lay coiled up around were two small pathways that led deeper into the labyrinth of rock, and he saw no more red that way. Without hesitation, he created lights towards the furthest of the two paths.
"What that? Big… scary, kaot wyrm?" Laron whispered, and the snake's head began waving from left to right. "Kwyrm, Waot?" Laron continued mumbling odd names as he seemed transfixed by the snake.
"Run, and don't stop for anything," Solus roared. To his surprise, the snake's eyes focused on him. Can that thing see me? Wonder and surprise made Solus wish he could find out why the snake could see him.
Laron jumped forward, jogging him out of his thoughts as the muscled black body shot low across the ground. Solus kept his full attention on the snake, preparing his ability to light up the stone, and when it moved, he was ready. He caused all of the stones high above them to light up at once, getting a slight headache in the process. The snake's forward motion halted as it pulled to the side, away from the light, its attention on those. It only took a second, and then it turned back to Laron, but it was all the speech impeded undead needed to get past and disappear into a crack.
"Keep going, don't stop," Solus hissed when Laron slowed down.
"No light to guide, light, light? Laron whispered back.
Solus quickly pinpointed the direction, and a trail of green lights appeared low on the ground.
The only warning they got was a soft howling hiss, then a massive grey shape collided with them, tossing Laron forward and into another crevice. He lay on the ground in a crumpled heap. Behind them was the snake, its green pupils slits almost too thin to see as it stared at them.
"Get up and keep taking corners," Solus roared.
He barely noticed that as his anger and frustration rose, he also felt more present. The connection between him and Laron was stronger and clear, and he could almost taste the others' fear.
Laron scrambled up; his left arm bent in an odd angle. His entire body was bulging with muscles, and the purple stripes across his skin were glowing a soft purple. The snake shot forward so fast even Solus was surprised, but Laron screamed and jumped back. He slammed into a rock, slid down, and into a crevice just as the snake hit the spot he had been at. Laron backpaddled, further into the crevice that barely fit his body sideways. The snake shot after him, its head angled to get into the crevice but stopping with a sickening crunch as it got stuck. Two long tongues came from the mouth.
"Back!" Solus roared again, and Laron backpaddled again, but not fast enough. One of the tongues shot at his face, and he barely managed to raze his arm. A second crunch sounded, but this time it was accompanied by a howl of pain as the snake gnawed in Laron's already oddly bent arm. As the snake bit his arm, the muscles on Laron's other arm rapidly became more defined as his purple stripes began pulsating with purple light.
He is fully charged, Solus thought as he felt the power erupt from Laron. It wasn't as much as what even the weakest three times evolved could harness, but it was far more than he should be able to.
"Hit it!"
Solus' words seemed to job Laron out of his scared struggle. As he struck, Solus quickly summoned the status window to verify something.
Name: Laron
Age: 52
Sex: Male-ERROR
Race: Asimalarin
Type: special
Class: Warrior
Strength: 4/12 + [40/40]
Constitution: 10/21
Dexterity: 6/16
Endurance: 20
Intelligence: 4/ERROR
Wisdom: 1/8
Charisma: 7/7
Mana-field: 231/900
Physical density: 570/1200
Skills: 0
Inscriptions: 1/6
Mana generation: 8
> Warning! Asimalarin strength bonus capped.
He barely had time to go over the values as Laron struck the snake full on its right eye. A sound like a gong came, and instead of squishing, a fist-sized dent appeared in the eye. The snake spat Laron out, pulling its head back as it howled again.
Something changed in the status, and Solus saw the added strength had lowered.
Strength: 4/12 + [30/40]
"Get up and jump away," Solus shouted.
Laron, holding his mangled arm close to his chest, got up and leaped away from the snake on top of the twelve-foot outcrop behind them. A second jump got him to the top of the labyrinthic boulders and stones that covered the floor. His strength bonus plummeted, now only 10/40.
Solus lit a beacon ahead, close to where he saw a cave without any red mana. Laron didn't bother to wait and just jumped towards it, almost not making the distance towards the next outcrop. His strength bonus was zero again, and Solus knew Laron wouldn't make most of the jumps he needed to. He lit a beacon lower, and Laron jumped down. As purple striped undead hit the ground, his strength bonus shot up to 10/40 again.
This time Solus made sure to keep his eyes on a swivel while making sure the small beacons were in a zigzag path through the maze of stone. The green and yellow blotch were still far behind them, and he heard the occasional howl. Red blotches indicating spiderlings were now circling the snake, moving in closer as if for the kill.
Long minutes later, Laron forced his way inside the narrow cave, no sight of the snake behind them. His muscles were bulging again, his strength bonus back to over thirty.
Solus highlighted a boulder bigger than the entrance ahead of them. "Jump across and push it onto the entrance!"
Laron complied, shoving it with one arm into place, blocking the entrance. When he finished, he slumped down against the boulder, fatigue, and pain etched on his face. It became silent again, and Solus saw dozens of red spiderling mana signatures moving around the green of the snake. For a moment, he thought they might end it, but then a red blot was snuffed out, and then another. Within moments half a dozen were gone, and the rest fled away.
A few minutes later, the spiderlings had left the reach of his mana-overlay, and the snake was slowly crawling away. It should be out of reach soon too.
"Pain, pain… no good. No, no. I feel… bad."
Laron was humming as he cradled his arm against his chest. His muscles were still somewhat bloated, but not nearly as much as when he entered. Solus kept a look at his status and noticed that one point of the strength bonus faded every ten seconds.
I need to figure out the exact duration, and how much he gets from what, Solus thought as he examined Laron. The other was tired, low on energy, and in desperate need of a mana-orb to heal itself with. Only the first thing was something Solus could do something about right now.
"Laron, sleep. I'll wake you if something comes close."
Laron looked up at Solus with bleary eyes. "Sleep with pain? No, no. No sleep with pain."
"You have to try. You will regain some energy from it," Solus said.
“Feel better? No pain? Pain no?”
"A little better," Solus said. He knew it would barely matter for the pain, but it should get Laron back some energy. Hopefully enough to find a way out of here.
I'll need to make him stronger, Solus thought as he scanned the status window. He hadn't bothered at the start because Laron could already get a great pattern, but now the other needed to get stronger. His attributes had already increased a bit from everything that had happened, but there was still lots of room to grow. Soft wheezing made him look down, and he saw Laron was sleeping.
Right, I'll make up some training schedule for him, Solus thought as he focused.
