Ser Patrick Pent
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047 Rock Falls Everyone Dies
🕑 Added 2024-02-16 07:17:58 +0000 UTCI barely read the notification. The Primal Rock Lurker hurled a boulder at us from its own arm, scattering our party.
I snuck behind a tree with the help of [Stealth] and dodged the gravel that tumbled around me.
Somewhere off to my right, Nicola screamed. “Are you out of your mind, Paz? Why didn’t you warn us about this?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Paz said, punctuated by boisterous laughter. “You should have seen the look on your face!”
A second thrown boulder drowned out Nicola’s words. The Primal Rock Lurker moved with purpose now. Its glowing eyes focused on the fleeing duo of Nicola and Paz, even as it reformed its arm by attaching more boulders.
Each footstep fell with the force of a mini earthquake, threatening to open chasms in the ground. Pebbles materialized out of thin air in its palm.
Bullets?
“Incoming!” I warned, unwilling to take chances.
The Primal Rock Lurker fired the pebbles
I ducked behind a rock just in time to avoid the onslaught, but the impact of stone moving at the speed of bullets caused enough vibrations in the rock to chip at my health.
An entire tree fell beneath the fusillade. Hopefully, my teammates had heeded my warning. Considering how fast the monster’s accuracy was improving, it was only a matter of time before all three of us turned to mulch.
“Damien,” Nicola said, looking around for me. “We need to leave!”
Leave?
I glanced back at the Primal Rock Lurker. At level 26, it stood five levels weaker than the Dread Monkey that had decimated our last party. But, Rock Lurkers had great base stats, especially in defense. Enough that the Primal Rock Lurker could pose a more dangerous threat than its primate cousin.
Retreating provided the best course for survival. But, how did that help us against Byron? If we fled from a level 26 monster, how could we hope to handle a ranker of roughly equal strength?
“Stand your ground,” I said, joining my teammates behind the rock they had chosen for cover. “We can take it.”
Nicola sputtered.
Paz uttered a whoop.
“It’s slow,” I said. “That means we have a high chance of successfully making a run for it if things take a turn for the worst.”
“Are you seriously trying to communicate,” Nicola screamed, “over all this noise?”
Ugh. “Paz, take point. Try to distract it! Nicola and I will chip at its health.” The monster kept advancing with the force of a landslide. “Let’s see if we’re ready to challenge the Labyrinth.”
“This is madness,” Nicola said, pausing to drink a blue potion. “We’re not ready for this.”
But, Paz was already walking toward the Primal Rock Lurker. “Oi, rock face! Yes, you, you big lug. Give me your attention!”
That’s not what I meant by a distraction, Paz.
“How’s your Eros meter looking, Nicola?” I asked. “Did you . . . succeed yesterday?”
“Yes,” she said and gripped her staff. “Any spell I use right now is going to hurt.”
“Then, use your biggest. I’ll go help Paz!”
Paz, for his part, did a good job dodging around the monster. The Primal Rock Lurker wasn’t as slow as I’d first thought, but it was still no match for its Dread Monkey cousin. Paz would hold his own as long as he had the stamina . . . which had already been lowered in the fight with the normal Rock Lurkers.
I could attack the monster from behind, but my strikes would do little to hurt it.
Change of plans, then. If there was anything I had that my teammates could benefit from, it had to be the [Map]. I activated the mini-screen and surveyed the battlefield, zooming out in search of any feature that could help.
A magic sigil went off beneath the monster. Large tentacles bloomed in a floral pattern, denting its HP by about twenty percent.
Nice one, Nicola!
Paz charged the enraged monster. A fiery aura surrounded his fists as he activated his [Overpower] skill. From what he’d told me, the skill upped his Strength by +5 for a limited time . . . which mattered little as his thrown punch failed to do reasonable harm.
However, seeing as the monster was already occupied grappling with Nicola’s tentacles, Paz could wail on it as much as he wanted.
And, wail he did.
The monster flailed in irritation as Paz's attacks became too numerous to tolerate and suffered a noticeable drop in HP.
A second volley of pebbles forced Paz to retreat. The tentacles disintegrated into petals a short moment later.
The Primal Rock Lurker stomped its foot—
All three of us crashed to the ground from the earthquake that robbed us of a portion of our health.
Paz was first to recover, what with the physical resistance provided by Greater Strength. He charged at the Primal Rock Lurker, [Overpower] burning on his fists.
His attack connected, but the monster retaliated with a swipe of its arm, reducing Paz to a spray of blood.
I backed away from the brutal display, even as Nicola started preparing another [Bloom of Crimson Desire].
“I need more time!” she said.
Crap. Our point man had just been obliterated, which meant the role of dodge tank fell to me.
While I deliberated, the Primal Rock Lurker used another skill. The phantom image of a shield flickered over its form as it drew its arms around its torso.
I didn’t need a notification to understand what it had done. The bastard had just upped its Defense!
“Get to cover!” I said to Nicola in the same breath that I activated [Decoy].
A second Damien materialized out of thin air—and, holy fuck! Was that what I looked like? He darted between the Rock Lurker’s legs with lightning-quick movements, causing the monster to turn and launch a boulder after him.
It was a weird feeling, this—wielding the technique. Summoning the [Decoy] felt like being connected to a distant limb, one that didn’t require fine control. The [Decoy] responded quickly to the first order thrown at it, but subsequent commands met sluggish resistance.
Nevertheless, it served its purpose, diverting the Rock Lurker’s attention away from Nicola and me.
I consulted my [Map] once more and focused on a feature I’d earlier noticed: A rock ledge or shelf that marked the western border of the swamp.
The Primal Rock Lurker destroyed the [Decoy], an action I didn’t see but felt by way of a haptic buzz to the brain. I stepped in without a second thought, flaring [Fear Aura].
The monster turned fast enough to disorient itself—
That’s it. Chase after me.
—and bellowed a challenge.
I led it through the wettest part of the swamp to the rock ledge from earlier, hoping the soft earth would serve to slow it down some.
It seemed to be working too . . . until the monster raised its arms and lowered them for another earthquake.
I fell face-first into the mud and noted with dismay that I’d lost another chunk of health. Nicola came in clutch at that moment, casting another [Bloom of Crimson Desire]. The spell didn’t do as much damage as earlier, thanks to the Primal Rock Lurker’s defense skill.
But, my target was now in sight.
Jagged protrusions marked where the swamp ended in a small drop into a stream.
Just one more push.
“Again, Nicola!” I said.
“I’m out of MP,” she cried, panting from behind me. “I’m useless now!”
Without even thinking, I slid off The Ring of the Mana Conduit and punted it in her direction. Nicola could pull off two uses of her most damaging ability with less than 60 MP. My ring had 50 MP saved up.
The Primal Rock Lurker freed itself from the cage of tentacles faster than the last time.
“Not over yet!” Paz screamed, appearing out of nowhere.
The [Overpower] skill glowed on his fist, in combination with a frightening new aura.
Paz’s eyes glowed red as he moved, leaving twin trails of energy behind him like the taillights of a motorcycle speeding at night. An artificial wind whipped up around him, the only other visible phenomena of his aura. His hair stood on end as a result, fanning out around his head.
You are within range of an allied [Draconic Aura]!
Your attacks now deal 50% more damage.
Your speed and defenses have also risen by 50%.
Paz was going all out if he had decided to activate his VP-draining aura. It was also the perfect counter to the Primal Rock Lurker’s defense skill, and it showed in how Paz’s attacks dealt more damage to HP.
The Primal Rock Lurker didn’t take kindly to the assault. It gathered stone bullets again, preparing to fire.
“Paz, fall back!” I warned and created a [Decoy] to take his place.
He heeded the warning, and none too soon.
The Primal Rock Lurker spun like a top, spraying bullets around the swamp. One pebble whizzed past my head with such force, that the wind of its passing dented my health.
My [Decoy] vanished in an instant, downed by a hail of bullets. But, it bought Paz the window he needed to roll through the swamp and into rock cover.
Paz glanced at me with slitted eyes, a question in his gaze. We’d been fighting all morning, and our resources were bound to be scraping the bottom of the barrel. We needed to do something to end this.
I needed to do something to end this.
“Hey! Big oaf,” I said, jumping and waving my arms to catch the Primal Rock Lurker’s attention.
The rock ledge extended just behind me. Take the bait, you asshole.
Thankfully, the Primal Rock Lurker did. It honed in on me and swung a boulder in my direction. I sprang out of reach.
The maneuver put me on the edge of the rock shelf, one step away from falling into the drink. But, I left a final [Decoy] in my place and hung by the arms on the jagged protrusions.
An ear-splitting shriek signaled the activation of Nicola’s third mega spell. It caught the monster just as it charged my [Decoy] and sent it toppling over the ledge.
The monster’s arm rammed against the rock face as it fell. Painful vibrations traveled from the rock into my skull, taking a toll on my grip. A second crash followed as the Rock Lurker crashed into the stream, causing a splash that drenched me from head to toe.
I spat out stream water but managed to keep from falling, though it was with some effort that I pulled myself back up the ledge.
The small drop had harmed the Rock Lurker more than I expected, but it came with the added benefit of leaving it flat on its side.
All our efforts had left it just under thirty percent HP. But, victory loomed close enough to be tasted. The monster thrashed about in an attempt to rise, creating a hazard for anyone who dared to jump into the stream with it.
I was jumping, regardless.
I grinned at Paz, who returned the gesture. And then, we lowered ourselves over the ledge, prepared to end things on a high.
A large spear of light careened out of the sky and struck the Rock Lurker.
More spears of light rained down on the stream, alongside a massive javelin forged out of pure wind.
The thunderous impacts sent me fleeing for cover, but it was the [System] message that followed that chilled me.
Hurray! You have participated in the killing of Primal Rock Lurker. An appropriate amount of XP has been allocated, per your contribution.
