Capítulo 43: Light-tailed Lizard Hoard
Seeing Jack retrieve his bow, Maynard understood what he needed to do. He drew a single sword and brandished a menacing grin. 'Where's the main body? Ya know?'
'I'm not 100% sure just yet, but there's probably a few of them,' answered Rydel, trying not to speak verbally and incite the lizards to action. He understood that light-tailed lizards sensed heat and were extremely sensitive to sound vibrations. 'If we could light this place up, that would be best.'
Jack understood Rydel's hint and looked to Bowser. 'We can get lights up, but you'll have to protect me and Bowser in the meantime.' When Rydel and Maynard agreed, Jack began to act.
He let Bowser bite down on a bundle of three arrows, lighting them all. The moment the lit arrows left Bowser's mouth, an unearthly screech sounded out, piercing the ears of the party. Jack called out verbally, "Don't move! Here they come."
On cue, a long and slender body covered in dull black scales appeared from out of the darkness, diving towards Jack. Unfazed, Jack nocked an arrow and fired it. He didn't aim for the monster because if he had, it would only be a waste of an arrow due to his low level. His aim was elsewhere, about ten meters in front of Rydel.
While Jack was busy firing an arrow, the beast that targeted him was swiftly beheaded by a katana. Maynard's smile remained as he saw Jack shooting the second arrow without hesitation, this time ten meters past the rear of the party.
With the additional light, Rydel aimed as well. As Jack launched the third arrow to make a perimeter, Rydel shot an arrow into the darkness. His eagle eye became sharper with increased visibility and gave him a couple of new targets. More screeches sounded out as everyone heard the 'THUD' of an arrow piercing flesh. Jack spoke up for the whole party to hear, "Everyone against the wall; let Rydel and Maynard focus on what's in front of us."
At the same time, he pulled out another three arrows and let Bowser do his thing. They had already been discovered and were probably surrounded the moment Brunar announced their presence with his popping back. With that in mind, Jack worked on increasing their field of view.
"I'll help too!" Brunar stepped up, confident in his strength. No-one stopped him because he really would be a big help to the two pillars the party depended on.
Jack nodded and aimed in between the front and middle arrows making the perimeter, shooting the arrow out an additional ten meters. What everyone saw was startling.
There were two more of those slender black lizards revealed by the light of the fire. The next arrow Jack shot in between the middle and the rear had the same result, exposing another two lizards. It was the final arrow, which was fired up the middle another ten meters, that caused the party's hearts to skip a beat.
Thanks to the last three arrows, they noticed a total of six black lizards intertwined in the darkness. Maynard yelled a question, "Aren't they supposed to be in packs of two or four?"
"They always hunt in packs of two to four but considering the recent changes in the local ecosystem and all the goblins claiming the third level, it's hard to predict how some species have adapted. These Light-tailed Lizards aren't supposed to be up here, they've only been spotted in the third level until now." Rydel quickly deduced some sort of explanation. "What I fear is if the entire pack migrated together and we happened to wander into their new territory."
'Lots of lizards, hard fight.' Bowser confirmed Rydel's suspicion immediately, bringing a sorrowful smile to Jack's lips.
"Bowser senses a lot more of these things. I'd guess you hit the nail on the head captain," stated Jack, causing everyone to swallow some saliva. "Let's treat this as a warmup for the goblin city raid. If we can't beat this, how could we ever raze a city?"
Jack tried his best to lift everyone's morale, with a statement that was both true and untrue. The lizards weren't as formidable as the goblin hordes in goblin city. If not, then why were they driven out and the goblins remained. The major difference between them was that they could premeditate the goblin city raid while they had to think and act on the fly amidst the lizard nest.
Lighting another three arrows, Jack continued to expand their perimeter, now filling in the gaps of his scattered arrows and revealing almost a dozen lizards. Troni stood beside Brunar, ready to attack when needed. Slivia did her best to steady her shaking hands and retrieved her wooden staff.
Somewhat excited, Maynard's grin expanded. With a thought, he asked Rydel, 'Hey, ya want to test the new skills? Bet I can kill more than ya."
Rydel showed a small smile. 'Right now, we're one and one. Don't get too far behind.'
'If they're in the perimeter, leave them to me. Anything outside the perimeter I'll leave to ya, okay?'
receiving a nod from Rydel, Maynard gave a command to his disciples. "You two, stay here and protect Jack while he expands the perimeter, and don't let anything get Slivia either."
Not waiting for a reply, Maynard sprang into action. Happy to finally test his new strength, the ronin made full use of the lizards as test dummies. Very satisfied with how easily he could slice through the sturdy lizard scales, Maynard estimated that his attacks could be judged as twice as sharp. His physical strength hadn't changed, but his veteran reflexes were heightened and his sword felt sharper for some reason.
Rydel wasn't doing any worse, firing arrows at anything that swayed its tail or twitched within the darkness near the perimeter. As a hunter, Rydel was the second strongest in the branch, barely losing out to a lv. 31. At that moment, Rydel felt like he wouldn't lose to anyone in a competition of archery, including that man. His arrows would whiz through the air with impeccable accuracy as if the bow itself was helping Rydel aim.
While those two began to slaughter the dozens of swarming the party, Jack was racking up EXP like crazy! His level climbed drastically as the first dozen lizards were easily finished off, reaching lv. 7 in a few minutes.
Typically, when a monster was killed, at least half the EXP would go to the killer and the rest was divvied up according to damage dealt among the party. With both Rydel and Maynard going on killing sprees to test their new strengths, Jack was pooling half of their EXP and receiving a potion for the leftover EXP as well, not to mention the weathered jade's active ability.
No one else in the party could sense Jack's sudden rise in power; if they had, they would've been blown away. Of course, Jack knew this would happen eventually with the city raid, but to happen earlier was a blessing in disguise.
Jack switched to the lv. 5 bow that Rydel had gifted him, preparing to expand the perimeter even further. Slivia was the first to notice the new bow in Jack's hands, unsure of what was occurring. She couldn't tell the bow's level thanks to "Privacy Screen"; however, she knew it was higher-leveled than the previous one Jack used. But she also knew that would be impossible if Jack hadn't leveled up to at least lv. 5.
As Jack's shots were able to reach further into the darkness, Brunar and Troni noticed the new bow as well. They were just as confused as Slivia, but they didn't question anything, just standing by in case anything snuck past their master and Rydel.
Suddenly, a loud screech reverberated off the walls. Only Rydel could see a dark blur rushing towards them in the darkness. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Maynard, this one's yours!"
Before anyone could guess the meaning of Rydel's words, a massive blackhead entered the light of the perimeter. It was twice the size and length as the other lizards, easily discernable as the pack leader.
Excitement shone on Maynard's face as he finished off a lizard and dashed towards the incoming pack leader. Sensing the pack leader as a lv. 30, he drew his second sword and shouted, "Finally, something to really test my mettle."
Rydel changed tactics, focusing on the lizards that bolted into the perimeter as Maynard became occupied. With that, he focused less on intsa-kills and more on grave injuries. There was still a chance to kill them in one shot, but that way he could increase his firing rate and any that got past his volley of arrows would be easier for the two young samurai to finish off.
Filled with both excitement and nerves, Brunar and Troni finally had something to do. They split up and began to dispatch the injured lizards that made it within fifteen meters of the party, minus Maynard.
Jack shouted, "Don't let them bite or cut you! Their neurotoxin will paralyze you!" Grateful for the advice, the samurai made sure to finish off each lizard as quickly as possible.
At the current pace, they would be able to last for a while but not too long. Jack's leveling had started to settle after lv. 8 due to Rydel's change in tactic and Maynard being occupied. He knew Maynard would best the pack leader, but he wasn't sure how long it would take.
Capítulo 44: Bowser's Transformation
Slivia was now busy replenishing Troni and Brunar's MP, as they had to rely on their learned skills and techniques to quickly finish off the injured lizards. With Rydel taking the defensive and Maynard busy with the pack leader, something had to happen to tip the scales of battle.
Jack's mind was running on all cylinders trying to come up with a solution to their current predicament. With all his focus on searching for a solution, he almost overlooked Bowser's comments.
'Me help!' Bowser yelled proudly.
Torn and not wanting to endanger the fox pup, Jack was reluctant. 'Bowser, I'm not sure you should do that. The lowest level lizards are at least lv. 13 and most are closer to lv. 20. I'm sorry but I don't think you should.'
Ignoring Jack, Bowser leaped off Jack's shoulder and dashed into the perimeter of fire. Jack yelled, 'Bowser! Come back!'
Everyone was surprised by the dashing fox as he passed the two samurai and neared the oncoming horde of lizards. But before they could yell or chase after it, the fox howled and its entire body was bathed in flames. Bowser tripled in size, looking like a blazing fire wolf with a foxtail.
Jack instantly felt Bowser's power double, becoming lv. 16. Without any warning, the flaming fox bit off a lizard's head and pounced towards its next target without prejudice.
All the lizards stilled momentarily, hesitating to near Bowser and the powerful bloodline that they sensed. The pack leader and Maynard both noticed the change in the battlefield, perplexed at the sudden outburst from the fox pup. Furious, the pack leader screeched and commanded the scared lizards to charge forward.
Fearing their leader more than Bowser, they continued the charge. With the addition of Bowser to the battle, the advantage fell to Jack's party as the lizards were again being killed faster than they could enter the circle.
Sighing in relief, Jack calmed his mind and returned to his search for a faster solution. Bowser's interference was a huge help but Jack didn't want to rely on it. He would bet that Bowser's explosion of strength wouldn't last for long, and he wanted to be ready for that moment.
The good thing was now Jack was gaining bursts of EXP again and nearing lv. 9. If he could reach lv. 10, then his arrows would finally start to affect the lower leveled lizards and he could bet on his lv. 2 bow skill to bridge the level gap.
After a couple of minutes and the slaughter of another dozen lizards, Jack reached lv. 9 and was waiting for the moment he broke through to lv. 10. Sadly, Jack's bet on Bowser's temporary power boost was right and Bowser's doubled power began to decline. The surrounding lizards noticed his ferocity diminishing and they swarmed the fox.
Using the last of his boosted strength, Bowser escaped the lizards and dashed back to the party like lightning. Returning to his normal self, he jumped onto Jack's shoulders. 'Tired…'
'Good job Bowser, you did your part.' Jack cheered him up as he let Bowser close his eyes and rest.
Looking back to the battlefield, Jack drew his bow and fired at the oncoming lizards. They were back on the defensive now, and Jack wanted to know how much damage he could do as a lv. 9.
The arrows were able to pierce the tough scales, but only the low leveled lizards were slowed from injuries. Any lizard over lv. 15 was only annoyed by Jack's arrows but they could power through the minor injuries without much trouble.
Shaking his head, Jack cursed the fact that he hadn't reached lv. 10. If he could reach that level, he'd probably gain enough skill points to upgrade bow to lv. 3 and be able to help the party. But without that, he was practically a burden that would need protecting.
Seeing the battlefield in perfect balance, neither side having an advantage, Maynard decided to go all out. At the current rate, he would eventually finish off the pack leader with about half his MP left. But being impatient, Maynard began to activate his high-level skills with disregard for MP cost.
The pack leader felt the raise in Maynard's attacks and went on the defensive, wanting to drag this out long enough for his horde of lizards to eradicate the party. Not giving the pack leader much hope, Maynard's two katana began to emit a blood-red glow, sending shivers down the pack leader's spine.
"Bloody cross!" Maynard activated his trump card skill, spending a third of his max MP in the process, leaving him with only a fraction of MP remaining.
Lucky for him, the pack leader didn't dodge but blocked instead. Unlucky for the pack leader, the samurai carved through the lizard's tail, aiming for the lizard's head. It was too late for the pack leader to escape as his head was cut into four.
Not wasting time, Maynard dashed further into the perimeter before the leader's carcass could fall to the floor. The lizards were caught off guard and were sliced into smithereens by the time they noticed their leader's head was missing.
The waves of lizards ceased and retreated after their leader was finished off. Jack's party didn't give chase, Just trying to catch their breath.
Troni's left arm was paralyzed and Brunar's right leg was completely numb. Rydel wasn't out of arrows, but he only had about one-third of his MP left, and that would be important in case they ran into more trouble. He had mana potions, but drinking too many in succession would carry some backlash.
Happy yet unsatisfied, Jack grinned. Thanks to Maynard finishing off the pack leader, his level was at the peak of lv. 9 but it hadn't yet reached lv. 10. So close to his achievement, he wished that Maynard or Rydel had killed just one more lizard.
'That makes thirty-one for me,' Rydel boasted.
'No fair! Ya didn't have to deal with that pack leader,' argued Maynard, not admitting his kill count of twenty-three lizards.
'I couldn't help it, that thing was stronger than me and only you could handle it,' joked Rydel.
It was common knowledge that beasts of the same level were naturally stronger than adventurers. Unless they had a way to jump levels or powerful battle techniques, adventurers would struggle a lot to fight an equally leveled beast.
Maynard finishing the lizard without a scratch on him was a testament to his strength. If it were a normal beast, Maynard wouldn't avoid minor cuts or bruises. However, he fought so carefully with the lizard's neurotoxin in mind. If he had been poisoned, the pack leader would have gained the advantage instantly. Hence, Maynard had to take his time with such a tricky monster.
Jack pet Bowser's head and asked, 'How close are we?'
With a few sniffs, Bowser remembered the trail. 'Ahead, we very close.'
Keeping that in mind, Jack examined the others in his party. Slivia was busy healing Brunar and Troni while Maynard was busy drinking a high leveled mana potion to recover his MP.
Seeing him finish the bottle, Jack's motivation to level up increased. Once he reached lv. 10, he would be able to start learning basic battle skills and techniques. They wouldn't do much for him in the long run, but anything was better than what he had currently.
"What's up with your fox?" Brunar asked, breaking the silence.
Rydel was the one who answered. "It's a descendant level fox, falling from the Inferno Fox bloodline."
"Tell the truth," blurted Brunar. "Sure, a descendant level beast is crazy powerful, but that little pup was able to fight and kill fully grown Light-tailed Lizards. Besides, the Inferno Fox was never recorded to have an ability that let it grow and explode into flames."
Understanding what Brunar was getting at, Jack hesitantly admitted the truth. "I can tell you the truth, but this information stays here and doesn't leave this mine."
"Fine," said Brunar, catching the hint that this was an association secret.
"Bowser is a Hell-flame Fox."
That sentence struck fear into the hearts of three young adventurers. Hell-flame Foxes only existed in legends, and each legend ended in the complete annihilation of a city or region. Slivia was especially conflicted, imaging the cute fur-ball she had often played with as an earth-shaking monster made of flames that wrought destruction.
"That's the truth, but you all know Bowser. That was the first time I'd ever seen something like that happen." Jack was startled by Bowser's earlier transformation like them, and they all knew it from Jack's shouting. "He's not some apocalypse waiting to happen, he's just the childish Bowser we all know."
"But how can you guarantee that?" Brunar questioned. "Can you promise that he would never outgrow you and forcibly break the beast seal?"
"I can actually, and Rydel is my witness to that." Jack's casual answer caught everyone off guard. "If you trust me, then trust Bowser too. We're a package deal."
Not wanting to reject the promise of both Jack and Rydel, Brunar accepted their ideology for the time being. Troni and Slivia also agreed, only distancing themselves a little from the fox pup.
"Now that the discussion's over and you're feeling better, let's hurry up and loot the bodies. We're racing against a clock, so we can't waste any time." Rydel turned and began to retrieve each of his many arrows among the strewn bodies he had killed. The others followed suit as they groaned from their soreness and began to loot the lizard bodies they had killed.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
TheSilverQuill
TheSilverQuill
Thanks for reading and following the story! Also, a big THANKS to anyone who left a review or has given feedback in the comments. All feedback helps me shape the story accordingly and lets me better deliver my story.
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