Chapter 56: Man With a Big Snake

  The first thing Tristan had to do was pull his boots free of the sticky, tar-like goo Venom’s arrow had spewed on the floor. It was trickier than he’d like to admit, especially since he had to dodge another arrow in the process. It nearly doubled him over backward. But after one huge, full strength jump, his feet came free. He immediately began chasing Venom around the room, attempting to get into melee range. Yet the monster used any and every obstacle he could find, from tables to toys, and when there weren't any, there was the snake, always buying just enough time for the {Defiler} to slip away from Tristan’s sword.

  It was the third time that Tristan nearly closed in on the archer, only for the snake to intercept him, that he decided the snake would die first.

  With the most recent attack, the snake had somehow dropped down onto him from above. Tristan still hadn’t figured that one out. But it didn’t matter how the accursed snake did it, just that it was already starting to coil around him.

  Suddenly Tristan found himself struggling to keep his sword in his grip while also holding off the massive, heavy mamba that was slobbering all over him. The few drops of poison that touched his skin were absorbed almost immediately, and they burned. So Tristan changed his strategy, instead using his significant Strength to hold the oversized reptile tightly to him, which at least also pinned his blade flat between them. It was uncomfortable, and stiff, and more of the creature’s spit fell on him as it began to coil around him. But he endured it. Because even if he was only squeezing it with his bare hands, with the [Incorruptible] property of his sword blocking most of the acid’s effect, he was dealing more damage to the beast than he was taking.

  Perhaps that was why a green mist soon appeared around the snake and began to slowly close its wounds. Venom is healing his pet! At least that meant Tristan wasn’t taking additional arrows with the snake wrapped around him. The fight had actually, for the moment, become one-on-one.

  He quickly found that he didn’t need all of his Strength to resist the snake’s squeezing, so he began rolling around with a purpose, moving toward whatever objects looked strong, or broken, and slamming the snake’s head into them. The wound he’d given it with his first attack hadn’t completely healed yet, and there was a clear gap in the scales, providing him a target to smack against every surface available. It was once Tristan was able to rise all the way to his feet and essentially suplex the monster onto a broken table leg that the snake began trying to get away from him.

  He was only able to hold on briefly. The scales were slippery, especially as they grew damp with the creature’s blood. The instant the snake fully twisted away, Tristan's sword was no longer pinned to him, and it fell to the floor.

  Tristan gasped. Suddenly he could feel the burn of some of the debuffs. He reached for the handle of his fallen greatsword, and an arrow nearly skewered his hand. Apparently the delay was long enough for a burst of intense pain to wrack him as fully half of his health vanished.

  Screw the arrows; I’ll survive them. I can't take even one more tick from the debuffs. Gods, I need a potion--but it’ll be useless if I don’t get my sword back.

  He jumped for his sword, taking two more arrows in the process, but that hardly mattered. The second his fingers touched the handle, the majority of his pain evaporated. Then he scrambled to uncork another health potion and drink it as quickly as possible.

  Whipping his blade around him, he sliced through the obstacles in between him and his scaly foe. As he got within striking distance, he could hear Venom saying something. He just tuned it out. Instead, he raised his greatsword above his head and brought it down as hard as he could on the gaping wound atop the snake’s head. The strike cost him another arrow in his arm, but it was worth it.

  There was a scream, or perhaps it was two screams that merged into one, as his sword finished removing the beast’s head from its body.

  No more worrying about being disarmed now.

  The scream deepened into a guttural roar. It was something beyond words, but it embodied loss and pain and, most of all, rage.

  For a brief moment, Tristan stared at the motionless, serpentine body on the floor. Part of him just wanted to be sure it was really done. For those few brief moments, he felt a great weight lifting from him. One monster down, he thought.

  He turned at last toward where the other yell had originated,and he let a small smile grow on his face. One more to go.

  It was immediately clear that the {Defiler} no longer thought of this as some game. He now looked more like a rabid beast than a beast of prey. His face was flushed, veins popped out across his neck, and his eyes were bloodshot. No, Tristan realized, his eyes were bleeding. Red ran down the monster’s cheeks like sickly tears. It was no wonder his arms shook as he fired the next barrage of arrows.

  Tristan got his sword roving again in plenty of time to block them all.

  Keeping his feet mostly still while his blade whirled around him, Tristan spat, “You’re just a sad little man with a big snake,” before correcting himself with a brief chuckle. “Sorry, you had a big snake.”

  Venom, clearly too angry to reply in words, began firing arrow after arrow, futilely, into Tristan’s roving blade. His fingers blurred as he pulled from his quiver as fast as he could.

  Venom suddenly shouted, “We’re not through yet!” And this time when he reached into his quiver, he didn’t pull out an arrow. Instead his hand emerged coated in something dark. He blew on his hand, and a puff of that blackish, powdery dust spread outward, as if caught by some unseen and unfelt wind.

  Some went right toward Tristan, toward his mouth and nose.

  Tristan knew he didn’t want to breathe that in. He jerked backward, hurrying to bury his mouth and nose in his own shoulder, as he pushed himself all the way back to one of the building’s outer walls. He wasn’t sure what he expected next, but he didn’t feel any differently, and no new debuffs appeared on his display.

  Meanwhile, there was a strange, almost-creaking sound coming from the floor across the way. Tristan quickly turned, and saw that Venom had moved to the opposite wall and was actually leaping through one of the rear doorways.

  That didn’t make much sense either. But not one to waste time, he pulled the earlier arrow from his forearm--gasping slightly as it left a gaping, dripping wound--and downed another healing potion.

  For a moment, Tristan tried to remember where Sophie had said those doors had led, but was quickly interrupted by a set of thorny, pitch-black vines that broke through the floorboards in front of him and shot upward. As their petals rose, they also grew together into what looked like little mouths.

  And then those mouths began to spit.

  All around the room, dozens of these things had sprouted, and from all of them thin, bile-colored liquid arced toward him. Thankfully he was out of range of most of them. Most, but not all.

  One of the sprays managed to splash his shoulder, which immediately burned away a chunk of his remaining health pool. With it, another debuff appeared on his display; this one lasting only ten seconds.

  [Toxic Thornspit] Deals poison damage every second. Taking damage from this refreshes the duration of other poison debuffs.

  Tristan couldn’t help but be amazed at the debuff’s lethality. And yet again, he didn’t feel any of the negative effects beyond the opening burn. Still, he didn’t want to get sloppy, as a look at his remaining health made clear that he couldn’t afford to let too much more of the spit hit him.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Given how many of the new plants stood between him and his target, Tristan wasn’t sure how he would manage to close the distance. He just knew that he had to. He couldn’t let Venom get away. Even putting his quest aside, he couldn’t let that monster get free to continue defiling the realm.

  He looked quickly through his pack, seeking anything that might help, and he found the small stack of [Signal Flare]s he’d gotten in the Rockmoor Cemetery.

  [Signal Flare (uncommon)]: Soulbound

  Consumable item, 2 second cast time. May be placed with a timer of up to 1 hour. After the timer expires, colored smoke will erupt from the flare, drawing the attention of nearby monsters and applying [Taunt] for up to one minute. All hostile targets in combat with you receive [Distracted] for 1 minute.

  They would do just fine, he thought.

  Of course, the time it took to cast felt far longer than two seconds, and he had to hold it in one hand, meaning he couldn’t have his sword up and guarding. Luckily, the toxin-spitting thorn monsters didn’t spit his way in that time, which made Tristan wonder if their ability also had a cooldown.

  The moment he tossed the device, all the nearby plants spun to face it--a few even lashing out as it flew past. Within seconds, they also spit at the flare--so he started counting in an attempt to determine the cooldown.

  While one [Signal Flare] seemed to be enough of a distraction, he still pulled out and cast a second, tossing it to the farther side of the room. Only once it activated did he push quickly forward, sweeping his sword through the stalks of the nearest two plants and taking their blossoms clean off. When their twitching stems just regrew quickly, forming new blooms, he almost didn’t know what to do. Except they didn’t even look his way, having instantly focused on the [Signal Flare].

  So Tristan cut his way forward, beheading and dodging between the spitters as best he could.

  An arrow plunged into his left shoulder, triggering [Tempered Spirit] once again.

  Oddly enough, it didn’t hurt all that much initially. But with every new move, a bolt of pain pulsed down his arm. There was nothing to do but break the arrow off. I’m becoming a freaking pincushion!

  The arrow had also refreshed all his debuffs. If it wasn’t for his sword’s [Incorruptible] property, Tristan realized, he would have been dead long ago. Chugging yet another healing potion brought him back up to half health, but he worried how long that would last. He didn’t have an unlimited supply of the things.

  As the plants spat at him again, Tristan growled. I am sick of fighting things that aren’t Venom! I think it’s time to use some skills to get to the monster sooner.

  A big [Cleaving Slash] cleared the plants immediately before him, and he sped toward the doorway where he’d last seen Venom seek cover. He kept his blade always moving, clearing away any plants within striking distance, while also staying ready just in case another arrow came his way. But none did.

  From the rear room, Venom’s voice slithered out. “You know, I finally figured out why you looked so familiar! You’re that little boy I wasn’t allowed to kill all the way back in Woodsedge. Guess I’ll get to finally correct that mistake. And when I’m done with you, maybe I’ll go visit your mother, too. Or do you have any little brothers or sisters?”

  Tristan stepped carefully toward the doorway as he pulled out a third [Signal Flare]. He had to focus and would not let the man’s filth shake him.

  It was harder and harder, though, as Venom kept going. “You know, I don’t just defile them while they’re living, right? I have fun with the corpses, too. That precious little hero,” and here he paused as an almost joyful sigh came through the door, “the blessed Brightshield got to experience that.”

  “Only because you had help,” Tristan shouted back. Then he tossed the third [Signal Flare] through the doorway, following it as quickly as he could, hoping he'd be able to use the distraction to rush into melee range before taking too many more arrows.

  The {Defiler} was against the side wall, nearly as far away from Tristan as the building would allow. And the arrow he had nocked had already left his bowstring, its tip glowing a dangerously bright green.

  “Gotcha!” the twisted, scarred lips said as the skill-infused arrow flew through the air.

  Tristan didn’t have time to really wonder whether the [Signal Flare] hadn’t gone off properly, or if Venom might have been immune to its effect. All he could do was stare in horror as the arrow raced straight toward him with a speed greater than even Shadow’s daggers had. He was still raising his sword after coming through the door; he wouldn’t be able to block the arrow in time.

  But something else was faster. A blur of greenish gold flew from his peripherals straight into the arrow’s path, intercepting it maybe a hand’s breadth from Tristan's face, before plummeting to the ground.

  One glance told Tristan what had saved him: Sneakers! The little bird-like astral was starting to fade around the edges. Venom’s infused shot had done enough damage to break his connection to the realm.

  Tristan had seen it happen once before, in the third dungeon he'd run with Sophie, so he knew she'd be able to resummon Sneakers, eventually. But both astral and astralist would be miserable until then. Tristan wouldn't let Sneakers’ sacrifice be in vain, even if it was only temporary.

  He charged toward the archer, desperate to reach him before he could reload.

  To his surprise, Venom didn't even try another arrow. Instead a dagger appeared in the monster’s hand.

  “Come to Daddy,” he said.

  In the space of one eye blink, the shape of the battle had changed. Venom got up into his personal space, slashing and cutting. It was almost like fighting Shadow again. Except... Shadow’s daggers had hurt more, when they even hit at all. It quickly became clear that, for all his lack of raw stats compared to the Tier 3, Tristan drastically outskilled Venom. After all, the monster only preyed on the weak and helpless, while Tristan had trained with a master swordsman.

  Tristan also realized that part of the reason Venom’s daggers didn’t do much damage was that they were merely another way to deliver the “Special Mix”--which Tristan could ignore, thanks to his sword!

  “You’re barely even tickling me,” he said, trying to provoke the monster. “Is that why you have to pick on little kids?”

  In response, Venom stabbed more recklessly. His voice shook the room in a way Tristan had only heard a few times before, and only from tier 4s.

  “I’ll wear you down until there’s nothing left!”

  As the oily presence of the {Defiler} pressed against him, Tristan actually witnessed the moment when the dagger’s tip began to glow bright green. Its movement left a horrifying trail of power and color, as it sped toward him.

  For the briefest moment, Tristan couldn’t move. The monster’s presence had demanded that he simply submit and crumble into nothingness, and Tristan felt powerless against it.

  But his sword, swinging as it had been, didn’t need to move far. It had momentum. The split second of uncontrolled mobility by a tier 3 didn’t negate all of that.

  The well-honed edge of the [Oozebane Greatsword] met the empowered dagger's strike, and it split the smaller blade in half.

  With a scream of pure frustration, Venom flipped sideways with such speed and control that it must have been a [Disengage] or similar skill. The man tried to use his newfound space to bring out his bow again.

  Except a purplish-pink bolt of energy flew through the doorway and exploded into him.

  Poof had arrived.

  Venom was blasted backward into the wall with such force his body broke the plaster.

  At long last, Tristan could close the gap with confidence. He brought his blade to bear, activating first [Blade Echo] and then [Blade Flurry], before delivering a [Piercing Thrust]. It was the highest damage combination he’d found, and Tristan executed it with all the fury of a divine avenger. Even so, the monster had so much health from his level advantage that it took several full rotations of strike after echoing strike, with his sword constantly cutting into the {Defiler}. The monster never had another opportunity to strike or [Disengage] before the notification finally came.

  [Path Quest updated: Avenge the Brightshield]

  As Tristan opened the quest, a green wisp of light, or energy perhaps, began to slowly swirl up from the dead body. It encircled Tristan just as the black wisp had after Shadow's fight. Then it, too, struck the swordsmith directly in the center of his chest. This time, the name was struck through in bright green.

  It also brought with it a Primary Class level-up! He’d reached level 15 with his swordsmith Class at last. Even though it didn’t award any new skills or abilities, a DING! sound was more than reward enough for such an accomplishment. He also relished the understanding that he was now half way through Tier 2. In only a few years, he’d already reached as high as his mom had in her whole life!

  “Holy gods, that was insane,” Sophie said, walking into the back room at last. She was petting Poof, who was already working her way out of a pale yellow hair bow. “First the smoke, and then the snake, and those plant things?”

  It was a good thing I practically countered his entire skillset just with my sword. He didn’t want to think about how poorly things could have gone otherwise.

  “What about the other kids, the ones I didn't get out?” Tristan asked.

  “I got almost all of them out safely,” she said, looking a touch forlornly over her shoulder, “but the first boy, and one other girl..." Her words tapered off.

  Tristan felt a twinge of remorse too, and he wondered briefly if he could have done more somehow. He shook his head. “So we saved seven of them?”

  Sophie nodded wordlessly. Then she spit on the {Defiler}’s corpse. “Good fucking riddance. Piece of inhuman garbage.”

  Tristan found himself nodding in agreement even as he stared at the list of names in his quest.

  I never want to see his name again, Tristan realized, wondering if he would ever be able to rid himself of the memory of this beast’s atrocities. In response, the green strikethrough of the quest started to smudge, obscuring the letters behind it until they were wholly unreadable. A wave of surprise quickly faded into relief.

  Three names still remained. Though that last line... it suggested the possibility of more.

  Additional objectives may be unlocked.

  He wondered what that might mean. More than that, though, he wondered which name he'd find next.

  - - -

  for those interested. (8 chapters ahead!)