117: Monsters Of The Deep (Patreon)

“They’ve penetrated this far? Then…” Haymi said, her face white.

“Then this is going to be a difficult fight indeed.”

Balar 400 to 700 was far beyond even what the Narapazu had been. Individually, Vir would’ve had no choice but to tuck his tail and run, but even with a party, it seemed like a tall order.

“What do you know about these Matrons? How do we fight them?” Vir asked.

Tia shook her head. “Not now. First, we need to establish a fortified base of operations. Preferably somewhere farther back where it’s safer. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for more enemies. We’re dealing with a mature Matron here, not some neophyte.”

Making camp was easier said than done. It took a full hour of bushwhacking—and several close calls—to find a suitable location. Vir relied on Prana Vision to warn of incoming enemies more than once, forcing them to detour more around enemy positions more than once.

And then, once they’d found the spot, they had to secure it. The location they picked was a densely vegetated area marked by four tall trees at each corner. Corners they could build palisades out of, thus fortifying their base.

They each got to work immediately. Haymi swapped out the orbs in their weapons for C Grade Enhance Sharpness. Together with Prana Blade, Vir had little issue dicing through nearby trunks, stripping them of their bark and sharpening their tips. Against Broodlings, a tall wall wasn’t necessary, but Vir cut them tall enough that even an acrobat wouldn’t be able to vault over it easily.

Overkill, perhaps, but when wood was so abundant, Vir didn’t see any reason to skimp.

Vason dug trenches for the palisades—a much harder job—along with Tia.

They worked smoothly, and after only another three hours, they had a camp with palisades on all sides. The vegetation had been culled, and a fire ring installed.

The party of four currently huddled around a small fire as the sky darkened and the forest cooled. Unlike at Brij, the temperature never fell enough to cause any real worry, but a fire was a nice comfort, nonetheless. Plus, most animals feared fire. It acted as a safety measure as well.

“So, these beasts. What do we know?” Vir asked.

“Not much, I’m afraid. Details of Ash Beasts are exceedingly scarce. From what I’ve read, Matrons use their hunter-gatherers to kill and bring back food to the Matron, who produces more offspring. I believe scout Balar Ranks are around ten to twenty each.”

Vir’s eyes narrowed. “Scout? Are there different types of beasts?”

“There are. Scouts bring back information about hostiles and sources of nourishment, which the hunter-gatherers then kill and haul back. It was good that we killed them all today. If even one got back to the brood, we’d have been beset by their stronger brethren.”

“How strong are we talking?”

Tia shrugged. “The records I read didn’t say. Only that they were the warriors of the brood, so we can expect them to pack a punch.”

“More a question of how many,” Vason said, stoking the fire. “We can handle a handful. Maybe lay a pit trap and wait, or separate them and pick them off one by one. But against thirty? Sixty? That’s another matter entirely.”

“Vason’s right. We lack critical information about the enemy, and yet venturing deep into their hive is far too dangerous,” Haymi added.

“We’d be asking to get surrounded,” Tia said with a nod. “Except, we’re on a timer now.”

“You think the Matron will know her minions are missing?” Vir asked.

“It’s only a matter of time,” she replied. “I don’t believe the Matron can communicate with her workers, or there’d be no need for the scouts to report back as I’d read. But I’m sure she’d notice ten of her scouts going missing all at once.”

“Kinda odd for scouts to operate in packs, don’t you think?” Vason said, ripping off a piece of cooked flatbread and dipping it into the vegetable stew that Haymi had graciously whipped up. “They’d do better by splitting up.”

Vir shook his head. “If they can’t communicate, then at least one of them has to survive whatever they encounter to report back. They lose that ability if they travel individually and are injured or killed.”

“Right,” Tia said. “We should expect groups. I suspect the workers and the hunter-gatherers all operate this way as well.”

But we ought to confirm it, Vir thought. It made sense logically, but a mistaken assumption here could very well get them all killed.

“Which means we need to move fast. If we do end up staying in the forest, we’ll likely have to build several more fortifications and move between them to keep the enemy from discovering our camp,” Tia said with an awkward smile. “I trust your fortifications, Apramor, just that I’d rather avoid an ambush if we can.”

“I’d rather not be attacked in my sleep either,” he replied. But that did leave them in a predicament. They needed more information about the enemy, and they needed it fast.

Vir dug into his stew and experienced an unexpected explosion of complex flavor. He’d been expecting mediocrity, but instead found the work of a master chef.

Vason cracked a grin. “Best perk of Spear’s Edge… Haymi’s cooking.”

“This is seriously good,” Vir said, relishing the mashed bean and lentil broth that bled into the perfectly cooked vegetables.

“We’d be an even more efficient party if she only cooked more, but alas, not even Janak could convince her,” Vason said, holding his palm to his forehead.

His words earned him a C Grade Arc spell, fired right between his boots.

Vason yelped and jumped back, but Vir noticed he didn’t allow even a drop of his food to spill.

They really do get along well, Vir thought as he ate his stew.

“How do you fight so well together?” he asked. “I know you’ve known each other awhile, but there’s got to be more. When we fight, it almost feels like you’re a single entity rather than three people.”

Vason chuckled, while Haymi smiled slightly.

“A half dozen life or death situations will do that to you, Apramor,” Tia said softly. “Like how we fought that Narapazu? We all just kinda knew what to do. You included. Becomes second nature after a while.”

“I still feel like I’m just fighting independently, rather than gelling with you three, though.”

“Naw, you did great today! That was your first actual fight in a party. Trust me, I’ve seen people do far worse.”

“Far worse,” Vason echoed with a chuckle. “As Tia said, it’ll come in time. There’s no need to rush it. We have the benefit of sharing a martial style, after all. Your arts are quite different, so it’ll take some time to integrate. Might even give you a reason to stay on with us, eh?” he said with a wink.

“That said, it’d be best if you remained closer to me when we fight,” Haymi said. “It’s harder for me to use my magic the farther away you are.”

So that was why they were all bunched up, Vir realized. Neither Vason nor Tia ever stepped more than a few paces away from their mejai. Though they probably did that to protect her as well.

“Wouldn’t it be best to disguise Haymi? Either as a warrior, or have her hide nearby?”

Haymi nodded. “Right. Militaries disguise their mejai as soldiers, but mercs usually fight beasts. They’re not intelligent enough to target me specifically. Not unless I start hurling offensive magic. At that point, a disguise would be useless, anyway. Besides… armor gets itchy.”

Vir suspected Haymi’s dislike of armor was the real reason, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“But, y’know, it’s fine to operate on your own and all, but if you do see one of us struggling, we sure wouldn’t mind if you lent us a hand!”

“Of course,” Vir replied immediately. “That’s the least I could do.”

Vason hadn’t expected such an earnest response. “W-well, great!” he said, smiling awkwardly.

“So, uh, do we get any reward for killing off the Broodlings?” Vir asked. They’d collected the scouts’ pincers, but none of them knew whether they were worth anything.

“Unfortunately not. The Brotherhood considers the Lord of the Forest as a singular beast. Either we kill the Matron, or we get nothing.”

“In that case…” Vir said, taking a deep breath. “Let me handle this.”

“Uh, what?” Tia asked.

“I think he said he wants to take on the entire brood alone.”

Vir frowned at Vason. “Of course not. But it’s a fact that I have the best scouting skills in this party.”

“You may be skilled, Vir, but you’re not invincible. That’s out of the question,” Tia said firmly.

“Actually… I kinda am. I—look, will you trust me when I say that I can spy on enemies from a position of absolute safety?”

Tia glanced at Haymi and Vason. “Apramor, there isn’t a Talent in the world that makes you invulnerable.”

“This is hard for me to prove, but you know how I sink into the shadows? Well, I can stay there for some time. And when I’m in there, time stops. I can’t stay in there forever, but when I’m in the Shadow Realm, nothing can touch me.”

“Apramor, I’ve never heard of a Talent like that. Shadow Blend allows you to sink into the shadows, sure, but it can’t manipulate Time! Not even the Lost Art Talents can do that.

Vir scratched his neck. “Yeah, I figured. Now you know why I haven’t said anything about this before.”

“Are you serious, Apramor?”

Vir nodded. “Trust me. It’s not just that. I have other skills that help me scout. I can make it to the Brood Matron’s lair and back without being detected.”

Tia sighed. “I suppose you’ll just sneak out of bed in the middle of the night if we refuse.”

Vir grinned. “Sorry.”

“Very un-party-like behavior, Apramor,” Vason scolded. “But I like your guts.”

“Fine. But you have two hours. If you’re not back, we’re gonna come searching for you. And take a Flare orb. If you’re in distress, fire it and we’ll know where you are.”

Vir pocketed the orb. He’d already shared some details of Dance of the Shadow Demon. He didn’t really feel like divulging he was prana scorned as well. The orb was useless to him, but it made Tia feel better, so he pocketed it silently.

“Well then, I’ll be off.”

“Do not engage the enemy. Retreat at the first sign of trouble, even if you end up leading them back here. We’ll deal with it. And…” Tia said, hugging Vir and smiling wryly, “Good hunting.”

“T-thanks.”