14. Fire Ants (Patreon)

He glanced up. “So... Jude isn't coming?”

“By now, almost certainly not. The first floor drops people at random locations. After this long without seeing him, he probably spawned somewhere else,” N. Kaidu said.

Would it have killed you to say that earlier? Then the implications of the statement hit, and Rowan grimaced. “We have to clear the first floor without our combat class and healer?”

N. Kaidu shrugged, unworried. He gestured, presumably opening his System interface. “On your map, do you see the destination?”

Right, the first floor is a simple dungeon clear. We have to make our way to an exit or beat the boss to conquer it. He glanced at N. Kaidu as he pulled up his interface. Two support classes aren’t going to beat the boss, so we ought to focus on the exit.

Two green dots huddled in the lower left-hand corner of the map. A large red dot burned in the upper right hand corner. Halfway between the two, a third green dot wandered.

“That dot, is that Jude?” Rowan guessed.

“That’s my suspicion,” N. Kaidu concurred.

“And the red dot is the boss, so where’s the exit?”

“It wouldn’t be marked on the map,” N. Kaidu said, rolling his eyes. “But it should be near the boss.”

“So we’ll have to avoid the boss while searching the area for the exit, that might not even be near the boss?” Rowan said.

“You learn quickly.”

“Thanks. Appreciate it.”

A dry rattle shuddered in the undergrowth. Rowan turned slowly.

Two yellow, slit-pupil eyes stared out of the undergrowth. A forked tongue sniffed the air through a slit in a scaly, flat, triangular head. Long body taller than Rowan stood, a monster rattlesnake towered over them, tail curled up, head back, ready to strike.

Rowan backed away, one step at a time. “N. Kaidu…”

“Kaidu is fine.” He scrolled through his interface, lips pursed thoughtfully.

“Kaidu, we’re about to die,” Rowan repeated at a half-whisper.

Kaidu whirled. He locked eyes with the rattlesnake.

Aggravated by the sudden motion, the rattlesnake drew back its head and struck.

“Precise Cut!”

Kaidu burst into motion, faster than Rowan’s eyes could follow. A pair of scissors jabbed into the underside of the rattlesnake’s throat mid-thrust. Bright red blood spurted out. Caught mid-strike, the rattlesnake opened its mouth, fangs bared uselessly at the air. Venom sprayed from the fangs.

Rowan ducked to the side, dodging it. Not this time!

Kaidu pushed the scissors deeper. Blood soaked his hand, dripping to the floor. The rattlesnake thrashed, then went limp. With a sharp gesture, Kaidu threw the rattlesnake to the ground. He drew a cloth from his pocket and cleaned the shears, businesslike, as though he hadn't murdered a deadly monster seconds ago.

“Damn," Rowan muttered, backing away from the dead snake. He narrowed his eyes at Kaidu. He’s only six levels above me, but he could handle that snake with no effort. Even if I gained six more skills, I’d probably only gain the ability to fertilize plants or snip buds or something. Is he really a support class? Scan!

Nagaroya Kaidu. 20/M. Class: Hairdresser. Level: 15.

Twisting his lips, Rowan glanced away. Scan confirms it. I guess he just got lucky. Hairdressers need cutting skills, after all. Gardeners… what do we get that can be used in combat? Anything?

“Draw your weapons,” Kaidu warned. He flourished his fingers, materializing a straight razor in addition to the sharp-tipped scissors.

“More rattlers?” Rowan asked. He drew the rake. If I’m fighting snakes, I want them as far from me as I can get, thank you very much! No need to test out my Poison Resist LVL 2 again.

“Worse.”

The undergrowth shook. A red ant the width of his palm crawled out and wandered over to the rattler, prodding it with its mandibles.

“It’s only an ant,” Rowan said, rolling his eyes. It’s big for an ant, but it’s still only a few inches long. What’s so scary about that? He walked over and lifted his foot.

“Don’t!” Kaidu shouted.

Too late. Rowan stomped on the ant. Yellowish goo spurted from under his flipflop.

“What? It’s an ant. There’s nothing scary about ants.”

The undergrowth shook, louder than before. One ant crawled out, then another and another. Rowan backed away. Antennae twitching, they examined the fallen ant’s body. As one, they raised their mandibles and turned in Rowan’s direction.

“When they die, the ants leave hormonal markers on their killers. They know you killed that ant,” Kaidu hissed.

“So what? Three ants…”

Another ant wriggled out. Another. Another. A dozen ants trampled the rattling snake’s body and stared at Rowan, mandibles open wide. Behind them, the undergrowth flattened. A much larger ant appeared, easily the size of a small dog, mandibles twice as large relative to its body, body a bright, fiery red. It turned toward Rowan and hissed.

“Run!” Kaidu snapped.

Rowan charged through the woods. Kaidu led the way, ducking branches, leaping brambles. Behind him, a quiet hiss sounded out, followed by a whoomph and a blast of heat. Over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of fire shooting out of the large ant’s mouth. The dry undergrowth went up in flames.

“Fire ants! You shouldn’t have aggravated them. They won’t forget us. They’ll chase us across the entire map until we’re dead!” Kaidu lectured.

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t know everything about floor one!” Rowan snapped.

“This is general knowledge, everyone knows this!” Kaidu replied.

“Every combat class, maybe! My family’s all support classes. How am I supposed to know any of this?”

Kaidu fell silent. He ducked a thick vine.

Before Rowan could chase him, the vine twitched, then thumped down in front of him, blocking his path.

Rowan jumped back, raising his rake.

The vine shook itself. Hundreds of tiny legs grew from its sides, and its green shell shook, shedding moss to reveal a shiny black back. A millipede reared at him, venom dripping from its jaws. Its round head reached to his waist.

"Shit," Rowan snapped.