Monster Jousting Book 3 - Chapter 27 (Patreon)

After ripping his vision away from the immense structure, Noah looked at Yidos. “Tell me more about this place. What should I expect? Give me the monster’s weaknesses, their size, their habits.”

Yidos shook her head. “I don’t know exactly. There’s no one that could know. This land has been inaccessible for generations. You should have seen it before your people arrived. Before this land was an impenetrable domain. This wall–” She glanced over her shoulder to the supernatural bush behind her. “I’ve never even seen it before. As far as you could see, it was nothing but razor sharp bushes that attacked anything that neared. No amount of fire, no amount of hacking away at its branches, could destroy it.”

“So we’re heading into the dark?” Noah asked.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Alright,” Noah said. “Just means we’ve got to play it safe for now. Scout out the enemy, see what makes them tick. Krall, you’re up.” 

Krall happily grunted as he bounded into the sand in front. He lept head first into the soft grains, and with a few mighty thrashes of his arms, he was gone. Noah could feel his presence moving under ground faster than any earthworm ever could. He was headed for the lost city.

As Krall was scouting the area ahead, Noah commanded Gluttony to disappear amongst the trees. With his new hallowed wings, he flew to the tree canopy high above, disappearing amongst the dark shadows. The others couldn’t see him, but Noah could. Gluttony’s body was highlighted in his vision. Noah deactivated his Monster shard, and his tamed companion vanished. Activating it again, he reappeared.

The Monster Shard gives me increased control over my monsters. I can tell where they are, and can command them from far away, Noah thought. It makes a damn good scouting tool.

Noah wished he brought his Infernal Crab with him right about now. 3 whole monsters, each with enough capability to defeat Level 100+ creatures. It was a mighty force. It would have proved useful. 

Nevermind, Noah thought. There’s always next time. Besides, it needs to protect my home.

Happy with his current preparations, Noah, Yidos, Thraz, Pillow, and Yidos and her men hiked towards the lost city. They kicked up sand underfoot. Noah caught Pillow glancing all around the place like a child in a sweet shot.

“I’m surprised you’re coming with us, Pillow,” Noah said.

“Huh?” Pillow scowled. “Of course I’m coming. Relics sound expensive.”

“You’re like a little leprechaun.”

“What the hells a leprhakun?”

“You know–” Noah coughed, making his voice higher pitched, making a horrible irish accent. “Top of the mornin’ to ya. Come to my pot of gold under the rainbow.”

“Are you damaged?” 

“Maybe,” Noah said, chuckling. “Anyway, they’re obsessed with gold.”

“Even if I was this… creature, why would I give you my pot of gold?”

“That, well,” Noah said, frowning. “Nevermind. It’s just a phrase they use.”

“If I ever go to your Earth, don’t let me see them,” Pillow said. “I don’t like people that give away their gold. They can’t be trusted.”

“They’re not real. They’re fictional characters. Anyway, why can’t they be trusted?”

“Because everyone always has an ulterior motive. Nothing in this world, my world, or your world, is free. There is always a transaction involved; it just depends on what that is.” 

“You’re not a very trusting person, are you, Pillow?” Noah asked, smiling.

“I trust you.”

“You do?”

“A little.”

Noah laughed. “Just a little?”

“Well,” Pillow said, looking at him. “With you, I feel like I’m always one step away from death. It’s hard to fully trust someone like that.”

“Hey,” Noah said. “This is your own decision to come.”

“That doesn’t change the fact.”

“Whatever,” Noah said, jokingly pouting. “You don’t trust me.” 

“I trust you enough to stay by your side,” Pillow said. “Isn’t that enough?” 

“Yeah,” said Noah, nodding. “That's enough.”

“I trust you, Noah!” Thraz said, his voice booming in between the trees as usual. 

“I trust you too, Thraz,” Noah said with humour. “Although it was a bit dicey at the start, wasn’t it?”

“Was it?” Thraz asked, confused. 

“You know what?” Noah said. “Never mind.”

Thraz looked even more confused, but left it there. He inspected one of the trees. “Can I shop one down? I wonder what wood it is?”

“Well, just use your Inspect skill?” Noah said.

“Oh,” Thraz said in realistion. “I forgot I had that.” 

Shaking his head, Noah followed Thraz closely as he wandered in front of one of the trees. It was a lighter shade of brown–almost a tan colour–unlike the other dark brown trees in the jungle. Thick thorns covered the surface. Thraz touched the bark in between, as did Noah. He used Inspect.

Wildthorn Tree (Level 75)
| Profession - Woodcutting

“That’s a high grade material,” Noah said. “It would be useful for the house. I think I remember seeing a building that uses this tree as its base. But how the hell would we carry them back?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Thraz said with a knowing smile. “Stand back.” 

Thraz unsheathed his sword from his back. The blade made a ringing noise as it left its home. Thraz clicked his thick tongue in admiration. On numerous occasions, Noah caught Thraz cradling the large two-handed blade in his arms. He even talked to it. One night, Noah was curious. So, using his stealth abilities, he crept up on him to listen in. 

“Dragon king bor, I will use this offering to transcend you and the other children. I will slaughter them all and ascend into a true dragon,” he muttered on repeat.

And with that blade, he swung it in a wide, savage arc against the tree. Just as his sword was about to strike the thorny bark, one of the thorns shot out from the base of the tree. It happened so fast, and without warning, that it caught Noah completely unaware. But the thorn wasn’t targeted at Noah, but at the attacker–Thraz.

Eyes widening, earth covered Thraz’s chest. The thorn thudded against his natural armour, embedding itself deep within. However, it didn’t seem to penetrate his flesh. 

“That was close,” he said. 

“Want me to help?” Noah asked.

“No,” Thraz said with determination. “This is my kill.”

“It’s a tree, Thraz–”

Not paying heed to his words, Thraz covered himself in dense rock armour. With a mighty roar, he chopped at the tree, ignoring the thorns peppering his armour every second. By the time the tall tree fell, the front of Thraz looked like he had transformed into a porcupine. 

The tree crashed into the sand, sending it all sputtering upwards like he had just thrown an enormous rock into a pond. Thraz happily sauntered over to the tree, proud as a peacock. 

“What’s this got to do with taking it back–”

Thraz touched the bark of the tree, and the entire thing just vanished in thin air. Noah was confused at first, but then a realisation dawned on him.

“Do you have an inventory?” Noah asked in amazement. 

“An inventory?” Thraz shook his head. “The System calls it a Profession Pocket. I can store wood inside, but that’s it.”

Noah then turned to Pillow. He was about to ask if he had the same, so the little panda responded to him.

“I have it as well,” Pillow said, a potion appearing in his palm. “What? You think I just stored all my potions in my jacket? Like a magical genie?”

“Actually,” Noah said. “Yeah.”

Pillow shook his head in disappointment.

“Well I just assumed you had a magical jacket, or something,” Noah said. “But that will come in handy. After this expedition, Thraz, you could take down all the trees here. I’ll need it for the house.”

Thraz slammed his fist into his palm. “I can do that. No tree is a match for me.”

With that out of the way, Noah and the others forged deeper into the land of Imprexis. The entire area turned treacherous. The plants were alive, and they attacked whenever they could. But none managed to stay alive for very long with Gluttony and Krall laying in wait. It turned out that the plants were weak to Krall’s fire. 

After 20 minutes of walking, Noah stopped. Krall spotted something in the distance. Noah calculated they still had around 3 hours to reach Imprexis, but there was an oddity carved into the sand that had stopped them.

It was a bowl. And what was worse, was what was inside the bowl. Krall didn’t dare go any further. Instead, a beastly apprehension tugged at Noah’s mind. Krall’s instincts were telling him that whatever monster was inside the bowl, wasn’t to be trifled with. 

The floor rumbled. “Shit,” Noah spat. All the sand in the area sunk. Noah suddenly found himself shin deep in sand. Vines snapped out of the sand and hurtled towards them. And that wasn’t all. In the distance, the sand sunk deeper. It was approaching them. Fast. Noah prepared himself for a fight.