Drip-Fed – A Rivalry 8 – Chance meeting at the Lake (Patreon)

Apexus peeked his head out of the door of the Mobile Estate. His eyes scanned the immediate surroundings of the door. Carefully, he stepped outside. There was nothing behind the minimal space between the door and the tree they had placed it against.

“It’s clear,” he told the rest of the party, who hopped out of the Mobile Estate one after another. Reysha stretched under the morning sun. It was a cold spring morning, but the rays were still warm and the air fresher than the inside of the one-room Change Mansion.

Apexus pulled the key out of his lower arm and locked the door of light. It collapsed into the golden object, which he then handed over to Aclysia. Today he expected combat, so he did not want to keep the key in a limb that may get ripped off or between ribs that could take a denting blow. The chances for that were not too high, but they were higher than the chances of it getting stolen.

They were outside the territory of Drowse now. After six days of travel, they had arrived at the wetland that surrounded the lake they were sent to investigate.

The relative cold kept the environment from being too humid. Activity of amphibians was low, courtesy of the salinity of the water. The land here was flat and low, letting storms flood the plain with ocean water with some regularity. It was a particularly intense storm of that variety that had sent the ship sinking in the lake in the first place.

Maps made land look rigid. In reality, coastlines were constantly changing according to the whims of nature. Similarly, the map made it look like there was a magical cut-off point between where the land was safe and where it was dangerous.

Two days ago, the party had left the mansion and was swiftly assaulted by a chimeric creature that was a mix of flounder, frog and centipede. The chimera had laid flat on the ground and been camouflaged to a degree that not even Apexus had noticed it until it was too late. The creature had been pressed flatly to the ground, then suddenly expanded a giant maw and grabbed Korith with its sticky tongue.

It was fortunate that the party’s smallest member was the second heaviest and, all things considered, the most likely to win a tug of war. The Warrior kobold had squeaked, dug her heels in, and resisted being pulled towards the eager mandibles for long enough that the rest of the party had kicked the life out of the monster.

 Since then, they had been more careful about what was outside their movable home.

“It is highly fortunate that we do not sleep in tents or similarly open places,” Aclysia remarked. “From hearsay I have learned that an estimated 70% of adventurer deaths are due to nightly ambushes.”

“Sounds about right,” Reysha agreed. “Wonder how many people get used to the safety of Healing Fountains and then forget they don’t have that protection from roaming monsters.”

“More than zero,” Apexus suggested.

“There’re idiots in all professions…” Korith cleared her throat. “Anyway, lake?”

“Lake,” Apexus agreed and gestured for the kobold to take point. The open wetland wasn’t a dungeon, but it was best to treat it as such. He dropped to the back of the formation, leaving Aclysia between them. Reysha dropped out of his perception. The last he noted of her was the sound of tall grasses rustling.

‘Could stab them right now,’ the redhead thought to herself. ‘No one would ever know, hehehehee… wow, I can laugh creepily in my own head.’

Reysha turned away from the party and began to Stealth ahead. Occasionally, she would drop the Skill to let the others know where she was and to show which path she had scouted out. Korith then leapt on over, with Aclysia and Apexus following on wings.

‘Well, that ain’t good,’ the redhead thought after she had reached the shoreline. Retreating quickly, she rejoined the rest of the Inevitable party. “Shoreline is covered with crocorillas… gorocrocs?” She shrugged. “Crocodiles with gorilla arms for legs. They’re probably pretty fast.”

“That sounds terrifying!” Korith exclaimed. “Crocodiles should not be allowed to sprint, that’s illegal!”

“Really, of all the things we killed, that’s the one that gives you pause?”

“Crocodiles have no souls, have you seen their eyes?!”

“What about alligators?”

“What about cancer?”

“I did not know you held such hatred for a fellow creature of scaled exterior,” Aclysia hummed.

“If I ate a crocodile and took its eyes, would I lose my soul?” Apexus tilted his head. “Do I have one?”

“Technically no, darling, although I do not believe this particular theological debate between consciousness and divine Sparks should occur here. As Reysha stated, there is a goridile infested beach twenty metres away from our current location. How many combatants can we expect?”

“Like, twenty?” Reysha answered. The rise and sudden fall between the lake’s shore and the surrounding wetland covered the view. “Enough that we really shouldn’t mess with them even if they’re like ten levels lower.”

“Our situation is about to change,” Apexus stated and pointed south.

Aclysia turned around, Reysha raised her eyes, then a brow, and Korith jumped to hang from the arm. She couldn’t have looked over the surrounding ferns from her standing height.

In the distance, a familiar face waved. Fully armoured, Atlas took confident strides through the wetland, following a blue-furred tiger’s footsteps. Behind him were the dwarf Shaman and thorn-dryad Witch that the party had briefly seen before, alongside a pale-skinned elf Ranger that they had not.

“Are you people stalking us?” Reysha asked jokingly.

“Maybe,” Atlas joked and received a soft, reprimanding tap on the side of the head by the green-skinned dryad.

“Pure coincidence,” she assured them. “We are up here to find Saline Verdants.”

“May I ask what those are?” Aclysia investigated.

“Some kind of fancy garlic that apparently grows well in salt-heavy marshes like this,” Atlas filled them in. “The big guys from the Sleeping Empire think they can use it to develop some agricultural areas back in their main provinces. They want a new shipment every other year as they try to make it stick to their own soil.”

“We are also looking for the Gargant while we are up here,” the dwarf added. For a member of his species, he spoke calmly and completely accent-free. He stroked his carefully shaped, blueish-black beard. “May we ask what you are doing here?”

“We aim to find a shipwreck in this lake.”

“Ooooh, the Bo Ring company?” Atlas asked and Apexus nodded affirmingly. “That’s going to be pretty difficult. Thought it was expensive myself. Half the reward would go down for the water breathing potions you’d need to be on the safe side of it all… plus the grocillas.”

“That’s the worst out of the four…” Korith groaned. “Is that really what they’re called?”

“It’s what he calls them,” the Witch weighed in.  “Feel free to ignore Atlas’ questions, by the way. He doesn’t know the definition of the words ‘trade secrets’.”

“It is fine. I do not need to breathe,” Apexus answered. “I am not… a standard sapient being.” The hesitance was answered by nothing out of the ordinary.

“Man, that sounds pleasant. Breathing is such a pain,” Atlas joked. “Out of interest, would you be up for helping us with the Gargant? We’d split the reward 5 to 4. You know, shares per head.” The party with him appeared pleased by their leader’s suggestion.

Reysha was immediately suspicious. “Why the offer?”

“Because we actually were looking for help but everyone bailed or was otherwise busy. A Gargant isn’t to be taken lightly… also, honestly…” Atlas scratched the back of his head. “Call it charity. You lot are obviously running around in gear that needs replacement. I mean, that’s a non-enchanted robe.” His hand wandered from Apexus to Aclysia. “And that staff is obviously too heavy for a Guardian Angel.”

“You know of my nature?” Aclysia asked.

“I did,” the dwarf stepped forwards, then bowed his head. “I know the signs of a divine being.”

“We can discuss more later, if you agree to the deal,” Atlas offered. “Otherwise we’d just be on our merry way and see each other back in Drowse.”

“What would be your plan if we agreed?” Apexus investigated.

“We’d put up a shared camp nearby. You would do your shipwreck stuff, we’ll gather up the Saline Verdants, and once we’re both done with that, we’ll either have found the Chimera Gargant or go looking for it.”

Apexus considered the suggestion, while Atlas’ eyes dashed back and forth between the giant Monk and the angel to his right. ‘I am really not sure which one of these two is the actual leader,’ the brown-haired Warrior thought.

“Would you accept a test first?” the humanoid chimera investigated.

“Depends on the test?”

“Behind us are about 20 of the gorilla crocodile hybrids. They are sunbathing and likely still lethargic at this hour. They are still too much for us alone. I would request your aid in cleaning them out.”

“Think we can do that?” Atlas asked his party with a grin. The dwarf answered with an affirmative shout, the two women rolled their eyes (yet nodded all the same), and the blue tiger meowed.

The Atlas party went left, while the Inevitable party went right. The plan was simple: split the enemy’s attention while staying with already familiar groups. Optimally, both parties would get a general idea of the other’s combat style and the lake would be considerably safer.

The fight began with Apexus jumping down the slope.

The chimeras on the beach rose up on their furry legs. Cold-blooded circulation was in slow motion, the sun was warm but not warm enough to provide these creatures with enough energy to react quickly to the huge Monk bringing down a light grey fist on the first one’s head. The concussive blow was powerful enough to kill it instantly.

Even lethargic, the creatures did try to grab their prey. The hard-programming of dungeon monsters still existed in these feral variants and they knew nothing but aggression towards the Spark-bearing people they existed to test. Two nearby monsters sprinted on their ape arms towards Apexus. One caught the back of Apexus’ heel. The Ironskin-reinforced foot blew the lower jaw off the monster.

The second fell victim to the gold-haired kobold that descended from above. All of the weight and all of the acceleration of gravity came down with the flat of the hammer, breaking the skull of another enemy.

Up above, Aclysia pulled mana from the surrounding air into her staff. Using external mana slowed the weaving of the spell, but she was in no hurry. The Sunlight Rays she unleashed existed for confusion first and foremost, blinding those she struck either temporarily or for the rest of their limited lifespan.

Reysha descended on the enemy furthest removed from the happenings. From the crocodile-gorilla’s perspective, one moment it lived, the next a brand new dagger was separating its neck from its spine. ‘Gods, I already love this thing,’ Reysha thought and inspected the true-silver stiletto. The thin, narrow blade rejected the blood on its surface, causing it to flow off within seconds. Left behind was only a gleaming, white-silver weapon, waiting for its next victim.

The remaining chimeras were now properly prepared and flowed towards the two parties, tying each of them down.

Across the divide the parting herd caused, Atlas blocked the fist of a crocorilla with a raised shield. The gold decorations on the iron surface gleamed as the protective enchantments activated. The enemy experienced a greater backlash from the impact than it expected, blowing its defenses wide open.

 Rather than take that opening, Atlas stepped aside. In a set of fluid motions, the Warrior bashed his shield against the side of the head of another enemy, while the blue tiger jumped forwards and gouged the chimera’s throat out.

“Why do we even bother with this?” the elven ranger complained, even as her hands moved rapidly to shoot the arrows between her fingers. One after the other, she emptied her hand, then got a new handful from her quiver.

Each of her arrows struck true, sinking deep through the scales. The expensive true-silver tips of the ammunition were partly to thank for that. Another factor was the mumbling of the Dryad. Before her the grimoire that had previously dangled from her hips now hovered in mid-air, the pages flipping as she combined words of power from the deep texts. Each spoken syllable was a continuation of the Curse of Vulnerability that she had placed on this set of enemies.

‘How interesting that she’s supporting her party actively,’ the dwarf Shaman thought, stroking his beard. His blue eyes were focused on the moth-winged angel up above. ‘I thought she was their healer…  no, she must be. Going out without a healer is suicide and those are Priest spells… she is a Guardian Angel, she confirmed as much. What tremendous skill, to handle this much mana while holding reserves.’ Blue eyes glowed when he called upon the spirits. ‘Impressive, I should work at least half as hard!’

Atlas felt his pulse quicken. Muscle fatigue was suddenly washed away. Little blue spirits swirled cheerfully around him. “Just what I needed!” the party leader shouted, then executed a brilliant three-strike combo that saw just as many enemies felled.

The numbers of the herd had been thinned on both sides to the point that the true combat was now over. Reysha and Apexus finished off the remaining monsters on their side. The tiger and the Witch did it for the Atlas party, the latter summoning needles of condensed mana to sink into her enemies. The spell was slow but precise.

“Now I doubly want you onboard,” Atlas laughed and sheathed his gold-silver sword. “You have our opposite weakness! You’re totally melee dominated.” He pointed over his shoulder. “I can only ever rely on Flora to try and back me up in the thick of things.”

“Th-that’s not true!” the tiger said, while morphing into the flower-decorated slime woman that Apexus was used to. “Give Kumlin some credit.”

“Kumlin? Give me some credit!” the dryad shouted. “Did you forget what I did last time we were in a Double Incursion?”

“Like you weren’t itching to test that Curse,” Atlas bantered back. “Anyway, do we have a deal, Inevitable?” His eyes darted back and forth between Apexus and Aclysia. “Which one of you is the leader?”

“I told you before?” Apexus wondered.

“Was that when I was drunk enough to try to draw my sword in the guild? Because memory not so gud in those situations.”

Aclysia silently pointed at her man, solving the question once and for all. Now in the know, Atlas awaited the response of the humanoid chimera. “I find your terms agreeable,” he ultimately decided.

“Great, then we’ll meet you here tonight!” Atlas stated. “Good luck diving!”

The cooperating parties separated for the day.