Cameron
Two. Two points of mana, that is all I had. I had no traps placed, next to no mana, and maybe a minute or two to make preparations before the group of unknown strength made it through the tunnel and into my core room with the intent to kill me. I was panicking.
“Invisibility. Invisibility,” my fairy repeated as he took flight and cast a spell on himself.
Left alone to deal with the oncoming threat, I probably wasted the first twenty or so seconds as I panicked. My mind rapidly filled with unhelpful ideas as I tried to figure out a plan of attack.
“Our queen, what is wrong?”
“What can we do to assist you, mother?”
Vie and Pee brought me back to focus with their words. A second passed in silence. Then, I started giving orders as I worked.
You two, get in the secret tunnels, now.
I didn't even pay attention to their response as I absorbed the last two copper coins in the stolen coin pouch for a single point of mana each. I considered using that mana to slightly improve the three Shadow Vipers' stats with Monster Customization, but I immediately dismissed the idea. Even if I made use of my new achievement to customize them in ways that didn't cost me additional DP, I couldn't afford to waste the mana on that.
Think, Connie, think!
I had to come up with something, and I had to do it fast. With nothing else that I could reasonably absorb, I began to stare at my mana pool as I tried to figure out how I could best spend what I had.
[Mana: 4/100]
It was enough to summon another Horned Draco, but that was the weakest monster I had. I doubted it would be enough to do anything against even the weakest of adventurers, let alone the ones currently attacking me.
[Mana: 4/100]
Modifications weren't a bad idea, but I doubted four points would be enough to make any kind of difference.
[Mana: 4/100]
Items were out. I had nothing cheap that was also useful enough to bother with.
[Mana: 4/100]
Falling rock traps were probably my best bet, and I could afford two. I wasn't sure how useful they'd be, but they were better than nothing.
[Mana: 5/100]
I froze as I noticed the regenerated point. That was enough to add another option to the table. Quickly, I spent all five points. Mental anguish and brain fog followed as I emptied my mana pool, but I pushed through it. There was one last thing I could do.
I used one hundred pooled experience points to level up my one and only Trenti to level two. That earned it an extra point of vitality, endurance, mind, composure, and agility. It also received three stat points that I could allocate. I threw them all into SOUL, and checked on my enemies.
They were already part-way through the tunnel. I was out of time, and I could only hope my preparations were enough. With nothing else I could do to better my odds beforehand, it was time to play the role of commander.
Vie, Pee, I need you to head into the tunnel behind them.
After giving them their orders, I waited until the adventurers were at the entrance to my room. Then, I commanded the Trenti to blast them with a Spore Wave. I had low expectations for the spell, but it was something.
Unfortunately, only two of the invaders had been in range of the spell, but it was enough to stall them for a couple of seconds. In that time, I had the three Shadow Vipers charge into the tunnel and bite at the cloaked beastkin leading the way. Sadly, they didn't manage too many attacks before dying.
[Your Shadow Viper (Level 1) was slain! No experience gained.]
[Your Shadow Viper (Level 1) was slain! No experience gained.]
[Your Shadow Viper (Level 1) was slain! No experience gained.]
At least, from the screaming, I could assume that my snakes' efforts had accomplished something. Even if it wasn't much, them halting the trio momentarily was all I had needed from them. That was because, I had Vie and Pee take advantage of the chaos to attack them from behind a moment later.
Empowering themselves with Mutant Surge and Shadow Enhancement, they pounced on the orc man in the rear, tearing into his neck as he struggled to get them off in the narrow passageway that restricted his movements. They managed to get the ten bites in that were required to inflict the maximum stacks of Viper Venom, which should have added up to deal a staggering two hundred and sixty damage per minute. Then, they activated Shadow Surge to move to my core room.
Once there, I instructed them to each fire a Shadow Blast into the tunnel. Unfortunately, the knockback effect didn't push the invaders too far; they just kept coming. Immediately after, my Trenti fired another Spore Wave, but then, the first enemy stepped into my core room. He threw a dagger at my Trenti. It landed in its mushroom hat, doing some visible damage but nothing too debilitating.
Looking toward the opponents, I caught a glance of the orc man injecting himself with what I guessed to be antivenom. At the same time, the orc woman also stepped into the core room with barely a scratch on her.
Trenti, block their path. Stall them.
I had steered my Trentis' growth in a magical direction, but this one was still under the effects of an elixir that temporarily improved its strength. That is why I had assumed that it would be fine for it to use its staff as a bludgeoning weapon. I was immediately proven wrong as the woman sent the weapon flying from my Trenti's grip with a blow from her massive hammer.
Ignoring the fighting, the cloaked man dashed toward my core, and fear gripped me. All he needed to do was destroy it, and everything would be over. I couldn't let that happen.
My orders had barely started to form in my mind when Vie and Pee acted. They Shadow Surged right in front of him, and he didn't so much as see the shadow-cloaked snake incoming until both sets of their jaws were biting down on his face.
[Achievement gained: A Useful Skill!]
[Vie and Pee (Level 3) have killed a Beastkin Thief (Level 13)! 4,680 experience gained.]
[Vie and Pee (Level 3) have gained 1,950 experience!]
[Vie and Pee (Level 3) have gained a level!]
[Your Trenti (Level 2) has gained 2,145 experience!]
[Your Trenti (Level 2) has gained 2 levels!]
[Achievement gained: Up Close and Personal!]
[Title gained: Lord of Chaos!]
[Achievement gained: Punching Up]
[Achievement gained: Monster General!]
I felt immediate relief, but I didn't have time to indulge in it or even time to check my notifications too closely. I just thought, All Trenti points in SOUL! Half of Vie and Pee's in VIT. Put the other half in Pee's SOUL. Bonus points go to Vie's will, and moved on.
I didn't know what most of the achievements did, but I didn't stop to check. Instead, I returned to giving orders.
Vie, Pee, hold for a moment! On my mark, surge the one in the back and finish him off.
As well as Vie and Pee were doing, the Trenti was nearly dead from the couple of strikes it had taken. I needed to peel that crazed woman off of it, and I needed to do it fast. Luckily, I had just the thing.
As she wound back for what very well could have been the killing blow, my Horned Draco exited a hole in the ceiling and dived at her. As it made contact with her head, it activated the aspect I had spent my last five points of mana on: Velocity Transference.
In one moment, she had been swinging her massive hammer through the air. In the next, she was sent flying, her trajectory perfect.
Her large body collided with her ally's, sending them both tumbling to the ground. An instant later, Vie and Pee were chewing their way through the man's neck.
[Vie and Pee (Level 4) have killed an Orc Woodcutter (Level 11)! 2,640 experience gained.]
[Vie and Pee (Level 4) have gained 1,650 experience!]
[Vie and Pee (Level 4) have gained a level!]
[An advancement bonus is available for Vie and Pee (Level 5)!]
[Your Horned Draco (Level 1) has gained 550 experience!]
[Your Horned Draco (Level 1) has gained 2 levels!]
As soon as the man was dead, I mentally yelled at Vie, Pee, and the Horned Draco to escape. In the next instant, the Horned Draco was running into a crack in the wall that led back to the hidden tunnels, but Vie and Pee weren't as quick.
“Graugh!” the woman roared out a deep and guttural cry as she slammed her hammer down on their heads.
[Vie and Pee (Level 5) were slain! 96 experience gained.]
No!
For a moment, I was thoroughly distracted, overcome by shock and horror, but I forced a calmness over myself. They would be back as long as I survived. For that reason, I had to keep my head. I had to survive.
In what world am I supposed to be able to survive this?
Grasping at straws, I frantically searched for anything that could help.
[Please select a monster to unlock.]
No.
[Available Aspects: Necrotic Venom, Velocity Transference]
No!
[Please select a monster to extract an aspect from.]
No! No! No!
[Experience to next level: 26,826 / 25,000
Level up?
Yes / No]
Yes!
[Please select a perk.]
No!
In my panic, I had forgotten to change my focus. I had left it on items, and items were not going to save me. The woman was approaching my Trenti again, and I desperately needed to act fast.
[Item: Minor Health Potion
Cost: 10 MP
Description: A magical concoction that causes the drinker's injuries to heal.
Effect: When consumed, the drinker heals (VIT) + 10 health over the course of 2 minutes.]
Next!
[Item: Wooden Trenti Puppet
Cost: 8 (4) MP
Description: A small puppet carved from wood in the image of a Trenti.
Effect: Can be manipulated to move with strings.]
Useless!
[Aspect Upgrade: Overcharged Velocity Transference
Description: Velocity Transference gains the ability to overcharge.
Effect: Velocity Transference gains the following effect: This ability can be overcharged, allowing it to transfer additional speed that the user does not have. Overcharging costs 5 mana for every foot per second of velocity added. Velocity added cannot exceed 100% of your own velocity.]
Sure, why not? I might be able to work with that.
I had gained something that could potentially change the tides of battle. It wasn't the most overtly useful perk, but it was something. The problem was that I couldn't use it. The Horned Draco's ability was still on cooldown, so if I wanted to make use of the upgrade, I needed to buy time by stalling the insane raider until it was ready. Considering the fact that its cooldown was a minute long, that would be no easy task.
What else can I do?
[Mana: 40/140]
Oh my DP and mana gain per level increased. Nice, I'll take it.
I immediately summoned eight Shadow Vipers in my first room and commanded them to come to my core. I wished I could have summoned them directly to me, but the way delvers messed with my influence over the Dungeon made that impossible, so I did what I had to do.
With that done, I pushed through the discomfort of hitting zero mana again, and I poured the Horned Draco's unassigned stat points into speed. Then, I pulled up my Trenti's health as I watched it get sent flying from another glancing hammer blow.
[Anima: 27/240]
It was one hit from death. I had to act fast.
Use Spore Wave.
I gave it the order despite the fact that the spell would bring the monster's life down to a single-digit number. There was no time to hesitate.
The woman wound back a finishing blow, but the mist of red spores hit her first. As they made contact, she stumbled back a step and struggled to keep her balance. The spell didn't do much damage, but it did seem to hurt.
Capitalizing on the momentary distraction, I had my Horned Draco drop back down from the ceiling onto her face and bite her eye. She screamed and reached for the tiny monster a moment too late. It fled as soon as it had finished its attack, and she toppled over backward.
Get your staff! I ordered the Trenti who was barely even able to get to its feet, but I had no time to worry about its condition.
By the time it had accomplished its goal, the woman was back to her feet and charging at it. She was rapidly approaching, but the Trenti only needed to survive a bit longer.
Throw it and dive!
The Trenti chucked its staff at its attacker before diving to the ground. The hammer passed through where it had been a moment prior, and its staff smacked her in the face. My monster had bought itself a couple of seconds.
While that was going on, I had the lizard re-enter the walls and make its way to the ceiling once more. It needed more time. I wasn't confident I could buy it, but I had to find a way.
Run toward her low!
The Trenti obeyed me as it passed under her arm as she brought the hammer down once more. In good condition, the Trenti would have been faster than her, but with its near-fatal injuries, it was slower. This couldn't keep up.
Run for the exit.
She followed it half-way to the tunnel, but as it started making its way through, she turned back and stared at my core. Slowly, but at a controlled pace, she started toward it. She neared it, and then, my Trenti pulled the dagger from its mushroom and threw it.
It didn't pierce into her. I doubted it even hurt her. It just smacked into her back hilt-first and bounced off. She turned to glare at my monster as it retreated, but that was when my vipers arrived.
She was staggered as they began striking her from all directions, but she grabbed them one at a time. The first one, she caught it in one hand and bit its head off before spitting it out. The second, she managed to stomp on and kill it. She smashed the third mid-air with her hammer. Then, she gritted her teeth and dropped her weapon. It wasn't because she was injured. It was holding her back.
Without it encumbering her, she caught the snakes more quickly and began to rip them apart with her bare hands. After killing two like that, she stomped on another, and I was left with only one. It didn't last much longer. After dealing with all of them, she grabbed antivenom from a pouch at her waist and injected herself with it.
Glaring, she turned to my core and raised her hammer.
Wait. I ordered as I carefully observed her movements. Her shoulder pulled back as she raised the hammer's head over her shoulder.
Wait.
I stared at her, but I did not see a person before me. I saw the countless enemies and boss monsters I had faced in the various video games that I had played, and just like the woman was doing now, they were all telegraphing their attacks. Her muscles begin to tense and her one good eye narrowed.
Now!
The Horned Draco leaped from a hole in the ceiling and sailed toward her. She swung her weapon, and as it began to fall toward my core, the lizard barely managed to put itself between the flying hammer and the crystal containing my life in time, intercepting the attack. The hammer connected, and the lizard was about to be killed on the spot, just like the snakes had been, but it wasn't. It activated its ability with as much overcharged mana as it could.
The velocity transferred to the hammer, and all of the force it was in the process of bringing down changed direction. The hulking chunk of metal instantly forced its way backward, breaking the orc's arms in the process as the weapon was ripped from her grasp. Then, it impacted her face, and all that remained where her snarl had been a moment prior was a large splattering of blood.
[Your Horned Draco (Level 3) has killed an Orc Builder (Level 14)! 5,040 experience gained.]
[Your Horned Draco (Level 3) has gained 3,780 experience!]
[Your Horned Draco (Level 3) has gained 2 levels!]
[An advancement bonus is available for your Horned Draco (Level 5)!]
[Your Trenti (Level 4) has gained 1,386 experience!]
[Your Trenti (Level 4) has gained a level!]
[An advancement bonus is available for your Trenti (Level 5)!]
[Achievement gained: Right Back at You!]
[Achievement gained: No Survivors!]