B3 Chapter 301: Cold Desert Night, pt. 2

Four ruinbringers, standing fresh and free on the surface of the desert. The closest was twice as far as the pagoda they were aiming for, but that meant little. The creatures were fast, able to flit across the sand at a pace he wouldn’t have been able to match on solid ground.

If they were spotted, Kaius knew that they would be hard pressed to make it into the stone safety of the pagoda — to say little of the fact that that safety was not guaranteed. There was no certainty that the entrance to the next biome was within, nor that it would be free of other dangers that could prove lethal if they rushed in unprepared.

They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He was sure of one thing, if they fought more than one ruinbringer at once, they were almost certain to lose someone — regardless of their recent gains.

He didn’t much like their chances of avoiding that in the open desert either. Even if the scorpions were widely spread through the sand, they had no way of knowing how far they would roam at night, nor how far away they would be spotted from.

At the very least, they hadn’t yet — the ruinbringers were slowly picking their way across the dunes, their tails bobbing to brush the sand every few steps. As if they were refamiliarising themselves with their territory.

Kaius blanched as he refocused on the creature’s deadly projectiles. The ruinbringers wouldn’t even need to reach them to be a threat — with how fast and powerful the fired spines were, he had no doubt that they would have considerable range.

As much as the greater distance would give them more time to react, it would still be like trying to withstand a rain of hellfire.

“What do we do?” Ianmus whispered, staring at the scorpions in horror.

Kenva was focused, tracking each creature like a hawk. “We can’t stay here, that’s for damned sure. Hidden tent or no, I don’t fancy testing its illusion against the senses of a tier two beast — not when they could sense us so easily without their eyes.”

Suppressing the desire to curse, Kaius wracked his brain’s. Kenva was right, as much as he hated it. Their best bet was trying to make it to the pagoda.

They would need to run like they had demons on their tail, without thought for standing to fight — a battle would be suicide, and no amount of roaring bloodsong was enough to convince him that such a thing was a good idea.

“Walk until they spot us, or run right now?” Kaius asked.

He twitched as a scorpion turned towards them, ready to bolt if it made so much of a sound. It continued to wander aimlessly, slowly drifting from where it had slept away the day.

Relief flooded him as he let go of the breath he was holding.

“We run now,” Porkchop said confidently. “The sand will muffle our movements, and I am too large for us to conceal our approach anyway. What’s our plan?”

Kaius nodded, mind racing.

“Straight for the pagoda, without fighting back unless we absolutely have to — we’ll need to save our strength for what might lay inside, if we’re unlucky enough it isn’t the entrance to the next biome. Ianmus, use your Sundrenched Strength now. They didn’t react to your channeling when we ambushed them previously, so there’s a good chance they don’t have mana sight.”

Giving a sharp nod, Ianmus started to weave his spell, ghostly streamers of solar mana condensing into a hazy sigil at the top of his staff.

It grew brighter than usual as the mage dipped into his Hypercharged Spell, the metamagic lending the enhancement vastly greater potency at the cost of increasing its drain on his reserves.

Kaius saw a subtle flash of mana as the spell seeped into his bones, filling him with solar vigour. His muscles bulged with renewed strength, and the mild remnants of fatigue from a full day of hiking fled him — leaving him buoyed and ready to move.

The scorpions stayed still, failing to react to the magic. Thank the bloody gods.

They could do this — he still had a good dozen casts of Slip Step to increase his speed, and Kenva and Ianmus had their movement skills.

Although…gods’ scorn, Starlight Alacrity left a trail of light when Ianmus used it — he’d have to save it until they’d been spotted. There was no way the mage would be able to keep up without it.

“You alright carrying Ianmus until we’re spotted?” He asked his brother. “His movement skill will give us away.”

Porkchop bobbed his head slightly, eyes still trained ahead.

Kaius sighed in relief — that was one problem down.

“Alright, Ianmus — you’re on Porkchop until we get spotted.” The mage gave him a nod and hurriedly moved to Porkchop’s side, grabbing one of the straps attached to his underarmour to haul himself onto his back. “Kenva, use your movement skill straight away.”

She shot him a questioning look.

“Even if I outstrip the group?”

Kaius nodded. “If you beat us there, you can always support us from the second story balcony — the stone wall should give you cover from any spines. And watch the scorpions on the right during our advance — I’ll take left. Everyone else, let me handle any that close in. Between Stormlash and Zone of Discombobulation, I hope I’ll be able to stun them long enough that we can pull away.”

With nothing left to say, he met his team’s eyes one by one. They mirrored the churning worry he felt in his gut.

Even if this went entirely to plan, it was going to be a close call.

In his experience, rare were the times when everything went to plan.

He breathed, letting go of the tension. Today wouldn’t be the day — he would make sure of it. They still had far too much to accomplish.

Just a little sprint — a child’s game, really.

Brushing his hand against the hilt of his blade for comfort, he worked his feet into the surface of the loose sand to brace himself, tension winding through his front leg as he prepared to kick off.

“Ready,” he whispered.

“Ready,” the chorus of his team’s voices sounded.

“Go!”

He kicked off with the full might of his Strength, the System heightening his power to a full fourteen times his considerable base.

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Beast blooded muscles burned as the sand caved beneath his feet, a spray of sand hurtling backwards as he cleared ten strides in a single bound. His heart hammered in his chest, focus trained solely on the two wandering beasts in the field of sand to the left of the pagoda.

They still hadn’t noticed them.

Porkchop kept pace with him — running at a full bound as he used his long claws to anchor his footing. Even if the two of them lacked movement skills, they were still fast.

Their ranger was faster. Even lacking in their monstrous stats, her skills were built towards mobility. The living growth of Vinestride coiled around her lower legs, vines shooting down with every step. Anchored deep, they launched Kenva forwards like a tightly wound spring — every one of her steps carrying her further and further ahead.

They ran, the longstrides disappearing before their every step. Each hairsbreadth closer they got to the salvation of the stone tower raised Kaius’s hopes further.

Every step, his form tightened as Corporus did its work — slowly shifting his stance so that less of his strength was transferred smoothly into the unstable ground. The barest of improvements, but one that allowed him to hasten all the same. The soft chimes of skill increases sounded in the back of his mind, ignored in favour of presence in the moment.

The scorpions still hadn’t noticed them.

It didn’t last.

Tracking his pair the entire time, Kaius watched as the closest of the two lashed it’s tails. He blanched, putting everything into his sprint.