B3 Chapter 306: Kolnir

The undergrowth of the jungle may as well have been a forest in its own right. Grasses and brush stretched high overhead in a patchy carpet that blocked his view. Massive ferns reached tall, reminiscent of the oaks he was more used to, and above even them trees larger than any redwood blanketed the ground in shade.

Thankfully, the undergrowth grew more thin close to the trunks of the giant trees. Leaning up against a root that wound across the ground like a caravan-train, Kaius waited with a hand on the hilt of his blade.

As much as they needed to cross this biome, there was no way they were doing that without running into a fight — likely against more than just stray, singular, depthsborn. They had yet to see any, but the evidence was all around them — a cacophony of hooting calls that echoed through the jungle.

They needed levels, but doing so safely was paramount. Once they’d gotten another skill or two under their belt, and some more stats with them, then they could push for the river crossings — and be a little more confident in handling groups of depthsborn.

Ideally, they would be able to lure or ambush singular opponents. Kenva, with her stealth Skills and vertical mobility, was working on that right now.

He still didn’t like it. It was hard not to think of her and Ianmus as fragile. Regardless of how they weighed up against the average delver their age, it was a simple fact that they were up against creatures that were far faster and stronger than them. Who knew if her skills would be enough to hide? A single blow might be enough to take her out.

That hadn’t stopped her from insisting that she take on the duty — that she was the only one who would be able to avoid bringing down a whole pack of deadly monsters on their heads.

It being true didn’t make it any easier to accept.

He’d done his best to minimise their risks, though. They were still only in the very outskirts of the jungle — only an hour’s walk from the cavern edge. It was by no means an exact science, but usually the outskirts of a biome tended to be a little more forgiving and sparsely populated than the centre.

The roots that they were waiting in were also defensible — a network of caged tunnels and nooks that limited angles of approach as well as any keep wall. He’d already set up a War Haven at the back of their current bunker, and insisted that Kenva wait until he had regenerated his mana and inscribed another cast of the spell.

With Ianmus safely nestled inside, and Porkchop armoured up and guarding the other entrance to their killing field at the tip of the other root-wall, they were ready for Kenva to come running with a beast on her tail.

Watching his surroundings intently, Kaius saw the undergrowth shift in the breeze — one section a little too much. Truesight peeled away at the Skill in play, revealing Kenva creeping silently back towards them.

With her every step, shadows warped to break up her outline, and the plants around her swayed naturally to obscure her even as they eased her passage through the fronds of grass and dense bushes.

The Mother’s Shadow — her most recent skill. He could feel it at work, trying to make his eyes slide away from her and make her boring, disinteresting, and normal. It didn’t work on him — Truesight impervious to the obfuscation.

She closed the distance quickly, her face taut with a mixture of excitement and apprehension.

“Find something?” Kaius guessed, waving at Porkchop to join them as they converged at the War Haven nestled at the base of the tree trunk that towered over them like a Mystral magespire.

Kenva nodded. “Yeah, a handful of beasts — about five of them — they’re foraging about fifteen minutes away.”

A group? Just their luck. Even if they were weaker than the Elite ruinbringers, five was still likely to be far more than they could handle.

“Do we move? Surely there has to be something solitary in a place like this.” Ianmus suggested, leaning up on his staff.

“Probably, but don’t forget that the Depths mirrors reality — anything capable of acting independently in a jungle like this will be far more imposing than a pack creature, regardless of levels.”

Kenva waved them off, “It’ll be fine — I’m confident I can lure a single one with a few well placed arrows. They spread themselves out pretty far, even if they wanted to it would take them a good ten minutes to group up. They keep in contact with calls — we’ve been hearing them all day.”

Right as she finished speaking, a far off growling hoot echoed through the trees from far off the way Kenva had come. She gestured in the noise’s general direction.

“That’s one of them.”

Ianmus frowned. “If they communicate, what’s to stop the others following as soon as you engage.”

Kenva smiled at the mage.

“I thought that, but I watched them for some time — this jungle is not quite…harmonious. One of the beasts stumbled into a lizard-monster that was guarding its burrow, they fought to the death — and not once did it call for any allies. Got a good look at how they fight too.”

That was something, but it wasn’t exactly a guarantee. Still, they were on the twenty-fifth layer of the depths — nothing they did would be free of risk. They needed levels, and he needed to trust his scout. If she was confident, so was he.

“Alright, tell us more.”

“They’re big bastards — the system called them kolnir, with berserker tags. Seven strides hunched over, with hands down past their knees. More muscular than an ox, and just as strong too. They’ve got short legs and can’t run all that good, but they’ve got a weird loping gate where they swing on their arms — and they’re mighty good climbers.”

“Almost sounds like those Shamblers we fought in our first delve.” Porkchop nudged his shoulder.

They did — albeit easily thrice the size. He could only hope they were a little less…tough to put down, compared to those creatures.

“How’s their healing?” Kaius asked — berserker style classes and monsters tended to be tough and heal well.

Kenva winced. “Good — they have a tendency to just ignore wounds to get close enough to their targets to grapple and strike them. Pretty bloody scary when they do. They’ve got an iron grip, and are utterly relentless. The one I watched didn’t even care that the lizard had ripped open its stomach. Only thing I ever saw it try to protect was its head.”

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Kaius slumped up against the root-wall next to him, scratching his chin. An enemy that ignored wounds was a mixed blessing. On one hand, they were dangerous, and the beasts sounded like they were more than tough enough to dish out some serious hurt. On the other, they would be able to kill a berserking creature far faster than one that fought defensively.

“What about special abilities?” Ianmus asked, “I know depthsborn don’t exactly have class Skills in the same way that we do, but I’d rather avoid a repeat of what happened with those bloody scorpions.” He patted his stomach with a wan smile.

“Healing, as mentioned, but I really can’t stress enough how strong they are. The one I was watching could jump an easy twenty strides in the air, and threw a lizard the size of a horse around like it was made of paper. It could also do these bursts of speed, but it looked exhausting — I only saw it do it once.”

Kaius looked towards his brother, frowning. Porkchop was strong, and tougher than anything — but a grappling creature, with hands and long arms, and that strong? It wasn’t exactly his best match up.

Porkchop rolled his eyes, “I’ll be fine — even if it’s tough, you can still lock up its joints with your Nails. It won’t have the armour that the ruinbringers did.”

He gave a tentative nod. Their ultimate goal remained unchanged since it had been tested in the desert. Lock down mobility, and eschew risky shots to kill the beast outright — with how tough second tier monsters had proven to be, there was no guarantee of a shot to the head working.