Chapter 37 Beast

[Keen eye activated.]

Time slowed. Stretched that precious moment into several. New battleground, a large arena, deeper within the warrens. We were at the centre on a stone platform. I saw the beast, though it appeared more like an insectoid ant than any mammal. No time to examine it, as I saw all around us the vandals. At least ten of them, all arrayed around us.

They looked just as surprised to see us, as we were to see them. Half were bloodied too. They had been fighting the beast.

Now they’d fight us too.

[You and your party are surprised – You may not act until every opponent has. The first attack against you is an automatic critical.]

[Feat activated: Alert – You may not be surprised.]

The notifications flashed fast and furious. They were minimised, so I couldn’t read them in their entirety. But I didn’t need to. Arrows were already raining down, though gratefully they were focused on the beast. I wasn’t taking any chances as I grappled both Ayla and Miggy, and dived to the slightly lower area around the stone platform. Thankfully, we hit water. Unfortunately that water smelled putrid.

Glass half full, I suppose.

There was no time to explain, to reason. We were in a three-way battle now, as I saw that surrounding the insectoid crab were smaller crab mobs. Larry had shown remarkable restraint. I had assumed that once battle commenced he’d have been chomping away at enemies, but he was following the plan, and had come to Ayla’s side to protect her. Good. I had time. The vandals and the beast were engaged.

I examined it.

[Beast of the Warrens – The fabled beast of the Warrens. Sovereign beast class. This enormous chitinous creature rules beneath the ground, and is said to have been born from shaman’s magic gone wrong. Level six. Resists piercing and slashing damage types. Weak to magic.]

Weak to magic. Fucking fantastic. Three hunters were going to have a great time, and judging by how the vandals were doing they were having the exact same issue.

Ayla and Miggy did what they needed to, firing off arrows as I closed the gap. The vandals hadn’t attacked us yet. We would hold too. I guess they’d come to our conclusion, that our fight wouldn’t mean a damn if we didn’t take down that thing.

There were some shamans on their side, and they had managed to get its health down to about two thirds. It seemed to have cost them half their war band, however. God, was that beast fast. It did have six legs to be fair, but I saw it move like a bolt of lightning across the chamber and smash a vandal to death before it could so much as react.

I always had beast fury. That would allow me to attack with my fists doing blunt damage, but that was high risk, high reward. If I triggered it too soon on the right, I could shred my hit points in moments.

I thrust my spear into the armoured underbelly. It did damage, but minimal, and deflected off. The crab beast felt it immediately, swiping me, so I went soaring backwards, landing in a heap. Several of the smaller mobs rounded on me. I smiled, waiting for archer’s instinct to proc.

It didn’t.

Because I didn’t have a bow equipped.

Shit.

The smaller crabs lunged at me, clawing at my face and body. Fuck, that was sharp. I punched one, before retrieving my spear and driving it through its body. Resistance or not, my strength allowed me to skewer it as something terrible smelling and apparently corrosive spilled onto the floor.

I looked up. The vandals had given up their high ground and bows and were attacking with clubs. Blunt damage. Smart. Ayla and Miggy were firing arrows. Minimal damage, but at least they were safe. Mobs were crawling out of the ground, but Larry was keeping them at bay. Something told me they would keep coming until the main boss was defeated.

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There were three vandals left. One was skewered and the other howled, taking the third injured one back.

A mob closed the gap to me, and this time I was holding a bow, archer’s instinct proccing correctly. Enough to damage and stun the mob. I followed up with a foot stomp, all grace pushed from my mind. Two mobs near the main boss. Its health was down twenty percent.

The vandals had done well. Now it was down to us.

They were grouped up, and I knew what I needed to do. Activating ricochet arrow, I watched as my mana drained for the very first time. The horn arrow flew true, striking both mobs. The first was taken to half health, but the second was pulverised immediately. The arrow didn’t stop. It ricocheted a third time, but instead of pinging off the carapace of the beast its bite was true, sinking into the belly of the beast.