Chapter 263: Simon the indigestible

“Well, what did we learn?” Will asked as they ate lunch overlooking the watering hole.

“The monsters are hypersensitive, but not perceptive. They seem to respond to any sign of a Climber within a hundred yards, but they do not wonder where others might be going if they are beyond that range.” Loth said.

“The opal crocs will probably resist Hammer of God,” Will mused. “Maybe the wirehairs as well.” The pig unicorns and birds were likely to go in one hit. The snot monsters were weak to lightning but they burrowed. Will didn’t know how well the lightning would carry to them if they were shielded by the earth.”

“Worst case estimate, we only kill about thirty to forty percent of the monsters we hit.” Will could easily see the chain lightning effect of Hammer of God stopping dead at one of those two creatures, making it’s effectiveness drop drastically.

“I think it would be good to bring home some Sacrifices from the Wirehairs and the crocs.” Loth said. “Remember the metallic slime?”

Ah, a wirehair combined with a metallic slime? Would that be a class that manipulates metal wires or a class that grows wire hair? Food for thought. Plus the crocs are strong, have tough hide and innate magic resistance. They would make good sacrifices for Warriors.

Will was eventually going to need soldiers. Brianna shouldn’t be burdened with the security of an entire Stronghold.

“You’re not wrong. We’ll bring Badur through next time we come through,” Will said. They had assistants coming up the Tower to make Badur’s life easier, which meant they’d be able to bring him up to hunt some high-floor ingredients without disrupting the Stronghold too badly.

Given what I’ve heard about him and the seamstress, Badur probably wants to go back down and get married, so we’ll have to do everything we can to get him some vacation time.

I wonder if I could make a giant-bone wand that preserves corpses? Of course, that wasn’t the only thing Badur did, but it was a big part of it, and figuring out a way to make it a magic item would give the poor guy more down-time.

Add that to the list.

“Here’s what I’m thinking,” Will said, hoisting the Clay Idol of Ouroboros. “I summon about half a dozen of these little guys and have them cordon off the watering hole to prevent the monsters from scattering. Then we hit them with Hammer of God. Loth cleans up, Brianna handles any crocs that slip through, and Travis watches our backs and the sky.”

“Hammer of God will damage the ground, making my traps less effective. You suppose you could hit the back of the group so that the lightning that propagates outward is less intense by the time it gets to our side?” Loth asked.

Will mentally pictured a band of red where Hammer of god would tear up anything Loth had placed down, but the further out the chain lightning effect reached, the less damage it would deal, and traps placed underground would be reasonably sheltered.

So If I shoot…there-ish, it will allow Loth to place traps in front of them without risking losing them, and will also push the monsters towards us.

“Yeah, I can do that.”

Will glanced over at Travis, who conspicuously didn’t have a weapon equipped. Weapons tended to raise physical stats, like Strength or Kinesthetics, although staves often raised Focus.

Will would’ve thought Travis would get himself a staff, even if only to get the stat bonus, but the illusionist seemed to like keeping his hands free out of some misguided sense of style.

Or perhaps he couldn’t afford one.

The last time Will had seen a staff, it was up on auction on the 5^th Floor.

In either case…

Manifestation.

Focus 296 -> 282

“Here,” Will said, offering Travis the Sickle of Malignant Silence. “This’ll boost your Focus for the fight. And if we get into a scrape, don’t hesitate to use it.

I’ll remind you that if kill me or you try to steal it, it’ll vanish into nothing, so think of it as more of a temporary buff from me.”

Despite Travis’s abrasive personality, Will wasn’t too worried about him misusing the awesome power of the sickle. And if Will was knocked out or separated from Travis, the illusionist would have a way to handle most problems.

Travis gave a thin whine, eyes bulging as he Inspected the weapon, gradually increasing to hyperventilation.

A moment later, Travis straightened, his expression serious.

“Got it. Also can you make one of these for me on a full-time basis?”

“You wanna be my Vassal?” Will asked.

“No.”

“Then no.”

Will only had four imprinted Relics to spare at any given time and giving them away drastically ate into his flexibility.

Since he was currently wearing the Ring of Explosive Doughmaking, Will’s Sourdough Ability was essentially instantaneous. It still didn’t make 2 items from one, but it made any consumable spammable just by spending Charge.

Sourdough.

255 -> 249 Charges Remaining.

Will broke the Clay Idol and watched as it instantly recovered, repeating himself six times, each time a massive Immortal Serpent manifesting out of thin air and heading off in the direction he instructed.

The nice thing about the Clay Idol of Ouroboros was that it created a more imposing serpent depending on the amount of Miasma in the air. The higher the Floor, the bigger the snake.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

During the tournament on the 5^th Floor, it had been about 40 feet long, but on the 14^th Floor, each snake was several hundred feet long and nearly as tall as a building.

The snakes slipped down into the woods below. Will watched their green backs through the canopy, encircling the watering hole without alarming the occupants. That wouldn’t last forever, though.

Dimensional Storage

248 Charges remaining

Will stored the Clay Idol and switched to Hammer of God.

Manifestation

Focus 315 -> 259

Will manifested 4 cannonballs and aimed at the far side of the clump of monsters.

A flash of lightning seared their eyes for a moment, and when the light faded, the rear of the group was a smoking ruin, the earth glowing white-hot where the sand in the dirt had been turned into glass.

You are now a level 60 World Traveller!

Primary Ability Upgrade Available!

Secondary Ability Upgrade Available!

Tertiary Ability Upgrade Available!

Nice, but we’re just getting started.

Each strike from hammer of god would chain to about 40 targets, so the maximum number that 4 attacks could chain to was 160. Will was certain it wasn’t anywhere near that amount, thanks to overlap and resistances.

Still, it did take out a sizeable chunk of the monsters to the far side of the lake.

Will summoned another 4 cannonballs and began walking the shots back towards themselves, stopping when he got to the imaginary line where Loth’s traps would begin to take over.

The monster tried to scatter from the explosions, but the enormous Immortal serpents wove past each other, tightening the encirclement and leaving only one direction to go: The narrow pathway leading up to their campsite.

The edge of the lake boiled off as the disturbed water lapped up against the white-hot glass, sending up a massive cloud of steam that concealed the rear edge of the area.

Thankfully we know it’s mostly empty, but I should be careful not to block our field of view by hitting the lake closer to us.

Wait a minute.