The ground shattering and flying in all directions had the support casters retreating behind trees and scrambling away.
Bob staggered upright, winded from impact. His mana reserves were nearly gone. Maybe one more Smite—he had to wait for the right moment.
Kent stepped forward. “Come on then!” he roared, activating Taunting Roar. “Let’s see what you’ve got!”
Then: Bolster.
TEMPORARILY INCREASES A TARGET’S STRENGTH STAT BY +8% FOR 5 MINUTES.
WHILE THE EFFECT LASTS, THE TARGET ENJOYS ALL THE PERKS OF THE INCREASED STRENGTH STAT AS THOUGH IT WERE PERMANENT—IMPROVED LIFTING, DAMAGE OUTPUT, AND PHYSICAL RESILIENCE.
His muscles swelled with surging power. With a roar, he charged the queen, slamming his axe into one of her forelegs. The blade bit deep. Black ichor sprayed the ground.
The queen countered with terrifying speed. A massive claw swept across the battlefield like a scythe. Kent barely brought his axe up in time to block. The blow sent him flying. He rolled, twisted, and sprang back to his feet, charging in again with another wild swing.
His axe swept in a brutal arc. Again and again, he struck at the gaps in her armor. She shrieked, rearing back.
Bob was moving toward him, trying to get in position to help, when he noticed the queen shift her stance. Her weight transferred subtly. He realized what was coming—too late to warn Kent.
A massive leg whipped forward, faster than expected. It was going to hit Kent dead center.
Without thinking, Bob raised a trembling hand.
“Sanctuary!”
SANCTUARY (RANK 0)
STEP INTO THE LIGHT, AND NO SHADOW SHALL HARM YOU. ERECT A SHIMMERING BARRIER OF HOLY ENERGY THAT SHIELDS ALLIES FROM HARM. SIZE AND STRENGTH ARE BASED ON INTELLIGENCE AND WILLPOWER.
A shimmering shield burst into existence around Kent just as the leg slammed into him. The barrier flared and cracked but held long enough for Kent to roll free as the claw smashed into the dirt beside him.
The queen snarled and shifted tactics, turning her massive head to look at Bob. Her glowing spikes brightened, then the earth beneath Bob rippled unnaturally.
At first, he thought it was an aftershock but realized with horror he was sinking. “Quicksand?” he gasped. The ground had turned slick, soupy. His legs were caught to the knees in sucking muck.
A spell. She cast a spell. Bob’s mind reeled as he realized what had happened.
“Bob!” Kent shouted.
But the queen had already raised her thorax, one clawed leg pointed toward Bob. Her spines pulsed with light.
The ground split with a roar.
A jagged stone spear burst up like a geyser, impaling Bob through the side. It wasn't a clean stab; it tore through him, ragged and brutal.
Bob screamed. Pain exploded through his body. The world tilted as his vision dimmed.
They’d thought they could overwhelm her. Now Bob was dying. Kent couldn’t do lasting damage.
Jill screamed as the earthen spear ripped through Bob. She cast Ice Spear again and again as fast as she could until finally she collapsed, her eyes rolling back into her head as she fell unconscious from mana exhaustion.
Shinji saw the impact and didn’t hesitate. He ran headlong toward Bob. At the quicksand’s edge, he dove forward, just barely grasping Bob’s arm and started casting Minor Mend over and over, trying to keep him alive.
Kent roared and launched himself at the queen’s back. He climbed her armored carapace like a man possessed, swinging his axe wildly.
Jill’s Ice Spears began freezing his boots to the queen’s back, helping him stay on as she thrashed and tried to dislodge him.
His strikes did nothing against her thick armor.
Then, finally, Kent’s rage cleared enough for him to think. He targeted the already-damaged skull plate. With the repeated hits the cracks finally started to widen. Then Kent had a lucky break as a shard of chitin broke away.
Kent saw underneath the broken hard shell of the queen ant’s skull, a pulsing vulnerable mass of flesh.
***
Bob’s vision was turning black but he could feel his blood soaking into his clothes and the quicksand around him. He felt the ground tremble as something landed next to him. Then a golden energy flickered through him clearing his vision but then pain started to over power his will to remain upright.
He reached inward. His mana was running on fumes. He gritted his teeth. One more, he thought. Just one more, and then I can rest.
He reached deeper than before, further than he even thought possible. It felt like clawing at the bottom of a dry well. The word fell from bloodied lips in a whisper so soft it was like they weren’t even spoken, Smite.
SMITE (RANK 1)
CALL DOWN THE FORCE OF YOUR FAITH.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
AS LONG AS YOU CAN SEE YOUR ENEMIES, YOU MAY CHANNEL DIVINE POWER TO STRIKE THEM WITH SEARING FORCE. DAMAGE SCALES WITH WILLPOWER STAT (+1.5%) AND AURA STAT (+2.75%).
The light from the spell activation came down; it was white-hot and blinding, searing the sky itself. Bob didn’t see any of it as the blackness swallowed him completely.
Kent felt the heat rising above him but was unable to move. He tried to dive off the queen’s back but his feet were frozen to the queen. Knowing he couldn’t get off in time he swung his axe one last time at the Queen's brain. His axe struck true. The ant queen reared at the impact of his ax just as Bob’s Smite spell fell.
The falling light impacted like a hammer falling from heaven, driving the axe further into the soft flesh. The cracks that webbed across her skull expanded and the skull shattered like glass.
The impact vaporized the ice that had built up on the queen’s body increasing the damage that was done. With the ice gone, Kent was launched by the Smite spell's impact. He kartwheeled through the air until he was stopped as he impacted the rock outcropping.
For a moment nothing moved.
Then the ant queen’s legs collapsed under her. She impacted the ground twitching before going still. The spines on her armor slowly losing their yellow-brown glow.
All around those who had been helping in the battle received notifications:
LEVEL 4 ANT QUEEN KILLED
EXPERIENCE GAINED
LAIR GUARDIAN DEFEATED
WARNING: UNTIL THE HIVE CORE IS CLAIMED OR DESTROYED, THIS LAIR MAY RESPAWN NEW THREATS OVER TIME.
TITLE GAINED:
- EXPLORER I
YOU WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO UNCOVER AND CONQUER A HIDDEN LAIR. THE WORLD HOLDS MANY SECRETS—AND NOW, IT WHISPERS TO YOU MORE CLEARLY THAN MOST. YOU WILL FEEL HIDDEN STRUCTURES, LAIRS, AND DUNGEON ENTRANCES WITHIN 10 YARDS. SLIGHTLY INCREASED CHANCE TO RECEIVE EXPLORATION-RELATED QUESTS AND TITLES.
Kent, Bob, and Jill didn’t see it.
Jill was unconscious.
Bob was half-buried in dirt and blood, barely breathing, a faint divine shimmer clinging to his form as Shinji cast Minor Mend in regular intervals.
Kent lay broken against a rock, blood beginning to pool beneath him.
***
The silence after the queen’s fall was unreal.
No wind. No buzz. Just the creak of settling chitin and the slow hiss of cooling ichor on stone.
Claire was next to Jill when Bob’s final Smite fell. She watched Kent go flying and crash into the rocks around the old tunnel entrance. Shinji couldn’t help him as he was keeping Bob alive with that stone spear pierced through him.
She made up her mind and rushed over to Kent. She didn’t have Minor Mend like the Shinji or Tami but hopefully her skills would be enough.
VITAL SURGE (RANK 5)
WHEN THE BODY FAILS, THE SPIRIT LENDS IT’S FIRE. TEMPORARILY BOOSTS YOUR TARGETS HEALTH REGENERATION +3% AND VITALITY +3% FOR 5 MINUTES.
FIRST AID (RANK 4)
WHEN MAGIC FALTERS OR FAILS, STEADY HANDS STILL MATTER. YOU KNOW HOW TO STOP THE BLEEDING, SET THE BONE, AND KEEP SOMEONE BREATHING—AT LEAST LONG ENOUGH FOR REAL HEALING TO BEGIN. APPLY BASIC MEDICAL TREATMENT TO STABILIZE INJURIES, HALT BLEEDING, AND REDUCE PAIN. EFFECTIVENESS SCALES WITH RANK, INTELLIGENCE, AND WILLPOWER.
Claire knelt beside Kent, he wasn’t moving. She couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. She cast Vital Surge. It triggered.
Still alive.
She hesitated. She knew she shouldn’t move him but leaving him slumped against the rocks seemed worse. Carefully, Claire pulled him down and laid him flat on the ground, praying it wouldn’t make things worse.
Her eyes swept his body, noting the contusions, twisted arm, and ominous indent along his ribs. The blood matting his hair and pooling beneath his back made her stomach turn. She’d seen wounds like these on car crash victims in her first responder training but never on a friend.
"Come on, Kent," she muttered, voice hoarse. "You're too damn stubborn to die."
She tore open his shirt with shaking fingers, found the worst of the bleeding near his ribs, and packed it with gauze from her pouch. Then she braced his arm with two straight branches, tying them with strips of her own torn undershirt. Every breath he took was shallow and wheezing—but it was a breath.
Behind her, someone groaned.
Jürgen had reached Jill’s side. She was crumpled on the ground, eyes closed, lips pale. Her hands were still faintly covered in ice.
"She’s just out cold—I think," Jürgen said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Mana burnout or shock."
Others soon came out from hiding to help. “I’ve got her,” Jürgen said quickly. “Check on Shinji and Bob!”
Kalvin turned and ran to where Shinji and Bob were trapped, he swore. Shinji was sprawled halfway into the quicksand pit. He was still clinging to Bob’s arm by his fingertips. A flicker of golden light pulsing from his fingertips every few seconds. Bob lay still, a jagged stone spike still lodged through his side.
“Shinji!” Kalvin shouted, rushing over to him. “We’ve got him now! Let’s get you out of there.”
“I can’t,” Shinji gasped without looking up. His face was soaked in sweat and tears. “If I stop, he dies.”
Claire glanced away from Kent, assessing Bob and Shinji she called out hoarsely, “Get them both out of the pit. Shinji can’t fully heal him until we pull the spike out.” Then she turned back to Kent trying to keep him alive.
“I have a tarp!” someone yelled, already sprinting from the treeline where he'd been hiding. Kalvin grabbed the tarp and rushed to the edge of the quicksand.
***
Kent moaned, and Claire quickly pressed her hand to his shoulder to keep him down. “Easy,” she whispered. “You’ve got broken ribs and a concussion and who knows what else. Don’t move.”
She cast Vital Surge again. The glow was faint but it took hold.
Kent’s breath hitched, and color seemed to return to his cheeks, just a shade, but enough for Claire to breathe a little easier until she looked over at Bob.
Behind her, the others stretched a tarp flat across the edge of the quicksand. Kalvin army crawled out on it, carefully, and grabbed Bob under the arms. With a coordinated heave, Kalvin, Jürgen, and a few others pulled together, dragging Bob back towards Shinji. Soon they had Bob and Shinji free from the muck.
It took a lot of effort and branches had to be used to help stabilize Bob, Shinji, and Kavin. But they were finally able to get Bob out and lay him down on hard ground.
Shinji immediately started directing them on what needed to happen. “We need to get the spear out of him!”
Claire left Kent and ran over to kneel next to Bob, her hands still slick with blood. She didn’t hesitate. Her First Aid skill helped her know how to help as she pressed bandages to the sides of the stone spear.
“We have to remove it,” she said, her voice low but firm. “If it stays, he’ll bleed out or go septic.”
“Will he survive that?” Kalvin asked, pale.
“I don’t know. But if we don’t do it, he definitely won’t.”
Shinji nodded, hands already glowing again.
“On my count,” Claire said. “One… two…”
“Three.”
Jürgen and Kalvin pulled the stone spear out with a wet, grinding noise. Bob’s body arched in agony but he didn’t scream. He was still unconscious and maybe that was a mercy.
“Now!” Claire said, jamming gauze onto the wound and pressing hard trying to stem the flow of blood. Shinji poured healing energy into Bob’s body, and for a few long moments, there was only the sound of ragged breathing.
“I…” Shinji wobbled, then collapsed sideways, drained of every ounce of energy. Claire cast Vital Surge on Bob hoping they had done enough. Without Shinji there wasn’t really anything else they could do until he woke up or Tami returned.
When Claire had done everything she could, she sat back on her heels. Her hands were shaking. Her clothes were soaked in blood.
But Bob and Kent were breathing for now. Along with Jill, Shinji, and everyone else.
They were alive.
They had survived.