Red had been in the portal for a long ti, though there was no experience notification of it killing, and no death notifications of the skeleton.
It made Jay curious, but he stopped himself from poking his head through. For all he knew, the other side could be filled with poisonous gasses, or sothing there had encase the skeleton in ice. Trapped and helpless; unable to move, unable to die.
Without knowing what was on the other side, Jay would not so much as breath near the portal, let alone stick his hand through.
"I wonder if my [Host] ability would even work through a portal. I can't even sense Red anymore." he thought, watching the shimring silvery surface.
Lamp and Handy finally cut open the root, while Jay watched from a safe distance.
However, his caution was for nothing.
The deep gash they made didn't erupt in a deadly high-pressure jet, but it slowly seeped out.
Whatever the fluid was, it was thick, viscous and sticky. Globs of it slowly pumped out, though most still went through, towards the head.
"Hmm. Maybe they would cut through it faster with their own weapons?" Jay thought.
Climbing onto the root, Jay temporarily let them stop cutting and ford a small pile of bones. None of the floor roots could hope to steal these bones up here, and the skeletons forged their own specialized weapons without worry.
In the anti, Jay analysed the cut they made.
"Hmm…" he drew his hand near the milky-white fluid, his finger outstretched - but ultimately, he decided not to touch it.
"Not worth the risk. It could be vitality for the head, but poison for . Besides, I don't want that sticky shit on my fingers." He nodded.
After a mont, Lamp and Handy finished crafting their weapons: a shepherd's crook, a gut knife, and a two-handed sword. But before Lamp and Handy could make a wider, deeper cut, more knights appeared, sprawling over the blockade of Ova.
"Hmm, all lesser knights. Looks like the intelligent knights are sending them all in first." Jay thought.
Five of them made it past the Ova, two without weapons, lost in the desperate scramble of bodies. Again, they charged directly towards Jay.
Jay shook his head. "What is an army without a commander?"
*BOOM!~*
rciless as it was, the root caught them.
It crushed two knights, turning them into a disgusting paste between tal plates.
It knocked backwards a third, sending a knight falling to its back.
The tentacle reeled back, preparing for another attack.
The knights didn't turn to attack the tentacle and kept their focus on Jay.
*BOOM!~*
The knight knocked backwards beca the next victim. An easy target, as it had slowed down considerably.
Before the tentacle could strike again, the remaining two knights escaped from its range.
This ti, the tentacle didn't hurl its large claw-like stone.
(Lamp, Handy. Defend .) Jay ordered, still casually watching the foolish knights.
The skeletons jumped down from the root, readying their newly crafted weapons.
By now, the skeletons are used to fighting knights, and slaying two of them is a simple task, especially since one knight didn't even have a weapon. However, their tactics were quite different.
Lamp charged directly at one knight, while the knight charged back, probably hoping its heavy weight would send the skeleton flying into pieces.
At the last mont, right before they collided, Lamp dashing to the side, dodging the knight's charge.
The shepherd's crook hung out to the side, wrapping around the knight's neck.
Lamp put all its weight on it, and for a mont, Lamp was airborne, swinging around its neck on the shepherd's crook.
Completely nullifying the knight's charge, its head sharply pulled back. Standing right behind it, Lamp was in the perfect position.
A gap under the helt appeared, the throat presented itself, but Lamp pierced its gut knife through the lower spine, killing the parasite within and ending the knight.
[115 Exp]
Lamp was nimble and efficient, but Handy's strategy was much more simple, and even, elegant.
Handy braced itself, slightly crouching in a lowered position while holding its two-handed sword pointing forwards, towards the stomach of the knight.
The knight charged recklessly at the immobile skeleton. Probably hoping to crush it, too.
As it t Handy, the knight pulled its arm back to swing its sword low, attempting to slap the two-handed sword away.
Yet at the last mont, Handy lunged forwards.
In one fast movent, the two-handed sword raised from pointing at its stomach and shot upwards towards the knight's throat.
*Ding~*
The sword found the slightest gap in the armor and pierced through the throat, making a low ringing noise as it clashed against the armor behind the spine.
[115 Exp]
It died before its sword descended; the knight's sword swept harmlessly behind the skeleton, not dealing any damage. The knight fell on Handy, but after a shoulder-bash, it dropped to the side.
For a second, it stunned Jay to see how quickly the skeletons slayed them. After fighting in the gatehouse, the skeletons had beco adept knight-killers.
"I wonder if they can share fighting tips with each other?" he wondered.
The skeletons returned to Jay's side to defend him. For a mont, the three of them stood there; Jay was not expecting them to slay enemies that quickly, so had no new orders for them.
Blue and Sweeper had run around most of the head, revealing a circle of the giant tentacle-like roots. Eight of them in total stood tall, arranged in a hexagon shape, all having their own white claw-like stones, all capable of being launched like trebuchets.
Unfortunately, there were no gaps in its defence, and Jay recalled Blue and Sweeper while giving new orders to the other skeletons.
(Lamp and Handy. Head through the portal and assist Red.)
(Blue, Sweeper. Defend for the ti being.)
The four skeletons switched their jobs around as Lamp and Handy disappeared into a shimr of silver.
Jay stood atop the root and watched how everything was playing out.
More knights were making it past the Ova blockade. It was hard to tell if they were making progress on killing the Ova, or if they had simply buried them, but apparently it didn't matter.
"It won't be long till the trickle turns to a river." Jay thought.
"Hopefully, they can't follow through the portal… but I should make sure it's safe first."
(Red, co back.) Jay ordered, jumping down off the root.
Jay then walked about 130 feet (40 ters) away from the portal and dumped bones in a line.
He lay down a semi-circle barricade of bones, hemming himself in from every side, but after a mont they disappeared, and in their place, a ring of Ova appeared.
"Seems like my guess was correct. The Ova can grow here."
All of the Ova stood within reaching distance of one another, and there were about three rows of them, creating a wall of needle-clawed guards. The only way the knights were getting past would be by much sacrifice and blood-shed.
"I'm a talented gardener." Jay smiled, watching his work unfold.
Sure, he was trapped inside, but it not a prison.
Though there was one part that caused so concern.
At the edge of the room, where the roots t the wall, the Ova were sparse. Only one Ova was at the edge of the chamber wall, causing a weak point in the defensive half-circle around the portal.
"Hmm. It will only be a problem once the intelligent knights co through." Jay thought.
The barrier ford just in ti as eight knights rushed over, followed by ten more, which just fell through. They all rushed towards Jay, ignoring the fearso flesh-root tentacle.
Despite the sheer number of knights, it didn't make Jay worry at all, as his defences took advantage of the dungeon itself, and he could easily dump more bones.
The Ova he would soon kill were, for now, his personal army.
Blue and Sweeper stood by Jay's side throughout the process, and Jay was glad to see that he didn't need to order them to not mindlessly attack the surrounding Ova.
"Now… where the hell is Red?" Jay wondered. "Maybe my order didn't go through the portal?"
He scratched his chin, "or maybe it's trapped…"
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