How does a Druid fight?
Over the last two seconds - the ti it took Olevia to utter the last words - the thoughts that flashed through my mind raced to answer this question.
Using my presumptions from Earth, coupled with what I’ve seen - from those monsters, to that flower, to even the story deputy Thomas once told - my acting assumption was:
Summons – so far, I’ve never seen matter created from nothing. The vine blights were mainly energy, but still had matter at their core, and even the Death Priest used existing bones. Those were probably all the summons, for now; Yet, I didn’t forget the vine wall, which likely stretched to this side, as well.
Buffs and debuffs - I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a way to strengthen the monsters, just like that ‘elder’ using one as ans of communication, and she might have so surprises, like spores or poisonous miasma.
Control and attacks – she could probably use the monsters, or maybe the vines behind her, coupled with her own form of energy, arcane or otherwise.
Healing – maybe. I didn’t see any evidence yet, but I didn’t discount it.
With the initial assumptions sorted out, I focused on the opponents – each side had two vine blights, with a wood blight in the between, and the Druidess at the center. I could also see a few thorny vines, slightly thicker than my arm, slowly creep their way from behind the edge of the wall, confirming my earlier suspicion.
“Smoke?”
“Yes! Take the ones you’re good at!”
We didn’t need a lot of words to agree on our tactic. However, the enemy did not idle, either.
clang clang clang!
I jumped to the side, dodging so of the incoming spikes, while blocking the rest with my arm shield. As for Alrox, he blocked his head and chest with the broad side of the axe, tanking the rest of the barrage. However..
“Agh!..”
One of the vine blights to his left belatedly shot a different projectile - the whole wooden stake, which managed to graze the side of his left ankle. Luckily, the level 3 Destroyer had sufficient reflexes to move it in ti, otherwise, the damage could be catastrophic.
I was about to throw the smoke concoction, yet, as I began swinging my hand, I noticed the subtle shifts in the nearby vine blight’s aim.
Rather than risk the projectile getting preemptively shot down, I decided to take a different risk.
[Charge] !
Right arm still behind my shoulder, I charged forward, into the middle of the right enemy flank, stopping just 4 ters away from them (down from the previous 12).
The Druid’s perception seed to be on par with mine, as, just as my movent started, three things happened - the woman flinched and began taking a step back, the two tree blights leapt to her front with surprising agility, the two nearby vine blights began raising their ‘arms’, both stakes slowly retracting…
BFOOOM
Finally, I threw my concoction, aiming straight at the two tree blights – before imdiately twisting my body and falling to one knee.
whoo crack whoo
One of the stakes passed through the empty air where my chest was a mont ago. Another cracked and bounded upon hitting the stone floor, a few centiters away from my foot. The last one barely missed my head-
Clang!
The fourth stake, reaching monts before the expanding smoke, was blocked by the shield on my left forearm, sending the whole arm reeling. The tiny tinge of pain suggested its tip managed to reach my skin. I could only hope it wasn’t poisoned.
Tak tak tak!
While cutting off the base of the stake - which was now lodged into the shield - with my sword, I leapt to the right and rolled on the ground, avoiding a barrage of smaller spikes, which hit the floor where I landed just monts ago.
“They’re retreating!”
Judging by the sound, Olevia and the two tree blights were moving back the fastest, while the vine blights slithered after them. Beside leaving the smoke, after seeing my mobility, the Druidess likely realized that the massive corridor, nearly 10 ters wide, left her at too much of a disadvantage – sothing, like a vine wall at her back, would surely fix that.
I could hear Alrox rushing forward with all his speed, yet, I couldn't waste this opportunity by waiting for him.
First, from my crouching position, I leapt forward, covering over three ters within a second. Then, at the faint sound of thorns scraping stone, I bent my knees, raising my sword to my shoulder, pointing forward…
[Charge Thrust] !
I struck right at the core of the retreating creature.. piercing it through, and crushing into its thorny fra.
My body pushed it forward, letting keep my balance. I moved my sword upwards, cleaving through what was mostly energy and thin, thorny vines – yet, in the last monts before its will dissipated, it swung both appendages, leaving rugged cuts at the sides of my leather armor.
“Gh..”
The second vine blight, still retreating, shot the rest of its spikes at the left side of that armor, with a few managing to find their way through the tiny gaps in the steel links of my chainmail – not fully, but enough to sting, likely reaching a centiter deep.
[Charge] !
I finally felt a tinge of strain in my legs, yet the 2nd realm Endurance allowed to use this low-effort Skill dozens of tis before that strain beca unbearable.
[Kvaaaaa!]
The creature swung its thorny vines. Not bothering with my [Arc Slash], I moved my sword in a flowing motion, my body swaying in matching rhythm.
The enemy attack missed, while I severed one of the ‘arms’, closing so of the distance, and continued the elegant movent, my blade dancing across the monster's ‘torso’, ripping apart the energy comprising it.
‘Finally. Thought I'd never get to use this outside of practice.’
Between my Skills, I barely got to use any proper sword techniques in real fight, beside basic strikes, swings and deflections. Even the Scythe Bear Style saw more use than the Flowing Sword, having at least proven its worth in that fight against the Assassin.
Suddenly, almost instinctively, I felt an incredible sense of danger, dodging to the right – through the smoke, a large thorny vine pierced the empty air where I once stood.
This ti, I spared no strength, swinging the sword with all my might, just in case. It turned out to be the correct decision, as even that was barely enough to tear through the tough fabric, fully severing the vine, its heavy fragnt falling on the floor with a thud.
“She’s already using the vines!”
Relaying the information ca at a price – yet another vine, shooting at through the smoke. This ti, however, it stopped right out of sword’s reach, before whipping at . I knew I couldn’t cut it with my regular swing.
[Arc Slash] !
I didn’t just swing at the tip – rather, leaping forward, I cut through both the plant’s flailing end, and its stem, which was farther back.
Spraying light-green liquid all over, the stub retreated – however, I wouldn’t call this a good exchange. Trading my stamina for so plant matter - that was a horrible trade.
Crack!
Not far from , I could hear the sound of a giant axe chopping so wood-
“Ghaa!..”
However, it would seem another stake managed to pierce Alrox’s defenses.
[Charge] !
Not willing to waste another mont, I decided to first change my position, flashing through the smoke to the other side of the corridor. Now, I could vaguely see my partner's outline, two ters away from .
[Charge] !
As I was approaching one of the vine blights, I could feel the pain in my calves becoming harder to ignore after the fifth usage of this Skill in quick succession, yet, right now, every second counted.
Making use of my sword technique once again, it took about 4 seconds to dismber the monster – however, my hands received a few scratches in return.
THUD!
Judging by the sound, one of the wood blights’ heavy strikes managed to connect with the tallic scales protecting Alrox's chest, likely sending him reeling. I could only trust in his strength and endurance, while ensuring no followup barrage would catch him off guard.
[Charge] !
As my sword (literally) disard the vine blight, the appendages of which were aiming in the direction where the sound of Alrox's scales hitting the floor could be heard, my suspicion was confird.
However, I didn't have ti to think about that, as my movent skill brought right beside a wood blight, whose left ‘arm’ was leaking sap, nearly fully chopped through, and the right arm had just finished retracting after the heavy punch.
While my current abilities were amazing against squishy opponents, especially those that relied on ethereal energy to keep them in one piece, the sa couldn't be said about the massive wooden creature, with not even knowing the location of its core.
Unlawfully taken from , this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Whooom
Leaping back from a heavy blow thrown in my direction, I didn't try to counterattack – instead, I leapt even farther back, opening my potion case, then taking out and opening the Stamina Potion vial in a single motion.
gulp
I emptied the whole thing – while its effectiveness did not diminish, after attaining a Path, my total stamina increased to a point where the whole vial wouldn't even restore one third of it. Still, by my estimations, it should have been just enough to make up for all my Skill usage so far.
Judging by the sound to my right, Alrox decided to use the temporary pause for similar purposes. anwhile, the wood blight resud its retreat, while its kin - and the Druidess - didn't even pause theirs.
Inside the enclosed space, the smoke wasn't as fast to dissipate, and yet, I could already see the MIS ember clearly, despite him being over two ters away.
gulp
After a mont's hesitation, I took out Sunray-in-a-Bottle, my low-grade healing potion, and let 10 coin's worth of liquid - 1 of the 5 portions - flow down my throat. My cuts and bruises were mainly surface-level, anyway.
At the sa ti, the level 3 Destroyer was already on his feet, a tense expression on his face. Exchanging a short glance, we rushed forward, leaving the dissipating smoke cloud.
The remaining blights had already finished their retreat, standing in front of the Druidess. The injury on the left blight’s ‘arm’ was already nding itself, too.
As for Olevia, she now had a wall of light-green, thorny vines at her back. Most were casually wobbling, shaking in rhythm with the rams against the barrier, while a few ca forward, surrounding the robed woman, with four of them arcing nacingly above her head. About a dozen ters separated us now.
“Turn back. You can still leave.”
I couldn't help but scowl.
“Why don't you leave first, then?!”
“...”
This wasn't even about the dozens upon dozens of gold coins sunk into this mission – preventing this disgusting hypocrite from achieving her goal would be a reward unto itself.
Still, I realized this was far from over. The vine blights might have been dangerous, but between them, the thicket of vines, and Olevia herself, they probably wouldn't count as half the threat.
“So be it.”
Skrrr
The Druidess no longer hesitated, either, unleashing all four vines at one – the thick stems slithered on the stone floor, like snakes, scraping it with their thorns.
The two wooden guardians remained in their posts.
“Can you cut the vines?”
To my left, Alrox's hushed voice sounded as if he was at the cusp of reaching so conclusion.
“Only barely, or with a Skill.”
“Alright. We focus on the injured blight first. Then, I’ll give you an opening!..”
Our short conversation ended right as slithering vines finally reached us, arcing back up like snakes, poised to strike.
“Haaa!”
With the air shifting and pulsating around it, the massive axe head cut three of the vines in one fell swoop.
[Arc Slash] !
The last vine was promptly dispatched as well.
The four stems, flailing without intent, adding a light-green hue to the gray stone, did not attempt to counterattack, retreating almost instinctively. However, four new vines disjoined themselves from the shaking thicket, finding their place beside the Druidess once again.
“Go!”
We both rushed forward, towards the right flank.
The blights did not remain idle, with the one of the left stepping forward, ready to adjust its positioning. As for Olevia, she took yet another step back, her back now resting in a cradle of vines (which, it would seem, could retract their thorns), raising her hand.
Creaaak
The blight’s injury, which was leisurely patching itself, began to close at a rapid pace. Beyond that, the bark on both their bodies shifted, emitting a creaky sound, and seed to have actually compressed, most likely becoming even harder.
The level 3 Destroyer stopped just short of the blights, keeping a 3 ter distance, and placed his left leg back, bringing the two handed greataxe backwards as well, its head nearly touching the floor.
anwhile, I rushed forward from the right, where the now-healing blight stood, turning its bark-covered head towards . Two of the vines lashed out at .
[Arc Slash] !
I cut the vines, however-
Tssss
Dodging the thick green liquid, which was suddenly different from the light sap of the previous vines, I couldn’t avoid a few splatters, which hit my leather shoulder pad, imdiately burning a few small holes in it.
‘Damn it!’
My improvised dodge left off balance – the blight, two ters away, did not hesitate to exploit the opening, leaping forward with a swing of its massive wooden arm-
CRASH!
Wooden splinters shot in every direction, as the 2-ter monster was launched into the vine thicket, with a massive fissure nearly splitting it in two.
However, just as Alrox’s strike was devastating, so was the backswing long. In the second it took him to regain his balance…
THUD!
The other blight’s wooden log connected with his shoulder like a battering ram, sending him flying toward .
I twisted my body, taking half a step to the right, only to see the remaining two vines launch towards as well.
I began raising my sword… only to notice the movent of my left arm was becoming stiffer, and feeling sothing constrict and wither my left forearm.
‘The stake!’
On instinct alone, I managed to avoid the first vine. And yet, the second one connected with my chest, taking the air out of my lungs, and forcing to leap backwards to avoid fully losing my balance.
The remaining blight was now rushing forward; The vine that struck was arcing back, reading itself for another attack. The vine that missed lowered itself to the floor, and arced backwards as well, preparing to swipe at my legs. My companion was slowly getting up, while the wooden roots, sprouting out of the deceased vine blight’s remnant, were slowly beginning to pierce my flesh.
Amongst the chaos, I suddenly recalled a fragnt of my conversation with Anne yesterday…
‘What you used to stabilize your spell back then – it wasn’t really a stabilization technique.’
‘Really? What was it, then?’
‘There is one niche technique, sowhat similar to what you did. It isn’t useful in Tide stabilization, but it can be used to counter channeled spells, in very particular situations. Not that I ever got to use it, myself. When an enemy’s channeled spell touches your body, as a Wizard, you’re probably in big trouble, regardless.’
In the blink of an eye, I shifted my perception to the Tides – specifically, the area around my hand.
There, I noticed sothing – a stream of green energy, akin to a shifting vine, connected to my forearm.
In a single motion, I let go of my sword with the right hand, extending two fingers, and feeling the familiar stream of arcane energy emitted from their tips, like a concentrated stream of heat from a blowtorch.
vhooo
In a motion so swift I could hear the air pushed aside, I swung my hand, severing the connection.
The vines, which were about to launch themselves at , suddenly twitched, losing so of their stiffness. Throwing a glance at the Druidess, I could see a dazed look on her face - the backlash must have caught her by utter surprise, disrupting her control.
However, the blight did not stop its charge, about to launch a running strike at the downed man, who was now using his hands to sit up, one leg bending in an attempt to stand up.
The head of his greataxe turned sideways, his right arm positioning itself behind it, ready to try and absorb - or at least mitigate - the powerful blow.
The monster raised its left arm, poised to complete its attack.
[Arc Slash] !
Crack!
While my strike was nowhere near as powerful as that one attack by the level 3 Destroyer, it managed to lodge itself halfway through the girthy log.
As I used my full force to dislodge the sword, the blight’s already-shaky balance was completely ruined.
BAM!
The heavy strike crashed into the floor, sending subtle tremors, as Alrox gave up on his block, instead using his legs to slide backwards, letting the diverted strike land between them.
crack!
From his sitting position, he lodged the axe into the monster’s other ‘arm’, using its handle as support to leap back on his legs.
As for , I had already used the opportunity to leap forward, cleaving through the vine on the ground, then swinging my sword with all its strength at the second one, managing to achieve the sa result.
I was now 2 ters behind the blight - and about 4 ters away from Olevia.
For the first ti, a glimr of fear shot through her eyes, as nearly a dozen thick vines rushed to her front, in an effort to form a barrier.
[Charge Thrust] !!!
Putting every bit of strength into the skill, my sword lunged forward, aiming at her heart.
Tssaa!
Ripping through the plant fiber, its path was slightly diverted, yet the force of the attack was beyond the vine’s ability to fully mitigate.
Feeling the feedback in my arms, my sword pierced the Druidess’s stomach, slightly below the ribcage, and the green surface was dyed red.
“Aaaaa!”
A shrill scream of pain echoed off the walls of the large corridor.
Before I could twist the blades, the vine in front of the woman wildly flailed, three of them hitting at the sa ti, sending flying backwards a few ters.
CRACK!
Mid-flight, I threw a glance back, just as Alrox finished off the last blight.
The vine thicket in front of began to rapidly shift, its stems flailing wildly in every direction, while the bleeding body of the Druidess sank even deeper, with a green cocoon forming in front of her.
“Damn it, we don’t have ti! Get back!”
Not wasting a mont, I turned around as I landed, sprinting back up the corridor, together with the man beside .
While I took the dagger from my belt, hastily cutting off the leather straps that stripped the thin - and now pierced - shield to my left forearm, Alroxed reached for the largest reinforced case on his belt.
Just as I dislodged the twisted piece of wood from the sleeve of my chainmail, he turned around.
A palm sized sphere, surrounded by thin lines of dark tal, with faint fissures at their center, and a crimson-colored crystal at the center, was now in his hand. Upon pressing a button at one of its poles, the fissures began shimring with a similar color to that of the crystal.
“Get down!”
Already envisioning the upcoming scene, I threw myself to the ground, beside the chamber wall, just as the ember, standing closer to the corridor’s center, threw his contraption with all his might, towards the rampaging vines.
BO-BOOM!
Even though there was no direct line between and the explosion, the shockwave rattled my insides, and the heat, following half a second after, scorched my back. A second later, I opened my eyes and got back on my feet.
My partner was kneeling right in front of , using his axe to protect his head, and the rest of his body to protect from so of the heat.
Taking a few slow, tired steps towards the middle of the corridor, the scene unveiled before my eyes in full – most of the remaining vines, black and ashen, were thrown to the side, not reaching even a tenth of the forr thicket’s size.
At the back of an enormous circular scorch mark on the floor, spanning nearly the whole corridor’s width, the smoldering remains of the cocoon were now scattered all over the floor, and the body of the Druidess, covered in burn marks, was laying at their center. Her eyes were closed, but her wound was scorched shut, and the faintly visible movent of her chest suggested she was still alive, albeit barely.
“That was… huff.. my ace. We need to get-”
Suddenly, the man froze mid-word. Not taphorically – his body literally stiffened, as if held by an invisible force.
Even before that, I had already noticed one change – the rhythmic hits against the barrier, which was located on the other side of this 100-ter wide chamber, had stopped for over 10 seconds now.
The last thing I saw was a green, human-like figure, thorny vines fully comprising its shape, erging from behind the corner.
Then, I felt the world being pulled from under my feet.
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