Jas thought for a split second, and dropped the Green Iron War Hamr in his hand to the ground as he set his footing and readied his shield. The monster continued charging at its shuffling pace and Jas reached his hand into the magic bag saying "Earth War Hamr."
His hand closed on the handle and withdrew it from the bag, flat striking face at the ready, and was just shy of being fully in position for a [Hamr Strike] when the mole monster lunged and tackled his shield. Slightly off balance, Jas didn't manage to thrust the shield at the monster, but before it could start scrabbling with its razor sharp claws, Jas swung.
[Heavy Blow]
With a mighty overhand strike, Jas crushed the monster's head and a small amount of the stone and earth floor beneath it. He pulled back the hamr to strike again when he heard another outraged squeal.
Jas looked back at the passage he had been approaching and saw another mole monster charging. Mindful of his footwork, he sidestepped to the left, both to avoid tripping over his dropped war hamr and also to open up more space between him and the wall. Getting too close would hinder his right arm and hamr.
The mole monster charged past its fallen brethren and lunged at Jas. Jas, this ti, caught the charge with a shield thrust and countered with another [Heavy Blow] empowered [Hamr Strike].
Splat
With both mole monsters downed and showing no signs of life other than twitching and spasming, Jas hastily scanned around with his helt-restricted narrow field of vision. Looking up, he saw no bats. Looking down, he scanned the floor for spiders and rocks that might trip him. Looking forward, at the passage, there was yet another mole monster.
But this one was smaller, a juvenile of the monster specie. Its claws, especially, were much shorter than its larger counterparts. With a higher pitched squeak of outrage promising vengeance, it loped towards Jas, lighter on its feet than the others.
It lunged, and Jas caught it with a shield thrust as usual, and it bounced back nearly a full yard before crouching down, stunned. Jas wasted no ti, stepping forward with shield raised, and finished off the monster.
At this point, Jas expected more mole monsters to co pouring out of the passageway so he quickly retrieved his Green Iron War Hamr and stowed it back in his bag, then backed up to a clear section of cavern floor and prepared himself.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
But nothing happened.
He waited for as long as it took to catch is breath again, then resud his advance toward the passage entrance. He crept forward, mindful of his advance and any boulders he might trip over in a retreat, and soon he was near the wall a couple yards from the passage. Now he crept wide, keeping his distance but now able to see down the passage…
It was a sowhat natural tunnel, but clearly had been expanded by the mole monsters and their claws that cut through stone and earth like warm butter. The result was sowhat triangular shaped, with the bottom wider than the top which was the most natural looking. The top was also the only part with glowshrooms growing, providing ager light. This light revealed a short passage, maybe 5 yards, at the end of which was the largest mole monster Jas had seen thus far, possibly two or three tis the size of the regular mole monsters and nearly as tall as Jas himself.
It caught sight of Jas and snarled viciously, growls and hisses following in such rapid succession it sounded almost like it was sputtering. Its claws deceptively looked shorter than the regular mole monsters, but that was a matter of proportion: they were actually slightly larger. With its bulk, it could just barely squeeze through the passage and charge at Jas. He readied his shield, but-
It stayed in the tunnel, furiously hissing and spitting at Jas.
Slowly, keeping his eyes on the monster for any signs of a sudden dash, Jas retreated back the way he ca, to the side. The last thing he saw in the dim light was the reflection of the monsters hate filled eyes glaring at him.
Jas continued his retreat with his focus on the mole monster tunnel until about the midpoint of the cavern, at which point he turned to face his goal, the ward, and moved expeditiously keeping an eye out for spiders. Only once he was safely back in the wards did he start to relax, but only slightly. He kept his armor on, only sitting on a knee high boulder and taking stock.
His armor was in good condition. Although he did take a strike flat on his shield, the cushioning he had installed had minimized the damage to his pauldron, and the iron spikes on his boots had kept him firmly anchored to resist the montum of the tackle.
Other than the uncomfortable proximity of the spider passage, the biggest problem was that Jas was getting hungry and thirsty. Especially after having fought three mole monsters in a row. It wasn't critical, but this felt like a good stopping point.
Leaving the ward where it was, he trekked back to his camp and made himself a lunch of porridge and drank so of the Pure Water (he double checked with his skill, now leery of the cavern's water sources). While he ate, he decided it was perhaps ti to try to fashion himself so kind of canteen or water jug that the magic bag would accept. And on top of that, he should make himself so kind of oven to bake bread in. He did have plenty of flour and even so yeast, and if he could make bread he could have sothing to eat away from camp other than his dwindling supply of dried at.
Ate and drank, Jas put his helt back on and made his way back to the ward in the other large cavern. He checked for monsters and was pleasantly surprised to find that none were to be found. He had expected at least a bat monster or two to show up and investigate his ward.
Satisfied that it was safe, Jas left the ward and approached the first of the passages on the left-hand side. The path he was taking now put his shield more on the side facing the wall, but Jas was fine with that after his encounter with the mole monster passage. At least he had so familiarity with the side of the cavern he was putting his back to now.
He cautiously advanced on the passage, and peeked in, then did a double take, blinking.
Was this a path to the outside?
Reviews
All reviews (0)