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Chapter 293 Homesteading in a fantasy world
🕑 Added 2023-08-15 17:59:42 +0000 UTCThe plan was devised, and we executed it swiftly. As soon as I gave the signal, Adam activated one of the scrolls we had acquired. He managed to cover the top half of the monster in the burning acid, but the substance wasn't potent enough to break down the tough skin of the cyclops. However, it did induce panic in them, causing them to move in an attempt to rid themselves of the painful substance.
As they moved, they quickly realized that the floor was coated in ice, thanks to Luana's spell, causing them to slip and fall. The battle between the acid and the cyclops' skin was brief, with the skin mostly winning.
This situation left me in the perfect position to target the exposed neck of one of the twins. Its cry of pain alerted the other, which, despite its pain, nearly managed to grab me. However, I had cut deep enough to ensure that the creature would eventually bleed out.
I knew that this strike was crucial, so I utilized core energy. Yet, even that wasn't potent enough to pierce through the bone. The other twin tried to stem the bleeding but weakened over time, allowing me to finish both of them off.
As a reward, we received two wooden rings, but we didn’t know what they could do. They felt powerful, and there was a strong connection between them. Although I didn't particularly enjoy this floor, we had to press on.
The next floor, the last one where we needed to fight, resembled a typical ruin. It was, however, a bit damper with more vegetation than usual. The first monster we encountered nearly killed Luana.
None of us had noticed the deadly snake lying in wait, ready to strike anyone who ventured too close. We adjusted our tactics, but as we delved deeper into these ruins, we encountered more snakes, each larger than the last.
About eight hours in, we faced off against 40-foot pythons, each possessing elemental abilities. Fortunately, everyone was capable of dealing damage on this floor. One python managed to coil around me, and only my enhanced bones saved me from being crushed.
It acted swiftly, but its attempt to suffocate me took longer than it anticipated. This delay allowed the others to kill it with ease. After that encounter, I proceeded with increased caution. Any other snakes that tried the same tactic were swiftly bisected by my blade.
As the hours passed, our concerns grew. We were drawing closer to the two-month deadline with only 12 hours remaining. Moreover, the monsters we faced became increasingly stronger. At times, we encountered areas without snakes, replaced instead by large lizards with elemental abilities similar to the snakes. We pressed on, occasionally having to clear out dozens of monsters before advancing. The most dangerous were the venomous snakes, particularly those capable of emitting poison clouds.
While I wasn’t poisoned by the poison from the clouds, they still inflicted significant damage to my airways. Without the others, none of us would have survived. This floor truly tested us in every way, and each of us had to give our utmost to keep moving forward and, more importantly, to stay alive.
Occasionally, we encountered areas with deep water, but Luana expended a considerable amount of mana to freeze these sections. Everyone, except for me, had already consumed at least one regeneration potion, either for mana or energy. Resource-wise, we were still in a decent state, but we urgently needed to locate the boss room.
The fighting intensified as the monsters grew larger and demonstrated better control over the elements. It became common for me to confront fire-breathing snakes, but they weren't the most dangerous.
The ones with lightning abilities posed the greatest threat. We encountered them more frequently, prompting Adam to spend 15 minutes adjusting one of the recorded spells on his new staff for lightning resistance. Without Adam's spells to counteract the lightning, I would have been killed numerous times.
Regardless of the challenges, we pressed on, using our resources and drawing ever closer to the boss room. When we finally located it, we seriously considered waiting out the timer. The creature before us was a mythic entity, even in this world: a Hydra with five heads. It was larger than the dragon I had previously fought.
The central head was red, indicating fire abilities. To its right was a green head with poison abilities, and the furthest right was a greyish head with wind abilities. To the left of the central head was a bright blue one with lightning abilities, likely the most dangerous, and the furthest left was dark blue, indicating water abilities.
None of us were certain that we would engage in the fight, but we still began strategizing. We knew that my taunting ability had its limitations, especially against entities with multiple intelligences in one body. There might be a chance that I could still taunt the entire hydra, but if I did, I would likely be defeated quickly.
Horus prepared several spell scrolls and distributed them to everyone except me. These scrolls contained a spell that was similar to my ability, allowing each of us to engage a head of our choosing. We hoped to be fortunate enough that this hydra couldn't regenerate its heads, but according to Horus, the chances were slim.
Our plan was to inflict significant damage on each head without severing it completely. Horus provided the last of our supply, about 20 more spell scrolls to Adam to give him some offensive capabilities.
I targeted the fire head, Luana took on the lightning, Adam confronted the poison, Horus challenged the water, and Arabella faced the wind. Once we were in position, we initiated our assault. "Hey, you big, ugly, barely-red lizard, come and fight me!"
My taunt immediately drew the attention of all the heads, each one displaying a murderous intent. The massive body supporting the five heads began to advance, gaining speed. However, as each head became distracted, the hydra's body grew confused due to receiving multiple conflicting commands. Eventually, it halted.
The fire spewed by the red head was less intense than dragon fire, and my enhanced defenses managed to withstand it. However, prolonged exposure would still be deadly. I charged forward, launching a flying slash towards its head. The creature cried out in pain, halting its fiery onslaught.
Although the damage was minor, it was a start. The heads moved similarly to snakes and were quite lengthy. When I got within range, the red head attempted a physical attack. This was more manageable for me, and despite some close calls, I was able to inflict significant damage with my sword.
I was incredibly careful not to sever the head entirely. I felt I was close to killing it, but I had to be back off because the other heads were still dangerous, especially with their area-effect damage. We had to maintain constant communication to alert each other of impending attacks. The battle soon morphed into a complex dance, requiring us to move precisely. One wrong step, and moments later, we could find ourselves engulfed in a poison cloud.
Fortunately, Adam continued to heal us. Before I could re-engage in melee with the red head, I was struck by a lightning attack. The water head had made the floor wet with its previous attack where I happened to step in just as the lightning head unleashed an area-of-effect attack. Adam got me back up. I was also enveloped by the poison cloud twice before I was free to move forward, but I had learned to hold my breath, significantly reducing the damage. Still, I needed healing to keep going at full strength.
The head tried to swallow me whole once again, but my swift movements allowed me to evade. This was possible because the head had to cover a much larger distance compared to the few meters I needed to dodge.
With every strike, the head's movements became slower. Eventually, it ceased its physical attacks and attempted to unleash fire. However, its injured neck meant that only a fraction of the fire reached its mouth, with the rest escaping through the numerous wounds I had inflicted.
This was the opportunity I needed to finish off the head. I watched as it slumped in defeat. I moved to help Adam, but both the lightning and poison heads bite into the defeated head, tearing it apart and detaching a significant portion from the hydra's body.
We watched as a new head, identical in size to the previous one, replaced the old head in less than ten seconds. It roared, glaring at me with even more animosity. I was entirely convinced it retained the intelligence of the previous head, which meant it knew how it had been defeated before.
Comments
Zarik0
Well shit :)
