Chapter Seventy-Eight - Glasslighting

Chapter Seventy-Eight - Glasslighting

Chapter Seventy-Eight - Glasslighting

As it turns out, it only took about an hour of walking across increasingly dry land for us to find the first glass golem.

The monster--because if it went around hurting innocents and was a dungeon-born creation, thats what it had to be--was on the taller side. Seven, nearly eight feet of towering glass with four large legs at the base and a mismatched pair of arms all made of glass that shone every colour of the rainbow.

The golem looked a bit like a pile of sharpened crystals, though some of these were warped and twisted, especially where the rainbow hues stuck out more.

When it moved, it cast flashes of colour across the sandy-white ground around, like sunlight through stained-glass. I even had to squint as the sun glinted off its multi-faceted surface.

We all ducked down behind a hill as the glass golem turned our way.

So, ah, thats a thing, I said.

Awa, its very large, Awen said.

Amaryllis snorted. There are four of us, and one of it. I think the odds are rather in our favour, even with the slight level disparity.

I cursed myself for forgetting to check on its level and poked my head out just long enough to mutter Insight, while pouring a bit of mana into the skill.

A corrupt Glass Golem from the Path of Broken Reflections, level ?.

My head dropped again. Cant see its level, I said.

Ten, Amaryllis answered. Not too high that we cant take it. Expect about five or so unique abilities. Moon Moon, can you tell us anything about it?

Moon Moon nodded, his tongue flapping about as he did so. Yeah, chicken lady. Theyre big and slow, but can be hard to break. And when they do its with lots of cracks. They can fire rainbows that burn a little, and they can make spikes come out of the ground that hurt when you step on them. Oh, and they make fake versions of themselves that are real tricksy, but you can tell which are fake because they have no smells.

So, Amaryllis said. Some sort of beam attack, some sort of toughness ability. Earth or maybe glass manipulation and an illusion based power. One more that we dont know of, but it might be utilitarian.

That sounds like a tough fight, I said.

Amaryllis made a so-so gesture. More or less. That thing looks slow. And Light magic is fairly weak. I think we ought to give it a try.

I looked up again and checked out the terrain. The glass golem was stomping along at the bottom of our hill, slowly making its way past. The ground was mostly hard-packed dirt and sand, with a few shrubs and some bushes here and there. No trees to use as cover, but plenty of large rocks and some boulders that would do just fine.

We could take it, probably. Amaryllis was level nine, Awen eight. Moon Moon was... Can I use insight on you? I asked our droll friend.

Moon Moon nodded.

An excited droll Tail and Moon Chaser, level ??.

I didnt know whether that was good or not. He was stronger than the golem, at least in terms of sheer level.

Okay. We can try. Ill try talking to it first, I said.Th.ê most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m

You moron, Amaryllis said. Its a golem. It has the emotional range of a rock. The only similarity it has to a living thing is its link to your rock-brained ancestors.

I huffed. Fine. Im still going to try and say hi. Maybe its an intelligent golem, like some sort of nice AI? You guys be ready to attack it. Moon Moon are you a close range fighter or ranged?

The droll looked at me. I bite.

Right, I said. Amaryllis, as soon as it tries to attack, let loose with something strong. Moon Moon and I will hit it right after and try to stagger it back. Awen, can you move towards where it falls? You have a hammer, that ought to be good for smacking it down.

Awa, you, you want me to help? Awen asked.

If you want to stay here and watch, thats okay too, I said.

She took a few shallow breaths, then shook her head. N-no, I, Ill help!

Awesome! Lets do this.

I waited a little bit as Amaryllis moved further away, then Moon Moon scuttled over the hill on all fours, and with surprising speed and dexterity, moved to hide behind a large boulder some ways down the hill.

I placed a hand on Awens shoulder. When I start talking, circle around the hill towards its back, I said.

R-right, Awen said. Her grip on her hammer was white-knuckled but firm.

My eyes widened as I saw a hundred little points appearing on the ground. They shot out, growing into foot-tall glass shards.

Thinking fast, I brought my spade around and placed a foot on its flat metal surface just as I hit one of the spikes.

With a grunt and a burst of stamina, I jumped off my spade and flew off to a spot where the ground was still safe and non-spikey.

Somehow, I managed to catch the cord I used to keep my spade on my back, so it bounced and clattered after me and ended up by my side when I rolled to a stop.

The golem had turned a rough cone into a spike-covered trap, maybe ten meters long and five wide at the end. Fortunately, Moon Moon hadnt been caught in any of that.

The pink glow that had started a while ago had turned into an ugly red. Oh no, I said.

There was no dodging the next beam that smacked me dead centre in the chest. Strangely enough, there wasnt any kick back from the blow, just a whole lot of heat.

It was stupid, but the first thing I thought was that it would burn a hole into my new armour, and I fired off a bust of cleaning magic to prevent just that.

The moment the laser hit my cleaning magic the beam scattered a little and I had time to slip off to the side.

My chest was still warm, and there was a thin black line across the leather over my gambeson, but I had avoided being truly hurt.

There was another electrical snap as a jolt of lightning connected with the golem and travelled across its side. Most of it bounced off and ground itself, but some still left blemishes on its side.

The leg that Moon Moon had pounced onto was a mess of bite marks, deep jagged cuts, and broken glass. It was clear that he, for one, didnt have any trouble clobbering the golem, he just couldnt hit it where it hurt.

Im trying something! I called out as my eyes locked onto the browned spot where Amaryllis first attack had landed.

I squatted down, brought my spade around so that it rested between my legs, then shot off with a burst of stamina towards the Golem.

Twisting in mid-air, I spun around so that I was coming at the monster feet-first.

I placed one foot on the top of my spades stop and aimed the tip of my spade as best I could.

I didnt weigh all that much, but then, that didnt matter when every kilo I had rammed into the monster along the thin edge of my spade.

The golem rocked back as my spade dug into its wound and stayed stuck in its side.

My plan hadnt accounted for when gravity decided to remind me that it existed. My grip on the spade slipped and I fell off.

I landed with an oomph, the air knocked out of me by the short fall. I wanted to catch my breath, but one of the creatures large feet came crashing down onto where Id landed.

Squeaking, I rolled out of its way a moment before it crushed me.

As soon as I got to my feet I looked around and tried to take in the situation. The fight had only lasted a minute so far, but it had been a busy one. One of the golems feet was a mangled mess, and the spade sticking into its side couldnt be good for it, not judging by the hundreds of cracks now running through its body.

Amaryllis, hit my spade!

Got it! the harpy called back. A moment later another flash filled the clearing and a bolt of electricity hit the metallic collar around the head of my spade.

A million electric-blue forks travelled through the golems body from the head of my now-glowing spade.

The golem stumbled back. Its savaged leg gave out under it with a snap and the monster crashed to the ground with an impact that made the entire valley shake.

Awen! I screamed. Now!

Awa? Awen said. She stepped out from behind a bush, hammer held in both hands. I tried to reassure her with a smile. The enemy was prone after all, and not as much of a threat.

I dont know if she noticed, but she did scoot forwards towards the golem and raised the hammer high above her head. F-for Broccoli! she screamed before slamming the hammer down.

It went boink and flew out of her hands.

Awaaa! Awen yelped before stumbling back and falling onto her bum.

Still, it had been enough, a loud crack sounded out and a spider web of jagged lines spread across the golems surface and deep into its glassy body.

Then, just like that, the monster fell apart into a pile of sharpened glass.

***