Chapter 32: Chased Away

Chapter 32: Chased Away

The unfortunate part of my plan were the locations of the two monster nests we wanted to clear. Not only were they pretty far away, but the directions themselves were also much too vague. Well, the directions provided on the fliers would’ve been just fine in any other situation, but in ours, they left something to be desired.

Essentially, they relied on you taking roads to get where you wanted to go. The fliers told us to take certain paths and turn at certain intersections, that way we wouldn’t have to cut through the wilderness. Except, when we were fugitives, we really wanted to cut through the wilderness. What it didn’t do was tell us how far to walk or even provide an actual map. So, unless we took those roads, the directions were basically useless.

Still, like we’d done before, we could try to stay safe by not walking directly on the road, and instead following offroad along the side. Considering the distance, it was probably going to take all day walking to get there, so we got started right away.

The monster camps were a bit out of the way – not really straight off in the direction we wanted to go – but I felt like, while unfortunate, it would be fine for a couple reasons. First, it wasn’t like we were headed directly towards Carth. At worst, we were headed in a direction that neither increased nor decreased the distance between us and that disaster site. And, second, that seemingly-random movement would make us unpredictable. If we walked in a straight line, it’d be incredibly easy for the Demons to figure out the direction we were going and set up an ambush right in front of us. This way, we were taking random turns and keeping them from ever truly knowing where we were going.

So we set off, already tired from the terrifying day and the copious amounts of strain on our legs, but determined to keep moving.

The determination started to wear off after an hour of walking. Replacing it, I began to feel a more and more intense feeling of stress and fear. As the time since the disaster grew longer and longer, I got jumpier and found myself glancing around more and more often. Why hadn’t we seen those Infernals yet? Where the fuck were they? While we walked, I tried my best to kick over any footprints we left behind, making them less obviously Human, but I wasn’t sure if that would even help.

“Agh,” Erani groaned at one point, “can we take a break? I need to sit down.”

“Oh, are your legs hurting?”

“No, no, it’s just,” she paused to laugh. “Y’know, it feels a bit silly to complain about to you, of all people. I’ve been trying to keep Firebolt prepared so I can cast it at a moment’s notice. But it’s been giving me quite the headache.”

“Mm, I get it” I nodded, then laughed. “In fact, I think I understand that headache better than anyone else could. We can take a break, but we really need to keep going as soon as possible.”

I glanced around the area, checking behind us for any Demons. There were none, for now.

“Yeah, yeah,” Erani said, rubbing her eyes, “I just seriously don’t think I can keep walking right now.”

“Okay. If it can’t be helped, we can take five.” I sat down. I didn’t like taking a break when we were so close to Carth, but I also didn’t want Erani collapsing in the middle of the forest. Obviously, it wasn’t like I could abandon her; she was a much higher Level than me, and I knew just how useful her Explosive Firebolts were in battle. And even if she wasn’t so powerful, I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing someone into this mess and then leaving them to die.

I leaned my head against a tree and took a breath, giving my body a well-needed rest. Sure, I didn’t want to take this break, but I wasn’t about to let it pass by without taking advantage of it while it was here.

I let off another puff of Noxious Grasp as I rested. With a Mana/Minute of 6.15 and a Mana cost of 3.76 for Noxious Grasp, I was casting a second of the Spell close to once every thirty seconds, and I was filling up the massive Spell XP requirement for Rank 10 slowly, but steadily. Currently, it was at 51/355, as opposed to the 22 it started the day at.

Truthfully, I was glad I could cast the Spell so often now. Considering the situation I was in, I absolutely needed something familiar to occupy my mind and prevent me from spiraling.

Another string of mist rose from my hands as another thirty second interval passed. But then, as I watched it float up, I heard a cascade of heavy footfalls, much heavier than a group of Humans would make.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

“Shit, get back,” I whispered to Erani, who was sitting against a tree with her eyes closed.

She didn’t respond.

“Are you fucking asleep?” I hissed. Still no response.

Shit, I thought. She was obviously much more tired than she’d let on.

I crawled forward, up to the street, and snuck a glance down toward the sound. Yep, just as I’d expected, there was a squad of those grotesque-looking Infernal Demons. The broad-shouldered, towering-stature monsters marched down the stone road, their dumb, sunken eyes glancing down at the sides of the trail as they lumbered along, toward where we were hidden. At only a few dozen paces away from our position, they’d see us soon if I didn’t do something.

I scurried back the few paces needed to reach the still-unconscious Erani and shook her, whispering “Erani!” in her ear.

That seemed to be enough to wake her. She jolted up and said, at a horrifyingly normal volume, “W– what?”

I shushed her and grabbed her hand, taking her to her feet as she blinked repeatedly, obviously trying to get her bearings. I could hear the Infernals draw closer.

“Demons,” I whispered, and pointed in their direction. “We need to go. Now.”

That seemed to wake her up. Her eyes widened and I took off, dragging her behind me, deeper into the forest. Her feet stumbled across the leaves and sticks, making what felt like a deafening amount of noise to my fear-enhanced senses.

I heard the Infernals stomp over to our rest site. With a heart-stopping pang of anxiety, I realized I’d forgotten about our footsteps. They’d be obvious, with the complete lack of my masking them. Not to mention the noises we were making.

As we dashed through the forest, away from the road, I heard a set of footfalls from the Infernals leave the stone road and go onto the soft dirt. It sounded like the rest of the Infernals were staying on the road, so it must have just been one of them investigating our suspicious flight. They didn’t know it was us yet, it seemed. We still had hope it wouldn’t find us.

As I did my best to silently run away, I listened to the Infernal meander through the woods, fallen branches cracking under its immense weight. Erani was fully awake by now, running alongside me. The Infernal didn’t give up its pursuit, though. It obviously knew that someone was fleeing from it – probably just didn’t know who. Otherwise, it would’ve called its buddies by now.

I glanced around as we fled, looking over the hilly terrain to try and find something that could save us. We wouldn’t be able to run forever, and the Infernal seemed set on catching us.

And it seemed we’d have to stop earlier than I’d expected. As we ran, we arrived up against a trench that split the ground in two. It wasn’t incredibly wide or deep – only five or six paces in across and downward – but even that was enough that it wouldn’t be safe to try and jump across. It was long, too – long enough that we most likely wouldn’t be able to go around it.

The Infernal stomped closer.

“You’re too close,” she yelled back from the top of the trench, “the explosion’ll hit you, too!”

I grunted in frustration, looking back at the pursuing Infernal. It was quickly gaining on me. Erani was above, watching the ordeal with fearful eyes.

Crippling Chill has worn off of Level 23 Infernal.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 86.9 damage and drained 69.5 Stamina over the course of 15 seconds using Crippling Chill.

The Infernal shot forward with a burst of speed, no longer hindered by Crippling Chill.

“Just shoot!” I yelled.

She fired, shutting her eyes tightly as she did so, as though she didn’t even want to see the results of her attack. The moment the Firebolt was flung toward me and the Infernal, I turned on a heel and leapt forward, flying straight at the charging Demon. Surprised at my brazenness, it didn’t immediately attack me, which was what I was betting on. I latched onto its chest, squeezing tightly and holding myself against the beast’s body.

Then the Firebolt hit, blasting against the Infernal’s back. The Demon’s body worked as a shield against the explosion, the brunt of the fire and force going straight into the Infernal, rather than against me on the other side of it. It stumbled forward, with its lower Health pool protecting it less from the blast. And just then, I hit it with another Crippling Chill.

You have cursed Level 23 Infernal with Crippling Chill. For the next 15 seconds, it loses 5.79 Health and 4.63 Stamina each second, and its Dexterity score is lowered by 11.6.

48.5 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 204.

At the sudden loss of Stats mid-stumble, the monster couldn’t catch its balance. I heard it give a dumb grunt when it realized, and it fell down, crushing me beneath it. Luckily, it wasn’t so bad as to deal damage to me.

Squished beneath the Infernal, I activated Noxious Grasp, draining away its already-limited Health supply. Slowly, it struggled up on one arm as I stayed latched onto the Demon’s chest. Then, it got up onto its other arm, so that it was on its hands and knees, and I was fully off the ground, dangling from its chest. But another Firebolt from Erani slammed it back into the ground, the monster’s body shielding me from the explosion yet again.

However, the force of it hitting the ground so hard and so quickly, combined with it hitting one of my bad ribs, dealt some damage to me and caused me to squawk in pain.

You have been crushed. 8 damage.

Your Health is 33.

You have agitated an open wound. 4 damage.

Your Health is 29.

But I kept my hold under it, continuing to drain the Infernal’s Health and Stamina. I could physically feel its body atrophying under the effects of Noxious Grasp. It also stopped moving, simply lying on top of me in just the right way to cause my chest intense pain. I had to turn my head awkwardly to the side to breathe, too.

After way too long, I got the notification I was waiting for.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 420 damage and drained 213 Stamina over the course of 27.1 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

101 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 106.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 23 Infernal.

You have earned 316 XP. Your XP is 337.

Threshold reached. 300 XP.

Your Level has increased to 6.

Due to achieving Level 6 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:

-You have gained 1 Endurance.

-You have gained 2 Conjuration.

-You have gained 1 Intelligence.

-You have gained 3 Stat Points.

-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Endurance and 1 Dexterity.

-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 4.

-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 6.

-You may choose a Spell to learn.