Raze (The Completionist Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  The group continued walking, reaching the edge of the forest after another half hour. Alexis made odd motions with her hands, then pointed at the trees. “Look at this. The tree line is an actual line. Like… perfectly straight.”

  “Remember that we noticed that strange biome shift when we came south of the city?” Joe took a look at the trees and nodded. “Yup. Odd, do you think that the forest just took over the ‘allotted area for forest’ and can't extend anymore? If so, there is a lot more to this world that we really need to figure out the rules for.”

  They took a step into the forest, simultaneously getting a notification. More like a warning, to be honest.

  Caution! Your level is below the recommendation for the Forest of Chlorophyll Chaos. You may want to consider leaving and returning at a later date when you are much stronger. Level recommendation: 20.

  “Holy wombats,” Poppy muttered as he read. “Level twenty? That could take… months.”

  “No joke!” Jaxon shook his head and looked at his status screen. “From level fifteen to level twenty requires ninety thousand experience. I don’t think there are that many wars we can win for huge chunks of points like last time. I mean, do you guys know of another race we could shatter? Are there Elves? Do you guys like Elves? If not–”

  “I think that we should get as much distance as we can from the edge of the forest,” Alexis cut in before Jaxon could solidify his warmongering plans. “Anything that would be out this far might be weak for the area, but that also means that it would still be stronger than us as well as hungry. Joe, do you have a ‘Predator’s Territory’ ready for when we go camping tonight?”

  “I do, but…” Joe hesitated. “Looking at the level recommendation for the area, there is a possibility that there will be creatures here that are near the level thirty threshold of the ritual. If we draw them in, we would only know because of waking up at respawn.”

  “It’s a risk I think is worth taking,” Alexis told him after a moment of thought. “It’ll keep us safe from anything below that, and there will also be a much greater chance of running into something at the lower levels than the higher ones, at least this far from the center of the forest.”

  “She makes a good point,” Bard chimed in, looking up from a small book of chants he was reading out of. Then he went right back to ignoring everything around him. Joe was somewhat jealous of the man’s ability to tune out the outside world, but perhaps that was a benefit of his class. ‘Tuning’ out. Heh. Bard certainly sang out of tune. Was that the way to say it? No. Drat. Can’t carry a tune in a bucket? Yes!

  Joe opened his mouth to tell the others his joke, then realized that the group had left him behind. He hurried to catch up and rejoined them just as they found the first enemy in the forest. His joke died on his lips as the team went totally silent. Joe tried to use his perception to inspect the creature but received an unsatisfying response.

  Perception check + knowledge check failed!

  “Any idea wa’ tha’ is?” Bard quietly questioned.

  “What what is? Why are we all being so quiet?” Jaxon was just a hair too loud, and the small creature turned their way. It was flying, mottled green and brown, and screeched as it saw them.

  “It’s a Forest Imp,” Poppy told them; his perception far higher than any but Alexis. “Level twenty.”

  “Imp? Like a demon?” Jaxon was perplexed. “Why is there a demon in a forest?”

  “Dodge!” Bard bellowed, taking his own advice and diving to the side. A streak of green light left the Imp and traveled the distance between them in an instant. The light missed, thanks to Bard’s warning and their own battle senses, but as it hit the ground, a series of roots popped out of the ground and whipped around. Not finding a target, the roots dropped below the ground once more. It didn't escape Joe’s attention that the roots were bladed.

  “That would have messed us up.” He swallowed hard and turned his attention more fully to the fight that they were in. Bard, Jaxon, and Poppy were rushing at the creature, and Alexis had already sent a bolt that was dodged by the small but speedy Imp. “Plenty of shadows to use here!”

  He took a long moment and shaped a double spike out of shadows, solidifying the spell just as the melee fighters got into range. The spell impacted, cutting off retreat as the Imp attempted to dodge the weapons coming at it. Poppy’s rapier slid through the small body, Jaxon’s fist landed, and Bard’s axe chopped in. Joe grinned a shark-smile, expecting to see the Imp dropping from the well-practiced combo.

  It didn’t. In fact, it seemed enraged more than anything. Joe let the information to his combat log seep in, frowning at what little he could see.

  Double Shadow Spike hits for 198 shadow damage. (270*2, 360 shadow damage resisted, 18 piercing damage!)

  Yikes. His most practiced spell only dealt a third of the damage that it should have? This type of creature must have a massive protection against darkness, being a ‘devil’ type creature. Would fire be effective? He needed to expand his spell list. A lot.

  Another green bolt left the Imp, and the extreme close range ensured that Bard couldn't dodge. His entire body glowed green for an instant before roots shot out of the ground and wrapped around him, the bladed edges tearing into him and watering the ground with his blood. Alexis called out, “Seven seconds between casts!”

  The Imp didn't seem to appreciate her efforts to help and responded to the words by slapping at Jaxon with its thorny hand. Jaxon wiggled out of the way in time, retaliating with a nasty jab of his own. “Adjust!”

  The tiny arm twisted and the Imp hissed at the Monk, but the new angle of its arm didn't seem to impact the combat ability of the creature in the slightest. Poppy, thinking that the Imp was distracted, was hit by the root-like prehensile tail of the Imp and sent rolling. The creature was obviously able to use more power than its small form implied. Using his experience against the giant scorpions as a proof of concept, Joe spun up a new strand of darkness.

  He wrapped shadows around the Imp’s wings and solidified the binding after pumping mana into it for three seconds. Two hundred mana vanished in an instant, and Joe gasped for air as a void in his body appeared. He could feel the mana in his body rushing to even out, but perhaps this was an effect of his mana no longer being centralized.

  A cocoon of darkness pulled the flapping wings back, and the Imp toppled from the air. The others started attacking as fast as possible, especially a still-bleeding Bard, whose axes seemed to be the perfect weapon to use against the root-and-vine-coated Imp. Everyone else’s weapon seemed to be imp-erfect against it. Gah, not in a battle! Joe sent a healing spell into the Skald, and the filthy wounds closed up around gunk from the forest floor. He would need to remember to Cleanse the man after this battle.

  The Imp wasn't done. In fact, once on the ground, it sprinted around in a small area. It wasn't a fast runner over long distances, but the small zone that it claimed for itself allowed the Imp to dodge nearly as well as Jaxon. The darkness its wings were encased in started to tear apart, and the others redoubled their attacks. It burst away from them as it freed itself, hopping into the air and flapping furiously at Alexis with a screech. Joe caught the Imp in a spray of acid, the corrosive liquid dealing reduced damage but still enough to finish it off.

  Exp gained: 120 (120 * Forest Imp x1)

  “This… might be a more difficult area than we planned for.” Joe looked around for confirmation, and the others nodded at his words.

  “My rapier hurt it, but it is like the whole body was made of roots,” Poppy explained as he cleaned his blade. “I could put holes in that sucker, but it didn't seem to have any critical points.”

  “Couldn’t find any bones.” Jaxon spat to the side and kicked the fallen Imp.

  Joe sighed and offered his own complaint, “Yeah… it was able to resist two-thirds of the shadow damage I could deal, and… looks like it only took half damage from acid.”

  “Well, dang.” Bard shook his head. “Let’s hope
we don't run into any groups of those.”

  “We also know how the forest spread so far in the last few hundred years.” Alexis pointed at the spot where the green energy had hit the ground, and the others looked over to see a small sapling that hadn't been there before.

  Jaxon looked around at the massive forest full of tens of thousands of trees. “So, you’re saying there are probably a lot more of those, then?”

  Chapter Twenty

  Contrary to their concerns, Forest Imps seemed to be a fairly rare enemy. They weren't sure if that was due to the sheer size of the forest they were in or if there were only a few of them in the forest in total. Either way, after fighting the powerful Imp and winning, they had continued on and found creatures more in tune with the forest theme.

  “Back, back, back!” Poppy shouted as he rolled under the bough of an enraged tree. The forest was alive, in both a figurative and literal sense. *Whomp* A spray of dirt and loam was forced into the air, leaving behind a crater that had almost contained the Duelist. “Looks like we’ve got another treant.”

  Bard grunted like a hog, twirling his axes in agitation. “Still naw way ta take em?”

  “Nothing I can think of that is repeatable on a regular basis.” Joe shuddered as eyes opened along the trunk of the ‘tree’ and a wide tongue licked vertically along a mouth that spanned the same distance. “I think I could come up with a single target ritual, but I don't have the kind of resources that we would need to kill off every one of them we find.”

  “I wonder if the trees back in the trial area were treants?” Jaxon mused aloud. “You think… nah, there’s no way these have bones, right?”

  “Alexis? How about you?” Poppy turned hopeful eyes on the Aromatic Artificer.

  She shook her head as well. “Same issue on my end. If I made up a batch of poison to kill plants, which I could, it would require a lot to kill just one of these. I’d need a wagon full of barrels to make any kind of impression, and then what’s the point?”

  “Grr,” Poppy trilled, a sound very out of character for him. “I feel like there should be an easy way to take these down! They are immobile, right?”

  “Right, but it would be like pounding away at a tank.” Joe motioned for them to start walking again. “You hit it, deal almost no damage, it hits you back, and you get demolished. Remember that we are really out leveled here, and we need to play it smart. A lot of the things in here can take us down nearly instantly if we get surprised by them.”

  “Stay alert, don't die. Good life advice.” Jaxon nodded along heartily, then was yanked forward by Poppy, just managing not to get smashed by the treants he had wandered near yet again. “See? Alert!”

  “I’m about to put you in time out,” Poppy muttered as he got back to his normal position near the front of the group. “As in, I’ll let the next one hit ya.”

  “I think that’s my cue to call a halt for the evening,” Joe called out as people started to grumble and get snippy at each other. “Who wants to make a fire, and who wants to cook? I can set up the campsite really quick.”

  “Good call.” Alexis sighed and glanced sidelong at Joe. “How opposed are you to giving me a good Cleanse from a distance?”

  “You know, I sometimes feel bad using a deity-granted power to help someone shower.” Joe sighed as her gaze turned more pleading. “Fine. I did get it up to the Student ranks. So, I kinda wanna see what that looks like. Cleanse.”

  Alexis staggered as water washed over her from head to toe in an instant, removing all grime from her skin and equipment. “Geez, Joe!”

  Joe was also surprised, and he looked at his hand in concern. “That took so much mana!”

  “And it was basically a firehose!” Alexis had given him a second to make the connection and apology on his own, but he seemed distracted.

  “Right, sorry about that.” Joe shook off his confusion and explained himself, “I’m just worried that if I use that spell to hydrate someone, I might end up hurting them accidentally. Rupture some veins or some such.”

  She winced as her mental image meshed with his. “Oh, yeah, get some practice in first.”

  “Who wants a shower?”

  Bard lifted a hand. “Protection ring fir– *glabuh*!”

  Joe chuckled nervously as the soaked Skald glowered at him. “Ah, sorry, thought you were volunteering. Right, ritual. You’re all sure about this?”

  When they motioned for him to continue, he pulled a metal plate out of his spatial ring, set it in the center of the campsite and dripped a drop of blood on to it. He activated the ritual, which would now cause anything under level thirty to avoid them. “All set on this end. What do you guys want to do tonight?”

  “Ooh!” Jaxon sat next to the tiny fire that had just been lit. “Ghost stories! Wait, no! S’mores! Are marshmallows a thing here? No? Stories, then? I see… watch rotation and logistical talk again?”

  “There we go.” Poppy nodded at the final statement.

  Joe forestalled the conversation when he saw the resignation on Jaxon’s face. “Actually, why don't we talk about things that are going on and what we want to do about them? We haven't really had much time to talk, and I know that a few of you weren't planning on being trapped in the game. I knew what I was getting into, but… some of you weren't even in pods. You guys doing okay?”

  “Fantastic!” Jaxon enthusiastically responded, taking a moment to showcase his ability to bend around. “I could never do this back on earth, and now I have forever to do it and get even better at it! I was close to death back there, healthy and hale here!”

  Joe grinned and looked at Poppy, who had a far different expression on his face. Resignation and regret were spelled out, and he wouldn't meet the eyes of the group. “I am not doing as well. I came here to earn enough to be able to take care of my daughter, using my actual trained skills as a Duelist to give us a comfortable life while only ‘working’ four hours a day.”

  He took a slow, steadying breathe. “I have been able to contact my parents, and luckily, they were able to come over and get little Amelia. She… she was still taking a nap. The time dilation ensured that she didn’t suffer for my arrogance, at the very least. How many didn't get that? You know that my body wasn't even there? If I couldn't call, they woulda thought I ran and just left her to the monsters roaming the world.”

  He paused, taking a deep breath and looking up at the canopy above them. “But now what? The announcement to the world that they needed to come here to avoid danger is… what do I do with my girl, a toddler unable to wield a sword or magic? How do I bring her to a new place that even I don't understand? But monsters are walking our planet, and she isn’t safe there! But beyond that… have any of you seen any children from our world?”

  Joe was startled by the sudden turn. In fact, he could not remember a single instance of seeing any child, the youngest he had seen was a late-teen at the Mage’s College. He was leery of this new thought and what it might mean. Poppy nodded upon seeing their realization. “Exactly. What happens to her when the data core is touched to her head? Does she get put in the trials? I do not wish that on my enemies.”

  “Terms and conditions,” Joe softly muttered, a faded memory struggling to surface in his mind.

  “What was that?” Poppy glared at Joe.

  “The… at the start of the game, there was an option to read all the terms and conditions. One of them was about children below the age of majority, in this case, sixteen, I think. It said that all children would be placed in a different area, and they would… I can't remember exactly, but they are taken care of, and I think that you have the option to be with them. Or visit them. I’m sorry, I was less interested in that clause at the time.” Joe’s voice trailed off, but Poppy didn't seem to mind. The Duelist took a deep breath and sank into contemplative silence.

  “Well, ahm havin’ a grand ol’ time,” Bard cut in after a few beats of awkward silence. “Ah di’naw think ah’d enjoy this place half as much as ah do. Might
be thanks to this lassy here.”

  A wink was sent at Alexis, who simply rolled her eyes and nodded at him. “Yes, you’re lovely too, and in my mind, this is actually one of the best-case scenarios for me. I was drowning in debt and failure, and I am pretty sure that there’s no way for people in that life to collect from me anymore. I can focus on making a new life here and live in the way I choose. How about you, Joe? More… crowded than you planned for?”

  “A bit.” Joe let a ghost of a smile play across his face. “I have an interesting goal now, which is nice. I am mostly concerned that there are going to be a lot of people that don't stick around this area when the next area opens up in a couple weeks.”

  “Why would that matter?” Jaxon cocked his head to the side. “They would be going elsewhere to get resources and such, right? Fewer people here means fewer people to take care of. Win-win.”

  “But what about the people here that have no money, food, shelter?” Joe shook his head and glanced around to see that he had their full attention. “We were told that the races that we eventually found and worked with would be important. That implies that we will have large-scale, extinction level fights. What would have happened if we became a shattered race?”

  “I think that one of the most important things to do in this area, the starting area, is to power up as much of humanity as possible. Fix resource issues, create stable bases of power. I mean, look around. We are still in an area that outlevels us, and this is still the starter area!” Joe leaned against the wood of a tree, shaking his head. “How many people are actually going to be ready for the next area when they go there? I don't know that, but I do know I will be. Anyone with me will be as well. Why are you all looking at me like that?”

  The faces of all the others were pale, washed out in the firelight. Alexis pointed up, her voice wavering and resigned, “That’s not a tree behind you, Joe.”

  Joe looked back and up, meeting eyes with a treant that was double the size of any they had encountered thus far; well over a hundred feet tall at the crown. He rolled to his feet and managed to get off a blast of acid. A green and brown blur appeared in his vision, and the last thing that went through his mind… was a massive branch.