studiobondurri Chapter 206: Ticks and Cracklings
Chapter 206: Ticks and Cracklings
Chapter 206: Ticks and Cracklings
Giant blob-like ticks charged at the party.
Species: Splash Tick
Class: Crippled Star
Statistics: 100% HP
Skills:
- Corrosive Bite
- Corrosive Pop
Weak spot: Head
Just looking at them made Dallions stomach churn. It was like watching a large squishy water balloon with legs and a hardened pin of a head on top. Only one emotion rang through thema deep desire to destroy everything and anyone.
A knife split the air, hitting one of the creatures in its blobby body. The Tick burst with a pop, splashing everything around it with greenish yellow liquid. Even from this distance Dallion could sense the acid smell among the bouquet of disgusting odors.
Corroders, the lieutenant said. Immediately, everyone in the party unsummoned their armor.
And thats why you dont use ranged against them, Alera told Dallion. You might get a few of them from a distance, but when they get close, things get messy.
Dallion nodded.
Ill try to slow them down with music, Dallion shouted, gripping his harpsisword.
Speed is not the issue, the lieutenant said. Make them dizzy instead.
That was a novel suggestion, but quite good. The issue with the ticks wasnt the speedeven slow, they would slowly advance towards the party en masse, then start biting what they couldit was precision. A dizzy tick wouldnt be able to attack, allowing the awakened to kill them off in an efficient manner.
Dizziness, Dallion said to himself as he played the corresponding chords, synching with the attacking creatures. The melody vibrated loudly, immediately affecting the front rows of ticks, then moving further on. Of course, the effect was only temporary. Not wasting any time, Dallion played a second chord.
Familiar with the method of creating states and emotions, he didnt even have to look at the music markers as he played. He had gone a long way since he started learning music a while back, but he felt it wasnt nearly enough. The more complicated the tasks, the stronger the enemies he was facing, and it was no longer possible to simply freeze them as he did to low-level guardians.
Not bad. Spike grinned. According to the emotions within him, he was more amused than impressed, but at this point Dallion was willing to take that as a compliment. Being among elites made him feel quite out of place, and by the looks of it, with good reason.
As expected, Spike was the first to attack, slashing off the heads of several ticks with one strike. The precision was such that it instantly killed the creatures, not giving them a chance to splash their contents on anything. Moments later, the rest of the party joined in.
Very soon, it became clear why all of them were only equipped with short weapons. Anything longer would have made fighting in a cluster much more difficult, not to mention it risked killing a tick by accident. Only the removal of the armor didnt make sense, but Dallion decided to ask that at a later point. For now, he had to focus on his music.
Any chance you can make them fall asleep? one of the younger members asked. He was a skinny guy with long black hair tied in a braid. Unlike most of the other party members, he was only able to take out two ticks at a time and even that with difficulty.
Stick to dizziness! the lieutenant barked. It seemed that Dallion wasnt the only person he had a thing against.
The sea of ticks slowly surrounded the group. No attempt was made to avoid or even delay the process. On the contrary, the people specifically waited for that to happen, even slowly moving towards the thick of the enemies.
Rows of ticks poofed out of existence every second, barely making a dent in the overall numbers.
Dal, get ready! The lieutenant shouted. Once I give the order, cocoon yourself in your shield. After that, dont come out until someone taps twice on it.
Sure. That was very specific.
Any idea what hes got planned? Dallion asked.
An all-out attack, if I had to guess, Nil said in a disapproving voice. Thats the problem with kids. No patience and at the same time, they waste their time with everything beneath the moons, instead of learning their craft.
Hes way old to be a
Thats Lux, Dallion explained. Hes a healing firebird?
Dont expect them to know what that is, Nil said. If I hadnt come across such a creature, they certainly wouldnt have.
That can heal? the old man in the group asked.
It can restore health for certain. Dallion tried to grab Lux from his head, but his hand only passed through the blue flame. The firebird seemed rather amused by it. Never tried it on something like that. I guess its worth a test? Whats the worst that could happen?
I guess theres no harm, the lieutenant had to admit. Are you up for it, Skiv?
The other nodded eagerly. From his perspective, anything was better than remaining in this state.
Lux, go on his leg, Dallion said out loud. If anything feels off
Before he could finish, the bird had zoomed from Dallions head onto the woundeds leg. Clearly the firebird was reckless as its owner, in its own unique way. Blue flames surrounded the entire affected area of the leg.
For several seconds, nothing happened. Normally this was the point at which a red rectangle would appear, making it known that five percent health had been restored. While that did happen, it was also accompanied by a sudden browning of an area of Skivs leg. Green fumes went up along with a distinctly sour smell of rot.
Lux, get Dallion began, but was quickly interrupted by the lieutenant.
Not yet.
Looking closely, Dallion saw what the other meantthe area was slowly shrinking. What Lux was doing was effectively pull the corrosive substance out of Skivs leg and burning it away. It wasnt the fastest process, and quite smelly, but it managed to do something which was otherwise considered impossible.
None of the guild members said a word, but Dallion could see awe vibrate inside them. For once, even the lieutenant was impressed.
Everyone, rest up for another ten minutes. The lieutenant looked at the size of the infected area on Skivs leg. Make that fifteen. Well tackle the swamp afterwards. Dal, he added as the rest started walking away. You stay.
In Dallions experience, being asked to stay behind meant either something good or something very bad. Considering the circumstances and the emotions he could see in the lieutenant, it was possible to go either way.
How did you get it? the lieutenant whispered.
It happened during the Art incident. I guess somehow he changed a firebird guardian into
Im not asking where, Im asking how.
Dallion remained silent, not understanding the question.
There are four people in the entire guild with familiars. Half of them received them as an inheritance from a family member. The rest got them from birth. You didnt have it before, and I doubt you inherited it, so Im asking again. How did you get a familiar?
It just happened? Dallion replied. After I defeated the guardian, a blue rectangle appeared and told me that I had an azure firebird. Thats it.
The lieutenant glared at him.
Thats all that happened. If I knew how I did it, Id have gotten a few more to help me in combat. And not only there.
You really have no idea, do you?
Idea of what? I know its not that rare for an awakened to have a familiar. Some even have more. Captain Adzorg even said that
Its normal for the Archdukes city, or Imperial capital. Just look at Skiv.
The mans leg was all but healed. Nothing more than two large brown pimples remained and even they were quickly fading away beneath the blue flames.
Only magic can do that.
Dont worry, I dont have any magic.
I know, but the familiar does, and when people find out, therell be many more questions coming your way, including from people that wont accept the answer youve giving.