I breathed slowly and steadily. Methodical, almost. The longer she attempt to open the door, the more I began to realize that she wasn't bigger than me anymore. She wasn't stronger either, proved by the fact that I barely felt any strength behind her blows against the door in an attempt to get it open. Then a thought came to me… what if I didn't have to put up with this anymore? The beatings, the fear… if I'm stronger now, shouldn't I use it to protect me and my brothers?
I pull the door open suddenly, briefly catching her off guard in her drunken stupor. She snarled at me, attempting to swing her belt at me. I caught her wrist with one hand and squeezed hard, making her gasp out briefly in pain before the alcohol numbed it. She growled at me again, this time with words.
"You aren't schuppost to hit your mothur!" She yelled with a slurring tongue, and I couldn't help but feel a wave of… nothing wash over me. No anger, no sadness at what I was doing, not even joy. I felt emptiness as I grabbed her other swinging hand.
"Mothers aren't supposed to hit their children," I said with coldness, headbutting her.
She fell to the ground in a collapsed heap, and attempted to get back up. She couldn't though, I was already on top of her. The clawing in my skin hurt as she tried to stop me from holding her down, but it barely even mattered any more. All the beatings I took from the neighborhood boys, being shot with pellet guns and whipped with dog chains, having to heal without even painkillers since it would mean mom taking me to the hospital and getting the law called on her, it all added up to this.
My legs were pinning both of her arms now, and for the first time ever I could see genuine fear in her eyes. That's when I felt it. Satisfaction. Briefly followed by another wash of emptiness. I cracked my knuckles, and raised my fist.
"S-schtop!" She choked out weakly, but I already brought my fist down.
Thud! Thud! Thud thud! Thud!
I was slamming into her face full force with my fists, feeling that same wave of satisfaction come with each blow. I wouldn't take it anymore, I refused to. As I began to wrap my hands around her neck, I heard a choked sob come from down the hallway. Before I could register it, I heard the words come from my brother Clay, and I saw him standing across the hall with little Brendan watching around the corner in his diaper.
"Stop Nolan! You're gonna kill her!" He shouted, running over in an attempt to pull me off. That was when I did it. Before he could reach over to me, I popped him in the jaw to keep him off. He fell back to the wall, and looked at me with… fear. I didn't feel satisfied. But I didn't feel empty either. I felt… regret. A wave of regret made tears form in my eyes as I realized what I'd done.
"C-clay, I…" I stuttered weakly in an attempt to apologize, but I couldn't even say something I considered so unforgivable could ever be apologized for. My weight shifted from the pain in my heart, and mom took advantage of it. She slipped her arm out from under me and grabbed me by the hair, slamming it with all of her might against my open bedroom door, right into my temple.
"Gah!" I shouted out, bolting up from my bedroll in a cold sweat as I clutched the side of my head.
I gasped for air, breathing deeply as I tried to swallow away the cottonmouth sensation. Not finding any reprieve, I pick up my waterskin and chug, up until it reaches the point of emptiness. Still feeling my heart pound, I steady my breathing and clutch my bedroll, easing the nastiness of my night terrors away.
As I finally calmed myself, I saw the two lizardmen currently keeping watch stare at me, and I couldn't help but feel naked all of a sudden.
"... rough sleep?" One of them asked cautiously, staring at me carefully. I simply grunted and nodded, getting out of my bedroll.
The sun hadn't risen yet, but it was morning judging by the faint haze of light on the horizon. Might as well stay up at this point, even if my rest wasn't even that. I pull the bedroll off of me, and continue to rub my temple as I try to at least sit up and let the rest of my body and mind wake up.
"Want to talk about it?" The lizard asked.
I pause, and slowly turn to him. "... What?"
He shrugged. "When I lost my father to the toadmen, I had frequent nightmares about it. About having him in my dreams only to lose him all over again, and my mother too. My mother always stood by me though whenever I woke up, and she'd always be there to listen to me. If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine. But I'm certain one of the others would listen"
"I…" I trailed off, trying to find the right words. "I wouldn't want to put that on any of you…"
The other lizardman on watch scoffed. "You're joking, right? After everything you've already done for us? Let us recap what you've done… you've shown us what we can eat in the area, helping prevent what was no doubt going to be a famine. They're not the best in my opinion, but the bugs and the plants you've identified have easily kept us on our feet while the fishery you helped design begins to grow even more food for us"
"Your people were on the verge of starvation, I couldn't just-"
"I'm not finished," He interrupted, making me click my jaw shut. "Then, you taught our young how to write and read. Something that no lizardman in our oral history has ever done before. You have shared with us a great deal of knowledge, and shown us the good in it. I have seen children playing in the village, practicing their 'ABC's with laughter and joy. Not only that, but even some of our older villagers have taken up to learning from their own children and grandchildren out of curiosity, closing a gap that had been forming between the two as of late
Then, after all that, you gave us weapons. Despite us being demihumans, despite you being a human that we have snarled at in fear and suspicion, you gave us strength that could potentially put us on par with even soldiers of the Baharuth if I had to guess. We are standing proud, on the cusp of a new age for our people, and it's thanks to you"
He finished his verbal argument with a smile, looking down at me in my seating position. "After all that, I think no one would mind if you dumped some of that weight off of your shoulders every now and then"
I stared at him dumbly, unsure of what to say. All I can do is nod, not fully processing the emotions I was feeling. "I'm… gonna do morning stretches. Um… thank you…"
The lizardman chuckled at that. "Think nothing of it, Nolan"
We all dusted ourselves off, preparing for the onslaught to come. Despite this morning and what happened last night, I was actually feeling full of energy now. I felt… proud, even. Strange feeling that is. I kinda don't like it, kinda do. I'll just process that when we aren't facing a potential tribe wiping disaster.
After doing our morning checks and stretches, and making sure everyone was set and ready to fight, we began our final trek. Hopefully we could go home after today, because I was feeling a little antsy. Probably the first time I've willingly marched into danger. Is this what soldiers do twenty-four seven?
"Breath, Nolan. I can see your panic," Todone muttered as we marched side by side.
I sighed, shaking my head. "You're right, you're right, sorry… with the shearjaws I knew what I was fighting at that point, and with the corpse hydra we didn't have a choice in the matter, but this? We do kind of have a choice in the matter, and we don't know what's going to happen"
"We don't actually have a choice in the matter," Todone reasoned. "If we leave whatever this thing is alone, it's just going to strip everything away in the environment until nothing but soil is left"
He's… right. I hate it, but he's right. I can't help but chuckle meekly at it. "When we're done with this crap, I'm definitely gonna take a moment to relax at the village"
"I think we all are," One of the hoplites interjected. "This whole situation may be the perfect test of our wills, but that doesn't mean it is enjoyable by any means"
With nothing left to say, we continued marching. Words would have eased us perhaps, but we were simply too focused on staying on guard. Something was happening, and we needed every breath we could spare.
There were still slimes here and there in this wasteland, but nothing we couldn't manage. Eventually however, I started to notice something through the trees. A structure of some kind in a clearing. Rounding the barren spires of wood, we gaze upon what looked eerily similar to a pale greenish gray termite mound, no doubt leading deep underground. There were smaller slimes here and there, moving their way across the mound and leaving a faint, blobby trail of mucus that seemed to be adding on to the structure. We watched in amazement as one of the larger slimes burbled into the clearing, connecting to the smaller slimes with pseudopods and expanding them with their own material, giving them more mucus to build with.
"It's not a den… it's a fucking colony…" I whispered, all of us staying low at the edge of the clearing behind a fallen tree. "The moment we start fighting, slimes are likely to start pouring out of that damn thing. This… this isn't going to work, not with our numbers… we need to head back for back up"
Todone grimaced at that. "I'm loath to admit it, but… you may be right. But… the longer they stay here the more they will grow in numbers…"
I growled in frustration. "I know, I know, but this shit isn't something we can work with. If we had the numbers we could-"
"Wait, watch!" One of the lizardmen hissed, and I couldn't help but focus. Something seems to have alerted the slimes in the area of a threat, but… they weren't coming to us. We heard roars and falling trees in the distance as the slimes started moving out, more than a few pumping their way out from the mound and towards the east.
"... how close are we to the troll's section of the forest again?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Close enough, apparently," One of the hoplites commented. "It looks as though we just found ourselves a gap in the defenses"
"Alright boys, time to-"
Before I could finish that, slimes began pouring out from the mound like a geyser of boba. They moved in multiple directions, north, south, east… and west towards us.
"Shieldwall! Keep these slimy fucks at bay! {Dust Devil}!" I shouted, flinging a veritable chunk of slimes in the air. "By the way, the big slime tally is five to five now!"
Their numbers were bothersome, but thankfully we had two things going for us. One, the slimes didn't bother honing in on our direction from other parts of the wave, something that was a small blessing as I was considering calling a V formation instead. We held our ground just behind the tree trunk, using it almost as a natural barrier.
"Why aren't they all coming to us?" I heard one of the lizards comment. "Weren't they concentrating on us based on attacking them?"
"I don't know how they detect people if I'm being honest, could be scent or vibrations in the air?! Either way, it's possible that there's simply too many of them for them to be able to properly detect us! {Frostbite}!"
They stopped flowing like a multicolored tide, finally slowing to a weak trickle. Whatever the hell that was, it was no doubt being held back up until this point. I wonder what's forced them to suddenly purge outwards like this. Still, we continued to hold our ground against the tide steadily, cutting their numbers down quickly as they tumbled towards us.
{Level up! You have one unused level point!}
Huh, lovely. That's a bit of timing if I've ever seen it, but let's take advantage of it. I already know what I'm going into, only because this tide has convinced me of it.
{Level Spent. Druid raised to 5! You now have one available spell point! Spell cap raised by three slots)
Now where to… oh right, slimes.
"{Frostbite}!" I shouted, stopping a large slime dead in its tracks just as it came up to the wall.
Hmmm, I need another ranged attack to cycle to other than {Dust Devil} or {Frost Bite}... got it. I don't like it because I'd appreciate some variety, but as it stands this is an emergency.
{You have now learned: Ice Knife (Tier 1)! No spell points remaining}
"{Ice Knife}!" I shouted.
A jagged spear of ice flew out, piercing a larger slime and splattering it across the battlefield.
"Why haven't you cast that until now?!" I heard the albino shout.
"I have literally been piecing together a spell I only knew part of in order to cast it to ease the pressure!"
There was a faint lull in the barking of the callouts and chatter as everyone heard and processed what I just said.
"You mean to tell me you just haphazardly cast a spell you barely managed to piece together on a battlefield?!"
"That's the long and short of it, yeah!" I shouted out.
Was it bullshit? Absolutely. Did it work? Absolutely. I have to keep my stuff a secret for several reasons, but the primary concerns are questioning my sanity and shady individuals. I cast another {Dust Devil} followed by another {Ice Knife}. The tide was actually starting to be smashed away fast enough that we could slowly begin to march forward.
"Alright y'all, let's take this step by step! Let's show these slimes what's for! Oorah!
"Oorah!" They shouted in unison, making me proud to call these lizards friends.
We were now in the belly of the beast, so to speak. The halls were dark, but a quick {Darkvision} did it for me and Todone. Slimes still came at us regularly, and we had to change our formation from a wall to a pinwheel just to make sure we didn't get flanked, but we were still moving relatively quickly. I shudder to think of what would have happened if all those slimes were in here if we made our push.
I was swinging my brush-hook in the formation, trying to spare my mana for the pains up ahead. "Remember y'all, speed is key here. Whatever the hell is down here will probably have noticed us by now, so we need to-"
I winced at the sudden sensation of a headache, before spotting the pinkish culprit and whipping an {Ice Knife} towards its location to prevent it from doing anything else. The headache cleared off of us, signaling its confirmed death.
"-we need to move fast"
The marching pace we took continued to bring us down the long, winding halls of the slime mound, and I couldn't help but notice something.
"Hey, guys, doesn't it seem like there should be… more slimes down here?"
"What do you mean human?" I heard one of lizards asked, but Todone butted in.
"No, he's right. There should have been more left behind to defend against our attack. Stay on guard, this reeks of suspicion…"
He trailed off, noticing we were coming to an enlarged room in the artificial cavern, lit up by bioluminescent pulsing veins along the chamber. We all couldn't help but look up and follow the veins, and we all shared a shudder in disgust and fear.
"Jesus christ," I muttered, staring at the second outright monster I've had the misfortune of observing this year.
There were three significantly large slimes hanging from the ceiling, the two to the sides wrapped in what looked like some kind of magic barrier. We could see a steady stream of slimes sliding into and out of the room to deliver what must have been mucus to the three slimes. The two on the sides seemed like regular slimes, if unnaturally large. It almost seemed like the only thing holding them together was the magically induced hard light that wrapped around them, like the rubber of a water balloon.
The main attraction however, was in the center. It was a pinkish grey, very much like the brain slimes, but itself was also about the same size as the first two. It also seemed to be wrapped in the familiar glow of magic, though this held it up more like a bowl than constrained it like a balloon. The flow of slimes seemed to be the most concentrated on that one in particular, the pulsing veins in the room leading up to it. And that's when the creature's core moved closer to the edge of the membrane and we got a glimpse of it.
Its core was rigid and fleshy, very reminiscent of the shape of a brain. Then another core came forward in the membrane, followed by more cores that began to show very apparently that this thing was not a normal slime. The cores slowly rotated in the membrane, and I caught sight of something that made my eyes widen. Each core had a large, strained eye, the corneas visibly adjusting as the slime observed us. A sight most unnerving.
And then it hit us. A psychic scream. My vision blurred and it became painful to concentrate, but the message was clear. We were not welcome.
WARNING! BOSS APROACHING! HIVEMIND SLIME!
Nolan Potts, Human (Karma: 60 [Neutral]) [19/24 Spell slots used]
Classes: Brawler (5), Ranger (3), Druid (5), Clothier (3), Translucer (1). Total Level (17).
Spells (Druid): Frostbite, Entangle, Create or Destroy Water, Guidance, Jump, Cure Wounds, Dust Devil, Protect from Poison, Hold Person, Spike Growth, Lesser Restoration, Water Breathing, Darkvision, Sleetstorm, Ice Knife
Spells (Ranger): Animal Friendship, Speak to Animals, Ensnaring Strike, Conjure Animals
Items of Note: {Humble Beginnings}
Party Members are as follows…
Member One: Todone, Son of Kodrotti, Toadman (Karma: -15 [Neutral])
Classes: Toadman Warrior (9), Brawler (9), Total Level (18).
Member Two: Yulg (Karma: 30 [Neutral])
Classes: Goblin Marauder (1), Brawler (8), Warrior (4), Total Level (12)
AN: Holy shit, I was practically possessed writing this one. I mean, I took my breaks and hydrated properly, but man this was a spot of fun. I'll definitely be taking a break for a couple days after the boss battle, but it definitely won't be too long. Also, I'm kinda surprised we hit 100k. I guess we're in the big leagues now XD
7sky: Boy do I have a surprise for you