Icarus Awakens

The team fell upon the enemy with decisive brutality. The skabs had noticed their approach some moments before Kob’s charge met them, but there was little they could do against the level four Berserker titan. Daniel brought up the rear to find a stomach turning sight.

The cavern they were in was some kind of egg chamber. The corpse of one veteran skab dripped green blood from the ceiling it was impaled onto, surrounded by bulbous lumps that filled the cavern. They weren’t perfect orbs but had welts sticking out that squirmed in response to the chaos around them. Smaller skabs were highlighted as Hunter picked up on each level 0 inside, which had the hatchling tag instead of the young tag.

Kob and Sigron took the center of the fight and the center of the chamber about one hundred meters in length. The giant would never have fit in their stone armor and had to compress their vines to stay under the ceiling only slightly higher than that of a typical room. Tlara was driving across the ceiling and floor of the chamber, picking off one skab and then returning to the surface above where the beetle could run freely.

“We’ve got your back!” Daniel told Khare as they and Hunter faced a handful of level one skabs that the others had left for them. Individually, they were about half as big as Daniel and dwarfed by Hunter. Pores about the size of bowling ball finger holes dotted a domed carapace that ended in fang-like protrusions covering a mouth. Many small legs on either side supported the frame, giving the overall impression of a giant tick.

Three immediately charged as Daniel fired his crossbow and Khare sent out two waves of throwing knives. The weapon’s long reloading time wouldn’t allow for a second shot. That was its drawback, made more manifest against a swarming enemy such as this. It was fortunate, then, that Daniel had used one of his newer abilities. Scatter Shot was a spell and could be combined with a Snap Shot attack, although he couldn’t use both at the exact same time. When cast, a shimmer of light wreathed his bolt before fading, indicating it was ready. This wasn’t true enchanting and he couldn’t stock up on these bolts, but the trade-off was worth it.

Upon impact with the targeted skab, there was a burst of ephemeral mini crossbow bolts that caught half of the others. It wasn’t enough to kill them, and using it alongside Snap Shot had added a few seconds to his attack. What it accomplished was leaving mostly weakened foes for Daniel to contend with in his first true melee.

He went first for his shortsword, panicked at the thought of one of the giant ticks burrowing into him, then steeled himself. “Khare, we’ll take the front! Keep the fire coming!” Daniel pulled out his two daggers instead, holding the enchanted one in his right hand. As any nerd from Earth would do, Daniel had practiced swinging his weapons idly during some of his downtime. This would be his first time using them against a creature. One was within a meter of him and kicking up clouds of dust as it was slowing itself down. Why?

Gobs of amber fluid shot out of the pores of the monster’s back when it came to a full stop. Daniel’s chest and left arm took the brunt of it, though a solid shot landed in Hunter’s fur. The hand immediately locked up like when he fell holding the sparkbat. His armor didn’t particularly seem to care but Hunter’s fur was sticking together. Through their bond, Daniel could sense immense irritation and a desire to kill.

As should he. His legs were free and none of the glue had hit the knives, so both were sharp. Daniel punched out with a dagger toward the face of the skab, tearing through it and making its aura fade with its death. His use of the blades was different than Khare, who had multiple daggers in a slashing hold in case any skabs got close. Others were being thrown in much the same way they had in the previous battle. That was well and good for someone with the dexterity to use them quickly and keenly, but Daniel currently relied on strength as his higher attribute. He was using the daggers as a sharper way to punch.

Hunter leapt at another of the skabs. Don’t bite the shell! he quickly warned, and the ringcat closed his mouth. They’ve got more of the sticky stuff in there, you’ll just freeze yourself to them. Instead, Hunter used his claws to tear rents in the hide. Some of the adhesive coated his paws, but it was better than it closing his throat.

Right. Daniel thought to himself as another approached. It’s a kamikaze. That charge leaves them vulnerable but paints me with the goop. I can’t keep getting hit. God, I’m really fighting them. Firing a crossbow at distant enemies was completely different than dueling them hand to hand. It reminded him of the ringcat brains he’d scraped off meticulously after his fight with the pack.

Stop thinking! Fight! Hunter screamed at him as another skab in front of Daniel began decelerating. His companion’s warning was too slow and a fresh volley of adhesive was shot at him. It was too late to dodge, and one glob was heading straight for his face. Daniel threw an arm up and saved his eyes. His mouth and nose were not as fortunate and the Artificer almost gagged at the rancid taste. It was like rotten eggs combined with a more clinically chemical taste and it set almost instantly. He couldn’t breathe. He could, and did, slay the creature in front of him, but his airway was blocked off. Had he vomited he would have choked on it and died right there.

Peel it off! Hunter told him

C-can’t. Daniel had dropped the dagger in his right hand and pulled at his face. The glue had bonded to his skin in seconds. Leveraging more of his strength just made it feel like he was going to tear off his skin along with the glue.

Freeze time, figure it out!

I can’t! I may need the mana to heal later.

Hunter roared, using his disruptive fear ability to forestall further attacks for a few moments. You will not need to heal if you are dead!

Daniel agreed but didn’t know what Moment of Clarity would do. He didn’t need time, he needed to breathe. Medical dramas flashed into his mind. Tracheotomy? The knife frozen in his off hand gleamed in torchlight. Hell no. The idea had spawned another, barely more palatable idea. Daniel leveled the dagger at his head and used as much force as he felt comfortable with to stab himself.

He’d aimed for the glue bridging his lips but it didn’t budge. More force could be applied, but too much could overshoot and lodge the knife in his brainstem. Daniel needed a path for air, and he needed it before the now recovering skabs rushed him. The knife was pointed at another part of his face. Please don’t scar. Please don’t scar.

The tip ripped into his cheek as Daniel opened a thin line from his jaw to as close to the glue as he could. Pain was only the beginning of the struggle, it was also the instinct to stop disfiguring himself that he had to push through. It was done in torturous seconds and messily repeated for the other side. Blood was flowing into his mouth and threatened to drown him, but so did air. It was like breathing through two straws poked through either side of his mouth, and each breath brought more blood and pain. All that mattered to Daniel was that he wasn’t suffocating anymore.

Khare intercepted the first skab before it reached the Artificer. Their disparate form was less susceptible to the adhesive. The gestalt didn’t need to breathe, and all the adhesive did was tie knots in the vine mass.

Daniel picked up the enchanted dagger, thought again for a moment, and tossed it. Ranged weapon meant any ranged weapon, right? The dagger struck a skab near the back and Scatter Shot tore through the rest with smaller ghostly versions. This dealt even more damage than the crossbow shot had, causing his primary target to give the first shriek of pain of any of the enemies. I’ll have to remember to get that. Talon.

His left hand broke open despite the adhesive. There was pain, but whatever protective effect that accompanied the bird hand’s toughened skin prevented true damage. That hand’s dagger was thrown as well. The application of three area of effect attacks, Hunter’s predation, and Khare’s volleys left all of their skabs dead. About a minute after the hunt started, Sigron and Kob turned from their prey expecting the trainees to need assistance. Instead, they found that side had ended before theirs.

“Ugh, you look disgusting,” Tlara said as she dropped from her beetle to the floor. Daniel was covered in patches of rock-hard glue that shone in the torchlight with a sickly yellowish tint. Everyone, besides her, had been hit by at least some of the glue. Then she noticed the cuts on Daniel’s face. “Crest, but I have to give you points for fucking willpower. I guess you’ll just have to live like that until we get back to town.”

Sigron’s armor was locked in places, but the knight retained enough mobility to walk. He wrote with his sword on the dirt floor: ‘water’. Daniel and Sigron’s walk to the underground lake looked like two street performers poorly performing the robot. Khare and Kob’s ambling was less torturous as they isolated the affected vines within themselves and used the free ones to move.

The Artificer was about to plunge his head into the water before he thought better of it. If the glue didn’t come off instantly he’d flood his mouth through the slits in his cheeks. That, mixed with the blood, wouldn’t be pretty. He was the only one that had been hit in the head and the others were able to submerge themselves without such worries.

From watching the others, it seemed like the glue needed to soak for a few minutes before its adhesion became weak enough to peel off. Instead of dunking his head, Daniel dipped the front of his face in. Soon, he was peeling off the glue like a chunky face mask. He coughed blood and grimaced. The reflection in the water was broken by the stirring of his team and the waterfall, but what he saw didn’t look good. Wanna know how I got these scars? he asked himself despondently.

The fight had taken a minute. Getting all the glue off, and then getting dry, took an hour. No one except Tlara and Kob was ready to leave the chasm even then. The Beastmaster occasionally glared at Daniel, the look turning into a grin at the sight of his face. He didn’t challenge that, mostly because talking was painful. Sleep would fix his face. Sleep had to fix his face. Retribution could come later.

In the meantime, there was something he wanted to know about the skabs. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Tlara asked as he stood and started walking back to the battlefield.

Daniel just raised one finger in her direction, though he didn’t do it with a talon hand this time.

What are you doing? Hunter asked with less malice.

Hey, thanks for covering for me earlier, Daniel responded. I want to see if they have any of that glue left.

Why?

Because it’s glue. Daniel thought it like it was obvious. I haven’t seen anything like that here before and I know firsthand how strong it is. It’s like superglue. I could try making glue bombs, use it in crafting, revenge… he trailed off.

The egg chamber was in ruins. Kob had done a few sweeping strikes and crushed the nascent scabs. Some bodies from the grown ones remained intact. Most were the level ones involved in Daniel’s part of the fight. The carapace on the back was fleshier than it looked. Still an exoskeleton, but not a hard one like the veteran skabs. It comes from the pores, so maybe it’s like sweat? He used the normal dagger to start cutting into the flesh around one of the pores and was thankful his sense of smell hadn’t recovered yet. If it was still gone in a few hours he’d need to flush his nostrils, but for now it protected him against whatever stench lurked below the skin.

You can wait by the lake if you want, he thought to Hunter. They probably don’t smell good to you.

No, they don’t, Hunter agreed but didn’t move.

Experimentation revealed the skabs had some sort of gland below the skin that contained a thick liquid. The pouches were fist sized and easily broke to disgorge their contents if agitated. This was problematic as the glue instantly dried on contact with air and ruined the gland. The glue he’d peeled off had hardened again, but it wasn’t very malleable or adhesive in the hydrated state. If he wanted something usable, the glands would need to be preserved until he needed them.

That problem wasn’t insurmountable. Sacrificing some of the glands, Daniel quickly figured out how to coat the larger ones he salvaged with the yellow sap of the smaller ones. With a hardened shell, they wouldn’t break as easily. The intact glue in the middle could later be retrieved by peeling it off or cracking it open. After some time, he had a couple dozen preserved glands. The whole process had been like an instinct combined with trial and error. Not until he stopped did he wonder where that inspiration had come from. Is this the Arcane Creator feature, or do I have a monster skinning one from Totem Warrior? Or is this just high intelligence finally showing benefits?

Either way he had his prize, and the bleeding in his cheeks had slowed. His pack had enough room from the removal of the torch to hold them, and they could be transferred to Hunter’s packs once they were out of this hellhole. It wasn’t until after the tension of the battle and concentration of work was over that the walls reminded him of where he was.

“That stench can only mean one thing,” Tlara commented as he exited the cave. “That insane fuck is- what are those?”

“Glue.” Daniel held one up. It still hurt to talk, but he was proud of himself.

“Crest, why did you spend the last hour digging those out?”

He just shrugged in response and washed glue off his hands in the lake. “Ready?” he asked Khare.

“Yes,” the word was drawn out with skepticism. Khare was just as abashed as Tlara but couldn’t express it as well.

Alright, let’s get out of here, he told Hunter. I need to sleep off these grievous facial injuries. Speaking of, since I am so injured I just can’t imagine climbing out of here by myself. Think you could…

Fine. Hunter lowered himself again. Get on.

Yes!

…

The stale taste of the bread only further soured Daniel’s mood as he looked at his phone. A gray 0 and the throbbing pain in his cheeks defied the earlier good mood that had accompanied the ride up on Hunter. He hadn’t earned any advancement. Despite himself, he couldn’t blame whatever intrinsic force doled them out. Sure, he’d killed some monsters, but he could have performed far better. Could also be because I didn’t touch the veterans, he reminded himself charitably.

The bread was another matter. What rations he had were those he had been given. His Earth lifestyle after high school had been lean at times meaning he was no stranger to hunger, but what he had to eat now lacked in both quality and quantity. Maybe I could ask Hunter to bring some game for me? he wondered, then took another bite. Not like I could cook anything besides toast.

“Khare, any potential?” he asked carefully to the gestalt sitting beside him. His Regeneration had closed the cuts in his cheeks after an hour but the wounds reopened easily.

“Ye-“ Khare started to say when the sound of stirred earth drew both of their attention. Tlara had summoned her spark beetle and was placing her hands on it. It had taken the skab’s glue for her as well as a few wounds from the higher level variants. The sight of Tlara holding her arms out was familiar to Daniel for some reason.

“What?” she asked, feeling their gaze.

“Healing?” Khare’s crackling voice carried a tone of disbelief. That jogged Daniel’s memory. She was laying hands on the monster just like Thomas had on him after the ringcats.

“From my last advancement. It won’t work on you,” she said with disgust, though it wasn’t directed at the gestalt. “Just monsters like my tool.”

Healing was one of the group’s main weaknesses. In fairness, no one in the Thormundz could heal Kob, but Thomas was providing himself and Evalyn a safety net in the other team. Items like healing potions existed, but like enchanted weapons they were in critical supply. If Daniel didn’t have Regeneration the injuries he’d given himself today would have meant returning early to get healed. That Tlara had any healing ability, even if it was limited, changed things.

“Would you use it on Hunter?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

Tlara didn’t even turn around. “I’d rather die screaming.”

That can be arranged, Daniel thought menacingly, thinking of the glue orbs sitting in his pack. Just one down her throat and, no, too dark. He tried to get his mind off the Beastmaster by picking random topics from his Encyclopedia. The entry on burrower skabs had been updated, the World book was now several chapters long, and the Lore book was keeping track of his journey so far. It could have been a journal if it also didn’t carry entries on people he knew. Tlara’s wasn’t written in a positive light.

He sighed and put his phone back in his pack. He’d need a week of reading to make a dent in what the Focus had been passively collecting, which discouraged him from trying. Well, it was that and every set of question marks he came across did. I can’t even try out the new bond ability, he thought mournfully to Hunter, who would remain with him until the sun disappeared from the sky before going off on another solo hunt. I need the mana to heal.

You need to be more careful, Hunter warned him.

I know it’s, it just got very real very quickly. I didn’t spend most of my life fighting. It doesn’t come naturally like it does for you. He remembered Hunter moving amongst the throng of skabs like a bladed kite on the breeze. The creatures had been far too unwieldy to strike back and the ringcat had been able to use their bodies as cover from the glue even if his paws had gotten covered. I’ve been worried about you so much I forgot that you’re a better fighter than I am.

Move or die. Today you learned this. Hunter stood and paced as if to emphasize the point.

Well, yeah, you can say that when we’re by a warm fire. In the moment it’s easy to forget.

You have a reason to remember now. Hunter’s tail brushed very lightly against his cheek. I could do it.

Do what? There was mental pressure from the other side of the bond. A request. You want to get into my head? I have to say I don’t feel the best right now.

I’m curious. I will not need mana for the hunt. The pressure remained. It wasn’t forceful, just a constant poke Daniel could shut out if he wanted to. Daniel stood as well and glanced towards Tlara. The bird woman had a second sight sometimes and definitely wouldn’t like what he was about to do. She was still stitching wounds closed on her beetle though, Khare was ‘talking’ with Kob, and Sigron was already asleep. Why not? What exactly do you want to feel?

The presence fell over his body like he was wearing a tight-fitting rain poncho. The ringcat grew still with his eyes unfocused. Standing on two legs is very strange. The voice seemed to come from inside his head instead of from the ringcat’s, even though it had already sounded like that. No, this was like Hunter was using his own thoughts to talk to him.

Strange is right. He brushed a hand over Hunter’s face and let the fingers sink into the fur. See, you feel nice when clumps of fur aren’t glued together.

My body. The voice was contemplative, almost to the point that Daniel suspected Hunter of having a religious experience. If monsters had gods, that was.

Yeah, that’s going to be odd when I get in your head too. You know, this is exactly the kind of weirdness I was worried about when I got Beast Friend. Daniel took a slow bite of bread.

Bad, and painful.

Daniel stifled a laugh. It would have only hurt him more. Pretty much. I should be better tomorrow. You should try some of the bread after this and compare the taste.

No. A low grumble echoed out of Hunter’s slack jaw.

Woah, can you still move?

Hunter experimentally lifted a paw and almost fell over. Trying again finished the job. It was like the ringcat was suddenly drunk. It is like, I can not explain. Moving and feeling are separate.

Not something to use in combat then. Daniel moved over the Hunter’s prone form to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Maybe it’s something we can get used to, but even then I don’t see the point. Unless we get separated or if I want to- Oh! What’s the difference in smell and hearing like for you?

Like they are not there. Or like the waterfall. Everything is…

Muted?

Yes. It feels exposing. Everything around me is hidden. I do not like it.

Hey, this body’s got its perks, Daniel said in mock offense. The presence in his mind was suddenly gone and Hunter stood with vastly improved coordination. Still, I can’t wait for the other side. If that radar of yours is anything to go by, it might be overstimulating.

Tomorrow. Hunter began to pad off and the emotions from him weakened. Despite the recent strengthening of their bond, the range of their telepathy also remained the same. Tonight I hunt and you heal.

“What the fuck was that?” Tlara’s eyes were focused on him. “You’re not about to tell me you just dominated the ringcat?”

“What?” The sudden question threw the Artificer. She’d been paying attention after all. “No, I didn’t.”

“Good, because you definitely shouldn’t have a power like that.” The vague answer was more satisfying to Tlara than it should have been.

His Encyclopedia had explained the difference between domination, the permanent and total method of control Tlara used, and taming, which was something more akin to how animals were domesticated back on Earth only sped up by magic. Charming a monster, what he’d initially done to Hunter, wasn’t considered as permanent control even if he’d been able to keep Hunter under for days by avoiding anything that would have broken the weak effect. The avianoid must have assumed Daniel was using taming after spending this long with Hunter. “Is domination specific to Beastmasters?”

“At your level? Might as well be.” The fully healed spark beetle beside her faded into dust that was absorbed into a pouch.

Daniel wasn’t quite walking the line. There were no stakes to this conversation, just idle barbs from the Beastmaster. In one of the many possible futures, he could gracefully navigate the conversation and persuade Tlara into using her healing ability on Hunter if the need arised. That chance was smothered among the many, many futures that involved her trying to punch through the healing wounds on his cheeks.

Still, the avianoid was currently more aggressively passive than passively aggressive and he sensed an opportunity to at least learn something about her. “Why did you come here? To the Thormundz, I mean.”

“To rape and pillage the freshly exposed wildlife. That’s what you fucking think of me, right?” she asked rhetorically, not giving Daniel a chance to deny it. “You think you’re so fucking ‘equal’ to that pet of yours, but if it was your life or its? You’d throw it away in a heartbeat and you’d be right to do so.”

“Like you did with yours?” he asked slowly. Gears were turning in his head. It was a guess, a hunch, but the timing would be about right. He’d always had a sense that someone in the group was just as suspicious of Tlara as he was and this sudden theory would explain it. “What exactly happened? Was there no other option?”

Tlara pointedly glanced at Kob and spoke in a lower tone. “Nothing you need to be concerned about. I don’t have to fucking explain myself to you.”

“Was Lograve there?”

“He told you!?”

Daniel smiled as he sensed he was on the right track. “No, but you just did. Something big and lightning-based almost killed him.” Both gestalt were following the conversation with interest now. His voice easily carried to them. “If you were as callous to your ‘tools’ as you make yourself out to be, you wouldn’t have healed your beetle tonight. You’d have just gotten another one. You also said you ‘fed’ your ringcat to the beast. If yours was as big as Hunter, then it would have been massive too. Whatever you fought was so terrible, it-“

“Shut up!” she yelled, waking Sigron in the process. There was fear tinging her voice. “Shut up right fucking now and never bring that up again!”

The ferocity stupefied Daniel. Her plumage was fully extended and she was looking at him like he was pointing a gun at her. “What? I don’t-”

“Pass,” Kob said in epiphany.

Tlara would have gone white if she wasn’t covered in feathers. “Look what you just fucking did!”

“Pass?” Khare asked, the expression of its condensed face mimicking confusion.

There was a pause. Everyone looked at Kob, some in fear and some in curiosity. Tlara had a secret they’d just reasoned out. Eventually, the gestalt spoke as if they were sentencing the team to death. “Dragon.”

Daniel joined Tlara in her fear. Dragon was an Encyclopedia entry he’d read already, and with the implication, he finally understood why the evacuation was being delayed.

Dragon – (Variant: Monster, Elemental: Various, Flight, ???)

A variant of high level Monster typically found in isolated or destabilized regions. Dragons wield immense physical strength and Weapons: Breath to defend the territory they claim. Mortal coexistence near the territory of most dragons is impossible. ???