"'Tis of no avail," Penelope whispered to me.
"Of what is no avail?"
I replied in a hushed tone."Clearly, my magic," she murmured in complaint, "They expel diseases more swiftly than I can inject viruses into them. I could attempt to induce organ failure, but from such a distance..."
"Clearly, my magic," she murmured in complaint, "They expel diseases more swiftly than I can inject viruses into them. I could attempt to induce organ failure, but from such a distance..."
I furrowed my brow, gazing down at the creatures with tentacles. They appeared simple, yet they harbored hidden complexities: these creatures possessed ten tentacles, each two to three feet in length, extending from a core the size of two clenched fists. Sixteen such creatures moved in a group, gliding smoothly across the ground while rotating slowly, using their "tentacle feet" to catch insects and then stuffing them into the small mouths at their cores. Their movements were concise and efficient, fascinating to observe, even somewhat enchanting. They were somewhat adorable. I had never seen such creatures before.
Unfortunately, my soul perception indicated that they were all dangerous, and Remus insisted that all creatures beyond the walls should be regarded as enemies. Our original strategy was to bring Penelope to a vantage point where she could create lethal viruses to target the creatures blocking our path. Now, this strategy had finally encountered a problem, and the opponents before us were ones I truly did not wish to fight. On the second day of our journey, we were confronted with such thorny situations, and everyone began to feel the pressure.
"... and this might exhaust you, and we have been relying on you all this way," I whispered, "Perhaps we should resort to the old methods to deal with them, or seek another path."
"If we encounter those giant creatures you warned us about earlier, I won't be of much help either," Penelope replied, "The overall weight of the creatures is the key factor in determining which ones I can effectively kill with viruses. These fellows are just... exceptionally resistant."
My brow furrowed even deeper, unsure of what to do. The souls of these creatures were twisted, fluctuating and lashing at an incredibly fast pace. I surmised that they would be swift, agile, and intelligent adversaries. Facing sixteen of these creatures, I feared our team might not prevail. Would it be better to take another route? I searched with my perception ability, straining to recall, yet uncertain if there were any other options. Finding a safe path through this forest was like searching for a clean path through a sewer! The issue was not whether we would get dirty, but which kind of filth we would ultimately encounter.
The biggest problem was that the creatures with powerful souls seemed to have their own territories. If we got too close, sometimes even if I merely sensed them at the edge of my perception range, they would approach us. The entire forest was filled with terrifying aggressiveness; our journey was about probing the boundaries of these territories, figuring out exactly where they were, and constantly trying to find a path between them before those behemoths truly got close to us. I couldn't even begin to imagine how a team would survive without someone with perception abilities like mine... We had already experienced too many close calls.
If we wanted to avoid these... tentacle monsters, we would have to pass through one of those territories. Remus called them "little believers." If Remus were to intervene, we might easily dispatch them, but then we would fail the test. That would defeat the purpose of this mission.
I nodded slightly towards the other team members, and Penelope nodded in return. We descended to join them. Nora raised an eyebrow, inquiringly raising her thumb as if to ask, "Is everything alright?"
I shook my head, thumb pointing downward.
"They are resistant to viruses," I reported in a low voice. The team members cursed in unison."
I have an idea, though I'm not sure if it's clever or foolish. Remus, what if we lure two groups of monsters together and let them fight each other? Is that feasible?" I asked.
The old man answered without hesitation.
"Entirely unfeasible. Such a strategy might succeed, and if it does, that would be ideal. But it won't work every time, and if it fails, you'll have twice the number of enraged monsters chasing you. You must assume that every plan could fail when you devise it, because one day it will. Just like now."
I nodded, having anticipated as much. Up until now, Penelope had taken pride in shouldering most of the killing work, but now that we had ventured deep into the forest, the rest of the team actually had little experience fighting monsters. Our backup plan was far from satisfactory.
"Well, these creatures seem fast and intelligent," I whispered to the team, "and there are sixteen of them. But if we try to go around, we'll attract the attention of that big one that makes the booming noises."
The team members shuddered. We were trapped between sixteen "boulders" and a "hard place" that might be covered in spikes and spew acid.
"I vote for taking out these little guys," Orville finally said, "At least we have the element of surprise on our side, and we know what we're dealing with. Venturing to fight the giant creatures that Vita senses, which we know nothing about, is not a good idea."
"But there are too many of them, I can't hold them off," Nora said in a deep voice, her voice muffled by her armor, "They'll break through the defenses."
Orville nodded.
"I say Penelope and I stay behind and find a good vantage point up high. She'll enhance my abilities as much as possible, and I'll shoot arrows at them. You three protect the tree."
"Can you hit them? Their movements are particularly erratic, and their actual bodies are only this big," I said, cupping my hands to show the size.
He frowned, but still nodded."With Penelope helping me steady my aim? I should be able to. But there will still be many left, and you guys will have to deal with them.
"Bentley nodded.
"I think this is a good idea!" the burly boy said, lowering his voice as much as possible, "We can hold onto the tree trunk, right?"
"Vita, are you okay staying down here with us tall folks?" Nora asked with a grin.
"It looks like I have no choice," I replied dryly, gripping my spear tightly. Damn it, can I really do this? If things go terribly wrong, should I pull out their souls? Should I make them turn on each other and become zombies? If I do that, will I even survive afterwards? Probably not. Let's save that as a last resort.
"It seems I'm back to being the support character," Penelope sighed, "I know our main mission still needs my input, but regardless, I think it's good to exert some effort here."
Her fingers began to trace the invisible patterns in the air that only the most learned of mages could see. She wove the complex spells at a leisurely pace, rather than casting quick incantations as she would in battle. She touched me, and I felt the magic take effect, though I wasn't quite sure what the specific effects of her spells were. She repeated the same process with the others, all the while trying to hide the beads of sweat rolling down her face. Then, she and Orville climbed up a tree, while the rest of us stood with our backs against the tree, Nora in front, with Bentley and me on either side of her.
Half a minute passed, and Orville fired an arrow. One of the sixteen souls dissipated instantly. Another arrow was shot, and then another, and another life was terminated. The "little believers" screamed in fury and charged at our team, moving faster than I had anticipated. I gripped my spear tightly, assuming a combat stance as they burst through the bushes and charged at us at a terrifying speed. Orville shot down another one as the first monster reached us, leaving thirteen remaining. Nora stepped forward and struck it with her shield.
Penelope muttered something above us, and the spells within me were activated, my focus instantly reaching its peak. I thrust downward and finished off the stunned monster, while Bentley wildly swung his weapon, chopping off half the tentacles of two other monsters, incapacitating them.
However, there were still ten monsters left, and they launched their attacks together. Their terrible screams echoed in my ears as one of the monsters lunged at me. Its core opened into a circular mouth, lined with rows of serrated teeth. Guided by magic, my limbs became agile, my mind sharp, and I was unusually calm. I thrust forward, piercing straight through its mouth, ready to deal with the next one... but it didn't die! The little monster clamped down on my spear, blood gushing from its mouth. It actually bit off the spearhead!
Damn it! In an instant, everything descended into chaos. Three "little believers" climbed onto Nora's body, obscuring her vision and attempting to tear her helmet off her head. Two others entangled Bentley, screaming and hissing as they danced just out of reach of his axe, distracting him. The monster with my spearhead embedded in its mouth struggled to move, while two others swiftly leaped up and began to climb the tree! I swung the remaining half of my spear like a club, trying to knock them down, when suddenly a tentacle wrapped around my leg, and a mouth like that of a lamprey bit into my calf. I turned to drive away the new arrival