Chapter 026: Sunny, with a chance of tentacles

We took a while, but we smelted the Golem and everything we collected earlier. We got 56kg of Golem Iron (there was a lot of ore of decent quality in the Golem), 9kg of Iron from hematite rocks, 3kg of Copper (we found a chalcocite vein), and 2 kg of levityte. Levityte was a common metal altered by magic that made it almost weightless. It was a brittle aquamarine coloured metal that could be added as an admixture during alloy creation process to reduce its weight, with its ore called lapherite.

Generally it was an interesting and successful raid, but we still lacked something we could sell for a nice profit. The only ‘loot‘ that could be worth a lot was the Golem Iron, however it was a rather rare metal. It was a much better idea to store it and use it to produce something interesting.

Most guilds in World‘s Requiem had whole storage rooms and vaults of valuable metals, gems, leather, glass and so on, not to mention whole tanks of common potions and shelves filled with various advanced medicines and potions. From a certain level onward they stopped being loot and started being assets. Local countries and organizations weren‘t much different, with Imperium having a lot of vaults filled to the brim with legendary artifacts it collected during the ages past.

56kg of Third Grade metal was a sad excuse for an arsenal of assets, but you had to start somewhere, right?

“Alright, I guess it‘s time to pack ourselves and move deeper.” I commented after Lena finished smelting (she got Smelting skill, though still no Mining). I patched up our warriors earlier as all of them sustained wounds small and large. Lacerations and bruises, nothing deep.

“Eh… “Leria raised up from the blanket. I didn‘t know she took it before she unloaded it from the equipment. It was big enough for all of us (even Lena, when she had a break) to lie on. It turned the whole waiting into an underground picnic. “Alright, I’ll lead the way.”

“Wake me up when it’s time to return.” Simea mumbled, her eyes closed.

While the rest reluctantly raised up, she remained on the blanket. She was pretending. She’d soon rise up as well and join us. But… I couldn‘t pass such an occasion. I grinned widely before suddenly falling on my knees right beside her.

She understood what was happening a second too late. My fingers knew no mercy. I knew where to tickle her to cause maximum reaction. She tried to escape, but I held her firmly, my fingers attacking her sides and belly relentlessly.

She was an aura user, so when she remembered to use it she escaped me. After she got out of my grasp, she glared daggers at me... so I grinned widely and saluted her. She finally broke and chuckled.

I could hear the rest laughing from behind. Even Kytar joined it. Good to hear morale is still high.

***

We continued our descent for several hours, encountering two new types of enemies. First were Aquilifers, skeletons carrying a traditional Roman Aquilas, that was coated with magic reinforcing their allies in the area. They were a pain, to be honest, but after our first narrow victory we learned the lesson and had Simea assassinate them before they could activate their magic.

There were also casters, known as Magus, that used low level elemental magic (mostly fire) to attack us. They were less of a problem than Aquilifers as long as we focused on killing them early before they depleted our defensive magic.

We made another break to eat something and rest. It was right after departure that Leria talked to me.

“Av, do you have a while?” She spoke.

We were marching in a rather loose formation. Simea was far in front of us since she had to make sure she could stab Aquilifers before they activate their magic. Lena was between her and us where she had to be to draw the attention of enemies (she needed training). Then there was Vaera and Kytar (still a mess). I was in the rearguard, together with Leria.

This formation was mostly caused because the mine was different here. Lots of tunnels and small rooms, plus there were patrols. We got attacked from the rear twice. With Simea marking which tunnel she took with a chalk mark, the risk of getting lost and being separated was nonexistent. We were almost alone, though if we screamed, everyone up to Simea would hear it.

I nodded. “Yeah, what is it?”

“I have a question.” What was it this time? “Did you sleep with Simea?”

Good thing I had nothing in my mouth. I‘d choke to death.

“No. Yes. Uh, it‘s complicated.” She sent me a questioning look, so I continued. “Yes, but there was no real pleasure involved. Just enough to make her avoid going insane. This wasn‘t even real sex, just… “I sighed.” I hoped you would say something alongside ‘spare me the details’ right now.”

She rolled her eyes. “If you are so against it, then spare me details. I can guess what happened though.” Wonderful. “You know it’s unhealthy?”

“What?"

“Being so repressed.” She was the one to talk about sex, really. An inhabitant of Doomplace was about to give me a lecture on sex. Ok, reformed inhabitant, but Overtyrant was cool with many things Simea’s parents wouldn‘t approve. “Listen, I’m not blind. You two are close. Not to mention the looks you are giving each other when you think no one is looking.” Excuse me?! “Seriously, you sleep in the same bed each night, just hurry up and fuck her brains out already. This love comedy is getting tiring to watch.”

…

…

It made me speechless. For a while.

“No.” I answered.

She chuckled. “That’s awfully eloquent for you. Care to expand it?”

“No way.” I expanded it obediently. She rolled her eyes. Again. Second time in a short speech. She looked like she was giving me a lecture.

“Oh, come on. It isn‘t healthy to not have sex for so long.” I could feel my eyebrow raising.

“You are the one to talk. I haven‘t seen you going out with anyone since I came here.” I knew I was entering a potential minefield, but I had to repel her assault, no matter the cost.

“Yes, well, you might have not noticed but Hold suffers from a severe shortage of interesting males that aren‘t related to me by blood.” She responded. “Kytar is too scared of his own shadow for my taste. Vaera is cute, but not really my type. What?" She said, after seeing the face I made. “That I have additional... equipment down there doesn’t mean I like to use it. If anything, it‘s a bother.”

…Yes, that was better than the alternative that came to my mind. I shook it off and threw into the bin. With a ‘Things Better Left Forgotten' written atop it.

“Thankfully I no longer feel really interested in it. You know, since the Revelation, as you called it.” She shrugged. “Not like I miss it, my sex life was a long series of disaster I‘d prefer to not remember."

Well, Overtyrant was chill about premarital affairs, as long as it wasn‘t just sex for your enjoyment. That was Primeval Sin of Lust, naturally. And Disharmony of Selfishness. Searching for your future spouse and checking out if you are compatible in bed before marriage was ok to him even if you ended up not marrying.

The vows of marriage were MUCH more binding though. Divorces were a nope, and having an affair was a Disharmony of Dishonesty, Betrayal and Selfishness plus an Anathema of Dishonor (because breaking your vow) so it was better to be sure she/he was the One before getting married. Only death could do you part, indeed.

“I guess that’s nice. Even if I do not remember these disasters." Let’s steer this talk to safer waters.

“Don‘t remind me, once I was so heartbroken I drank too much alcohol and tried to hit on yo... wait a second, stop changing the subject." Ghrrr, she caught me. “Back to the point. Why can‘t you have sex with her?!”

“That‘s complicated." And something I really don‘t want to talk about.

“You have a girlfriend or wife?” Huh? “You know, in that world you came from.”

“N...no." I wasn’t exactly successful on that field. Because of reasons. “Listen, this really isn‘t something I’d like…”

“Are you gay?” SAY WHAT.

“No, I’m not. Stop this, otherwise I will get… wait, did you feel that?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” Then she grinned. Showing me her teeth.” It’s hunting time.”

There was a smell of Pentagram in the air.

***

We rushed forward, catching up to the Vaera, Kytar and Lena. They didn‘t have our magical senses, so they failed to notice the stench of Pentagram coming from the front. A significant mistake. We should have kept Leria at the front if only to serve as magical detector.

It wasn‘t a strong smell. What awaited us was not a being on Shearazhyra‘s level. It wasn’t as bad as Fleshling, either.

We ran into Simea. She was hurrying back, looking behind her back.

“Enemies?” Leria was the first to speak.

“Yes.” She nodded. “There is a room in front. A group of people seems to preparing something. They are painting a pentagram on the ground. An inverted one.”

Wonderful.

“Levels?”

“Manageable. five to ten, but I saw one level fifteen.”

Alright. Time to make this world a better place. “Let’s attack them.”

***

What followed wasn‘t a battle. It was a massacre. It would be a tough battle of two equal sides, but Leria toppled the balance.

There were three warriors (of levels 6, 9 and 10), two rangers (archer lvl 8 and crossbowman lvl 9) and one elemental sorcerer of level 15, most likely their leader. Of the entire group only the last one could be a real threat. One capable of turning the tide of battle, forcing us back with his magic and allowing his compatriots to eliminate us one by one.

He got hit by Fervent Accusation the second the battle started. He screamed, holding his head.

Seriously, why does everybody who get hit by it acts like that guy from the Scream painting?

Simea disappeared, while our warriors charged them. Their archer died at the beginning, my Destroyer Lance making his stomach explode. Crossbowman got a Dragon Fireball in the face and was too busy burning to use the crossbow.

Aura Armour could resist spells and hexes - otherwise magic users would slaughter anyone with ease - even if it was less efficient than a dedicated magic shield or its equivalents. But for it to work you had to cast it, and they failed to do so in time. Amateurs.

Warrior level six got turned into a living, screaming torch by Leria‘s Smite Evil. It shocked the rest and they remained in place for a second too long. One got impaled on Lena‘s spear. The second tried to run, but Leria caught him.

A swirling fireball exploded in front of Leria, but she stopped the flames with her shield. Enemy sorcerer seemed to be tougher mentally or commit fewer sins than the bandit Leria used her Accusation on last time. He recuperated in time. But with his meatshields dead, he shouldn‘t…

…Forget it. Simea materialized right by him and strangled him with a garrotte. That‘s what you get for a lack of spells like Inhuman Resilience that were made to resist such attacks. What‘s the point of conjuring an impenetrable wall of arcane powers when someone sneaks behind your back and breaks your neck after a short while of wrestling with you?

Seriously, these guys were total amateurs. Most Pentagram worshippers were total amateurs. They failed to recognize that the fact that others were much stronger than them, worked harder than them, and planned smarter than them. Taking shortcuts was painful. Large and successful cults - especially those with sufficiently ruthless and competent leadership - were completely different, though.

A wave of evil stench engulfed me. A figure in black robes entered the room from the corridor on the other side. Golden embroidery and blasphemous symbols decorated its robe.

There was darkness under its hood. Then I saw an eye. A large one that seemed to occupy almost entire space beneath the hood. Its iris was violet.

Watcher

Category: Eldritch/Pentagram

Type: Daemon/Servile

Threat Grade: Silver IV

A daemon created by the Pentagram to lead and instruct its mortal servants. The need to interact with mortals without making them go insane made them the most human-like creatures of Pentagram.

They are adept casters of Doom, Mind and Life Magic.

Despite his high threat grade we had a chance to survive. I understood it immediately. First, we surprised the Watcher. In their more inhuman form their hearing is severely impaired, and he failed to notice that there was a battle happening close to him. Second, he was alone - Watchers excelled at crowd control. They were supposed to fight surrounded by cultists or other daemons, focusing on debuffing and weakening enemies.

We murdered all of his sidekicks. We still wore our defensive magic. We were yet to sheathe our weapons. We were in positions to fight enemies coming from his direction. Simea wasn‘t hidden, but that was our only disadvantage.

I cast Destroyer Lance, but the Watcher defended himself with Lesser Bend Reality he conjured a split second before being shredded by my hex. Dragon Fireball made his defense break. Leria and Lena charged the daemon. Rather than escaping, his arms hidden beneath the robe suddenly bulged, before they exploded with a storm of tentacles. They pushed them back, buying him time.

My Havoc Bolt exploded. It failed to hit him before he covered himself with Bend Reality again, but it absolutely shred his tentacles. Leria charged through the cloud of blood and bits of tentacles. She got close enough to slash his magic shield with Smite Evil. The distortion broke.

Bend Reality is weak to holy magic. Something to remember for the future.

Watcher shed its tentacles completely, jumping back and trying to gain distance. He forgot about Simea who had gotten close enough to his back to stab him with the dagger.

He turned almost immediately, his upper arms transformed into lashes made from tentacles. He lashed Simea, throwing her back with her Aura Armour almost overwhelmed.

Seeing Leria and Lena charging him, he avoided continuing the short range combat. He exploded in a cloud of violet flames. A second later he reappeared within a similar cloud on the other side of the hall.

Shit.

He shed his robe. Beneath it was a giant eye, floating maybe two meters above the ground and surrounded by black tentacles.

I turned my eyes a second too late. He looked at me and used magic. My thoughts drowned in the flood of darkness. I could barely think. My manapool started depleting itself as he kept looking at me and stealing my mana.

Vaera‘s Dragon Fireball disrupted him. He used his tentacles to dodge it, but it broke our eye contact. I fired a rain of Holy Bolts. He kept dodging it, by jumping left and right. Fucking acrobat!

Leria and Lena caught to him. He responded by lashes, trying to keep them out of range. It was a mistake which he understood the second Leria slashed his lash with Smite Evil.

He convulsed, before shedding the burning tentacle. But he remained in one place for a second too long. Several of my Holy Bolts connected, and so did Vaera‘s Dragon Fireball. Watcher burned, his lifebar depleting fast.

He fired an AoE stun hex. It bought him three seconds, during which he teleported again. Leria cursed him loudly.

Seriously, be thankful we slaughtered the cultists earlier. Otherwise the Watcher would remain in the back, paralyzing or stunning us, letting them kill us (or worse). He might not be an enemy that lets you hit him, but it‘s still better than the alternative.

Something flickered before his eye. I blinked. Second later a black ray of Doom Magic hit my Lesser Bend Reality. It broke, but gave me enough time to throw myself on the ground. The rest of the ray went above my head.

Seriously, laser rays? That was new.

Watcher wasted no time. He eliminated me from the equation for precious few seconds. He drove his tentacles into the ground. They emerged from beneath the ground right before our warriors, breaking their charge. Then it cast a stun mind spell on Leria, followed by another laser ray.

Her Aura Armour failed to withstand such an assault. She seemed fine for a second after the ray ended, besides being shocked by what happened. Then a big part of her skin went black, only to cover itself with eyes, tentacles and mouths.

So, the ray causes damage by mutating part of target‘s bodies. Wonderful. The damage was strong - and deep - enough to overwhelm internal organs. When they, too, developed eyes and tentacles, the effect was pure gore and could be summed up by Leria exploding from inside.

Wonderful. Just. Fucking. Wonderful. There goes our advantage in that battle.

Sudden demise of her compatriot shocked Lena. She stopped for a second too long. A rain of lashes struck her, forcing her back while causing damage through her Aura Armour.

Destroyer Lance and Dragon Fireball struck Watcher from the side. Taking out our warriors took it a second too long. He focused everything on the offensive, failing to even recast Bend Reality.

My hex shred the tentacles the eye was covered in, squashing them like overgrown bugs, spraying black liquid around. Vaera‘s spell once again covered it in flames.

Watcher was down to 20% HP. But it beat us up, we lost Leria and we were running out of mana. I fired another Destroyer Lance, but daemon already covered itself in Bend Reality. Oh, for God‘s sake, just DIE ALREADY.

He turned to face Vaera and used a mind magic hex. The dragonbride shrieked in terror and turned to flee. He made a few steps before another death ray hit his back, unprotected by Dragon Shield.

Wonderful. So it‘s now me, Simea and Lena. And Kytar, but he fled already. Wait, where is Len…

She charged the Watcher, with Toothy by her side. She must have summoned him when Watcher was busy killing Vaera. Daemon responded with another tentacle attack from below. It pushed Lena back, but Toothy leaped over it. His Rend-covered fingers broke through a weakened Bend Reality.

Watcher teleported again, to avoid getting swarmed by enemies. This is too much. Before Lena or Toothy reacted, he fired another death ray.

Surprisingly enough Lena was the second person after me to dodge it by throwing herself on the ground before her defense fell. The ray went above her. But Watcher learned something on my case, and drove his tentacles into the ground, making them explode right beneath her body, with her Aura Armour almost depleted.

It wasn‘t a nice sight. Toothy disappeared after losing his anchor in Reality.

It seems we‘ve lost. Silver IV was too much. At the beginning, when we kept it too busy to use his stupid laser, we had a slight advantage. But the second he shook us off long enough to regain initiative... everything changed. Fucking short range teleportation.

I fired several Holy Bolts; they were fast enough to connect before Watcher hid behind his defensive hex. They shaved off a significant part of his lifebar.

Watcher levitated towards me, his tentacles trembling around him. I fired a Destroyer Lance, but his Bend Reality held. Why isn’t he attacking?! He only reinforced his magic shield and kept coming clos… FUCK NO.

There were two options that came to my mind. The first was that he wanted to interrogate me to discover if I knew something about Pentagram operation in the area, to find out if it was just a coincidence we ran into him.

The second option was much more terrifying and included tortures and tentacle rape done mostly for lulz and to enjoy my screams.

I fired another Destroyer Lance, finally reaching the end of my manapool, but it once again wasn’t enough to pierce Watcher’s Bend Reality. Fuckfuckfuck. Wait, maybe if I keep firing hexes the overdrain will kill me? Because I don‘t want to find out what he wants to do with me.

I was about to test this theory when Simea - whom I completely forgotten... and so did Watcher - suddenly appeared in front of him, between Watcher and his magic shield. Split second later her dagger pierced his eye right in the middle.

Critical hit. Watcher trembled, instantly losing 12% of HP. He tried to do something but in such a close distance he was at an overwhelming disadvantage. She pulled the dagger out and pushed it back before Watcher lashed her, scoring another critical hit.

Watcher trembled for the last time and fell on the ground. My legs gave up, and I fell on my knees. I was almost tentacle raped (probably), so the feeling of relief was… intense.

“Well, that was to..” Simea decided to boast - or just comment what happened - but something interrupted her. Rather abruptly. The pentagram painted by the cultist must have been connected to the daemon‘s power. When it vanished… it exploded.

YOU DIED!

Cause of death was an explosion of Pentagram‘s magic, which caused your uncontrollable mutation and subsequent inability of your body to continue working.

RESURRECT

Ok, this time I’m not even going to complain. It could be worse. Much worse.