Chapter 17

“Sir? Please stop. You’re giving me an anxiety attack.”

“Don’t be such a coward, Reginald. There is nothing anxiety inducing about a simple medical check up.”

“There is nothing simple about messing with that creature’s eyelids, sir. Also, I never heard of a check up involving a lit torch.”

“How am I supposed to check if his pupils are dilating without one?”

“...Good point, I guess.”

A few minutes have passed since Lucian and I arrived at the gorillasaurus’s section of the cave. The good doctor spent only a few seconds inspecting the beast and its chains before he unceremoniously began the, uh, procedure.

Unfortunately for my frail heart, he was anything but delicate. I knew the beast had more root juice in his veins than half these barrels combined, but the way Lucian did his check up made it hard for me to relax.

First off, he dragged the eyelids open like a sheet over a mattress. After a few seconds of bringing the torch uncomfortably close to its eyes he proceeded to the next phase.

*Smack*

He just straight up slapped it.

“...What the hell did they teach you in medical school?”

Lucian ignored my question and, thankfully, the gorillasaurus ignored the slap across the face. The doctor did a few more simple tests. During this time he kept mumbling several “I see”, “Interesting” and “As expected”.

Finally, with only fifteen minutes left before the barrier would break, Lucian finished his analysis.

“This thing is as high as a kite.” He said with a completely stoic face.

“Really? How’d you figure?” Of course that thing was drugged. Anybody could figure that out just by looking at it!

“Now, now, no need for sarcasm. We both knew it’s condition beforehand, but I had to make sure of a few other things.”

“Like what?” I asked, quickly calming down.

“I won’t waste time by going over its symptoms and internal condition. What I will tell you though, is that we have our way out of this mess.”

I was relieved to hear that. Lucian allowed himself a small grin and took out the two potions from earlier. “The gorillasaurus may as well be dead with how much fermented Rock Root it ingested, but these potions will take care of all that and more.”

It was a simple plan really. Wake up the beast and let it loose on the unsuspecting kobolds outside. In the chaos we would make our escape without so much as a hair missing on our heads.

Still I had some doubts. “Will those two vials be enough? The thing is way bigger than a human or a kobold. Not to mention the fact that it’s sedated.”

“Ah, indeed, but here’s where things get interesting. These are not generic berserk potions per se. The recipe for those is somewhat different. Still, these are much more powerful, if volatile and more dangerous to the user.”

I was not expecting an impromptu alchemy lesson right now, but the doctor seemed really into it.

“...and the fact that this potion is made with the gorillasaurus’s blood is another factor, let alone that fact that Rock root secretion is more of an enhancer rather than a weakening agent.”

“Sir, as fascinating as this is, we are running low on time.”

“Ahem, indeed. Well, the conclusion is that these particular potions will have an effect at least ten times stronger on our friend here. They were made with its blood and the Rock root in its system will react violently when the potion is ingested. I suggest we stay as far away as possible when that happens.”

In short, we had the recipe for an enraged Hulk on our hands. I thought for a few seconds on how we should go about doing this.

“How much time do we have?” I asked Lucian

“Ten minutes, give or take.”

“If you drop the barrier with five minutes left, can you bring it up again for the same amount of time?”

“Yes? It would take another minute for me to finish the incantation, but the remaining mana should last for another five.”

“Good, first things first. Let’s help this thing out of its chains.”

The chains were thick and tightly woven around the beast. We had no chance of taking them off the normal way. Seeing no other option we choose to instead weaken them as much as we could. The ends were tied to a few metal rods, beaten within the stone.

We messed with them as much as possible and even managed to lift one out. It was weaker than the others, probably the results of the gorillasaurus’s previous struggles.

Five minutes passed and we had to be satisfied with only releasing one arm and weakening the other restraints. In any case, the doctor assured me that our effort was prudent, but ultimately unnecessary.

The chains could barely hold the creature in its normal state. They had no hope against it juiced up on the potion.

“Allright, now as soon as the liquid goes down its throat we sprint back to the laboratory. Then you’ll deactivate the barrier and put it up again only on our side of the cave.”

Lucian nodded. “Then, when the kobolds and the gorillasaurus meet, we’d be safe for a few minutes from the chaos.” he continued on my idea.

Without further ado, Lucian climbed back up on the creature, opened its maw and spilled both potions inside. A few seconds later, after he made sure the liquid actually went down, we unceremoniously skedaddled.

Arriving back at the crossroads. The faint glow that has been surrounding Lucian instantly disappeared, a sign he dropped the barrier.

We turned the corner and the doctor immediately kneeled and began chanting. I drew my sword in case any kobold was enthusiastic and fast enough to reach us before Lucian finished erecting another barrier.

Not even half a minute passed and I could hear barks and the sound of rushing feet. It seems like the kobolds wasted no time in charging head on. Unfortunately, there was no sign yet of the gorillasaurus, but the dice was already thrown.

Lucian was almost done chanting when I saw the first kobolds arriving before us. They must have been the fastest of the group since only a few of them were ahead of the main force.

Lucian had already opened his eyes by the time the first one jumped at us, its club over its head.

It could be said I already had experience with this situation, so without hesitation I repeated what I did last time and stabbed it while it was in the air. And just like a few days ago I turned and threw the half dead dogman at its comrades.

He easily slid off the sword and, by the time he landed, a white wall of light formed in front of me. Behind it I could see the entire pack rushing in full force and trampling over my already defeated foe.

Once again I was face to face with an entire army. And this time I could easily feel each second of my lifeline passing away as the barrier began to grow dim.