Chapter 020 - Quest Complete

She hadn’t noticed the heat of the fire even as close as she’d come when she was standing outside of the ring of stones. The moment she entered, though, it became very apparent. It was only thanks to her ring that she was able to ignore the heat, her internal body temperature normalizing as soon as the buffeting waves hit her. She could only imagine how much of a problem the flames would be if she hadn’t gotten the ring. Which makes me wonder if that was the point, she thought wryly.

She scanned the cloud of flaming flapping wings hovering over her head and shifted her right foot a little off center, ready to spring into movement. The dryad was already taking its own action though, raising its clawed hand again. She noticed this time that one of those narrow fingertips pointed at the ground beneath her feet. She threw herself to the left and glanced in time to see the ground turn dark where she had been standing. A shriek followed and Anna rolled onto her back and projected a shield in between herself and the first of the bats darting down towards her. More started to move.

Fuck! This was a bad idea!

She was on her feet quick but not in time to dodge the next one that slammed into her back and sent her stumbling forward with a explosion of heat and pain. 

Resources:
HP: 124/132 | SP: 135/143 | MT: 7/118

Just one of those does that much damage? She blanched and broke into a run, low thumps and whooshes of air following her as the bats slammed into the ground like torpedoes. A few managed to bank in time to not hit the ground and soon formed a swarm behind her as she ran around the bonfire. Her gut told her what was coming next as seconds ticked by. If you think you’re going to lead me around you got another thing coming, she groused and readied her club.

Just a few heartbeats later she rounded the bonfire again and the Dryad lunged, claws extended. She cranked her presence all the way up and fired off an Aura Snap, blasting it once and swinging up hard with a power strike. She felt the mana burn in her veins, as the blow connected with a crack of steel against wood. It stumbled and she threw herself past it, sweeping around and kicking off the ground with all her might. Her shoulder collided with its back and she shoved it into the oncoming swarm of bats.

Fuck you!

Not all of the bats hit her intended target, the first one struck her in the side and exploded. Then a staccato of blasts followed, carrying her backwards and hammering at her health. She hit the ground and rolled, her bones creaking with the effort. Another burst next to her head and everything went white for a heartbeat as she scrambled to her feet and started to move blindly in whatever direction she could think of. Anything to keep her distance.

When her vision came back all she saw was a pair of orange eyes and smoking wood leaping at her from above. Shit shit shit! She threw herself forward into a roll and stopped half way through, the ground beneath her feet starting to darken and give way. She didn’t need to be a combat genius to know what came next. She threw her back into a swing at the air behind her and grinned when the power strike collided with something solid that gave way just a little. The ground beneath her steadied and she pushed off again, spinning around to keep an eye on her target.

The Dryad was standing there next to the bonfire, looking down at its waist where a crack had formed from the blow. It looked slowly up at her, meeting her eyes as its spindly fingers twitched in hostility. Its wooden carapace was covered in burns and scars and its face had cracked a little more from the mental blast she’d sent its way earlier. Even so, the gleam in its eyes told her all she needed to know about how it was doing health wise. 

He’s still raring to go. As for me…

Resources:
HP: 81/132 | SP: 112/143 | MT: 26/118

Almost down to half already.

She shifted her jaw left and right, adjusting her grip on the club. The Dryad contemplated her, it was angry but it clearly wasn’t stupid. The crackle of the fire to her right made it hard to tell whether or not there were any bats left. She could only surmise since she wasn’t getting blasted while standing there that there weren’t. Her thumb slipped down over the side of the bone-siezing arrow in her off hand and she sprung into motion, her club swinging up over her head. The Dryad croaked in return, swinging one clawed hand up to bat her club away. She spotted the other coming in from below and shifted her weight, letting the claws skid across the chains of her chest armor. 

This better work! She thought and jammed the arrowhead into one of the wooden plates on its flesh as a spark of pain blasted across her thigh. Fuck! She pulled off of the thing, letting go of the arrowhead lodged into it. Two more swings from its claws sent her on the backstep, blocking with the haft of her club. Each blow sent tremors through her limbs and fresh pain into the new wound in her thigh. Something burned in it. Great, poison, she thought as the blows kept coming. She didn’t have time to look at her health, focusing on keeping the ruthless thing at bay until she could- There!

One swing came in just sharply enough to practically grab onto her club. She planted her feet and felt them sink a little as it tried to trap her. She grinned behind her mask and hauled off to the right with a roar, hot blood pumping in her veins. Anna felt the weight of the Dryad leave her club and her feet dislodged, she stumbled forward and opened her inventory, not caring right then and there about being wasteful. She popped the cork on the potion she grabbed and downed it as she turned around.

It was gone. All she saw was flames.

A throb of pain worked its way up her thigh again and she grunted, Damn it. I’m gonna have to wait for it to pass, aren’t I? She thought and glanced at her health as it slowly ticked back up before ticking down a little and then recovering again. 

Resources:
HP: 64/132 | SP: 71/143 | MT: 32/118

A croaking roar of fury drew her eyes back to the bonfire. Her lips quirked up in a wry grin, No shit, did I really? Doesn’t look like the arrow did much.

The Dryad came out of the bonfire in the next instant, charging at her in a frenzy. Flames rose off of its body as she readied for the next part of their fight. Her thigh hurt but she could still steady herself. Lets try a rhythm. An Aura Snap opened up her combination, cracking against the creature before she followed up with an uppercut that slammed into its jaw with a power strike. She stepped forward and swung again, hitting it in the hip as it rallied and her presence receded. It threw a haymaker at her and she swatted it away with a shield spell.

Another swing as her voice rose in her throat, she could barely hear herself over the thundering of her blood in her ears. Every thought was on one thing. Show no quarter, dominate, destroy, bring her enemy low and step over it. Cuts formed on her body from glancing strikes that she shrugged off in a stubborn fury, she needed to stay close. Five seconds ticked by in a flash and she felt the winding down of her presence stop. She cranked it right back up and fired off another Aura Snap, starting the combo over again and pushing towards the fire.

She knew her health was dwindling, the potion would wear off soon and she’d be in free fall. She didn’t care. She’d heal afterwards. All that mattered in that moment was that she was the victor, that she proved she had strength. Not just tricking and trapping her prey like the Prowler, but that she was genuinely strong enough to walk out of this dungeon with her head held high. She saw the skeleton champion’s face in her minds eye. That unstoppable force waiting outside for her. She made it her goal in life to crush it and the forces it served. She would make it pay for forcing her to hide in this place.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Her blows came in faster, the flames leaped towards the back of the Dryad as it struggled to regain its footing. She heard the flapping of the bats spring into being around her again and with a snarl she grabbed the wooden monster by the throat, throwing in another Aura Snap for good measure as she felt the heat in her veins growing almost unbearable. She wrenched it away from the bonfire and planted her feet as the first blast rang out. She didn’t stick around to tank it, throwing herself out of the way again and scrambling out of reach. She snatched out another potion and turned in time to see the Dryad get pummeled all the way into the fire.

“And stay down!” she bellowed, panting as she downed the potion and tossed the vial aside. A bat flew at her and she swatted it away with her club, glaring at the bonfire.

GROOAAKAKKKKAKKKKKAKKA!

Its silhouette stumbled out of the flames once again, she grit her teeth and wound up another Aura Snap. Glancing hesitantly at her mana tolerance.

Resources:
HP: 44/132 | SP: 31/143 | MT: 89/118

I got one more of those combos in me, she thought, Then I’m really screwed.

It took a step forward, reached towards her, and without ceremony or drama it collapsed into a pile of smoldering embers.

She closed her eyes, her breath burning in her lungs and threw her head back in a roar of victory as the notifications began buzzing in her head.

“I’M COMING FOR YOU, YOU BONY SON OF A BITCH!” she screamed, the hoarseness of her voice precluding an exhausted stumble. She planted her feet again, stubbornly refusing to black out again like she had against the Prowler. Not this time, I’m gonna walk away from this fucking place! She ground her teeth and put one foot in front of the other as the poison fought against the potion and her own will to live. She stopped in front of the remains and with a tap of her foot, looted them.

It turned to white dust, just like everything else.

You have received: 1238 Iron Coins and 368 Essence Points

Dungeon Loot Token (Stygian Blightweaver Dryad) (Mortal-Rare)
Crush this token to acquire an rare piece of loot from the Stygian Blightweaver Dryad intended for your class. This token may be traded.

Rare Armor Upgrade Token (Mortal-Rare)
Crushing this token over a piece of Armor will forcibly upgrade it to a rare rarity. 

Stage 3 Bonus Condition: Complete!
Stage 4 Bonus Condition: Leave the Forest of Blood to complete this bonus quest.

Title Unlocked!

Solo Boss Hunter of the Integration (Mortal-Rare)
You have slain a dungeon boss alone, the first to do so of your integration.
Effect: +5 to all stats. 

The sudden blast of essence rushing into her body was almost enough to knock her on her ass. She barked out a laugh as she plucked the two tokens from her inventory. Both of them were rare. It was her biggest windfall yet on top of all the progress she’d made after finally putting down the Prowler and combined with it and the title made her truly feel like she’d earned something great by working through this dungeon alone. Though that did give her a little pause.

The body disappears after being looted, so only one person gets to do the looting, she thought. If I hadn’t been alone, I might have to share in these spoils. When you look at it that way, are these two tokens really a good enough reward?

She shrugged and sat down, I’ll get something for the bonus I’m sure, so we’ll see if that makes up the difference. I’ll go through the tokens and everything once I’m out of this shitty forest.

It took her last potion and a good portion of the water from her canteen to finally outpace and wait out the poison inflicted on her by the Dryad. Between all the resources spent on the fight and her own slowly recovering injuries she had to give some careful consideration to what she did moving forward. It wasn’t a bad situation but she would have been happier not expending so much. To add on to the costs of this place, she felt her stomach grumble and popped another ration pill into her mouth, enduring the horrible taste.

Counting out the number of pills missing helped her keep track of time a little bit. She’d reached the twelve day mark at some point. And it’s gonna take the better part of a day to make it all the way back to the lobby from here. She sighed and tested her thigh, putting a little weight on it as she stood, Might as well get going. Got two more sections of this dungeon to do.

As she walked, she mulled over which of the two doors to go through once she returned. I could try the Labyrinth again or the door I haven’t tried. Hopefully it isn’t as big as this fuckin’ place, she groused, glancing around the deep darkness that seemed to ease up with each step. I wonder what the Dryad’s whole deal was anyway. Don’t Dryads usually use plants? Everything was dead around it, though it was called a ‘blightcaller’ I guess that means it kills nature around it or something?

She shrugged and grinned to herself behind the helmet, It’s dead now anyway, who cares? Though it was a pretty fun fight, she mused and rested her club on her shoulder. 

The trip back was long but largely uneventful, a few deer crossed her path but quickly ran away before she could pin them down with an Aura Snap. Nothing in the forest dared come close and she was able to stop leisurely in the cave to restock her medicinal water and move on to the exit. It was only when she stopped at the door did she finally look back with a small amount of appreciation. The Forest of Blood had honed her into something more than a high-school girl with a chip on her shoulder. She was strong now.

And I’m going to keep getting stronger, she thought and left the forest behind.

Days left until integration of Earth: 352 Days, 4 hours, 22 minutes.