Tunnel Rat

Chapter 112: Spiders don't keep score.

Milo didn't like the idea of trying to just avoiding combat to keep his two adversaries busy while his partner looted the rare mushrooms. Every scenario seemed to end badly for him. The spiders could use the ceiling and walls as well or better than he could. They were too big to draw them off the way he came, and he couldn't take them in the direction his partner had gone. Running around was a losing game against two opponents in a cavern that already had webs in part of it.

Better to cut down the odds and slow them up. He gave his partner some time to slip past them before he threw a bone harpoon at the spider that first emerged from the cloud of dust. Hitting an unseen ally with a spell meant for a spider would have been awkward. The Harpoon of the Winds hit the spider between its first and second set of legs, puncturing its side. He followed up immediately with a second spell for double the mana using Fast Casting., watching his mana bar drain by an eighth. He needed to get rid of one enemy quickly, and he needed information of what he was fighting.

You have struck Black Widow Brute with a spell doing 307 points of damage.

Black Widow Brute blocks your second spell, taking minimal damage.

Health 1093/1400

The second harpoon was met and deflected by the wounded spider’s front leg, sending the harpoon clattering to the side. Milo could see that the front legs of this spider were armored. The second spider began casting a spell, it's nimble front legs making motions and rhythmic chittering coming from its mouth.

Black Widow Deathmonger casts a spell. You may not use Counter Attack because you recently used Fast Casting.

Poisonous Cloud of Doom does 50 points of damage to all non-spiders in the area. This is a persistent attack which will damage you each round. Damage reduced by 25 points due to your Weak Poison Resistance.

Green clouds filled the entire cave, spreading out over everything. A good attack that would wear down multiple enemies, but something he could endure for a time. The spell would be terrifying if used against tight packed ratkin infantry. As he choked and dodged away from the spiders, he looked at the spellcaster. It was much thinner in the legs, and smaller in the body than its bodyguard. And probably more deadly. He immediately switched opponents.

You have struck Black Widow Deathmonger with a spell doing 307 points of damage.

Health 493/900

The Deathmonger screamed and the bodyguard moved to interpose itself between Milo and the mage. Milo had planned for this, circling to get to the side and running up the wall so that he could keep the mage in view. The Deathmonger began to cast another spell, green light forming along its forearms. Milo cast his own spell, throwing the last of his harpoons.

Counter Attack is successful!

Deathmonger has taken 307 damage from your harpoon.

Deathmonger has taken 63 damage from Rotting Death

Health 123/900

This was too much for the Deathmonger. It headed for the tunnel leading out, moving slowly from two harpoons in its body. The Black Widow Brute came after Milo, but stopped when it was twenty feet from the tunnel when he retreated away from it, choosing to guard the spellcasters slow retreat.

Milo spent a few seconds circling to the side, and retrieving his last harpoon where it lay on the ground. He should really take time to carve more of these. Maybe a quiver? Using his own bones to power the spell hurt and used a lot of his health. That was an option for emergencies. Which this fight might become. Could the wounded spider mage kill his partner? It could certainly bring more spiders that could kill both of them.

Milo ran at the Black Widow Brute, readying his harpoon for a throw. The spider braced itself and prepared to block. Milo took another step and tried to jump over it. The spider managed to hit him with an armored claw, doing a hundred points of damage to him, and turning his leap into a clumsy fall and roll. Rather than get up, he just kept rolling until he could come quickly to his feet and sprint away. The Brute pursued. After a short tunnel, he emerged into a huge cavern filled with mushrooms. The far side had been harvested, and he saw very small spiders scuttling away with loads of harvested shrooms, getting away from the fight.

Milo had hoped to catch up with the Deathmonger as it ran away. What he wasn't expecting was for the wounded spider to drop on him. Danger Sense gave him some warning, but was overwhelmed by the spider's natural Ambush ability. It didn't shout surprise, as he had expected it to. Maybe spiders didn’t keep score?

Something sharp punctured his left thigh, stunning him. The Deathmonger went for a second attack, higher up, driving its poisoned stinger into his spine. Milo was driven into the soft soil of the cave, but the stinger couldn't penetrate the bone armor that covered his spine. The Deathmonger screamed in pain and rage as it's stinger snapped instead.

Milo felt sickened. He turned over and struck with claws and tail, killing the Deathmonger, and covering him in foul-smelling ichor that made him more nauseous. He didn't have time to think as the enraged Brute flipped the dead spider off of him, and reared up to drive its own stinger into him.

Milo dodged, then dodged again. At some point he regained his feet and began stumbling away. The Brute pursued, hitting him twice with its front legs.

Status:

You are poisoned. Speed -25%, +50 points of poison damage per round. Your weak poison resistance is ineffective against strong poison.

Health 1120/1660

Milo was looking for somewhere to get away from the brute. Killing it with claws didn't sound like a good option when he was slowed and loosing 50 health a round. His partner was nowhere in sight, but he saw the smaller cave. If his partner was inside, the two of them could kill this thing. He was still faster than the brute, and fear gave him speed as he sprinted around the edge of the cave, avoiding the patches of poisonous mushrooms.

The cave entrance was narrower than the other tunnels, but he fit through easily. He wasn't sure if the Brute could make it, but he was sure it would try. Inside the cave, he saw nothing at all. If there had been mushrooms here, they were gone. If his partner had been here, they were gone too. Milo had trapped himself in a small cave, while dying of poison, and an enemy coming for him.

He examined his options. One seemed like a good idea. He tossed a Runed-Skull into the tunnel, then paid twice the mana to do another. Just in time. The Brute had stuck in his head and took them both in the face. It was wounded, but not slowing. It jammed its body into the tunnel, its hard armor scraping in places and making it a tight fit, but it was pushing through.

Milo tossed his last two Runed-Skulls. They exploded and wounded the Brute, taking it under half health. It started to exit the tunnel as Milo struck the rock above it with his pick, dislodging a large chunk of rock on its head. The Brute chittered at him, and moved another foot into the tunnel. Milo moved to the side and hit the crack he had started with his last strike. The tier four pick went deep into the soft rock, and Milo pulled as hard as he could. With a small rumble, the tunnel shifted and tons of rock pinned the Brute in the tunnel. It was helpless as Milo struck it from the side, first breaking off its legs and then killing it. The pick gave him reach and the sharp head punctured through the hard chitin as easily as his claws would have.

You have slain Black Widow Deathmonger level 6.

You have slain Black Widow Brute Bodyguard level 6.

You have earned 900 experience.

As soon as it was dead, he sat down and began drinking healing potions. His leg was turning black and swelling. With two healing potions in him, he had time to bring up his core skills. He had 10 CSP and 500 experience points he had been saving from the fight with the Ancient Sea Hydra. Those could be used in two ways: Strong Poison Resistance for 7, or Mutant Regeneration for 10. The warning on Mutant Regeneration and thoughts of Larry made him quickly take resistance and with the left over three points, +50 health.

All 900 experience went into Strong Poison Resistance, raising it to Rank 4. He put the 500 experiences into Weak Poison Resistance, bring it to Rank 6. The system wouldn't let him use the saved experience for the skill he hadn't had for that fight. From outside the tunnel, he felt the vibrations from many feet. It was either a legion of ratkin, or a lot of spiders. He had no idea if they could get to him, but the situation had suddenly gotten worse. He began to drink his remaining healing potions one at a time as he searched the cave for a crevice or small tunnel, or anywhere to hide or barricade himself.

What he found instead, was a door in the rock. Or a rock that was a door? He couldn't even see the cracks in the rock, but he knew it was a thin door that led to a space beyond it. He felt carefully, scanning the rock for any way to open it. A small depression had a button in it. He pressed it and two things happened. The door moved inward on silent hinges, and a needle poked his finger.

You failed to notice a trap! You are taking 100 5 points per round of strong poison. Lucky for you the poison on the trap hasn't been refreshed in ages.

Shaking his hand, and downing his last healing potion, Milo stumbled into the hidden passage, closing the door behind him. He could see that it opened into a room. He stumbled forward, and felt a sharp pain as a needle stabbed into his foot.

You failed to notice a trap! You are taking 100 5 points per round of strong poison. Lucky for you the poison on the trap hasn't been refreshed in ages.

Milo was dying, but he slowed down, and scanned the rock walls carefully. He found two more traps before he entered the room. He saw furniture covered in dust, and a body slumped in a chair, the narrow skull of a ratkin resting on the table littered with books, vials, and jars of rotted ingredients. A pile of what looked like empty healing potions made a pyramid on the floor. A huge book was open to a page that detailed the making of a restorative of some sort. Milo didn't understand half of it, but the potion required one full day of aging before it was useful. One outstretched skeletal hand held a flask with a sparkling golden liquid. Every other potion seemed to have been drank in an attempt to save the alchemist's life.

Milo's health was dropping steadily still, even slowed by the Strong Poison Resistance. The two traps hadn't helped, of course.

He grabbed the vial and drank down the amber liquid. It tasted like a fizzy drink from the hab. It also made him dizzy. He barely made it to the dust covered bed before he passed out.