Chapter 47

Etson National Forest, Etson - 8:49 PM

I grimaced as Jeff lifted the Vague Stick for the seventh time, showing off a bear trap that was attached to the other end. He inexpertly changed the shape of the weapon to allow the trap to fall to the ground.

As it turned out, finding traps was harder for normal people than I remembered. After the third attempt, I had given Jeff the Vague Stick in order to help him out. He stretched it out as long as he could and prodded the ground looking for traps. Kayla did slightly better, pointing out traps hidden under the forest floor and attached to the trees. The fact that the trees were uniformly planted had proven to be more of a hindrance than a help since they expected them to be between them and not planted wherever Talspra felt it was necessary.

We had run into everything from arrow traps to spike pits to a drowning snare near a large stretch of swamp. It seemed improbable that one creature had set up so many traps, and it certainly didn’t help that the system was on her side to make the story work. Once she was dealt with, Serranras would be able to handle the rest, but until she was free there was nothing to do but hope no one wandered into the forest.

It didn’t help that every sound seemed to put both Kayla and Jeff on edge. Twig snapped? Heads turned. Leaves shifted? Had to look. I looked around casually, keeping my eyes peeled for any sign of Talspra. Every so often I would see something in the corner of my vision, but I had yet to see the Vespae fully.

“This is ridiculous,” Kayla muttered. “We’ve been walking for, what? Twenty minutes now? And the only thing we’ve seen is traps and trees. Is this wasp just messing with us at this point?”

“Even though it’s probably because the forest is huge, I’m going to say yes,” I said. “Despair, remember? We’re not falling into any traps, so it’s all right to chill until she gets here. Being vigilant is one thing, but there is such a thing as being too tense.”

“Gotta strike a healthy level of vigilance and anxiety,” Jeff said, though he sounded more stressed out than his wife. The Vague Stick pierced the ground, nearly making the man topple over. He pulled it out and the ground collapsed into another pit trap. “This is exhausting.” I made a purposefully vague noise of agreement but didn’t say anything. A trap to the left of us went off without our intervention, causing them to look that way, but I was looking to the right.

In the cover of the trees was a large, crimson-furred Vespae with two prominent black stripes around her abdomen and thorax. Like the others, she was a little over four feet tall and her long antennae kept twitching. As advertised, Talspra didn’t have wings, but that didn’t make her any less dangerous than the rest of her species. It was hard to tell from this distance, but I knew her black eyes were focused on Kayla and Jeff.

Talspra sat on branches around halfway up, resting casually and watching us closely. Our eyes met for a split second before she brought a hand crossbow up to aim at me, but by then it was too late. I Lifted the bolt out of the crossbow and Pulled it towards me.

I gingerly pushed the barbed bolt into my inventory as she stared at her weapon. “Sorry, were you going to use that for something?” I called out.

Kayla and Jeff turned to look in my direction as I raised my hand. Talspra reached for the quiver at her hip, but I wasn’t about to let her stay in a safe area and snipe at me and my friends. I Lifted and Dropped the quiver in quick succession, and she tried in vain to stop it. The bolts flew everywhere until the container was emptied out onto the forest floor and out of reach.

Not giving up, she skittered down the tree to where they had fallen, but by then Kayla and Jeff had seen where all of the commotion was and were moving towards her. I kept an eye out for them, triggering an arrow trap and a bear trap with my Warmind abilities before they made it to the bottom of the tree. Jeff tossed the Vague Stick aside, which I Pulled into my arms, and brandished his rapier. Kayla had already pulled her Vanishing Dagger out of whatever space it had vanished into, but she also pulled out her original ornate dagger for her off hand.

Talspra retrieved a small ball from one of the many belt pouches she wore and tried to throw it on the ground. I Lifted it, slowing it down enough that the smoke bomb didn’t go off on impact, and Pulled it towards me and my inventory. Corwin started shifting back and forth, but I went down to one knee and put my arm around him as we watched.

With the smoke bomb plan unexpectedly foiled, Talspra was too surprised to avoid Jeff’s first lunge. His rapier struck the Vespae dead center, but slid off of her tough exoskeleton without drawing blood. To Jeff’s credit, he didn’t lose his balance from the unexpected shift in his sword, but instead pulled his arm back to thrust again. Between attacks, I saw a faint, blue J appear underneath Talspra’s fur, and I knew that Jeff used his Marked Target ability on her.

Kayla moved to flank Talspra, but by then she had recovered. Dodging Jeff’s next thrust, the Vespae climbed up the tree enough to jump over the man. In midair she pulled a wicked barbed spear from where it was resting on her back and turned to face him. She parried two of these thrusts before attempting to slash at him. Jeff jumped backwards, narrowly missing Kayla, and gave Talspra the range advantage she wanted.

“It’s okay, Corwin, stay with me,” I said to the dog. His teeth were bared and he was growling loudly, but he listened. “You’re a good boy, and they’ll be fine.”

My gaze returned to the battle as Talspra danced around, keeping Jeff away with the threat of being skewered. Every so often she would send a warning jab at Kayla, but after every instance the glowing J on her chest became a little brighter. Talspra twirled and thrust sloppily at Jeff. He saw his opportunity, and he parried the spear.

When he took a step forward, I took action. I Pushed his shoe to the side, throwing him off balance. His sword glanced against her exoskeleton. I activated the snare Jeff would have stepped in and the branches snapped, pulling away nothing instead of my friend as intended. I heard Talspra click in disappointment, and I smirked.

Finally seeing an opportunity, Kayla took the chance to step into Talspra’s reach. She didn’t find it as easy as she thought as the Vespae shifted her grip and slammed the end of her spear’s shaft into Kayla’s face. The Double Agent backed off as Talspra was already ready to strike again by the time Jeff caught his footing.

With a series of quick jabs, Jeff managed to push Talspra back between a pair of trees lest she risk letting him get in stabbing distance. I heard her click again and she lifted her back foot more than normal. “Ground!” Jeff yelled.

Kayla threw one of her daggers towards the trunk of the tree. It cut through another string, and a series of five arrows rained down. Four of them struck Talspra and slid off, though they did deal damage. The last one pushed into her shoulder, causing her to grunt in pain. Jeff surged forward, but Talspra was already backing up at full speed. Out of his reach, she thrust her spear, knocking his sword away before hitting him with a shallow cut in the arm.

Despite the relatively minor injury, Jeff let out a cry of pain before forcing his mouth closed with his arm. I knew it would feel a lot worse than it actually was due to Talspra’s passive, Pain Enhancement. Now that he had been stung, I expected him to be more wary of her blade. The Vespae certainly thought so as she started to laugh at his pain. However, he grit his teeth and continued forward, unleashing another aggressive series of jabs as he tried to lead her to the next line of trees.

I was pleasantly surprised by the skill he had with the rapier. Normally when someone bragged that they had combat skills with outdated weapons they blew their skills out of proportion. Jeff clearly did have a lot of experience with the blade, and he was keeping up well with a superior enemy.

The issue I had was with Kayla. As she picked up her thrown blade and rushed forward, ducking under a wild swing from Talspra. The Vespae spun the spear, causing her to fall backwards or risk getting her head smacked again. However, she was in. Snapping back up in a show of great dexterity, she stepped behind Talspra and began slicing into her back with the power of Backstab.

The series of blows made me frown. While her husband was clearly a good fighter with a lot of potential, I had been in the system long enough to see that Kayla was relying solely on Dagger Mastery to show her where to strike. The Mastery skills primary purpose was as a damage booster; they didn’t move your body for you, but they did alter your instincts with subconscious nudges and suggestions. Kayla’s movements were stiff and robotic with no creativity or finesse to them. A slice here, a stab there. It was adequate, but adequate wasn’t going to be enough for long.

Lunging to the side, Talspra dove for the ground. She rolled, getting leaves and twigs stuck along her hairy body, before jumping onto the side of a tree. The wasp sliced a string at ground level and a black barrel fell from the branches. It hit the ground with a loud thud and burst, spreading an amber liquid along the ground and at Jeff and Kayla’s feet. Talspra pulled another smoke bomb from her pouch as the smell of gasoline hit my nose. Raising her hand, she threw it at the pool of liquid. I Lifted it, but she had already pulled a second one and tossed it towards the ground.

Jeff was there in an instant, trying to catch the smoke bomb before it could hit the ground and release the spark necessary to light the gasoline. He stumbled, however, and missed. Kayla saved the day instead. Despite being further back, Kayla dove head first into the gasoline to grab the smoke bomb. It exploded in her hand, but thankfully the spark didn’t make it to the pool below. She yelped as her hand stung, but tossed the smoke bomb away.

Jumping off of the tree, Talspra lowered her spear to skewer the prone Double Agent into the ground. Being too close to wield his sword properly, Jeff lowered his shoulder and rammed into the Vespae. Despite the heavier exoskeleton, Talspra was still a lightweight bug, and her tip only barely managed to penetrate Kayla’s back before she tumbled over the forest floor. Both women screamed in pain, though the Vespae screamed because of the snare snapping her into the air by her leg.

Grabbing Kayla by the back of her shirt, Jeff effortlessly pulled her out of the gasoline puddle and set her on her feet. He quickly checked the wound before approaching the hanging Vespae. Talspra attempted to cut herself down but I intervened, Pushing her spear so that it missed the rope. By then, it was too late for her to try again. Jeff roared as he stopped his leading jabs and laid into Talspra with devastating thrusts. The Vespae’s spear spun and twirled as she tried to her best to stop the rapier from hitting something vital.

It didn’t take long for Talspra to begin spinning wildly thanks to their efforts. Her movements became more erratic as she tried to stabilize herself with her free leg, but her panic was her undoing. Jeff caught her spear with his free hand and slid his rapier up the shaft. It sliced into her hand, causing her to remove it from the weapon, and he pulled it free from her other. Talspra reached up for her belt pouch as Jeff grabbed one of her antennae and yanked hard.

Talspra’s head jerked downwards just in time for Kayla to step in. Her face showed that she was still in incredible pain, but she fought through it. With a yell of exertion Kayla stabbed her ornate dagger into Talspra’s neck and her Vanishing Dagger directly into the Vespae’s eye. Two devastating critical hits that were empowered by Kayla’s current build. The blades dug deep before coming out the other end, and the bug stilled.

[[Victory!]]

You have contributed in slaying the Roaming Boss [Talspra, Kobold Jailer]. +40 (200) points.

“Run!” I yelled, Pushing the body away from them.

Kayla and Jeff looked at each other before heeding my warning. They only got a few feet away before Talspra’s corpse exploded, sending shards of her exoskeleton and piles of guts everywhere. The two of them screamed as they fell to the ground, pieces of Talspra sticking out of their backs.

I cringed and pulled out two pieces of bread from my inventory. “Alright, hold still, you two,” I said as I approached. I knelt down in front of them and held the bread out. Inwardly, I was happy that I had gotten to the point where I was able to hold bread. “Here, eat these. They’re magic and they’ll help heal you. Bitch really did trap everything, didn’t she?”

Pain had turned Kayla and Jeff’s faces red, and I could see that there were tears in Jeff’s eyes which Corwin immediately tried to lick before I pulled him back. Even still, they slowly took the bread and began eating it. “It’s delicious,” Jeff choked out through the tears.

“That banana bread is a hot commodity, you know, and I’m only giving it to you because I like you guys,” I said as I started Lifting the Talspra pieces out of their bodies. Every time I did, they grunted and grit their teeth, but they were doing an admirable job of keeping it down.

Until Kayla raised her head too fast, causing her to grimace. “What about Talspra’s head?” she asked quickly. “We need that for the quest!”

“It’s fine, Kayla, the head survived the explosion because it’s a quest item,” I said with a smile. She let loose a sigh of relief, and I Pulled the items that survived the battle towards us.  It wasn’t much as everything Talspra had on her exploded with her corpse. As I waited for the pain to subside in my companions, I laid out the items in front of them.

The first was the spear she used, which survived thanks to Jeff pulling it free. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a magical item, nor was the hand crossbow that she had left. I collected nine more bolts and, while they weren’t magical ammunition, they were still good. They had been coated in a pain amplifying poison that worked in cruel tandem with Talspra’s pain enhancement passive. I frowned.

“Are you two laying on loot?” I asked.

“Maybe. Everything hurts and I can’t tell,” Jeff admitted.

“I’m pretty sure I’m laying on a skill book,” Kayla offered. She attempted to push herself up, but it was slow going. Once she was high enough, I Pulled the book out from under her. It was green with a picture of a dripping stinger on the cover. Jeff attempted to do the same, but didn’t make it nearly as far as Kayla did yet.

“Neat, Pain Enhancement passive,” I said without opening it. “Basically, exactly what Talspra could do but watered down to about one and a half times more painful.”

Kayla grimaced. “Ugh, that sounds like it’s going to make me a bigger target than I already am.”

“Very likely,” I said with a nod. “Though it could also keep people away from you. It’s your call whether you want to use it or give it to Jeff. Personally, I’m always happy to pass it off to a tank.”

“I don’t want it. Jeff?”

“Yeah, I’ll take it,” Jeff huffed. With all of the pieces removed from his back, he finally shifted enough that I could see what loot he was over. It was another book, this one gray with a bear trap on it. I Pulled it free.

“Trap Tripper,” I said. “It’s a skill with various levels of power, but it’ll only be the first level. Basically, it’ll let you trip one trap you can see regardless of whether you set it up or not. Higher levels of the skill can go up to ten, but even one can be useful.”

Jeff immediately slid it over to Kayla, and she pushed the Pain Enhancement skill book towards him. I stood up even as Corwin laid down beside them. They opened the books and learned the skills together.

“Alright, I’ll give you two about five more minutes before we start heading back,” I said. “Then we’ll discuss how today went and how I thought you both did.” Both Kayla and Jeff sighed and laid their heads back on the ground, exhausted.