Mage And Wolf
Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Chapter 115

"We’ve got ammunition, snacks, new enchanted sword, a rifle for Kel’Mira, fresh radio batteries, anything else we need?" I ask the group as we pack up to head out the next morning.

"Everything else should be in the truck" Hui’Jin answers.

"I had some more portal closing scrolls sent over" Kel’Mira adds.

"I want stamina pills" Vinnie complains. "There’s no proper pill Master here"

I dig a large bottle out of my storage and pour out a few for everyone. "I’ve got an assortment of pills with me. Just let me know what you need."

"Unless you’ve got the Forbidden Core Formation pills, I think I’m good now" Kel’Mira laughs, and the guys give her an awkward look.

"Why are you giving me that look? It was a joke, nobody makes cursed pills, they’re banned from creation because other than the Death God’s favored Priestesses, nobody can take the curse."

"Yeah, about that. Our Sect Master warned us the Shadowed Blade had been using them to speed level disciples, so our noble leader just might actually have some" Paul says, rubbing his nose.

"So do you?" Vinnie asks, looking straight at me.

"Maybe one or two" I shrug.

"I would ask why so stingy, but those things are priceless treasures" Kel’Mira sighs.

"Priceless treasures and you used one on me to bring me to Fortification?" Hui’Jin asks, startled.

"You’re my favorite disciple"

"I’m your ONLY disciple" She points out, poking me in the chest.

"Same thing, really. But if any of you really needs another, I can arrange something"

Kel’Mira just shakes her head. "All ready? Good, I’m driving all day today. Getting some practice in."

"Class 2 group on the left" Hui’Jin calls, and we turn off the road. This is the third one already, and we’re not even to the portal yet. Grade 2 Albino tigers are the target this time.

"Everyone hold up a minute. I’ve got to do a thing, and then we can start." I raise my voice to be heard as I run towards the pack. No way an I letting those pelts be burned, fried and shot full of holes. My rugs need updating, and Kel’Mira would look great in a white tiger fur coat.

I dart in, Kicking the first target hard and twisting to punch another. Two down in an instant and the others are almost on me.

I jump, tucking my legs up and one sails below me, leaving his back exposed and quickly broken.

The last 2 I have to chase down, but I successfully recover all pelts without damage. Win for me.

"What, pray tell was that all about?" Vinnie asks.

"I needed new rugs for my apartment and Kel’Mira would look amazing in a tiger fur coat this winter. It would really match her robes."

Everyone laughs, and I can see her imagining herself in a long, soft coat. I knew that was worth the trouble. I’ll have to find a magical beast taxidermist though. That might have to wait a while.

There’s no sign of trouble as we approach the last marked dungeon site, it’s about 3 meters across and sitting in relatively open scrub land.

"I don’t know if this is better or worse than a monster horde. Are they all still in there waiting, or have they run off to cause mayhem elsewhere?" Vinnie mutters.

The answer is still not evident after looking in the portal.

"Is that a felwood?" Kel’Mira wonders out loud. "We have them on my home planet, they corrupt all manner of creatures that lives in them, giving them power and turning them evil and violent."

"So there might be corrupted local animals? Is that what you’re saying?" Paul asks.

"I don’t see much local wildlife though, and the plants around the portal still look fairly good, just a bit blackened." Hui’Jin adds, unsure what to make of this portal.

"Sealing the entrance won’t stop the effect, just keep the monsters in and out. Should we go try to find whatever is cursing the forest to create a felwood"

Nobody looks too enthused, but it has to be done. We drive slowly into the portal, stopping well short of the tree line. The whole forest looks withered, the bark blackened as if by tar, the leaves curled up upon themselves.

The smell of rot is heavy in the air, and I see something moving in the underbrush. Very low to the ground, I am thinking snake.

"Umbral snake" Kel’Mira whispers. "Get it from range, they are very poisonous and it’s a very hard one to cure."

Our two benevolent archers are more than happy to kill the menace, launching lightning arrows at its dark body. The snake is fast, entirely dodging one of the arrows and slithering back behind a corrupted tree. A tree that is now moving, like it intends to uproot itself to chase us.

Is that a treant? A corrupted tree spirit? Best not to get attacked by the forest itself.

"Hui’Jin, please set the woods on fire. Use your new staff, and dump all your mana into multiple barrages of fire." That’s all it takes to get her moving, dozens of small fireballs in every wave landing in the trees.

Now it’s clear how many of the trees were in fact living, moving beings. A full quarter of the forest has started to uproot itself, making angry noises that remind me of a saw through lumber.

Hui’Jin looks winded, but moves to grab the handles of the mounted gun as she absorbs fresh mana from a monster core. That name really does fit better than the mana stones Karl first dubbed them.

The exclusive rounds are splintering treants in a hurry, and I can hear monsters fleeing. Both away from the rapidly spreading forest fire, and towards us, through it.

"We’ve got incoming" I shout as the noises get louder.

"Don’t let them damage the truck. if it gets that bad, back out of the portal" I instruct Kel’Mira, our new designated driver.

The first through the flaming tree line are the injured Umbral snake and 2 of its friends. The fire doesn’t seem to have affected them much, so I move to engage as Vinnie and Paul launch arrows overhead.

The arrows are stunning the beasts, making them easier to deal with, but dodging three sets of fangs is still hard work. I manage to spear one through the mouth as it strikes, dropping it instantly, but a solid tail strike knocks me to the ground.

I’m blinking the stars out of my eyes when the next attacks come in, forcing me to roll. My armor is holding strong, but blunt force is still painful to deal with, and I don’t want to risk getting knocked out and eaten.

I land a solid hit just behind the head of one, where a humans throat would be, but get minimal bleeding. Evidently not a vital spot on these snakes.

It has slowed the beast down though, the wounded muscles are hindering its ability to strike, making it rely more on its large body. An arrow comes in from the direction of the truck and pierces the beasts eye, all but killing it before the second one hits home in the skull.

"Needed less lightning, more penetration" Vinnie shouts "We’re all over this now"

The fire is seriously getting out of control though. The portal enters at one edge of the realm, into a large clearing, and from here, everything we can see is ablaze. Treants are too slow to flee and have dropped by the dozens. The actual trees of the forest are faring much worse, standing no chance at all of resisting the magical fire.

"Hold for now, conserve ammunition until the waves of monsters start." I instruct, returning to the truck to grab a drink.

We wait a full fifteen minutes until the fire starts dying down as it reaches the far edge of the dungeon. I still hear plenty of movement, and pained noises, but no sign of what caused the corruption yet.

"I hope it isn’t the soil or something that’s causing this. If it’s not something we can remove, we will need an alternate plan, possibly clearing the area around the portal and encasing it in spells and cement."

"That plan actuality doesn’t sound too bad" Paul laughs. "Better than digging up an entire dungeon to purify the dirt"

Finally the monsters come. A few dozen snakes and a dryad that looks like it’s covered in oil and dragging a sarcophagus.

This time even Kel’Mira is out of the truck, using the door as a gun rest to get some practice in with her new rifle. She’s a lousy shot, but the dryad is big, some shots still hit it.

I dart forward to take out the snakes, arrows giving me covering fire while Hui’Jin works the other side with the .50

The burns and lightning are confusing the Umbral snakes senses, while the explosions of the enchanted ammunition make tracking by vibration all but impossible.

Beheading them works best, it’s hard to guess where their vital organs are, as they’re all different sizes.

All that’s left now is the dryad, the tar like covering to its body snuffing out flames and healing wounds.

I go for the coffin instead. If I can remove the treasure from this portal, it should be cleansed at next reset. Treasures usually only appear once, never respawning. A first clear bonus of sorts.

A swing of my sword detaches the ornate stone burial box from the corrupted monster and all goes silent around me. No healing, no gunfire, not even the movement of leaves on the wind.

I look arrive and see that everything is gone, only plain dirt and my team remains. Then a black miasma begins rising from the box.

Nope, no zombies, vampires or evil undead today. Turn Undead! Turn Undead Again!

"Ow, hey, stop, HELP!" The box yells, the miasma now clear.

"Should we open it?" Hui’Jin asks.

"It did ask for help" Kel’Mira notes.

"We can shoot it full of hundreds of holes if it is aggressive" Vinnie suggests.

I step cautiously over to the box and push the stone lid to the side, revealing a young looking vampire, holding a black crystal full of something that feels very evil.

"What’s with the crystal, kid?" I ask, resisting the urge to simply steal it.

"It was supposed to collect the curse from me and turn me back to a living being, if you must know, Lycan" He informs me in a haughty tone.

"You wanted to stop being undead?" Vinnie asks and everyone nods their desire to know this answer.

"I’m very, very old. One more head pat and I was ready to walk into the sun, so I decided to try to cleanse myself."

"It failed. You cursed the entire forest, and the dryad who was watching over you instead."

"Drat, back to the starting line."

"How about you come outside with us? It’s dark now, so no sunburns, and it’s best your cursed stone was gone from the area before it resets in a few hours."

"Will that cure the area though?" Kel’Mira wonders out loud.

"Maybe, maybe not. But we won’t know unless we try. If it doesn’t, we might need to kill the duplicate you though, sir Vampire."