NOVEL SIMPLE B1 | Chapter 20 - The Chase
Alexia Knight
Loud chittering echoes throughout the forest when an assassination fails on the upper floors of the ‘tree house’ and I’m forced to sprint out of the building after cutting the head off of the scythid. By the time I’m out of the tree though, I find dozens of scythids rushing towards me, all of which are higher leveled than me.
Shit. This didn’t go well.
My gaze locks on the cliff before I begin running across the leaves towards it, occasionally teleporting and cutting the arm or head off of a scythid when one rushes towards me and almost hits me. But fortunately my own speed has almost caught up with theirs thanks to my leveling, so none of them manage to get a major hit on me, the worst they do being small scratches across my arms and legs. Scratches that would’ve been much worse if it weren’t for Quantum Body, making them heal quickly thanks to my soul.
The chittering continues growing louder and louder as more and more of the annoying bugs join the chase, with each of them slowly catching up repeatedly only to fall behind a little when I cut one down and teleport forward to regain some distance. Which is honestly a much faster way to kill them than the slow assassinations I was performing earlier, even if it’s significantly less safe.
Out of nowhere, as I’m about halfway through the forest to the cliff, four different scythids jump out of a higher floor of the trees to land on the leaves in front of me, so I duck down under one of their scythes, swinging my glaive around to cut through their knee before I jump to my feet again. Then two of the others rush at me at the same time, one snapping their curved triangular mouth at me, just barely missing me as I duck my head backwards while the other swings both of its scythe arms down on me, one of them missing and the other cutting just barely into my neck but only leaving a small scratch.
My eyes widen at that, and I respond by sending a bolt of quantum energy at the one that almost got me before spinning around and swinging my glaive into the other, not hitting it with the blade end but still sending it flying off of the leaf anyways as I focus my attention on the fourth one who is now rushing forwards. But this one I manage to bring my glaive up horizontally with both hands on it, blocking both of its scythes before I kick out its legs, redirect the things blades, and let go of my glaive to send a quantum bolt straight into its gut.
Then I teleport past the thing to regain distance on the ones chasing me.
I take a quick look at my soul to find it still over three fourths full as I begin jumping from leaf to leaf, having reached the point of the little leaf platforms where they start lowering down to the ground. And at this point, the scythids manage to gain even more ground on me purely because they weigh less than me despite me being generally considered rather small despite my physically fit nature and the leaves tolerate their landing better than my own.
After just a few jumps following which I jump once more straight towards the ground, I feel the magical energy of a scythid getting too close, but since I’m in the air I can’t do much about it besides begin turning while raising my glaive. The creature is too fast though, and its scythes cut straight into my back, tearing into the wrapping making up the armor and slicing into me as I let out a short choke of pain before swinging my glaive into the creature, cutting through its side all the way from one end to the other.
Then I crash to the ground, not managing to land on my feet.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I look up to find over half a dozen scythids already flying through the air towards me with many more following behind them.
I teleport two meters away, closer to the cliff right before they land, striking at where I was just at and causing some more confusion amongst them while I begin running with all the strength I have left, repeatedly teleporting along the way and burning through my soul in the process. But thanks to my wound, running is a lot more difficult now, and I’m pretty sure using quantum reversal will just end up draining me dry of soul entirely at a rapid pace considering the amount I have left, which is nearing halfway empty,.
Damn these stupid insects! I wish I could just set this entire place on fire, but there isn’t any flint here for me to light! Probably because the dungeon itself didn’t like the idea of someone burning down the forest and taking the easy way out without magic. And my quantum magic only leaves burns on things that survive it. It doesn’t set things on fire.
Moments like these make me wish I had even the slightest ounce of fire affinity. Not that it’d do much good for me without mana.
I continue moving, repeatedly looking back to find the creatures gradually gaining on me again until I finally make it to the cliff. Then I realize the issue of my wound stopping me from climbing. So I turn around and start firing off bolts of quantum energy at the approaching scythids, killing them back and forth while slowing them down until I get another level-up message.
{Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 25! Your Species has awarded you +2 VIT, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN. Your Class has awarded you +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN.}
[*New Passive Skill* – Quantum Infusion: All of your physical attacks are now infused with a small amount of quantum energy from the environment, regardless of if the attacks were made with your body or through equipment. Skill is automatically slotted due to free open slots.]
My eyes widen in shock at the new skill. One of the best types of passive skills for most classes in combat, since it lets you use your magic without actually needing to use your mana. Or in my case, soul.
And generally this skill just stacks on top of the effects of equipment that already do the same, making them stronger.
I continue sending bolts of quantum energy at the enemies until I feel the wound on my back having healed enough for me to push through the pain and begin climbing the cliff. Then I quickly teleport from one stable location to another until I finally reach the top of the cliff and look down, finding the scythids all rushing up faster than I did, gaining the ground they had lost due to my attacks.
Without any hesitation, I send several quantum bolts down at the ones closest to the top, knocking them back down to the bottom and killing a few of them before I start running towards the tunnel and then through it, ignoring the scythids that are finally starting to reach the top by this point.
I keep running and running, occasionally teleporting to speed myself up a bit until I finally make it back to the maze and immediately collapse on the ground covered from head to toe in sweat. But I quickly roll myself over with far more effort than it would normally take to find the dozens of scythids standing outside of the area, many of them having continued past the barrier, disappearing in the process.
Who knows how long passes as the creatures chitter away at me from the other side of the barrier before they finally start to leave. Although not without leaving a few of them at the barrier to watch me, the creatures finally showing a bit more intellect.
My head drops to the ground, my strength finally leaving me now that I’m safe again. Or mostly safe, since there could technically be spiders somewhere around here.
But I don’t sense any, so it should be fine. Plus they’re weaker than the scythids and in fewer numbers.
I stare at the ceiling of the cavern for a long time before muttering, “Maybe I should just find a damned hidden exit…”
Too bad the things only appear starting at the halfway point of each dungeon…