Chapter Eleven: Chitin and Fire

The ceiling hissed.

That was the only warning we got got before a shadow dropped from the stone above, slamming into the center of the cavern with a wet, stone-splitting crunch that echoed down every adjacent tunnel.

[Cavern Crawler – Level 30]

The nameplate flared red across my vision as Gwyn and I stepped in front of Soriyella. I summoned my [raging blade] without hesitation, my fingers crackling with hungry red-orange heat as the weapon flared to life in a rising scream of flame imitating steel. The narrow cavern lit with sudden firelight. Crimson reflections skating across chitin and stalagmite alike.

"Stay back," I told Soriyella without turning. “I don’t know if my fire’ll hurt you.”

I didn't think it would, unless I wanted it to--but I was still too new at using magic.

The young Calibani girl nodded stiffly. “Crawlers are... some of the strongest things down here.”

I smiled, dry and excited. “Let’s see.”

I pulled flame into my free palm, compressing it into a compact sphere, and hurled it toward the monster’s massive, segmented frame.

The [fireball] hit dead center and exploded in a swirl of sparks and molten light. The spell blazed against its exoskeleton like a furnace unleashed.

It reared back, hissing, but the flames didn’t eat like I wanted them to. Just scorched. The monster’s chitin armor steamed and turned red but stayed intact. Great. First tank I’d met.

Gwyn moved before I could. She darted forward, her sleek body slipping beneath one of the crawler’s stilt-like forelegs just as it stabbed down with a pointed chitin tipped leg. The strike cracked the cavern floor. Gwyn snarled and raked a slash along the monster’s side, but her claws only scratched the surface. Barely.

“It’s slow, my lady!” she called.

“But tough as hell,” I muttered, and surged forward.

Mana flickered beneath my feet, and I reappeared at the crawler’s flank, blade sweeping toward the rear leg. I struck hard, intent and flame behind the cut—only to feel the same jarring resistance of armor Gwyn had. My summoned weapon skidded off the surface with a sputtering hiss.

I rolled away as another pointed leg came down hard enough to send tremors through my teeth.

This was a problem, I thought grimly. This thing had AC. Real AC. And we weren’t wearing it down fast enough.

A spike of warning pulsed through the bond with Gwyn. Alarm. Directional.

The panther confirmed that she heard more of them coming. Side tunnels.

I glanced behind me—Soriyella still at the entrance of the tunnel we'd come down, the only path we knew was clear.

I gritted my teeth. “We need to figure out how to hurt this thing. Now.”

“I agree,” Gwyn replied, dodging another stab. Her paws flickered with mana—teleport ready but not used.

I scanned the crawler again, watching closely as it moved. Chitin plates flexed and slipped against themselves as it moved to strike. And then—

There.

Between the plates, just beneath the leg joint, a flash of grayish-blue flesh when it attacked.

I sent the mental image to Gwyn through our bond.

Gwyn growled in recognition and leapt forward, claws raking the crawler’s armored face, drawing its attention. It lunged at her. She vanished.

I struck as it tried to.

My blade slipped between the armor, into the exposed leg joint, and with a roar I pulled hard to the side. The Raging Blade bit. Sliced. Severed.

The leg detached with a sickening snap, and the crawler screeched—a high, chittering scream that shook the air.

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The monster rocked, its remaining legs moving at odd angles. Exposing more weak points.

Another blink of mana, and Gwyn was there. She slashed through another exposed gap on the opposite side. A second leg toppled to the rocky ground.

The crawler collapsed forward, balance destroyed.

I flickered onto its back before it hit the ground.

Find the weak spot. Kill it before the others get here.

There: just behind the head. A jagged gap in its armor.

I drove my fire-shaped weapon downward with both hands, putting all my weight into it. It pierced through.

Two more crawlers screeched as they entered the cavern.

“Shit,” I hissed. Not enough time.

I flickered off the crawler’s back, leaving the blade embedded.

I activated [Raging Sorcery].

The feedback of between my perk activating and my spell sword responding ignited through my chest like a pulled trigger.

The sword detonated.

Chitin peeled away. Flames rushed outward. The crawler’s body spasmed, then stilled. Its limbs twitched as it collapsed in a steaming, stinking heap.

Gwyn leapt to intercept the crawler entering from left. I called out, “Can you handle it?”

Her reply was immediate over our bond. No words. Just confidence and a predator's primal exhilaration.

A yes that was as good as any.

I believed her.

I mana flickered toward the right tunnel. Straight into the path of the second crawler as it lunged at me. Two spear-tipped limbs flew at my chest. I vanished again just in time.

Reappearing inside its guard, inches from its face, I screamed and drove my blade forward.

[You have learned a skill! Thrust added to skill list.]

My body surged. My grip locked. A green aura bloomed around me. Stamina energy converted into momentum to challenge the Crawler's own. Precision. Speed.

My blade punctured deep into the crawler’s grotesque, elongated skull.

Its own weight carried us forward. I held firm, my hands on the grip of my flickering and shimmering flaming sword, boots skidding back across stone as it lost its own footing and faculties.

Stillness. Collapse.

I held on to the blade until it stopped moving completely.

Across the cavern, Gwyn was still dancing with her prey. The crawler there had lost two legs but was pushing her hard. I sprinted.

The panther was probably fine, but.

I wanted to test something.

I activated my [throw sword] skill.

Stamina flared. My arm, shrouded in that same green aura as before, pulled back.

I threw.

My weapon screamed across the air in a line of red light. It almost hit the crawler—but the monster shifted at the last moment.

But I wasn’t done.

I engaged Raging Sorcery.

The blade curved as it became less of a blade and more of a mass of energy--but still enough of one to penetrate. Thanks to my perk, I had control of its momentum now. I shifted it mid-air. And the weapon slammed into the crawler’s chest and exploded.

Gwyn leapt through the blast--unburnt by it--claws flashing, and ripped through exposed, scorched flesh. The crawler twitched once. Then went still.

Breathing hard, I called out. “You hurt?”

Gwyn flickered to my side and bumped my thigh with her head.

“I’m fine.”

I stroked my hand across her soft upper neck and shoulders. “You are a very good girl.”

“I know,” she replied smugly.

I turned toward Soriyella, still at the tunnel mouth. “It’s safe now.”

She stepped forward slowly, eyes flicking between the three mangled corpses. They shimmered. Shifted. Became glowing orbs of loot.

“That was... amazing,” she breathed. “Even the Elders try to avoid crawlers.”

I shrugged. “I had help. And the right spells. Good matchup, once I figured them out.”

She nodded reluctantly, still shaken.

“Mind if I…?” I gestured toward the loot.

She blinked. “No—go ahead.”

I stepped to the first orb.

>>

[Loot: Cavern Crawler – Level 30]

• Crawler Chitin.

• Greater Bestial Shard.

>>

Not bad. Not as exciting as possible, but not horrible.

The next two gave me the same: more chitin, more shards.

I pulled up the description of the only item that was new to me.

>>

Crawler Chitin

The hard and incredibly light chitin of a Canyon Crawler. Can be used as a component in crafting.

Rarity: Rare

Item Level: 3

>>

“Did you get anything good?” Soriyella asked quietly.

“Some soul shards. Not going to complain about those. And chitin.” I looked at my inventory. “Light. Tough. Could maybe use it to make armor, but I don't have the proficiency.”

“An Elder in the city might be able to help,” she said. “He used to be a crafter before the System locked. His armor and weapons are the only reason we can use our numbers to fight at all.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What's his tier?”

“Journeyman in leatherworking. Competent smith.”

I thought of the crafting pattern I’d picked up--wondering if I might get my Monsterhide Armor after all. “You think he can use patterns?”

“Maybe,” she said. “Patterns are rare drops. And we try not to fight more than we have to.”

I nodded slowly. “And the gear he makes... it helps that much?”

“Yes,” she said. “High-AC armor can protect anyone. And weapons with a good Weapon-Class level the playing field somewhat. People still get hurt--and die--but it helps a lot."

I looked at the chitin in my inventory, one more time before closing it.

“Okay,” I said. “I'd really like to talk to him. How far off are we from the city?"

She pointed down the tunnel ahead.

“Half an hour’s walk. If we’re lucky.”

I looked back at the three fading loot orbs. Then at Gwyn. Then forward.

“Let’s not push our luck then. We should go as fast as we can.”

We started walking again.