Chương 19: Bloodspawn (2)

Before any more ants could notice him, Rowan took off, sprinting towards the tunnel. He was already halfway there before the first of the ants even realized he was there. Some of them tried to pursue him, but he'd already passed the vast majority, leaving only a few in his way. All around him, chains sprang to life, binding the legs of soldier ants. None of them managed to even get close to him.

[Bind lvl 5 → Bind lvl 6] Binding the legs of one last soldier standing in his way, Rowan entered the tunnel the Fungal Bloodspawn had fled into. Immediately, he noticed a change in the ambiance. Before, it'd felt like the caves were slowly being taken over by the fungi. Here, it felt as if the bloody mold was the cave itself. That it had become a natural part of the environment. After a few more seconds of running, he glanced behind him.

And to his surprise, no ants were pursuing him; not one of the insects was in his sight. Cautiously, he backtracked until he could see the entrance to the tunnel. There, clustered around it, were dozens of soldiers. But not one of them stepped forward. It was almost as if they feared entering the bloodspawn's territory, and it made sense; the fungal creatures had slaughtered dozens of ants in the battle.

Rowan didn't know how the dynamic between the opposing forces worked, but he thought that the insects didn't want to enter the cavern because they feared retaliation. The battle he'd just seen had seemed like a border skirmish, taking place in a sort of no-man's-land where neither side had taken control. The area he'd just stepped into, on the other hand, was obviously the bloodspawn's domain. Perhaps the ants entering would elicit another, more forceful attack? He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and refocused.

With the ants clustered around the entrance, he had no way out. And while he didn't want to go deeper into the tunnel, he wasn't just going to wait at the entrance, hoping for them to give up and leave. For all he knew, if he let his guard down, the promise of getting to him might outweigh whatever fear the insects had of the place. Mace at the ready, Rowan turned and marched deeper into the tunnel. As he walked, observing the area, he realized why the fungi felt so natural here compared to outside.

When he'd been running, he hadn't been able to get an accurate picture, just a blur of the environment. And even that had been enough for him to feel that something was different. But now, he realized that there was an entire ecosystem here. Mushrooms of all sorts—but still blood red—sprang from the ground, some of them giving off an eerie light. Ahead, he could see strange vines dangling from the ceiling. He started as he saw something dart across the ground before him. But when nothing happened, he continued.

Every once in a while, he would catch a glimpse of something small running about. Perhaps they were this place's equivalent of mice or rats? Shaking his head, he continued moving forward. It was dark here, even compared to the ant colony's tunnels. There, there had been the luminescent moss everywhere. But here, the only light besides that of his chains was from the occasional glowing mushroom.

There had been tunnels with just a few sparse patches of moss, especially when he was nearing the battlefield, but something about the gloomy, red environment made the tunnels around him seem especially dark. Arriving at the vines he'd seen, Rowan winced as he brushed them out of his way. They had thorns. And though they weren't that sharp, especially with his toughness stat, they still hurt when he pressed his flesh against them too forcefully.

Approaching more carefully, he pushed them aside with his mace and, whenever possible, avoided interacting with the vines altogether. And as time ticked by, Rowan felt his unease growing. Nothing was happening. Nothing moved but the occasional critter in the corner of his eye. But where had the Bloodspawn gone? It just felt like something should've happened. It almost came as a relief when something finally did attack. It just wasn't from anywhere he expected.

After pushing some vines aside for the umpteenth time, Rowan let out a cry of surprise as, rather than being moved out of the way, the vines instead wrapped themselves around him. The dangling red plants sprang to life around him, vines snaking towards him. The thorns dug into his skin, drawing blood in some places. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But the wounds were minor.

What actually concerned him was how they were constricting further and further, already passing the point of discomfort. Grunting, he struck at the plant with his mace, but the weapon just wasn't designed for the fight. After a few futile strikes, Rowan concentrated, ignoring the vines for a moment and summoning a blade of mana. As he wrestled with the crimson plant, he willed the blade forward, slicing towards the vines.

But the rope-like plant flailed about as it tried to strangle him, making it impossible to land a good hit. To make matters worse, Rowan's torso and left arm were already trapped by the vine. With a curse, he flattened part of the mana construct into something resembling a handle. Then, he dropped his mace and grabbed the blade with his free hand. Rowan grinned as the blade cut cleanly through the plant, severing a vine. And then his smile faded as it… screamed?

Glancing up in alarm, he saw a gaping maw facing down at him from the cave's low ceiling. It was made of a mix of vines and fungi, and instead of teeth, it had row upon row of thorns. From a mere glance, he could already tell that the creature's 'teeth' were far sharper and more deadly than the thorns of the vines that he was currently fighting. [Fungal Vine Strangler - Level 6] After taking a moment to process what he was seeing, he attacked once more, fighting with more vigor than ever.

After severing another of the vines, he channeled mana, infusing his chains. And, as they sprang to life, he finally cut the last vine binding his left arm, freeing it. The Vine Strangler tried to grasp him again, but was met with Rowan's chains. Taking advantage of his newly released limb, he snatched up the mace. It wasn't particularly useful against the plant, but another means of fighting was always a good thing. For a while, the two forces clashed, relatively even as they wound around each other.

The chains were stronger and more durable, but they lacked the same maneuverability as the vines. Against every enemy he'd fought so far, they had worked, but the vines were thin enough that it was hard for his chains to get a grip. The links on the chains proved to be a weakness as well, as he watched the smaller vines snake through the holes, restricting their movement. But the chains weren't his only weapon.

Mana construct in hand, Rowan slashed through the Vine Strangler with ease, slicing vines apart the moment they gained an advantage over his chains. And slowly, the creature was running out of vines. Then, he felt a pull on his waist. He twisted around, but there was no vine wrapped around him. It took him a few seconds to realize what was wrong. A waterskin—one of the full ones—was gone. As he'd been whittling the plant down, he hadn't noticed a single, small vine sneaking up behind him.

And, apparently, the Vine Strangler had used that opening to snatch half of his most valuable resource. Whether the creature had realized it couldn't win and chosen to do as much harm as possible or simply lashed out and grabbed whatever it could, Rowan didn't know. And he didn't particularly care, either. He snatched at the escaping vine, but it was already out of his reach, and his chains were already occupied. Letting out a roar of anger, he threw his mana construct, aiming with his [Mana Manipulation].

[Mana Manipulation lvl 8 → Mana Manipulation lvl 9] The blade struck true, slicing the finger-thin vine. With the waterskin freed, Rowan reached up, preparing to catch it. But just as it began to drop, another vine snatched it up. The vine was short, barely a meter long, with most of it already lying limp on the floor around him. Still, it managed to grip the container, bringing it up to the Vine Strangler's mouth.

He stopped paying attention to the rest of the vines, staring in horror as the creature bit down on the waterskin, its thorns piercing the leather with ease. Then, the creature dropped it to the ground below. Rowan watched as trails of precious, precious water poured from the countless holes, leaving trails of water behind the falling waterskin.

"You mother fucker!" Rowan screamed at the Fungal Vine Strangler, pulling his Mana Construct back into his hand.

"You absolute piece of shit!" He slashed wildly at the vines, freeing up his chains. Then, once there were no more vines long enough to fight him, he directed the chains upward. The Vine Strangler tried to defend itself with its damaged vines, but it was too late. All it took was a few seconds for Rowan to get past them, chains wrapping around the plant creature. [Bind lvl 6 → Bind lvl 7] Then, he pulled, not just manipulating the chains but physically grasping them and pulling them downwards.

The Vine Strangler screamed and screamed, crying out louder than ever before. It was enough to put a small smile on his face. Then, finally, the vine strangler was ripped from the stone ceiling. It landed with a thump and let out one last wail before Rowan was upon it. Mace in one hand, mana blade in another, he tore into it. Screaming and cursing all the while.

"You." He slammed his mace down.

"Absolute." Another strike.

"Fucking." He stabbed into it with his blade. [You have slain Fungal Vine Strangler - Level 6] He ignored the notification." Bitch." He struck with both his weapons at once.

"Of a plant." Rowan took a deep breath before stabbing it one last time.

"I hope your entire bloodline gets eaten by bloodspawn." Then, he fell to the ground of the cave, one waterskin poorer.