Chương 26: The Sound of Water (4)

As the doglike creatures drew closer and closer to the battling vine strangler and bloodspawn, Rowan still didn't move in. Instead, he began creating mana constructs. Rather than making the six-inch-long blades he normally used, he formed much smaller ones. Each of them was at most an inch long, almost like a needle. And he made six of them.

It was surprisingly easy to do so, especially when he would normally struggle with creating just two constructs, but it made sense; they were small enough that they didn't take much concentration to form, and it also seemed like either their small size or amount of mana was enough to make them much easier to control than their larger counterparts.

He still had no shot at truly controlling all of them, at least not with his current level of mastery, but they were simple enough that he could do basic things with them, such as shooting all of them forward at once. And so, he waited. The bloodspawn were much closer now, and he could actually make out some details. Just like most of their kind, they were small, the largest barely reaching above his knees.

But there were seven of them, and he couldn't help but feel a tingle of fear as he watched their vicious charge. Soon, they arrived. Immediately, the snarling beasts leaped upon the strangler's vines, tearing into them. They weren't nearly tall or strong enough to reach or jump up to the vine strangler's mouth, but they could still damage the parts of its body that were hanging down. With the help of its smaller brethren, the humanoid bloodspawn began to free itself from the vines that bound it.

The tide of the battle was turning. Then, Rowan jumped in. Six darts of mana shot forward, piercing into the ranks of the beasts. They plunged deep into their flesh, but the projectiles simply didn't do enough damage. He had already made more, though. Another volley, this time of only five needles shot forward. Instead of being spread out like the precious wave, they were all concentrated in a much smaller area. And they worked wonderfully, spearing into a jumping bloodspawn.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] Then, Rowan moved in. He still had some mana, but he wanted to save that in case he needed to use his chains. So he launched and cut off mana to the larger construct he'd had floating alongside him for a while. It buried itself in the chest of the humanoid beast, but it wasn't enough to kill it. With his good arm, he wielded his mace.

It wasn't too effective a weapon against the larger bloodspawn, since they were annoyingly durable, but it was perfect against smaller, less durable opponents. Despite the barrage of mana projectiles, the creatures were still distracted by the vine strangler. Taking as much advantage of it as he could, Rowan swept into them, tearing through the small bloodspawn. With every swing, he struck another of the beasts, and the damage was adding up quickly. It wasn't long before one of them fell before his assault.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] But it was too good to last. One after another, the creatures turned their attention from the plant creature to him. With a curse, Rowan slammed his mace down on a charging bloodspawn's head. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 2] He hadn't really thought out what was going to happen once he engaged with the beasts that far outnumbered him, but now that he was doing it, things were getting difficult.

Thankfully, all of his enemies were already injured, whether that be from his initial barrage of projectiles or rampage with his mace. With them all slowed, Rowan was actually faster than most of the creatures, allowing him to stay afloat under the pressure of so many enemies. And even though he was whittling down their numbers, even managing to take down the humanoid beast—which was, admittedly, already heavily injured by the vine strangler—he was still on the back foot.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 5] [Level 7 → Level 8] Strength surged through him as his stats grew, and he swept his mace forward with renewed vigor, driving his opponents back. After that, the tide turned. Rowan ended the four remaining houndish beasts, one after another.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 2] [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 4] [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] He let out a sigh of relief as the last of the beasts fell. The fight had been fast but exhausting, and he didn't know if he could have kept fighting for too much longer. But that didn't answer the question of where the hounds—as he'd decided to call them—had come from.

It was the largest gathering of bloodspawn he'd seen yet, and they had seemingly come out of nowhere. After a few moments of rest, Rowan took a step forward, moving deeper into the tunnel. Then, a vine wrapped around him. Rowan cursed as more vines began to wrap around him. In the heat of the battle, he'd entirely forgotten about the vine strangler, even after the fight had ended and he'd had some time to think. He pulled on his mana, summoning a small blade and severing the vines around him.

There weren't many of them left after the plant had been torn apart by the bloodspawn, and once he had severed the last of them, the strangler was helpless. So he reached up and grabbed the mangled remains of the creature's vines and pulled with all his might. The two struggled against each other for a while, until slowly, the fungal vine strangler's terrifying head was ripped from the stone ceiling. As it fell, it tried to bite his hand, but he pulled away, watching the plant thump to the ground.

A few good hits from his mace later, the strangler was dead. [You have slain Fungal Vine Strangler - Level 6] Rowan shook his head. He couldn't just forget about threats like that. Not if he wanted to survive. He took a second to recover from the shock and then continued down the tunnel. He didn't know if there really was anything down there, but since so many of the hounds had come from it, he figured it was worth a shot.

He also realized that the tunnel he had entered followed the sound of running water, if not as closely as the one he'd spent most of his time walking down. Still, it was nice to know he was still along the mysterious watersource rather than growing too far away from and potentially even losing track of it. Eyes peeled for any sign of a threat, he kept moving, but he didn't see anything. Not yet. After a few minutes, he heard the faint sounds of the doglike bloodspawn in the distance and prepared himself.

It seemed like there had to be something in the tunnel, since he'd seen so few of the hounds before here. He continued, mace held out in front of him, until the creature came into sight. [Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 2] It also seemed like these smaller bloodspawn were always a lower level than the others, though he had seen two of them at level 4 during his time in the caves.

The creature leaped at him, but Rowan just swung his mace, slamming the beast into the wall before bringing the weapon down on it again to finish it off. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 2] He kept walking, searching for any more bloodspawn. And he found them. In groups of ones and twos, but none like the huge party he'd fought earlier. Those that he did encounter were dispatched quickly, none of them above level 3. But something else was changing, too.

With every step he took, the crimson mold on the walls grew thicker, more veins pulsing along it. Soon, even on the floor of the cave, he couldn't see the grey of the stone. He kept moving, and as he delved deeper and deeper into the tunnel, he heard something. Not quite sure what it was, he kept listening and moved forward. The splashing of water. And it wasn't from above him, either. It was from up ahead. Unable to contain his excitement, Rowan broke into a run, sprinting down the cave.

He didn't encounter any more enemies as he continued to move, allowing him to focus entirely on reaching the source of the noise. He couldn't see too far ahead of him, as the chains on his body were the only source of light. He wasn't even sure if he could stop them from producing light. That was concerning, especially if he needed to hide. Even when he activated [Bind], a small part at the seemingly never-ending source of the chains remained glowing and spectral. He shook his head.

It didn't matter, not right now, at least. He could certainly look into it later. But as he reached the source of the water he'd been hearing, he realized that he'd been somewhat wrong. It didn't matter that his chains were glowing, since the creatures that lived here didn't have eyes anyway. But what would certainly matter was stealth. Because, looking down from the edge of a cliff, he found that, along with the tantalizingly close source of rushing water, were bloodspawn, more than he'd ever seen.

And, above even that, were the noises of something different, more powerful. And, at the edge of his chains' light's range, Rowan saw it. [Bloodspawn Broodmother - Level 24]