Chương 81: 80 - Thunder Vipers

The stairs were cut from the hill itself, hundreds, maybe thousands, worn at the center. Alexandra was walking behind Willow as they descended, and the city spread below them. From afar, Kator was a mass of grey and brown attached to a harbor. From up there, she could see where the city ended and the farms began. Then, further in the distance, a small river flowing into the sea. In the middle of the city, a large manor estate sprawling with gardens took up more space than the entire harbor.

The Merinus estate was nothing in comparison.

"You've hunted before?" Will asked.

"Some."

"Thunder Vipers live in those dunes." Willow pointed at the seafront, to the left of the harbor. Alexandra passed her hand on the hilt of the sword she'd borrowed from the academy. It was sharp. Sharper than the one she used for training.

"I don't understand your class," Willow said.

"Thunder Vipers are Bronze rank beasts. Isn't it a bit too much?"

"I've had worse."

"You know, you don't have to do it. You could skip a day." Alexandra shook her head.

"I know. But don't worry. If the system gave me this quest, it's because I can accomplish it." Willow looked back at her without stopping.

"Speaking of which." Alexandra summoned her journal and opened it to her Adventuring Party.

"I have a perk. I don't think it will be useful right away, but I'd like to add you to it."

"What is it?"

"Adventuring Party. It lets me share my quests with others. Not dailies, though." Willow accepted the offer. She placed her palm on the journal, and her name appeared under Louis'. Adventuring Party Members (3/3): Alexandra Ward Louis Ombre Willow Dumries"Dumries?" Alexandra asked.

"I think I read a book written by a Dumries."

"That's possible. My family has been with the Keepers for a long time. I have many relatives in the order."

"Even with… you know…" They reached a platform where the stairs turned in another direction.

"Yes." A pause.

"The Dumries are still Keepers. We have our own opinions about some things. That's not the same as breaking away." The stairs ended on a wide street. She'd seen Kator from the hill. Up close it was different. The buildings were tall and narrow, with brown clay walls under pointed grey tile roofs. Most of the walls were dark from the weather. Moss grew in the joints of the older stonework. It wasn't raining now, but the streets were wet. The sky was overcast with dark clouds, as it tended to be around here.

Willow moved without hesitation, like she knew every turn. Alexandra kept pace next to her. The streets narrowed as they went. They crossed an area with market stalls on both sides. Fish, vegetables, grain, and meat—there was more diversity than in Esmera for everything but flowers. The streets didn't run straight. They bent and crossed at odd angles. They walked past small squares, some with wells in the middle, others with fountains. The harbor opened ahead of them. Masts above the roofline.

The sea was grey and flat, the horizon swallowed in clouds. A few boats were out. More were docked. The same Katori ships she'd helped unload in Esmera. On the docks, figures moved in and out of warehouses, slow and steady, loading or unloading. Willow turned left before they reached the water, following a road that ran along the seafront. The buildings here were lower and more spread out. Fishermen's stores, mostly. A yard with nets stretched on wooden frames, soaked through again.

A few dogs lazed outside, none bothering with them. The wind picked up as the road curved away from the last buildings. The dunes started where the city stopped, with no real boundary between them. The last street simply ran out of buildings and became scrub grass and sand. The dunes were not large. Low ridges running along the coast, the grass on top bending in the wind. They walked around the base of the first ridge, where the sand was firm enough to walk on without sinking. The beach opened on the other side.

Wide and flat, the tide was out, and the wet sand dark and shining. They were alone.

"The wet sand is the problem," Willow said.

"Thunder Vipers. It's in the name. On dry ground, you're safe unless you let them hit you. Only, the sand is always wet in Kator."

"I see. How far can their thunder reach?" Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Depends on the beasts' size, level, and skills. A large one could cover an entire dune. A small one, maybe ten feet." Alexandra looked at the beach. The sea had receded, leaving behind tide pools. Then she turned to the dunes, where the snakes lived. She unsheathed her sword, held it in one hand, and opened her journal in the other. Step one: find a viper. She didn't have a skill for that, so she would have to rely on her perception.

Then, she was hoping that Combat Sense, Sure Footing, and Giant Slayer would be enough. Giant Slayer - 1: This skill allows you to partially ignore rank suppression. Each level increases the effect. She had yet to test out her only rare skill. Hopefully it was worth the troubles she went through obtaining it. She looked at Willow.

"I'm going, then."

"Be careful. I'll intervene if you're in danger."

"Thank you. Try holding back until you think I really need the help. This is my quest." Willow rolled her eyes.

"Fine." Alexandra stepped toward the dunes. The sand was wet, yet her feet sank as she climbed the first ridge. She stopped at the top where she could see the beach, the city, and even the tower of the Iron Library lording over it all from atop the hill. Ahead, the dunes ran deep. She moved slowly. The sand shifted under her feet. The dunes were covered in grass, stiff and sparse. Each clump was a potential hiding spot for her prey. Nothing on the first ridge.

She dropped into the depression on the other side and crouched. Then, she pressed two fingers into the sand. It was wet a few inches down. She straightened and listened. Wind, waves, a gull somewhere above. Alexandra walked in between two dunes. Just as she stood at the narrowest point, she felt something move. Just a few steps away from her, around a lump of grass, a group of vipers huddled together.

They were coiled together in the wet sand at the base of the dune, their scales a dark pattern she'd taken for shadow at first. Each one as long as her arms. A few had their heads raised. She didn't move. One turned and looked directly at her. Combat Sense fired. She threw herself back as the first one launched. It passed close enough that she felt the air move. Sure Footing held against the wet sand. Then came another one. She was moving on instinct, stepping back to avoid the hits.

She dodged the second, then sidestepped the third and cut. The blade connected, and a discharge hit her through the handle. She winced, sickness of empathy not helping, but held on to her sword despite her right hand being numb to the elbow. Two vipers flanked her. Combat Sense pulled her left. The first one struck the space she'd been in and hit wet sand. An arc of thunder spread around, nearly reaching her. The other pivoted at the last moment. She spotted Willow cresting the dune above her.

"I got this." Her friend nodded, yet stayed behind. Alexandra didn't stop moving. With Sure Footing and Running working off each other, she was faster than the vipers. She ran in circles in the crevice, looking for an opportunity. It came when she found one of the vipers separated from the group. She pivoted and closed the distance. The snake saw her coming and planted its fangs in the sand, releasing a burst of thunder around itself.

She stopped right at the edge, waited for a second for the burst to be over, and charged in. Alexandra raised her sword and brought it down right at the base of its head. It sliced right through the scales. The remaining vipers were huddled in pairs. Four beasts left. She shook her sword arm, trying to make the numb feeling go away, then kept moving. She took the next one the same way. Circled until a pair split, closed on the isolated one, waited out the burst, and came in. The third one didn't let her.

It came at her instead, fast. She caught its fangs on the blade, and the discharge hit her through the handle again, worse than the first time. She dropped the sword. Her whole right arm locked up. She grabbed the sword left handed and kept moving. As she moved, she cast Inflict Weakness on the three remaining vipers, cursing herself for not doing it sooner. The snakes slowed, she locked onto the one who'd just hit her, and skewered it into the ground. Two left. They stayed together. She circled them.

They turned with her, heads tracking. She feinted left and went right. One of them planted its fangs into the sand and sent a burst of thunder out. She was just inside the edge of it, and the discharge caught her feet. Both legs went numb below the knee. Sure Footing was the only reason she stayed up. The other viper launched itself at her before she'd straightened up. Combat Sense fired, but her reaction was too slow. She got her arm up, and it bit her forearm.

She gritted her teeth, and saw Willow move on the edge of her vision.

"Don't!" She pushed through the numbness and grabbed the viper with her other arm, ripping it away from her with a shout. Her left arm was bleeding. Her whole body was numb.

"Alex!" Willow said.

"I'm. Fine."

"They're spent. Kill them before they gather another charge." She gritted her teeth and pushed her body to move. Swapping her sword from hand to hand again, she reached for the first one and cut it in half. Then she turned to the one who'd sunk its fangs into her, took a step toward it. Life Drain. It was her first time using this skill, so she paid close attention. She felt a thread of her mana shoot away from her core and into the viper's body. It stayed there for a while. She focused.

Something was crawling along the link. Lifeforce. Her wound tingled. The viper threw itself at her. She met it with her sword, the tip piercing straight into its mouth. It died. The thread snapped. She looked at her arm. It was still bleeding. She reached for her hair. Still white. That's it? She turned it over in her mind. The wound had tingled. It had done something. Just not enough. Maybe it had died too soon. Maybe there was something about lifeforce she didn't understand yet. Willow came down to meet her.

"Your arm." She grabbed it.

"I'm fine." Willow frowned.

"Yes. You're fine. A visit to the Hands will solve this." Alexandra smiled.

"I told you I could do it."

"You did," Willow said, locking eyes with her.

"You're full of surprises, Alexandra. My age, yet Iron. Iron, yet able to defeat Bronze beasts five against one."

"I… have a good class." Willow's lips parted.

"I have no doubt." Alexandra looked away.

"And a skill that helps me fight above my rank."

"Right." Willow looked back at her arm.

"The Hands, then."