Chương 76: The First Shot

Jordan turned a suspicious gaze onto his surroundings. Had the wind picked up? Because all the swaying and bending made it seem as though the forest had come to life. And as it turned out, that was because it had. <Monster Sheet> Name: Twigman Class: Dendromancer, Lv. 12 Vessel: Core of Twisted Knots Branches and roots gathered, twisted, and rose into a distinct shape—towering, lurching, grotesquely humanoid.

This wasn't the Gym Rats' first encounter with a Twigman, a Leafeller monster made out of animate tree bits. Except it was the biggest Twigman they'd ever seen, not to mention the most high-level. Certainly high enough to negate [Bear Fur Mantle]'s monster-repellent effects. What was more, the thing now stood in front of the cave entrance, thereby barring entry into Yellowspring Grotto. Its arms of gnarled branches spread wide across the cave's rocky rim. Its legs of writhing roots formed a bulky barricade.

And its head—a knobby extension of its trunk—stared down at the adventurers from a single black hollow. Even as Jordan marveled at the sight, he was struck by the intentionality behind the Twigman's stance. Why did a tree monster care if a couple of humans wandered into Yellowspring Grotto? What was it protecting from outsiders? Or was it the other way around? Jordan had no time to ponder. For that was when the Twigman deployed aggression as a form of defense. Twigman cast: Thorn Whip.

One of the writhing roots detached from the main body to throw itself at Jordan. He managed to sidestep it, though just barely. In the same motion, he reached for his [Bow] and arrows, determined to fight back. Whether or not the Twigman was here to save the outsiders from themselves was beside the point. Here was a monster barring the Gym Rats' way to quest completion. All they had to do in response was remove it from the equation. Easier said than done!

To start with, the spell-less Gatekeeper tried to fight back with some good old-fashioned archery. But then— Twigman cast: Enhanced Barkskin — the arrows merely bounced off the tree's tough surface, dealing only 1 point of damage each time! Nowhere near enough to win the fight, not when both Jordan and Pewter were limited to 20 arrows each. And to make matters worse… Twigman cast: Greater Thorn Whip. The Gym Rats knew [Greater Thorn Whip] as their friend Pinion Clearshout's signature spell.

Here, it was made even more powerful by a Lv. 12 monster. Roots and branches rose up from everywhere now, threatening to swallow up the adventurers in a [Thorn Whip] storm. Pewter Sapling cast: Greater Snare. A spell designed to trap charging critters. On this occasion, Pewter adapted it into a Tetherer's version of [Barrier], catching the [Thorn Whips] before they could make contact with the Gym Rats.

The latticed wall sagged under the immense pressure but just about held, giving Jordan the chance to fire off more arrows through the openings. But the damage continued to be pitiful. And the Twigman continued to have an answer to everything. Twigman cast: Enervating Vines. Fresh vines shot forth from the Twigman's trunk, to then snake past Pewter's [Snare] and wrap themselves around an arm here and a leg there. Jordan found he could barely draw his bowstring, what with an animate tree vine pulling his arm down.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. JORDAN YU lost: 4 HP, 5 HP, 4 HP, … Twigman healed for: 4 HP, 5 HP, 4 HP, … One of them oh-so-annoying [Drain] effects! As long as the vines held fast, the Gym Rats would lose health while the Twigman healed at their expense. Very soon, all those 1-damage arrows would have been for nothing!" Hack it! Hack the damn thing off of us!" Jordan abandoned the [Bow] to instead grab his [Dagger].

The vines shrank away after a few hits, but not before stealing away a good chunk of HP, having no doubt healed the Twigman back to full. To add injury to injury, that was when Pewter's [Snare] finally gave out. Out came a second cast of [Greater Thorn Whip], further chunking the Gym Rats for a few dozen points of damage. Especially bad news for squishy Pewter, who might never admit it but was already dangerously close to death! Strength DC 18: failure Zhurong:"Pathetic!

Whatever it is you're doing, manling, it's not working!" Yeah, no shit! Charisma DC 18: failure N üwa: "What happened to your handsome Pyromancer friend? You should have brought him along, lordlet, and you might have made short work of this bundle of kindling." He's not my friend, and once again, you're not helping! Dexterity DC 14: success This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Nezha:"You know, human.

Seeing as how all your conventional implements of warfare and spellcraft have failed spectacularly, is it maybe time that you tried a… less obvious solution?" Well, it didn't seem as though Jordan had any other choice. Either he pulled a 'less obvious solution' out of his ass right here right now, or his best friend was about to die to a fucking tree. To that end… The Lv. 12 Twigman has rebuffed all your efforts at conventional Vesselia combat. Is it maybe time that you …

1) [Intelligence DC 18 (Hard)] Think up a new solution with the tools and resources available. Surely, even this seemingly insurmountable obstacle has a'right answer' waiting to be added to the back of the textbook. [Favorable: INT modifier (+6). [That Dawg In You] (+2).] [Adverse: [Between Two Lives] (-1). You're stressed out about Pewter, and also, you really just want to try Option 2 (-2).] 2) [Strength and Dexterity DC 20 (Hard)] Brute force a new solution the only way you know how.

In fact, there's a decent chance that you alone in the whole wide world are the only person capable of what you're about to attempt. [Favorable: STR modifier (+4). DEX modifier (+4). [That Dawg in You] (+2). Oorah, let the mountain strength flow through you! (+2).] [Adverse: [Between Two Lives] (-1). There's a decent chance that what you're about to attempt is really, really dumb. (-2).] One of these days, Jordan would see a straight [Intelligence] check and not hesitate to pick it.

One of these days, he would make it up to Fuxi for all those times he snubbed them in favor of the other attributes. But that day wasn't today. 2) It's now or never. Time to introduce a new mechanic to Vesselia! Strength and Dexterity DC 20 Roll: 14 Final: 23 Result: success Faced with an enemy more or less immune to arrows, a spell-less Gatekeeper was forced to dig deep for an alternative solution. Little did he (or anyone else for that matter) know that the solution had been on his back this whole time.

Once his mind was made up, there was no reason to hesitate. Jordan undid the straps on his harness, grabbed the loose end of the rope to give himself some slack, then flung the Heavenly Cauldron in the Twigman's direction. The cauldron—250 pounds of solid bronze—flew through the air to land on the Twigman's trunk. The impact gave off a satisfying'thud!', all while tree bark erupted into splinters.

This was accompanied by a new entry on the combat log—slightly delayed, perhaps due to the sheer novelty of what had just transpired. Attack roll (1d10), (STR modifier +4), (DEX modifier +4): 6 Twigman lost: 14 HP. 14 points of damage! Jordan thought the devs could stand to be a bit more generous with the numbers, but he would take what he could get. And he was far from satisfied with just the one 'shot'.

Before the now deeply confused Twigman could react, Jordan reeled his cauldron back in, swung it overhead, and loosed it again! Attack roll: 6 Twigman lost: 14 HP. By then, Pewter had collected himself to rejoin the fight. The Tetherer cast his trusty [Manipulate Ropes], this time to wrap around the Twigman and immobilize its arms, if only for a few precious seconds. Attack roll: 3 Twigman lost: 11 HP. The animate tree monster tried to retaliate, namely by creeping more [Enervating Vines] Jordan's way.

But Pewter was wise to it, hacking off the vines before they could get at the Gatekeeper's limbs. All so the Gatekeeper could concentrate on being a cauldron-slinger for the time being! Attack roll: 9 Twigman lost: 17 HP. So close to a crit, but it was the next best thing. For this latest shot hit the Twigman right in its tree-hollow noggin, causing… Twigman Affliction: Stun. Now the cauldron-slinger could well and truly attack with impunity.

This time, he gave himself more time for the wind-up, spinning the Heavenly Cauldron to build up centripetal force—not unlike Gogo Yubari's meteor hammer from Kill Bill —before unleashing it all in one mighty throw! Attack roll (enhanced) (2d10), (STR modifier +4), (DEX modifier +4): 1, 4 Fuuuck! Trust the dice luck to desert him the moment he leaned into a big-time finishing move! Despite the extra roll, the enhanced attack only resulted in 12 points of damage.

The Twigman was still alive, and stirring out of its [Stun] window. Jordan had no choice but to get in another shot, a quick one without the bells and whistles. Attack roll: 10 (critical), 1 Twigman lost: 18 HP. Un-fucking-believable. The dice continued to weave a sick tragicomedy at Jordan's expense. But Jordan could at least take solace in the fact that his story wouldn't end here… because this latest hit proved to be the killing blow. Twigman has died.

The tree monster let out a strange groaning sound as it shuddered all over. The branches and roots that made up its body now broke apart and withered away, leaving nothing but the quiet, inanimate forest all around. As well as the entrance to Yellowstone Grotto, now cleared of any obstruction. The Gym Rats exchanged a look as they both caught a much-needed breather.

Jordan especially was all but drained of his usual mountain strength, arms and back and pretty much every muscle now burning from the effort of flinging around a 250-pound cauldron. Said cauldron now sat at his feet, perfectly oblivious to the absolute insanity it had just played part in. New Feat unlocked. [Ballad of the Mountain Man] If you want your boys to grow up strong and hale, send them to the mountains. Gain bonus (+2) to all [Strength]-modified attack rolls. New Vessel Boon unlocked.

[Meteor Cauldron] The Heavenly Vessel is now a [Weapon] equippable only by the Gatekeeper class. The cauldron must be prepared using a modified [Harness] (would be handy to have a Tetherer friend on standby!). Damage: 1d10 (can be [Enhanced] to 2d10 by charging the attack). Modified by: STR and DEX. Weight: 248 lbs. Feat enhanced. [Nezha's Blessing (Lv. 3) -> (Lv. 4)] In recognition of your whimsy, you've gained a permanent [4]-point upgrade to Dexterity. DEX 18 -> 19 Agility: 1. 36 -> 1. 38