Arcadian Stalker - (Astral Projection: Grade 2)
Fortunately for Daniel’s sanity, the arcadian stalkers only looked like Hunter in the way he looked like the impalers. There was a general long, four-legged frame that was the most bestial out of all the projections so far, if you counted the crawlers and wardens as more in line with nightmare fuel than an animal that was. Rather than paws and claws, they had long talons projecting from the bases of the legs made from the same rock-hide the other projections had. There was a mouth with sharpened teeth, but no fangs or any indication of a throat. The stalker appeared more like an animated statue than a biological creature, which fell in line with the other projections.
Their sudden appearance at grade 2 meant Daniel wouldn’t know what the upgrade had given them, but he wasn’t worried about that. He was worried about exploding from absorbing too much mana. If it doubles every time, the last burst will give 80%, but that’s not how the last rift scaled. If we suddenly get triple our normal mana, what will that do?
That wasn’t something he could be concerned about now. The sole stalker to appear was also the only one to come from the lowest rift. On the top floor, a caster and impaler joined the fun, while an impaler and mauler warped in from the center rift. The enemy count was now at 35, less than what it was at the start of the fight, but all of the enemies had been empowered.
His team had been holding fine enough on the bottom floor thanks to concentrated fire on anything coming close combined with Sigron physically tanking and Daniel doing his best to replicate Eyes on Me without actually having that power. It was immediately clear the stalker was going to change that, as it opened its blocky, squarish head while charging straight at Willow.
No projection had combined lithe speed and a melee attack before, something they’d exploited in their formation. Even maulers or crawlers dropping from the sky wouldn’t have been so bad because of the opening they’d give doing so, though it would have gotten nasty if they cluttered up the bottom floor so much that Khiat’s instinctual flinching pinned her down. Then they’d have to fly up, take a higher floor and hold the stairs, before…
Focus. Wait, what’s that? “Khare, behind you!” It turned out that the casters hadn’t gained a direct improvement to their corruption bolts as he’d thought, the true change being more insidious. It looked like they gained another spell. He’d just caught the glowing circle out of the corner of his eye after observing the stalker. While in hindsight the movements of the caster made it obvious something was happening without a bolt appearing, he didn’t have all-around perception. Keen Senses helped, but he still had to choose what to focus on, which in this case were new threats and projectiles aimed at him.
The circle had been placed in the team’s relative blindspot, a sneak attack on par with the first time the impalers revealed the returning javelins. With the archers and Willow sitting in a fortified position by the door they’d come through and all of the crawlers already identified, they must have gotten a false sense of security at their backs. Not that they’d been so neglectful, but it looked like the attack initially manifested as a thin purple line that would be hard to make out until it glowed brighter.
Khare’s Chimeric Form had many advantages, but they were less mobile in terms of speed with this activated compared to when they had a fully humanoid form. At least they hadn’t entrenched into their burrowed one, which gave them a considerable damage bonus at the cost of being completely immobile. Even so, Khare’s attempt to dodge wasn’t perfect, and when a cylinder of purple light projected 5 meters out from the circle, part of them was caught in the field.
“Tagged!” Khare called out with some concern in their voice as parts of the affected vine began to crystallize. The gestalt was quick to act on the advice they’d given to Sigron, but as they cut away some of their mass, threads of corruption were revealed to have infiltrated whatever the gestalt’s version of veins were. Even if these were extremely thin, it precluded amputation as a solution.
More circles began to light up after the first one struck, again demonstrating the coordination the projections could display on occasion. Everyone besides Daniel was targetted, since he was in mid-air and too far away from any surface the circle could be placed on. Not every caster threw these out, some mixing in corruption bolts to continue contributing to the bullet hell and keep his team guessing.
I can wipe out the upper floors by myself, at least at this grade, Daniel thought quickly, But if we take the top floor and move there, those corruption circles are still going to be as big a problem as the impalers. Even with rapid fire, they’re too spread out for non-Power Shots to kill with splash damage. I might not have enough mana to do that many before the next refresh anyway.
In the previous rift fight, Daniel had been able to justify avoiding Beast Mode as after each initial shot of panic, they’d been able to adapt and plan around new abilities shown by higher grades. These new zone attacks weren’t that bad by themselves, the circle that summoned the corruption zone was only a few meters wide and took at least ten seconds to charge, but they added to an already chaotic mix and could be stacked next to each other to widen the danger zone.
While he was still recognized as the greatest threat to those on the upper floors, the casters had shifted to targeting the rest of the team, no doubt willing to sacrifice most of the projections if the high grade ones could face him alone once all of his allies were taken care of. Going all out as he was wouldn’t help much because he already had been. As powerful as his blast bow had become with his powers and ammo variants, it couldn’t do everything, and if there was one person who should be drawing fire it was him.
I guess… Daniel thought, resistance to the idea wavering as he saw the casters begin to stagger their corruption zones and almost catch Khiat, who hadn’t had room to fire a shot since the bombardment began. There are a dozen or so powers left to awaken in that form. He still had to deal with what everyone normally went through with Beast Mode, gradually feeling out what the change in archetypes had done to his powers. Though, with him it might have been harder than normal as he’d gained around thirty in one go, muddying the waters.
This would be easier if I didn’t have to worry about going full monster, but even then, the rest of my team would be safe. I… Daniel swooped down, dropping a few things to the floor while shouting, “Khare, please don’t break this. I’m using Beast Mode and taunting the enemies.” It was only the ongoing fight and creeping corruption that stopped the Martialist from trembling with glee as Daniel took out two bone claws. They fit awkwardly in his hands, but wouldn’t for long.
As the changes from Beast Mode began to take over, he registered a massive attack coming his way. He doubted the bastion had known to time it when he didn’t have access to any other powers, but it had happened either way. The only change that had come over their largest enemy appeared to be the regrowth of the arm that had been lost earlier, and the giant had used it to swipe at him as he flew up.
Flying in the ruins still felt more leaden and unresponsive compared to out in Threst, and he wasn’t able to fully escape the ‘shield’ larger than him. He did manage to turn it into a glancing blow that slammed him into a waiting corruption zone, though he was still prevented from triggering Opportune Moment.
Daniel bared his fangs at the bastion as he was fully enveloped in purple light, feeling his fur get singed. That was about the worst of it. Small chips of a nearby wall covered him as a crack resounded a few moments later, Khare missing with the blast bow he’d tossed to them before shifting. It was an unwieldy weapon, practically unreliable without all the powers he had while human. Claws just had to cut.
He was struck by how right everything still felt as he stood up. Daniel had been so concerned about the power forced on him taking over as soon as he shifted into the form that had it, but that had been an unfounded fear. Ok, ok, maybe he’d gone a little overboard at times, but it had always been him driving. He could feel it, to be true, but it was like a dark well that he’d lose himself in if he decided to throw himself into it. Daniel could also just not do that.
There was one odd feeling that his Spoke gave him an intrinsic sense of. Once he’d shifted, he’d lost one of the unawakened powers he would have gotten to even out gaining the Arcadian function for free. It surprised him it worked that way, but there were too many enemies he had to kill to reflect on it.
He activated Eyes on Me while roaring a challenge, noting considerable mana drain as he reached out to just under thirty enemies. Still on the bottom floor, it wouldn’t help too much with his allies nearby, but Daniel had one matter to tend to first. “You’re not him,” he growled, leveling his claws at the bestial projection that had been going for Willow before being forced to turn towards him.
When the stalker tried to pounce, Daniel effortlessly maneuvered to catch it under the chin with his enhanced claws, both enchanted and natural sets penetrating whatever the hell material these monsters were made of. It squirmed briefly in his grip, but it was ultimately weak prey. Not even the goliath that was the bastion gave him any sense of Defiant Rage granting its bonus. He’d have shaken his head at how worried he’d been before shifting, though he was preoccupied with what he was doing.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Daniel chucked the already defeated projection towards the stairs, where the maulers from the upper floors had finally reached the lower landing and had begun spreading out. The impromptu game of bowling resulted in knocking down five pins, though non-lethally, and Daniel was sure he could have picked up the spare if only he had another ball.
Constant pressure from above meant he didn’t have the freedom to, say, try ripping off one of the bastion’s shield arms and use that. As Daniel danced around the falling javelins and blatantly ignored the corruption zones, he realized the bastion hadn’t made any major moves toward him in opposition to the rest of the enemies here. Even if it was at or below his ‘level’ its size made its hits hurt. That initial impact had at the very least cracked a rib, and he hadn’t dealt enough damage yet to completely fix it through Ferocious Healing.
Sigron must have had a taunt power as well, which should have been expected from a Knight honestly. He could feel through Pack Insight that the man with the metal arm had most of his intent centered on the bastion, while occasionally throwing glances to both the maulers and Daniel himself. He’d mentioned he had the ability to change himself to the Knight after the first rift fight so it wouldn’t be a surprise, and the man had surely seen Tak use a similar power at some point, but Daniel supposed it was still a shock to see a supposed Artificer go this route.
Giving the collection of maulers a wide grin, Daniel let loose with a Grounding Roar, draining away almost all of his remaining mana. Beast Mode hadn’t taken too much and he’d had a fair amount left after the swap, but Eyes on Me had taken a ridiculous amount to cover the whole field. It seemed too expensive given that there were already a couple projections that had refocused on Khiat or Khare, the effect broken by the archers firing into the upper landings. Oh well.
Daniel used the last of his mana to Jump to the middle landing, watching with glee as the temporarily slowed maulers turned back to go up the stairs. That would keep them occupied while he went to work on some of the casters. He took a quick count of the remaining enemies while deflecting an attempt by a crawler to spear him on the way up. The things had been mostly annoying in this fight, trying to secure where the stairs met each landing to act as a barricade but ultimately being useless. Either way, they made up four of the remaining 27 enemies. Still a sizable pack that was about to be empowered if 10 was still the threshold, but he wasn’t worried.
The shield the warden in the center of the landing threw up did give him a little pause. Sense Astral had made the rifts practically scream at him after he shifted, but that was to be expected. The zone attacks and empowered javelins, as well as the odd corruption bolt the casters still threw out for some reason, also faintly tickled that sense making dodging them easier. The warden’s barrier reacted the same way, which gave him an uneasy suspicion that Flash Jaunt wouldn’t penetrate through. How Shuni could manage it when he couldn’t he had no idea, and also, where was that sneaky Rogue?
There were a few less active projections on the upper floor, which probably accounted for her position. As for Daniel’s, he was on the floating hallway connecting one side of the middle landing from the other, caught between a warden barrier on one side, and the crawler guarding the stairs to the lowest floor behind him. He pressed one set of claws into the barrier, feeling it not give at all while behind it, the 19th projection to die half scattered over the banister as Khiat’s arrow destroyed a caster’s upper body.
Good pack leader that he was, Daniel shouted a warning. “Next kill makes them stronger. Be wary of more coming.” There was utter confidence in his voice as he relayed the message. They’d done well, primarily reducing the number of impalers and casters. He had no regrets about adding that stalker to the list either. Even if it wasn’t a major threat to their backline, it was too much of a mockery of his friend to allow to live.
The second hand of the warden suddenly turned to face him, and he could feel through Sense Astral another barrier appear behind him. Daniel sighed raspily, feeling this had been done more out of spite than anything else. A warden with three hands could potentially trap him, but all this would do was slightly slow him down. In fact, it looked like it was trying to set up this trap as both barriers angled to intersect on the side of one of the bridges, leaving space for a third to enclose him so long as the warden angled it correctly.
Flattered as he was to be identified as the greatest threat, all this was doing was exposing the warden’s friends to counterfire. No, Daniel had to admit as he moved around a javelin thrown by the endangered impalers, which could penetrate the warden’s shields, It is making it harder to dodge. Slightly. He could vault the side of the bridge that wasn’t blocked off and fly around, but Daniel wanted to wait for the mana recharge so he could test something. It was also a good opportunity to lean into Pack Insight, since he was going to redouble his efforts to kill these projections once they upgraded.
Khare was the worst off, though the gestalt was in no way close to breaking. It was admirable how well the Martialist was holding up considering part of their body was slowly turning to glass rock, though he supposed things would be different if the corruption had hit their internal points rather than the free mass along the outside. Even if carving off sections hadn’t completely ridden the gestalt of the effect either, it seemed to have slowed the process.
Everyone else was in a healthy state of concentration, including one member in particular who managed to surprise Daniel. Despite everything working against her, Tlara managed to get a kill. Granted it was one of the maulers that he’d hit with the stalker and then slowed, but the shock runner she had, well, running along the walls of the lower floor had sent a bolt towards the group ascending the stairs rather than mindlessly fire at the bastion. A lucky hit brought down number twenty, and as soon as the first bit of purple hit the middle rift, another pulse was sent out that restored almost a third of his mana.
He frowned in anger as he saw two stalkers appear from the bottom rift this time, though from the sound of it only three other projections appeared beside them to keep to a consistent five. He had planned on wreaking havoc up here, but if those projections wanted to die so badly, he’d oblige them.
However, as Daniel flew over to deliver death to the false-Hunters, two things happened. A third barrier formed to trap him, and a wave of concussive force rocked the entire room for a second or two as a tremendous crashing sound echoed from below. That second effect was more concerning, as Daniel could tell the sound itself had somehow carried traces of the astral corruption that had tried and failed to take root in him. While Willow would be immune so long as Tlara had something up to protect her, the bastion’s newly acquired attack from grade 3 had just inflicted the entire team.
The corruption itself wasn’t the problem, whatever areas began turning would effectively fully heal if cleansed so long as the material they shifted into wasn’t damaged, but this was an added layer of pressure he despised being placed on him. The gall this warden had to try and pen him up also rankled him. He was at first confused as to how it had been done, seeing as he should have been far enough away from the second warden to have its shields interfere, but something different had happened with them this time.
Instead of gaining a personal barrier, they’d grown a third shield arm a grade early. None of the other known variants had differences like this, the impaler’s javelins now fully glowed with the rift, the maulers gained corruption damage, and the crawlers grew the spikes that would make touching any part of their body painful. Perhaps he could have guessed the warden would be different given the obvious trap it was setting up, but how was he supposed to know they could cheat and switch around their evolutions?
Recriminations aside, this did allow him to test a theory before delivering death to the stalkers, who by all appearances had just grown longer fangs and talons. If the barrier had an astral signature and could theoretically block travel through the Astral, then they might be vulnerable to astral-specific attacks. To be fair, all Daniel was really doing was throwing the astral keyword around like a sock full of nickels and hoping the barrier would react like so much glass, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’d succeeded with clawing open something he wasn’t supposed to.
Imbue Astral was channeled through both of his hands, which took on an unearthly glow similar to but not exactly the same shade as the rift light and the corruption it heralded. As soon as his claws made contact there was a moment of resistance before the barrier blocking his way tore and disappeared completely. He saw one of the hands on the warden recoil at the same time, and while it didn’t look permanently disabled, it was slow to reposition itself.
Good, Daniel thought with vindictive delight as he finally discovered a direct counter to the warden’s barriers, albeit not at negligible cost. He continued to splurge as he hit the two stalkers with Eyes on Me, noticing that they took slightly more mana to affect than the previous grade 2 version did. Not enough to account for an entire difference in levels, though.
A small sun formed in the space as Khiat shot her recharged special attack at the bastion, once more forcing it to sacrifice a limb to avert the blow from hitting its main body. He sensed not quite panic but a growing desperation and understood. No one liked their body slowly turning to glass, but when it came to duskers it would be a reminder of how their species died when exposed to the sun. The seed of corruption the bastion had planted in the rest of the team was feeble, though if it could repeat the attack endlessly it would grow into a problem.
Daniel took it as a different sign of growth as he grappled one of the stalkers, the pathetic projections still unable to match his enhanced martial combat at their higher grade, and used it to demolish the other. Gadriel had done this during his first proper hunt, and the feeling of strength it gave him to repeat that feat now probably outstripped how strong he was. It just meant he should wise up and put more potential toward that attribute rather than waste it on dexterity. He was trying to stay balanced in his attributes, wasn’t he?
27, no, 26 left. Heard her. Shuni could brag about her stealth all she liked, but she couldn’t hide from him when she committed to a kill. It sounded like she had the top level handled, even with the crawlers on that floor breaking away from their blockade duty to try and pin her down. In fact, it seemed grade 3 was the turning point for all of them as they began mobilizing toward the closest enemy.
Taunt immune? He hadn’t properly considered that the crawlers had remained motionless after his ability hit them. Not that he fully got how that effect worked, other than that it made prey attack him instead of his allies. It even worked against thinking creatures, evidenced by Jeras locking the attention of Casia. However, that was perhaps an overpowered example as it came from a bond that cost the user their life after vengeance was taken.
With the exception of the casters, of which there were only four remaining, all the projections seemed to have one defining principle that they either started with and improved, or evolved towards. Only, that wasn’t true for the crawlers either, was it? It was easy to forget about their stealth capability when they’d instantly nullified it this time, but they were more complex than they first appeared.
Seeing as he’d be a terrible leader if he let a half-dozen half-spiders tear apart his team, Daniel decided to make a slight change to their battle plan and go after them next. He couldn’t abuse their weak point until grade 4, but he could match his weaker self’s ability to break their armor in this form. Couldn’t he?
