Lindle burned more Aura points as he pushed [Flow] to its limit. Any accidental fluctuations in his control could seriously injure him, especially since it was a technique that focused on Lindle’s head, but he had full HP and needed to buy those few crucial seconds to make up for his mistake.
He wanted to berate himself, but he’d save that for later. For now, Lindle needed to figure out how to stop the Speartalons. He counted six of the undead rushing toward the Nine-tails and the Spear Tyrant, watching their movements to figure out who they would reach first. By themselves, they weren’t a threat to any of the journeyman adventurers, but Rosato had only considered it safe for his team to engage against the Spear Tyrant separated from its pack for a reason. Subordinate monsters like Speartalon’s acted more like extensions of leader monsters when together than individuals, receiving substantial buffs that allowed them to contribute in higher-tier battles and coordinating to prevent the exact kind of ‘surround and pin’ strategy their leader was currently stuck in.
Especially bad was that all of the adventurer’s focus was concentrated on the Spear Tyrant, and Lindle could see that the skeletons were closing in on the closest adventurer, Chip. If they got to the healer, it would throw off their carefully constructed pattern and put them in danger. Lindle estimated the distance between them and the rate at which the Speartalons were moving. He ran through a mental list of his and his friend’s options, and he didn’t think any of them would be able to take them down before the undead got close enough to benefit from the pack buff, so the first thing Lindle had to do was warn them.
A few Health points actually drained away from the extreme use of [Flow], a small headache appearing behind his eyes. So, Lindle dialed down the Aura use to regular levels and opened his mouth to shout as he broke into a sprint, Thalia beside him while Humphrey got his bow ready. “Incoming!”
All four adventurers glanced Lindle’s way, clocking the half-dozen undead heading Chip’s way. The other three immediately broke their positions and moved, though not to support Chip. The Spear Tyrant was too much of a threat. Instead, they simply moved into a different position that allowed them to stall it without relying on Chip’s support, freeing the halfling to turn to deal with the danger heading his way.
As he did so, the Speartalons crossed the invisible threshold that allowed them to receive the buff from their leader. They sped up, blurring into motion. Not caught off guard, Chip waved his hand and released a wave of flames with a cry of “[Pyro]!’
The skeletons split up to avoid the divine fire, the Speartalon unfortunate enough to be the center of the group being the only one to get directly caught, falling dead as its miasma was instantly scorched away.
This bought enough time for Humphrey’s arrow to streak past both Lindle and Thalia and nail one of the three that ran to the left in the back of the head. With their pack buff, they were too tough for any of their normal attacks to deal an instant killing blow, but Humphrey had used the other zmey fang arrow Lindle had made for him, causing ice to build up inside of its skull until it burst. The bone fragments and ice shards slowed down the two next to it.
Thalia planted her feet and pointed her wand at one of them which was still covered in fungal matter from her earlier spell, apparently now within range to use a spell Lindle hadn’t seen her cast before. “[Cordythrall]!’
Lindle’s vision was drawn to the fungus wrapped around the undead’s bones. It visibly puffed up and became a more vibrant color, as the skeleton suddenly turned and pounced on its former companion.
As six undead turned to two attacking Chip, the cleric smoothly ducked under the long talon of one of his attackers. He placed his hand on the ice beneath him, and suddenly a large cloud of steam erupted over him and then expanded, hiding Chip and the two Speartalons from view.
Lindle slid to a stop outside the steam cloud, vial ready to throw as he peered inside for a sign of Chip. On his shoulder, Notwick extended two vines anxiously to grab any undead if they suddenly rushed the two of them.
A few tense moments passed as Thalia joined Lindle’s side. He kept glancing between her somehow enthralled undead as it mauled the other skeleton and the fog before it began to disperse. Waving his hand, Chip stood in a circular pool of steaming water about an inch deep, with two disassembled skeletons beside him.
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The cleric smiled at Lindle as he held up his arm to show the Hotpond Band on his wrist. “This thing is very easy to use. Faster than putting together a spell.”
“An instant pool of holy water.” Thalia peered at the water, taking a step back to keep her mushrooms safe.
“Indeed…” Chip’s smile began to look a little forced as he saw Thalia move away, and it looked really forced when he saw her undead finish taking down the last hostile Speartalon behind her by separating its skull from its spine. Once it was done, it raised itself to its full height and stood still, only moving its head to look at Humphrey as he approached, who of course then gave it a wide berth.
Lindle didn’t pay it any mind as he looked at the Hotpond Band curiously. “I thought it only heated up liquids… I didn’t think it could turn ice directly into water…”
On his shoulder, Notwick nodded. “Yes, the description said liquids, and ice is a solid.”
Chip looked at the two of them. “Well, if you must know, my [Pyro] spell had already turned some of the snow into water, which I heated up all the way, which then melted the surrounding ice just enough to heat up, and so on.” Chip raised an eyebrow. “Really though, it may be better to save the questions until the fight is over.”
He gestured to his three party members still locked in battle with the Spear Tyrant. They moved in hard-to-follow blurs as they focused on avoiding and chipping away at the massive undead. Lindle realized with a start he had at some point deactivated [Flow].
“Oh crap.” Lindle felt a sudden drop in his stomach. He tried to both apologize and turn to the fight so Chip could get back to supporting his team at the same time. “I’m so- you should go-”
Chip waved him off with a laugh, turning to look at his team. “They have a stable rhythm going for now, and this gives me a good idea. I seem to recall one of your feats being well suited for situations like these.” When Lindle looked confused, Chip pointed at the Tyrant with a slight grimace. “Well… I assume you’ll want to use the Ethos in that abomination, distasteful as I find it.”
Lindle’s eyes widened. He hadn’t thought about it earlier, mostly because it was a journeyman monster whose Ethos would normally be beyond his limit to handle, but with Notwick’s help… He looked at the Speartyrant in an entirely new light, holding back the urge to lick his lips.
Chip sighed. “I thought so. When I say, can you hit it with that debuff?”
Lindle reached into his pouch and brought out one of his strongest stat buff potions with one hand and in the other, he held up the Wildhunt Warhorn. “I can do a lot more than that.” He cackled.
Chip appraised him, before giving an approving nod. “Now you look like a real support adventurer.”
“He does?” Lindle heard Humphrey ask Thalia.
Thalia hummed. “My grandma says that they tend to go power mad…”
Lindle ignored them as he got ready while Chip called out to Rosato. “Rally for nova!”
The kitsune, still facing the monster, leapt out of the way of a bite attack and nodded.
Chip raised his hands, “[Heart Home].” A circle of flames appeared at an empty spot behind Rosato. “Aim your potion there in five… four….”
Lindle smiled, and he activated [Savant Toss], throwing his potion in a tall overhead arc. As it hung in the air, Lindle brought the horn to his lips.
“Three… two…”
Lindle flicked his wrist, and the potion shot like an arrow down and forward. As it did, Rosato blurred into the circle of flames, tossing his shield aside and gripping his sword with both hands. As Lindle’s potion splashed against Rosato’s back, buffing his Str and Dex stats, the knight’s body glowed with ethereal flames. Lindle was pleasantly reminded of back when Rosato had ended the fight against the Iceshell Pangolin. His party really needed someone Lindle could buff like this full-time.
“One!”
Lindle targeted the Spear Tyrant with [Hunter Gatherer], watching as it stumbled when the debuff washed over it right before it froze entirely, as Lindle blew on the Wildhunt Warhorn. The artifact had managed to tag Madam Holly, and the massive undead had no convenient Skill to break free early as she had. The temperature dropped with the sound of the horrible trumpet, and the helpless undead could only watch as Rosato lifted his sword.
“[Burn Blade].” Flames burst to life over his sword, shaped to echo his blade but with extra length. Rosato leaped into the air, directly in front of the undead’s face. “[Foxfire: Burst].” As he swung his sword, purple flames joined the regular ones, and Lindle watched as the blade sliced the skull in half. Rosato seemed to hang in the air for a half moment before a shockwave crashed over the rest of the Spear Tyrant’s body as it was flung away, flipping once before the bones scattered everywhere.
As Lindle watched the knight land in the snow, sheathed his sword, and went to retrieve his shield, Lindle wondered if there was a way he could mimic the boon Chip had given the kitsune that doubled the effects of buffs. He was fairly certain the undead had only been missing about half of its HP, layering buffs and debuffs like this was kind of addictive.
Lindle heard clapping behind him, and he turned to see three sets of applause. Well, Humphrey and Thalia were clapping with cheeky smiles on their faces. The Speartalon Thalia had enthralled was attempting to clap, the bony claws clacking together.
“Are you… going to keep that?” Chip looked at it with a full grimace.
“Oh? Nah, the spell only lasts a few minutes.” Thalia answered.
“Oh thank the goddess.” Chip sighed before he raised a hand and engulfed the undead in flames.
The rest of them looked at him, Thalia and Humphrey having backed away from the flames that had washed right past them with arms raised.
He looked back at them. “What?’
