Chapter 39: Angry Bee & A Drunk Lord
Splash...
Squelch...
Glop... Slop...
Splash...
Heavy, sloshing sounds echoed through the swamp as the beast, easily over eight feet, waded forward. Each step landed with a wet, sucking squelch, the muck grabbing at its feet at the bottom, making each leg raise a hell.
Its dark green skin, covered with scales, stretched tight over bulging muscle, looked gloomy under the faint light passing through the dense network of trees and vines. Bony spikes jutted along its spine, running all the way down to a crocodile-thick tail that thrashed with each step, splattering mud and water everywhere.
Four fangs jutted from its mouth as it let out low growls, clearly pissed at its surroundings. Clutched in its left hand was a hammer big enough to flatten a car, its head bristling with metal spikes.
Hovering nearby, thirteen bees, not those tiny pollinators, each was the size of a toddler, decked out in red and black striped fuzz. A chaotic buzzing sound filled the air as their wings beat. Two black, lance-like antennae jabbed out next to their glossy eyes, and a pincer-shaped stinger hung from each bee’s ass.
These were the troops that had just appeared on the second floor of William’s tower, after he accepted the challenge. Suddenly, a raspy voice cut through the buzzing: "Yoooo, what’ya doin’ buzzin’ next to meh? Move, find the exit-t."
Up on the beast’s shoulder lounged Christian, the lord who challenged William. He looked like a scarecrow on a barren field, all scraggy beard and hair that screamed, ’I haven’t touched water in a week.’
He wore a sleeveless white vest and faded blue jeans that sagged so low that the hair of his thighs below the underwear could be seen. In his hand: a can of Bud. It was his 6, or 7, or maybe 8 in the last few hours. Which obviously meant he was sober AF.
Hearing him, five of the bees zigzagged off in random directions to spot the platform. Christian, watching them through half-blurry eyes, took another sloppy swig of his beer and muttered in a low, hoarse voice: "Mannnnn, I ain’t—" A hiccup cut him off. "I ain’t wan’na deal with this shit today, HICCUP, why the hell did Lady Sara have to pick my ass?"
He leaned toward the beast’s ear to say something, but immediately wobbled, nearly pitching face-first into the swamp. "Woooowaa..." he yelped, grabbing onto a bony spike to steady himself. "That was tight as hell. I don’t want a dip in that nasty-ass shit, it’s gonna kill my high." He smacked the hulking beast’s neck, leaned in, and slurred, "Yo, big dog, HICCUP, let’s clock this real quick. They’re just F-rank fairies. Light work."
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"That’s one drunk-ass hobo lord," William muttered, eyeing the guy perched on top of the croco-beast like some drunk parrot, while his buzzing bees, the main troops, hovered next to him.
From the looks of it, neither this wasted lord nor the bugs was a threat. The only real challenge was that hulking brute, who could shove the soul right out of the body in a single slam. No way in hell was William getting hit by that.
William needed a way to chip down its health; his marine troops weren’t going to do shit here. The bees were airborne, so the only thing his guys could even reach was the green-ass brute, and even if they all dogpiled him, best-case scenario? A couple of scratches. He had to think fast. But first, stats. He flicked open the challenger’s troop info to see who he was dealing with.
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Name: Borazak (B-rank)
Race: Warrior Crocorge
Rank: Tier 1 (High)
Attributes
Strength: 35 (38)
Constitution: 35 (37)
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 15
Mana: 8
Aura: 26
Affinity: None
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Skill(s)
Dragonhide (Intermediate)
Shrouds scales in a layer of aura, increasing overall defense by 30%. The effect lasts as long as the aura remains.
Last Cry (Intermediate)
Converts all available Aura and Mana into physical power for a single attack. The user’s strength increases by 1% for each point of Aura and Mana consumed. The effect increase cannot exceed 100%.
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Illustration Attached.
[A/N]: The attributes in brackets are after the item/weapon enhancements. Mana is converted to Aura, so the Mana showing here is unconverted.
"Damn, now that’s a tank," William muttered, eyeing its Strength, Constitution, and skills. Each of them focused on his defense and brute force. On the other hand, he had low Agility and Intelligence, so he was just a slow knucklehead at the end. William shifted his attention to the angry bee stats.
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Name: Rizzbee (C-rank)
Race: TriSting Bee
Rank: Tier 1 (High)
Attributes
Strength: 23
Constitution: 25
Agility: 28
Intelligence: 22
Mana: 19
Affinity: Fire
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Lancet Launch (Intermediate)
Fires two lancets from the front with a range of 25 meters, each with a minor chance to inflict paralysis. Lancets can be fired separately. One lancet regenerates every five minutes.
Elemental Stinger (Intermediate)
Channels mana through the rear stinger to deliver an attack that deals 30% increased damage. This attack also applies the elemental affinity effects, such as burn, shock, or other related statuses.
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Illustration Attached.
There were thirteen in total. William checked their ranks: six high, five intermediate, two tier one low. He caught that a couple had different affinities: two with lightning, one with wind and the rest had fire affinity. Skills were mostly the same, except the low-rank angry bees only had the Elemental Stinger skill.
Even with the disadvantage of being outnumbered in high rankers, William didn’t even react. After having Aurel and Seabas in the crew, his lineup was strong enough to mop the floor with them. The last one to check was the lord who challenged him. William didn’t know he could inspect a lord’s stats, but when he tried it, the panel actually opened.
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Name: Christian Wenz
Troop: TriSting Beexole (C-Rank)
Talent: Hive Master (E-Rank)
Rank: Tier 1 (High)
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"Pfff!" William struggled not to burst out laughing at this lord’s talent. "An E-Rank Hive Master? He probably thought F-Rank trash would be easy pickings, but now it’s E-Rank versus EX-Rank." His eyes lingered on the stat panels as some gears clicked in his mind.
"How the hell did he even get so many troops up to high rank? And that green bastard, he’s gotta be from a summon token, which should cost at least a thousand TP. No way this night alley drunker got SSS grades in both trials. It must be someone’s propping him up."
The thought went on connecting the pieces as he scowled, "It’s gotta be that bitch who sent him here. She really wants me, huh? Fine, next time I see her, I’ll give her a special surprise."
After putting the pieces together like a Seven-Eleven version of Sherlock, William turned his focus back to the Siege. The drunkard lord had mumbled something, and now a few of the bees were zipping around, searching for the platform.
William could’ve just let them buzz and let them come to the third floor for a fair fight, but where’s the fun in that? He had a badass rifle and some targets to snipe. He also had a pretty nasty idea to whittle down that green bastard.
He glanced at Seabas and Boom Fairy. "You two are coming with me; we’re going to welcome our guest." Grinning, he cocked his rifle, which caused the mana lining on the rifle to pulse. "Let’s start the hunt." With that, he teleported straight to the second floor.
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Meanwhile, back on the second floor, the Crocorge was slogging through the swamp. Every grunt sounded like he was cursing the swamp and the pathetic lord at his shoulder, who was burping after emptying the can. One thing they didn’t know was that the swamp wasn’t just there to slow them down; all the splashing had attracted the floor’s marine troops.
"Man, it’s taking fucking days just to find a way to bounce out of this trap!" Christian barked, the veins on his head throbbing. He shot a glare at the other bees. "What the fuck y’all doing? Get to steppin’, find the exit, and let’s wrap this shit up, my can’s empty!"
The rest of the bees scattered, probably just to get away from his bitching. Christian kept grumbling, "Whoever the fuck the shot-caller is around here, I swear on my mama I’m gonna drown that fool in my piss. Who sets a trap just to slo—" He didn’t get to finish, because a sudden shock ripped straight through him.
The shock came from the spike brute as three eels had snaked their way around his feet and hit him with Thunder Bind. For the croc, it was barely a tickle, his thick hide eating the volts away. He didn’t even grunt. But for the lord riding on his shoulder, his bare ass had zero protection. Getting zapped three times while being sober? Christian jolted so hard he slipped right off the brute’s shoulder.
"Fuuuuuck! Get a hold of me! Don’t let me—" Christian’s scream cut through the swamp as he plummeted from eight feet up, flailing toward the swamp for a mud bath. But before his face could get acquainted with the sludge, the bald croc snagged him by the ankle, leaving the drunk lord dangling upside down over the swamp like a piñata.
Before Christian’s brain cells could start working again.
BANG.
A gunshot cracked from the left.
