blueteamnovel Chapter 69 – Starry Soldiers
Chapter 69 – Starry Soldiers
As soon as Percy overcame the shock of seeing a wasp as large as he was, he thought he’d have an easy time slaying the overgrown bug. Its slick black carapace still glittered with colours like its smaller cousins, but the soldier was large enough that its camouflage was essentially useless.
After all, the motes of light slowly falling from the mushrooms above couldn’t possibly conceal the man-sized creature, nor could they obscure the dense Yellow shape thrumming within Percy’s Mana Sense. So, with nowhere to hide and with such a bulky frame, how hard could it be to hit it with his sickle?
Well...
Near impossible it turned out.
‘I really need to stop jinxing everything.’
The soldier’s stinger was about the shape and length of a rapier, delivering a barrage of lunges, trying to turn his head into a kebab. Strictly speaking, Percy didn’t have much difficulty dodging the blows – they were more forgiving than the mage’s stone javelins. Especially with the bug’s soul betraying its intentions ahead of time.
Still, it was landing his own attacks that proved challenging. Unlike his human opponent who had stood in place like a sitting duck, Percy couldn’t pin the wasp down. Despite its larger frame, the soldier was even more agile than the Orange variants. Hitting it from a distance was a tall order.
Then, there was the strategy Percy had used against the workers at the beginning. Back when he was weaker, he’d resorted to well-timed counterattacks to dispatch the bugs. Sadly, that wasn’t applicable right now. His only means of defending himself had grown obsolete once more. And there wasn’t much he could do about that.
‘There’s no way to block a Yellow beast’s attacks with pure mana from a Red core.’
Until it advanced to Orange, he’d have to retire his second core entirely. Its only use at the moment was the passive boost to his physique. Although he did have another advantage.
Side-stepping a stab, Percy tried to bisect the wasp’s soul with his left. It moved horizontally to dodge, but that gave him a chance to throw the second Parting Gift held by his right.
Thanks to Circulation, he could summon and maintain two of the weapons now!
That said, the wasp flew up to avoid the second attack. Next, it only stared at him for a moment before diving back to unleash another rain of lunges, trying to take advantage of his missing weapon. Not that he had much trouble evading them, but a similar scene repeated once he finished replacing his second sickle.
Half an hour later, the two were still at an impasse. The bug attacked whenever Percy was one weapon down, putting him on the backfoot until he recovered. Whenever he did, it was his turn to go on the offense, but the soldier was just as good at evading. If necessary, Percy could keep Circulation up with both cores for a couple more hours. Still...
‘How do I create an opening?’
Having Micky distract the creature was out of the question. Percy had already asked his familiar to remain at a safe distance and he had no intention of letting him anywhere close to the monster.
As Percy was evaluating his options, the soldier suddenly did something different. It flew a few meters above his head, before pointing its stinger down.
‘Oh, fuck me!’his time, Percy was prepared. Through the passive Soul Vision granted by his Circulation, he dodged the spray before it was even unleashed.
He could have easily evaded the next two shots too, but he intentionally remained within the splash zone to test something out. Pure mana gushed out of his pores as he swiped his arm, brushing the droplets aside with a wave of cyan. The purple liquid rapidly dissolved the flimsy defence, some of it making it to Percy’s skin. Still, most of it had been blocked.
‘Success... kinda.’ he made a weird expression halfway between a grin and a wince.
He’d rather dodge the attacks entirely than rely on this, but it was nice knowing he had one last layer of protection.
Next, the soldier dove down in an attempt to poke his eye out. Apparently, this one wasn’t dumb enough to get itself trapped like the last bug. Dodging, Percy tried to land a melee blow, hitting nothing but empty air.
Not getting discouraged, he quickly threw a handful of silver knives towards the creature. While he’d kept one of the Parting Gifts in the shape of a sickle, he’d decided to branch out by reverting the second one to a bunch of projectiles. Two of them missed, but the last one grazed its side. The silver silhouette shook, the wasp’s movements growing erratic.
Finishing the injured creature only took a couple more minutes.
‘Ok. Progress.’
At least, Percy didn’t come close to dying this time. Also, incorporating some level of variation in his arsenal looked promising. Still, he estimated he wouldn’t kill more than six soldiers today. Surpassing his previous spoils would take a few more weeks.
But he wasn’t too disappointed.
‘It’s going to be worth it in the long-term.’
His gains had been modest when he began hunting the workers too, yet they’d quickly eclipsed what was possible on the first level. Percy couldn’t help but rub his hands in anticipation. After a year in the Guild, his original goal was finally within reach.
‘I’m going to have enough elixir for both of my cores soon.’