Chapter 67 - He Awakens II

It didn’t take long to get the general idea where the enemy had their camp. It was near an intersection a few hundred yards away from the spot the initial conflict had happened. Max could feel Maverick’s nervous energy through their bond. Max was nervous too, but it was the good kind of nervous. He couldn’t wait to bring the tension to resolution and win.

Now, he couldn’t attack the enemy’s camp guns a-blazing. Even though many of the enemy had died, there were still plenty left. And despite Max’s confidence, the fact was that those lives he had taken were snuffed out with almost offhanded ease. Max was squishy, outnumbered and he didn’t have the full scope of the enemy’s abilities. He was going to win. But he had to be careful.

Max crept along the dark corridor, stopping every few steps to listen and check for traps around. It was slow moving. The increased Dexterity from the Amethyst-advancement helped him tread with more careful steps, muffling the echoes of his boots as best he could.

He was creeping along in the darkness to circle behind the enemy camp. As Max watched for the stray pebbles not to kick them, he heard sounds. Faint footsteps somewhere in the darkness ahead. Careful sounds, just like his. Max quickly went behind a large fallen chunk of wall. The echoes of footsteps stopped a second or two after Max stopped himself. The enemy went still to listen, just like Max.

Max’s heart rate rose. The enemy had heard him, just like he had. No further sound was to be heard. Max dared to take a tentative step to peek from behind his cover.

A giant harpoon of an arrow whizzed just past his face. It flew past so close his face, Max could have licked at it. Immediately he jerked back. Some grace of luck had managed to keep him silent despite the scare. Max smirked.

The enemy had revealed their location.

Well, direction at least. Max wasn’t entirely sure how far the enemy was. He figured they couldn’t shoot such giant arrows from too far away, but who knew what was possible with the help of the Framework.

There was a dilemma here. Max wasn’t sure if the enemy knew for certain Max was there. If they did, they could either wait for Max to come out of cover, or they could run to get help. Max hadn’t heard footsteps since, so he was pretty sure the enemy was there, waiting.

That didn’t mean the enemy couldn’t get reinforcements just by mere chance. It would be better to take this one out. The harpoon-arrow shooter had been one of the most devastating enemies in the previous fight.

Max shuffled behind the fallen slab of stone, and another harpoon struck straight at the piece of wall, sending an explosion of rubble flying above Max.

Okay, damn he definitely knows where I am. They fly so fast that I can’t tether them. I need cover to advance.

The next intersection was twelve yards away. Max was fairly certain the arrows came from further yonder straight ahead. If he could cross that twelve yards, he could almost be at a range to use Maverick.

Another arrow came, crushing a part of the wall.

Damn it, where does the enemy keep getting those?

Max looked at the piece of wall he was crouching behind. He hadn’t done a trick like this, but it would give him enough time.

Max quickly whispered three [Tethers] of the repelling kind at the piece of wall, connecting it to himself. It catapulted the stone slab towards the darkness ahead. Another harpoon flew past him, cutting the air with a sharp sound, but it missed. Max managed to run behind the corner of the intersection to his left.

If he had gone right, it might have been the end of him.

Immediately from the right, two enemy lizardmen exploded into a spring towards him. Max could hear the person shooting the harpoon-arrows also run towards the intersection from their position. Max tethered the two sprinters legs together and ran. He shot behind him blindly, trusting Maverick to hit his mark. Because of the frantic movement and aiming too high, Maverick didn’t get more than a few shots in. He expressed frustration through their bond, but Max had no time for that. He had to run.

His relationship with Mana made him feel when the [Tether] spell hindering the two sprinters ended and he could hear several footsteps approaching. The enemy was fast. Another arrow flew past Max, crashing into the wall. It missed by a wide margin. Max turned another corner to the left as the rubble rained over him. Hisses and angry shouts chased him. Max glanced at his status bars. The green one would drain down well before the physical sprinters would exhaust their own. Not to mention they were gaining on him.

Max needed to kill them. He had revealed what kinds of powers he had, and it would do him well to prevent that information spreading to all of the enemy. They were close behind, Max could hear that. He pointed Maverick behind him and let the gun do work. After a few shots, something filled Maverick with overwhelming glee. That confused Max, as it was clear no enemy had fallen. Now wasn’t the time to ask questions.

Max turned another corner. Wrong one. It was a dead end.

Crap!

There were two doors on both sides of the corridor. Presumably leading to rooms. With little options left, Max chose the left door.

Yup. Dead end. In the very literal sense of the word.

His heart was pounding like a hummingbird. A ranged enemy watching at the door while two melee warriors hunted him inside a space the size of a classroom. Yeah that was a death sentence. The taste of fear in his mouth grew stronger as he backed away from the door, holding on to Maverick with both hands, pointing him towards the entrance to the room. He could get a few shots in, but then they would rush at him, and he had nowhere to go. Spells would slow them down, but they wouldn’t stop them. There were too many. This was it.

“Toss me outside!” Maverick yelled.

“What?” Max asked, panic rising.

“JUST DO IT!”

Max had to trust him. He was out of options. He lobbed the gun out of the door.

Maverick did something strange. Something that was hard to comprehend. The gun swiveled in the air with jerky moves, shooting in rapid fire impossible for a revolver. The weapon kept turning and swiveling in the air, pointing the long barrel this way and that.

Even Maverick’s descent was unnaturally slow. Max had the presence of mind to cast [Alter Gravity] on his companion in a surge of instinct, which slowed the gun’s descent further. Just enough to get a few more shots in.

Defeated Level 17 [Ishkarassi]

You gained 490 experience points

Defeated Level 17 [Ishkarassi]

You gained 550 experience points

Defeated Level 19 [Ishkarassi]

You gained 715 experience points

Max peeked outside. Three bodies of the enemy lay on the ground. He crept away from the door and picked up [The Maverick]. The gun was practically buzzing with glee and excitement.

“What the hell was that?” Max asked.