Ch 93 - Puppet Master

As I trotted into the grasslands, I kept my senses on high alert. When I’d raced through the area as a werewolf, I’d definitely picked up scents of other monsters. My Perception was an insane 110, so when I focused on my nose, scents sharpened until I probably rivaled a weak-nosed breed of dog. It was a huge advantage, but nothing like a werewolf.

Back in the forest near the lake, a cacophony of wolf howls rose into a crescendo. Either they’d given up waiting for me, or had risked sneaking into the marshes and realized I’d slipped away.

Alpha was going to be ticked. He was super powerful and incredibly scary, but he was also arrogant and impatient. Could I use that against him?

I considered ways to turn the tables on the terrifying werewolf leader as I moved deeper into the grasslands. I didn’t want to challenge him up close and personal again. My ribs ached with phantom pain just thinking about his long claws starting to rip me in half. No, I had to take him on smarter, like I had with Bristleback.

Some clouds were drifting over the moons and stars, darkening the night. Most people would struggle to see, but the darkness would not hinder the werewolves if they started ranging out, seeking my sign. Between Wolfsbane and Mirror Cloak, they couldn’t smell me, and I was all but invisible. Hopefully that would be enough.

Some growls and odd yipping noises sounded across the grasslands nearby, but I didn’t run into any monsters. Either I just got unlucky, or they sensed me and chose not to tangle with me. More likely, they were all just hunkering down to avoid run-ins with the riled-up werewolves.

By the time I reached a band of dark forest covering a couple of the first larger hills and filling the canyon leading higher into the western mountains, I was getting annoyed. This was supposed to be a hunt. Maybe I was being too stealthy. With Mirror Cloak, I was pretty much invisible, and I made surprisingly little noise as I jogged through the sparse underbrush on bare feet. Maybe Wolfsbane blocked my scent to all monsters, and not just werewolves?

Now that I had reached the forest, I didn’t worry about the pack running me down so easily. So I dropped Mirror Cloak, allowing the world to return to normal color.

Taking a deep breath of the clean, tree-scented air, I smiled. I still had most of the night and miles to explore. With an entire week ahead of me, the time pressure had eased and I realized I was actually eager to hunt and to fight strong monsters.

Didn’t mean I was going to be stupid about it. I didn’t have my blades, but I did want to test my new class spells. So I pre-cast Immolation using my new class spell Ace Arcana.

“Immolation. Enjoy immunity to flames as you set yourself on fire and unleash a tornado of fiery destruction around yourself in an area with a diameter of 5 yards, plus 2 yards per point in perception. Uses remaining: 6”

I’d used it to great effect inside the Crimson Kite, and I was eager to see the full effect of the spell when I wasn’t stuck inside a monster’s gullet. I could torch an area of around 200 yards in diameter. That was twice the length of a football field. It wouldn’t be wise while my team were nearby, but it was perfect for lone hunting. Hopefully I wouldn’t start a forest fire if I had to use it.

Then I moved up the canyon, double checking that my goggles were on and the full head shield activated. The trees were medium-sized, which meant only about 200 feet tall, with crowns so big, they ended up spaced out pretty far. Some bushes and undergrowth cluttered some areas, but much of the canyon was remarkably open between the trees, and I jogged forward nearly silently over soft loam on bare feet.

Minutes slowly dragged by as I moved higher up the canyon. Back down on stage 1 I’d had to push miles up into the taller mountains before finding monsters strong enough to challenge me. Now that I’d reached stage 2, I should find some pretty soon.

Except I found nothing. The forest was creepily empty, and even the distant howls of the werewolves had faded to silence, as if the trees had a sound dampening effect. I slowed, listening and sniffing, pushing my Perception to the max, but sensed nothing. What was I missing?

I activated Spellseer’s Gaze and the forest glowed with soft bands of mana light. Some looked mostly colorless, which I interpreted as generic vanilla mana, while areas around the trees and bushes glowed a soft brown of earth mana. Turning slowly, I scanned the ground and undergrowth for any sign of brighter mana that might suggest monsters or other active spells.

Focusing on the mana, I couldn’t help trying to pull some of it to me. I’d broken off my practice before revealing to Noctarus the full extent of my progression, but I really wanted to find out what I could do.

Particles of mana again flowed to me, collecting on my gloves. As my concentration deepened, they rolled together, forming a ball of glowing white mana, then stretching into a slender rope several inches long as soon as I willed it.

“Ha!” I laughed. This was awesome.

A faint scraping sound, followed by a flapping so soft I barely heard it snapped me out of my reverie and I spun. A billowing dark shadow flared wide right above me. I’d been so distracted, my reaction came slower than usual. Before I could dodge or activate Energy Ward, the shadowy thing slammed into me, flinging me off my feet.

My shout of surprise turned into a muffled “Oomph” as folds of leathery material wrapped me like a cocoon, pinning my arms to my sides and my legs tight together.

I hit the ground hard, thrashing uselessly. Whatever the thing was, it had tied me up tighter than a Christmas goose in the blink of an eye.

Nothing bit me or clawed at me, but the pressure all over my body was like I’d been shoved into a giant sausage skin. I twisted and struggled, but could not break the hold.

Most of my body was sheathed in clothing and armor, and even my head was covered by my invisible shield. Unfortunately, my bare feet were exposed. A dull ache started across my skin there, as well as in small sharp points on my legs, and around my neck along the thin band of exposed skin between my jacket collar and my head shield.

I struggled harder, but to no avail. The ache became pain, and my health points started to drop, despite energy flowing back in from my Tesla Coil bracelet. What was going on?

I couldn’t trigger Energy Ward with that thing wrapping me so close, so I triggered Soul Feed. It passively drained a small amount of energy back from the thing, but with so much direct contact the latest upgrade was perfect.

Energy poured into me from the strange monster and a shiver rippled up the leather folds encircling me. I kicked my feet, trying to free them, but accomplished nothing.

Surprisingly, Identify kicked in.

“Puppetmaster. Level 48 Elite. It's rare to see one of these creatures in this stage, and even more rare to see it not wearing the body of its latest victim. The Puppetmaster feeds by enveloping its victim and dissolving their skin. Once it seals its magical hide over the victim's entire body, it consumes their mind and takes control of their body as if it was their own.”

“Soul Feed unsuccessful at countering the physical or mental effects.”

No freaking way. That thing was trying to dissolve my skin! Thinking about it attacking my mind, I finally felt the tendrils of the monster’s will starting to dig into my thoughts. They were like icy hints of barely remembered bad dreams.

It was weak, but starting to build. My Mental Resistance was pretty high, but apparently not enough. I triggered my Indomitable aura from my Hercules title to boost my Mental Defense by another 50%.

That helped, but still didn’t block the insidious tendrils of the Puppetmaster’s power creeping into my mind. A dull headache began and started to grow as I thrashed wildly. Panic grew, but I fought it back, despite the cold fear that chilled me to the bone.

How could this thing burrow in past all my defenses? It must be because it was melting off my exposed skin. Direct contact magnified so many powers.

The pain in my feet was growing steadily worse, while the points of pain across my legs was slowly spreading. Those had to be the spots where Alpha’s fur had ripped my pants. The Puppetmaster was dissolving skin there, and the damage was spreading.

No! I refused to die to this disgusting creature. Forcing calm on my racing thoughts, despite the steadily growing pain of my headache and the increasingly powerful nightmare images flashing through my thoughts, I made myself think.

I needed to get out fast. I couldn’t fight it off physically, so I needed spells. The best option was my pre-cast Immolation, but I finally realized pre-casting that one might not have been the smartest move. A giant fiery tornado could be seen for miles. It would likely draw in the werewolves like flies to honey.

Fine. I’d deal with that later. First, I had to survive this things. I cast the spell.

A tornado of superheated flames erupted out of me, scouring harmlessly across my skin and expanding in a roar to consume a vast area around me. Pressure disappeared as the Puppetmaster flung itself off.

I sucked in a deep breath of clean air and finally got my first good look at the thing as it flapped frantically in the fiery tornado. It looked like one of those epic cloaks worn in medieval movies. Black and thin, it didn’t have any head, limbs, eyes, or anything.

It was also eerily silent as it writhed in the flames and rolled into a tight burning mass, like a roll of cloth. Then it unrolled in a single, convulsive heave, flinging itself into the air toward one of the trees. It landed there and leaped again, moving to the next tree, but my fiery tornado had expanded to fill the canyon.

My spell roared like a lion as flames raced up trees and reduced bushes to piles of ash. I tore my gaze away from the fleeing monster to look around. I stood in the middle of a howling tornado of devastation, unharmed. Hot wind whirled, fire snapped and crackled, and the air smelled like cinders.

It all triggered a flood of memories from brutal days laboring on fire lines, fighting raging wildfires across the US. I’d seen huge fires up close, but never imagined standing in the middle of one.

It inspired me, but also rattled me to the core. I fought fires and hated the cowardly arsonists who often set them. Now I was the one unleashing fiery devastation. That feeling of disgust warred with a sense of awe and not a little terror as I gazed out at the insane spell I was controlling.

The Puppetmaster definitely wasn’t enjoying it. The thing burned as if it was doused in some kind of gasoline. It missed the next tree, twitching and jerking as it fell to the ground through the raging inferno. Its hide burned away until only wisps of ash touched down over the blackened soil.

I cut off the spell and the fiery tornado winked out.

“Huh. I’m glad that worked.” Hopefully Alpha and his pack hadn’t seen the flames. If my high Luck stat held, they would have been deep enough in the forest south of the lake to miss the inferno. Even so, I needed to move out fast.

“Some spells cannot be canceled after they are cast,” Cyrus responded. “But many can be.”

“Good. I didn’t really want to start a forest fire.”

“That definitely could have drawn the attention of something you don’t want to see down here on this stage.”

“Yeah, better to leave things like that far from me.” He wouldn’t share more details, but I’d take that warning to heart. Maybe I should be careful how I used Immolation in the future. It had saved my life this time, though.

“Congratulations, Lucas! You have defeated Puppetmaster, level 48 Elite. Bonus experience gained for defeating a higher-level enemy.”

I needed to check—

Mid-thought, I spun. Somehow I knew a werewolf was charging at my back. In a flash, I realized it was my upgraded Wolf Sight.

“Wolf sight. Upgrade: Life force absorbed from a monster using Soul Feed will resonate with you, allowing you to more clearly sense similar monsters and see through illusions or invisibility obscuring them from your sight.”

Sure enough, a black werewolf was shooting at me like a living javelin. It leaped the last 10 feet, jaws already gaping wide.

Not this time. I triggered Energy Ward.

The shimmering barrier popped up around me just in time to divert the leaping werewolf aside as I stepped the other way. The snarling monster missed by a hair, then slammed sideways in the air as the double physical damage rebound hit it with twice the force its dive would have done to me.

The werewolf somersaulted 5 times before crashing through some charred bushes. I shouldn’t have turned off Immolation so soon. I wasn’t about to trigger another precious use of the spell, though. The forest was already blackened, but the trees hadn’t caught fire. I definitely didn’t want to attract whatever monster Cyrus had warned me about.

So when the werewolf charged at me again, I let it. Again Energy Ward redirected it as I followed the gentle prompting from the spell and moved with it to reduce the work it had to do.

The werewolf snarled with frustration, but I wasn’t about to just let Energy Ward knock it away again. I pulled a poleax out of my inventory and slashed across the flying monster’s torso, triggering Cascading Force to apply a random extra force to the blow. That should magnify the double impact rebound it was about to suffer.

The head of my poleax rang like a bell and blasted right through the werewolf’s torso. Blood and bones and gore exploded out of its chest and it yelped in pain as the sudden multiplied power blasted it 50 feet to slam into the side of a thick tree so hard its back shattered. Its torso wrapped around the trunk with an unnatural bonelessness in a way not even werewolves were meant to bend.

Kinetic energy. Must have been. That was the perfect random effect from Cascading Force. The werewolf slid down the trunk, leaving patches of fur and streaks of red along the fire-blackened bark. I’d bashed that werewolf seriously hard. It was regenerating way faster than I would, but a lot slower than Alpha had. It shook its head as its neck bones reset, then tried to howl.

Nope. I would not allow it to call the rest of the pack. So far I didn’t sense any other werewolves coming, but how long did I have?

Lunging across the space, I summoned my giant ogre club. Swinging the enormous 500 pound club with all my strength, I cast Cascading force again. I was burning through a lot of mana, but my bracelet was helping my natural fast regeneration to make it up almost instantly.

The werewolf looked up and our gazes met. His crimson gaze burned with hate, although his long ears did droop as he tensed to take the massive hit he was still too broken to dodge.

The club came down like a meteor, smashing the hapless wolf’s body into the ground so hard its already broken torso splattered and dug a gory hole 3 feet deep into the soft earth.

At the same time, a deafening screech erupted around the club. I stumbled back, clutching at my ears, but I was only getting a tiny fraction of the auditory force attack unleashed by my spell. I’d thought the Whisper Finches’ sound attack had been bad, but this one pierced the werewolf like invisible daggers.

Already-ruptured organs shook themselves apart as splintered bone vibrated so hard more shards flaked off. The werewolf’s head convulsed, its ears standing straight out in shock from the overwhelming auditory assault as blood fountained from its ear canals, eyes, and mouth.

That onslaught must have pushed it to the ultimate edge of its ability to regenerate. The sound winked out a couple seconds later and the remains of the werewolf sagged in its gory hole. The thing was barely recognizable as once having been a sleek, deadly werewolf.

Activating Spellseer’s Gaze, I studied the wolf’s broken form. Its entire body glowed with soft crimson light as regeneration energy fought to restore it. Its bloody stomach glowed much brighter. That was the center of the pool of regeneration power. There was still a fair amount there, although perhaps not enough to restore it fully.

Casting my huge club back into my inventory, I crouched next to the nearly dead werewolf and placed my hand on its cracked skull. It twitched, trying to snap at me, but lacked the strength. Soul Feed triggered and energy poured into me from the wolf. The glowing pool of regeneration power dimmed as my spell sucked it all away to feed my reserves.

With a final whimper, the werewolf sagged back, lifeless to the dirt. Instantly I triggered Harvest and Loot while a final wave of white energy flowed off the corpse and into me from Soul Feed.

“Congratulations, Lucas! You have defeated Waterlogged Werewolf, level 38.”

“You have failed to Harvest a spell from Waterlogged Werewolf.”

Not surprising, but still annoying. I squashed my surge of rage at missing the chance to gain Lycanthropic Transformation again. Part of me really wanted that spell, but Cyrus was probably doing me a favor by blocking me from harvesting the same spell twice. I might not be able to keep my own sense of identity if I transformed into a werewolf again.

I turned to repeat the process with the Puppetmaster, but a new notification startled me.

“Congratulations, Lucas! You have reached level 13.”

“No way that should be possible.”

“Would you like me to take it back?” Cyrus asked.

“Can you?”

“Not usually, but since you already break most of the norms, I could probably figure out a way.”

“You’ve done enough experience meddling, thank you very much.” Just thinking about how he’d rigged my experience to force me back to fight Bristleback stoked my anger again, but I forced it down. This stage was actually starting off surprisingly good, considering I’d already run into both bosses.

Instead of getting defensive or angry, Cyrus laughed. “That fight with Bristleback and your epic battle across the collapsing stage 1 is the crown event of the game so far. You have no idea how many additional benefits you will receive in the coming days from that victory. You gave us a show, and great entertainers always thrive.”

“Please don’t do it again.” At least it looked like he was starting to give me the blocked experience. There might be a slim chance that the crazy fight to escape stage 1 had really pushed me almost all the way up to level 13 already, but the evidence was too overwhelming that he’d rigged the game against me.

I was happy to get another level, but if Cyrus messed with me like that again, I might very well fail to make it to stage 3. It was only by the tiniest of miraculous margins I was alive at all. I needed to find a more creative outlet for his attention.

Cyrus’s voice dropped to a much more serious tone. “I’m happy you’re a top performer, Lucas. Boring players generally fall behind.”

What did he mean by that? The chilling warning was a gentle reminder that Cyrus was not as friendly as he often sounded. I needed to keep on his good side for my own future survival, and for that of my friends.

“On with the show,” I said with forced cheer.

Cyrus laughed again. “The Greatest Showman. Wonderful film.”

And all of a sudden the famous contract negotiation song and dance scene between Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron started playing softly. The foot-tapping song, “The Other Side” was a favorite.

I mouthed the words as I returned to the Puppetmaster and triggered Harvest and Loot. My foot began to tap and my mood lifted. My Spartacus title did give me another 25% boost for defeating higher-level monsters, and that level-48 rare monster no doubt gave me a ton of experience.

All that remained of the Puppetmaster was a softball-sized black sphere, looking like blown glass. Flickers of light in the sphere’s depths suggested that some kind of magic lingered.

"Puppetmaster core. Rare. The core is what gives Puppetmasters life, and lingers after its possessed hide is destroyed. This rare item grants immunity to soul-afflicting conditions. It can be used in many alchemical and crafting projects, creating highly-coveted, rare equipment with a range of effects from soul shifting to mind expanding to protective. Final effects depend on the experience of the Puppetmaster, the lives it consumed, and the manner of its defeat. This one has special affinity to pure energy manipulation.”

That sounded great, and should fit my build perfectly if I could figure out how to use it. The monster had been freakishly disgusting. I’d have to warn the town to watch for anyone coming back from the forest who looked odd. They might not be themselves anymore.

“Congratulations, Lucas! You have successfully Harvested Sapper Charge. Like ancient sappers who could destroy enemy fortifications by tunneling underneath unseen, you have the power to render defenses moot.”

“Deliver a concussive bare-handed strike that disrupts an enemy's spirit, dealing massive spiritual damage. Disrupt any of their active spells or spell casting, and negate most mental and magical defenses. Mana cost: Moderate. Uses remaining: 3.”

“Due to your Backdoor Synergy Wizard class benefits, uses remaining upgraded to 6.”

“Note: Wearing gloves does not block the use of this spell.”

I whistled softly. That spell had a lot of potential. Not sure how I got it from the Puppetmaster. Then I scanned the loot I’d gotten from the monsters. A lot of mana crystals and standard supplies. I did get one special item, which I extracted to inspect.

It was a beautiful full-length, plum-colored hooded cloak made of soft, supple leather, so light it felt more like wool. Its properties were even more impressive.

“Shroud of the Sovereign Will. Epic. Due to your class special abilities, unexpected synergies have been unlocked between the loot of the Puppetmaster and the Waterlogged Werewolf, resulting in this unique item.”

“The wearer of this cloak retains supreme control over their mind and body, making them impervious to external manipulation. Effect: Nullify external compulsions like mind control or lycanthropy. Boost innate body and mind enhancement abilities.”

“Wow, this is incredible.”

“Indeed, your class is already showing advantages.”

I dropped the cloak back into my inventory. I already had a great cloak, my mental resistance was high, and I honestly wouldn’t mind transforming again, if I got the chance. I had other plans for the cloak.

All I had left to do was apply my single free point that came with my new level. The new points in Wisdom and Intelligence were applied automatically. I chose to put the free point into Dexterity, which was trailing slightly behind the others.

I’d spent way too much time and made far too much of a racket in that canyon. So with a new spring in my step, I headed higher up the canyon.