Chapter 14: Chapter. 14: Facing The Guardian

I stared at the snake, baffled. Hah? Glim didn’t scream at me to run, so at least I knew it wasn’t a Knell Boar. Fighting another Knell Boar would certainly kill me even at level 6. I took a deep breath and grabbed my bow, this was the opportunity I was waiting for. Though part of me felt odd, almost conflicted ⁠— first I considered running from things, then I wanted to kill things, but as soon as they were too strong, I would run? That didn’t sit well with me. I shook my head and ignored the annoying feeling welling up inside my chest. It wasn’t time to dwell on things. Though, perhaps it was time to dwell on things?

Leaves eternally fell, serving as nothing more than decoration to focus on the snake, its body white like ash, its scales rippled with a blue tinge every time it moved, and the sunlight, it poured down as if I was staring at some type of holy entity, sending shimmers all around. Its golden eyes opened, they shone in a golden color, akin to preserved tree amber. Its slitted pupils focused on me, and with a flicker of its tongue, it closed its eyes once more. Regarding me, but not attacking.

Guardian of the Osthus Tree. I stared at the snake before switching to the tree. It was the guardian of said tree, its height towered over anything else in the forest, its tree bark was a rich orange color, and up high, at the lowest branch I could see a mixture of gold and silver. It was protecting the tree. I tried to inquire about the tree.

[Osthus Tree.]

It wasn’t very helpful. Though I didn’t understand why there was such a thing here, since we were still in the Skirmish space⁠— this place was just generated, so something like a Guardian did not make sense to me. I turned to Glim.

“Why is there a supposed Guardian here?”

Glim bobbed. [The reason why is not something I can actually answer, but think of it as sort of commander of the area? No monsters will approach this place, at the same time it won’t leave the tree alone unless attacked. As far as stopping you goes, well⁠—] Glim seemed to hesitate. [I think it's best if you don’t bother it for now, but I know you won’t listen to me.]

I nodded. So it wasn’t an immediate threat to my life. “Do I get something for defeating it?”

[I suppose so, I cannot really say what you get, but there is indeed a reward,] Glim confirmed.

That was all I needed to hear. I held my bow on my left hand and prepared an arrow before looking at the Guardian once more, the snake did not move nor open its eyes, as if it were stone, it was impervious to all outside influences. I took a deep breath as I gathered my mana onto my hand and through my fingers, getting ready to enhance my bow, I did a quick check on my mana pool. It was almost full. I nodded to myself, I was going to fight it in almost top shape, the small sliver I was missing would regenerate in maybe twenty minutes, but I found it negligible ⁠— it would allow me to shoot maybe three more arrows but I had a total of ten arrows, I would have long run out of arrows before using all my mana.

My fingers felt warmth, and I nocked an arrow before entering the clearing and getting a good shot angle ⁠— if it wasn’t going to move then I was going to get the best possible opening shot ⁠— with that in mind I positioned myself next to a tree. Given that the snake could climb trees, I figured the ground was simply a better place for me to be. And finally I aimed at its head, the string filled up with just the right amount of mana for me to still be able to pull it back ⁠— my bicep burnt as the string reached its max draw, and then⁠— was it going to be enough? I hesitated, I had to get the best shot possible.

I frowned, before a vivid image entered my head ⁠— water exploded in a cloud of mist, and the fish was nowhere to be seen ⁠⁠— If I used Explosive Shot then⁠— then perhaps the snake too would die, though part of me felt as if it was wishful thinking, but I had to get the best initial shot, the best. I focused on the feeling on the arrow, to execute the skill. In a short second the arrow shone in a bright green color along with the string. I braced myself and aimed at the snake’s closed eye. The arrow was let go.

An explosion of air made me stagger, my finger burned, the arrow flew faster than sound. Shockwaves traveled to its side and the snake snapped its eyes open, it tried to move away but it was too late. The arrow hit its eye and exploded, a dreadful shriek echoed through the forest scaring any animal or bird in the vicinity, the Guardian lost its grip and hit the ground, the earth itself trembled and the resulting cloud of dust carried a certain amount of crimson. I paused, but quickly nocked another arrow after slight hesitation. It wasn’t dead.

The snake wailed with bellowing sounds of pain, the tree shook from being hit and finally the cloud of dust somewhat cleared. The snake was rolling and coiling, half of its face had been seemingly scraped and torn apart, its blood covered skull was visible to me. Half of its jaw was missing and was loosely connected to the side of its face by remaining tissue⁠, it had no muscle to retract or bare its fang, and its throat pulsed with each shriek. Over one third of my mana was gone in an instant.

I aimed once more, at the same spot as last time, its head flailed making it hard to aim, but it had forgotten about me. The string was enhanced, and under my careful watch I waited for the snake to briefly pause, and a second later it did. I let go of the arrow, and with a zip it flew and hit its eye-socket. The arrow deeply embedded itself into its skull, but did not pierce. And then, with a final screech the snake stopped.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and waited for the notification to reward my efforts, but it did not come.

The snake convulsed, as if something inside was moving and thrashing. I prepared another arrow and waited, the flesh of the snake began to weave into each other and grow. Was it regenerating? I snorted and shot another arrow into its cranium, this time it went directly into its brain, but it didn’t do anything. I paused before trying once more, the arrow hit its nostril and I got no response. I stared with confusion, was it immune?

The snake shook one final time, and leaves fell on top of it, as if it was trying to bury it. I stopped shooting arrows since they didn’t seem to be effective, I considered using another Explosive Shot but refrained. Should I run away? I hesitated as more leaves befell the Guardian, and eventually it was buried in a sea of gold and silver. Light green particles of light began to fall on it as well⁠—

[The Guardian is requesting aid from the Osthus Tree.]

A notification called my attention, prompting me to inquire about the Guardian once more.

[Guardian of the Osthus Tree. Lvl. 11]

[Guardian of the Osthus Tree. Lvl. 12]

[Guardian of the Osthus Tree. Lvl. 13]

Hesitation to turn away, turned into resolution. My heart beat increased as it didn’t seem to show any signs of stopping, doing a sharp turn I began to sprint⁠— I wanted to be as far away as possible, I did not understand how it could just level up by requesting aid, but I knew that I had to get away. The ground trembled right behind me and a rustling explosion resounded, making me turn back. I was already relatively far away from the clearing, and that’s when I saw a towering shadow with two golden eyes staring at me. Gold and silver fell as if it signaled its arrival.

The snake hissed and lunged towards me with its wide open mouth. Its explosive speed simply served as a reminder of what I needed to do. I ran once more, weaving through the trees as the rustling from the snake’s slither closed behind me. It was hell bent on chasing after me.

I ran and ran. My legs burned as I passed through unfamiliar terrain, I didn’t know in what direction I had gone, but I simply focused on not losing speed, I rushed for answers on how to delay it and all I could think of was Explosive Shot, but who knew if it was going to be effective, and everytime I used it I’d get hit by recoil that would slow me down.

It would push me back. If I shot it I’d be pushed back, the problem would be falling and being eaten by the snake. I pondered for a brief second as I circled a tree and headed elsewhere, somewhere where the terrain would allow me to hide. I looked around all the trees and saw a distant boulder that was as big as a hill; a large crack running through it, a crack that was just big enough for me to fit through⁠— it was my chance.

I veered into its direction, the sharp turn caused a tree to shake from what I assumed was the snake smacking against it. It rapidly closed the distance as I too got close to my destination. The sounds got closer and closer as I sprinted. Sweat began to trickle down my head as I nocked an arrow and prepared to use Explosive Shot once more.

30 meters.

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20 meters.

10 meters.

Now! I drew the bow and turned with a hop, staring at the snake’s gaping mouth, its golden eyes stared at me as I let go of the arrow, the momentum sent me flying backwards, an explosion resounded along with the shriek of the snake. I flew with unprecedented energy towards the boulder, my heart skipped as I tried to simply not die, landing on the dirt I slid into the opening of the rock. My foot banged against its sides, and my leg scraped against the rock, pain assaulted my body but the only thoughts in my mind was joy. Joy that the snake had its front blown off.

I slid for a few more meters into the boulder⁠— what i initially thought to be a big rock seemed to be closer to an open monolith. The snake thrashed around and against the monolith, dust fell from the air as I tried to recover my breath. I survived the snake. I turned to the opening where I saw the snake whipping with pain, relief washed over me as I simply stared. It was sadistic, but I was glad to finally be away from it. My mana was almost empty.

I sat for a few minutes, and finally the snake seemed to recover a bit, the forefront of its head was crimson and I could see bone. Its golden eyes stared at me with sheer hatred, the snake hissed and pounced onto the rock baring its fangs. The monolith shook but it didn’t go past that. I expected the snake to go back to the tree, but instead it pounced yet again.

I scoffed. “Not done yet?” I picked up my bow, if it was going to deliver itself to my doorstep to die, then so be it.

I loaded an arrow and shot at its mouth, it hissed but ignored the pain. I closed my eyes and waited for a second for it to leave, but it seemed to be for naught. The rock shook once more, and this time I used mana to enhance the string of my bow ⁠— it was a golden opportunity at my doorstep to get stronger.

And then I paused⁠— if I kept using mana per arrow then I’d be out before I ran out of arrows. With that in mind, I switched my mana to my left arm to keep the bow permanently enhanced ⁠— letting go of the string would cause all mana to be lost, but holding the object would retain it. I poured my mana onto the bow with the intent to enhance the string, and a second later the string shone once more.

The snake tried different ways to attack the rock but none succeeded. I nocked an arrow and shot at its eye, the snake shrieked and pounced with much more vigor. I shot at its nostril, and the arrow embedded deep into it, but it was ineffective. I shot the roof of its mouth and nothing happened.

I took more and more time to calculate my shots, and the snake seemed to be getting angrier and angrier at me. Its fangs shone with a dangerous green light, but it did nothing but scratch the rock and melt through it. The snake attacked and chafed at the rock in an attempt to reach me, arrows kept hitting the insides of its mouth, eye-socket and nostrils.

Two arrows left.

I waited five minutes to fire the arrow, it pierced through the same nostril and the snake shrieked like never before. It was as if I had threaded right into its brain, it was finally going to die. I smiled from satisfaction watching my efforts be rewarded. The snake wobbled for a few seconds threatening to fall, eventually it shook its head, and simply. Hissed.

Was it unkillable? Glim had been silent all this time, but I wish it had just told me.

If I had known the stupid Guardian was impossible to kill I would’ve never bothered. I gnashed my teeth as I grabbed my last remaining arrow⁠— what the fuck could I even do with one arrow? I nocked it and transferred all my mana to my fingers, where it promptly was loaded into the arrow. If I was going to use it all, then I wanted the snake to remember me. I wanted it to remember this encounter.

I frowned, feeling the empty mana reserves, but it didn’t matter. I waited for the snake to attack once more⁠— where it would hurt the most.

[Blair, no!] Glim tried to stop me, but I ignored him.

The snake opened its mouth wide open and its venom corroded the stone, the arrow was let go with explosive force and nailed the roof of its mouth. The explosion rocked the boulder and the snake flailed back and fell, its entire body twitched as crimson blood pooled on the distant ground. It was weaker than any other previous Explosive Shot, but I had done it.

I grinned. It was finally dead⁠— i coughed blood, feeling a sudden emptiness overwhelm me. Nausea assaulted my body, and the world began to spin. Dots littered my vision, and a mix of cold and heat struck my body. My steps began to shake, and then the nausea hit me like never before; my stomach churned, and my chest heaved trying to throw up. No⁠— I gagged, limping⁠—

Acid burnt my throat as I spilled small chunks of fish along with blood. I heaved labored breaths as I struggled to stay conscious.

[Why would you use all your mana!] Glim admonished. [I thought it was more than obvious what would happen⁠— no it seems I forgot to tell you, or rather I did tell you about three hours ago when you were too busy practicing, but you ignored me!]

I scoffed, vaguely recalling that. No matter. I struggled to stand properly as a burning sensation permeated my insides, it was probably the lack of mana. I felt lightheaded, but it was all inconsequential. The snake was dead. I smiled to myself and walked towards the entrance, holding my knife, it was probably on its final moments.

As I drew closer, the snake trembled. Are you kidding me⁠— it rose up, and looked at me, half of its mouth was missing, it tried to attack me but it paused. Its eyes seemed to clear up and switch to panic, however it wasn’t directed at me; it was as if it had a moment of realization. It turned, and… ran.

My eyes widened, as I saw the snake rush with the same speed towards the forest. It seemed to have no regard for anything as it weaved through the trees and hissed.

It ran away.

I had no arrows left.

I stared at my bow⁠— Indignation, defeat, humiliation⁠—

I gritted my teeth. I was going to kill that fucking snake.

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