Chapter 107: Chapter One Hundred and Four: Thorny Trial Boss

The darkness receded, leaving behind a totally new landscape. They appeared to have been teleported deep into the Forbidden Forest, the jungle-like flora twisting into a misty, ancient maze. Far in the distance, at the top of a hill, was a replica of the throne Ruler Wefton had been sitting on.

 

But that was not the only familiar sight before them. 

 

Creatures emerged from the geographically improbable mists, the same tortured-looking beasts that they’d fought in the Forbidden Forest Temple. Exactly the same, in fact. There must be a specific breed of Forest-dwellers some of whom had wandered into the Temple, rather than having been created by the Temple itself. Did that mean there was a Boss nearby? Before Qube could start peppering the Chosen One with questions, however, the beasts struck.

 

“Fight your way to the throne,” Ruler Wefton’s voice echoed through the woods, “and claim your birthright.”

 

A-HA! Qube knew it! All that talk about equality and not creating a dynasty! It was Sexy Screamy Spider Lady’s birthright to rule over the Forest Folk! She triumphantly looked over at Sexy Screamy Spider Lady, only to see that her friend, rather than looking relieved at being secure in her future, looked extremely distressed.

 

“This is no birthright of mine!” she cried out into the darkness. She seemed to recede into herself. “This is something I chose to do… isn’t it?”

 

There was no reply. Perhaps whatever spell Ruler Wefton had been using only allowed him to project his voice but not hear any replies. It seemed a fitting spell for a leader to use. After all, why would anyone need to reply to a Royal proclamation?

 

While Sexy Screamy Spider Lady digested the news that her parents had been lying to her for her entire life, Sewer Bard was working hard to earn his role as Head Guard. Instead of staying back and casting support spells via his lute, he was cutting into the pitiful creatures with his rapier. Beast after beast dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind only a few token items from their inner spaces. One small, rabbit-like creature managed to dive past Sewer Bard, heading straight for Sexy Screamy Spider Lady.

The Hunter snapped out of her fugue state, daggers appearing in all four of her front arms. Ever since the Wizard Tower, the giant arachnid had seemed more aware of her own body, and less likely to accidentally phase herself through objects. It was as if she was pushing her new awareness of her body to the limits, attempting to use all four of her arms not as a Wood Elf would, but rather to independently attack different points on the feral bunny.

 

All four of her daggers dug into the bunny, causing it to disappear with a pop, leaving behind a few coins and a rabbit foot. Why just the foot was a mystery for the greatest minds in the kingdom, a mystery Qube intended to one day solve.

 

Qube remembered the Wood Elf in the Shadow Temple.That version of Sexy Screamy Spider Lady was, admittedly, more conventionally attractive, what with her being a gorgeous Elf, but as Sexy Screamy Spider Lady twirled, her daggers flashing in the twilight, Qube thought she’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

 

Having killed everything around them, Sexy Screamy Spider Lady and Sewer Bard turned back to the rest of the party. Whatever spell had teleported the party had also lumped them all back together.

 

“Though father said that you could help, this is something I want to do without you,” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady said, looking at the Chosen One. She glanced at the man at her side. “Sewer Bard?”

 

The Bard nodded his agreement.

 

The Chosen One raised an eyebrow.

 

“I mean, I was going to hang back and just watch anyway,” he said. “But sure.”

 

The childrens’ faces stitched into the arachnid’s side frowned, but all Sexy Screamy Spider Lady said was, “Thank you, darling,” before setting off down the path. Sewer Bard followed her closely, while the others trailed behind.

 

They’d taken just a few steps when suddenly half a dozen creatures poured out of a black hole in the ground, rushing at the duo leading the way. Without waiting for the Chosen One’s permission, Definitely Bad Guy launched a wall of flame at where the creatures were emerging from, incinerating them at their source. 

 

Sexy Screamy Spider Lady and Sewer Bard swung around, but all the beasts were already cooked. Sexy Screamy Spider Lady glared at the Mage. Before Qube could intervene to smooth over the tension, the Chosen One put his hand on Definitely Bad Guy’s shoulder.

 

“Easy, Sparky, easy,” he said jovially. “Let’s not interfere, yeah?” The Chosen One continued looking at Sewer Bard and Sexy Screamy Spider Lady, who had taken the opportunity to move forward and were already engaged with another mob of monsters. “I wanna see how this plays out.”

 

Qube nodded her approval. Even though the rest of the party had been given explicit permission to help by Ruler Wefton, and it certainly would have made their friends’ lives a lot easier if they just fought alongside them, thus bringing this whole thing to a rapid conclusion, standing back and letting the duo struggle to make headway against swarms of enemies just because they wanted to do it alone was definitely the more heroic course of action.

 

While Qube didn’t have the wealth of sagas that Sewer Bard drew on, she still knew enough about adventures to recognise when it was time for her, as the supportive companion, to stand back and do nothing. In fact, a core part of her training had been learning how to recognise when she should be proactively casting, and when it was better for her to stand on the sidelines and watch.

 

Given the low level of potential lethality, the personal importance of the mission to both Sexy Screamy Spider Lady and Sewer Bard, and the fact that the rest of the team could easily step in if things got messy, this was definitely an “emotional rather than practical support” battle.

That, and the fact Sexy Screamy Spider Lady had outright asked the Chosen One not to get involved.

 

Drawing on her superior support training, she decided to show the Chosen One and Definitely Bad Guy the correct way to help your friends on a personal mission: by shouting encouraging things at them from a safe distance.

 

“You can do it!” she called out to the duo. “Keep fighting! Stay focused!” Neither of them acknowledged her. “Good job!” she shouted.

 

The Chosen One, not being blessed with her specialised schooling, looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked, despite it being very obvious.

 

“I’m supporting them!” Qube replied cheerfully. “It helps boost their morale!”

 

The Chosen One looked at the increasingly remote Hunter and Bard.

 

“Hey!” he yelled at the duo. They both paused mid fight and turned to look at him. “Did her shouting help?”

 

“It was as sunshine is to a flower, Noble Patron,” Sewer Bard said, managing to bow even as he side-stepped a small mud-like moss monster and skewered it with his rapier.

 

“My sweet Healer is always helpful,” Sexy Screamy Spider Lady replied scornfully. “How could you even ask?” Giving the Chosen One a surprisingly judgemental look, the arachnid went back to her slaughtering.

 

“Huh,” the Chosen One said thoughtfully. “Not gonna lie, I didn’t expect that to actually make a difference to them. Still not sure if it does, or if they’re just saying that. Argh, why do they have to be so complex?”

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Qube shook her head ruefully. The Chosen One had so much to learn about how to be a supportive party member! Sure, as their leader, technically he didn’t need to learn how to be supportive in the first place, but she was very proud of him for trying!

 

“You’re doing a great job!” she said, putting a hand on his bicep. He looked down at her.

 

“I don’t need supporting,” he said to her, exasperated.

 

“Everyone needs support, Chosen One!” she replied earnestly. He frowned slightly in thought.

 

“Probably,” he admitted, clearly recognising her superior knowledge on the subject.

 

As they shadowed their companions down the surprisingly widely-cut path through the ancient jungle maze, the Chosen One made sure to pick up all the loot that the couple ahead hadn’t bothered to stop to collect.

 

“Are these unique?” he asked Qube as he picked up a bundle of arrows that had been dwelling within a surprisingly mobile tree root that Sexy Screamy Spider Lady had stabbed to death. “I don’t remember this pattern on the arrows in the Forest Temple, so these might be unique…”

 

As countless creatures ignored the trio (and Squiggles), swarming to the potential leaders of the Forbidden Forest, and half of his party grew close to gaining great political power, the Chosen One turned over the bundle of arrows in his hands, attempting to determine if the splotches of brown and green were the same as the ones they’d retrieved from an ancient Temple built to house terrible and great power.

 

Sometimes, Qube just flat out didn’t understand the Chosen One’s priorities.

 

As the Chosen One tried to figure out his arrow question, the duo up ahead reached the clearing that led to the foot of the thorny throned hill. Before they could start the final climb to the Royal chair, however, a smaller version of the spider Boss from the Forbidden Forest Temple fell from the canopy and attacked them.

 

This looked a lot more lethal than the smaller fights. Qube instinctively surged forward, ready to [Lesser Shield] her teammates, when the Chosen One put out his arm, barring her way.

 

“You going rogue on me?” he asked her with a crooked smile. Qube flushed guiltily.

 

“Of course not, Chosen One, I’m a Healer through and through!” she said quickly. “I’m just a little worried about them! They might need more than words of support. That looks like a smaller Boss. Maybe a baby Boss? They could get hurt!”

 

“Nah, they’ll be fine,” the Chosen One said, dropping his arm from in front of her and shrugging his shoulders.

 

Up ahead, the mini-Boss launched itself at Sexy Screamy Spider Lady, biting deep into her abdomen. She screamed. The Chosen One winced.

 

“Okay, scratch that,” he said, sounding much less confident. “Hey!” he called out, distracting his party members from their battle to the death. ”Let us know when you want us to help!” The duo ignored him, continuing their grim fight against the miniature Boss.

 

It wasn’t going well for the pair.

 

The Chosen One drummed his fingers against his chin as he surveyed the fight.

 

“I forgot to save,” he muttered to himself. “But she did ask me not to… hmm… hmm…”

 

Qube flinched as she saw Sewer Bard get gouged by one of the giant spider’s claws, throwing him to the ground.

 

“Chosen One,” she pleaded as the beast frenzied, biting repeatedly into Sexy Screamy Spider Lady. Even though the Hunter was a giant spider herself, that was no guarantee she wasn’t being affected by the venom that creature was injecting into her! Several of her limbs already hung limp.

 

“They asked us not to interfere,” the Chosen One calmly reminded her.

 

“They’re dying,” Qube almost cried.

 

“I know,” the Chosen One said. He was looking at the pair not with that remote, alien expression that chilled Qube to her core, but rather with a strange mix of sadness and pride. “They’re being stubborn, proud, and very, very dumb.” He practically wiped away a tear as he looked down at Qube, who was nearly besides herself with frustration.

 

“They’re acting like people,” he said quietly. Suddenly, he grinned. “But you’re also a person. So you can always just do what you want.”

 

Qube narrowed her eyes at him as her mind sought the solution to this strange verbal puzzle. It sounded like permission to do what she wanted… so she was going to take it as such!

 

“Thank you Chosen One, bye!” she shouted and launched herself towards the nearly-downed duo. “[Lesser Shield]!” she cast, protecting the Hunter from another bite.

 

“My sweet,” the Hunter croaked, swaying on her many feet.

 

“[Heal]!” Qube cast the spell on Sexy Screamy Spider Lady, then [Lesser Heal] on Sewer Bard, bringing him up from his kneeling position.

 

“I thought... the lady asked… you not to interfere,” the Bard gasped.

 

“She asked Chosen One not to help,” Qube said, flicking back her hair in a move learned from the Hunter. “But I’m different. I’m your Healer! And this is my destiny!”

 

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