READ WEBNOVEL Chapter 17 Southern Waters
We tested the canoe when Yula pronounced it seaworthy the following day. She found tiny leaks, but she wasn’t concerned. After only a few days in camp, Iris and Fletcher joined us on its maiden voyage into Otter Lake.
Some gamers might want to do everything, but it suited me to let the Sternways venture to Fort Krek. Having served in the garrison, they made better ambassadors.
I favored exploring Otter Lake with Yula. With Hawkhurst pointed in a favorable direction, we had time to investigate the mysterious orc convoy past our settlement and why they met with kobolds.
Fabulosa patrolled the northern forest while Lloyd perched in the watchtower. They guarded workers felling trees for the motte and bailey, our settlement’s largest project to date. With Lloyd’s extended vision, everyone had plenty of warning of approaching enemies.
Yula and I paddled Iris and Fletcher east past Hawkhurst Rock and into the gentle current of Orga River. Even though it had been raining for days, the water flow into the lake felt barely perceptible. Paddling upstream made easy progress—at least by the river’s mouth.
Yula corrected my grip on the paddle’s end.
I adopted every pointer and good habit she offered.
The waterline reached close to the top of the canoe with four people in it, but the watercraft passed the stress test. If the wind picked up, waves might splash in, but the mild morning waters left only user error as a reason for taking water. Even though I only assisted in the canoe’s crafting, I shared a sense of ownership. I took extra care not to tip it.
When we reached the other side of the Orga, we pulled the canoe out of the water and looked around. The east bank looked solid and suitable for buildings and land traffic.
Fletcher touched my arm to draw my attention. “Do you recall how The Fools Three begins? They lit a campfire in the middle of Blyeheath and summoned a willow-o-wisp?” He smiled as if leading to a joke.
While researching books in Belden, I’d read many stories, but none of these references made sense. I shook my head to show I hadn’t the slightest idea.
He furrowed his brow. “The Fools Three?”
I shook my head and shrugged.
Fletcher wagged his finger. “Fort Krek, dear boy. We’ll go one day. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Jarvan comedies. But don’t worry, I’ll start you out with something tame. We’ll save the Lecher House for later.”
I smiled and nodded, though I still didn’t understand.
Iris returned the discussion to practical matters. “We’ll light a fire when we return. You’ll pick us up?”
I nodded and regarded the shoreline. Unlike Hawkhurst Meadow, plenty of fallen trees and branches provided kindling. Before the Sternways made their way into the wilderness, we wished one another good luck and bid farewell.
Yula and I launched back into the water after Iris and Fletcher disappeared into the woods.
“We look for my people, yes?”
I grinned and nodded. Finding out why canoes of orcs passed by would satisfy a curiosity that bothered me for weeks. With Fabulosa taking her turn to guard the settlement, it seemed a good time for an adventure.
We paddled across the lake on a south-by-southwest heading for an hour to reach Flatrock, an island that epitomized its name. The stretch of rock matched in size and makeup to Hawkhurst’s tinted blue granite, but its barren expanse sprouted nothing except a halo of reeds. Aside from a stinky seagull infestation, the place appeared empty.
Judging by the steep shoreline, the water between the Hawkhurst and Flatrock looked deep, dark, and muddy. We brought some gum to repair our vessel if we damaged it against rocks, but we stayed clear of the shoreline. Flatrock offered nothing to explore, but this up-close look gave me an appreciation for the difficulty of quarrying in this desolate location. Any vessel capable of hauling stones needed a dock, which meant floating timber here and building one.
After making a half-circle around the island, we turned southwest toward Otter Lake’s western shore. Paddling against the wind, I appreciated Yula’s pointers on optimizing my grip. After hours of uneventful, uninterrupted paddling, we reached a marshy and shallow shoreline. It featured vast stretches of reeds and sodden shrubbery, and the shallow water felt warm. We kept clear of the land where green foam collected between the reeds. The foam came from deteriorated vegetation and stank as such.
We held our heading for an hour before deciding we’d gone too far south. It gave us plenty of time to admire the soaring peaks of the Highwall Mountains in the distance, and the view alone made the effort worthwhile. Their foothills rose only 20 miles away, but the shallow marshes around us created an entirely unfamiliar environment.
As we headed back north along the lake’s edge, the water deepened enough that we couldn’t see the bottom, and the shoreline became more distinct. We passed places where we could disembark, but the inhospitable underbrush deterred a landing. We investigated inlets deep enough to take our canoe. Even though Charitybelle mapped the shoreline, we could only guess where the orcs went.
At last, Yula spotted the remains of the canoes inland. At first, I counted one boat missing, but something had shredded and scattered its pieces into thornbushes. It lay twisted and splayed like a banana peel.
“Eef Lieutenant Governor of Hawkhurst would please, no exploding air.” Yula meant my Compression Sphere, which had attracted the gargasaurus.
We directed ourselves to shore, paddles ready to withdraw if a megathon or something big charged at us from the land, but the white noise of buzzing insects and croaking frogs acted as the land’s only hosts. The humming chorus provided a welcome change from hours of lake wind howling in my ears.
Hundreds of yards away, a tree line stood as tall as skyscrapers, sheltering us from the wind that blew so noisily over the lake.
Yula stepped out of the boat. “Watch step. Spider and snake ees here. Stay from branches.” She waved her hand to illustrate the dangers of overhanging foliage. I nodded, grateful for her constant mentorship.
I helped her pull the canoe from the water. We lifted it over our heads and carried it when we reached solid ground inland, portaging it away from the other boats. Upon closer inspection, all but one canoe lay in pieces. An intact canoe cast doubts on the fate of its occupants.
We leaned the two canoes against a large tree. After a day on a windy, sunny lake, the land’s calm felt like indoors. We weren’t beneath a canopy, so we didn’t have to worry about ambushes from above. The thick foliage made for slow progress, but a path of crushed vegetation made the going easier.
Yula and I examined the path of smashed bushes. Obviously, something big had made it.
“Ees fooleesh to be here.” The conviction in Yula’s voice alarmed me, but I wasn’t sure if she talked about us or the orcs’ choice of landfall. She seemed puzzled as to why the orcs had chosen this place to come ashore, not on higher ground on either side of the shoreline. She studied marks in the mud.
I followed her gaze and saw footprints the size of trashcan lids. The gouges vaguely looked like they belonged to a giant amphibian, lizard, or fish. Something big had stomped through, ripping up grass, squashing plants, and smearing swathes of mud.
We followed the smear punctuated on either side by deep footprints. Further inland, the trees thinned to a small clearing surrounded by dense bushes. Something dragging its bulk had flattened the foliage.
Luckily, the haunches of a pale, fat dinosaur lay upwind, giving us the jump on it.
Artifacts covered the area. The carnage reminded me of coming home to a tipped-over garbage whose contents covered the floor—tells of household pets digging for treasure.
The culprit of the mayhem slept in a ring of strewn debris. Its walrus-sized bulk wasn’t just a dog sickened on spoiled lasagna—it amounted to a level 29 heap of trouble.
Name
Swamp Hydra
Level
29
Difficulty
Dangerous (orange)
Health
1760/1760
Yula held up a hand to attract my attention. She pointed at the beast and made a slicing motion at her neck.
I nodded in comprehension of her gesture—she wanted me to target its heads.
Yula brought her index fingers together, pulled them apart, and held them—pointing to each other.
Again, I nodded to show I understood her instructions. Her plan involved a simple flanking attack. We would coordinate our position to attack from opposite sides of the creature.
Flanking usually awarded backstab bonuses, but I wasn’t sure that worked against multi-headed monsters. Would flanking be enough to defeat an orange encounter?
The dangerous rating already factored Yula’s higher level, and this wasn’t a forced encounter. We could avoid it if we wanted.
But I trusted Yula’s confidence, judgment, and plan. Before we attacked, I equipped myself with Prismatic Shield to increase my health by 100 points and armor by 25.
I admired my character sheet as my health ticked up to my new max of 310. With six unspent power points, I picked up some things that should have been in my attack rotation in the gargasaurus battle. I purchased Imbue Weapon first, which would let me buff up a weapon with magical damage.
At first, I thought little of the power because it required concentration to use, but Yula’s ability to frontload damage into her opening attacks made me reconsider, especially since I could score a critical hit. Since my skill in arcane magic and piercing weapons matched at rank 15, Imbue Weapon meant a critical strike could deliver 30 extra damage. And if I ever encountered pauses during fights, it might help me maximize my offense.
As much as I wanted to hoard power points, I needed things now. The second power point gave me a fundamental attack called Charge.
Power (ability)
Charge (tier 1)
Prerequisites
Piercing weapons rank 3
Cooldown
90 seconds
Description
Attacker increases their likelihood of hitting and being hit by melee attacks by 25 percent for 5 seconds. Charge increases the chance of critical hits in the next attack by 25 percent. Charge grants 1 damage bonus for every second rank in piercing weapons.
Charge increased both damage and the chance to critically strike, and since this small clearing looked good for melee combat, I ought to get it now. RIP called Charge a brutal move, but he tended to hyperbolize. Charge wouldn’t reverse the tide of a fight, but all my Belden friends had taken it for its sheer added value.
I brought out my spear and showed Yula its glowing mirror effect of Imbue Weapon. She nodded and gestured to increase it to maximum damage. She had experience with the spell and knew its tricks. After imbuing our weapons, we waited for our mana to recharge. We weren’t in combat, so it wasn’t a significant wait.
We crept toward the creature. Since its back faced us, I did not know how many heads this swamp hydra had. Its mottled blue and white skin reminded me of a fish’s underbelly. As we drew closer, I studied one of the heads lying on the ground. It looked like a giant eel with jaws wide enough to wrap around a person’s midsection.
An eyelid opened, and a head rose in the air.
Yula dashed to the other side of the beast.
I brashly Charged past her and planted my mana-charged weapon into its neck for a glorious 80-point critical hit.
Yula followed with her spear.
Six more heads lifted off the ground. Monsters usually had one health bar attached to their nameplate, but the hydra had one for each head.
/You crit Swamp Hydra with Charge for 80 damage (0 resisted).
/Swamp Hydra hits you for 11 damage (9 resisted).
/Yula crits Swamp Hydra with Charge for 56 damage (0 resisted).
/Swamp Hydra hit you 2 times for 26 damage (16 resisted).
/Swamp Hydra misses you.
/Swamp Hydra hits Yula for 15 damage (6 resisted).
/Swamp Hydra misses Yula 2 times.
/You hit Swamp Hydra for 17 damage (5 resisted).
/Yula hits Swamp Hydra for 22 damage (3 resisted).
Because of its resting posture, our chance of critical hits reached 100 percent, and we’d removed 172 health in our opening attacks—leaving it with a combined 1588 health.
The waking head foiled our chance for a surprise bonus, but the monster wasted energy standing up. As the other heads awoke, they struck at us, but not with great success. The hydra slowly moved, a clumsy creature, but it enjoyed a home-field advantage. The wall of brambles fencing us in offered no kiting opportunities or avenues of escape.