Even though the charge Marco did looked powerful, the giant arachnid didn’t look like she received much damage. Albeit, the strike did what it was supposed to do making her main focus all on Marco.
“Melee in now!” Liam shouted as he moved a few to the left so he could have eyes on his teammates as well as Lector who appeared right behind the spider. “Long range, attack!”
Avery rushed to the left side and stopped in between the two back left legs. When she saw an opening between them, she rushed in and struck a few times before jumping backwards to dodge one of the legs from swiping into her side.
Blair swung her axe at one of the front legs on the right side with enough force to make it slide out some. Roman took the opportunity to rush in and slam a few hard punches right into the joint of the leg that connected with the main body.
Razor sharp leaves sudden flew from behind Liam where Ariyana was at and dug into the creature’s side Avery was on while Mercer shot a few arrows right into the abdomen.
Artem timed his shield swings any time the giant spider tried to strike Marco.
As impressive as his team’s teamwork was, he had to give it to Inyis’ group as well.
Liam watched as Marco threw out a slew of punches as hard as he could, right underneath the creature’s head. The force of his punches made the spider’s head bounce up.
His twin Danny timed his attacks each time the head went up. He would jump up with not just speed, but with some great agility to slam the head back down making it look like they were playing ping pong.
Liam couldn’t see much of what Nidy was doing since the massive body of the spider blocked his view of her, but what he could see of Lector was impressive. Lector was swinging his daggers in a flurry of swings that almost matched Avery.
Inyis and Lapis shot razor sharp leaves into the same side as Roman and Blair, lodging them deep.
As great as it was to see all of this, Liam saw it wasn’t enough. Throughout all of the attacks going on, the damage done was not a lot. They were only able to chip out four hundred and twenty seven of the creature’s health with all of those attacks.
Okay, let’s try some combinations between magic to get that extra damage. Liam thought as he turned to look at Mercer. He then shouted out, “Mercer! Shoot some icicles into the creature’s side!”
Mercer stopped shooting his arrows, nodded and started channeling some mana before chanting.
“Roman, after Mercer lands some ice spells channel as much mana as you can within fifteen seconds and shoot out a Fire Blast onto the spots Mercer, Inyis, and Lapis landed!” Liam continued before turning towards Avery and adding, “Avery, you channel as much as well and shoot out a couple fireballs where Ariyana landed her spells!”
“Got it!” Avery and Roman shouted as they stepped back while they started channeling mana.
“Melee and Defenders! In ten seconds jump back and make sure you’re out of the way of the blast zone!” Liam yelled out.
Inyis turned her head towards Liam and gave him a puzzled look, not sure about this plan. She then voiced her thoughts, “Liam, if the defenders move out of the way then the Black Widow Matriarch will push forward. Also, what will using fire magic on the spots where the ice and plant magic landed do?”
Liam raised a brow. “For that second question do you not know about extra magic damage?”
Inyis just titled her head still giving him a confused look.
Liam let out a small chuckle before responding, “Never mind, I’ll tell you about it later. As for the first question, I’ve got it handled.”
Before Inyis could say anything else, Liam started channeling mana all around him. He waited ten seconds before he started chanting, “Hidden within the dark, I call upon you to bind my target. Grasp them with the tendrils you possess. Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!”
Right as the melee fighters and Defenders jumped back, long thick shadowy tendrils shot out from underneath the Black Widow Matriarch. Each tendril wrapped around the massive spider’s legs and body, keeping it in place.
“Now!” Liam roared.
Avery and Roman both started chanting.
“Oh, flame of power come forth. Burning bright and hot shoot true towards my enemy. Fireball!” Avery chanted.
“Fire, powerful and deadly. I request you take form and explode hotter and brighter than before. Engulf my enemies with your brilliance. Fire Blast!” Roman chanted.
After they each finished their chants, two balls of fire the size of a cat appeared in front of Avery’s rapier while one massive fire ball the size of a child size human formed in front of Roman.
In unison they released their spells and hurdled them towards both sides of the Black Widow Matriarch. The creature released a loud hissing sound of pain as two explosions erupted from the side Avery was on while a giant explosion that engulf the entire half of the side Roman was on.
Liam looked at the creature’s status bar and was a bit happier with the results.
“Raised Black Widow Matriarch. 8,467/9750 HP. 0/0 MP. Level 18 (Partially Sealed).”
Hm only eight hundred and fifty-six damage. Not a lot, but much more than the amount of damage we have been doing so far. Liam thought as he nodded while looking at the squirming spider trying to break free from the shadowy tendrils gripping tightly to it. He gave the creature a smirk that quickly dispersed as Liam noticed something start to drip out from its mouth.
Liam squinted his eyes to focus on what it was. At first it was just a drop, then a second one dropped from the right fang. Then a third from the left fang. Shortly after that more drops started to drip consistently from the fangs.
“Shit, Defenders and melee, scatter!” Liam shouted right as the Black Widow Matriarch flung her head back and flicked the dark green and purple liquid, as if she was trying to spray the liquid out towards Artem, Marco, and Danny.
She then flung her head to the left and the right, scattering the liquid towards the fighters on her sides.
Liam watched as Avery juked left, right, and back out of the way of the raining drops. Nidy crouched down and sprung backwards in one swift motion to get out of the way in time. Blair swung her axe backwards using the momentum to pull her out in time as several large drops landed where she once stood.
Roman swiftly ran as fast as he could out of the way as Marco and Artem did the same.
Even though everyone heard and reacted, there were still two who got hit. Danny was hit in the face as the liquid splashed against his eyes and on his mane-like hair.
Liam couldn’t see but he heard Lector let out a cry letting everyone know that he too was hit.
Danny went to try and rub the liquid off his face, but as he did it only smeared more on his face and was now on his hands, which were quivering.
“Shit, they are hit with a very potent poison!” Inyis yelled out.
“Someone grab Lector and pull him over here!” Liam ordered. “Make sure not to touch the poison on him! Someone lead Danny away from the battlefield. Artem, get that poison off of them!”
“On it!” Nidy yelled back as she ran over to Lector.
“Okay!” Artem shouted as he ran back in to the space between Liam and Inyis.
“I can…,” Inyis started to say until Liam cut her off.
“Focus on your role as a Control Tower,” Liam instructed. “Artem can handle it.”
Conflicted, Inyis looked at Danny who was letting out some painful grunts. Then to Nidy who was pulling Lector over to them. Lector had it as bad as Danny.
The poisonous liquid was splashed over his mouth and face. Both men had dark green veins slowly appearing around their necks and started spreading out.
Inyis then turned to Liam. Liam could see the turmoil in her eyes for a brief moment before she nodded and faced the giant spider that had stopped drooling the liquid out of her mouth.
The shadowy tendrils slowly started snapping as the spell was beginning to weaken and end.
Liam looked around and saw the liquid still in small puddles around the feet and out some from the Black Widow Matriarch. He turned around to see how much room they had behind them. With Artem getting ready to cure the two who were hit, there wasn’t enough room without getting them involved.
Liam turned his attention to the area behind the creature and saw how much room was over there. He nodded as he thought of a plan.
“We need to get the Black Widow Matriarch away from that spot. No room behind us, so we’ll need to kite it backwards,” Liam shouted. He turned his attention to Ariyana.
Before Liam could say anything, she nodded already understanding what he wanted.
Liam then turned to the others and informed, “Ariyana is going to grab the monster’s attention and drag it away from the poison puddles. Once the creature is far enough, Marco will rush in and grab aggro. After he’s got the creature’s attention, everyone who can still fight will attack.”
Everyone nodded understanding the plan.
“Except for Ariyana, all buffers will start buffing, starting with the defenders then the attackers once when Ariyana is kiting the monster. Got it!”
Everyone let out a shout of affirmation.
The shadowy tendrils began snapping one by one as Ariyana started channeling her mana.
Everyone took a defensive stance and got ready in case whatever Ariyana was about to do didn’t work.
The Black Widow Matriarch leaned forward with all she had as she began freeing herself from the grip made from shadows. Her beady eyes were locked on the group in front of her as she let out screeches and chittering noises while her fangs moved feverously.
As soon as the last tendril snapped, she took a step and began to make her way towards the group.
However, right as her two front legs touched down she heard a taunting voice from her left, making her turn her head. It was Ariyana standing close to the creature.
“What’s the matter little spider? Did you get stuck in a stronger web?” Ariyana taunted. “I guess you’re pretty damn weak, especially when it comes to fire. This will be an easy fight against something so weak and pitiful as yourself.”
The Black Widow Matriarch let out a loud scraping hiss as she turned her entire body and ran towards Ariyana.
Ariyana didn’t wait and started running to her right, away from the group of people.
Liam watched this as he heard Mercer start playing his violin and send out buffs to the defenders who were grouped up.
After Ariyana pulled the Black Widow Matriarch far enough away from the spot and closer to the back of the room, she stopped with her arms out and waited for the slash that was coming her way.
The sharp leg of the Black Widow Matriarch swung horizontally right through Ariyana’s torso causing the body to dissolve into mist.
This confused the massive creature, but before she could turn back around, a massive amount of force rammed into her, causing her to slide and slam right into the wall she was close to.
Marco didn’t let this opportunity slip by as he started punching and kicking as hard as he could right into the abdomen of the massive spider.
Feeling annoyed, the Black Widow Matriarch pushed herself up with all eight of her legs and spun around with her right sharp leg out to strike at the annoyance who dared to hit her.
Marco ducked low enough to dodge the strike and then pushed off the balls of his feet and jumped back to dodge the next strike that came down on the spot he once stood.
“Attackers and defenders go!” Liam shouted as Avery, Blair, Nidy, and Roman ran in to join Marco.
Lapis looked over at Ariyana, who was standing next to Liam, and gave her a disappointed look. “Is that really the best kind of taunt you had?”
Ariyana finished drinking a Weak Blueberry Mana Potion before saying, “Hey don’t judge me. The illusion comes up with the best taunt that would work on the target. If the taunt was as stupid as that and worked to that degree, then that just says a lot about the creature’s mind.”
Lapis shook her head before starting to make her way over to the others.
Artem arrived at Danny’s side and inspected him. Before he channeled any mana, he looked at Lector and studied him as well. After thinking it over he looked to Nidy and said, “We need to lay them down on their backs now.”
Artem then looked at Liam and Inyis before shouting out, “I need someone with Water magic over here now!”
“Lapis, get over there,” Inyis ordered.
Lapis nodded, feeling slightly annoyed as she turned around and made her way over to Artem as quickly as she could while Nidy ran back to the fight.
Why does he need my water magic? If he has healing magic then it should be enough. I need to hurry this up and get back by my lady’s side. Lapis thought.
As she approached Artem she asked with a slightly more than annoyed tone of voice, “What is going on? Why do you need water magic? Are you truly incapable of doing the task given to…”
“I need you to use your water magic to wash out all the poison that’s in their hair and on their skin,” Artem stated, cutting Lapis off.
“Why do you need to wash it off of them. Just cure them and they’ll be fine,” Lapis quipped.
Artem turned to give her a scowl which made Lapis flinch for a brief moment when she noticed the sharp teeth he had.
“It would be pointless if I just cured the poison for it to affect them again because the poison mixed with their sweat and got into their eyes or mouth again,” Artem slightly growled. He then pointedly said while narrowing his eyes, “These are your teammates, keep their health in mind because if anything were to happen to them like this then it’s your life that will be on the line next.”
Lapis was taken aback by Artem’s scolding. She really didn’t think much of it since none of them had ever been poisoned before. She really thought that all it took was a simple spell then it was all good.
This half orc, no this man has taken in more than what’s in front of him when it comes to this task. What’s more is he actually has my teammates best interest in mind. Lapis thought. Maybe my thought about his leader taking charge instead of Inyis clouded my judgement about them.
“I’m sorry,” Lapis bowed. “I am ignorant in the ways of healing. I let my mind get clouded due to a previous annoyance and I didn’t think things clearly.”
Artem watched her and noticed her eyes shifted towards something. He knew what was in that area they shifted to for that brief moment but didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked back at the two men laying down and stood up before taking a step back.
“Could you please use a small water orb spell and try to make it do as little damage as possible. Their health is still ticking away and we don’t want to hurt them more than what they received,” Artem requested.
He looked down at the two men and informed, “Danny, Lector, if you can hear me we are going to dose water on you to wash away the poison off of you. Don’t move. Once when that’s done I’ll get the poison out.” He then looked back at Lapis and gesture for her to start.
Lapis nodded as she channeled a small amount of mana and chanted, “Water, clear and pristine. I call upon you for your aide. Wash away any that I point you towards. Water Orb.”
Two small orbs of water manifested in front of Lapis’ wand. She maneuvered them right above Danny’s and Lector’s heads and gently let them drop.
Artem watched as the water from the orbs washed over their hair, faces, and hands. The poisonous liquid that was sticking absorbed into the water and rolled off towards the ground.
Both men twitched from the temperature of the water but didn’t move from their spot.
Artem positioned himself so he was right above their heads. He then channeled some mana before he chanted, “Impurities coursing through the body have no place here. Expel, expunge, disperse all foreign substances to make the body healthy once more. Detox!”
Both of Artem’s hands glowed with a bright light mixed with light green. He then knelt down and placed his hands on their heads and allowed the magic to wash over their skin.
Lapis watched as Danny’s and Lector’s body jerked. At first it was subtle, but after a couple of seconds had passed their chests started convulsing. Their mouths and eyes opened wide.
Lapis could see the panic in their eyes as their arms shot up and their hands tried grasping at the air in front of them. Choking sounds started to escape their mouths right before they turned into dry heaving.
Panic started to crawl up Lapis’ spine as she watched the two men in some indescribable pain. To her it looked like something was stuck inside their throats and couldn’t get out.
“Stop,” Lapis quietly said, unsure if what this half orc was doing was actually helping. Then with a little more forceful tone she stated, “You’re hurting them!”
Right after she said this both men’s chests stopped jerking about as they turned over facing the ground while using their hands to support them. They both started coughing. With each cough, clumps of dark green and purple liquid shot out.
Artem released the spell and stood back up looking down at them.
Lapis stared at the man, unsure what had happened.
Before she could say anything Artem said, “I am sorry. This was the first time I had to detox someone who had ingested poison. My last experience inside the dungeon was when a teammate of mine had been cut and the venom escape from the wound. So, this was a first for me.”
Danny and Lector waved a hand at him.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you were able to get the poison out of us. I don’t know about him, but my health was getting dangerously close there,” Danny croaked as he looked up and gave Artem an appreciative grin.
“Let me heal you both so you can get back to the fight and repay the monster that did this to you,” Artem said as he started channeling mana again.
“Much appreciative,” Lector grinned while panting.
Lapis watched as Artem started chanting again, “O’ Heart beating inside me, I beseech you to pulse. Release the healing sensation and wash over those I wish to protect and refresh their spirits again. Refreshing Aura!”
Artem reached his hands out and released a bright white tinged with light green aura that pulsed out and engulfed Danny, Lector, and Lapis.
Lapis felt the warmth coming from the aura calm her mind and wash over her. Even though her health was already full, she could feel how great this magic felt.
After several seconds had passed, Artem stopped the pulsing healing aura. “I need to restore my mana before heading back into the fray. A potion or two should top you both off.”
Danny and Lector stood up and stretch for a moment. They both pulled out a weak health potion and downed them.
“Thanks again,” Lector said before they turned and ran towards the fight that was still going on.
Lapis stared at Artem. Her thoughts raced through her mind. She had thought the spell he used was doing more damage then good, but she was wrong. Again, she jumped to conclusions before actually looking and understanding what was going on.
Before she could say anything, Artem stated after drinking a Weak Blueberry Mana Potion, “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but I’ll say this…” He looked at her with a strong resolve in his eyes. “Your leader and the other leaders have deemed ours to be competent enough to make the right calls. Don’t let your devoutness to your leader cloud the judgement that she made. Ours isn’t looking at what is best for him, but what is best for the whole. I may be a coward a lot of the time, but even if he would never order me to, I can and will refuse to save a person if I believe they will cause more harm than good to those he is trying to protect.”
Lapis’ eyes widened at his sudden words. However, she understood the next message loud and clear as he added, “Never obstruct or piss off the healer especially when they are trying to save another’s life because if you do…then you could end up dead.”
Even though the charge Marco did looked powerful, the giant arachnid didn’t look like she received much damage. Albeit, the strike did what it was supposed to do making her main focus all on Marco.
“Melee in now!” Liam shouted as he moved a few to the left so he could have eyes on his teammates as well as Lector who appeared right behind the spider. “Long range, attack!”
Avery rushed to the left side and stopped in between the two back left legs. When she saw an opening between them, she rushed in and struck a few times before jumping backwards to dodge one of the legs from swiping into her side.
Blair swung her axe at one of the front legs on the right side with enough force to make it slide out some. Roman took the opportunity to rush in and slam a few hard punches right into the joint of the leg that connected with the main body.
Razor sharp leaves sudden flew from behind Liam where Ariyana was at and dug into the creature’s side Avery was on while Mercer shot a few arrows right into the abdomen.
Artem timed his shield swings any time the giant spider tried to strike Marco.
As impressive as his team’s teamwork was, he had to give it to Inyis’ group as well.
Liam watched as Marco threw out a slew of punches as hard as he could, right underneath the creature’s head. The force of his punches made the spider’s head bounce up.
His twin Danny timed his attacks each time the head went up. He would jump up with not just speed, but with some great agility to slam the head back down making it look like they were playing ping pong.
Liam couldn’t see much of what Nidy was doing since the massive body of the spider blocked his view of her, but what he could see of Lector was impressive. Lector was swinging his daggers in a flurry of swings that almost matched Avery.
Inyis and Lapis shot razor sharp leaves into the same side as Roman and Blair, lodging them deep.
As great as it was to see all of this, Liam saw it wasn’t enough. Throughout all of the attacks going on, the damage done was not a lot. They were only able to chip out four hundred and twenty seven of the creature’s health with all of those attacks.
Okay, let’s try some combinations between magic to get that extra damage. Liam thought as he turned to look at Mercer. He then shouted out, “Mercer! Shoot some icicles into the creature’s side!”
Mercer stopped shooting his arrows, nodded and started channeling some mana before chanting.
“Roman, after Mercer lands some ice spells channel as much mana as you can within fifteen seconds and shoot out a Fire Blast onto the spots Mercer, Inyis, and Lapis landed!” Liam continued before turning towards Avery and adding, “Avery, you channel as much as well and shoot out a couple fireballs where Ariyana landed her spells!”
“Got it!” Avery and Roman shouted as they stepped back while they started channeling mana.
“Melee and Defenders! In ten seconds jump back and make sure you’re out of the way of the blast zone!” Liam yelled out.
Inyis turned her head towards Liam and gave him a puzzled look, not sure about this plan. She then voiced her thoughts, “Liam, if the defenders move out of the way then the Black Widow Matriarch will push forward. Also, what will using fire magic on the spots where the ice and plant magic landed do?”
Liam raised a brow. “For that second question do you not know about extra magic damage?”
Inyis just titled her head still giving him a confused look.
Liam let out a small chuckle before responding, “Never mind, I’ll tell you about it later. As for the first question, I’ve got it handled.”
Before Inyis could say anything else, Liam started channeling mana all around him. He waited ten seconds before he started chanting, “Hidden within the dark, I call upon you to bind my target. Grasp them with the tendrils you possess. Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!”
Right as the melee fighters and Defenders jumped back, long thick shadowy tendrils shot out from underneath the Black Widow Matriarch. Each tendril wrapped around the massive spider’s legs and body, keeping it in place.
“Now!” Liam roared.
Avery and Roman both started chanting.
“Oh, flame of power come forth. Burning bright and hot shoot true towards my enemy. Fireball!” Avery chanted.
“Fire, powerful and deadly. I request you take form and explode hotter and brighter than before. Engulf my enemies with your brilliance. Fire Blast!” Roman chanted.
After they each finished their chants, two balls of fire the size of a cat appeared in front of Avery’s rapier while one massive fire ball the size of a child size human formed in front of Roman.
In unison they released their spells and hurdled them towards both sides of the Black Widow Matriarch. The creature released a loud hissing sound of pain as two explosions erupted from the side Avery was on while a giant explosion that engulf the entire half of the side Roman was on.
Liam looked at the creature’s status bar and was a bit happier with the results.
“Raised Black Widow Matriarch. 8,467/9750 HP. 0/0 MP. Level 18 (Partially Sealed).”
Hm only eight hundred and fifty-six damage. Not a lot, but much more than the amount of damage we have been doing so far. Liam thought as he nodded while looking at the squirming spider trying to break free from the shadowy tendrils gripping tightly to it. He gave the creature a smirk that quickly dispersed as Liam noticed something start to drip out from its mouth.
Liam squinted his eyes to focus on what it was. At first it was just a drop, then a second one dropped from the right fang. Then a third from the left fang. Shortly after that more drops started to drip consistently from the fangs.
“Shit, Defenders and melee, scatter!” Liam shouted right as the Black Widow Matriarch flung her head back and flicked the dark green and purple liquid, as if she was trying to spray the liquid out towards Artem, Marco, and Danny.
She then flung her head to the left and the right, scattering the liquid towards the fighters on her sides.
Liam watched as Avery juked left, right, and back out of the way of the raining drops. Nidy crouched down and sprung backwards in one swift motion to get out of the way in time. Blair swung her axe backwards using the momentum to pull her out in time as several large drops landed where she once stood.
Roman swiftly ran as fast as he could out of the way as Marco and Artem did the same.
Even though everyone heard and reacted, there were still two who got hit. Danny was hit in the face as the liquid splashed against his eyes and on his mane-like hair.
Liam couldn’t see but he heard Lector let out a cry letting everyone know that he too was hit.
Danny went to try and rub the liquid off his face, but as he did it only smeared more on his face and was now on his hands, which were quivering.
“Shit, they are hit with a very potent poison!” Inyis yelled out.
“Someone grab Lector and pull him over here!” Liam ordered. “Make sure not to touch the poison on him! Someone lead Danny away from the battlefield. Artem, get that poison off of them!”
“On it!” Nidy yelled back as she ran over to Lector.
“Okay!” Artem shouted as he ran back in to the space between Liam and Inyis.
“I can…,” Inyis started to say until Liam cut her off.
“Focus on your role as a Control Tower,” Liam instructed. “Artem can handle it.”
Conflicted, Inyis looked at Danny who was letting out some painful grunts. Then to Nidy who was pulling Lector over to them. Lector had it as bad as Danny.
The poisonous liquid was splashed over his mouth and face. Both men had dark green veins slowly appearing around their necks and started spreading out.
Inyis then turned to Liam. Liam could see the turmoil in her eyes for a brief moment before she nodded and faced the giant spider that had stopped drooling the liquid out of her mouth.
The shadowy tendrils slowly started snapping as the spell was beginning to weaken and end.
Liam looked around and saw the liquid still in small puddles around the feet and out some from the Black Widow Matriarch. He turned around to see how much room they had behind them. With Artem getting ready to cure the two who were hit, there wasn’t enough room without getting them involved.
Liam turned his attention to the area behind the creature and saw how much room was over there. He nodded as he thought of a plan.
“We need to get the Black Widow Matriarch away from that spot. No room behind us, so we’ll need to kite it backwards,” Liam shouted. He turned his attention to Ariyana.
Before Liam could say anything, she nodded already understanding what he wanted.
Liam then turned to the others and informed, “Ariyana is going to grab the monster’s attention and drag it away from the poison puddles. Once the creature is far enough, Marco will rush in and grab aggro. After he’s got the creature’s attention, everyone who can still fight will attack.”
Everyone nodded understanding the plan.
“Except for Ariyana, all buffers will start buffing, starting with the defenders then the attackers once when Ariyana is kiting the monster. Got it!”
Everyone let out a shout of affirmation.
The shadowy tendrils began snapping one by one as Ariyana started channeling her mana.
Everyone took a defensive stance and got ready in case whatever Ariyana was about to do didn’t work.
The Black Widow Matriarch leaned forward with all she had as she began freeing herself from the grip made from shadows. Her beady eyes were locked on the group in front of her as she let out screeches and chittering noises while her fangs moved feverously.
As soon as the last tendril snapped, she took a step and began to make her way towards the group.
However, right as her two front legs touched down she heard a taunting voice from her left, making her turn her head. It was Ariyana standing close to the creature.
“What’s the matter little spider? Did you get stuck in a stronger web?” Ariyana taunted. “I guess you’re pretty damn weak, especially when it comes to fire. This will be an easy fight against something so weak and pitiful as yourself.”
The Black Widow Matriarch let out a loud scraping hiss as she turned her entire body and ran towards Ariyana.
Ariyana didn’t wait and started running to her right, away from the group of people.
Liam watched this as he heard Mercer start playing his violin and send out buffs to the defenders who were grouped up.
After Ariyana pulled the Black Widow Matriarch far enough away from the spot and closer to the back of the room, she stopped with her arms out and waited for the slash that was coming her way.
The sharp leg of the Black Widow Matriarch swung horizontally right through Ariyana’s torso causing the body to dissolve into mist.
This confused the massive creature, but before she could turn back around, a massive amount of force rammed into her, causing her to slide and slam right into the wall she was close to.
Marco didn’t let this opportunity slip by as he started punching and kicking as hard as he could right into the abdomen of the massive spider.
Feeling annoyed, the Black Widow Matriarch pushed herself up with all eight of her legs and spun around with her right sharp leg out to strike at the annoyance who dared to hit her.
Marco ducked low enough to dodge the strike and then pushed off the balls of his feet and jumped back to dodge the next strike that came down on the spot he once stood.
“Attackers and defenders go!” Liam shouted as Avery, Blair, Nidy, and Roman ran in to join Marco.
Lapis looked over at Ariyana, who was standing next to Liam, and gave her a disappointed look. “Is that really the best kind of taunt you had?”
Ariyana finished drinking a Weak Blueberry Mana Potion before saying, “Hey don’t judge me. The illusion comes up with the best taunt that would work on the target. If the taunt was as stupid as that and worked to that degree, then that just says a lot about the creature’s mind.”
Lapis shook her head before starting to make her way over to the others.
Artem arrived at Danny’s side and inspected him. Before he channeled any mana, he looked at Lector and studied him as well. After thinking it over he looked to Nidy and said, “We need to lay them down on their backs now.”
Artem then looked at Liam and Inyis before shouting out, “I need someone with Water magic over here now!”
“Lapis, get over there,” Inyis ordered.
Lapis nodded, feeling slightly annoyed as she turned around and made her way over to Artem as quickly as she could while Nidy ran back to the fight.
Why does he need my water magic? If he has healing magic then it should be enough. I need to hurry this up and get back by my lady’s side. Lapis thought.
As she approached Artem she asked with a slightly more than annoyed tone of voice, “What is going on? Why do you need water magic? Are you truly incapable of doing the task given to…”
“I need you to use your water magic to wash out all the poison that’s in their hair and on their skin,” Artem stated, cutting Lapis off.
“Why do you need to wash it off of them. Just cure them and they’ll be fine,” Lapis quipped.
Artem turned to give her a scowl which made Lapis flinch for a brief moment when she noticed the sharp teeth he had.
“It would be pointless if I just cured the poison for it to affect them again because the poison mixed with their sweat and got into their eyes or mouth again,” Artem slightly growled. He then pointedly said while narrowing his eyes, “These are your teammates, keep their health in mind because if anything were to happen to them like this then it’s your life that will be on the line next.”
Lapis was taken aback by Artem’s scolding. She really didn’t think much of it since none of them had ever been poisoned before. She really thought that all it took was a simple spell then it was all good.
This half orc, no this man has taken in more than what’s in front of him when it comes to this task. What’s more is he actually has my teammates best interest in mind. Lapis thought. Maybe my thought about his leader taking charge instead of Inyis clouded my judgement about them.
“I’m sorry,” Lapis bowed. “I am ignorant in the ways of healing. I let my mind get clouded due to a previous annoyance and I didn’t think things clearly.”
Artem watched her and noticed her eyes shifted towards something. He knew what was in that area they shifted to for that brief moment but didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked back at the two men laying down and stood up before taking a step back.
“Could you please use a small water orb spell and try to make it do as little damage as possible. Their health is still ticking away and we don’t want to hurt them more than what they received,” Artem requested.
He looked down at the two men and informed, “Danny, Lector, if you can hear me we are going to dose water on you to wash away the poison off of you. Don’t move. Once when that’s done I’ll get the poison out.” He then looked back at Lapis and gesture for her to start.
Lapis nodded as she channeled a small amount of mana and chanted, “Water, clear and pristine. I call upon you for your aide. Wash away any that I point you towards. Water Orb.”
Two small orbs of water manifested in front of Lapis’ wand. She maneuvered them right above Danny’s and Lector’s heads and gently let them drop.
Artem watched as the water from the orbs washed over their hair, faces, and hands. The poisonous liquid that was sticking absorbed into the water and rolled off towards the ground.
Both men twitched from the temperature of the water but didn’t move from their spot.
Artem positioned himself so he was right above their heads. He then channeled some mana before he chanted, “Impurities coursing through the body have no place here. Expel, expunge, disperse all foreign substances to make the body healthy once more. Detox!”
Both of Artem’s hands glowed with a bright light mixed with light green. He then knelt down and placed his hands on their heads and allowed the magic to wash over their skin.
Lapis watched as Danny’s and Lector’s body jerked. At first it was subtle, but after a couple of seconds had passed their chests started convulsing. Their mouths and eyes opened wide.
Lapis could see the panic in their eyes as their arms shot up and their hands tried grasping at the air in front of them. Choking sounds started to escape their mouths right before they turned into dry heaving.
Panic started to crawl up Lapis’ spine as she watched the two men in some indescribable pain. To her it looked like something was stuck inside their throats and couldn’t get out.
“Stop,” Lapis quietly said, unsure if what this half orc was doing was actually helping. Then with a little more forceful tone she stated, “You’re hurting them!”
Right after she said this both men’s chests stopped jerking about as they turned over facing the ground while using their hands to support them. They both started coughing. With each cough, clumps of dark green and purple liquid shot out.
Artem released the spell and stood back up looking down at them.
Lapis stared at the man, unsure what had happened.
Before she could say anything Artem said, “I am sorry. This was the first time I had to detox someone who had ingested poison. My last experience inside the dungeon was when a teammate of mine had been cut and the venom escape from the wound. So, this was a first for me.”
Danny and Lector waved a hand at him.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just happy you were able to get the poison out of us. I don’t know about him, but my health was getting dangerously close there,” Danny croaked as he looked up and gave Artem an appreciative grin.
“Let me heal you both so you can get back to the fight and repay the monster that did this to you,” Artem said as he started channeling mana again.
“Much appreciative,” Lector grinned while panting.
Lapis watched as Artem started chanting again, “O’ Heart beating inside me, I beseech you to pulse. Release the healing sensation and wash over those I wish to protect and refresh their spirits again. Refreshing Aura!”
Artem reached his hands out and released a bright white tinged with light green aura that pulsed out and engulfed Danny, Lector, and Lapis.
Lapis felt the warmth coming from the aura calm her mind and wash over her. Even though her health was already full, she could feel how great this magic felt.
After several seconds had passed, Artem stopped the pulsing healing aura. “I need to restore my mana before heading back into the fray. A potion or two should top you both off.”
Danny and Lector stood up and stretch for a moment. They both pulled out a weak health potion and downed them.
“Thanks again,” Lector said before they turned and ran towards the fight that was still going on.
Lapis stared at Artem. Her thoughts raced through her mind. She had thought the spell he used was doing more damage then good, but she was wrong. Again, she jumped to conclusions before actually looking and understanding what was going on.
Before she could say anything, Artem stated after drinking a Weak Blueberry Mana Potion, “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but I’ll say this…” He looked at her with a strong resolve in his eyes. “Your leader and the other leaders have deemed ours to be competent enough to make the right calls. Don’t let your devoutness to your leader cloud the judgement that she made. Ours isn’t looking at what is best for him, but what is best for the whole. I may be a coward a lot of the time, but even if he would never order me to, I can and will refuse to save a person if I believe they will cause more harm than good to those he is trying to protect.”
Lapis’ eyes widened at his sudden words. However, she understood the next message loud and clear as he added, “Never obstruct or piss off the healer especially when they are trying to save another’s life because if you do…then you could end up dead.”
