Hanging Out...With Snakes[Job]

Job Name: Feller’s Troubles
Job Rank: C
Job Location: The Plains
Job Rewards: 100 XP/7,000 Huang
Job Prerequisites: N/A
Job Overview: The local fellers, people assigned to cut down trees for wood, have been having an issue with troublesome forest creatures. Help remove the creatures so the fellers can continue their work.

Enemy Name: Forest Snake x6
Rank: C
Needed damage to take down: C
Description: Forest Snakes are 2 meters long, with fangs capable of inflicting C-tier damage. Forest Snakes tend to dangle from the branches to await their prey.
Abilities:
Crushing Squeeze - Forest Snake wraps around an appendage and squeezes, cutting off circulation and dealing C-tier damage.

The forests nearby supposedly had good trees according to a plainsfolk named “Stranger” whom Zion had met. Since there was a greater need for lumber now that he had more construction projects in mind, Zion ventured out into the woods looking for good places to take trees from. Though Zion didn’t know much about botany, he could see the rukh of life within them and ask the rukh which trees were sturdy and which were flexible. It wasn’t quite as detailed as a textbook guide, but he trusted that the rukh were guiding him in the right direction in response to his earnest desires.

After some time, Zion stumbled upon a group of fellers who were carrying their saws and axes home dejected and demoralized. The young white haired magician could feel the aura of melancholy from a distance. Soon the cause of the somber atmosphere became clear as men carrying someone on a makeshift cot came into view. The wounded had makeshift splints on their arm and leg and looked to be in severe pain. The only one making sounds was the injured as they couldn’t help but whimper and groan weakly when the bumps of the not so smooth ride agitated his fractured limbs.

Feeling concerned that there was trouble, Zion hurried over and called out to the men. Upon seeing he was a magician they all seemed to brighten with hope. One large burly man with a majestic beard came forward to represent them and explain the situation. ”Lord Magician! Thank goodness you’ve come!” First and foremost, the man bowed down deeply to show deep respect and gestured to the others. They all began to kneel or bow and even started putting down the cot. Seeing this, Zion quickly stepped forward and spoke up as he helped the leader of the fellers stand tall once more. ”Please, don’t bow. I’m no lord and I am still just a student. I should say outright that I do not know life magic yet and am unable to heal your comrade. That said, I will do my best to make sure justice is done. Tell me what happened.”

Zion felt hiddenly proud of himself that he didn’t mess his speech up and felt that these men surely would see him as a noble and benevolent man. But their reaction was to give him strange looks before the leader explained, There was no injustice, its simply the law of nature...We only cut down trees that are old and about to die. This time our search led us into the territory of Forest Snakes. They like to coild around and crush their prey before eating them whole. We were lucky only one of us was attacked...There were too many, at least four. If each snake had taken a man, we might not have had the time or strength to save everybody.” The grave tone the man spoke in gave away how strongly he felt about nature and his place in its laws.

This made Zion frown slightly for an instant but he shook off his confusion at the cultural gap between them and focused on the problem at hand. ”Snakes, huh? I should be able to take care of those. Don’t worry, focus on getting help for your friend. I will take care of the snakes so that you won’t have to worry about them any more.” Though Zion spoke confidently there wasn’t much confidence inspired in the fellers. They exchanged disappointed glances preferring a healing spell over needless bloodshed. But they were already several days from their tribe and needed to select a good tree for the upcoming lunar festival. They did not have time to search for another tree so they did not dissuade Zion from commiting reptilian slaughter.

Following the feller’s directions, Zion came upon a large ancient tree with a wide low, hanging canopy and lots of vines hanging down off of it. There was still an axe lodged into the side of the tree where some progress towards cutting it down had already been made. Zion kept his distance and calmly observed the ground around the tree looking for snakes. Seconds passed and turned to minutes. After an hour of waiting Zion failed to see any sign of snakes on the ground. Sighing, he looks back to the axe and tried to picture the scene of the incident. That’s when Zion noticed one of the “vines” near the ax looked like it was moving.

”That’s no vine…”

Zion stared in amazement as he realized the snakes were hanging from the tree branches. Once he knew the trick and looked a bit harder he soon began to spot more snakes. After careful counting, Zion spotted five snakes. Feeling confident, he stepped forward and aimed his staff towards the tree before tapping the air eight times. One by one, dense balls of strength magic formed and then fired out as Zion muttered, ”Bullet Attract!” Zion looked to wipe out all the snakes in one go so he peppered the trees branches with a volley of compressed air bullets. Branches and debris fell away as snakes hissed and crumpled to the ground. All five of the targeted serpents had their bodies crushed by air bullets and were dead or dying.

After waiting for all of their bodies to stop moving, Zion finally moved in looking to retrieve the axe. He would bring it with him along with the snakes to both give proof of the deed and also provide some food to lift their spirits. After struggling for a moment, Zion finally pulled the axe free only to stumble backwards and have a snake abruptly fall from one of the tree’s higher branches and land directly on top of Zion. Fear ran down the young magician’s spine as he saw his borg form around him just in time to get squeezed by the snake until cracks formed and it ultimately shattered.

Zion managed to stumble away to avoid getting tangled and then aimed his staff as light magic concentrated at its tip which was targeting the final snake as it landed on the ground and began to orientate itself. ”RAY!” After shouting the spell, Zion poured his magoi into unleashing a beam of light which burned the snake’s head boiling its brain causing a wretched death. Zion looked around in a panic thinking there might be yet more snakes but after a while he calmed down. They had all been taken care off, although it was a sloppy job as the tree suffered quite a bit of damage. But since it was going to be chopped up anyways Zion felt that it wouldn’t be an issue. He returned and found the fellers camp bringing with him a small feast and good news.

Magoi: 200/260
Borg: Broken

Abilities: