Bug Problems [job/solo]

Job Details:

Ari looked at the piece of paper in her hand. Apparently, there was a problem with some people at a village outside of Remano getting ill. It seemed as though the illness was being caused by insects of some sort and the King wanted someone to go out and look into the issue. She rode her horse along the cobbled path into a small village of a couple hundred people only to be greeted by one of the El Nagi clan. The man was nice, warning her against what was an infestation of what he called Slurvian ticks, which were making the townspeople ill after being bitten by the insects. She smiled and nodded, informing him she was there to take care of the problem and he looked shocked for a moment before giving her a description of where the insects could be found. Apparently, the mother tick had made a nest in a nearby small cave and needed to be destroyed to prevent the swarm from growing larger.

She thanked him and nudged her horse in the direction he indicated, following a small path until the cave came into view. She looked around the mouth of the cave, taking note of any activity around her. She was not as familiar with hunting creatures as she was with hunting people, but she knew enough to check the area for predators and creatures that may become defensive at her intrusion. After a look around, she saw only a few birds and a harmless deer in the distance, so she felt it would probably be safe to approach the cave. Hopping down from the horse, she tied the mare to a tree and shook her wand into her hand.

The area was beautiful, trees with vines draping down the ground surrounded the mouth of the cave, obscuring the rocks behind. The man in town had warned her that the mother tick was rarely left alone, guarded by fierce ticks to ensure the continuation of the species and she had taken the words to heart. She was not overly thrilled about having to enter a dark cave to handle the matter, but she was confident in her ability to handle the situation. She had gotten too used to Azix lighting up dark areas and she needed to be more certain of herself without him to provide bits of light. Besides, her lightning attacks would provide enough light soon enough.

She cautiously moved into the cave, giving her eyes a moment to adjust before she heard the skittering of feet on stone. She was immediately on guard and raised her wand as she squinted into the darkness. Coming towards her were two large insects, each one about two meters large. She did not give them a change to come any nearer, murmuring to the rukh and requesting it to cast Electric Field II, the field expanding quickly about 15 meters in front of her to about ten meters across. The field caught both of the ticks, frying them with electricity in an instant. They fell over, legs twitching in the air as she heard more taps of legs on stone further back.

With almost no notice, a fluid was shot out in front of her, covering the floor of the cave as she edged back. The Spitting Stench had a foul odor, making her move closer to the front of the cave to get some fresh air, keeping her eyes focused in the direction the attack had come from. Two more of the Guard Ticks came moving through the goop towards her, seemingly immune to their own defensive attacks. The ticks moved quickly and she whispered to the rukh, casting Shock Ball at the nearest tick, numbing two of its legs and giving it a small shock. She cursed as it moved forward to bite at her leg, her leg paralyzed as she raised her wand again. This time, she aimed for the further tick, casting Electric Chains at the creature, causing it to join its comrades in death. The one closest to her came in for another attack and she reacted in an instant. The rukh quickly followed her direction and cast Chain Lightning at the creature, effectively disabling it and making it fall to the ground.

She panted softly as she leaned against the cave wall, waiting for sensation to return to her leg. She saw blood dripping from the wound when she looked down, but was unable to feel it yet and she sighed. People were so much easier to deal with, at least they did not have too many legs.

[Magoi 180/250]
[770/1500]

Abilities Used:

Ari leaned over, massaging the leg as feeling came back to the limb, the wound making her wince as sensation returned. Ripping a small bit of cloth from the bottom of her skirt, she tied it around the tick bite to stop the bleeding for the time being. She slowly edged her way towards the closest insect, making a face of disgust at the creature as she dragged it to the cave entrance, following suit with the other three creatures as well. She did not want to worry about tripping over them as she searched for the mother in the darkness. Once the path looked relatively clear, she frowned at the goop on the floor of the cave. That would be a problem. She did not know what it did, but if it was something the ticks used to defend themselves, she could be certain it would not be a friendly substance.

She edged around the goo, taking every effort to avoid touching it in any way. The cave winded a few more meters back and she squinted into the dark. She heard a shuffle, the sounds coming from further back making her think the mother must be much larger than the guards. Either that or the acoustics of the cave made it sound larger. Either way, she needed to be prepared. These things were obviously not something to trifle with.

Ahead, a tick about four meters large came scuttling along the wall and Ari reacted in an instant, casting Electric Wall in the direction of the mother tick. The crackle of lightning moved at 15 m/s towards the tick, causing it to fall from the wall to the ground, parts of it paralyzed. It took her only the blink of an eye to cast Electric Field where the mother tick landed. With the smell of ozone filling the cave, the field came to life with a zapping sound. She fed more magoi into the field, keeping it alive as she edged back slightly. Hopefully this would buy her a bit more time.

[Magoi 140/250]
[1113/1500]

Abilities Used:

The Electric Field held longer, thanks to her feeding more magoi into it, the mother tick screeching in pain as she struggled to right herself without the use of all of her limbs. Just as the mother tick was able to right herself, Ari use Numbing Spheres to numb another of her limbs, the rukh reacting quickly as her direction to form Electric Whip again, Ari using it to whip out and slash at the what she assumed was the mother tick’s face, making it twitter in pain again. The mother, injured but still able to function, lashed out with Double Claw but Ari was too far away for the mother to reach her. Ari ran to the side a few moments before the mother tick tried to spit at where she was, using Acid Stench Advanced to form a puddle of goo where Ari had been only a few moments before.

Murmuring to the rukh, she asked again for it to direct Chain Lightning at the mother tick, the creature finally giving a death squeal of defeat. Ari sagged against the wall as the creature stopped moving, grateful the tick had finally died. She had burned through enough of her spell book that she was getting quite tired. Moving back to the front of the cave, her injured leg dragged slightly as she avoided putting too much weight on it. Arriving at the entrance to the cave, she covered her eyes against the brightness of sunlight before struggling over to her horse. She untied it from the tree and then she hummed for a moment before practically climbing the poor animal to get into the saddle, her injured leg not wanting to support her as she finally got settled. She urged the horse forward, back towards the town that had been victim to the creatures. By the time she arrived at the town, her leg was throbbing in pain. The El Nagi man greeted her once more before seeing the wound on her leg and helping her down from the horse. With delicate hands, he unwrapped the strip of cloth she had put there, examining the injury with an expert hum. Taking his water skin, he rinsed the wound, putting pressure on either side to encourage the blood to pour out, expelling anything the tick may have injected and the bits of debris to clear out from the wound. He rinsed it once more before fetching clean bandages and a salve. Spreading the salve over the bite, he wrapped it once more. By the time he was done, the throbbing had stopped and she felt much better. She thanked him profusely for the first aid and he smiled and thanked her for taking care of the tick problem before helping her back onto her horse and wishing her a safe ride back to Remano.

[exit]
[Magoi 105/250]
[1588/1500]

Abilities Used: