Minute Mage: A Time-Traveling LitRPG Progression Fantasy

Chapter 32: Chased Away

The unfortunate part of my plan were the locations of the two monster nests we wanted to clear. Not only were they pretty far away, but the directions themselves were also much too vague. Well, the directions provided on the fliers would’ve been just fine in any other situation, but in ours, they left something to be desired.

Essentially, they relied on you taking roads to get where you wanted to go. The fliers told us to take certain paths and turn at certain intersections, that way we wouldn’t have to cut through the wilderness. Except, when we were fugitives, we really wanted to cut through the wilderness. What it didn’t do was tell us how far to walk or even provide an actual map. So, unless we took those roads, the directions were basically useless.

Still, like we’d done before, we could try to stay safe by not walking directly on the road, and instead following offroad along the side. Considering the distance, it was probably going to take all day walking to get there, so we got started right away.

The monster camps were a bit out of the way – not really straight off in the direction we wanted to go – but I felt like, while unfortunate, it would be fine for a couple reasons. First, it wasn’t like we were headed directly towards Carth. At worst, we were headed in a direction that neither increased nor decreased the distance between us and that disaster site. And, second, that seemingly-random movement would make us unpredictable. If we walked in a straight line, it’d be incredibly easy for the Demons to figure out the direction we were going and set up an ambush right in front of us. This way, we were taking random turns and keeping them from ever truly knowing where we were going.

So we set off, already tired from the terrifying day and the copious amounts of strain on our legs, but determined to keep moving.

The determination started to wear off after an hour of walking. Replacing it, I began to feel a more and more intense feeling of stress and fear. As the time since the disaster grew longer and longer, I got jumpier and found myself glancing around more and more often. Why hadn’t we seen those Infernals yet? Where the fuck were they? While we walked, I tried my best to kick over any footprints we left behind, making them less obviously Human, but I wasn’t sure if that would even help.

“Agh,” Erani groaned at one point, “can we take a break? I need to sit down.”

“Oh, are your legs hurting?”

“No, no, it’s just,” she paused to laugh. “Y’know, it feels a bit silly to complain about to you, of all people. I’ve been trying to keep Firebolt prepared so I can cast it at a moment’s notice. But it’s been giving me quite the headache.”

“Mm, I get it” I nodded, then laughed. “In fact, I think I understand that headache better than anyone else could. We can take a break, but we really need to keep going as soon as possible.”

I glanced around the area, checking behind us for any Demons. There were none, for now.

“Yeah, yeah,” Erani said, rubbing her eyes, “I just seriously don’t think I can keep walking right now.”

“Okay. If it can’t be helped, we can take five.” I sat down. I didn’t like taking a break when we were so close to Carth, but I also didn’t want Erani collapsing in the middle of the forest. Obviously, it wasn’t like I could abandon her; she was a much higher Level than me, and I knew just how useful her Explosive Firebolts were in battle. And even if she wasn’t so powerful, I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing someone into this mess and then leaving them to die.

I leaned my head against a tree and took a breath, giving my body a well-needed rest. Sure, I didn’t want to take this break, but I wasn’t about to let it pass by without taking advantage of it while it was here.

I let off another puff of Noxious Grasp as I rested. With a Mana/Minute of 6.15 and a Mana cost of 3.76 for Noxious Grasp, I was casting a second of the Spell close to once every thirty seconds, and I was filling up the massive Spell XP requirement for Rank 10 slowly, but steadily. Currently, it was at 51/355, as opposed to the 22 it started the day at.

Truthfully, I was glad I could cast the Spell so often now. Considering the situation I was in, I absolutely needed something familiar to occupy my mind and prevent me from spiraling.

Another string of mist rose from my hands as another thirty second interval passed. But then, as I watched it float up, I heard a cascade of heavy footfalls, much heavier than a group of Humans would make.

“Shit, get back,” I whispered to Erani, who was sitting against a tree with her eyes closed.

She didn’t respond.

“Are you fucking asleep?” I hissed. Still no response.

Shit, I thought. She was obviously much more tired than she’d let on.

I crawled forward, up to the street, and snuck a glance down toward the sound. Yep, just as I’d expected, there was a squad of those grotesque-looking Infernal Demons. The broad-shouldered, towering-stature monsters marched down the stone road, their dumb, sunken eyes glancing down at the sides of the trail as they lumbered along, toward where we were hidden. At only a few dozen paces away from our position, they’d see us soon if I didn’t do something.

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I scurried back the few paces needed to reach the still-unconscious Erani and shook her, whispering “Erani!” in her ear.

That seemed to be enough to wake her. She jolted up and said, at a horrifyingly normal volume, “W– what?”

I shushed her and grabbed her hand, taking her to her feet as she blinked repeatedly, obviously trying to get her bearings. I could hear the Infernals draw closer.

“Demons,” I whispered, and pointed in their direction. “We need to go. Now.”

That seemed to wake her up. Her eyes widened and I took off, dragging her behind me, deeper into the forest. Her feet stumbled across the leaves and sticks, making what felt like a deafening amount of noise to my fear-enhanced senses.

I heard the Infernals stomp over to our rest site. With a heart-stopping pang of anxiety, I realized I’d forgotten about our footsteps. They’d be obvious, with the complete lack of my masking them. Not to mention the noises we were making.

As we dashed through the forest, away from the road, I heard a set of footfalls from the Infernals leave the stone road and go onto the soft dirt. It sounded like the rest of the Infernals were staying on the road, so it must have just been one of them investigating our suspicious flight. They didn’t know it was us yet, it seemed. We still had hope it wouldn’t find us.

As I did my best to silently run away, I listened to the Infernal meander through the woods, fallen branches cracking under its immense weight. Erani was fully awake by now, running alongside me. The Infernal didn’t give up its pursuit, though. It obviously knew that someone was fleeing from it – probably just didn’t know who. Otherwise, it would’ve called its buddies by now.

I glanced around as we fled, looking over the hilly terrain to try and find something that could save us. We wouldn’t be able to run forever, and the Infernal seemed set on catching us.

And it seemed we’d have to stop earlier than I’d expected. As we ran, we arrived up against a trench that split the ground in two. It wasn’t incredibly wide or deep – only five or six paces in across and downward – but even that was enough that it wouldn’t be safe to try and jump across. It was long, too – long enough that we most likely wouldn’t be able to go around it.

The Infernal stomped closer.

“Hide behind that tree,” I told Erani, thinking quickly. She did so without argument, obviously sensing I had something in mind. Within seconds, she was out of sight a good number of paces away.

I stood directly in front of the trench, standing ready for an attack.

A few moments later, the Demon came crashing through the treeline. Once it saw me facing it, its face twisted in hatred. It immediately rushed at me, a roar escaping its throat. I ran up to meet it, but didn’t yet cast Crippling Chill. I wanted to cast that at the perfect time to surprise the Demon, and if I cast it early, I’d have to wait another 15 seconds before I had another chance.

Once I was within range of the Infernal’s long reach, it lifted its hands, preparing to smash them down on me. Right when it brought its fists down, though, I leapt out of the way, rolling across the ground to avoid the hulking smash. The ground shook when the Demon’s fists collided with it, and I leapt up from the ground, tackling into the monster’s huge leg.

It barely stumbled back from the force of my attack, but it did visibly flinch once I activated Noxious Grasp. At least it’s mortal, I felt myself thinking. That said, it didn’t take long for the Infernal to kick me off its leg, flinging me far back and causing me to roll messily across the ground, eventually coming to a stop a dozen paces from the monster.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 21.7 damage and drained 10.9 Stamina over the course of 1.4 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

5.26 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 320.

I hurriedly got to my feet, shaking off the disorientation that came with being tossed so far away as though I were nothing. I had a better idea of the Infernal’s strength and abilities after that exchange, but I still wanted to get a little more information before I tried my plan.

“Erani, shoot it!” I shouted as the Infernal charged at me. A Firebolt flew from behind a tree and exploded against the Demon’s chest, causing it to stumble back and brace itself against the blast. It didn’t get knocked over, however, and soon enough it was on me again, swinging its fist in a wide arc. I tried to leap out of the way again, but the beast was smarter than it looked – it was a feint. The Demon’s other arm came careening into my body, smashing into the side of my torso and sending me flying.

You have been slammed by a fist. 86 damage.

Your Health is 74.

Your ribs have been fractured.

I slammed into a tree and came to a sudden stop, falling to the ground with a thud. I coughed in pain, which only made my ribs hurt more. The Infernal had not only dealt almost 90 damage in a single hit, but the force of the strike had broken my ribs while I was at full Health. One more hit like that, and I’d be dead. I realized with a start that I’d already used my daily activation of Time Loop that morning, when the invasion had first hit. There was no safety net here. If I died, I died for good.

“Erani!” I coughed as I struggled to my knees. I heard multiple explosions ring out almost instantly as my partner fired at the monster. By the time I got to my feet, I’d heard at least four or five separate blasts go off, and the Demon’s skin was left smoking and charred.

At this point, though, I felt like I knew the Infernal’s abilities enough to pull off my plan. Wincing at the sharp pain in my chest, I stumbled to the edge of the trench. The Infernal, which had just finished shielding itself from the barrage of explosions, looked at me in rage. It seemed to think I was somehow the one shooting the Firebolts, since it couldn’t actually see Erani, who was hiding. The Demon may have been smart enough in hand-to-hand combat to feint a strike, but it obviously didn’t have much non-combat-related wisdom.

It charged right at me, hands out and prepared to crush me to death. Just before it reached me, I cast Crippling Chill on it, and a blue layer of frost immediately formed, coating its skin.

You have cursed Level 23 Infernal with Crippling Chill. For the next 15 seconds, it loses 5.79 Health and 4.63 Stamina each second, and its Dexterity score is lowered by 11.6.

48.5 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 281.

Unfortunately, the Infernal was much more powerful than the Anacaps I’d fought before, so a simple lowering of 11 Dexterity wasn’t enough to make it fall flat on its face. However, it did stumble in surprise, and right then, Erani nailed it in the back with an Explosive Firebolt, blasting the already-unstable monster forward.

Now, my plan was for this explosion to push the monster into the trench, where it wouldn’t be able to reach us, and we could escape. The problem was, I had miscalculated, and now I was standing right in front of it. So the Infernal was pushed forward from the explosion and knocked right into me, plowing through and causing both of us to fall the five paces down into the dirt hole.

You have crashed into something. 7 damage.

Your Health is 67.

“Oh no!” I could faintly hear Erani yelp when I disappeared over the edge.

I quickly got to my feet and jumped on the Infernal, which was still recovering from its fall – it was bigger and heavier, so it probably fell a lot harder, too. I straddled my legs around the beast’s neck, activating Noxious Grasp as I did so. It reacted, trying to grab at my waist with its massive hands to throw me off, but I grabbed a nearby rock, hoisted it up, and slammed it down on the gigantic Demon’s face.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 18 damage using Stone.

“AARGH,” it roared in pain as the rock the size of my head crushed into its nose. I lifted it up once again, and dropped it back onto the beast’s face.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 19 damage using Stone.

It groaned again, and I could begin to feel its oversized body begin to shrink beneath me from the effects of Noxious Grasp. But before I could slam the rock down on the monster a third time, it smacked me aside, knocking me into the dirt walls of the trench, spraying dust everywhere as I tumbled along them and across the musty ground.

You have been knocked aside. 26 damage.

Your Health is 41.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 122 damage and drained 61.3 Stamina over the course of 7.9 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

29.7 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 252.

I scrambled back to my feet as the Infernal lumbered onto its own two legs. It wiped away the blue blood leaking from its nose and roared, charging at me. Due to the narrowness of the trench, the only way I’d really be able to dodge the monster’s attacks would be to jump back – I couldn’t go left or right – which would make me incredibly predictable, and eventually lead to me getting hit and killed. Instead, I turned and ran.

“Erani!” I yelled, hoping she still had Mana for another Firebolt.

“You’re too close,” she yelled back from the top of the trench, “the explosion’ll hit you, too!”

I grunted in frustration, looking back at the pursuing Infernal. It was quickly gaining on me. Erani was above, watching the ordeal with fearful eyes.

Crippling Chill has worn off of Level 23 Infernal.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 86.9 damage and drained 69.5 Stamina over the course of 15 seconds using Crippling Chill.

The Infernal shot forward with a burst of speed, no longer hindered by Crippling Chill.

“Just shoot!” I yelled.

She fired, shutting her eyes tightly as she did so, as though she didn’t even want to see the results of her attack. The moment the Firebolt was flung toward me and the Infernal, I turned on a heel and leapt forward, flying straight at the charging Demon. Surprised at my brazenness, it didn’t immediately attack me, which was what I was betting on. I latched onto its chest, squeezing tightly and holding myself against the beast’s body.

Then the Firebolt hit, blasting against the Infernal’s back. The Demon’s body worked as a shield against the explosion, the brunt of the fire and force going straight into the Infernal, rather than against me on the other side of it. It stumbled forward, with its lower Health pool protecting it less from the blast. And just then, I hit it with another Crippling Chill.

You have cursed Level 23 Infernal with Crippling Chill. For the next 15 seconds, it loses 5.79 Health and 4.63 Stamina each second, and its Dexterity score is lowered by 11.6.

48.5 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 204.

At the sudden loss of Stats mid-stumble, the monster couldn’t catch its balance. I heard it give a dumb grunt when it realized, and it fell down, crushing me beneath it. Luckily, it wasn’t so bad as to deal damage to me.

Squished beneath the Infernal, I activated Noxious Grasp, draining away its already-limited Health supply. Slowly, it struggled up on one arm as I stayed latched onto the Demon’s chest. Then, it got up onto its other arm, so that it was on its hands and knees, and I was fully off the ground, dangling from its chest. But another Firebolt from Erani slammed it back into the ground, the monster’s body shielding me from the explosion yet again.

However, the force of it hitting the ground so hard and so quickly, combined with it hitting one of my bad ribs, dealt some damage to me and caused me to squawk in pain.

You have been crushed. 8 damage.

Your Health is 33.

You have agitated an open wound. 4 damage.

Your Health is 29.

But I kept my hold under it, continuing to drain the Infernal’s Health and Stamina. I could physically feel its body atrophying under the effects of Noxious Grasp. It also stopped moving, simply lying on top of me in just the right way to cause my chest intense pain. I had to turn my head awkwardly to the side to breathe, too.

After way too long, I got the notification I was waiting for.

You have struck Level 23 Infernal for 420 damage and drained 213 Stamina over the course of 27.1 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

101 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 106.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 23 Infernal.

You have earned 316 XP. Your XP is 337.

Threshold reached. 300 XP.

Your Level has increased to 6.

Due to achieving Level 6 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:

-You have gained 1 Endurance.

-You have gained 2 Conjuration.

-You have gained 1 Intelligence.

-You have gained 3 Stat Points.

-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Endurance and 1 Dexterity.

-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 4.

-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 6.

-You may choose a Spell to learn.