Elanil followed the babble of a nearby stream’s as if it was calling to her. The forest floor sloped downward there, the air growing cooler and damper with each step. Ferns thickened along the path, their fronds brushing against her legs, leaving trails of moisture on the fabric of her cloak. Somewhere nearby, insects hummed lazily, and something small darted through the undergrowth, unseen.
When the stream finally came into view, it was smaller than she’d hoped. Clear water trickled over smooth stones, shallow enough that she could see its pebbly bottom and occasional flashes of movement as tiny fish scattered at her approach. No reflection, at least, nothing clear enough to show her face.
“Well,” she murmured, straightening. “That’s disappointing.”
She glanced downstream. The terrain opened slightly in that direction, the forest thinning just enough to let more light through. If the stream widened or pooled somewhere, there might be a lake—or at least a backwater deep enough to act as a mirror. Decision made, she followed the creek.
The path grew less orderly as she went. Roots twisted across the ground like coiled serpents, some half-buried, others jutting out at ankle height. The canopy above thinned further, and sunlight spilled through in broader swathes, warming her skin. The smell of damp earth gave way to resin, crushed leaves, and the acrid tang of disturbed soil. Then the forest opened.
She stepped into a small clearing, the trees retreating just enough to let the light fall freely. Grass grew thicker there, interspersed with patches of bare ground churned up as if something heavy had passed through recently. The stream curved along one edge of the clearing before vanishing again into the trees.
As she walked, her thoughts returned to her stats as a game character. Since this was her life now, it was worth studying them thoroughly.
Menu. Attributes.
Skimming through the list of numerous stats again, she discovered small hint tabs at the very bottom of the screen.
Skills Points Allocation was one of them. Great, why not start with the basics? A table popped up right away.
Elanil frowned and returned to her list of attributes. Then she glanced at the table again. There was a discrepancy.
If Elanil hadn’t been so absorbed in the process, she would have probably noticed that the birds had quieted. She barely had time to register that fact before the distant bushes opposite her shook and crackled—something massive shoved its way into the clearing with a sound like two stones grinding against each other.
The creature that emerged was a beetle, however calling it that felt insufficient. Its body was the size of a horse, low to the ground and impossibly broad, encased in overlapping plates of dark, glossy chitin. Its elytra were dark green and very smooth, so that they sometimes reflected sunlight. Its powerful legs dug into the earth.
Its head lowered, revealing mandibles longer than Elanil’s forearm. They snapped together once, so she immediately witnessed their strength: a sapling that was right in front of the beetle fell, cut off like by a pruner.
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“Here we go,” she grumbled.
The beetle angled its body toward her, antennae twitching. It took a step forward, then another, its weight making the ground tremble. Before she could fully process the situation, a translucent panel flashed into existence before her eyes.
Quest: Warm welcome
Status: Acquired
Objective: Defeat the Bombardier Beetle. Enjoy your day!
Additional Information:
Bombardier Beetle
Type: Beast
Threat Level: Moderate
Notable Traits: Reinforced Carapace, [Chemical Volleys]
Reward:
– XP (Conditional)
– Loot (Conditional)
The panel vanished as quickly as it appeared. Elanil exhaled slowly and reached over her shoulder, fingers closing around the curve of her bow. The wood felt solid in her grip, reassuring in its simplicity.
“So that’s how we’re doing this,” she said. Next moment, the beetle attacked. It moved faster than she’d expected, its heavy body propelled forward with startling speed. Grass flattened beneath its legs as it closed the distance, mandibles snapping eagerly. Elanil reacted without thinking—she drew an arrow and loosed it in one swift motion, the bowstring singing as the arrow flew. The arrow struck the beetle’s carapace with a sharp clack and skittered off, deflected at an angle, disappearing into the grass. No damage, not even a scratch.
“Damn it,” she muttered, already moving.
She leapt sideways as the beetle lunged, its mandibles slicing through the air where she’d been a heartbeat earlier. Elanil rolled, came up on one knee, and fired again. Another arrow bounced harmlessly off the armored shell. The beetle turned with menacing agility, tracking her movement. Its antennae flicked, and it reared slightly, elytra shifting. A warning prickled along her spine. She dove and a split second later a jet of shimmering liquid erupted from beneath the beetle’s raised carapace, streaking through the air like either a fireball, or geyser. It struck the ground and detonated in a burst of heat and hissing vapor, scorching the grass with acid. The acrid chemical smell followed.
“I see now,” she hissed. “That’s what these [Chemical Volleys] look like.”
The beetle lowered its elytra again, armor sealing back into place as if nothing had happened. It advanced, mandibles clicking rhythmically. Her arrows weren’t doing anything. At least her basic shots couldn’t get through, so she decided to test something else. Elanil drew another arrow, feeling the familiar shift as she activated her first ability.
[Explosive Arrow]
Heat gathered along the shaft, a subtle warmth that pulsed beneath her fingers. She took aim and fired. The arrow struck true—and bounced off with a powerless clang. Flames licked the beetle’s carapace, washing over its armored back. The arrow’s detonation sent a shockwave through the clearing, scattering leaves and kicking up dirt.
For a moment, Elanil dared to hope. When the smoke cleared, she saw that the beetle staggered half a step, its legs scraping against the ground. Its armor, however, remained intact, scorched but unbroken. Whatever damage the blast had done was superficial at best.
“That’s disappointing, to say the least,” she said grimly.
The beetle screeched—a harsh, grating sound—and attacked again. Elanil retreated. She vaulted over a fallen log, landed lightly, and fired again, this time activating her second ability.
[Knockback Arrow]
Electric energy crackled along the arrow as it flew. It struck the beetle’s head with a flash of light, the impact jolting the creature backward. The shock rippled across its body, and for a brief moment, it was stunned, legs splayed awkwardly.
“Got you,” Elanil said, already moving.
She didn’t waste the opening, sprinting to the side to put distance between herself and the beetle as the effect wore off. Her stamina held steady, her breath measured and under control.
The beetle shook itself and raised its elytra again for another chemical volley. This time, Elanil noticed an interesting detail about her enemy. As the armored plates lifted, something shifted. Beneath the protective shell, the beetle’s body appeared different. It was softer, segmented, luminous in places where heat gathered. But most importantly, it sure looked vulnerable.
Elanil’s eyes widened. “So that’s it.” She decided to hit that soft spot. She drew the arrow and prepared to charge the ability.
[Explosive Arrow]
Nothing worked. Barely dodging a [Chemical Volley], she screamed furiously, “What the hell!”
A moment later, the realization came to her—the cooldown.
She bounced around in an uninterrupted dance of evasion for a while longer before the beetle could muster its volley again. She waited, forcing herself to stay still as the beetle charged up its attack. Heat shimmered in the air around it, the chemical mixture building. She pivoted mid-step, drew, and fired.
[Explosive Arrow]
The arrow struck beneath the raised elytra. The explosion was far more impactful this time. Flames tore through the beetle’s exposed body, and it screeched in pain, staggering backward. Chunks of scorched chitin fell away.
Elanil grinned, encouraged by such a result. She repositioned quickly, keeping the beetle in sight while watching her footing. Her ability cooldown ticked in the back of her mind, rather like a sense of timing than numbers, an internal rhythm so to say.
The beetle recovered faster than she’d hoped. It lunged, its mandibles snapping, forcing her into a frantic retreat. She fired standard arrows to keep it at bay, even though they did little more than annoy it. Her stamina dipped slightly as she sprinted, leaping over roots and ducking beneath low branches.
She misjudged one step, her foot caught on a thick root protruding from the ground, and her balance went. The forest tilted and she hit the ground hard, air knocked from her lungs as the beetle loomed over her, mandibles descending in a lethal arc. Her instinct took over—she raised her bow diagonally, bracing it with both hands as the mandibles closed. The impact recoiled in her arms painfully, the force reverberating through the wood. For a terrifying moment, she imagined the bow snapping, leaving her defenseless, but it didn’t and the bow held. That second was enough to jump out of the mandibles’ reach.
“That was stupid,” she muttered. “Don’t do that again.”
The beetle reared back, elytra lifting once more. It was too early; both her abilities were on cooldown. She had no choice but to fire a regular arrow at the weak spot. How much health did that take, ten percent or twenty? She didn’t know. But even that made the beetle extremely uncomfortable. At the same time, her enemy became even more enraged.
Another game of tag with a frenzied insect. With slight fright, Elanil realized, her waning stamina began making itself felt, sweat trickling down her spine. Her reaction became less and less rapid, her breathing became labored, her heart rate increased. Then the beetle got ready to fire again. She waited through the charge, ignored the heat building in the air, and fired the instant its defenses dropped.
[Explosive Arrow]
The blast tore through the beetle’s weakened body, and it collapsed with a heavy thud, legs twitching briefly before going still. Sudden silence fell over the clearing. Elanil stood there for a long moment, bow lowered, chest heaving. Sweat clung to her skin, her tendons humming with exertion. The smell of ozone and chemicals lingered in the air, sharp and unpleasant. She sank down onto a fallen log, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.
The quest window reappeared.
Quest: Warm welcome
Status: Completed
Description: Good job!
Reward: 0 XP
She did not have time to get surprised about the reward—
“Well done, pointy-eared,” a voice came from behind her. “But for a moment I thought I’d have to intervene.”
Elanil immediately turned around. A woman was looking at her with a smirk, her arms crossed over her chest. An orc woman.
