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[Skill-Eater] Chapter 148: Padamas
🕑 Added 2024-11-18 18:01:01 +0000 UTCEdge took in the sight of his oversized foe, while waiting for the order to attack. He ran his gaze across the powerful predator, absorbing its presence. Its power. The aura of menace it exuded with every move that it made.
His mind sharpened during the final, fleeting moments before the beast knew it was in danger—thoughts honed to a razor’s edge by the maelstrom of violence that was oh so inevitably coming.
The green and yellow lizard was even bigger than he remembered. It must have gained several cycles from slaughtering the residents of the Breadbasket over the last few days. Edge catalogued every detail of its features and behavior—trying to learn everything that he could before pitting his life against the colossal creature in weapon-to-claw combat.
Every inch of its body was covered in dense, rippling muscles. Its scaly skin looked thick enough to block a direct hit from his naginata. Even powered with slash and double strike, he would have to work hard to penetrate the tough tissue if he wanted to do any damage.
Each of its limbs was armed with four swordlike talons half the length of his polearm. Its agile tail was covered with the wrist-thick spikes they had come across at the other farm. Edge had run into a collection of fearsome opponents by this point in his adventure, but there was no question that this was the most dangerous enemy that he had ever laid eyes on. A beast capable of taking on an entire pack of shadowreavers.
He thanked the gods that [Overdrive] had come back online. In a worst-case scenario, he would be able to hit the padamas much harder than would otherwise be possible. At least for thirty seconds. He hoped that the battle wouldn’t force him to use Skill-Eater’s ultimate ability, but it was comforting to know that he could use his powers to their full potential if the hunt took a turn for the worse. Even if doing so would precipitate a conversation that he was hoping to avoid.
That was when Edge realized that the lizard had stopped. Instead of walking into the kill zone, it was standing in place, sniffing at the air while muttering to itself.
What is it doing? Why is it looking around instead of taking the bait? That was when it hit him. It can smell that we’ve been in the area, even if it can’t detect our scents right now. On that note, the beast walked away from the traps and over toward the field, examining the tracks that the hunters had left behind. Then it moved over to the deadfall grain silo, acting like it might try to poke its head inside the door. Jumo’s face had gone pale as a sheet, and Edge knew that he must look the same way.
Oh shit. If it tries to force its way inside, it’s going to trigger the deadfall early and all hell is going to break loose. The team sat there, tension ratcheting up by the heartbeat, as the padamas put its nose up to the doorway and began to sniff. It began to press forward, and he could hear the weakened support beams creaking… just before the lizard pulled its head out and started walking toward the farmhouse.
Everyone froze in place, not daring to so breathe as the colossal predator drew closer and then closer still. Their bodies were angled so that they would be hard to see, even from right outside the window. But if the padamas caught a glimpse of them and attacked, they were going to start the battle in an awful fucking position. Besieged from the first move against a full-strength opponent, instead of ambushing a beast that had been weakened and disoriented by the traps they had laid.
They had planned for this possibility, although they had hoped that it wouldn’t happen. If the lizard attacked from a position of strength, the team would fire a barrage of consumables, run to the other side of the trap field, and pray that no one died along the way. Please, please go away. Go eat the tasty snacks and ignore the boring buildings.
Edge held his naginata in a white-knuckled grip, ready to spring into action with every breath he took. Change of plan. If it finds us, I’ll grab its attention and lead it into the traps myself. If I get targeted by the tongue, I might be able to get away with shadow step, but it’s a death sentence for anyone else on the team.
Despite his fervent prayers, the padamas kept walking toward them. Its tongue darted out to taste the breeze until it was standing right outside the farmhouse—one massive eye lined up with the window. He could see the rest of the team holding their breath. The nervous sweat running down their bodies, expressions tight with fear.
Just when Edge was certain that the beast had found them, the lizard grumbled and turned away, heading toward the middle of the farm. Relief coursed through every cell of his body as the team recovered from the close call and prepared to enact their original plan. As soon as it starts eating, we can trigger the traps and launch our assault.
After reaching the center of the trap field, the padamas opened its mouth and began to feed. It started with the carcass they had placed on top of the pile, devouring the body in a single gulp. Then it moved on to the massive mound of meat below. It was going to take a while to finish it all, even for a creature that big.
Now that the lizard wasn’t looking their way, Trapper flashed a hand sign to Riller. She let him know that she was going to arm the ring of pit traps in another two minutes, giving everyone time to mentally prepare themselves for the coming battle.
Edge used the opportunity to come up with a plan for what he would do if he was forced to use [Overdrive], including how to combine his recently acquired skills as effectively as possible.
In a worst-case scenario, he might have to reveal more to the team than he would prefer. Pretend that he had an epic core instead of a rare. They had known each other long enough that he didn’t think the hunters would try to claim his bounty. Although he wasn’t sure that would hold true if they thought he had a legendary core, let alone the unique that he actually had.
He was willing to trust the crew, but Edge wasn’t ready to share the whole truth with anyone. Not when he was still grappling with the implications of binding Skill-Eater, and the consequences of making a mistake would have him on the run for the rest of his life, however short that might happen to be.
That was all the time for reflection he was granted. Because half a heartbeat later, the crew began their assault. Trapper waited until the padamas had taken a gigantic bite out of one of the stag-sized foxes and was engrossed with crunching its bones. Then she flashed another sign and prepared to activate her signature skill.
Edge rose to his feet and got ready to charge with the crew at his side. The field was set, and the time was now. The battle with the padamas had officially begun.
