JaceVAmor
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Chapter 170: Ensnared
🕑 Added 2023-12-13 16:11:01 +0000 UTCCoop was hanging upside down, held up by a nearly invisible string that wrapped around one of his ankles. Rubbing the back of his head with one hand, he resummoned his dropped sword into his other, angry that he had been ensnared by a trap and frustrated that he hadn’t even been able to hang onto his weapon when caught by surprise. He had no idea what kind of monster, human or alien, had set such a strong snare, but he didn’t like that he hadn’t been able to react to an ambush, no matter the source. It wasn’t like he was growing complacent, but he had been forced to rely on his stats more often than not, regardless of how careful he was trying to be. Coop felt like he was identifying another gap in his build, but this time it was his own limited experience instead of a missing skill. Whether it was wisdom or luck that led him to make some of his early choices, it was his followthrough that had pushed him forward. He needed to keep developing if he wanted to succeed, even if it was in areas outside of his class.
With a situp and flick of his arm, his resummoned ethereal sword slashed across the nearly invisible thread that had sneakily looped around his ankle and dragged him into the air. When the edge of his sword sliced the thread, the trap refused to actually break. Coop frowned, the inkling that the thread wasn’t normal jumping to the forefront of his mind. Coop did another hanging situp and really put his Strength into severing the line, but he only showered himself in sparks as the thread refused to be severed.
“Fine.” Coop spat, not willing to be defeated by such a simple contraption.
He dropped his sword and mistjumped, but instead of entering the monochromatic world of mists, the reverse of what he intended occurred, with the sword returning to his hand as if he resummoned it. Confused, he tried a second time. Coop felt his panic rising as he stared at his ankle from his hanging position.
The string itself reminded him of the Puppeteer from so long ago, and he felt himself frown as he made the connection with one of his first enemies. The association with someone that had been antagonistic from the start had Coop’s mind racing. Was it possible that he had stumbled into one of Chakyum’s outposts completely by chance? The odds would be incredibly low, and he wasn’t sure if that would be a lucky break or not. Ultimately, if Corozal belonged to Chakyum, whether he could escape the trap would be what decided his luck. Avoiding the necessity of traipsing around the jungle would be a boon, but being captured? Much less of a boon.
In any case, he changed his target to the tree itself. There were only scattered trees within the town, causing the interior to lack the canopy that had housed so many elite monsters on his way in. The palms were separated by wide gaps along the sea wall, clinging to the little strip of grass between the sea and the road that Coop had followed. They were the individual specimens that endured every hurricane and storm surge that swept into the bay and remained standing. The palms had been hardened by decades of inclement weather.
Coop cast Invocation, harnessing Retribution to manifest his ethereal glaive, exchanging his sword in favor of longer reach. He gently swung himself back and forth until he was in range to slash at the middle of the persistent tree’s trunk. Coop thought it was a shame to harm the tree, considering it wasn’t at fault for the predicament Coop was in, but he resolved to make up for it when he had the chance. When the edge of his glaive hit the salt and wind smoothed sclerified bark the collision erupted with another shower of sparks that bounced to the ground while Coop was sent spinning away with aching elbows.
“Tch.” Coop did his best to stabilize himself once the vibration left his arms and the feeling returned to his numbed hands.
Coop cast Invocation again, this time using Legacy of the Mists to bring a phantasm to chop the tree down. The ghostly warrior stepped through the mists, almost casually compared to their typical leaping appearance, and settled into the horizontal chop of an experienced woodsman. When the phantasm’s glaive collided with the tree, more sparks erupted and the phantasm exploded into mists, but the tree remained undamaged.
“What the hell kind of string is this?” Coop muttered as he tried slashing at the bark again, realizing that the trees themselves were reinforced by a thin layer of the unbreakable wire, like a knitted sweater had been placed on their trunks. The string even killed his summon with the reverberation of its attack. The properties of the snare kept compounding.
Two more tries were enough for him to give up on the tree and return his attention to the snare around his ankle. Swapping back to his sword, he sat up and slashed again, singing his own hair with the sparks that the edge of his mist weapon blasted out of the string. He repeated the action over and over, curling his body up toward his feet and slashing at the taut line, but the single thread was seemingly unbreakable at his current level. Coop refused to give up, already dripping in sweat and feeling some pressure to free himself before reinforcements arrived. Mindbender had kicked in with each slash increasing his Strength, but even with twenty tries and over 10,000 Strength he couldn’t cut the line.
His thrashing had caused him to swing and bounce like a tether ball, and he started to lean into the motion, dismissing his sword and giving up on the idea of cutting the line for the moment. He desperately tried to escape instead, like a trapped wild animal, whipping himself back and forth, eventually causing the palm tree to bend and sway. The green coconuts in the crown started to be dislodged with the motion, smashing into his body, but Coop kept on building momentum, flinging himself further toward the ground before slingshotting high on the other side of the tree.
He was already desperate enough to consider taking off his own foot. As long as he didn’t bleed out, mana would set him right in due time. Even on one leg, he was confident he could fight unprepared enemies. There wasn’t anyone in their right mind that would come expecting to face Coop’s Strength, even if it was hobbled. If he took himself out of the equation, he could probably defend himself with phantasms alone, though he would be pretty vulnerable while hanging in the air. While his mind raced, he kept his body swinging. When his knuckles scraped the ground, he finally felt confident he would be free without taking such drastic measures as cutting off his own limb.
A few more rotations and he had enough leeway to slam his newly summoned trident into the worn pavement of the coastal road, adding deep gouges to the salt-formed potholes. When the prongs slammed into the ground, all of the motion abruptly stopped with the palm tree bent toward Coop. Using just his arms, he pulled himself further, relying on the embedded trident for leverage. The tree creaked and groaned as Coop finally had a better way to apply his Strength. Coop dragged himself forward until the tree finally released its grip on the ground, flinging itself onto the road. Roots twice the length of the trunk’s height were torn out of the sediment in a giant mass of dirt, sand, and stone, leaving an enormous hole that caved in part of the road and sea wall. He had expected the tree to snap, but the result was more or less the same. The palm tree was still fastened to his leg, but it would serve as his ball and chain rather than a fixed anchor. He couldn’t defeat the string or the tree, but the earth itself ended up being the weak point.
Coop’s blood covered foot finally touched the surface, stinging like a thousand needles were pricking the sole as he stood up. His chest was heaving as he caught his breath and walked over to the palm tree while sweeping his hair away from his eyes. After clapping the palms of his hands together, he lifted the tree up onto his shoulder and slid underneath it until he found the center mass. Seeing as he was still tethered to its bulk, it would be coming with him. He was ready to hunt whoever had trapped him, dual wielding his sword on one side and the enormous tree slung over his shoulder on the other. It had only been a matter of minutes of being trapped, but Coop wanted to fight. He hoped to regain some of his personal dignity and burn some of the frustration off.
Before he moved, he looked closer at the town. It obviously wasn’t abandoned, but he didn’t detect any signs of other people or more traps. Looking closer at his own ankle, he could barely discern the string. The hair-thin thread had dug deep into his skin, and was thinner than a fishing line.
He only hesitated momentarily while fearing another snare trap, before he slowly made his way down the middle of the road, away from the trees. He moved slowly, trying to pay closer attention to the presence of more potential traps, giving some effort into training his own instincts. Forget about just snare traps, Coop was checking for trip wires or even just spots where the ground had been disturbed. He followed the path that the fisherman had taken when he spotted Coop, moving a bit more confidently where the man had already demonstrated a lack of traps, but making note of the subtle differences between the trafficked area and the route that he had arrived on. The breeze had left small patterns in the sand that accumulated on the road, and if he looked, he could see where it had been stepped on and where it had lingered undisturbed for longer periods.
Before reaching the crossroads and turning inland, Coop heard voices. He waited in front of a closed restaurant that faced the water behind a sealed iron gate. A white stone wall marked the edge of the property, blocking the interior all the way to the intersection. Purple bougainvilleas peeked over the top of the wall from the inside, blooming vibrantly. His tree was obstructed by the open-air second floor that was filled with bar seating, pool tables, beer banners, and sport jerseys.
“...I’m telling you, Fernando, he hit the first trap on the north coast and it was a man! Not a monster!” The first argued, clearly agitated with the listener.
“There are no men out here anymore. You know this.” A second voice sighed, exasperated with the first. “The Jaguar Sun hasn’t been around since Juliana last visited, and that was more than a week ago. For all we know they are all dead now, and the monsters just keep growing. Hopefully, what you saw was just a large elite. If it was another Field Boss, we might already be done for. We can’t wait for more help to come and defeat it like the last few times.”
The first voice grumbled for a moment as they drew closer. “Wasn’t no Field Boss. You’ll see.” He asserted.
As soon as the strangers reached the corner, Coop swung the palm tree like an exaggerated backhand with the trunk cradled in his entire arm, smashing the corner of the wall that protected the restaurant with his backswing. The crashing attack blasted chunks of concrete and cinder block like a wrecking ball toward the voices. The crown of the tree swept across the road and caught both people who had been seeking Coop with a crunch of palm fronds.
The pair of men bounced backwards, caught completely by surprise, until one settled against the trunk of another tree buttressing the sidewalk and the other rolled through the outerwall of a small unused market on the opposite side of the street. To Coop’s surprise, they both remained completely whole, revealing an unexpectedly sturdy constitution. Coop had intended to incapacitate them both, believing he only needed one alive, but he’d only managed to bowl them over. He heaved the tree back onto his shoulder and marched toward the one that had landed in the wall. Inspecting them both, Coop anticipating high level challengers that would have some valuable intel for him.
[Human (Level 12)]
[Wave Blade (Body)]
[Hydro (Masterful)]
[Human (Level 16)]
[Sky Strider (Body)]
[Chosen of the Calo Voices]
[Aero (Masterful)]
“Huh.” Coop grunted in surprise, pausing as he reconsidered his approach.
Neither of them had a level worth considering. If Coop had realized they were so low level, he would have avoided smashing them with the palm tree for fear of annihilating them with his own Strength, but both of them survived. In fact, neither of them was particularly worse for the wear. The lower level Wave Blade was the one that ended up beneath a tree, and of the two he was certainly more stunned. The Sky Strider was already shaking himself off when Coop reached him, ridding his shoulder of pulverized concrete and brushing away turquoise paint chips.
“Juan! Go warn the others!” The Sky Strider shouted, trying to get the Wave Blade to jump to action.
“Juan.” Coop interrupted as the Wave Blade shifted to his knee. “Don’t move.” He gave Juan a look and the man sat back down to the disappointment of his companion.
“I just want to ask some questions, but I was already faced with a trap I couldn’t overcome, so I feel the need to be more assertive than usual.” Coop stated, calming himself down as he aimed to have a conversation rather than letting himself escalate the confrontation to a fight after all. Sturdy or not, the pair of old men had levels so low, they really weren’t worth fighting, no matter how much he wanted to avenge his bruised ego.
The two men were at least as old as Jones, clearly showing signs of age despite the rejuvenating impact of mana. The Sky Strider had gray hair and a sun-worn face wrinkled from smiles and squints while the Wave Blade had salt and pepper hair and a deep tan that could only come from decades spent working outdoors, or in this case, fishing. They were obviously locals, familiar with the place, and most likely the ones who had somehow set a trap strong enough to capture Coop.
Coop held his sword forward with his offhand and the ghostly green vapors drew their attention, even when he carried the tree like a basic club in the other. The dirt from the roots marred the otherwise clear street, but didn’t lessen the impact of wielding the object like a toy. “Fernando, right? Mind answering a few questions? Then we can all be on our way.” Coop started, keeping his tone neutral as he returned to his normal self.
“Speak.” Fernando, the Sky Strider stated defiantly, standing back up and readjusting his guayabera to get rid of the stones that had been scattered upon his attire from the crushed wall.
Coop shrugged, finding the old man’s stubborn posture rather relatable. “Do you know about Chakyum?” He decided to cut to the chase.
“Pah!” Fernando mocked incredulously, glancing at his companion while gesturing toward Coop. “Juan! You hear this kid? Wants to know if we know about Chakyum.” He looked back at Coop, ignoring the ethereal blade.
“Told you it wasn’t a Field Boss.” Juan responded dejectedly, finding less satisfaction in being correct than he had hoped given the apparent strength of what they caught.
Fernando ignored him, turning back to Coop. “We know of Chakyum.” He spat. “If you’re here to spread his word and grow your flock, you’ve come to the wrong place. As you can see, none of us have many levels to make it worth your time. The monsters and the other priests already took the rest.”
“He doesn’t look like one of them.” Juan offered as he watched from the side, but Fernando just continued scowling.
“Right.” Coop put his sword down, getting the clear impression they weren’t friends of Chakyum either. “Would you mind telling me about him? My settlement had a rather hostile Envoy visit. Let’s just say I’d like to return the favor.”
Fernando and Juan shared a look before their expressions changed from hostility to something more akin to pity. Fernando spoke first on their behalf. “I’m sorry about your settlement, but you shouldn’t throw your life away for something like revenge. You seem strong enough to still have a chance.”
“My settlement is fine, actually, but could you tell me about Chakyum? What and where is he?” Coop corrected, keeping the man on track.
Fernando seemed confused, but gathered himself to answer Coop’s questions. “Chakyum is the leader of the cult that controls the Yucatan. His cultists have spread all throughout the land, north and south, gathering people for their sacrifices, and establishing enclaves. But for the actual leader, no one really knows where or what he is. They claim he is truly a god and given his reach, he must have some power to back it up.”
Coop sighed. “Well, that’s annoying.” Coop dismissed his sword and scratched his head as he accepted that this whole expedition really would end up being a challenge. “Maybe we should start over.” He suggested.
Fernando just gestured with his hands, giving Coop permission to say what he wanted. Coop nodded and introduced himself properly. “My name is Coop, an Envoy visited my settlement two weeks ago to invite us to join Chakyum, or else. I took his head rather than his deal and plan on giving Chakyum a piece of my mind.”
“No way!” Juan shouted, finally getting to his feet. “Did you hear that Nando? He’s Coop, the one on the leaderboards.”
“I heard him.” The other man responded with exasperation.
“We caught the hero of Earth with our traps!” Juan laughed, slapping his knee in delight.
“He escaped in minutes.” Fernando reminded his partner. “And he could have killed us with it.” Pointing at the tree still leaning on Coop’s shoulder.
Coop interrupted them to ask, “How is that string so strong anyway?” He hadn’t managed to break it even if he had destroyed their trap.
“Don’t underestimate us geezers!” Juan proclaimed, wiping a tear away. “You see my level, right? What if I told you I had a profession too?” He laughed again with a gleam of mischief in his eye. “And what if I told you it was over level 500?”
Comments
WindGunner
He tried didn't work. Probably because a high level profession skill
Fawkes
Wouldn't put it past him :D
Nyroe
Maybe he simply forgor💀 He decided he wanted to break the trap and got stuck with tunnelvision.
Eric M
That is a very plausible explanation for why the trap was so tough. Not much else would explain it.
Fawkes
Maybe I am misremembering some restrictions, but shouldn't Coop be able to mist jump out of the trap?
BelligerentGnu
This is amusing, I look forward to finding out more.
Nyroe
COOP HAS FOUND IT! THE ENCLAVE OF PROFESSIONAL PROFESSION GRINDERS!!! Maybe now he will be able to find a way to powerlevel scavenging!
