Chapter 5: Invaders
The next day Coop and Jones returned to the lighthouse trail. They were on a mission to defeat more Ancient Defenders, and since the only one they had ever seen was near the trail, that was where they began their search.
They cautiously walked along the path while carefully scanning the dunes. The sun was bright and only a few fluffy clouds floated across the blue sky. There weren’t many places that provided cover, so it seemed unlikely that they would be ambushed. Although when Coop brought the idea up, Jones suggested the mechanical creatures might be able to bury themselves in the sand. So Coop, who had been full of confidence in completing their quest after defeating their first Ancient Defender, was now moving much more slowly.
When they finally found their first target it was not buried underneath the sand. It was merely waiting on the beach side of the trail, above the high water mark of the aquamarine ocean. It was periodically wandering a few steps before returning to the same small area. The creature had been following its little pattern for a while judging by the many tracks it had left in the sand. Coop identified it from a safe distance.
[Ancient Defender (Level 2)]
Coop and Jones approached it the same way they had approached the first one. But this time they were more aware of its abilities. They had planned to keep at least one of its four legs occupied at all times, preventing it from lunging at either one of them.
They closed the distance a bit more urgently than the first time, worried that it would preemptively strike at them. Jones successfully distracted it by shoving at it with his trusty rake as his weapon, forcing it to lift one leg in defense. The creature had no choice but to immediately brace itself against Jones’s push with its two back legs, gouging deeper holes into the packed sand. Jones’s increase in Strength was already making itself known.
This time Coop opened up his assault by kicking at the mechanical creature with the flat of his foot like he was kicking open a door. The move successfully baited the monster into defending with its last unoccupied limb. With two legs off the ground and the other two legs bracing the creature, Coop was free to swing the machete into the weaker cylindrical shaft that connected the legs to the body.
It only took one solid overhand swing to dismember one of the creature’s back legs, effectively ending the fight. They were still wary of it swinging its limbs before they carefully removed a second limb and finished it off. Defeating the monster was a lot quicker thanks to their increased stats and the experience from the first one. Coop watched as the rust colored creature blurred like it was becoming a watercolor painting before it rapidly deteriorated into wisps of white smoke and dispersed in the ocean breeze. He briefly wondered how he was supposed to loot it for his scavenging quest before he reviewed his messages.
[You defeated Ancient Defender (Level 2)]
[+2 Basic Credits]
[Defeat Ancient Defenders I (2/5)]
[Scavenge Defeated Enemies I (1/10)]