Chapter 25: Ancient Prowlers
Coop began his Ancient Prowler hunting session with an audience. He trusted Charlie so he thought it would be fine that some of his abilities would be revealed. He wouldn’t be showing much other than his Salvation and Retribution skills when he summoned his equipment, but they might be able to glean his attributes by watching carefully. He didn’t use any teleports while fighting Ancient Prowlers, so that trick would still be in his back pocket. Defeating the monsters only depended on his superior attributes and his choice of weapon.
He had made some huge gains to his attributes since the last time that he fought the Ancient Prowlers. The difference in the numerical value of his stats was staggering. He was noticeably faster and thanks to the +100 Mind bonus gained from completing the quest chain and earning the Slayer title. Compared to the more gradual increase to his stats as he leveled, the change was a massive step up. He predicted a much longer hunting session thanks to his ability to avoid even more damage. Preventing the stacking debuff would be the key to hunting the Ancient Prowlers.
Camila and Charlie watched from the dunes as Coop fought his first pack of Ancient Prowlers, then another, and another. He just kept going, not needing any breaks. They were bewildered that Coop didn’t seem to be limited by cooldowns or mana. After spectating for slightly too long, they went to try fighting their own battle.
He could tell they felt confident that the pair of them would be more than a match for the Ancient Prowlers. They were both higher level than Coop and much higher level than the monsters. Coop had made it look easy, completely avoiding the ambushes and smoothly executing the monsters one by one before moving to a new pack, without stopping. He had warned them that they were tricky enemies, but there was only so much he could convey with words. He knew Charlie well enough to know she wouldn’t do anything without taking some precautions but Camila had shown him nothing but confidence.
The pair of girls approached a lone Ancient Prowler and opened with Charlie using her wind powers to summon a dust devil. The tiny twister immediately started kicking up loose sand from the otherwise compacted ground. They intended to eliminate the first monster and empower the starter ability into a tornado to defeat the rest of the pack while Camila protected Charlie. A standard tactic that they had used many times before, in training, and against the monsters in the city.
The Ancient Prowler was too quick to be caught by the escalating tornado and launched itself at the offending mage instead. The dust devil was left behind, whipping up sand by itself, as the monster leapt to the side and then forward with a nimbleness that neither of the pair expected. Coop’s speed had deceived them into thinking the monsters weren’t so overwhelmingly quick.
Camila intercepted the leaping monster, but, because of the monster’s dexterity, instead of countering the attack she was forced into an awkward block with her bracers, taking a stack of the Vulnerable debuff on the very first exchange. She was surprised that the monster had been as nimble as it was. Coop expected them to handle it, but felt a twinge of worry that their engagement had started so poorly. He paused in between packs, just in case.
Charlie raised her arm and brought it down in a chopping motion, forming a thin blade of water that chased her fingers down. The water blade began moving away from her at a moderate pace. It wasn’t very fast but it was cutting through the air with a dangerous sharpness. Normally, it would be easy to avoid such a slow moving and obviously harmful attack.
Camila launched herself forward, flanking the creature as it reset its stance to resume its attack. She used her momentum to kick the monster into the path of the water blade. When Camila activated her abilities, she was easily a match for the speed of the monsters. The blade cleaved the kicked monster with barely any resistance before it evaporated into the air. The combination of skills defeated the first monster, but Camila had already taken some damage.
The second monster ambushed Charlie before either of the girls were prepared. Her thick cloak prevented a serious injury, but she was almost knocked down, and received her own stack of the Vulnerable debuff. Charlie was slow to recover her balance, contrasting Camila’s heavy investment into Agility and Coop’s own stat bonuses.
Camila was the first to respond to the ambush. She leapt forward and punched the monster with a straight right strike, followed by a jab, and finally a right hook. The monster was smashed into the ground by the series of punches, stunned, allowing Camila to follow with a stomp that crushed the monster’s head. The second monster was defeated. Camila was dangerously fast, especially when she started building momentum.
The third monster had tried to use the moment that the second monster was stunned to sneak attack Camila mid stomp. Her speed allowed her to finish the combination, and the ambusher failed to save the previous monster, but it still landed a solid attack on Camila’s thigh, causing her to flinch away.