The Apprentice of Ouroboros [Monster Evo LitRPG Adventure]

“So, who wants to try the sneaky approach?”

The team had pulled back out of sight, huddled in close formation in the middle of a dense grove of trees, near the lookout point. Neska realized they were the first team to get a proper assessment.

“I think we should wait for the rest of the teams to move into position,” Trevor urged, currently applying a buffing spell with a blue flicker of light across his hands, then drawing them down from his shoulder to his knees. A translucent barrier shimmered into existence, then faded almost invisible over a few seconds.

Hadley went prone, peering out over the rocks, eyes fixed on the steam engine. “They’re cutting a giant hole through the stone. And they have hobgoblins running this thing like they know how heavy magical tech equipment works. That’s a first for me. Where'd they even get this thing?"

"Likely, stolen," Trevor sighed. "Engines like this had to be abandoned due to their bulk in some towns and cities overrun by the Varadur. But to learn how to use this? I must candidly give the hobgoblins some begrudging credit.

“Yeah, it’s a shame our enemies are getting smarter,” Brent said beside her. For now, she didn’t respond to his comment, though Neska saw her hand tremble for a second. “Okay, I see a mix of goblins and hobgoblins. The dumb ones are down in that pit, clearing debris and–oh sweet Divines, is that goblin dumb, or what?”

Neska cringed in reflex as one of the goblins, in a very unsafe fashion, tried to clear a chunk of rock. Removing debris after the cutting might have been safer. The drill platform wasn't just a single corkscrew drill.

No, it consisted of three intertwined augers that spun together like a three-strand helix, constantly bringing up new rocks as it chewed deeper into the rock. One of the numerous chunks of rock sent spinning from the extraction hit the goblin in the head. He swooned, falling into the spokes of the oscillating augers. The creature was turned into goblin pulp, his screams quickly replaced by an unnerving sound of paste being squeezed through a tube.

“Someone reset the counter for days without a workplace accident,” Trevor uttered nervously.

"That's assuming goblins are smart enough to count higher than four," Brent added, looking uneasy.

“One less to worry about,” Roche responded. He’d covered his armor with mud and paint to make it blend in with the environment more, but it was hard to hide a man of his size and stature, even poking his head out from an effective cover. “I count fifteen. Probably more of them in the mine.”

“How many more?” Brent whispered.

“Enough to replace their labor accidents,” Hadley responded. “Hundreds. Take a look, they've got pipes and rubber tubing going down to that small drain pond. What do you think that’s for?”

“Thermal stability.” Neska pointed out the water splashing from the augers still turning the goblin into puree, and there were only complaints from the goblin in broken Common about who was cleaning up the mess. “Basic physics. This process and the engine generate a lot of heat during operation, like an alchemical byproduct. It needs to be cooled, or it could overheat."

Judging by the leaking water from one of the tubes, they were using a lot of water. Stopping this thermal loop would result in something spectacular and possibly explosive.

Neska casually tried her [Rooting Hex]. The ability failed, with nothing more than a tingle of mana across her body. “Shame I can’t summon roots at that range right now and break the pipe. I never tested it at this kind of distance.”

In hindsight, knowing its range might be useful, and if it could be improved with skill ranks or her Attribute. It must be tied to her Intelligence attribute–hopefully, increasing it would increase her effective area of attack.

Hadley tilted her head. “You know what? That’s not a bad idea. It's going to be loud, however. Likely dangerous."

"Nerdettes, the wolf is confused. Are we...about to do something really dangerous?" Brent asked, one ear canted.

"No. We're just going to burst that pipe and pull their attention away from the entryway."

“She’s right,” Trevor whispered. “I recognize that magitech engine model. Ferrite and Chairs Industries. One of their factories was overrun ten years into the conflict. It wasn't considered a major loss, given the Varadur's intelligence was limited. Or, it was, at the time. These boilers require constant cooling.”

“How do you know this?”

“My father consulted with the family to learn how the competition used magitech and what they offered as products. Though this is just a historical lesson, now,” he finished, letting out a resigned sigh.

"Can I poke a hole in this plan?" Roche asked, tapping his hand against his hammer hilt. "This could bring the entirety of the goblin army from whatever hole they're hiding in."

"Perfect. Then they're all out of position and abandoning their fortifications," Neska pointed out. "Do you want to fight goblins in the open, or in close quarters?"

Roche started to retort, then frowned. "I probably should start trusting you, considering what I've heard about you."

“Whatever happens, it'll make for one hell of a distraction,” Hadley tapped her finger to her chin. “Jurik, can you have our resident elementa go do some breakage on that pipe feeding water to that confounded, multi-ton drill they have going?”

“What’s the play?” the veteran asked over the relay.

“Industrial accident," Hadley said calmly. "Tell Corvin and the rest of the teams to be ready to move in. And tell Syra that whatever happens, be far, far away after she’s done.”

A minute later, Neska saw the water ripple near the pipe, and Syra raised her arm from the water, a small whirling sound filling the air. Neska watched with satisfaction as she cut at the ingress pipe with a single [Hydro Cutter] slice, with the goblins oblivious, tossing rocks into large piles on either side of the drilling platform. Syra wisely stayed below the water line, and Neska swore she saw her grinning, even from this range.

“It's leaking, but it won't stop flowing," Hadley pointed out. “Cassia, can you use your roots?”

“I'll have to get closer.” She slid down to a lower section of the hill, hiding behind boulders and getting closer to the pipe.

She was able to sprout vines from the water lilies floating on the surface and wrapped them around the piping. It took three heaves and her dumping an immense amount of mana into the process, but the pipe finally broke free, water gushing back into the pond.

The goblins were still oblivious as she worked her way back up to the others.

The result of her and Syra’s efforts wasn’t obvious at first, and Hadley tapped her fingers on a rock, groaning. “Well, this was a waste of time–”

The whirring noise of the magical engine aboard the platform turned higher-pitched. Neska pointed at the augers, spinning faster and faster, and ejecting rocks at speeds that left the goblins scrambling. “You know how they say, never overtemper a boiler?” Neska asked.

“Is that what we did?” Hadley asked anxiously.

"Yeah, we did. See, beyond a certain pressure...things get a little unstable." An angry whine of machinery and grinding gears became the prevalent sound. The hobgoblins scrambled about the platform, one of them trying to pull several levers, trying to relieve what was going on. Steam started venting from the pipes, an ominous whistling sound that grew louder and more shrill as the machine slowly sped out of control.

“It's gonna blow! Run for your pathetic lives!” one hobgoblin screamed, already sprinting for cover behind a massive pile of rocks. The rest of the dozen-odd members fled as the machine core began glowing an ominous red, vibrating and shaking. The drill bits sparked and began turning a dull red, now spinning at such a speed that the pieces were rotating eccentrically, the grinding of metal only getting louder

Neska put up her barrier spell, even as everyone tensed and began backing away from the edge of the overlook. Hadley laughed nervously. “Um, we should probably run if even the goblins are–”

She didn’t finish her sentence as the machine detonated in a cloud of superheated steam, flying gears, and shrapnel. The debris and vapors devastated any goblin not behind solid cover.

A half-broken cog flew by Neska’s shoulder, having barely dodged it as it careened toward her. The near-miss still flared her barrier, deflecting the debris, which ricocheted off rock faces and clattered to a halt. A separate piece bounced off Roche's shield, sending him staggering backward as he rubbed his arm and let out a hiss through gritted teeth.

Dust billowed from the blast, leaving everyone coughing. Even Neska. The steam blast was significantly reduced at this distance, yet she felt an almost unpleasant warmth from the steam and dirt.

“Is everyone in one piece?!” Neska coughed out several seconds later.

“Yes. Mostly. Holy shit, that was insane.” Roche rubbed at his shield arm, now grumbling in agitation, “I think a gear hit me. Congratulations, Cassia. I now have a Title that says ‘You did something really dumb, and you’re somehow still alive.’ The plus-one to Endurance feels like little consolation.”

She ignored his muted complaint.

Neska, you’re really going to hate this title, since this idea was sourced from you.

Title gained: Environmental Opportunist - You have repeatedly seized opportunity to turn the environment and traps against your foes. Those plans also typically involve things detonating violently and far too close for comfort. All environmental effects triggered by your abilities increase in potency by 10%.

And…seriously? You get another 20% to the effective range of all magical abilities? I swear some Divine is looking out for you, Neska.

Take this as your hint to be much further away when you start raining destruction.

Neska laughed. She coughed violently on the dust in the air, but still managed a hissing laugh. This was certainly not a healthy way to gain power at all, but this Title felt like one hell of a boost for her threat range.

She dared to peer down from their overlook, even as rock and bits of metal continued to rain down and smash into the ground. All the goblins had been mulched by debris, and two hobgoblins who'd managed to escape the carnage were fuming, pointing fingers at each other and screaming at who was to blame.

That was rather callous–a dozen of the goblin's peers died, yet they showed little reaction to it.

Stranger still, Neska could feel something in the ground, something she hadn’t noticed with all the noise from before.

A low, vibration. A gentle disturbance she could feel on her belly scales out of place. A humming sound. No, buzzing, even. She had no idea what it was.

"Does...anyone else feel that?" Neska asked.

Brent gave her a sour look, tapping one ear. "The only thing I feel is the ringing sound in my ear from an exploding magitech boiler. So, no." Yet, she could still feel a hum beneath them.

Could be machinery below us. It's a mine; they likely have more equipment running. She let the feeling go for now.

Jurik was anything but amused over the relay. “That was anything but subtle,” he stated in a strained tone that almost bordered on a growl. “Well now, where are their reinforcements?”

None came streaming out of the yawning cavern entrance. Trevor groaned audibly at the damage. “You know, I hate to point this out? But that was a limited model magitech steam boiler. We really should have left it alone, as the parts are–or were rather expensive.”

“And do what? Lug it home on our backs?” Brent pointed out. “Let’s just get down and see what they were digging up."

They were able to slide down an embankment, with the team lying low as a pack of goblins staggered out of the mine. Their gait was jerky, uncoordinated, and they pointed to the still-arguing hobgoblins. Neska had Syrona glide over to hear what they were saying at this distance, while the team hid behind a stack of large mining carts rusting on a railway.

One hobgoblin was furious. “Dumbass, this is your fault! Big scary bitch is gonna eat you for lunch for this!”

The other one pushed back, prompting the other one to lunge at him. Neska watched this display through Syrona as the familiar glided above them, peering down and letting out a contented trill. None of the goblins was paying attention, and indeed, the hobgoblins were too busy playing the blame game.

The team crept forward. Neska heard the high-pitched, nasal sounds of goblin voices in the distance. She checked her pack as they closed on the group, verifying her arrows were easy to reach. Hadley also had an arrow resting on her drawstring, this one armed with Neska's venom-enhanced sleep draught.

The confrontation between the hobgoblins reached a fever pitch, with the more muscular of the two biting the other on the arm. The other screamed and headbutted him. All the goblins screeched and jumped, watching this dispute play out with juvenile fascination.

It was too bad that Neska had already triggered roots underneath them, now that she was within range. There was some sparse vegetation, in the form of scraggly trees and bushes, that had grown despite the rocky terrain.

“I think this is a great time to test out my alchemical concoction.” Neska drew out the sleeping arrowhead while Brent and Roche tensed up. There was a lot of sparse cover, and sprinting through it would be tricky. “Trevor, buffs.”

“Got it. It'll last…fifteen minutes.” The current buff required him to place his hand on each of them, his face scrunched in concentration.

The result was unusual: his buff gave the illusion of camouflage netting. It wasn't invisibility; that was far more mana-intensive. The ability seeped into Neska's scales, turning them a dusty brown and matching the patterning of the nearby rock and gravel. She blended in more effectively now.

It was also, unfortunately, low-level. Any movement above a crawling pace broke the power until it reconfigured to the immediate surroundings. Hadley and the others also received the buff, and Neska knew it would not fool the creatures at close range. But unlike invisibility, it would not be detectable as a magic aura to some of the more perceptive Varadur with supernatural or magical senses.

They kept to cover and positioned themselves by the edge of the woods bordering the quarry. She aimed while the goblins screeched in excited, high-pitched voices as they watched the hobgoblins beat the crap out of each other. “Trevor, lure the ones closest to us over to the woods' edge, where Brent is.”

“Wisps it is." He explained his powers previously, so they knew when to use them. While his studies in rune manufacturing and crafting were his core focus, he also had some illusion and augmentation abilities as secondary powers.

After a short amount of coordinating, they all got into position. Trevor initiated the distraction, generating a few arcane wisps by the edge of the woods.

One goblin looking outward spotted the wisps and grabbed its spear, looking confused. The others were still hooting and laughing at the fighting hobgoblins; some were even placing bets on which of them would kill the other.

If killing these vile things wasn’t a service for the good of the world, Neska didn’t know what was.

As soon as the goblin hit the tree line, away from the others, Brent swooped down silently from the tree limb that he had positioned himself up on, driving daggers deep into its throat. The creature let out a wet gurgle, then collapsed on the ground, dead from the excessive damage.

Neska tapped her lapel, signalling her intent as everyone got ready. The larger hobgoblin was now kicking the smaller one, curled up defensively.

With the lookout out of the picture, Neska timed it so that three seconds elapsed before her first arrow hit the ground, with a soft crack as the arrowhead impacted the stone. One startled just as the impact detonated the tiny amount of alchemical fire.

The amount was just perfect. Not enough to burn, but enough to disperse the substance in an aerosol form, a cloud of blue mist that wrapped around the gathered creatures. They sputtered and gasped, hacking and wheezing, their movements becoming lethargic.

Hadley’s arrow flew and impacted a rock, detonating in another burst to cover the hobgoblins struggling to their feet with another dose of sleeping draught. One was holding its breath, looking for the source of the attacks.

Once it was out of the hazy cloud, it screamed so loudly that Neska thought the exploding boiler might have a close second for auditory pain. She lined up on the hobgoblin, loosing a standard arrow.

Hadley had the same idea, and both arrows pinned the hobgoblin through the chest. It let out a wheezing gurgle as it collapsed, both its lungs punctured. Roche and Brent closed in on the flailing goblins, not all of whom were affected by the sleeping solution. Neska slithered forward, firing at the goblins while also triggering her [Woven Root Hex], pinning them in place.

Brent and Roche finished them off before they could break free, and within seconds, all the foes were down.

Hadley clicked her lapel just to Neska’s right. “Site cleared. No more foes present.”

“We’ll wait for the teams in the rear to move up. Think you’ll be fine with checking out the mine entrance?” Jurik asked. “Oh, hold that thought. Far side of the ridge, more goblins just popped out of a trapdoor, moving toward your position. They’re moving…oddly. Jerking motions. We’ll cut them off before they can alert the rest."

Like puppets on strings, Neska didn’t allow herself any relief, pointing to the goblins. “Move in, check to make sure they're down for the count if you didn't get experience.” She had felt the trickle of experience come in, but since the goblins were all Tier one, and she was Tier two, it wasn't a substantial gain.

Now came the hard part. “Brent, Roche, drag the bodies. We need to hide them.” An ominous wind emanated from the cavern, and Neska was repulsed by the scent of rotting meat and musk coming from within.

Juni gagged, and then Brent upturned his nose as if in disgust. “Don't feel bad for any of these monsters. The day I meet a goblin that doesn’t want to kill everything in sight is the day I’ll marry one,” Brent quipped.

“Do goblins come in female variants?” Trevor asked cautiously. “These are all male.”

“They do. They're the real power behind goblins, surprisingly…” Brent continued talking, but Neska's focus was on something else.

She heard the low humming sound, the same sound as before. Closer to the now destroyed drill platform, she could hear it. A low vibration of anger that made her scales shiver. “You all hear that?”

“Machinery?” Hadley asked, keeping an arrow resting on her string, but not drawn back.

Syrona landed near one of the goblin corpses, trilling and hissing. Neska moved closer, another arrow ready, and a mana bolt primed on her tail. “Syrona, what are you trying to say? It's a dead goblin.”

The buzzing grew louder. The sound wasn't coming from just the ground, but from the goblin, too. “Guys? Something isn't right.” Not only that, she noticed the distended belly and chest. Normally, that meant they were malnourished, but these still had muscle mass; from what she recalled, goblins had freaky, wiry limbs and surprising strength.

“Uh, are corpses supposed to…twitch?” Trevor asked somewhere behind her. Pieces of a deadly puzzle were clicking together.

Jerky, unusual motions. Loud buzzing sound. Corpses twitching, body distended. This is…oh, Divines!

Syrona hissed menacingly at the goblin now twitching, and Neska drew her bow, and the mana bolt resting on her tail brightened in intensity as the corpse twitched again. “Burn the corpses, hurry!”

But it was too late. The dead goblin’s stomach burst open in a plume of blood and entrails, something buzzing and angry.

Neska was already in motion as mana surged from her tail, and she fired her arrow and mana bolt at the monstrosity that came forth.

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