Seeds of Discordia

“Wave boss two?” Liam quietly muttered to himself as he stared at the notification. He turned his gaze other to the others who had done the same to look at him. “You guys got that same notification as well?”

“Yeah,” Artem replied.

“What does it mean that we killed the second Wave Boss?” Roman asked. “What happened to the first one?”

“I don’t know,” Liam answered as he tried to think about it.

“I can answer that,” Eri suddenly said.

Artem, Blair, and Roman looked around. They gripped their weapons as they scanned the area for the source. Liam gave them a puzzled expression as he saw them react. He then realized they must have heard her voice.

“Calm down you three,” Eri stated. “I know this is the second time I’ve actually talked to you, and it has been some time, but you couldn’t have forgotten my voice already.”

The three slowly looked at Liam who chuckled a bit before saying, “I didn’t know you’d be able to talk to Eri as well.”

“Eri?” Blair said. “Wait, do you mean Eris? Our Matron Deity?”

“I call her Eri, and I think she prefers it as well,” Liam explained as he walked over to them.

“I do, but enough of that for right now,” Eri interjected before anyone else could say anything. “Since this dungeon is currently going through a Dungeon Break the first Wave Boss must have already slipped out.”

Liam’s smile slipped away as he turned serious and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“During a Dungeon Break monster can slip out from them. As time goes on the portal for the dungeon will start to allow stronger monsters. Depending on the type of dungeon and how many E.F.M.’s, or in this dungeon’s case Wave Bosses, will be able to slip out of the dungeon,” Eri explained. “I don’t know how much time has passed since the Dungeon Break has happened, but apparently there has been enough time for the first Wave Boss to be able to slip out.”

Artem, Blair, and Roman, still confused looked at the sky and back at Liam. Liam brought a hand to his chin as he thought about what Eri had just said. He then said as he scoured his memories, “I think I remember someone mentioning that before. So you’re saying that because so much time had passed, the first Wave Boss had already escaped and that’s why we didn’t have to fight it?”

“Yes. In fact, when you entered, this dungeon had considered you to have already passed the first wave and went straight to the second. Judging by how many creatures you had to fight there’s a possibility that the dungeon was close to letting out the second Wave Boss.”

Artem’s eyes suddenly widened as he said, “Are you saying that there were supposed to be more monsters we were supposed to fight?”

Eri chuckled a bit before answering, “Yes. Wave Type Dungeons have mini waves before you fight the Wave Boss. There are usually anywhere between three to four mini waves before you fight a Wave Boss. Seeing as there were only two before the second Wave Boss appeared that tells me a few monsters along with the first Wave Boss have already left. However…”  

“However?” Liam repeated.

“Hm…It is strange that the monsters besides the Toxo Disease Spider Carriers were Possessed Zombified creatures,” Eri stated.

Liam’s brows scrunched at that statement. “What do you mean?”

“This is a Toxo Dungeon. There should only be Toxo creatures in here. Yet you’ve encountered Possessed Zombified ones on top of a few Toxo spiders. While Toxo Corpse Controllers are inside the monsters, those monsters should not be here. If I were to hazard a guess, I would like to think that the Possessed Zombified creatures came back here which allowed some of the Toxo Corpse Controllers and other Toxo types to go out. Actually, now that I think about it…I have seen those Toxos yet.”

“Those Toxos?” Blair questioned. “What are you talking about?”

Liam noticed Roman’s ears suddenly twitched as he turned his head away. “What’s wrong?”

“There are a few monsters getting ready to come out,” Roman started. “They sound…weird…”

“Weird?” Liam asked. “What do you mean?” Liam tried to listen with his heightened hearing. He could pick up on anything at all. With a confused expression he looked at Roman and stated, “I don’t hear anything at all.”

“You wouldn’t be able to,” Roman grinned.

“What do you mean?” Liam inquired.

“It has to do with the gift he received after becoming one of my Apostles,” Eri stated.

“Apostle?” Liam questioned.

“Not important right now,” Eri said. “Loot the Wave Boss and see if its something one of you can use then get ready for the next wave. Don’t worry about looting the other bodies they won’t have anything you can get. You can harvest them, but wait till after you have conquered this dungeon. Things might start to get hectic now that you’re halfway through the waves and you won’t have the time to harvest anything right now. After this wave is done harvest the Soul Orbs and don’t let any slip away.”

Liam nodded as he quickly made his way over to the Toxo Corpse Controller Creator’s dead body. He placed a hand on it and read the notifications that appeared before him.

[Toxo Cadaver Creator Mace. Item type – Weapon (Mace). Item Rarity – Rare. Item Quality – Average. Effects – Raging Rabies Venom, Cadaver Reanimator. Raging Rabies Venom – Each strike has a 10% chance to inflict Raging Rabies Venom causing the body of the target inflicted with this to slowly rot and become enraged. Cadaver Reanimator – Has a 10% chance to reanimate the dead body of a slain creature if it was inflicted with Raging Rabies Venom. Body of the reanimated creature will reanimate and fight for you until the venom has completely rotted the entire body making it unable to exist. Warning! Any loot that would be awarded from the reanimated corpse will be lost entirely after the body completely rots away.]

[You have received two Medium Vials of Raging Rabies Venom!]

Liam’s eyes widened at the description of the weapon dropped. “That is one nasty effect a weapon can have,” Liam muttered as he went to pull it out of his inventory.

The weapon was raven black with a dark green hue the closer you got to the top. It was almost the full length of his arm. The top of the mace had eight black sharp spikes that poked out from the side of the mace. Half of the spike that poked out curved upwards while the other half pointed downwards. To Liam the spikes kind of looked like spider legs. He prayed that the person he was going to suggest to use it wouldn’t think that.

“That looks pretty cool. It kind of looks like…,” Roman started to say until Blair smacked the back of his head. “Ow! What the hell was that for?!”

“Sorry,” Blair started s she glared at him. “I thought I saw a bug on the back of your head.”

Roman rubbed the spot he was hit at and narrowed his eyes at her.

“It’s alright Blair. I would have to be blind to not see that it looks like spider legs coming out of it,” Artem stated before looking at Liam. “I read the effects that thing has. Are you sure it is wise for me to wield it? I am trying to become a Healer not a Necromancer.”

“I know,” Liam nodded as he faced the man. “I think you should use it. Its better than your current one right now. if you’re worried it might affect your path then give it me after we get you a better one than that. One that fits you better.”

“Why don’t you just use it now?” Artem questioned.

Liam shook his head. “I haven’t gotten any levels in that Weapon Skill yet. It would hurt me than help me. You’re the only one with any levels in Maces anyways right?”

“I don’t have any in it,” Blair agreed.

“Don’t look at me. I’m focusing on fist or unarmed combat styles,” Roman stated.

Artem eyed the weapon. “Would it even be useful against these guys?”

Liam shrugged. “Who knows. Only one way to find out right?”

Artem kept staring at it. Before he could accept or refuse, Roman quickly informed, “Better make a decision. They are coming out now.”

Artem gave a withering look before reaching out and gripping the weapon. Liam gave him a small smile with a quick nod. Both guys then turned to see what they were going up against.

Pained filled roars filled the air as webs covering holes off in the distance closer to the hill broke. Five massive creatures emerged from the holes. Liam squinted his eyes as he tried to get a better look at them.

They were tall ugly blueish grey skinned humanoid type monsters. They were taller than the rotted trees that surrounded the outside areas. Warts and bumps riddled their exposed chests, bulging bellies, and long arms that dragged across the ground. Their stomachs bulged so much it looked like they had eaten three medium sized cauldrons he used just the other day. They were bald and had two tusks protruding from their lower jawline. The only clothing they had were ripped loincloth like items covering their private areas. Liam assessed them.

[Diseased Cave Troll. 150/10,215 HP. 0/0 MP. Level – 20.]

[Diseased Cave Troll. 148/9,990 HP. 0/0 MP. Level – 19.]

[Diseased Cave Troll. 132/10,355 HP. 0/0 MP. Level – 21.]

[Diseased Cave Troll. 155/10,215 HP. 0/0 MP. Level – 20.]

[Diseased Cave Troll. 149/10,215 HP. 0/0 MP. Level – 20.]

“Are those Trolls?” Artem asked as he grimaced.

“Cave Trolls,” Liam replied. He then corrected himself, “Diseased Cave Trolls.”

“Diseased? So they aren’t Undead type monsters? If that’s the case then what are they doing here?” Roman questioned as he stared at them.

Liam was confused as Roman was. He knew there had to be a reason why they were here, but Roman’s question was valid. If they weren’t Zombified or Possessed Zombified creatures turned by the Toxos then why were they here? The first word in their names, however, looked familiar to him. He couldn’t remember where he had seen it or why it was familiar, but he felt it was key to the creatures’ situation.

“I’m not entirely sure, but their health is already low. They only have around a hundred and fifty health points left,” Liam informed.

Roman had heard the last part and grinned as he punched one of his fists into an open palm and stated as he took a step forward, “Well, if their health is already that low then we’ve got this part of the wave in the bag.”

 Liam stared at the creatures and noticed something strange. Each of the five monster’s health was ticking down. It wasn’t slow either. When he last looked at it the highest was at one hundred fifty-five, but now the highest was one hundred and ten. Their health was dropping at a rapid rate.

Liam tried to think why their health was dropping at such a speed. They hadn’t attacked them or created any Debuffs to cause their health to drop so much. They could have been attacked by the Toxos, but if that was the case then why hadn’t any Toxos come out with them?

Liam’s brows scrunched as he watched Roman strut his way forwards slowly and then stopping not too far away from them. It looked like he was taking his time contemplating which one he wanted to take down since the monsters slowly made their way towards them. The Diseased Cave Trolls, for their part, looked enraged, but their movements were slow as they dragged their elongated arms across the ground.

Liam inspected the monsters a bit closer after seeing the rage in their eyes. Small foam-like bubbles formed across their bottom lip and slowly boiled over in a couple of lines. One let out a scream that sounded both gurgled and full of pain. They looked like they were feral and would pass over a disease if they bit you.

Liam’s eyes slowly widened as he thought about that. They looked like they had a case of rabies. He looked over the monsters’ skin and noticed veins were darkened and visible in certain areas, especially around the greyish patches of their skin. He then noticed something else. Small areas of their stomachs moved. It was subtle, but it looked like something was poking at the skin from the inside.

“They’re infected,” Liam suddenly muttered in a low voice as he realized what was happening.

“What?” Artem asked as he and Blair turned around.

Liam looked at the two companions still by as he informed, “They’re infected with the Toxo’s Raging Rabies Venom.”

“Are you sure?” Blair inquired as she looked back at the monsters.

“Yes,” Liam said with confidence. “Not only that, but I think they are infested with Toxos as well.”

“What?!” Artem exclaimed. “How?!”

”That I don’t know,” Liam answered.

“Then what makes you think they are infested with those creatures?” Blair asked, feeling a bit uneasy.

“Their stomachs,” Liam pointed. “It looks like something is trying to come out of it. And I think it will when their health drops. I think that’s why their health is so low and is dropping so fast. They are being eaten from the inside!”

“That’s fucking gross dude,” Artem said as he looked a bit pale.

“Yeah so we need to…,” Liam started to say until they heard Roman proclaim, “I think I’ll take you down ugly.”

Liam, Artem, and Blair turned to see Roman race towards the Diseased Cave Troll in the middle. The three started shouting at the damn fool to stop and get back over to them, but their attempts fell on deaf ears as Roman focused on his targeted foe.

“Shit! The fucking idiot is not listening!” Blair swore as she opened her wings and was about to soar as fast as she could to stop him, however, as she was getting ready she was stopped by Liam as he put a hand out.

She was about to yell at him, but closed her mouth as he said, “Their health hit zero.”

Blair turned to see all five of the monsters collapse to the ground on their sides making Roman slide to a halt. He started cursing at them for suddenly dropping like that and that he didn’t get a chance to fight them. His tirade came to a stop as he heard Artem yelling at him to come back.

Roman turned around and shouted back, “What? Why should…”

Before he could finish his sentence he heard a sound that didn’t sound right to him. He turned around and noticed the bodies start to convulse and shake violently. As he turned around  and took a few steps he stopped and looked back as he suddenly heard the sound of bones snapping and breaking.

As he looked back he saw the skin around the monsters’ stomach start to split and tear open. High pitch screeches and hisses filled the air as spiders the size of rats poured out of their prison.

As these creatures emerged and spilled out of the stomachs of the Diseased Cave Trolls and skittered out, Roman realized that he probably should have done what Artem was shouting instead of questioning him. He turned around and sprinted towards the others as fast as he could trying to get away from the wave of spider creatures.

Liam assessed a few.

[Orb Weaver Trapper Toxo. 56/56 HP. 15/15 MP. Level 5.]

[Toxo Body Infiltrator. 65/65 HP. 20/20 MP. Level 6.]

[Toxo Corpse Controller (Infant). 15/15 HP. 5/5 MP. Level – 1]

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy Shit!” Roman cursed as he raced over to the others.

Blair pointed her weapon at a group of the fast running spiders as Artem placed his shield out in front of him. Both started chanted after channeling some mana. To Liam’s surprise he noticed they weren’t channeling regular Arcane Mana but rather mana that matched the spell they were using.

   “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Condense into a single spot. Pull to you and Keep any and everything that tries to escape. Gravity Well!” Blair chanted as an orb of Gravity started forming. Thanks to the Gravity Mana she had channeled, it grew slightly bigger than a normal one. After she finished the chant and the orb finished growing, she threw it at a group to her right in front. After the orb landed and rose, the mass of spiders that ran right into the radius were sucked up towards the middle where the orb hovered. Many of the spiders that were still coming and didn’t get caught by the pull of the gravity skirted around.

“Water usually serene and calm, I beseech you to rush out like a bomb. Come out as I flip the lever, run rampant like a raging river. Push back the enemy or pile on them and crush. Hydro Rush!” Artem chanted as an orb of water formed in front of him. Instead of this growing like Blair Gravity Orb did, this one remained the same size as the one he saw earlier. Instead of size it made up with power as a powerful force of water suddenly sprayed out towards a group of spiders that was getting closer on the left side of the group.

 As soon as Roman made it back to the group he quickly made his way over to Artem and was about to chant a Lightning spell, but was stopped by Liam who stated, “Use Wave of Ignition instead!”

Roman looked back at him and was about to protest, but was cut off again as Liam stated, “Let Artem push back as many of the spiders he can with that spell he has going on for right now. After he gets a certain amount wet you and I can use a Lightning spell, but for right now we need to take care of the ones as many as we can so we aren’t overwhelmed. Use that fire spell since it’s the best thing we have against them.”

Roman didn’t argue this time. Instead he looked for a massive clump that was getting closer by the second. He made his way over to that group. Once he got to a spot he felt was comfortable enough, he channeled as much Fire Mana as he could and chanted, “Oh Fire, powerful and beautiful. Spark and ignite the devastating power you hold within. Course and engulf all that dare to stand in your way. Wave of Ignition!”

A couple of the spiders jumped at Roman once they were in attacking range. However, before they could land and bite him, a cone of fire erupted from in front of his hands and sprayed the two Toxo spiders and the clump that was right behind them. Roman separated his hands out to his left and right and made the waves of fire roll over the creatures who thought they could move around the spell.

Liam watched as Blair opened her wings and flew straight for the spiders that were moving around her Gravity Well spell. She swung down and attacked any of the spider that tried to jump and attack her. She was able to kill a few with her swing and was attacking a few more that remained on the ground. This was going well for her until webs suddenly shot up and wrapped around her legs.

Some of the Toxo spiders started running up the webs and swiftly made their way towards her at an incredible speed. She swung her weapon across the webbings and severed the connection. However, the second she did that more webs shot up and replaced the ones she cut.

Liam looked back at Artem who was still spraying the water from in front of his shield. He noticed as good amount of the creatures on this side were pushed back. A lot of them were clumped up together while a few others were spread out. He made a decision as he asked the Half-Orc, “Can you move with that spell?”

Artem glanced at Liam and responded, “No. I might be able to once I level it up some, but right now I can’t.”

“How long is the cool down then?” Liam questioned.

“Pretty much non-existent…why?” Artem inquired.

“I need you to use this spell over there and help Blair out,” Liam stated. “I’ll take care of the ones here.”

Not asking any more questions, Artem cut his spell off and ran over to help Blair who was slowly getting overran by the webs that were being shot at her. Liam turned his focus at the monsters who were flipped over in the massive puddle of water Artem had created from his spell. He swiftly looked through his inventory for a certain item. Once he found it he pulled it out and aimed for the biggest clump of Toxo spiders that were not only still standing in the water, but were completely soaked. After finding his targets he reached his arm back and then threw the flask as he muttered in almost a whisper, “Sorry Roman.”

As soon as the flask broke, an explosion of pure white particles suddenly expanded out in a ten foot radius and started swirling all around the creatures that were trapped within. To Liam it looked like a mini tornado of smashed pure white glass dust circled around, hitting all life within. He watched as a layer of ice started to freeze the bodies of the wet blackish green hued spiders. Their moves grew sluggish before completely coming to a halt. Their screams of terror also went silent as the layer of ice covered their mouths.

A smile formed on his face after seeing all that. He figure that the only reason they froze the way they did was thanks to Artem’s Hydro Rush spell getting them so soaked. He wasn’t sure how well the poison was doing since the bodies were completely frozen, but that was something he could check out another time. Now he had to focus on the ones that didn’t get caught up in the Weak Poisoned Ice Mist and were still in the puddle of water. While the edges of the ten foot radius had started to freeze over, Liam knew it wouldn’t get too far.

He took a breath and started chanting, “Lightning surge bright and engulf my hand with the sparks of your stunning force. Static across my enemies as my grasp collides with their form. Static Grasp!”

Lightning crackled over his right hand after he finished the chant. He then race over to the edge of the water and thrust his hand down into the pool of water that was slowly starting to seep into the ground. Sparks of lightning shot out from the place he dipped his hand in. A few seconds later he heard screams as sparks engulfed the remaining creatures that were still in the water.

Liam pulled his hand out and looked at the monsters. Each had survived with only a couple of hit points left. He knew it wouldn’t outright kill them, but he was kind of hoping it would. Not wasting any more time, Liam pulled out his throwing daggers and started throwing them at each creature still alive in the area.

After Liam finished taking down all the paralyzed and frozen spiders on his end he turned to see if the others needed help. Roman had finished frying the spiders that were dumb enough to try and attack him. He was already helping Artem electrocute the ones he had gotten soaked with his Hydro Rush spell. Blaire flew around above the paralyzed creatures and killed the ones too far away from Roman and Artem.

After getting a better look at the litter of dead bodies, Liam was surprised at how many creatures there were. At first when the monsters came out of the Diseased Cave Trolls bodies he didn’t think there were a lot, especially after seeing the size of the spider monsters. It was both terrifying and disgusting thinking about it. A shiver ran down his spine thinking about being infected with whatever these ugly troll creature were infected with that caused these spiders to grow inside them. He didn’t wish that kind of death on anyone.

“I think that’s the last of them,” Blair stated as she landed and folded her wings behind her.

“Thank god,” Roman groaned as he took out a mana and stamina potion. He looked at them with narrowed eyes before letting out a sigh and drinking them one by one. He gagged a couple of times and coughed after letting the last of the liquids enter his system. He looked at Liam and complained, “I don’t care if there is an issue or not. I will buy you flavors if you can just make those flavored potions again.”

Liam shook his head.

“So what happened there?” Blair asked as she ignored Roman. “Why did those spider creatures erupt from the Diseased Cave Trolls?”

“To be honest I don’t know much about these creatures,” Liam started. “What I do know is the Diseased part has to do with the fact they were injected with something called Rageful Rabies Venom.”

“That doesn’t sound too appeasing,” Blair commented with a grimace.

“It isn’t,” Liam said with a serious tone. “Once you’re infected with it, it will slowly drain your life away. You’ll have symptoms much like a disease back from my home world called Rabies. Not sure if you guys had something similar or not, but it slowly kills you.”

Roman and Artem shook their heads as Blair thought about it.

“When you’re infected with it your mind starts to go berserk and you lose all sense of reasoning. This venom does the same except it adds an extra thing after you die,” Liam explained. “It has a chance to turn you into an Undead Creature.”

Artem and Roman’s eyes widened as their jaws dropped.

“Hm. I didn’t have anything called Rabies, but we did have something called Madman Disease. The symptoms are similar minus the coming back as an Undead,” Blair stated. She then looked back at the dead spiders all around. “I guess that explains why those who knew about these creatures looked so worried.”

Liam nodded. “Yeah…”

Before Liam could say anything else, his Danger Sense suddenly lit up all over causing him to instinctively jump away from where he stood. At the same time, Roman’s ears swiftly twitched and he responded in the same way.

Blair and Artem tried to move the moment they saw the two guys did, but were suddenly stuck as something sticky and thick wrapped around them, causing them to drop to the ground.

“Shit!” Blair shouted.

“I can’t break free!” Artem yelled as panic started to fill him.

Liam scanned the area to see if he could find the source of the attack. To his shock he saw spider heads staring at them from the opened holes. He was able to get a quick assessment of one before it disappeared back into the hole.

[Orb Weaver Trapper Toxo. 1556/1556 HP. 915/915 MP. Level 18.]

“Fuck me,” Liam cursed.