Minute Mage: A Time-Traveling LitRPG

Chapter 51: Venomous

The Banestinger charged at us, and Erani and I leapt to the side, dodging its massive stinger. If the sword-length injector didn’t kill me, the venom surely would.

“We need to run,” Erani grabbed my arm as the massive monster turned around, recovering from its missed charge.

“No, we can take it,” I argued. “And the amount of XP it’ll give us will definitely be enough to Level me up.”

“We can kill something else! You already used Time Loop today, we can’t take this risk.”

“This is faster. We’re on a time limit here.”

The Banestinger turned around and charged again, ready to strike.

“Don’t have time to argue,” I said. “Follow my lead!”

Erani grunted and backed up, readying an Explosive Firebolt while the Nymph grabbed its whip, standing next to me. I didn’t know how much I could rely on its help; the individual power of a Nymph varied a lot from one to the other. I knew that, when I first saw a Banestinger, I’d also seen a Nymph kill one single-handedly, but that one had obviously been incredibly high-Level, and I wasn’t sure how ours compared. Just as the Banestinger got to me, I cursed it with Crippling Chill, activated Gravity Well, and shot it with a Ray of Frost all at the same time.

You have cursed Level 44 Banestinger with Crippling Chill. For the next 15 seconds, it loses 7.76 Health and 6.21 Stamina each second, and its Dexterity score is lowered by 15.5.

56.2 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 504.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 51 damage using Ray of Frost.

You have cursed Level 44 Banestinger with Ray of Frost. For the next 5 seconds, its Dexterity score is lowered by 6.38.

22.6 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 481.

Under the combined effects of all three Spells, the beast’s two front legs gave out in the middle of its sprint toward me and it collapsed, sliding across the ground from its momentum. I jumped up and landed on its back, standing unsteadily on the giant monster while the Nymph dashed off to the side and lashed out with its whip. The Banestinger hissed in anger, now unable to reach either of us with its massive claws. I felt a blast of heat from above me and looked up to see one of Erani’s Firebolts smacking the Banestinger’s stinger-tipped tail away from stabbing me through the back.

The explosion rocked the unsteady platform I was standing on, forcing me down, lying prone on the scorpion’s hard shell. I activated Noxious Grasp the moment my skin touched its body, beginning the process of sapping away its massive Health pool. I also deactivated Gravity Well. The Spell was costly, and in a fight like this, I needed to prioritize spending my Mana on dealing damage to the monster, rather than protecting myself. Otherwise, I’d end up with no Mana left and a monster still standing, and be forced to flee. And I couldn’t have that.

The Banestinger, no longer hindered by the increased gravity, immediately got back to its feet and started violently shaking its body, trying to throw me off, while it thrust its stinger at the Nymph, which was forced to dash away to avoid being stabbed. I held on as tightly as I could, trying to fit my fingers into the chinks in its chitin. But, once the Banestinger aimed its stinger at me once again and struck down, Erani shot it with another Firebolt, saving me, but the explosion throwing me off in the process.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 104 damage and drained 104 Stamina over the course of 6.4 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

30 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 405.

The Banestinger snapped out with its claws as I fell, pinching them into my torso. I quickly struggled away, tearing my shirt and skin in the process.

You have been ripped open. 29 damage.

Your Health is 191.

The monster, seeming to be done dealing with me, instead turned to face Erani, who was trying to stay further away in the forest. It charged full-tilt at her, seeming to completely disregard the Explosive Firebolts she shot at it in an attempt to push it away. I chased after, shooting a couple Rays of Frost of my own at the quick-moving beast while the Nymph chased it alongside me.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 44 damage using Ray of Frost.

You have cursed Level 44 Banestinger with Ray of Frost. For the next 5 seconds, its Dexterity score is lowered by 6.38.

22.6 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 383.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 47 damage using Ray of Frost.

You have cursed Level 44 Banestinger with Ray of Frost. For the next 5 seconds, its Dexterity score is lowered by 6.38.

22.6 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 360.

It slowed down just enough for Erani to dodge one of its strikes, but not the other. Its claw pinched around her arm, and I saw the wire frame of Angelic Shield light up around her, protecting her from the damage. She tried to tug her arm away, but it had a solid grip on her, and she couldn’t escape. It readied its pointed stinger to skewer it through her. But just before it could strike, I leapt forward, tackling the monster’s tail, right as the Nymph also swung its whip so that it wrapped around its tail at the same time. Together, we pulled back, keeping the Banestinger from stabbing Erani with its massive stinger.

I activated Noxious Grasp, refreshing the Fester that had been placed on the Banestinger from before and draining away more of the monster’s Health. It turned around to face me, and Erani got out of its tight grip as it did so, but now I had to deal with its head-on attack. I tried to stay gripped onto the scorpion’s tail, but I was thrown off, just barely managing to catch onto one of its legs as it stomped around.

It jabbed its stinger at me, but I dodged out of the way, flattening myself against the Banestinger’s side to do so. It stabbed downward again, and I barely managed to lean back once again, desperately trying to keep in contact with it while it attacked. It jabbed down at me one more time, and this time I had to reach up to physically parry and redirect the stinger away from me.

“Arlan!” Erani shouted, “Just let go, I can get it from a range!”

“I need the Contribution!” I yelled back.

“You can’t get it if you’re dead,” she replied. “Survival, then XP!”

The Banestinger interrupted our conversation with a roar, turning suddenly and throwing me from its body. I tumbled and rolled across the ground.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 177 damage and drained 178 Stamina over the course of 6.4 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

51.2 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 354.

It charged at me, and I shot off a few more Rays of Frost at it to slow its approach as I scrambled to my feet, dealing another couple hundred damage and dropping my Mana down to 270. The Nymph leapt in between us, baiting out an attack from the Banestinger before stepping back, just barely dodging its pincers and stinger, then lashing out with its thorny whip and striking a hard blow against the creature’s chitin, creating a crack in the shell.

It stumbled back, stunned from the blow, and I rushed in, realizing my opportunity. At this point, it had to have been getting low on Health and Stamina. I cursed it once again with Crippling Chill, reactivated Gravity Well, and jumped up to get on the beast’s back.

You have cursed Level 44 Banestinger with Crippling Chill. For the next 15 seconds, it loses 7.76 Health and 6.21 Stamina each second, and its Dexterity score is lowered by 15.5.

56.2 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 213.

The suddenly-incapacitated beast couldn’t do anything to stop me, trying to pick itself up after being suddenly crushed by its own weight, as I landed on its hard back and started ripping at the crack made by the Nymph’s whip. I dug my hands in, tearing off small piece by small piece of the hard armor to reveal a gushy interior.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 7 damage using your Hands.

There was an explosion as Erani shot another Firebolt to hit away the monster’s stinger, once again trying to stab me while I was preoccupied.

The Nymph continued to fight at its front, tying up its legs with its whip and tripping it so that it couldn’t shake me off. I got notification after notification of damage being done to the Banestinger every time I ripped off another piece of its chitin, exposing more and more of its vulnerable interior. Another explosion as Erani fought back its deadly stinger, dripping with venom. Once I felt like I was steady on top of the monster, I deactivated Gravity Well again; I was getting really low on Mana, at that point.

“Hurgh!” I grunted as I tore off one last big piece, bug guts flinging all over me. With that, I jumped back off the monster.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 19 damage using your Hands.

You have struck Level 44 Banestinger for 228 damage and drained 230 Stamina over the course of 14.1 seconds using Noxious Grasp.

66.3 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 21.

By this time, it was moving sluggishly and stumbling more. We had to be close.

“Erani,” I called over to her, “Explosive Firebolt at the weak spot!”

“I need to focus on its stinger!” She yelled back. “I’m the only one keeping it from cutting us in half!”

“Another way to keep it from stabbing us is by killing it,” I argued. “Just shoot it!”

“It’ll kill the Nymph if I stop hitting its tail! Those two are still fighting!”

I groaned. “Nymph!” I called. It didn’t respond. Of course it didn’t; we didn’t speak the same language. It was still locked in intense combat with the oversized arthropod, dodging claws and striking out with its thorned whip, too. I shook my head and ran forward, trying to pull my companion away from the monster, but it was moving so quickly I couldn’t safely get to it. I looked back at Erani. “Just shoot it! I’ll handle things if they go bad.”

Erani sighed. “Fine,” she said as she changed targets and shot off three rapid-fire Firebolts at the Banestinger’s now-exposed fleshy interior. They slammed and exploded against its insides, each one ripping a burnt hole further and further inside of its body. It stumbled and screeched in pain as they tore apart its insides. The Nymph stood in shock at the spectacle – you could even see the fire rippling throughout the beast’s organs through the semi-transparent exoskeleton.

But, as it spasmed in pain from the devastating attack. It twitched one last time, shooting its sword-length stinger right at the Nymph.

“Shit!” I shouted as I rushed in to intercept. I pushed the Nymph out of the way, but the stinger was now headed straight for my heart. Thinking fast, I activated Gravity Well with the last of my Mana on the barely-alive Banestinger, causing the monster’s stinger to suddenly shoot downward in its arc, missing my chest and instead just grazing my thigh.

You have been cut. 22 damage.

Your Health is 169.

I sighed in relief. Good thing it worked out. That could have been bad if I hadn’t–

You have been poisoned. 88 damage.

Your Health is 81.

Venom is coursing through your veins. You will lose 44 Health every hour for a number of days equal to 44 minus your Endurance (22 days).

I doubled over in pain. It felt like a tiny person was casting Lava Darts through my veins, tearing through my leg and boiling my blood. I gasped as I felt the venom rise into my hip, and then my stomach, and then my chest, and then, just as it touched my heart and the pain reached its peak–

Venom is coursing through your veins. 1 damage.

Your Health is 80.

Then the pain receded, just a bit. I felt the venom drop back down into my thigh where the wound was. But it'd already started rising again, traveling its way up to my hip. It’d take another minute and a half to hit me for 1 again, I realized. 1 damage every ninety seconds, for… twenty-two days.

“Arlan!” Erani ran over to me. “You okay?!” She looked over my body, looking for what was causing me pain.

“Venom,” I gasped, breathing heavily. Sweat began forming all over my body and I fell fully into her arms, now unable to hold myself up. I looked at the notification I’d received. “44 damage an hour.” I took a breath. “Every hour.” Another breath. It was so hard to talk, I felt like my lungs were malfunctioning, spasming randomly as the venom rose further and further, closer to my heart once again. “For twenty-two days.” I finally got out. “Gonna kill me.”

“Shit, shit, shit…” Erani looked around. The Banestinger had collapsed to the ground, but had still not technically died. “Will the poison end if we kill it?”

“Don’t know,” I groaned. “Doesn’t say.”

“We have to try.” She gently set me down onto the ground and ran over, readying an Explosive Firebolt to end the monster.

The Nymph crouched down next to me, holding me with a worried expression on its face. It didn’t seem to be panicking, though. It just held me and massaged my leg. The massage eased the pain, somewhat.

Venom is coursing through your veins. 1 damage.

Your Health is 79.

The massage obviously didn’t reduce the damage though. Part of me wondered how the Nymph knew to do this in the first place. The massage was a specific combination of rolling and pressing that’d obviously been borne of practice, so where did it learn this? At first I was confused, but then I realized it’d probably seen tons of animals die in the exact same way I was, and this was what it did to comfort me as they lost their lives.

Yeah, what was going on didn’t comfort me.

An explosion rippled out from behind me and I heard the sound of bug guts splatting against the ground in a rain of goop.

You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 44 Banestinger.

You have earned 431 XP. Your XP is 756.

Threshold reached. 500 XP.

Your Level has increased to 10.

Due to achieving Level 10 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:

-You have gained 1 Endurance.

-You have gained 2 Conjuration.

-You have gained 1 Intelligence.

-You have gained 3 Stat Points.

-Recursive Growth has improved from reaching a tenth Level. You now gain 4 random Stats each time your Level increases.

-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 2 Strength, 1 Dexterity, and 1 Conjuration.

-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 6.

-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 10.

-Time Loop has received a Usage Increase.

-You may choose an Upgrade for Time Loop.

-You may choose a Talent to obtain.

I didn’t even look through my Level benefits, the things I did this whole fight for. Instead, I waited, eagerly anticipating any sort of notification that I was no longer poisoned.

None came.

We had no way to cure the poison.

I was going to die.