Monster Slayer: Weapon Summoner

I was now running through the forest away from the six blood bats and one very big one. I had tried facing them head on at first. As soon as they emerged from the shadows, I fired off an arrow at one of the creatures as a surprise attack. I was able to kill one of them, but that was as far as I got. The remaining blood bats immediately began shooting acid fire at me, and because I was trying to avoid their attacks while still trying to shoot them down, I accidentally fired off two more arrows and missed. I only had seven arrows left.

“More arrows!” I said to Rachel as I continued running. I didn’t know how my summoning abilities would work while I was in motion. The last time I had tried it I was standing still. I just hoped the arrows didn’t appear in midair and fall off.

“I’m sorry, but items can’t be summoned at the moment.” the computerized feminine voice of my Ai companion suddenly responded to me in my head, delivering the worst news possible. I quickly ducked out of the way as an acidic fireball struck the trunk of a tree in front of me, melting the wood and eating into the tree bark. I briefly glanced behind me and found the remaining blood bats giving chase, while the bigger one had stopped at some point. The woods ahead of me was becoming too dense with trees to run through, so I needed to stop or risk tripping over a root and falling. If that happened, I was no doubt going to be swarmed and killed an instant later by a small group of very angry blood bats.

I gained some distance from the flying creatures then dove into a corner to hide behind a tree. I snuck a peak behind me. the blood bats had slowed their pursuit but were now looking for me. they knew I was hiding.

“What do you mean I can’t summon an item at the moment?” I asked Rachel, the AI companion stuck in my head. I made sure to keep my voice low as another quick glance showed two of the five blood bats drawing closer to my hiding spot behind a tree.

“As a beginner weapon summoner, your ability to summon items multiple times in a single use case is greatly limited.” Rachel said. “You need to wait an additional four minutes before you can do so again.”

“Shit.” I replied, glancing over my hiding spot again. The blood bats were drawing really close. There were now three of them. Not two. I needed to think of a way out of this. And fast.

“Rachel.” I called out.

“Yes.”

“What is the hit damage of one of those acid fireballs?” I asked, formulating a plan in my head.

“Calculating.” Rachel said, taking a moment to process my request. I didn’t have much time. The blood bats were right on top of me already.

“6% hit damage.” Rachel responded suddenly, sensing my unease at how close the blood bats already were to our location. “If you take a direct splash from one of their attacks you will lose 6% of your health. That may not seem like a lot, but that is only because you have the tough skin of a monster slayer. To any other person that amount is enough to kill them instantly.” Rachel said, concluding her statement.

“Alright.” I responded, deciding on what to do. “I can work with that.”

“Wait! What are you…” Rachel tried to ask me something but I was already on the move. I stepped out from behind the tree I was hiding behind then came face to face with one of the flying nightmares staring down at me. it jerked its body back in surprise but quickly prepared itself to shoot fiery acid at me. I released the arrow I was holding and watch as it zipped forward and struck the creature in the stomach. I nocked another arrow and turned to shoot down the remaining two creatures to my right and almost immediately I realized I had fucked up.

Two acidic fireballs came rushing towards me and I just had enough time to release my grip on the arrow in a panic before trying my best to dodge out of the way. My arrow found home and lodged itself in the head of one of the blood bats. However, I wasn’t entirely successful in my dodging. The moment I found cover behind the tree again I realized that parts of my leg had been splashed with the burning slime. Nothing happened at first but then I felt it. A cooling sensation soon followed by an unbearable itchy feeling as the slime began eating through my skin. It felt like hell.

“What were you thinking?” Rachel demanded; her voice angry. A brief icon appeared on the side of my vision indicating that I had dropped in health. But only by 5%. It wasn’t a direct hit but thanks to the combined effort of both creatures it might as well have been. My health was now at 95%.

“That was reckless.” Rachel said, while I rested my back on the tree. I was just about to reply when she yelled, “Duck!” and I instantly did as she suggested.

Another slimy fireball splashed against the trunk of the tree nearly melting my face in the process. Luckily, I had ducked at just the right moment. I had lowered my guard for only a second completely forgetting there was still another blood bat I hadn’t killed yet. Some of the acid got on me as I crouched to avoid the blast, and I could feel the slime as it ate away at the skin on my back. My health had dropped another 3% and I was now at 92% of health.

I rolled away from the tree then came up reaching for another arrow. I only had five left. I nocked it then aimed it at the creature flapping its wings in front of me. I released my grip and the arrow went flying through the air, through the creature’s mouth, and out the back of its throat. A second later the creature came crashing to the ground lifeless, blood and acid spurting out of its neck.

“Rachel.” I called out to my AI companion.

“Yes.”

“How long until I can summon more arrows?”

“Two minutes.” she replied promptly. “I will advise waiting behind in order to replenish your supply but I have a feeling they are not going to give you that option.”

I turned around and found that she was indeed right. The remaining two blood bats that had been searching for me in a different part of the forest were now drawing to my exact location, having spotted me. from that distance I already had the advantage. Also, the trees provided limited aerial mobility which was going to make it harder for them to dodge my arrows this time. It was also probably why the bigger blood bat hadn’t chased me into the trees either. It simply couldn’t easily maneuver within the trees. That gave me an idea.

However, before the two approaching blood bats could draw any closer, I made quick work of them. With an arrow each, I shot each one, sending them crashing to the ground. I now had two arrows left.

“How much time till I can summon more arrows?” I asked Rachel. I wasn’t about to go head to head with what was essentially a boss level blood bat with only two arrows on me.

“1 minute 15 seconds.” Rachel said, prompting me to sigh in frustration. I moved over to a nearby tree in order to rest for a bit while also waiting out the time for my abilities to be able to summon more items to return. I sat down and rested my back on the tree, careful to keep myself hidden. The last thing I wanted was another ambush while I had my guard down. As if reading my thoughts, Rachel then made a countdown timer appear in the corner of my vision, showing me exactly how much seconds I had left before I could utilize my abilities again.

58.

57.

56.

55…

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my head and flashes of my memory started to come back to me. I suddenly remembered what I was doing in the forest. Someone had dropped me there. I also remembered where I had come from as well. It was a lab. The doctors there were operating on something. On me. they needed myself and a few others to do something. To carry out some kind of mission. Humanity was losing and we were their last hope. We didn’t have much time.

“HUNTER!” the voice of my AI companion screaming in my skull brought me out of my stupor. I looked up and found the giant head of a blood bat staring down at me. its large red eyes were fixated on me and its mouth was opened dripping acid and revealing razor sharp teeth. It was the bigger one. And it had found me.

I guess I was wrong then. I thought to myself, looking up at the creature as it slowly flapped its massive wings in front of me. It hadn’t avoided coming into the trees like I initially thought.

It was looking for me.