"I still can't believe you made a deal with a dragon!", Marigold yelled at Basil as they traveled through the swamp lands.
During their march to the Lizard Men settlement, Marigold made small talk with Basil about things that have happened since they last saw one another, only to be horrified and then angry when Basil told her about his meeting and deal with Anaya.
Riding on the back of Gossamer, Basil huffed a breath of exasperation as he replied, "Can we please talk about this later? I've already gotten an earful from Gossamer. Besides, I didn't have any other choice."
"You always have a choice.", Marigold shot back while riding her own black stallion.
"That's what I said.", Gossamer chimed into both their heads while the fairy triplets giggled.
Only for Basil to snap a furious expression at all three and flick the unicorn on the nose while telling him off, "And I'll say to her what I should've said to you! What did you expect me to do? Fight a dragon with a rolling pin? Then again, I probably could do that now."
"What?", Marigold asked while stopping her horse to ensure she heard right.
Quickly realizing that he hadn't got to that part or that she saw him make that orb of destruction back at the town, he stopped Gossamer and told her, "Oh, I've been practicing my magic. Now I can do all sorts of stuff. Like, for instance, this."
Just then, he manifested a magic knife and twirled it around, only to make it change to the size of a great sword before vanishing and suddenly shooting a fireball into the air!
Marigold watched in amazement alongside the lizard men, and she stated, "Okay, wow! I knew you had some wicked magic!"
Basil noticed how different this part of the swamp was as they continued from where the Hag lived. It still had ankle-deep water with soft soil, but the trees weren't long willow trees, but instead tall cypress trees. It was still foggy, but the sun was able to shine through perfectly, and the ground underneath had a small layer of peat, making walking much easier. Still, Teto decided to ride on the shoulders of one of the Bugbears while Meyon shot webs between the trees and swung around. Frogs croaked amongst the water reeds nearby, and insects buzzed around, but no wind blew, giving an ominous feeling to the area.
Trying to keep the ever-creeping tension from swallowing them up, Marigold struck up a conversation and inquired, "By the way, what's up with the spider and…him?"
Looking out where she pointed, Basil explained, "That's Myeon; he lives in a giant tree by my house. And that's Bow and his pet sheep, Ball."
Saying this, they both watched as Bow carried Ball on his shoulder and happily splashed in the water without a single care, while Myeon snagged himself a quick snack from the surrounding insect clouds.
"Her.", Marigold said out of the blue, causing Basil to stare at her in confusion. So she explained in more detail, "That demon spider is a girl."
Basil looked between the golden-haired woman and the spider before settling his gaze back on Marigold, asking, "How can you tell?"
"I've done my research.", she confidently said with a casual shrug before following up to ask, "By the way, who's the edgy-looking dude?"
"That's Hagson. He's been teaching me how to use my magic offensively.", Basil told her while following her gaze to the "edgy dude."
Hagson, who was riding Broomy through the swamp and wearing his human disguise, flew closer when he heard his name and inquired with a wry smile, "And who's this tasty little thing, Basil."
"This is Marigold Pomfret. She's an adventurer.", Basil answered as he saw the hag spawn continue to stare at her like a piece of meat. Pulling him close, he exclaimed in a hushed tone, "And you are not eating her!"
Hagson smiled and chuckled before replying, "Who said anything about eating her?"
Basil blushes in a mix of anger and embarrassment before telling him, "You know she can kick your ass, right?"
Hagson glanced at Marigold, who stared back uncomfortably. She eventually turned away, but Hagson continued staring at her with an impish smile. Basil becomes even more red in the face but says nothing to this! Hagson was doing this on purpose, and he knew it; he was enjoying the sight of Basil becoming different shades of red and wouldn't let up. He knew there was something between them that they weren't fully aware of or willing to accept. So Hagson decided to have some fun.
That is until Broomy knocked the hag spawn off him and into a muck pile! Everyone was either shocked, scared, or trying to hold back laughter at this, most of all Basil. The male witch rose from the sludge with a frog in his face, causing Marigold to burst out laughing. Soon, Basil and Gossamer joined. After using a spell to clean himself off, Hagson turned his ire to Broomy, who just made an "oopsy-poopsy" gesture with its bristles.
After things calmed down and the tension rose again, Basil tried to break it by asking something that was weighing on his mind. "Hey, um, Shaman Lizard Man.", he called to the nameless monster, who slowed his pace to reach the man riding the unicorn.
It was apparent this one was old as his scales had lost their luster alongside the color of his crest, in addition to walking with a staff and blind in one eye.
"Tell me more about this…prophecy regarding us.", Basil asked him, grabbing Marigold's attention as well.
"It goes back to the beginning of the world.", the Shaman began while waving his arms about whimsically. Basil just hoped this wasn't another drawn-out story. "There were once two great lizards who sought to rule the empty void and raged for an eternity. But eventually, they both mortally wounded one another and slowly died.", he stopped to lick his lips as Basil listened intently. "But before they did, they saw that their battle created the world we live in now and were so mesmerized by it that they sought to do better for it. Before they died, they professed their love to one another and vowed to be reborn in a new age to guide their creations. Becoming both the sun and moon at their demise.", The Shaman finished his story.
Turning to Gossamer, Basil asked in his mind, "Is that true?"
"That's just how they see it. Every race has its own story on how the world was born.", Gossamer answered.
"And so the sun had a dark spot in the center and the moon a golden one to this day. But now those spots are gone, and here you two are.", the Shaman exclaimed while motioning to the two people present.
As Marigold was absorbing all this information, even jotting it down in a notebook, Basil decided to look up at the sun and see if he could spot this dark spot. Only for Marigold to pull his head down without looking up from her notebook and tell him, "Don't try and actually look at the sun. Lizard Men's eyes are different from ours. They can look directly at the sun."
"They can? I always thought they were just stupid.", Hagson put forth.
"That too.", Gossamer agrees telepathically.
Turning back to the Shaman, Basil inquired in concern, lacing his voice, "Okay, I understand now, but now that we have been…reborn. We're supposed to guide you, and then what?"
The Shaman thought momentarily, shrugged, and admitted, "Don't know. Prophecy is so old we lost the last part."
Basil sighed in relief before saying under his breath, "Hope it doesn't end with us taking over the world."
xXx
After a few hours of travel, one of the Lizard Men announced, "My lord! We have arrived!"
Basil, who had fallen asleep on the unicorn's back, woke up with a start and looked around. Before him was one of the very few stretches of the swamp that had any solid ground that wasn't eternally drenched in foul-smelling water. The land mass, which was over five acres in length and width, was slightly above the water, allowing the soil to stay dry but damp. Getting off Gossamer and exploring the area, he was shocked to see the remnants of a mock civilization. Tents, fire pits, and broken things were strewn about the area.
Basil gave a slight whistle and jokingly asked to break the tension, "Damn bitch, you live like this?"
The Shaman, who was beside him, gave a deep and heavy sigh as he recalled, "Village was once nice until the slimy scaleless ones came."
Basil looked back at the vast number of other Lizard Men also meandering around the broken village, watching as they picked up broken remains of their homes. They were looking solemnly over the sight of what they once knew, what they once had. Some were even being consoled or comforted by others as they cried. He even saw a female Lizard Man picking up and cradling the broken remains of what looked like to be several eggs in a divot. Though he was sad to see this, and his heart went out to them, it was pretty uncanny when he saw Lizard Men crying but never actually expressing the emotion. Basil could only assume that they couldn't express emotions like real reptiles.
Marigold, who had joined them, asked the Shaman, "You keep saying that, but who are the slimy scaleless ones?"
Suddenly, Hagson ran past them, turned around, and got into a fighting stance while exclaiming, "Not who, what!"
Turning to where the hag spawn was looking, Basil was shocked and horrified by what he saw rise out of the swamp muck! Large frog men, colored shades of green to brown, wielding spears and clubs while dressed in torn cloth, animal pelts, or any natural material ranging from reeds and bark to peat and leaves. First, they emerge from where the group entered, causing any stragglers to scamper onto the land! Soon, they all began to rise one by one from the water until the whole land mass was utterly surrounded on all sides by hundreds of these things!
"Bullywugs!", Marigold shouted while unsheathing her sword.
Not knowing what these monsters were, Basil quickly appraised them and read the window in his head as it informed him:
Bullywug- a large bipedal frog-like creature that forms crash societies within extensive marshlands, swamps, bogs, and other wet temperate climates. Rivals to Lizard Men and employed by Hags, what they lack in brains and brawn, they make up for in mass reproduction and sheer tenacity. They can spit a toxic solution from their throat pouches and jump great distances from a standing point.
He then put his attention on one individual and appraised it. The window popped up, and it read:
Bullywug Warrior- 12 Strength, 20 Stamina, 14 Health, 1 Charisma, 22 Fortitude, 0 Knowledge, 0 Magic, 25 Speed.
Gossamer backed away from the steadily approaching Frog men and reared onto his hind legs while neighing loudly! But even this display of intimidation did not deter the bullywugs from continuing their pinch maneuver. So he dropped to his forelegs and made threatening thrusting movements with his horn as he exclaimed, "By the Crown of Oberon, there's hundreds of them!"
Seeing that everyone was becoming just as panicked and fearful as the Unicorn, Basil had to take action to keep them in line; otherwise, they would all be overrun. And working under pressure with stressed-out people in seemingly dire and unreasonable circumstances was his specialty.
So, assertively, he yelled to his army, "Everyone, don't panic! Group up, but stay sparse! They may be weak but can take a hit and have a nasty trick! Just remember! We have something they don't!"
Hearing this, Hagson blew air between his lips as he stated in a sassy tone, "Friendship and love."
Basil shot him a weird look before telling him, "I was actually gonna say power and gratuitous violence. So, let's fucking rage!", with that said, Basil roared into the air and threw a magic knife into the head of a Bullywug, killing it right on the spot.
Without warning, everyone else let out a war cry and charged toward the Frog men, who let out bellowing croaks and jumped with the intent to attack! The battle was on, and it was bloody! Though their opponents were far weaker than them, they had the advantage of sheer numbers! One-on-one fights were one thing, but getting absolutely swarmed could mean certain death, even in a group of five.
Stoked by anger and vengeance, the Lizard Men threw themselves into battle with a blood lust that would rival the berserkers of Norway! Spears and swords slashed and stabbed the much weaker frogmen while shields crushed their skulls or legs! They would dash around the area and do long jumps to spear or stab the frogs, catching them off guard!
They even used every part of their body like a machine. Getting in close to hit them with needle-sharp teeth, tripping or grabbing with tails, and slashing with their claws when their weapons break or get lost in a fight. They also used several different calls to shout commands to one another!
Lizard Men may not be intelligent, but they sure are battle-wise. They acted like herding dogs to break off smaller groups of Bullywugs, breaking through solid defenses, using trickery and blitz maneuvers, and some fake-outs!
But the Bullywug has their own fighting style. Leaping high into the air from a standing point and landing with spears or clubs to attack! Anyone who managed to dodge an attack from a Lizard Man would be snared by their prehensile tongue, knocked off their feet, or pulled in close when they would bounce just shy of reach. This all culminates in several Bullywug ganging up on Lizard Man and beating it to death before trying to snare another!
They even used their poison sacks to spit toxins to break apart small groups or stun others before going in for the kill! In addition, they used the environment with ease as they would jump into ankle-high water and disappear. Only to reappear behind a target to strike or drag them under. Luckily, the Lizard Men could hold their breath and swim, so it wasn't a problem.
The problem lay with the ones who couldn't breathe underwater or hold their breath. Though the Bugbears were far bigger, stronger, and more durable than the Frogs, any that managed to get dragged underwater by several Bullywugs wouldn't be seen again. However, that was quickly rectified when Burr gave the order to stay on dry land. From here, a dozen Bullywugs could go up against one Bugbear, and the frogs would lose! No matter how hard they hit them with clubs or how fast they swung their blades across their flesh, the weapons would be the ones broken, leaving an even more pissed-off Bugbear to be dealt with.
Bullywugs were tossed around like rags, ripped apart, crushed in one hand, or bitten clean in half! If the Lizard Men were the foot soldiers, then the Bugbears were the vanguard! Providing all the muscle needed to throw anything big enough to crush large groups of them! Even still, the goblins weren't as dumb as they appeared and implied a strategy of their own. This came in the form of grabbing a Bullywug, spewing their Bugbear Honey all over them, and throwing the frog like a living grenade.
Then came Myeon, who was the one catching any Bullywugs thrown in the air by the goblins. Despite being considered cute by Basil, she was a true apex predator! Jumping from tree to tree, catching or restraining any frogs in her webs, or pouncing on one and injecting venom. Before today, Basil had never thought of Myeon as anything but a giant spider who likes potatoes. But after witnessing the spider unhinge her face and bite down on Bullywugs, who only cried out in pain for seconds before going limp, really changed his perception. Even more so when he swore that she was breathing fire on the Bullywugs caught in her web.
Next was Teto, who lived like a trained assassin, fast and quiet. He dashed around the legs of the far taller creatures, using a knife to slice at their tendons, preventing them from moving or jumping. This allowed anyone nearby to take advantage, and best of all, not one Bullywug noticed him.
The only time he was noticed was when he jumped onto the back of a frog who was about to attack Basil and stabbed it to death on the back of its head. Unfortunately, this allowed another to spot him and try to shoot out its tongue to grab him, which it did. But Teto quickly sliced off its tongue, giving enough time for a Bugbear's long reach to grab and crush its head. If watching Myeon fighting wasn't enough of a surprise, then watching Gossamer was!
Even though Basil has been told time and time again that unicorns were far different from his own perception, watching a pink horse-like creature the size of a small elephant stab something with its horn was shocking, to say the least! Though it wasn't just stabbing them with his horns, he'd smash the frogs with his front hooves, buck with his back, strangle or whip with his tail, and most shockingly, he would grab them by his teeth and shake them around like a predatory animal!
At one point, Gossamer grabbed a pillar from the village with his teeth and swung it around wildly, slamming it into the ground! He was most surprised to see he didn't use his magic. Weren't unicorns uber-powerful? Maybe he just didn't feel like he needed it for this fight. Who knows.
Of course, Hagson was the polar opposite to Gossamer. Instead of using brute strength, he was using his magic. And even after so much time training with him, Basil still couldn't quite describe it. It was just so…weird to look at. Like the magic would change or warp once emitted from his hands. Hag magic was so odd to him. Hell! Magic, in general, was still weird to him! Still, looking at Hagson cast spells made his brain do backflips. Was it fire, lasers, smoke, wind, energy!?
The only time his mind could comprehend what he saw was when a Bullywug got lucky and kicked the hag spawn in the back, where he fell and crashed into a tree! When several frogs surrounded him, he turned around, saw what he was up against, and slapped the tree he was resting on. Then the tree became animated out of nowhere and started to grab at the frogs! Bringing them up in the air before pulling them apart or throwing them away! Then he opened his coat, where several dozen knives of all sizes and styles were hanging, and shook his coat, causing all the knives to fall out and begin flying around, chasing down and cutting down any unlucky stragglers!
The following person he was shocked by their combat prowess was Bow. He thought that such an unassumingly lovely and kind of dumb guy wouldn't be very powerful with magic, even as a druid, but BOY, was he wrong! His magical control was something that put Hagson to shame, and he was likely far older than he looked! He had control over nature in all its forms: water, wind, earth, fire, ice, plants, you name it.
Rocks came from the ground like spikes; the wind blew so hard it cut like blades; water moved so fast the frogs couldn't swim in it; fire burned so hot and in its wake was nothing but ash; water would turn into ice so quickly no one could react to what form it froze into, plants sprouted from nowhere. They came to life or any plant life in the surrounding area! Then he had a bunch of weird but powerful magic that allowed him to…. manifest sheep? Well, magic was strange. But the most unusual thing was when he would begin to chant some kind of rhyme, and a weak spell would take shape into a much more powerful one.
Stretching his hand out, he'd generates a small amount of water and chants, "Squish squish little fish, swim fast upon the stream.", the water changes into the shape of a fish with a tiny sprinkle traveling behind it. "Splash Splash Mr Trout, right up on the stream.", the water turned into a larger fish with a ball of water trailing behind it. "Flap flap Turtle flap, and cause a bigger wave.", a turtle formed in the water, causing it to morph into a small wave. "Hark hark big bad Shark, and swallow them in your wake.", the water changed into a huge menacing shark that rode a wave ten times the size of the first. "Thrash Thrash Whale of the gale, and crash upon the shore!", the water finally took the form of an enormous whale that jumped into the air with a tsunami-level tidal wave right behind it.
When it landed, it swallowed a whole horde of Bullywugs in its wake! He even had a different chant for each element he controlled, and each one took various forms. Water has aquatic creatures. Wind has flying creatures. Earth has ground creatures. Fire, oddly enough, has mythical creatures. Ice has arctic creatures. And Plants…don't have a beast, but he chants the names of different plants to do his bidding.
Basil looked on in pure shock as he could only muster enough brain power to blabber, "What in the what?"
"It's called Magic Chanting. High risk but high reward skill that not many spell casters pickup.", Flo, who was flying next to his head, informed him. But seeing his confused expression, Flo explained in more detail, "It allows a person to cast spells at a much higher level than they can produce on their own. So, if you were to use it, you could cast Fireball without learning it. So long as you have some kind of fire spell."
Shaking out of his stupor, Basil exclaimed while watching the boy summon a lightning storm, "I'm more blown away by the fact so much power is housed in such a tiny body!"
"Well, don't look now; otherwise, your jaw will hit the floor.", Moe teased him with a chuckle.
When the man turned to see what he was jabbering about, he wished he hadn't. Fighting about several yards away from him was Marigold, who made combat look more like an elegant dance. How she jumped, dodged, rolled, and thrusted her blade came with a sense of elegance. Every slash was a tune, every kick was a rhyme, and every stab and punch were different beats. Watching her move was like listening to poetry. In fact, she was dancing! Dance fighting! It was incredible! The grace of a lady but the skills of a trained combatant, even the Bullywugs were hard-pressed to look away from the woman as she and her sword flowed like water and cut down enemies or briskly dodged their attacks.
She even performed some crazy maneuvers, like quickly throwing a dagger from her belt or jumping backward over a shooting tongue. What she did couldn't be put into any other words besides she was amazing. Suddenly, a Bullywug snuck up on Basil and tried to tackle him, only to be sprayed in the face by a cloud of scale powder. Basil saw the frog rubbing its burning eyes and shot a beam of light straight through its chest!
Slow, who saved him, flew to his face and chastised, "Hey! Keep your head in the fight and not on your girlfriend!"
"She's not my girlfriend!", Basil shouted at her while shooting a Fireball, trying to hide the blush on his face.
Basil and the Fairy Triplets had made somewhat of a team between themselves during the all-out brawl. The fairies flew around his head and stunned any frogs that got too close with a flash of light or scale powder, allowing Basil to get a fatal attack. Basil was honestly a bit pissed off about what Hagson said to him some time ago. He really couldn't fight and think strategically at the same time. One-on-one was fine, but suddenly put him into this horde of enemies coming from every side, and he became a mess! He would've fallen immediately if it weren't for the fairies watching his back! He really did need more training or experience. Luckily, this day wouldn't be that since the Bullywugs began to retreat suddenly.
Seeing this, everyone began to holler for an early celebration. All except for Gossamer, who watches the frogs with suspicion. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Something is wrong! They're retreating, but their numbers still outweigh ours!"
"Maybe they realized it was a losing battle?", Basil tried to offer.
But the unicorn shook his head while saying concernedly, "No. They're planning something."
Hagson, ever the dismisser of the unicorn, blew a raspberry and rolled his eyes while saying, "Oh, Please! You're just overthinking it. What could a bunch of brainless frogs be planning."
"Something big.", The fairies cried in unison, their fear increasing with every syllable they spoke.
Turning to where the tiny fae creatures were looking, the horde of frogmen all began to group up and fall behind something that started to emerge from the water from a grand and ever-increasing high torrent of water! Then, the water's surface broke, and something resembling a frog emerged. It was as large as an elephant, colored bright green with black spots, had three yellow eyes, a maw of sharp teeth, and six huge pore-like openings on its side that quickly sprouted prehensile tendrils with suction cups at the rounded tips! The creature bellowed something between a roar and a croak while a Bullywug climbed up on its back while rallying the rest of its kind as even more frogs emerged from the water!
"The mountain of green longness!", cried the Lizard Man Shaman.
"A Froghemoth!?", Marigold shouted in shock.
Looking at the woman, Basil exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? That's a thing!?"
Looking at the new monster, he appraised it fast and read its explanation window, which told him:
Froghemoth- a giant species of amphibians that resemble frogs. Living in marsh and swamp lands, these behemoths lumber through the waters, waiting in ambush with their natural camouflage and three eyes to even sniff out invisible targets. Once prey is upon them, they lunge out with powerful jumps, a long sticky tongue, or their six tendrils to trap prey. Their slimy skin protects them not only from dehydration during droughts but also from would-be attackers. Bullywugs commonly domesticate them and can only be domesticated by them.
"It's no wonder the Lizards were pushed out. They had that thing with them!", Hagson exclaimed while preparing a spell. The Froghemoth took one giant bounding leap and was instantly upon the group as they ran in opposite directions! Many managed to survive, but several more got crushed under its massive body! Several of the Lizard Men tried to jump up on the beats, but with one flick of its tongue, it snapped and swallowed them up! It then used its six tendrils to snag more of the lizards and pop them into its mouth! Seeing over a dozen Lizard Men get quickly taken down in seconds, Basil almost wanted to call for a full retreat, but looking back, he noticed that Bullywugs were quickly swarming their way out!
There was no running away, only fighting for your lives! So, in a desperate bid, Basil shot two fireballs from each hand--one at the Frog men and one at the monster frog. The fireball shot at the frogs, causing an explosion of fire and flying frog parts, allowing any stragglers to regroup with the others, while the fireball aimed at the giant frog didn't even phase it, causing it to only roar with anger!
"My magic doesn't work on it?!", Basil exclaimed in shock.
"Of course, it didn't work.", Said Moe.
"Its mucus protects it.", explained Flo.
"Its slime is resistant to magic.", told by Slow.
"Let's figure out how to deal with the Froghemoth later! For now, we have bigger problems.", But this didn't help at all since Basil was already in the midst of freaking out.
The Bullywugs were overrunning one side, the other side was getting scarfed down like jelly beans by the Froghemoth, and he didn't know which to address first! The Lizard Men were slowly getting stomped out by the Bullywugs, with their only saving grace being the Bugbears and Gossamer. While Teto Broomy, Marigold, and Bow kept any Bullywugs that got past the main army. Then, towards the rear, all the Lizard Men and the few Bugbears that stayed to help were getting swallowed up by the Froghemoth.
Hagson and Myeon tried to help, but the flying knives bounced off its skin, and the web did nothing! The animated tree only managed to restrain it for a moment before getting pulled out of the ground, and Myeon couldn't pierce her fangs through its gross, slimy flesh. He needed time to think and breathe! He couldn't work under this much pressure! Things were too insane for him! He was starting to lose control! He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see straight, he could nearly stand up! How was he to deal with this!? Just before he had a total meltdown, a familiar voice called out to him.
"Basil! Use the power of nature!", Bow yelled out to him while restraining three Bullywugs in vines.
Hearing his mental health guide gave him the moment he needed to compose himself and shout back, "But my nature magic is so weak! What should I do? Trip them with flowers?!"
While walking a Bullywug with his staff, Bow shook his head and told him, "Nature isn't just the plants. It's the earth that connects the plants, the water that feeds them, the wind that carries them, the fire that burns it away! Nature is everything, and everything is nature. Nothing is truly unnatural, not even your will to shape it! Now dig deep within yourself, believe in yourself, and tell nature what shape to take!
"So Basil did as he was told, closed his eyes, and looked deep within, trying to feel nature, calling to it, willing his desires. Until a force and power surged through him, and opening his eyes in a flash, he slammed his hands on the ground where a nine-foot wall of stone erected around the whole army, cutting off the Bullywugs and Froghemoth in one move! Then, an announcement window popped to life in front of his face, which read to him:
Congratulations: Geomancy has been added to the list of skills.
Several new spells have been added to the Spells list.
Basil looked up from the ground, admonishing his work with sweat on his forehead as he gasped softly, "I did it."
"He did it?", Hagson questions.
"He did it!", Marigold exclaimed in shock.
"You did it! Now let 'em have it!", Bow told him.
So he got up, slapping his hands together, causing spikes to form outside the wall. He threw both arms out to the side, causing the spike wall to fly off in all directions, crashing into any Bullywugs unlucky enough to end up caught and pushing the massive Froghemoth far away! A few Bullywugs got over the wall in time, but Lizard Men and Bugbears quickly met them head-on!
As they ran off to fight the sparse number of frogs, Burr told Basil, "Wes can hold off the froggies. Yous take care and crush the big one!"
Looking back toward the Froghemoth, who got back up and broke through the earth wall, he exclaimed, "How the hell are we supposed to do that!?"
Marigold was the first to answer as she took up her sword and announced before charging head first into the creature, "Move fast and strike quick!"
The woman then ran off, her braid of golden hair flying behind her like the tail of a kite as she bolted from the monster. Upon snapping up the last Lizard Man, the Froghemoth caught sight of the woman and tried to snap her up in its tongue, but the woman quickly dodged it as she continued her advance! So it tried to use its tendrils, which Marigold dodged and blocked with her sword! Once she was too close to its long-range attacks, the monster frog used its forelimbs to try and crush her! Like with everything else, she dodged the attempt by sliding under its body!
Once on its backside, she ran up a tree and jumped out to stab the Froghemoth and its Bullywug rider. As Basil watched this unfold, his Hindsight went nuts at seeing her confront the monster! Something was wrong! She was doing something wrong! Far Sight then activated, and he saw something terrible happen to the woman. And just as he predicted, it happened!
"Marigold! Look out!", Basil yelled to the woman as she pushed herself off the tree.
But the woman had no time to react as one of the Froghemoth's writhing tendrils hit her in midair! Luckily, she wasn't grabbed up by it; instead, she was thrown away by the limb and sent flying! The blow was hard enough that it knocked her out mid-air!
"Marigold!", Basil cried in vain, only for Bow to summon a colossal wall of water vines and flowers to catch and cushion her fall as she rolled to the ground. Basil raced over to her within a moment and kneeled down to gently cradle the woman in his arms.
He exclaimed while trying to shake her, "Marigold? Marigold! Come on, wake up!"
"Basil! Behind you!", one of the fairies cried out.
Basil looked back, only to see a Bullywug right on top of him! Luckily, one of the fairies sprayed it with their scale powder, giving Basil a chance to try and move away, only to find himself trapped at the back with the wall of plant life that saved his friend. While it was distracted, he readied a spell but stopped short.
"Crap! I can't do a spell at this distance. I'll blast all of us!", Basil yelled as he tried to look for an exit.
"Then use us!", Moe told him as the three fairies gathered around.
"How?", Basil exclaimed as the Bullywug started to clear its eyes.
Suddenly, the three faeries turned into balls of light, the sigil on his hand began to glow, and the fairies began to encircle it in their balls of light form. "What the!?", Basil cried out in shock, initially confused by what had happened.
But he didn't get the chance to question it further as the Bullywug came in for an attack, causing Basil to go rigid, which caused one of the fairies to fly off his hand and straight through the frog! Basil looked on in pure awe and confusion at this and realized that the fairies were using themselves as short-range magic attacks. No kickback, no a.o.e., no getting hurt. Just point and shoot. Seeing that more frogs were approaching and not having enough time to think, he just named this new attack using the first thing that came to mind.
"Fairy Bullets!", he cried as he fired off all three fairies at three of the frogs.
He noticed a few things about this new attack as he used it, like how he only had three shots and would have to wait for them to return after firing. If he hit a target, they would return immediately, but if he didnt, he'd have to wait several seconds for them to return. Basil wasn't the best at shooting small things, apart from huge explosions, so he missed a lot! Luckily, he had the advantage of the monsters being scared by the bright light that shot past them.
Once all the frogs were killed, Marigold started to awaken. Her eyes began to flutter open as her mind and body fought one another between consciousness and unconsciousness. Basil ran to the woman and held her up, saying, "Marigold! You're…okay…"
As Basil said this, he briefly looked at the wall of swamp plants that saved her, only for his mind to focus entirely on the plant wall. He trailed off as his mind suddenly began to wander and get fuzzy. His vision blurred, his ears rang, and his body floated with his mind as the only thing he could focus on was the flowers. Marigold finally came to her senses, sat up, saw the man cradling her, and noticed the vague and distant expression on his face.
Pulling away from him, she cautiously asked, "Basil?" Suddenly, Basil's face twisted in such a way that he looked both in pain and angry at the same time, making the woman jump! Suddenly, he threw his head back and began to scream while clutching at his skull!
"Basil, what's wrong?!", she exclaimed while attempting to hold him back from throwing himself on the ground!
He screamed and thrashed in her grip! Eyes rolled back as he foamed from the mouth, unable to breathe until his body forced him to intake precious oxygen. There, with what little oxygen remained in his lungs, he blabbered out in agony, "My-My skills! They're all activating at once! Appraisal, Foresight, Farsight, Telepathy, all of them! It feels like my head is going to crack!"
As he described this, he could feel his passive Skills all activate once more! Everything that helped him learn or survive was going into overdrive, and it wasn't allowing his body's primary functions to work! Breathing, seeing, hearing, moving, nothing would work except his skills! His skills were trying to do something. Brought on by the intense situation around him, but what?! Suddenly, it all stopped fast as it came, and the information window popped up beside him where it read;
Congratulations: a new Skill has been unlocked!
Botany has been added to your list of skills.
Alchemy has increased to Level 3.
Basil finally gained control over his senses and body, flinging himself forward and gasping for air, Marigold still holding him! After a few minutes of catching his breath and his brain rewiring itself, he slowly moved his eyes to the wall of flowers that had saved and trapped them. He stared at the wall of plant life for so long that Marigold began to get worried again.
"Basil?", she once again cautiously asked.
"I know.", Basil said in a low voice.
Marigold shot him a confused look and questioned, "You know what? What are you talking about? Are you okay?"
Moving past her in a trance-like state, Basil ripped off a handful of the plants and slowly stated before exclaiming, "This plant…I know what it is and how we can use it to stop the Froghemoth!"
Foregoing her previous weariness, Marigold said, "You do!? That's great!
"Basil summoned a magic Alchemist kit on a slab of rock he pulled from the ground and asked the woman, "But I need time. Can you buy me that?"
Looking around and seeing over a dozen Bullywugs leap into their area, Marigold smiled while taking up her Rapier and dagger, assuring Basil, "Leave it to me!"
So they both set off like two flashes! Basil worked faster and harder than he ever had before to make this concoction on the Magic Alchemist Set! Setting fires, adding water, pulling things from his Magic Pocket, grinding, cutting, shoving, and mixing like he had made this mixture a thousand times before! All the while, Marigold danced around him like the trained warrior she was!
Striking at the Bullywugs one after the other at medium range with her sword and short range with her danger! Jumping over the frogs and the stationary Basil, he moved around his earth table like a man on drugs! Throwing her knife into the fire before running up to pull it away and spin around to slit the throats of many more with her sword! Dodging, weaving, and jumping like a dancer prevented the frogs from attacking her with anything! By the end, Marigold had killed the last of the frogs surrounding them, and Basil had finished his mystery liquid.
"I got it!", he called out while holding a vial over his head as Marigold threw her dagger into the head of the last Bullywug. "All we have to do is get that Bullywug off the Froghemoth. The question is how?", he questions aloud while causing the Magic Alchemist Kit to vanish.
Wiping sweat and blood off her forehead, Marigold looked over to the Froghemoth to assess how to do that until she saw something that made her say, "I think Bow has that covered."
Holding the vial of green liquid to his side, he looked over and nearly had a heart attack at what he saw! Bow was indeed handling it in his own way but not in any safe way. The boy was being held off the ground by the Froghemoth's tendril while the boy blew into a leaf whistle that seemed to be lulling it into a trance-like state. Basil wondered why the Bullywug rider wasn't making it attack regardless, but then he saw Ball, who appeared to be wrestling the frog. Or rolling around on the giant saddle strapped to the beast's back.
Just before the frog got the upper hand over the sheep, Teto snuck up from behind and stabbed the frog in the back before rapidly stabbing its head and neck! "Nice job, Teto!", Basil called out to the bird, who waved back and kicked the frog off the saddle.
The Bullywug, who was surprisingly still alive, fell off its mount before being impaled by a sharp stone that Bow had erected. But when he erected the stone, he stopped his leaf whistle, and the Froghemoth regained its senses! It panicked and thrashed about, causing Ball and Teto to be thrown off while Bow was thrown out of its tendril, where the young boy crashed into a nearby tree! He slid down its trunk just as more Bullywugs appeared out of the nearby waters!
Luckily, Bow was conscious long enough to summon four elemental guardians. From the water rose a figure that hit the frogs with such force they got swatted away by a watery arm. From the earth came a figure that crushed any bolt or was dumb enough to get close. From the air came a figure that sliced through them like fine blades. And from the fire burning off the dangling Bullywug bodies came a figure who burned each foe to the bone.
Seeing that he is safe for now, Basil focuses on the giant frog monster. Thinking aloud, he infers with a knowing smile, "That thing is unbreakable on the outside but not the inside."
After turning off his Far Sight and Hindsight, he handed Marigold the vial of green liquid. Curiously, she looked at the contents before inferring, "So you want me to throw this in its mouth?"
Shaking his head, he explained, "No. But I do need you to get its mouth open; the only caveat is that you need to get this potion under its skin through a wound."
Looking at her sword and back at him, she said with little confidence, "But my sword slides right off it."
Thinking this over, an idea came to mind, and he held the blade of the sword in both hands, breathed, and said before closing his eyes, "I sure hope I know what I'm doing."
Basil concentrated on his fire magic, slowly and steadily warming up in his hands. Not enough for fire to shoot out, but just to steadily increase the temperature. He focused solely on this so he wouldn't cause an explosion or the metal to melt. Then, when he opened his eyes, he saw an awestruck Marigold and her sword glowing a bright red!
He smiled at his accomplishment before telling the woman, "Go! You won't have much time till it cools. I'll keep it distracted.", she nodded in understanding before running off.
Basil looked at the monster and called for Myeon and two Bugbears for aid. The three of them obeyed and ran off into a one-sided fight between the Froghemoth. Myeon was trying her best to anchor the frog monster down with her webs, but they wouldn't stick, and if any did, they wouldn't hold back the monster's massive body and weight. This is when Basil finds out she can breathe fire when Myeon opens her jaws and breathes a stream of red hot fire right into the beast's eyes.
This gave the two Bugbears a chance to strike while it was blinded. But as usual, the clubs slid or bounced off its skin. The only thing that mildly worked was their honey, which slid off its body and destroyed the ground, causing the frog to lose its footing. This, however, gave Marigold the chance she needed as she used all her strength to jump as high as she could, aided by Meyon, who pulled her up with a web and used her heated sword to cut a deep gash into the monster's skin!
She then anchored with her dagger and yanked the cork off the vial with her teeth before shoving the opened end into the fresh wound! The green liquid poured into the injury, causing a mass of smoke and a gross, sizzling sound to be heard from within, making Marigold nearly gag from the smell. This was followed by the flesh bubbling and the Froghemoth going unnervingly still before opening its mouth, making a sound equivalent to a scream!
While its mouth was wide open and about to thrash around, Basil was not too far away, generating the largest sphere of fire he had ever made until now! Then with a determined look, he whispered in a low tone, "Fireball.", then let the sphere of flames go flying.
The fire entered the open maw of the Froghemoth, and on instinct, it closed its mouth with eyes wide. Marigold unhooked herself from the beast and ran off with the Bugbears, Meyon, and Teto clinging to the spider. The moment they reached Basil, they all witnessed the Froghemoth burning from the inside out! It flailed and screamed through the swampy muck water, trying to put itself out but doing so only in vain! Eventually, it finally fell to the ground as its body continued to burn away to ash and a charred skeleton.
Things were silent for a moment, but Basil broke the silence between the five of them, breathing in heavy breaths that were crossed between anxiety and exhaustion, exclaiming, "We got it! WE GOT IT! WHOO!"
The Bugbears also cheered with him while Myeon just brought one of her legs up in a cheering gesture! Basil jumped up and down, hooting and hollering with joy, only to be stopped as Marigold suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight! He stood stiff as a board and let the woman grab him tightly, not hugging her back as his mind buffered.
When she finally pulled away from the man, she exclaimed in a mix of excitement and confusion, "Holy shit, Basil! I can't believe we managed to kill that thing! What did you even put into that potion?"
Feeling his pride swell up and his nose grow from bravado, he explained to her, "Ah, the acidic properties of the Great Underwater Moss Flower. They use a special compound to break down organic material for food, which allows their flowers to blossom. I simply used this flower and added several elements that caused this acidic effect to become even more potent, especially when introduced to an open wound."
Instead of looking even more impressed, she looked more confused as she asked again, "How do you know all this?"
"Botany and Alchemy.", He replied proudly in simple yet vague terms, making Marigold sweat drop.
So, to change the current mood, she shifted her attention back to the fight going on between the rest of the small army and stated, "Well, it looks like the Bullywugs are fleeing after seeing their ace finally fall."
Basil looked to where she was observing and saw under three dozen Frog men running or jumping away from the remaining Lizard Men, Bugbears, Unicorn, and Hag Spawn. He smiled at seeing this but then saw the Bullywugs start to form a large circle, linking arms and croaking in some kind of melody while stamping at the water with their feet.
"Wait, what are they doing?", he asked as the woman and monsters all looked at the Frog man's weird tribal dance.
Suddenly, the water began to stir, and another even larger Froghemoth emerged from the water, but this one had no rider. Everyone looked on in a mix of shock and horror as the Bullywugs cheered on their new war beast, slowly making its way over to the retreating army of monsters who all huddled behind or around Basil.
Being lost for words, the only thing the man could say, or scream in this case was, "Oh come on! They had a second one!?"