14 The Revenge of a Tick
"This whole forest is filled with variety, I just love watching the flowers kill each other." Said Imogen adoringly.
"Darn it, I could have sworn the yellow flower would win." Frowned Imogen, slightly disappointed.
"I guess it's about time to leave for the outer section of the forest now, I won't get anywhere just by watching flowers." Groaned Imogen.
"Now the question is, where the hell is that dumb wyrm?" Questioned the hate filled Imogen.
"As much as I like watching flowers and plants, I also want to be more productive." Suspired Imogen, watching a human getting mauled by an ant the size of a tiger.
"The system gave me a location for the cockroach, why doesn't it give me one for that worm." Said imogen, a bit peeved.
"I guess it does what it wants, when it wants." Muttered Imogen while looking at the glistening trees.
"It's always sunny here, though, I personally like the clouds better." Admitted Imogen.
~~~
"That's a sword! It almost hit me." Exclaimed Imogen watching a sword land right next to her.
"Whoever had the big balls and threw that sword at me is dead, I'll leave the body for the crows!" Growled Imogen as she looked around for any sign of movement.
Imogen looked to her left and saw a whole group of people, two of which were sparing in the center. The place seemed to be very festive.
~~~
"Hey look! It's one of those funny looking forest ticks, good thing that they only prey on medium sized creatures, right?" Asked the human who was heading over to retrieve the thrown sword.
"Haha, it would be absolutely terrifying if they did, I might just shit myself." Grinned the human as he was picking up the sword.
"I got an idea! Why don't you pick it up, we could use a mascot." Yelled one of the people as they drank from a tall tankard of ale.
"It will be hilarious! I promise you won't regret it." Chuckled the human.
"Well… okay, I guess it would be kind of funny." Agreed the other human as he went to pick Imogen up.
~~~
"Don't murder him, don't murder him, I need to gain some self control." Chanted Imogen.
"I also need to see this as a test of my will power. Plus, I really don't think I would win this fight." Said Imogen, appraising the man.
"He excludes a very powerful aura, maybe more powerful than the kingly worm's aura." Realized the shocked Imogen.
~~~
"This tick's extremely heavy! Even for a tick of this size!" Exclaimed the man as he lifted Imogen up.
"I might actually need to use some of my mana to carry it." Exaggerated the man while sort of dragging and carrying Imogen at the same time.
"Don't! You'll spook the tick and we need a cooperative mascot." Insisted one of the humans.
"Plus, it looks like you've got the situation fully under control." Added the man.
"Fine... I'll do it your way then." Said the man, still having trouble dragging Imogen.
When the man finally got back to the group, he looked exhausted. Carrying a fat tick really exhausted him apparently.
"We've prepared a chair for the tick, put him on." Grinned the man, patting the chair.
"You do it, I'm beat." Said the man as he sat down on another chair.
"Sure, I don't mind; get some rest man." Consoled the man while barely managing to lift Imogen onto the chair.
"Damn! You were right; this tick is fat." Agreed the man, exasperated.
As the man went to sit down though, a voice reverberated throughout the camp. "Now! Who wants to fight the great Elora, royal guard to the queen!"
"This is a waste of time! I should be protecting the queen; not wasting away fighting drunken idiots.
"Oh don't be like that Elora, the queen demanded you take a break!" Smiled a man while pushing Elora into the ring.
"And such is the only reason why I'm here, otherwise I would be at my post." Lowered Elora in a monotonous tone.
"Just ignore her people! Now, again, who wants to fight?" Yelled the man once again.
"I do! I've always wondered if royal guards had pinecones stuck up their asses, tonight I might finally find out!" Grunted a big burly man and he cracked his knuckles.
"Okay! The rules for this fight are no talking and no distracting the other opponent; other than that there is none!" Announced the joyful man.
"Begin!" Screeched the man, spit flying out of his mouth.
Imogen watched as the two fighters clashed weapons, Elora held a gilded and jeweled sword that looked newly polished. While the man held an old and worn mace.
The man tried to sucker punch Elora, but she was quicker and sliced his hand off. Afterwards, she brought her sword back to defend against the mace.
The man, feeling the complete agony of getting his hand cut off; lowered his guard, his head was removed a second later.
"It seems like we've got a winner here! Anyone else up for a fight?" Questioned the man, happy as ever.
"No? I thought that you guys would be braver than that!" The man shook his head.
"Well, I guess we can hear what the mascot has to say." Said the man sarcastically.
"Ah, I guess he doesn't have any words for us, what a stupid tick; am I right people!?" Hollered the man.
"Yeah!" Roared the audience
~~~
"This is pushing my limits; In my mind, all of these people are way dumber than me." Imogen shook her head, feeling disappointed.
"Well… maybe not that Elra person, or whatever her name is pronounced, but everyone else is one for sure." Mumbled Imogen as she thought about Elora.
~~~
"Well!" I guess it is getting a bit late, so pack your bags people!" Said the man enthusiastically, but it was still accompanied by a series of groans.
"Fret not, we will still be here tomorrow folks." Beamed the man, charmingly.
~~~
Over the course of the next half hour, or so, people got up and left. The people who didn't leave sat down by the campfire and held a little chat.
"Elora… It seems as though, ever since you became a royal guard member, you've just not been yourself." Said a man with concern in his voice.
"What are you talking about? I'm acting the same as when I left."
There was silence for a while, but eventually someone spoke up. "Uh… well, sometimes you act like we're somehow lesser than you, I can tell it's out of habit; but it still hurts."
"Yeah, It's a real problem Elora… but maybe we could help you." Suggested another man.
"That's what friends are for, right Elora." Said a woman as she looked at Elora.
Elora felt her heart warm, such truly great friends she had. "You've been my friends since forever and I trust your judgement, I'm very sorry if I've hurt any of you." Said Elora sympathetically.
"Life as a royal guard is just so stressful, perhaps I've been relieving it partially on other people…"
"Maybe, you know that if you ever need help, don't be afraid to ask, we'll be here for you always." Said the woman calmly.
"With our help, I'm sure you'll be back to your old self in no time. In the meantime though, let's enjoy ourselves; it's not everyday you get a break after all." Said one of the men.
"Yeah! It'll be like the good old days; no work!" Yelled the other man happily.
"You guys… thank you, thank you all... for just being there for me when I need it." Said Elora while desperately trying to hold back tears.
~~~
"What the hell is this, my friends were never there for me!" Snarled Imogen as she angrily stared at Elora.
"Everyone I've seen has had a way better life than me, why does life hate me so goddarned much." Said Imogen, feeling pissed as ever.
~~~
That night two different women cried because of two completely different reasons.
~~~
As morning dawned on the world, Imogen got up and left the campsite.
"I have no more time to waste on sympathy for myself, I have to find and kill that worm." Said Imogen, determined.
"The moment I set eyes on it, I'll kill it dead." Grinned Imogen, really getting into the act.
~~~
"Is there some sort of screw loose in that tick? Never have I ever seen such a weird insect before." laughed Elora as she watched Imogen roll on the ground and bite the air.
~~~
"It's been hours and I still haven't seen the worm yet-, oh, what the hell!" Cried Imogen as she watched a giant worm slither out of the forest.
"That pisses me off! Although, I guess I should be happy. It did come right to me after all." Decided Imogen.
Imogen without further hesitation charged at the Lesser Wyrm's Child. The giant worm noticed the attack, but didn't even move to block it.
As Imogen jumped onto the giant worm, it actived a skill that caused acid to secrete from its skin. Imogen felt the acid slightly burn her, but otherwise, she was fine.
She tried to bite into the worm's neck, but the worm activated another skill that made spikes come out of it's back. The spikes coupled with the acid almost killed Imogen, one spike even went right past her head!
A few of the other spikes went right through her ribs and are currently melting her insides. Imogen, realizing that she has to end this quickly, has bitten down on the worm's neck; despite the pain and slowly is absorbing its blood.
The blood seemed to heal Imogen as she drank it. It also negated the acid melting her insides, because it healed imogen just as fast as the acid melted them.
~~~
The fight ended ten painful minutes later, for both parties. The fight had seemed very underwhelming to Imogen and she blamed it on the author being lazy- I mean she blamed it on the worm being too weak.
"That was fast and way less exciting than I thought it would be." Grumbled Imogen as she pushed herself up and off of the barbed spikes.
"Well, I've completed one of my goals and finished a system mission. So, I guess it was a good thing that the worm was so weak." Yawned Imogen, trying to think more on the positive side of things.
~~~
"Wait a minute, is that a meteor!?" Shouted Imogen while watching a comet fall down through the sky.
"Well! That's where I'm going now, I hope that it'll be something important enough to justify how much time I'll waste." Laughed Imogen, feeling light hearted.
Little did Imogen know that there was someone watching her from the shadows, keenly interested in her endeavours.
