66: Star Child: Dunes of Tolapo XXVII

"…The insanity that comes from that brain of yours is utterly astounding! To go from body modification to full genetic manipulation with your level of comprehension of mana manipulation is singlehandedly the dumbest thing I have ever heard!" Baset shouted at me as she rubbed her wrists.

Not wanting to explain what happened to Apla'nagia later I gave Baset the simple rundown of events while Alpa'nagia worked on breaking the crystal that held hers and Geryo's arms above their heads. She launched into a full on lecture the moment I mentioned using flesh attribute mana to augment some of Alpa'nagia's DNA to repair it.

"Is it really a stupid idea if it works?" I groaned. Baset slapped me on the back of my head.

"YES!" She barked.

"Ow!"

"All brains and no common sense!" Baset growled. Geryo placed a hand on Baset's shoulder to calm her.

"Baset, perhaps this can wait until my village is no longer under siege?" Geryo asked. Baset narrowed her eyes at me and exhaled forcefully.

"You're right. We're dealing with a Paragon, and one particularly gifted at offensive magic. Not to mention Raziri." Baset sighed. She looked around and visiblely gagged. "First we need to get out of here."

"Thissssss way." Alpa'nagia said then slithered done a row of tubes towards the four right cavern wall. We all jogged to keep up with him until he stopped at a human sized tunnel. Alpa'nagia was way to big to fit in there. "Leadssssss to ssssssurface. To healerssssssss hut."

"Thanks Alpa!" I exclaimed then held my crystal up. Alpa'nagia returned to my crystal as Geryo started running down the tunnel. Everyone else broke into a sprint to catch up.

The tunnel was on a sharp incline that made it a little harder to keep up not that Geryo minded or even noticed. Though if it wasn't for Baset casting a light spell I would have ate dirt. The tunnel eventually leveled put to a short corridor at the end was a rickety looking ladder. Geryo stopped only long enough to look up and see a trap door at the top of the ladder.

"Geryo….w-wait!" Baset exclaimed as she tried to catch her breath.

Her please fell on deaf ears and Geryo started climbing the ladder. By the time we reached the Bae of it he was already at the trap door. I was the first one to reach it and quickly climbed up after Geryo but at that point he had already opened three trapdoor and climbed out of the tunnel. When I neared the trapdoor I heard a loud commotion and lightning bolts hitting something. I climbed a little faster and pulled myself out of the tunnel.

The trapdoor lead to a cleaning room of some kind. There was a open door in front of me and rushed out the door after Geryo. I felt a gust of wind at the back of my neck and ducked instinctively, narrowly dodging a broom handle to the back of my head. I spun on my heels to face my attacker. Before I got a good look a swords made of light came out of nowhere and plunged into the floor around me. Chains shot from the hilts of the swords and anchored me to the spot.

My attacker rushed me arching back to swing the broom handle again. A half second later the spell that held me down shattered. I popped my claws and swung up at my attacker while channeling burn attribute mana into them and slashed the broomstick in half then kicked my attacker in the nuts, flooring him. I reared back to slash at my attacker.

"Wait stop!" Astrid's voice called out from somewhere behind me.

I froze and looked behind me to see Astrid poking her head out of a room with Alberto next to her. I blinked and looked back to my attacker. It was Damon. Now cupping his nuts and groaning loudly.

"Fucking peasant!" Damon spat out through gritted teeth.

"Lord of Ass world?" I gasped dramatically.

"ASHWOLD!" Damkn barked back.

Baset poked her head out of the trapdoor in the cleaning closet and saw the scene. She groaned loudly and quickly climbed out.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"I came out of the tunnel and got attacked by the three musketeers here." I summarized pointing at Astrid, Alberto and Damon. Baset groaned and shook her head.

"Where is Geryo?" She asked. I shrugged and looked to the other three.

"That was Geryo?" Astrid asked, stepping out from behind the doorframe. "He ran past the room we were hiding in and went down the hall."

Baset and I looked down the hall and saw feet sticking out of a open door further down. Baset quickly ran down the hallway to the person. I turned back to the cleaning closet and saw Iris poking her head out of trapdoor. She climbed out and then helped Jane up. Jane and Iris saw Damon still writhing around on the floor as they walked over.

"What happened?" Jane asked.

"That peasant kicked me in the balls!" Damon cried. Iris snickered and walked over and punched me playfully on the shoulder.

"Good job." She said.

"Thanks I try." I joked. Astrid walked over to Damon and helped him up.

"Ass!" she said with a shake of her head.

[Sssssshe'ssss kind of right Ssssstar Ssssshaper…] Alpa'nagia said.

[You're right, I just don't like him.] I replied. I felt a wave of animosity wash over me from Bone-lasher.

[He deserves it…] Bone-lasher growled.

"Geryo!" Baset exclaimed. The class all turned and rushed down the hall, except Damon who hobbled.

We found Baset knelt next to Geryo who was knocked out on the ground and slumped over the unconscious body of another villager. I frowned and folded my arms.

"Did he trip over a villager and knock himself out?" I asked.

"I think so…." Baset said with a shake of her head. She slapped the back of Geryo's head. He woke up instantly and looked around.

"What happened?" He asked.

"You tripped over a another villager and knocked yourself out…some Warden." Baset said. Geryo sat up and narrowed his eyes at Baset.

"Now is not the time for your jokes Baset. We have to free the village." Geryo said.

"What is even going on?" Alberto asked.

"Astrid tried to explain everything but I can't really understand her half the time, she keeps switching to that Torapos language mid-sentence. When did she even learn it?"

"Oh that's my fault. I cast a translation spell on her so now she knows all the languages that I know." I explained.

"Why would a peasant like you know the language of a mythical tribe of spell casters?" Damon balked.

"His grandmother was from the village." Astrid said. Alberto and Damon froze then turned to look at me in disbelief then looked to Baset for confirmation.

"It's true." She said.

"What?!" Alberto exclaimed. Damon shook his head adamantly.

"No I refuse to accept this!" Damon snapped.

"Accept it or not it doesn't matter. We have bigger problems to deal with you two." Jane said.

"We need to get a visual on what's going on outside in the village." Geryo said as he stood up then helped Baset up.

"Yes we need to…" Baset started.

[Someone is coming!] Bone-lasher growled. Our vision merged and I saw a group of soldiers walking into the healing hut and walking down the hall. That hallway lead to the one we were standing in.

[Go!] I ordered and threw my right hand out. Bone-lasher shot out of my crystal and bounced on the wall. He materialized just behind the soldiers as they turned the corner and saw us. Before either knew what happened Bone-lasher bit off the head of one, killing him instantly then slashed the other in two with a swipe of his paw. It was quick, bloody, and silent. They never stood a chance.

"OH MY GODS!" Alberto screamed. Damon turned around and threw up into a trashcan. Both Astrid and Jane looked a little green at the gore in front of them while Iris, Geryo, and Baset were unfazed by it. Baset turned to me and frowned.

"How did you know they were there?" She asked.

"Bone-lasher told me." I said then walked to the end of the hall to inspect the bodies. Admittedly I was a little shocked to see a headless body and another one cut in half but I had seen it before.

I grabbed the gun of the headless one's gun and checked it over. It was a mass-produced skazza with nothing really special about it. I linked my arm through the shoulder strap then checked the body for extra ammo.

"Chase what are you doing?!" Jane asked sounding a little sick.

"Checking to make sure there is anything useful on the bodies, like plans or orders or even some ammo." I replied without looking back at her. I heard the group walk over to me and felt their stares at my back.

"You mean you actually plan to use that thing?" Iris asked. I found a few ammo clips on his utility belt and instead of taking the clips I just took the whole belt then stood to clip it to my waist.

"Yeah, I'm better with guns than I am with magic." I said then looked over my shoulder at the group. Everyone looked confused. "It's a American thing."