NOVPUB
Chapter 32: Octopus Monster
The words struck harder than any weapon.
The scarred adventurer clenched his fists, but he couldn’t move. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
No one laughed now.
The room was silent.
Zayn frowned a bit. This was the first time he had seen Tobias act like this...
The pressure lifted just as suddenly as it had appeared, and the adventurer gasped, sucking in a shaky breath.
He coughed, his face red with a mixture of humiliation and exertion, before slowly rising back to his feet.
Tobias merely turned back to the receptionist, as if nothing had happened. "Assign us the quest."
She blinked, visibly shaken, but quickly nodded.
"Y-Yes, of course, Sir Hero." She fumbled with the papers on the desk, nearly dropping them in her haste.
The adventurers who had been watching whispered among themselves. Some of them looked impressed. Others looked wary.
\The scarred adventurer clenched his jaw, his pride wounded.
"Fine," he muttered. "Do whatever you want but we’re not joining this raid."
He turned sharply and walked off, his team trailing behind him.
Kara crossed her arms. "You didn’t have to humiliate them, you know."
Tobias adjusted his glasses again. "I simply clarified the situation."
Zayn let out a chuckle. "Yeah. Clarified. Sure."
The half-elf receptionist handed over the quest papers, still a little pale from what had just happened.
"Good luck," she said, her voice laced with both gratitude and nervousness.
Tobias nodded and turned to the rest of the group. "We move out immediately."
#####
The trees loomed overhead as the party made their way through the forest, their boots crunching against fallen leaves and twigs.
The sun had barely risen past its highest point, but the deeper they went, the darker it seemed to get. The air was damp, heavy with the scent of moss and distant decay.
Tobias, leading the group as usual, spoke in a calm yet firm tone.
"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t put our lives in danger like this." He adjusted his glasses, his gaze locked ahead. "But this creature has the potential to destroy Timberstead if left unchecked since it’s B-rank. As a hero, it’s my duty to intervene, whether I receive assistance or not."
Zayn glanced at Tobias from the corner of his eye. The guy always acted composed, but there was something a little different about him today.
Maybe it was the weight of responsibility settling onto his shoulders, or maybe it was just the remnants of that confrontation at the GUILD still lingering in his mind.
Either way, Zayn kept quiet and let Tobias continue.
With a flick of his wrist, Tobias reached into his inventory and pulled out several small vials filled with a murky, greenish liquid.
He tossed one to each of them.
"These are poison vials," he explained. "Not lethal on their own, but strong enough to weaken the monster. We need to douse it in as much of this as possible. That way, we at least secure a chance to survive."
Zayn turned the vial over in his palm, watching the liquid inside shift sluggishly. "Huh. So we’re playing dirty?"
Bran chuckled, tucking his vial into his belt. "Damn right we are."
Kara narrowed her eyes at Tobias. "And what if the poison doesn’t work?"
Tobias sighed. "Then we improvise."
That wasn’t exactly reassuring, but at this point, none of them had the luxury to argue.
They pressed on, weaving through the thick underbrush and stepping over tangled roots.
Birds had long gone silent in this part of the forest, replaced by an eerie stillness that made Zayn’s fingers twitch near the hilt of his sword.
It was a familiar silence — the kind that signaled a predator was near.
And then, they saw it.
The monster was hunched over, its massive, grotesque form squelching as it feasted on the remains of other creatures.
The ground beneath it was slick with blood, and the stench of fresh carnage mixed with rot filled the air.
Zayn’s stomach turned at the sight.
The thing looked like an oversized octopus, if an octopus had thick, pulsating flesh covered in jagged, bony protrusions.
Its limbs were long, twitching unnaturally as it coiled them around its meal, dragging pieces of mangled flesh into what Zayn could only assume was its mouth.
Elisse whispered a curse under her breath. "That’s... not normal."
Bran gripped the handle of his axe. "No kidding."
Tobias narrowed his eyes, analyzing the creature with the same calculating stare he always had when facing a problem.
"Judging by its build, it likely moves quickly despite its size. Its main weapons are its limbs, so we’ll need to stay out of range. The poison should help slow it down if we apply enough of it."
Zayn exhaled sharply, rolling his shoulders. "Guess we’re doing this, then."
Tobias nodded. "Spread out. Hit it from different angles. We need to make sure at least one of us lands a hit with the poison."
The team moved into position while Elisse remained hidden, each of them fanning out across the clearing.
Zayn took a deep breath, his grip tightening around his sword. His heart pounded in his ears, but he wasn’t afraid.
He’d faced worse... in MMO games, how hard could it be?
Then, Tobias gave the signal.
And everything exploded into chaos.
Bran was the first to charge, his axe cleaving through the air with a roar.
The monster’s reaction was instant — one of its slimy appendages lashed out, slamming into the ground where Bran had been standing a second earlier. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Zayn dashed forward next, using the opening to flank the creature.
He flicked the poison vial open with his thumb, coating the edge of his sword in the viscous liquid before lunging in.
The monster’s movements were erratic, faster than expected.
One of its tentacle-like limbs snapped toward him, but he twisted his body, barely dodging the attack.
The wind from the strike sent a chill down his spine. If that had hit, he’d probably be splattered against the nearest tree.
Kara, meanwhile, slammed her hands together, summoning jagged spikes of earth from the ground. The monster shrieked, its deep, guttural cry reverberating through the clearing.
Zayn saw his chance.
He pushed forward, blade flashing as he struck one of the monster’s limbs. The poison-coated steel bit deep, cutting through flesh and muscle.
The creature spasmed violently, its entire body convulsing.
