Library System Reset: Overdue: A Magical Library LitRPG Adventure, page 9
Especially her hair, and her hands. Oddly enough, it didn't slick down her grip, which was a blessing in disguise as the other two worms dove for her as well.
She managed to round off rather clumsily over the one she'd just split in two, narrowly avoiding a hit from what she thought was a green-ringed bookworm. A part of her mind stashed away the color of the rings for later reference, but she couldn’t afford to let her attention wane.
The overabundance of magic the worms had consumed rendered their coloring suspect at best. So the information was likely tainted anyway.
Unfortunately, while trying to figure it out, she rolled right into a pile of goop, which was slippery and offered no traction for her feet. In desperation, she flailed her sword in the air and accidentally managed to impale the worm currently lunging at her. She sliced it along the underside before extricating herself barely in time. Worm guts slushed down next to her, coating her right leg.
Leveraging herself up, she leaned against one of the bookshelves, panting and trying to regain her equilibrium. This whole fighting thing was not as easy as reading about it in a book.
And the smell of rotting corpses and vegetation made her gag reflexes work overtime.
"A little help here," she said, sounding angrier than she wanted. Not to mention, opening her mouth to speak let some goop fall into it. It clung to the roof of her mouth, making her stomach churn in response. She literally had to turn her head and throw up.
"Watch out!" Lynx yelled, his voice booming through the space. He threw out a cascade of salt, doing what he could to help without draining too much energy from the already emergency-powered Library.
Quinn barely twisted away in time. Some of the weird gelatinous substance that expelled from the worm attacking her hit the bookshelves and slid down. It was black, sludge-like, and quite simply gross. But it appeared to be even stickier than the initial stuff she'd been hit with. Avoiding it moved even higher up on her list.
She took another breath and lashed out with the sword again, but this time she only nipped the head. She knew that she'd have to cut the creature in two if she was going to prevent it from splitting into multiple worms.
Diving forward once more, she wielded the blade and finally brought it down on the center of the worm's body, eliciting an airy gasp from the creature. The sound made her hesitate before she could get the sword all the way through, and the two pieces writhed beneath her hands.
The very movement caused Quinn to panic, and she hacked away at the worm with something close to a frenzy until it was indeed in two pieces again. Sadly, there was no reprieve because she could see more worms inching their way toward them, and this time there were more than just three.
"How am I supposed to deal with all of these? All of them at once?" she gasped out, her chest heaving with the exertion.
Lynx looked around, glancing at more boxes of salt to the right. “All I know is we have to kill these. I’m sorry, this has gotten way out of hand."
"You don't say," Quinn muttered, trying to scoop some of the worm guts off her body that had accumulated during the fight. It made moving more difficult because it clogged her ability to maneuver. She decided not to bring up him saying we have to kill them. The salt he strategically threw slowed them enough that she could deal with them so far.
All she could do was knuckle down and flail about with her little wooden sword, desperately wishing the edges were sharper. Luckily, worms were very soft even in their engorged state, perhaps even more so considering they were pretty much just a sack of food and innards.
But those were the last inquisitive thoughts she managed to have before the onslaught.
Worm after worm came, leaping at her, jumping higher than anything without legs had a right to do, screaming at her. And when she cleaved them in two, they quite literally poured their guts absolutely everywhere.
All over the floor in a sea of sludge, caking her clothes in the pungent, mucus-like film. She had to move further into the corridor to face all of the worms head-on and to avoid the massive pile-up of worm parts that was starting to accumulate at the front of the corridor.
If she wasn't careful, she was going to trap herself back there with the rest of the worms which, in her very humble opinion, was not a good thing. All she could hope was that the Library had some way of taking care of all the carcasses when she was done.
Her arms ached, her shoulders burned, and she swapped arms whenever the one she was currently using felt like it was about to fall off. Her thighs felt like the muscles she knew and the ones she’d never realized she possessed were all about to explode with overexertion. Not to mention her back was aching in ways it shouldn’t at her age.
The book might have taught her the technicalities of sword fighting, but it had done nothing to prepare her body. Understanding the drawbacks of the Library system was not the epiphany she wanted while battling engorged bookworms.
"You've got this," Lynx said from his place of observation in the bookcases. He’d changed back into a lynx once he threw out a scattering of salt. Since his claws were much more effective weapons, he occasionally dove into fights as well, but only when his cleave could make a definitive difference. He didn’t draw extra energy from the Library for nothing.
After solidifying his form so that his claws would make contact with the worm bodies, even for just a few seconds, he would flicker so much that Quinn had to tell him off.
"You need to stop doing that. If you flicker out of existence, who am I supposed to talk to, and who is supposed to help me?" She panted out the words, not used to this much physical exertion. At least there was a brief lull in attackers.
But that's as far as she got because a worm larger than any of the dozens of others that she'd seen so far came into view, slithering through the remnants of its brethren. The master worm was probably four times as large as the others, and there was no way her tiny sword was going to cut through any part of it.
Wormzilla
Status: Maximum Engorgement
Danger Level: High
Maximum Mana Density: Leaking
Great. Now the Library chose to be helpful and only succeeded in making her more nervous.
"Get out of the way!" she called out to Lynx, belatedly remembering that it wouldn't matter because he could probably just blink out of existence. She, on the other hand, could not.
Thankfully, she slipped on some of the worm guts underneath her foot and managed to completely avoid a strange whirlwind attack from the bossworm. It’s body cycloned. It was the only way she could describe the movement of it twisting in rapid circles standing on one end.
Something flickered in the corner of her vision, but she was too busy concentrating on the sight in front of her. She didn't have to see any more information to understand it was hellbent on killing her. Every portion of her body ached, but there was no choice other than to push through the pain and the knowledge that this wasn't going to be easy.
From the corner of her eye, she saw a stick flying at her.
No, it wasn't a stick, it was a broom. Catching it deftly with her left arm, she was now dual-wielding a broom and a sword, which seemed comical until the worm suddenly appeared in front of her with some sort of short-range teleportation move that none of the others had possessed. She instinctually crossed the sword and broom, barely holding the creature at bay.
She didn't even think she'd be able to fit her arms around this thing's neck. It was massive. And her left shoulder groaned under the pressure.
Quinn managed to cut a large slice off it as she darted out of the way after pushing back, but it wasn't nearly enough to decapitate it or even render it slightly immobile so that she could hack away at the middle of its body. She didn't know what to do.
Her weapons were subpar and her energy levels were flagging dangerously.
"Lynx, there has to be some other weapon, something sharper, something bigger, something… stabbier?" She rolled out of the way yet again and came up panting. She was not a super fit person. Hell, this was not what she had been aiming to do after learning to fight.
This wasn't a set of mathematical equations that she could easily calculate her way through. Right in front of her was a literal monster trying to kill her, and it was doing a bang-up job so far.
Her left arm throbbed so much that there was little feeling left in it. That was going to take some work if this ever got done. The rancid smell all around her made her sick to her stomach, and she wished she'd have got this done before she ate food. Before this, she'd never regretted eating in her life.
The creature reared back and screamed out a guttural noise that sounded like chains grating against each other. Its head flailed around with such speed she realized it must have been similar to that whirlwind attack from earlier.
But she didn't move in time, and the massive head impacted her chest so hard it knocked the wind out of her and sent her flying all the way into one of the bookcases across the room. Books rained down on the ground around her, and she couldn't breathe. She gasped in air, guts, and muck. Her body ached. It felt like she'd been crumpled against a concrete wall.
And then the worm was back, there, looming over her like a death knell.
11
WORMZILLA
Giant worms were a thing of nightmares, but giant engorged bookworms looming over her when she couldn't even move were something even worse. Every part of Quinn's body pulsed, each nerve on edge even as the creature rose up on its hindquarters—or hind section was maybe a better term—and screamed at her again. If it had arms, they'd probably be beating its chest like a gorilla.
As it was, the creature appeared oddly snake-like despite it being a worm. As if it was a very hungry caterpillar.
It was strange, the calm that came over her, even as she attempted to grip the sword in the hand that appeared to have lost all of its strength. The broom fell out of her grip while she was flying through the air. If she looked at what she just coughed up, it would probably be guts mixed with blood.
Her blood, because her insides felt more than just bruised. She wouldn't be surprised if she was bleeding internally.
Everything slowed down around her as if somebody had just recorded the entire scene on a slow-motion camera and was playing it back to her. Even the bookworm's movements were exaggeratingly slow. Little bits of her life flashed before her eyes, but not like she'd expected it to before her death. They talked it up really big, to be fair, you know, your whole life flashing before your eyes in the moment before you die.
Like a veritable saga.
This was proving to be a very, very long moment.
So long, in fact, that she found it a little easier to breathe now, and her left hand even twitched. Fine, it wasn't holding a broom anymore, but there was still life in it. More strength than she'd had a portion of her moment ago.
Quinn rolled her shoulders, or tried to. Any movement still felt like a colossal mistake. The pain shot through her chest, but that's when she realized that this wasn't actually slow motion. Her life wasn't flashing before her eyes in some sort of ultimate showdown prior to death. Her pain traveled at a completely and utterly normal speed.
Something had slowed the bookworm's movements to a crawl. The creature moved as if it was trying to swim through glue. It screamed again, and even though the sound was about the same frequency and around the same speed as it had been previously, she could tell it was also full of frustration because its body was impeded.
Which meant it gave her time to get her bearings. It gave her time to build up some strength and to figure out some sort of strategy to maybe, you know, not die on her first couple of days in a different world.
As many mangas and webcomics as she'd read on the subject, this wasn't how the protagonist was supposed to go. Unless she wasn't the protagonist and she'd gotten it all wrong.
Still, she sucked it up and groaned as she moved. A grating sensation ran through her left shoulder, and she really hoped it was just dislocated and not broken. It would hurt like hell putting it back in place, but hey, that was better than a break that she didn't know how to treat in a magical world.
Even slowed as it was, the worm still inched toward her far too fast for Quinn's comfort. She scrambled out of the way, barely making it, drawing air into her lungs. She looked around for Lynx, but he wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. She pushed down the mild panic that rose at his absence. Not once in her life had she ever needed someone else to save her. She wasn't about to start now.
Regardless of how much fear and fatigue were trying to convince her otherwise.
Quinn managed to slip and slide through all the guts and body parts, falling occasionally as the boss worm continued to move like molasses. She had no idea when that state of being would end, so every second counted, now that she’d rid herself of her mind fog.
Finally, she managed to get herself propped up against a table. A table that didn't move out of her way in indignation and thus probably wasn't sentient. She glanced around.
Suddenly, Lynx flickered into view.
"Here." He placed something on the table, and she could tell that he was paler. Almost transparent. Hell, she could see the table through his body.
And she could see the machete. That was a machete that he just put down. Rusted and on its last legs, but it looked like it still had an edge and was much sharper than her current weapon. Plus, it was vaguely sword-like.
Quinn was willing to try anything at that point.
Anything on a last-ditch effort.
"You've got this!" She heard Dottie's voice and she looked towards its origin. The bench was standing upright on what would appear to be its hind legs with its stubby other legs reaching toward the worm. It was as if Dottie was controlling it.
Okay, that was too bizarre. Quinn was gonna have to have a long talk with that bench if she ever managed to cut this bloody worm in half.
Compacting all the remaining energy she had, Quinn gripped the machete as hard as she could with both hands, discarding the wooden sword to the ground. Her left hand was too weak to do anything on its own anyway.
Then she launched herself at the snail-paced moving worm that was slowly turning toward her. She sailed through the air, both hands gripping the machete's handle as she brought it down on the midsection of the creature with a resounding, squelching, shuddering slash.
The machete, despite its rust, tore through the skin as easily as through butter. It was far more effective than the wooden sword she'd been hacking away with. A fleeting thought about a book on machete fighting crossed her mind, but it vanished as soon as the machete hit the ground beneath the massive worm.
Each side of the creature began to shudder, spurting goop, guts, blood, and viscera everywhere. The ground beneath it shook so violently that even more books began to tumble from the shelves once again.
Landing awkwardly, her right leg gave out beneath her. Quinn scrambled back as fast as she could, an inexplicable premonition warning her of what was about to happen.
Suddenly, the two halves of the worm's body began to shudder even more violently, right up until the moment they exploded.
However, the shower of worm guts she expected didn't rain down upon her. Looking up, Quinn registered that Lynx had cast some sort of barrier around the massive creature. It flickered out of existence just as she noticed it, and she realized that Lynx's light was starting to wane. He had clearly drawn on far too much power.
Turning to her, he smiled wanly. Even his voice flickered in and out like static as he spoke. "You know, that took a lot more effort than I was expecting," he admitted. "I think I need to recharge now."
And then he was gone, leaving Quinn alone in a sea of worm guts.
Alone, that is, unless she counted the talking bench.
Wormzilla - Defeated
Status: Deceased
Danger Level: Neutralized
Mana Status: Dissipating
A strange wave of power suffused the air all around her. It wasn't actually visible, but more of a scent and sensation. It felt like this strange resistance to the air around her, and smelled like a whirlwind of colors and flavors all wrapped up together into something not entirely unpleasant, despite the number of carcasses in the vicinity.
The aura emanated from the worm corpses and rushed through the Library like a tidal wave of fresh air. On second thoughts, it moved into the Library, because it very obviously remained contained within.
Even her own body felt a sense of rejuvenation from it. It lifted her mood and washed away some of the smaller aches and pains. And ever so slightly, it appeared that the Library itself gained some measure of vibrance.
A thought occurred to her.
Perhaps the magic the worms had devoured was released upon their death. With no other worms to take it off them, it dissipated back into its original host. Quinn just hoped it would help replenish the Library stores. Maybe that way Lynx could recharge quicker too.
Of course, she had no idea if that’s how it worked.
Quinn sat there trying to muster enough energy to move, simply gaping at the emptiness around her. She'd been left to her own devices, and the pain was starting to catch up to her.
Her body ached in ways she didn't even know were possible. There were parts of her torso she hadn't even realized existed. Scrapes, cuts, bruises, and the gods knew what she'd done to her left arm. But she was alive, and the worms, by the very obvious pungent aroma around her, were dead. That was a win situation, right?
She went to pinch herself but paused. The guts of all her worm victims adorned her body in multiple pungent layers. She didn’t need one more bruise to tell her she was awake.
