Arthur hefted his bag, looking around. He nodded to Kim and Karen, the two Ks who were now bosses of the fifth floor, and the myriad members of the newly formed Benevolent Durian Clan there, many of them either members of the Suey Ying or the Thorned Lotuses. Which was, Arthur noted, causing its own tensions. He could see the way they looked at one another, the way the two disparate groups kept their distance.
"You guys going to be good?" Arthur said, looking between the two with a slight frown on his face.
"Don't worry, lah," Kim said with a wave of the hand. "I'll just beat them till they good."
"That's not the best method of ensuring compliance," Karen said, frowning.
"That's why your daughter doesn’t listen to you," Kim said, turning to Karen with a sniff.
Said daughter glared at Kim, opening her mouth to protest but eventually shut it as Arthur focused on the pair. "Work together. I'm trust you all to. If you can't...." He trailed off for a second before he shook his head. "If you can't, well, someone else will fix it for you when they arrive."
"Wah, so serious ah!" Kim grinned, reaching up to rub at her eyepatch.
"You don't think this is?" Arthur grimaced, then waved a hand before she could reply. "Just, get it done, eh? You all know what you need and what we can offer. And it'll only get better."
"So long as you survive," Karen said now, eyes narrowing and flicking over to Casey and Rick. The pair were chatting, Lam hovering in the background as usual, the two scions of the rich relaxed as they waited for the group to go. "You sure of this?"
"As sure as I can be."
He offered the group one last nod, turned and waved goodbye to the rest. No speeches—he hated them—and it'd mean little to the group who barely knew him. He wished, he wished, he could do something about that. But if wishes were fishes, he'd have the ocean.
***
The armour made its effectiveness known within the first day as they waded through jungle to reach the first platform. Arthur felt not the usual random pricks and thorns that made up the undergrowth. Pity it didn't have an overall protective enchantment or a reinforcement of his aura that he'd heard the higher-end enchantments offered. One reason so few of the most powerful climbers didn't even bother with helmets.
He wasn't bothering with one either, though he did have a skullcap attached to the back of his backpack in easy grabbing distance. Hated the heat, the way it made him feel wearing it. Overheating was harder with a climber's constitution, but it could happen. And in the muggy weather, sweating under his armour was bad enough. Especially since the ability to actually dry off and wash was much harder.
Something that people who had never actually tried hiking in muggy rainforests never understood. It was also, partly, why so many natives went bare-chested or with a minimal amount of clothing. Arthur would have leaned that way too, if not for the constant monsters, the minor comfort runes of his new armour, and his increased constitution.
Misery was smelling days-old, damp cotton t-shirts that just never truly dried, having to put them on after a night of sleep, never feeling truly comfortable because of the grime that clung to you. Even hanging it near the fire didn't help much, often because finding dry wood to burn was a chore and a half—and making you smell of mildew and wood smoke wasn't that much better.
For the most part, all that discomfort was worth it when, for example, you had to survive getting stung by giant hornets because you'd accidentally wandered into a giant swarm of them, cracking open their nest.
Arthur swatted one of the hornets aside, felt the impact of a stinger going right through his backpack and against his armour. He snarled and dropped his spear at this point, instead using his kris and a long fighting knife to strike and protect himself, so swarmed was he that he couldn't even take the time to put on his helmet or gain space.
More than one impact of the hornets’ stingers slammed into him, bouncing off armour as he focused on keeping them away from his neck and head and slicing off limbs, stingers, and the occasional wing. Those that fell to the ground he booted aside or just hopped away from, always moving forwards. Bark Skin helped against the occasional tearing of skin from serrated feet or the glancing blow of stingers, his body turning before they could penetrate more than an inch deep most times.
Even so, his face was bleeding from numerous cuts and punctures. His vision was clouding, poison injected into him sending waves of crippling pain through his body, causing muscles along his neck and face to clench, teeth gritted so tight he feared he'd crack them. Yet, he could not pay attention to anything but the fight, the movements, and the striking.
So many hornets, so damn many. He couldn't see otherwise, even as he waded forwards, even as he conjured the occasional Refined Exploding Energy Dart to send into the buzzing swarm, to throw monsters aside and give him breathing room, even as his ears throbbed and a metallic taste invaded his tongue.
Around him, he could hear, feel, the others fighting. Yao Jing with his fists, throwing jabs and sweeping attacks, his aura coated with flame now. A technique he'd purchased, mimicking Karen. Of course, he left smoking footprints behind him, burnt body parts and smoking leaves as he fought. A fire hazard that they'd have to watch for.
Mel and Jan on the outside, stabbing inwards with their spears, smashing away the swarm that concentrated on Arthur. The loud bark of a shotgun, dozens of pellets flinging themselves forwards to tear up corners of the swarm as Rick took his time to fire, ensuring he didn't catch anyone by accident. He was sweeping away large chunks of the group, nearly as far back as Uswah who did her best to back up Arthur using her shadow tendrils.
Not that she could help that much, what with the swarm blocking views. But the occasional tendril that grabbed and tore a wing off or blocked a hornet sting helped.
Everything did, everyone. Eric and Leia were on the other side, the man sweeping and striking with bare hands, with every single hornet he managed to strike properly falling to the ground. Leia's own attacks were quieter, less flashy, her techniques all subtle, passive movements, but she was doing as much, if not more damage as they dealt with the second swarm. Backed up by Casey and Lam, who were on the edges of the entire fight.
Vision faded, and Arthur struggled to keep Bark Skin working. He knew he shouldn't have been the one to charge in, but no one else had a full set of armour. At the least, he should have put on the skullcap. Would have protected him a little, especially when the damn things kept trying to sting his head and neck.
Maybe he should have gotten a Hardened Bones trait or something.
Or something…
Staggering around, attacking just by sight, by feel, Arthur swung and swung and swung. Until he couldn't move anymore, until he realised that someone was gripping him and screaming into his face.
And then he sagged, released his hold of Bark Skin. He breathed, tried to fill his lungs, force himself to breathe slowly.
And wonder, exactly how bad the damage was.