The wood golem barreled toward him surprisingly fast for its enormous size. Jake could feel the earth beneath him tremble as the creature’s feet pounded the ground. When the massive monster reached him, it swung one of its forelimbs in a wide arc. The creature was impressively quick, but it was still no match for Jake’s own speed and agility. He ducked, feeling the golem’s thick, log-like arm rush through the air above him with an audible whoosh.
Jake struck back, the claws on his left hand raking across the creature’s other arm, which was leaning on the ground. It felt as though he had just attacked a thick tree trunk. His talons left four long but shallow grooves across the golem’s limb, but that was the extent of the damage he had inflicted. Judging by the creature’s reaction, it hardly even noticed the attack.
His powerful claws could easily rip flesh to shreds, but the creature before him seemed entirely made of wood. There appeared to be no weak spots anywhere on the monster’s body, so all he could likely do to defeat his opponent was deal as much damage as possible. How long that would take, he had no clue.
Realizing his claws weren’t very effective against the wood golem, Jake extended a sword from his right wrist. He immediately swung it at the creature’s arm like an axe, exerting all his might. The blade thunked about two inches into the wooden limb, embedding itself fast. For a moment, it felt stuck. Jake had to yank it back with great force to pull it out.
After wrenching his sword free, Jake saw a deep gash across the golem’s limb. Since the creature was made of wood, there was no blood, and instead, a viscous, sap-like fluid oozed from the split. The golem didn’t seem to feel any pain or discomfort, however. It raised its other arm high into the air and poised it over Jake. He darted aside just as the monster crashed its massive fist down, striking the spot where Jake had been just a fraction of a second before.
The golem’s massive fist impacted the ground with such force that it sent tremors through the earth, momentarily staggering Jake. He quickly regained his balance and turned back to confront his opponent. With a wide leap, he closed the distance to the monster and raised his sword. The creature’s crude, emotionless face featured only two eyes and a wide mouth filled with jagged, teeth-like extensions. Its eyes appeared to be nothing more than luminous orbs floating in empty sockets. They didn’t even seem solid, but Jake decided to strike at one of them to see what would happen.
He thrust his sword forward, plunging the blade into one of the golem’s eye sockets. The sword tip passed through the red glowing light that represented the creature’s eye as if it were nothing more than air, inflicting no noticeable damage. The tip of the blade embedded itself about an inch into the back of the golem’s eye socket, which, just like the rest of its body, was also made of wood.
At least he now knew that there was no point in targeting the creature’s eyes. Being just two glowing lights, they seemed undamageable and didn’t represent the golem’s weak spots, as he had hoped. Just as he yanked his sword back, the monster suddenly lurched toward him. Jake barely had time to jump out of its way. Still, he wasn’t able to completely avoid the charging creature, feeling one of its shoulders brush against his side with enough force to knock him off balance and cause him to fall onto his back.
Jake looked up to see the massive creature looming over him, raising one of its arms. It aimed its colossal fist at his prostrate form and swung it downward with astonishing speed and power. Though Jake rolled aside just in time, his sword became trapped beneath the creature’s immense fist, snapping under the pressure. He tried to free it from beneath the monster’s grip, but it was futile—the wooden golem was simply too strong.
Seeing that its prey was trapped, the golem seemed to get excited. It shifted its weight onto its legs and lifted its other fist, planning to smash it into Jake’s head. He had only seconds to do something to save himself. Exerting all his might, he yanked his sword as hard as he could and felt it break into two halves, the first still attached to his arm while the other remained pinned beneath the golem’s massive fist.
Jake immediately rolled farther away from the monster just as it swung its other hand downward, smashing into the spot where he had just been lying. Retracting what was left of his blade, he leaped to his feet and glanced over his shoulder at the wood golem. He expected it to charge at him, but the monster remained in the same spot. It stared at him with its emotionless glowing eyes for a second, then stood fully upright and raised its massive fists above its head.
For a moment, Jake was uncertain of the golem’s intent, but it quickly became apparent. The massive monster brought its fists down, striking the earth in front of it with great force. The creature didn’t stop there, though. It began stomping and hitting the ground with all four limbs. The ground shook violently beneath him, and Jake realized that his opponent had just employed one of its special abilities, triggering a small earthquake.
Despite the ground trembling beneath his feet, he managed to keep his balance and stay on his feet. However, just a second later, he realized the earthquake wasn’t meant solely to cause him to fall. By unleashing the earthquake, the golem had also cast a spell that impacted him because he was close enough to be affected by the earthquake and the resultant magic spell. A system message flashed through his mind.
You have just gotten a negative effect: Dizzy (Medium). You will be feeling disoriented and unsteady for a little while.
The golem finally ceased its assault on the ground, bringing the earthquake to an end. However, the damage was done. Now affected by the Dizzy negative effect, Jake felt shaky and unsteady. He made a bouncy step away from the creature and instantly felt his body tilt at an angle, almost causing him to lose his balance.
This was not good. If the wood golem decided to charge now, Jake would be in serious trouble. With diminished control over his body, he was far from being in optimal condition to fight. He needed to wait for the Dizzy effect to wear off before he could confront the colossal creature again.
The wood golem had other plans than rushing at him, though. It opened its mouth wide and let out a thunderous bellow. Jake quickly realized what that meant—the monster had just used another of its special abilities, summoning its minions. Right after the golem’s call, Jake noticed movement all around him. He quickly scanned his surroundings and spotted stirring in the dense foliage at the edges of the clearing. Within his wide field of vision, he could see the tangled bushes reshaping themselves and transforming into new forms. One by one, the newly created creatures erupted from the underbrush into the clearing.
What the hell are those, Jake thought, his mind filled with genuine amazement as bizarre creatures emerged from the woods. They sprinted with bouncy steps across the clearing and closed in on him from all directions.