Operation I, Phase I: Prepare Defenses Against the Orsha

Moments after the agent yelled, the green skinned monsters rallied together and ran into the forest toward the agent's location.

"(What the hell did I just get myself into?!)" The agent thought to himself as he looked to another tree.

"Teh-lah!"

This time he used the momentum of the web retracting to slingshot himself forward to a tree behind the one he was aiming at.

"(I can't lead them back to the burrow. I'll head this direction instead and circle back around. Teh-lah!)"

The web shot out from his wrist as intended and he pulled himself to another distant tree. "(It seems like I can say this one in my head. This one feels more natural than the others. It's like a faster version of my grappling hook.)"

Agent Eleven swung tree to tree creating distance from the monsters who had noticed his presence.

"(On the upside of getting chased through this forest, I feel like I've already mastered this Beast Stone. Studying Chaos Widow's movements for so many years must have put me in a unique position. Especially when it comes to the whole visualization part.)"

He aims for a sturdy branch and swings downward, at the height of the swing, he lets go, launching himself forward past a few trees this time. The agent attempted to land, but snapped the branch underneath his feet, "(Too much momentum! Teh-lah!)"

The agent was able to shoot his webbing upward toward a nearby tree before he began falling too far. He pulled himself back up and started to zoom in with his spectacles. He couldn't see any traces of his pursuers.

"(I think I lost them. I need to get information on those things immediately.)" Agent Eleven thinks to himself as he makes his way to the burrow, swinging across the forest.

The agent lowered himself from a tree near the burrow and walked the rest of the way. It was a short walk, and upon arriving he announced himself and tapped the conjured burrow blockage as usual.

Miri cleared the entrance and the agent dropped down into the burrow, slightly stressed.

"Eleven! Oh… is something wrong?" Miri asked concerned.

Eleven responded, "I think I upset some goblins in the forest."

Miri cocks her head to the side, confused, "What's a goblin?"

Agent Eleven returns her confused look, "There must be something lost in translation. You know, little cave dwelling green monsters shaped like humans but they have sharp teeth, lifeless eyes, long ears and noses?"

Miri looks lost in thought trying to recall anything that can help.

Agent Eleven begins describing further, seeing there is no real analogy to make, "Well, these guys look kinda like goblins, except they're tall, bulky, and they live in a village nearby.".

Miri's eyes widen, "A village of tall, bulky green skinned people?! Those are the orsha! Oh no!"

The color drains from her face as she hurriedly begins bottling the improvised kinto berry potion, "We need to go!"

The other two men hear the word "Orsha" and begin having a full-blown discussion that turns into a shouting match. Miri joins in, yelling over the two of them, making them go quiet. She reaches for the bag of mana fruit nearby and eats a small of piece which replenishes her mana, and begins sharing the potions with the two men. They all drink their portions and Miri begins packing her supplies.

Agent Eleven sees the seriousness of everyone and says, "What are those things? I need as much information as I can get in case we run into them."

Miri, packing her bag, explains, "The orsha are a race of tribal folk who live by the rule of nature, eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed. You're either weak or strong… And the weak die. Some of the clans can be reasoned with, but the green orsha aren't one of them. They are up to three times stronger than the average human and don't succumb to fatal wounds easily like the other clans. On top of that, they're stealthy hunters with tracking skills that can only be evaded by large bodies of water. If we let them surround us, we'll be slaughtered as soon as we show ourselves."

Agent Eleven, "But, your foot isn't healed. And I don't think Derrin and Kona can keep pace with me either. We need more time to recover."

Miri sighs, "I don't think that's an option, Eleven. If I were more skilled in earth magic, I could fortify the burrow perhaps. And that would only delay the unevitable. All I can do with my current knowledge is make holes and conjure boulders. I can make pools of quicksand as well, but that won't help fight opponents like them."

Agent Eleven hears Miri's explanation and has a realization, "You built this burrow with magic, and you could do more?"

Miri nods, finished packing her bag and attempting to fasten her satchel to it.

Agent Eleven says with a smirk, "I don't think we have to go anywhere. You're all we need, Miri."

Miri looks confused, "You want ME to fight them? With earth magic of all things? That's not even my strong suit."

Agent Eleven, "You aren't going to fight. You're going to build me a dungeon."

Miri looks confused as the agent configures his watch and press a button. It begins shining a light, and he takes off his watch and lays it flat on the ground. After a few moments the light begins to show a sonic map of their location as a projection floating above the watch.

The two men turn toward the light and look at it in awe, expressing their reverence in their foreign tongue, unsure what they were witnessing. Miri's eyes widen, "I've never seen magic like this before!"

Eleven replies, "It's called technology, not magic."

The agent powers up his gloves and prepares for a demonstration.

"Miri," the agent begins, snapping Miri out of her amazed look, "This is the Forbidden Forest above us, this is where we are. If you can begin extending the burrow in this direction, our survival is guaranteed."

Miri looks intrigued, "How can you be so sure? Some of them can use magic as well and could pursue us."

Agent Eleven responded, "That's why we'll have to be smarter than they are strong. I'll help you create some traps."

Miri cocks her head to the side while the agent draws her attention to the map. He begins to drag his finger through the burrow on the map, erasing and redrawing sections while explaining his strategy. In moments, a new burrow is drawn with various corridors, pitfalls, false entrances and spaces for traps.

Miri sounds surprised at Eleven's explanation saying, "I can only move small portions of dirt and rock at a time! It takes take so much mana to make something like this!"

Agent Eleven replies, "That's why you should start now. Besides, we have enough mana fruit here to make that happen. And this time, we aren't using it as food. You should have no problem using it to help make this for me."

Miri thinks, "You have a point, we wouldn't be wasting the Mahkaloyé anymore." A new look of resolve takes over Miri's expression as she starts casting a spell to expand the burrow.

"Tarria."

Agent Eleven looks satisfied with the small room sized area she was able to create next to the original burrow within such little time.

"(Perfect. This will go smoother than expected.)"

Agent Eleven says to Miri, "Don't forget. Make this original entrance much deeper after you're finished expanding. It'll be our first patch of quicksand as well. They'll drop in expecting to find us, only to land in a pit of quicksand. They'll lose a few troops before they figure out what's going on. And if you make the tunnels more narrow behind us, they'll have to use magic to pursue us. If the mana fruit is as rare as you say it is, we should be able to outlast them, even if they do decide to pursue us."

Miri, impressed by the extent of the analysis she was hearing, responded, "No one has ever fought the orsha like this. We've only ever fought them in ambushes they set for us in the forests."

Agent Eleven responds, "Don't get me wrong, I would much rather fight them in the open, but I'm not sure about their numbers. This miniature 'dungeon' will stall them while I count their forces. Go ahead and get started. I'll be back to install a few traps of my own. I'll be right outside, so don't seal the exit."

The agent straps his watch back to his wrist as Miri nods, accepting his instructions. He leaves the burrow with a quick and clear objective.

The agent quickly enters the trees and begins snatching off their limbs and carving them with his powered up knife. Before long, he had more than enough wood to prepare the first set of traps and returned to the burrow with a devilish smile and a briefcase packed with pointy wooden sticks.

The agent dropped back down into the burrow, briefcase in hand. He dumped the sharpened wooden sticks on the ground, and went out to collect more.

Shortly thereafter, Agent Eleven returned to the burrow expanded even further with another batch of sticks.

The agent looked at their food supplies and calculated, "(We're nearing the end of the first mana fruit with Miri using it to keep her magic powered up. With five fruits left, they can use one to keep burrowing toward the magic door and the other four can be used for food. Even with my enhanced metabolism, I don't feel the need to eat for a while. It explains why they didn't eat anymore the whole day besides those nabanas I found. If those three split the remaining fruits, they should have about 8 days worth of food.)"

Agent Eleven hears a small pat of liquid drop into the burrow. He turns his head to see a few more drops begin to fall. And then a small torrent.

The agent smiles, thinking to himself, "(Rain… Perfect. The variables of this defensive operation keep finding ways to go more in my favor.)"