WHAM!
The foolhardy soldier and is sent flying, a harsh crack in her carapace.
Dammit!
“Vibrant, heal yourself!”
It can’t go on like this!
The emotion and panic battering at the walls of my Meditation skill rise, trying to destroy the calm bubble in which I sit. I need to turn this around. The situation is only getting worse.
Decisively, I throw away the Water Cannon spell, letting it fizzle out, and devote my minds to complete my next water magic as fast as possible.
[Advanced Water Magic Affinity (II) has reached Level 3.]
The strength of the monster is evident in how quickly I’m gaining Skill Levels. For some reason, it doesn’t cheer me up.
Finally free of my Water Cannon harassing its face, the beast grins and opens wide its top jaws, preparing to blast me to ash with its blue flame breath.
Not today!
Completion of my spell takes effect as a torrent of Mana pours out from me and forms a semi-circle on the ground before my feet.
[“Hold on, folks! This is going to get rough!”]
Forceful Tsunami!
BOOOOM!
With a roar that would rival any explosion, water bursts out of the ground, completely destroying the earth in front of me and sweeping forward in an unstoppable wave. The marsh turns out to be the perfect place to cast this construct, as the murky waters rise together with my spell, building the wave even higher and giving it irresistible momentum. The wave reaches over ten feet high and rolls over the surroundings, dousing flames effortlessly and crashing into the croc like a sledgehammer before continuing on its path.
Hopefully this doesn’t drown the entire Expanse…
With one of its legs significantly damaged and weighed down by gravity, the croc is awkwardly driven off-balance and knocked down. The slightest of reprieves! I hastily check my Mana levels. Not much left in the tank but it might just do.
I hastily spin together another three Gravity Bolts, one sub-brain maintaining my construct as I check on my crew. Tiny was thankfully behind me so I could angle the spell away from him, and Crinis was able to dig in low. I’ve no idea where Vibrant might have gotten to and that’s concerning. I don’t know just how injured she was and if she gets carried away by the wave…
I can’t think of that now, we have to kill this damn thing.
There!
The frothing waters recede to reveal a drenched croc still struggling to get to its feet.
That’s the leg right there!
POW! POW! POW!
Three more Gravity Bolts fly, striking home on the wounded leg. I want to do everything I can to reduce this monstrous creature’s mobility to give me time to work on my next spell.
[Crinis! Tiny! Go in now if you can! Keep it off-balance and do everything you can to NOT DIE!]
Part of me is railing and screaming against sending my beloved friends into fight, but deep in my Mediation, I can’t feel that emotion clearly. It happens within me, but outside of my thoughts. Inside the bubble of rationality, I know I need time to prepare a spell that might actually deal decent damage to this beast.
Delighted to finally be set free, Tiny bellows his challenge and starts relentlessly charging forward. So furious is his charge, he doesn’t even seem slowed down, his fists pounding the dirt and sending dirt flying behind him as he builds unstoppable momentum. Even as he charges, he continues to do two things—roar at the top of his lungs and grin.
He’s hopeless.
Crinis, for her part, slithers out of her hiding place, half buried in mud, and unleashes a forest of tentacles. Using her fellow pet as a homing beacon she moves in, not with any of Tiny’s manic speed, but with deadly grace as her body expands to its full-size and her powerful limbs seek out the croc, slithering through the air like ink-black boa constrictors.
“HRAAAAA!”
Bellowing angrily, the croc thrashes and twists, trying to get back on its feet. Just when it seems to right itself, Tiny opens his bat fangs wide and unleashes a piercing screech!
“KEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
MAH BRAIN ZONE!
The sound drills straight through to my noggin, but I shake it off. The croc doesn’t seem to be quite so lucky and momentarily freezes just long enough for Tiny to throw himself at the much larger beast and start hammering it with his fists.
The force of those punches sends the croc smashing into the ground, causing the earth beneath my feet to vibrate as if an earthquake just occurred. Before the croc can fight back, Crinis arrives on the scene and devotes all of her limbs to binding both arms on the right side of the croc’s body before unleashing her barbs and beginning to saw. In a rare show of aggression, she unfolds her mouth and brings her Void Maw down on the croc’s shoulder, digging deep into the flesh with her fangs.
The croc is seriously mad now. Red-eyed and screaming with rage, it slashes and writhes with all of its prodigious strength to throw off the combined assault of my pets.
They can’t hold for long.
Within my mind, a slightly new construct is taking shape, layering over the top of the water construct and adding to its complexity.
This had better work.
120. Eye of the Beast, Part 4
When Water Mana Affinity Levelled up to Advanced Water Mana Affinity, I learned many things. I’d poured a lot of resources and evolutionary energy into beefing up my spellcasting ability to the point I was happy with it, except the spells hadn’t been quite as impactful as I’d hoped. The Mana Affinity skills were my first window into increasing the power of my magic. The human mages I’d seen had almost all been specialised in a particular type of Mana, especially the younger ones. What had been the reason for this?
Advanced Water Mana Affinity unveiled a few clues. Along with new constructions, new spell shapes specifically for water magic, I’d also learned how to adjust the Water Mana Transformation construct to produce a slightly different effect. A more potent one.
As Tiny and Crinis do battle with the monster, I race to complete the new construct, all of my minds dedicated to the task. I’d hoped to have more time to test this before being pushed to using it in such a desperate situation. I thought I’d had more time!
Just another example of me taking things too lightly. I’d assumed that I’d become so powerful we’d be able to blow through most resistance with ease. I constantly have to keep reminding myself that though my evolutions might have given me a massive leg up in terms of raw stats, I started from perhaps the lowest base in the Dungeon.
I need to keep pushing myself further.
With a shattering roar, the croc finally connects a solid blow into Tiny’s ribs, sending the ape rolling through the dirt and into a tree where he lies clutching at his side.
Come on, brains!
The final pieces of the construct snap into place as the croc painfully struggles to its feet. All of the Gravity Bolts I’ve piled into that one leg are adding up. Along with the beating it’s taken from Tiny, the creature no longer has the strength to move freely or easily. That has to be enough.
The beast flexes its claws and prepares to slash Crinis, who’s still clinging with everything she has to the croc’s other arms, restraining them with all of her might.
I won’t let you!
Ice Spear!
All of my minds work in concert to power one spell at a time, churning out this new form of Mana, Ice!