Woo!
So much easier than the Mind Magic one… my upgraded brain has already succeeded! Perhaps this is the effect of the affinity skill as well?
I can’t wait to try out some spells!
Feeding the construct raw Mana, it begins to perform its intricate dance, working its special alchemy on the raw Mana from my core until it finally emerges from the other end as shimmering blue water Mana.
So exciting!
I leave one sub-brain in charge of holding the construct in place and task the other with feeding a constant stream of raw Mana from my core into it while I take the Mana and begin testing some of the known shapes to see what works.
First, the bolt!
Following much the same principles as the Gravity Bolt, I begin to use the Mana to weave the familiar shape until a shimmering blue bolt is formed within my mind. Nice! Let’s test this sucka!
Fire!
Fwoosh!
Filled with blue Mana, a dense ball of water is formed that blasts forward and impacts against a nearby rock formation where it explodes. Water flies everywhere and the stone partially crumbles under the impact of the pressurised water ball.
Holy heck!
So nice!
Let’s try the spear.
I gather a new Mana thread and start trying to form the spear shape, but the spell doesn’t seem to want to come together. The more I try and force it, the more it pushes back until the whole things snaps and comes apart.
What!
Why the heck did that fail?
I try again, a bit irritated, and the same thing happens. I get to a point where the spell simply won’t come together and if I try to force it, the whole thing breaks and dissolves to nothing.
GAH!
Let’s put the spear aside for a moment and try something else.
I could try the Domain spell I guess… but I don’t want to use that much Mana and exhaust my mind. What other shapes are there? I haven’t looked at the others since I haven’t really used them in so long.
Hmm…
I flick through a few different spells in my mind before settling on one. This’ll do!
The shape I’ve chosen is similar to the spear but more open ended, kind of like a cylinder within a cylinder, and both are engraved with elaborate patterns and signs. Not the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Let’s give it a go!
With my powerful main mind on the job, I work patiently through the process of forming the construct, and ten minutes later, it’s finally complete! I may have had to remake a few parts, but for my first go that isn’t too bad.
Let’s power it up and see what it does.
Fire!
FOOM!
A solid jet of water appears above my head and blasts forward as if shot from a fire hose. Holy Moly! The potent stream of water sends spray fountaining everywhere as it smashes into the wall of the tunnel.
Ah! It’s still drawing on my Mana. Turn it off! Turn it off!
So, a Water Cannon?
Tiny is looking at me, irritated, dripping wet from the spray.
…Sorry about that, buddy!
I wonder which other shapes will work. There are a few I still haven’t tried, even with Gravitational Mana. Since my raw Mana is being replenished quite rapidly through my feet I may as well try and experiment.
I think of the various shapes that have been implanted in my head when learning my magic related skills and find one to my liking. This one is sort of a curved arc with a cloud-like base. I don’t know why, but I feel like it will be impressive.
It’s a bit more difficult than the last one, so I take my time to carefully construct it. Tiny’s busy slapping to death the various monsters we come across. Eventually it’s ready and I start powering it. The moment I do, I realise this one is going to need quite a lot of juice before I can cast it.
[Tiny? Come and stand behind me.]
The giant ape moves behind me, carefully positioning his lumbering form to avoid possible splash back.
Still thinking about that, eh?
Being careful, I continue to feed the water attribute Mana into the spell as it comes out of my transformation construct, drawing the reserves in my core lower and lower. Just how much is this spell going to take?
Aha, ready at last!
After activating the spell, I stumble a little against the potent magic.
With a colossal BOOM, water explodes out of the ground in front of me with a deafening roar and thunders down the tunnel in a mighty tidal wave!
Stalagmites shatter and get washed away by the sheer kinetic force of the wave as it froths and foams, eventually following the tunnel around a bend and out of sight.
Then a chorus of angry roars echoes up the chamber.
…Whoops?
76. The Croca-Army
Looks like we might have hit something by mistake?
Although, considering everything down that tunnel is sure to be hostile, I’m not sure I would call it a mistake.
I wonder what I even hit with that wave…
The mystery is soon solved when a gang of angry and damp croca-beasts swagger around the corner looking for trouble.
You guys!
Are you the culprits chasing all the other monsters up the tunnel toward the surface just like Enid said, you damn thugs! Acting all tough now that your momma is in town. How sad is that?
You stupid croc bipeds might have been scary and threatening when I was a hatchling, but you’re small fry now!
And it’s true. The croca-beasts that once upon a time loomed over me like giant croc-faced messengers of death don’t seem nearly so large anymore. I’m not quite tall enough to look them in the eye, but I probably have a similar overall mass since I’m longer than I am tall.
Their sharp claws and powerful, snapping jaws are not nearly as impressive as they once were. My own Savage Infused Mandibles look far more deadly to be honest. These guys just don’t hold any fear for me anymore.
“ROOOOOAAAAAOOOOOR!” Tiny bellows.
Well sure, he’s even less scared of them. Without waiting for my orders, Tiny lumbers forward and starts smashing croc-face in with his massive fists. It’s almost sad. He towers over the little crocs and his fist is probably the same size as their entire head. With every swing, he one shots a croca, and it isn’t long before the posse of toothy monsters has been smashed into paste.
[Good job, Tiny! Show ’em who’s boss!]
The big ape slaps his chest and a wide grin appears on his bat face. This takes me back to when I first saw Tiny, battling against his rival, a massive titan-croc. I get the feeling even after being reconstituted, he still has a special hatred for the croc monsters. At the very least he seems inordinately pleased to have punched this particular group’s faces in.
Since they’re unevolved monsters, we don’t even pause to eat them before proceeding down the still soggy tunnel. As I climb over the fallen crocs I begin to sense something strange tickling at the edge of my awareness. Like a sound I can’t quite hear.
[Do you hear anything, Tiny?] I ask.
The ape tips his head to one side and listens for a moment before frowning and slowly nodding. There is something…
[“Be on guard, everyone,”] I advise before we continue to advance.
With every step the same feeling at the back of my mind grows more distinct. The pace of its increase is so slow, I wouldn’t have noticed at all if I wasn’t watching for it. As it grows, the sensation becomes more oppressive, threatening even. And I can’t shake the sensation that I’m being watched by a ravenous beast.
HOGAAA!
Feels weird!