The Lone Wanderer-Chapter 335: Wisps

‘Seven Green beasts?! Together?!’ Percy spat, cursing inward at their bad luck.

Back on Remior, one would be hard-pressed to find even two or three Greens of the same species, let alone this many. At least if special locations like the Fungal Spire were excluded. But perhaps, it wasn’t that surprising.

On Melodia, the creatures had an entire continent mostly to themselves, with very few sapients to cull them. Furthermore, this was close to the height of the beast tide. Not to mention that the Mirror Lake was supposed to be the very epicentre of the disaster. If anything, Percy should probably be glad they’d lasted this long without a fight.

‘What even are these things?’ he asked his host.

The hulking abominations resembled sheep somewhat, though they didn’t have any horns. They were as big as elephants: a standard feature of their grade. Their wool: if it could even be called that: was rough, sporting a dull grey colour, making it closer to steel wires. Their cloven hooves sank several inches deep into the ground with each thunderous step, the squelching mud doing very little to slow them down, or to mitigate the tremors.

Sol smiled bitterly.

‘They’re called jigreets. They’re cute and cuddly at Red. No larger than my fist, and they only eat leaves. I’ve heard they make for great pets…’

Percy felt the urge to chuckle. Leaves, huh? Well, whatever the creatures had eaten at the lower grades, it didn’t matter. Virtually no herbivores remained so by the time they reached Green.

It had been about ten minutes since the small herd stumbled upon the Melodians. The beasts had probably circled the lake in search of food. And, well… apparently, they found some. He had no idea why there wasn’t a single Yellow among them though. Perhaps, their weaker kin had already been devoured by other predators. Or maybe it was the Green sheep themselves that had cannibalized the rest.

Not that it made the situation much better.

Percy and Sol had taken it upon themselves to hold three of the creatures busy. Their boosting art was still incomplete, as they had yet to figure out how to properly re-absorb the yarn balls into their channels. At the moment, they clumsily tore them apart, trying to untangle the silver strands, pulling whatever remained into their pores. It sort of worked, but they lost over two thirds of the ambient mana in the process.

Inefficient as it was, the spell was relatively stable at least: providing them with a slightly greater boost than Circulation. The abundance of mana in the environment helped too, allowing them to unleash a storm of spinning sickles at their opponents.

Doh was facing just as many by himself. He hadn’t made much progress with the Dance yet, but his Green core and Circulation were more than sufficient. His attacks resembled the homing birds Sol had used before switching to Percy’s Parting Gifts. Pretty much all the Melodians fought in the same way: it was probably a staple of their culture.

On the other hand, Latt was having a tough time keeping the seventh creature at bay. He’d managed to complete Circulation over the past week, which certainly made his life a little easier. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to fully bridge the gap.

The good news was that the beasts weren’t that fast, so it wasn’t difficult to hit them. However, their souls were even stronger than other creatures they’d encountered so far: probably a requirement to survive under the relentless onslaught of the spectral fiends. Thus, they didn’t have much trouble shrugging off most of the damage they took. Painful as the soul injuries were, it would take many of them to bring the monsters down.

If it was just that, the hunters might have won already. But they all had to fight while fuelling the enchantments on their clothes, lest they got swarmed by the fiends. This ate away at both their mana and their focus, making the fight even harder than it had to be.

‘We won’t last much longer at this rate!’ Sol warned.

Percy gritted his teeth, knowing she was right. She and Doh were doing okay, but Latt wasn’t. His opponent had nearly trampled on him a couple of times already. And it was only a matter of time until he got unlucky.

But what other option did they have?

Running away? It wouldn’t be easy. The beasts had them backed to the lake’s shore, cutting off their escape routes. If they made a big push, they might be able to break through the encirclement, but that wouldn’t guarantee their safety. Sol and Doh would probably manage to ditch the creatures in the end, though it could easily take hours. Latt would most likely fall behind. There was also a good chance they’d get attacked by more beasts if they travelled far.

No. There had to be a better way.

Tossing a fleeting glance behind him, Percy caught sight of the lake’s still waters boxing them in. They stretched as far as his eyes could see: which wasn’t that much right now, admittedly, as the swarming fiends still obscured their vision. Thinking of the strange way the water behaved, he came up with an idea.

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“Run on the lake!” he yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear.

As if to demonstrate what he meant, he leapt backwards, stepping on the surface of the water. Taken aback by his sudden move, Sol tensed, probably expecting herself to sink. But something else happened instead.

Percy kicked against the liquid, meeting a lot of resistance. It allowed him to take a second step, and then a third, practically dancing atop the smooth surface. Taking advantage of the quick footwork of his boosting art, he put some distance from the creatures, gesturing at his companions to join him.

‘How…?’ Sol started to ask, but she seemed to have put two and two together mid-sentence.

Technically, a Yellow mage was already more than strong and fast enough to run on water, but it should have been harder and more exhausting than this. Doing it for a prolonged period of time, and while fighting no less, was ill-advised. But this wasn’t exactly regular water. Or maybe it was, but at least it didn’t behave as such.

Percy was taking advantage of the lake’s unique properties. The surface of the liquid appeared exceptionally resistant to deformation, so everything that fell inside it was affected in a binary way. If it was denser than the water, it would sink quickly and soundlessly, otherwise it would float. There was no middle ground. No slow sinking, or splashing, or floating near the surface. The barrier separating the two behaviours was steeper than normal. As long as one moved fast enough, the lake would act as a solid, not sapping their strength as much. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

The others soon joined him, leaving their pursuers behind.

Of course, the beasts still followed them, clearly unwilling to let their food escape. But things weren’t as easy for them. They were both slower, and countless times heavier, so they instantly sank to the bottom of the lake. It wasn’t that deep: barely reaching their knees: but the resistance bogged them down massively. The Mirror Lake’s properties had the exact opposite effect on the monsters, as the water simply refused to part before them.

The Melodians finally got a chance to catch their breath, though they continued to hurl a rain of spells at their opponents from afar.

“Whatever happens, don’t stop moving!” Percy warned.

If any of them paused for even a moment, they’d sink, and it would be much harder for them to climb up again. Suffice to say, they could easily get surrounded by the beasts at that point.

The others nodded, unleashing their magic against the creatures. Percy could feel Sol’s muscles burn and her bones creak as she hopped along the water. Their reserves dropped at a scary rate, their boosting art failing to keep up with their consumption. But they didn’t let up. If anything, they intensified their offensive, throwing dozens of sickles at the jigreets, harassing them from every direction.

They knew they didn’t have long, as their newfound advantage was fleeting. They didn’t dare run deeper into the lake, as there might be aquatic horrors waiting for them there. Even this far in was a risk they would have rather not taken. Worse still, Latt was losing mana and stamina even faster than they were. The guy looked like he’d fall in the water any second now.

“Come on!” Sol exclaimed, clearly unwilling to let another of her comrades die.

Percy felt her fear as their racing heart skipped more than a couple beats. Her pain, as every inch of their body and soul burned. Her resolve too, as the weapons grew sharper under her command, their attacks more vicious. And honestly, he shared those feelings. They hadn’t been strong enough to bring Rei and the others to the lake, but he’d be damned if he allowed one more teammate to fall.

“Go eat something else, you bastards!” he spat, landing a brutal strike on a beast’s face.

It jerked its head back in agony, its eyes sporting a dazed look. The way things were going, it appeared the first casualty was only seconds away. Would it be one of the monsters though, or would Latt be the one to lose his footing, thrusting himself at their non-existent mercy?

Yet, something else happened instead: something that nobody could have expected.

Seemingly in response to Percy’s and Sol’s unyielding passion, the yarn balls ignited, a cold flame soon devouring them. Rotating even more violently than before, the silver wisps drew the ambient mana faster, growing at an alarming rate. Each barely took a second to escape Percy’s control, forcing him and Sol to break them up. To salvage whatever mana they could from their remains.

Their efficiency was even lower, as they now failed to absorb over 80% of the mana. Yet, they still regenerated more than before: in absolute terms: allowing them to unleash more attacks on the beasts. There was clearly one final piece missing from the boosting art, but it was already powerful enough to save the day.

Even better, the fiends around them were drawn to the silver wisps, only to get incinerated by the fire. Whether it was the violent rotation that ground the creatures into nothing, or some other property of the constructs, Percy didn’t know. Nor did he care.

They were finally free to deactivate the enchantments on their clothes, fully focusing their efforts on the beasts. He and Sol manifested more sickles, hurling them against the creatures. There were way too many weapons to control individually by now. Even for the two of them working together. Even with the Elemental Source breathing life into their mana. Even with Sol’s greater mastery of the spell.

So, they didn’t bother to control them all.

Instead, they focused on the collective behaviour of the attacks. Countless sharp edges spun like crescent moons, surrounding each of the bastards in a cyclone of death, shredding their souls one tiny incision at a time. The sickles were nothing more than parts of a greater whole now. It was the cyclones that he and Sol had to direct, not their numerous components.

The first of the beasts let out an agonizing roar, collapsing into the lake.

The impact caused the area to quake, sending a violent tremor through the surface. Still, the substance merely shook like a metallic sheet would, not a single ripple coursing through it.

Percy and Sol ignored that.

Retrieving a third of their constructs, they sent them against Latt’s opponent, finally relieving some pressure off their companion. It didn’t take long for the second beast to fall, and then the third.

But they didn’t allow themselves to relax. Entering a trance, they revelled in the insights afforded to them by the Mirror Lake. They studied the silver wisps burning beside them, strengthening their boosting art. They played with their weapons as they flew faster than before, and with innate purpose, responding to their emotions and their will.

Once the last of the creatures drew its final breath, Percy’s Status announced the first of the looming upgrades.

[Congratulations! Your spell has evolved: Living Weapons: Crude -> Vengeful Weapons: Refined!]

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