Swoosh Bang

A tree broke down, and its fine needles fell like a downpour. Some stuck in Midnight's fur and he grimaced. They were unpleasantly prickly. The sensation resembled a popcorn shell stuck in his gums. Or the hair in one's shirt after a haircut. It wasn't anything harmful, but very annoying.

With fleeing impossible, he had to think of a way. The clock was unrelentingly ticking. Time waited for no man. Even more so for the hurt.

This can't go any longer. He thought and winced at the pain in his chest and abdomen. His fur was already soaked with thick blood. The natural clotting couldn't handle the numerous sliced and ripped-apart vessels.

I need to hurry and come up with a plan. But what can I do against such a creature? Blast it with fire? Make a snake steak?

Bang

Rumbled Crack

While evading yet another close blow, he naturally conceived the idea of grilling the snake. This association brought up a strange memory and he mused. I have heard that snakes taste like chicken...

No! Concentrate! What am I even thinking about? It's too early to dream of my last meal. And I shouldn't fall to this bastard's level. I am not a man that thinks with his stomach...

But I am so hungry for meat. Maybe just a small bite...

While his thoughts were somehow astray, he didn't stop moving. He randomly changed directions and circled a tree.

The Lord was preoccupied with chasing its target. It didn't think twice and followed the lead. Twisting around its head bumped into its body, wasted a second. Then as if this wasn't much of an obstacle, it slithered across its midsection and continued the 'game'. Be it the trees or even itself, in this forest nothing could prevent it from moving forward.

Midnight glanced back, suppressed his regret, and repeated his actions. He used all possible means and terrain advantage to prolong the death tag. These were just tiny cheap tricks, but they earned him a few precious moments. These one or two seconds were not enough to turn the table against such a monster but proved vital when an unavoidable attack came.

The contest entered a standstill, and he could finally let his thoughts swirl. Sparks of inspiration and understanding were born in this process.

I can't appraise the Lord yet...

Heh, this doesn't mean I haven't learned anything. This guy doesn't have the mentality to hide things. In its eyes, I am not worthy of scheming against. Good. Underestimate me as much as it's possible. Only then I may find a weak spot.

What do I know about this strange monster?

First, it is definitely a snake, a reptile. Second, it is fast, agile, and strong. Third, the attack pattern is relatively simple. It mostly uses its physical talents. It slams with its body or rips and cuts with the scales. Fourth, it doesn't seem to wield magic...

No, that isn't right. The surprise attack from before was true stealth. Part of the stealth technique includes mana suppression. It can suppress its own mana and hide itself from a mage. But, it hadn't used it after engaging in combat. Is it a skill that needs certain conditions to trigger? I should pay attention to this. Anyway, this means that it has enough control over his spirituality pool. Even if it can't actively cast spells this should be remembered.

Yes, fifth, I can't rule out the possibility of venom as well. This is mainstream for a snake...Hmm, I don't have to worry for now. With my size as a cat, I won't even have time to enjoy being poisoned. I may directly kick the bucket from its strong bite.

In less than ten seconds, Midnight dissected his knowledge of snakes and the monster itself. He instantly came to a certain conclusion. He couldn't use fire!

Swoosh Bang

Rumble

Bang

He didn't reject his first notion because he was afraid to set the forest ablaze. The environment was too humid and wet. Even if he wanted it was impossible.

What made him unnerved were the scales and the fact that the Lord was a reptile.

Before this exploration, he not only hunted but experimented as well. His previous suspicions regarding his talents were true. His fire-based spells were indeed stronger. But this strength was relevant to the commonly seen monsters. The Lord was out of his league. Its scales were too sturdy. And the muscles beneath were firm and brimming with power. Besides it was fast.

Therefore, Midnight lacked confidence. He didn't dare to bet his life on the most common Flamma. The moment he couldn't blast it apart in one or two strikes, the fight would end right there and then. His dried-up mana pool would only accelerate his death and seal his fate.

If it was anything else maybe, but it is a snake. As a reptile, it must enjoy warmth. My guts tell me that fire won't work. It may be the sixth sense of a cat...

Then, I should use ice structures instead. Can I force it to experience lethargy? Will general logic work on a snake-like fantasy monster?...No, Euclex has always been fair and reasonable. To use a snake's weakness is not a bad bet. I can give it a try.

Bang

A new crater was formed on the ground, but Midnight was already sprinting in a different direction. He sacrificed his painstakingly earned prior advantage, but he was still fine. He was energetic and lively. The only problem was the seeping out blood. The needles and dirt stuck to his wound made him uncomfortable. And he gradually felt his body grow cold.

After a couple of minutes, I will weaken in both body and mind. I can suck up the pain. If only I could somehow stop this hemorrhage. Impossible, the Lord won't give me the chance. I can't waste any more time. It is now or never.

He rapidly made a decision. Then he narrowed his green eyes, with a whisper brought up his map, and adjusted his current direction. The moment he had given up on running away, he had begun paying attention to his location and movements. He wanted to return to the place where he first encountered the Lord. His bag was still there, right beside the crushed tree!

The worst part of my Shapeshift is that it doesn't affect my clothing and bag. Well, surprisingly I somehow know that it works on equipped items. The likes of armor, weapons, tools, and accessories. It is mostly a feeling. Hmm, the developers mentioned that one can vaguely grasp the details of their skills. Then why is it not working on clothing? A problem with their level and grade, or because they are my initial reward...The bag is technically not equipped and 'part' of my body...

Bang

Crack

Splinters, crushed bark, needles, and soil flew in the air and cut his thoughts short. They got in his eyes, irritated the organ, and he unavoidably teared up. The droplets blurred his vision and he nearly slipper. But he couldn't stop now. He didn't dare to reduce his speed either. Blinking furiously and shaking his head, Midnight cleared the tears and turned to the left. He slid between two very close scotch firs and followed the script he had made.

While he ran, in his head a complex structure slowly took shape. It contained numerous symbols and labels. Two to three times more than his previous works.

They glittered, flashed, and entangled together creating a net. This magical image contained profound mysterious knowledge and its symbols reacted together. Sometimes eager to link and attract one another, sometimes repulsed by an invisible force.

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On a few occasions, a couple of letters tried to slip away from his mind driven by the rejection. However, Midnight couldn't permit it. He used his strong will and plentiful mana to pull them again and lock them in the correct places. This took plenty of his attention and tired his brain. Even his spirit began to flicker from the mental exhaustion.

After an unknown time, the structure gradually fell into order. It was a difficult spell he had only imagined before. Until now, he had never had the chance to execute it in practice or observe its effects. It was a pure theory with a suspicious physical outcome. Even so, Midnight decided to bet.

This will make it or break it.

The moment he mumbled, he sensed an imminent danger.

Creak Crash

His pupils dilated and shook, and he braked down in a flurry. A huge scotch fir fell in front of his feet, nearly crushing him in the process.

Before the air could calm from the scattered up junk, he understood.

The Lord used my divided attention to throw off my mystical senses. It could still use stealth to a certain extent. Damn it! It pretended to chase me while, in fact, it guided me to its tail. Then, it blocked my way with a tree. Not good.

A sense of foreboding rang bells in his head. He gave up on jumping across the fallen tree trunk and lunged to the side.

His perception and sixth sense made him believe that the moment he leaped above the pine tree, a tail swipe was awaiting. Then, he could only change shape and hope for his regular body to persist under the second direct blast. And in his current condition, this was impossible. A direct hit spelled a 100% doom.

Before he could make a few steps, a giant tongue shot from behind. It wrapped around one of his paws and dragged him toward the opened-up maw at its end. The Lord's head was not far away. It was actually right behind Midnight. This was a trap that the snake lay. One that resembled the tricks he used to buy enough time. The Lord had taken a page out of his book!

"Pruina!" With his body about to be gobbled, Midnight spat a single word and guided the plain cold structure toward the forked tongue. This was the best he could do with a complex spell already filling his head. Even so, he felt his brain tremble. His hard work for the last couple of minutes quivered, creaked, and was about to break into its parts.

Before it descended into reality, a spell structure was quite difficult to sustain. The more complex the structure the harder the task. And currently, Midnight was not strong and skillful enough to multicast spells of this magnitude. Even double-casting the Pruina strained him to no end.

No! I am losing control. If the spell breaks, the symbols will activate inside of my head. I will burst like an overripe watermelon!

The instability caused Midnight to sense his imminent suicide. After two to three seconds, he would serve himself on a silver plate to the Lord.

Instinctively, he grasped an idea. He gave up on clinging onto the spell. He was ready to consciously reduce his last seconds and gamble. Everything besides the bare minimum of his psyche barely holding the spell, was used in a roar. "Stabilitas!"

Stabilitas wasn't a spell in the true sense of the meaning. It was a special symbol infused with energy and intent. In a language, it resembled a conjunction. One that meant sustainment, stagnation, connection, and order.

What followed took form simultaneously.

Pruina's hoarfrost coated the tongue. It couldn't deal any damage, but this organ was too sensitive. The chill spooked the snake monster, and it slightly loosened its grip.

While Stabilitas sustained the base spell for a moment, Midnight broke off from the clutch and used 99% of his attention to grab back the reins on his spell. With the last 1 percent, he relied on his cat instincts. He turned around in the air, landed on top of his feet, and dashed to the nearby bag.

While crafting his structures, he hadn't stopped moving. He was already near the desired location.

Five steps later, he stumbled and crashed into the bag. He ignored the pain, fought against the dizziness caused by the havoc in his brain, and directly hissed sharply, "Ego clauditis in congelle carcerem!" Simultaneously, he pushed the unstable structure out of his mind. The shaking and glittering symbols traversed through space and fell on the snake. They flared up like an invisible bonfire, infused with his mana, and melded together breaking through the veil of reality.

Hiss!

The Lord had already retracted its tongue. It had recovered from the short bout of surprise. Sensing the structure, it jerked its head back. The small mammal was clearly reflected in its rusty gold eyes.

Eat!

Swirl

As the thought came to its mind before it could move, the first phenomenon bloomed.

Icy cold winds emerged and whispered of winter. They dropped the temperature sharply and transparent glimmering crystals grew out in a distinct manner. They covered the dark-colored scales, extended between, and chilled the thick skin and firm muscles beneath.

Hiss

Crackle Crush

The Lord instantly trashed. It swiped its tail and head, hitting the nearby trees. It despised the cold and the ice. In its fury and violence, it used its movements and plants to crush down the crystals and scrape them away. However, its actions were pointless. The moment the first layer of crystals broke down, new ones congealed again.

For a few seconds, the snake fell into a vicious cycle of breaking the ice and seeing it grow and expand.

Its body turned colder, and its blood and heartbeat slowed down. It felt its powerful muscles grow rigid and taut. Suddenly, its source of power and pride became unexpectedly heavy.

It was as if a knight was exhausted from a long battle. Then, in his daze, he finally understood that his strong armor, the brave partner who kept him protected, was nothing more than an iron. His strongest defense transformed into a burdensome chain.

Bad. Crush the mage first! The Lord narrowed its eyes. They glowed with bloodthirst, anger, and scorching desire. It forwent its prior attempts, ignored the annoying cold crystals, and instantly slithered toward Midnight. When the mage died, the spell would naturally disperse. This unfavorable environment would crumble and melt. All it would take was a swipe of its tail.

Bang

The next moment, a nearly invisible wall blocked the Lord's movements. It was a barrier of ice, a crystalline dome, thick and unyielding. It was unknown when it had emerged and trapped it inside.

Bang Hiss

The Lord felt extremely annoyed. It could see the small creature. It was so close to its reach, yet it couldn't cover the last distance!

"You shouldn't have wasted the last precious seconds. While you foolishly struggled and trashed, my spell had enough time to materialize the second phenomenon.

To be honest with you, I lack the strength to force these phenomena simultaneously. The dome was too slow to emerge. It needed enought time to take shape and enclose you.

Heh, even after it formed it was still very weak in the beginning. The walls were too thin, too fragile to stop you. With your power, you could easily break through. But it is already late."

Midnight coughed up blood, stood up, and explained with a smile.

He wasn't taunting the boss. What he said was the truth. Unlike the small chunks of ice that clung to the Lord's body, the thick transparent walls were indeed slow to descend. They needed at least a couple of seconds to grow out and thicken enough to capture the behemoth. However, the snake made a mistake. It wasted the best opportunity because it underestimated the half-ling. Now, it had to bear the consequences and pay the due price.

Bang

The snake didn't listen, it crashed into the wall making it tremble. The impact cracked the barrier, but the dome didn't break down. Seeing the small branching-out fissures dotting the surface, the Lord was blinded by fury. It wanted nothing more than to rip this small mage into bloody meat pieces.

Bang.

Midnight's head buzzed, but he didn't look away from the monster. Green eyes looked into gold.

He released his shapeshifting skill and felt the change in his body. He instantly morphed. Just like a wax candle, his face, body, and limbs melted, bulged out, and reformed. His fur shed and he grew out his unkept black hair again. In a second, he returned to his natural visage. But there was one tiny problem as well...

I am very grateful that I am in the middle of this forest. Thankfully, it is still dark. Otherwise, if I go around naked, I will instantly die out of shame. I will be deemed a flasher, locked in a prison, and in just hours I will make my way to the news...

Bang Bang

Crack

While he mused, Midnight didn't attempt to cover his privates. After all, flashing in front of a snake wasn't a big deal. Instead, he suppressed his embarrassment and the twitch in his lips and injected more mana into the spell. For this structure, he used the link system. For better or worse, he was already bound to the spell. Therefore, he could sustain it indefinitely. Or at least, until his mana pool dried...

Bang

His mana traversed to the spell, and the cracks reformed quickly.

Bang Bang

New cracks emerged, snaked out from the focus of impact, then mended again.

Bang

Bang

Bang

Again and again, the seesaw continued. The wall cracked, reformed, and then fractured again, only to glue back together.

The physical battle had suddenly become a contest of wills. The snake used its muscular body, sharp scales, and fangs to chip away at the ice, while Midnight utilized his mystical forces and energies to mend the crystals and strengthen them further.

It looked calm, peaceful, and easy. However, it wasn't at all.

Phew...

Midnight swallowed a groan. Despite his previous speech and his uncaring attitude, he was still in a very unstable and perilous state.

The small stream of mana had grown into a turbulent river. The dam to his pool had broken down and the spell was sucking him dry. He felt like a tiny boat in a sea storm. Every blow on the wall reverberated inside his head, and he saw tiny flickers of light. To not betray weakness, he could only clench his lips and snuff out his grumblings.

I don't know how long I can last. Maybe two minutes at most. Then, my mana pool will dry, and the structure will crumble. Meanwhile, this monster won't sustain injuries. When the freezing effect ends, it will quickly recover and gobble me up. Sigh, why do I feel like a corporate slave? I worked so hard, nearly exploded, and now I am still in a stalemate.

He bent down, picked up his bag, and pulled out a few violet stalks. Then with a deadpan expression, he stuffed them inside of his mouth.