I stared at the cocoon, watching for any further signs of movement. Had it just been my imagination? I didn’t think so, but even with Night Vision my acuity wasn’t perfect, so there was always the chance that it’d just been a trick of the moonlight.

Nope. A moment later it wiggled again.

Probably, if I were a smarter dog, this is when I would have been retreating. After all, I had no idea what was coming out of this cocoon. I’d seen plenty of them so far over my journey, and most gave me the willies. Like back with the goo zombies? Whatever was coming out of that one was bad business.

But then again, I’d seen the golemets retreat into cocoons, which was probably where the rubble golems came from. These flies were only basics, same as the golemets. And at that moment, I was sitting a mere one hundred experience from my next level.

So I backed up, on edge, ready to strike or flee in equal measure, but still there.

And the cocoon wobbled more. It quivered. It rocked. It positively danced.

Then it split open.

A long, jagged leg emerged from within the cocoon, feeling about until it found the roof beneath. Using its new leverage, it heaved, pulling the rest of its bulk up and out.

Only, it kept coming. And coming. And coming. My eyes continued trailing upward, not entirely sure if what I was seeing was really there. Unfortunately, it very, very much was.

The bulbous insect’s belly quivered and sloshed about, in a way I wouldn’t have thought an insect could. Eyes on long stalks peered about, its legs straining to shift the bulk to which they were attached. On its back, two miniscule wings fluttered feebly before giving up entirely and laying still.

I realized that I had been staring, open-mouthed, at about the same time the system finally kicked in.

Bloated Deathflame Moth (Advanced)

Level 12

You’d be forgiven for thinking this monster is your mother, because the resemblance is uncanny. But no, unfortunately for you, this is a deathflame that has really taken the whole ‘bigger is better’ proverb to heart. Which is a tragedy, because I’m not sure its own heart managed the same. Keep on kicking, little guy!

What the bloated deathflame lacks in its smaller cousin’s mobility, it more than makes up with additional strength and hardened carapace. Their only weak point are those antennae, but to get to them, you’ll have to bypass the flame shot attacks and venomous bite that made its original variety so much fun.

Then again, if you do get bit by this thing, the venom will probably be the least of your problems.

Okay, so not a boss monster. That was both a relief and a bit of a disappointment, since usually the only loot boxes worth cracking open came from bosses. Still, here was finally something that would give me a bit of experience.

Assuming I could kill it.

The monster shook its head, then finally seemed to notice me. Legs scrabbled at the rooftop, trying to turn it about. The whole building gave a groan as the fly’s weight resettled.

I didn’t give it time to coordinate itself, but set out loping in a wide circle.

There were plenty of options available to me. Another static field should at least slow down the already glacial pace of this thing, and my stun blasts could buy me even more time. Or I could take the system’s advice, get up on top of it, and use a Claw Slash to cut this bug down to size. I wasn’t worried about dealing with it in the least.

My stun wands only had three shots left after the battle below, but my static fields should have been recharged by now. Though I couldn’t exactly recall exactly how long it took, now that I thought about it. I’d have to check that after the fight.

The bloated fly had managed to roll over, and now had all its legs under it. With the roof groaning even louder, it started scuttling forward, faster than I would have expected, but still too slow to be a real threat. Just to be on the safe side, I fired off a bolt from my wand. It struck with a bang, right between the eyes.

And the dang fly just kept coming.

I felt the first little flutter of panic. Was it immune to stun? I fired again, to essentially no effect once again. Dog dangit! The monster was only a dozen feet away now, closing the distance quickly. Unlike me, it didn’t need to dodge around the small holes, just clambering over everything.

I activated my static field generator. A surge of power build inside the bracelet—and then fade to nothing.

Error: User has exceeded maximum uses.

What? That wasn’t the usual cooldown message. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to parse it out. The monster was almost on top of me.

I lunged to one side, deciding it was better to retreat and try again when my abilities were available. As I scurried away, the fly let out a screech of impotent rage and slowly attempted to pivot after me. The best it could do is swipe at me with its scythe-like legs.

Then a blast of heat struck my butt.

My tail was the first to go up in flames. I let out a howl of agony and tried to outrun them, but my hind legs suddenly wouldn’t obey. I listed to one side slightly, then further as I toppled over, breath heaving, pain searing down my back half, trying to figure out what had happened.

Finally, I managed to glance down. What I saw nearly got me a return visit of tonight’s dinner.

My tail was gone, entirely. So were most of my back legs, the left one just a charred stump no more than an inch or two long, the right one even less than that. The fur halfway up my body was either blackened to ash, or simply nonexistent, showing raw skin beneath, most of it oozing gray blood from two dozen different sores left behind in the fire’s wake.

I was in a bad way. Badly in a bad way. It was all I could do to keep my agony to a mere whimper.

Further behind me, I felt as much as I heard the monster shifting about, trying to turn itself after me. As it did, I caught a flash of the glowing tip of its tail, so much wider and brighter than the bugs down below had possessed. It must have let out a flame shot like a cannon.

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There wasn’t much time. Already the fly was halfway around, its screeches filling the night air. I pulled up my inventory, hunting about for my cores. My vision wavered in and out as I tried to not lose consciousness.

There was my inventory. I skipped over the common cores and selected an uncommon one. The fellfur blessing was useless right now. If that thing bit me, a little weakness wasn’t going to make a difference.

As my vision rippled again, I activated and applied the core.

You have been granted the following random blessing: Light (10 hours)

I groaned inwardly as my fur suddenly began to glow. It was like flicking a switch, and instantly everything around me was bathed in a cool, white light. I had a moment to appreciate how many other cocoons were on this roof before the monster’s shriek brought me back to reality.

Yeah, hard to keep a low profile if you’re glowing like a lightbulb. If the monster didn’t know where I was before, it sure did now.

My entire back half was a mess of itches as fur regrew itself, while my legs spasmed as they elongated to their original size. Even before it was done, I forced myself to roll over, feeling like half of me was nothing but pins and needles as I touched the ground.

The bloated deathflame fly loomed overhead, a front leg raised to strike. I flung myself away just as it slammed into the roof, leaving another hole in its wake.

I rolled into my landing, almost slid into a hole, then pulled myself back just in time. With a backwards glance at the monster, I started hobbling away, muscles growing less tingly with every passing moment. Another minute or so and I’d be back in fighting form, probably.

Before then I needed to come up with a plan. And get rid of my blessing.

Once I was far enough away to give some breathing space, I pulled open my inventory again and activated another uncommon core. A wave of healing passed through me, but the sigh of relief that escaped my jaws was for an entirely different reason.

You have been granted the following random blessing: Dominant (6 hours)

Not the best, but certainly better than what I had. Dominant granted a +5 to both Presence and Mind, and while I didn’t expect either to be useful in this fight, at the moment I was just glad to have what advantage I could get.

Now that I was no longer advertising my exact whereabouts, I started sneaking away, hoping the giant bug wouldn’t be able to track me. As I did, I fired off my last stun. Still no effect, but at least the cooldown would start on that now.

Finally, I collapsed behind a smashed AC unit. I could hear the monster raging about, looking for me, but it seemed I had given it the slip.

So, what was my plan? Stuns were out, and I still wasn’t sure what had happened with my static field generator. The only tools left in my arsenal were my teeth and Claw Slash, of which I only had one use.

Or did I? A brilliant, possibly incredibly stupid idea occurred to me. Checking that the monster was still nowhere near my position, I pulled open my inventory and started shuffling equipment about. First, I took off my stun wands—an act that physically pained me, let me tell you. On one paw I replaced the wands with my minor skill bracelet.

A new window appeared, asking me to assign a skill. Since I only had the one option, that was easy. I selected Claw Slash, and just like that, I had a second use of the ability!

Afterwards, I shifted the now-useless Static Field Generator to the remaining front paw, and replaced its hind leg slot with my good ol’ bracelet of Minor Replication.

There. I was as ready as I could be to deal with this lunk of a beast.

By this point my bones had reknitted together and my muscles no longer screamed in pain. Glancing around the corner of the AC unit, I saw the monster lumbering by perpendicular to my current position. Perfect.

I waited for the right moment, then launched out of hiding, running at top speed. The monster must have heard me because it started to swivel, but I was on it before it could lumber more than a step. And I do mean on top, as I landed on the bug’s back, slipping a bit on the immense chitin plates covering it. Steadying myself, I half-leapt, half-ran upward.

The creature’s eyes swiveled to look at my approach, and it let out an angry screech. I howled in response, leaping again.

And landed with Claw Slash fully extended.

My claws cut through the creature’s eyestalks like I was mowing grass. Twin geysers of gray ichor burst from the base, soaking me to the bone in seconds. I hacked in disgust as some of it got in my mouth, shaking myself to try and get as much as I could off my fur.

Only to look up and see a blade scything towards me.

Before I could activate my bracelet, my foot slipped in the goo coating the creature’s back, sending me careening to one side, the blade twanging off its owner’s carapace as it missed me by mere inches. Then I fell, the monster little more than a brief blur before I struck the roof of the building.

I groaned, more shocked than actually hurt, and rolled back onto my feet. The monster was thrashing about trying to find me, but not having much luck. My tongue lolled.

That’s what you get! I almost howled in delight but stopped myself just in time. There would be time for that later.

Rushing forward, I slid beneath the monster’s belly. Here the carapace was a slightly lighter color and, I hoped, easier to cut through. I reared back, raking the bloated fly with my Claw Slash.

Just like with its own scything claws, mine did little beyond clanging ineffectually off the monster’s chitin. A cooldown appeared in the corner of my vision, counting down the minute I had to wait.

And unfortunately, my attack had been like ringing a dinner bell. The bloated fly couldn’t see me, but he sure knew where I was now.

Blades scythed down at me from multiple directions. Somehow, I slipped between them, only taking a shallow cut to my left shoulder in the process. I dashed a few feet away, then turned to consider my quarry.

My weapons were useless, my attacks ineffective... I was starting to think it was time I admitted defeat and left this monster to its blind wandering. But still, I was so close to leveling! It would be a waste not to exhaust all options.

Except, what options did I even have left? Maybe my Claw Slash attacks could cut through a leg or two, but I’d still need to deal some significant damage to its body or I’d just be back to where I started.

If only my static fields were working. I tried the generator again and received another error message. Only this one had a bit more information.

Error: User has exceeded maximum uses. Cannot activate until current fields are exhausted of energy or time limit exceeded.

Current fields? Did that mean...

I padded a wide path around monster, who was still thrashing about looking for me, and made my way to where I’d climbed up. As I did, the roof let out another angry groan, making me wince with each step.

Finally, I reached a hole that led to the battlefield below. Sure enough, the fields I’d created before were still active, crackling away angrily as they waited for an enemy that would never come.

Perhaps I could amend that. Turning, I raced back towards the bloated fly, careful to not ever get directly behind it. I didn’t need to get hit by a blind shot from its butt.

Coming up on its left flank, I activated my Claw Slash. The weapons grated harmlessly off the monster, but they accomplished what I wanted them to. Roaring, the monster spun in my direction.

I backed up again and waited until the monster turned past before rushing in and slashing it again.

This time, the monster stopped thrashing about, and instead charged forward. Seemed it had taken the hint. I ran, leaping around cocoons and holes as best I could, the roof shuddering behind me.

There ahead lay the opening I’d used to access the roof. Once again, I felt the ground beneath me shudder, enough that I almost lost my footing. I spun around.

Looming over me was the bloated deathflame fly. I slashed its face again, bringing its charge to a skidding halt. It reared back, blades poised to strike where I was standing.

I activated my replication bracelet, letting it pull me a good twenty feet back. The monster, unaware, struck the roof instead.

And with a final groan, the roof collapsed.

Even with twenty feet of separation, I had to leap back not to be dragged along with it. The monster shrieked as it plummeted down into the store, its massive bulk landing across no less than a full three of the static fields.

Its body began to thrash, great rents appearing in its chitin carapace. Even when it managed to roll out of the path of one field, however, it found another one nearby. The floor of the shop was quickly coated in a small lake of blood.

Desperate now, the monster fired off a shot from its tail, setting a distant section of the store ablaze. One of the fields winked out of existence, its energy apparently spent. Then a second. Then a third.

And finally, the monster lay still.

You have defeated: Bloated Deathflame Fly (Basic) — Level 12

500 XP and 1 Common Core awarded.