The locust hisses horribly with its last breath while making more of that awful buzzing noise before it falls to the ground. Only a few twitches make me think twice whether it's dead or not.
[You have triumphed over the enemy [Juvenile Devouring Locust - Fire lvl 24].]
Okay, now it's definitely dead.
[The class Skill [Arcane Magic] has reached lvl 18.]
[The class Skill [Mana Blade] has reached lvl 5.]
[The class Skill [Mana Spear] has reached lvl 2 -> 3.]
Decent and nothing extraordinary, probably because the fight went too easy. I did ambush the locust and it did perish before it even had the chance to retaliate. This wasn’t a real danger situation and its fate was sealed before it even noticed me. Muhahaha.
Okay, I might’ve messed up a little. Still, I think my plan was simple yet solid.
I look around to decide where I should head in search of new prey when I hear movement from my right, approaching fast. Quick Witted whirls into action and I jump into a nearby bush, hoping to at least have the element of surprise against whatever is coming my way. I don’t have to wait long, not even ten seconds really, for the foe to show itself.
[Locust - lvl 27]
Honestly, that’s not too unexpected. That awful noise it made was probably for its kin to warn them or whatever. That’s all the better. The question remains, should I fight it properly this time?
Ok, let’s not be stupid, like mom and dad used to say ‘slow and steady’. I could go head to head with it, but why risk my outing with Martha? Because of arrogance or hotheadedness? Bah, the plan worked last time, why not repeat it again…
I gather back up some water just like last time and aim it at its leg. Yes, only one leg to leave room for a little action. It’ll still be crippled and my chances of beating a barely mobile stupid bug are almost guaranteed, so why not? The crescent liquid blade cuts through the air and then the leg without much problem, leaving the enemy buzzing and stumbling.
This round I remain more cautious, it can still use one leg to jump. Even if it's weaker or inaccurate, a jump is a jump.
I remember what Martha told me on the way here, read the body and the face of those around you. Now, I know this ugliness has no proper face… but what it does have is a body. Could I guess when it's about to ju-
I’m unable to finish that line of thought as the locust can clearly jump without me predicting it. My luck is that it hasn’t adjusted itself to using only one leg to launch itself, so it misses its mark, aka me. The leg was coiled, ready to release immense power from the start and the jump itself was way too sudden and explosive for me to even comprehend.
Cold sweat runs down my back as my idea of how this should end just got completely flipped.
“I need to finish this quickly.” I murmur to myself.
Safe way to do it my ass. Why is it that every time mom and dad have warned me of something, it actually came true? It happened before and do I listen now? Oh nooo, just a little risk is fine, it's calculated… Well, it looks like I suck at calculating.
To my luck again, the locust is neither able to jump properly nor land the right way, although it quickly corrects that mistake and aims its body in my direction once again.
Wild boar tactics? Nah, I don't have enough time to prepare something like that. This thing is less sturdy than the boar but much faster. Could I just throw some attacks its way to deter it or even take it down?
It’s worth a try.
I conjure two blazing bolts, aim and hurl it toward the insect. The attacks singe it, leaving tiny burn marks on its outer armor, albeit nothing serious. The bug changes direction once again. It turns towards its slain brethren and jumps over to its corpse. It's time I learn why they have devouring in their name. The locust leans down and starts gobbling up its dead kin. The wounds on its body visibly heal as it consumes the flesh, regenerating through devouring.
I waste no time, seeing that the longer this draws out the worse my chances get, so I tear some earth from the ground and start making a hard earth spear out of it. High penetrative force is what I need right now. The spear is just about ready when a new guest arrives.
[Locust - lvl 28]
“Fuck no!” Is all I manage to say before the new arrival, let's call it locust 2, skids to a halt in front of me and I get a terrible premonition. My heart jumps into my throat, panic rising and my blood running cold. This will turn real ugly real soon.
As Quick Witted was of little help last time with the crippled enemy, against the healthy one I don’t even try to rely on its use. I jump, while also pushing myself with a wind blast, out of the way without even thinking. Just an instinctive reaction, and what a blessed one it is. The tree I was standing in front of cracks and groans, splinters flying all around as the large bug crashes into it.
I quickly jump to my feet and descend onto the disoriented bug. There’s no time to build a strong piercing attack, this thing needs to die, now.
I reach out with my right hand towards the locust and a small flame begins to form in my palm. BURN GAS. The flame roars to life, turning blue as the clear summer sky with white specks dancing in its core. It is burning with such heat that the grass at my feet begins to wither. I stretch my flame forward commanding it to grow into the shape of a blade. A knife. A small, unstable and gangly knife. Even my clothes are not spared by the intense flames, slowly catching fire, which can actually hurt me as it's not governed by my mana.
With the wobbly fire blade in my hand, I strike down the locus from top to bottom right at the middle of its body. The blade cuts through its chitin armor like butter, melting the carapace and innards with childish ease. The two parts fall to the ground with a squeaking, steaming noise and with bubbling bug fluid stuff flowing out of the corpse.
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The first one is felled but I have to grit my teeth to endure the pain from my clothes burning my skin. It is starting to get unbearable and I have no capacity to deal with it and keep the blade together. My mana supply is sinking dangerously fast towards rock bottom so I put my other hand on the Hadron crystal Martha gave me to win a few more seconds on my weapon.
I turn my attention towards the other locust. The one feasting on the corpse to heal itself. Yeah, that one. Well, now it’s occupied with something else other than cannibalism, jumping at me. I hold the blade up in an attempt to defend myself, a rather successful move since the only thing that hits me are the dissected and sizzling remains of said locust 1. Not as deadly as the creature alive yet still very painful as my shoulder gets yanked back with a nasty crack and the boiling hot body fluids shower onto me.
The knife of fire in my hand is immediately extinguished as I’m thrown back by the impact, making me lose focus on the spell. Not like I need it anymore. Some of the body parts that land on me have the beneficial effect of the bug fluids, or whatever that is, extinguishing my clothes and stopping my skin from burning further. At the same time said goop is around the temperature of boiling water. Cooler than the embers, hotter than what my skin can take.
It's not the first time some ungodly hot water got poured onto my skin. Giving a hand in the kitchen and learning how to juggle spoons is a dangerous combination, it turned out. This time, it’s not just the skin on my hand that is red and bubbling.
I grit my teeth and hiss in pain while pushing any inner and outer bug parts off me. With the last droplets of my mana, I cool the air around my sizzling hot skin, taking deep breaths.
“Oh, you careless poor…” Martha appears and leans down to me, clearly concerned. Her eyes dance across me to assess the damage, careful not to touch me as even slight contact with my skin could cause pain to flare up. “Let me help, here, this potion...” She reaches into her bag but I halt her hand. “Sorry I got a little distracted by that magnificent flame in your hand-”
“Not done yet.” I mutter between rough breaths.
Some of the water I planned to pour onto myself is now redirected into my mouth and I take big greedy gulps. I have to draw more mana from the crystal as it seems the few seconds of using the blue fire massively drained my reserves.
After no more of the soothing fresh energy flows out of the little white pebble I let out a satisfied sigh. “One more beast, I’m not finished yet.” And I more or less succeed at getting my feet under me.
The burns are not as bad all in all, some parts look quite dire with the discolored upper layer but those patches are small. “I hate losing so wait with that potion a little. I'm not finished yet. Just need to find something around my level and I’m done.” I push myself away from her arms and start stumbling into the forest.
“Oh no you don’t!” Martha pulls me back forcefully, which makes me hiss in pain so she quickly releases me. “Don’t be so stubborn and reckless! You’re barely standing straight. If that’s all you want then fine, you win I concede but use your head! You’re in no condition to stay in the forest.” She argues giving no ground for arguments.
I hear something sneaking around in a bush quite close so I pull some dirt up with my remaining mana, compress and launch it in the general direction where the voice came from. A pained yelp confirms my hit as a stray wolf stumbles out of the bushes
[You have triumphed over the enemy [Juvenile Devouring Locust - Life lvl 28].]
[You have triumphed over the enemy [Juvenile Devouring Locust - Life lvl 27].]
[You have triumphed over the enemy [Forest Wolf - Earth lvl 22].]
A huge grin stretches across my face and a half-crazed cackle leaves my mouth. “Now I’m done.”
With that, I collapse on the ground and let Martha administer my wounds.
“This is gonna hurt a little.” She says and before I can even question what that means, she yanks on my shoulder. It hurts, I scream, It gets better, I still act grumpy.
As the tension in my previously dislocated shoulder lessens she pushes a potion down my throat, forcing me to swallow the vile liquid. It tastes even worse than spoiled milk. In exchange for terrible taste, however, it provides an impressive healing effect. A cool soothing sensation spread through my exhausted body, a weird contrast to the earlier boiling hot. I’m still not totally convinced it's a worthwhile trade-off, the taste must be the source of many traumas.
“It's disgusting, I know. You’ll feel better soon, I promise.” She holds me in a half-leaning position letting me rest as the burns heal. My body might feel better but my stamina does take a hit as life mana works furiously to heal the damage.
“We should head back, I feel sleepy.” I relay my body’s demands.
Despite my eyes feeling mighty heavy I know I shouldn’t fall asleep in the forest. That ended up poorly the last time. I try getting up with much more ease than before, still leaning onto Martha when I hear another monster growl, this time from much closer.
Martha lets a little chuckle slip as we both look at the ferocious beast. My stomach.
“You’ll be fine it seems. Let’s head back then. Since you finished this quickly we’ll be on time for dinner.” She helps me stabilize myself and after seeing I’m able to stand on my own she slowly begins walking out of the forest. “I would ask questions till my mouth turns dry if only you could answer. That blue flame you used… I only saw powerful fire mages employ something like that.” She starts gushing about magic again. “Oh and again I’m ashamed I got distracted and didn’t interfere sooner. It’s just…” I tune her out, not enough energy to deal with this.
Was this all worth it, some might ask?
[The class Skill [Elemental Influence] has reached lvl 17 ->18.]
[The class Skill [Mana Blade] has reached lvl 6 ->12.]
[The class Skill [Mana Spear] has reached lvl 4 -> 6.]
[The general Skill [Savant] has reached lvl 16.]
[The general Skill [Pain Tolerance] has reached lvl 4-> 6.]
[The general Skill [Quick Witted] has reached lvl 14 -> 15.]
[The general Skill [Dodging] has reached lvl 11 -> 12.]
[The general Skill [Reflexes] has reached lvl 10.]
[The Skill [Reflexes] has fulfilled the prerequisites and is able to evolve into [Premonition lvl 1]. Would you like the skill to evolve?]
[Y/N]
Gods above, life and death fights are best. I should…not do this more often, else mom and dad might kill me when they find out. But that’s something I haven’t seen before, according to what it says this should be an upgrade. Why even wreck my brain on this…
“Martha,” I call out. She turns her head towards me, an eyebrow raised questioningly. “ Is skill evolution good?” I’m too tired to form more complicated thoughts.
Her eyes widen slightly and a small smile crests her face. “Oh, it came faster than I expected. It's Reflexes right?” I nod, I don’t even care right now how she knew. “Wonderful. Yes, skill evolutions are beneficial for the most part. In some cases the change deviates too much from the original use or makes the skill lose one of its core aspects that makes it useful to you, in those cases denying the evolution is the better choice. But, back to the topic, what did you get?” She looks somewhat excited.
Her face shows no sign of it, it's her eyes. The gleam in them, like a child expecting a present.
“Premonition.” I answer.
“Hmm.” She hums. “Not what I planned, not the usual, but one of the better early warning Skills. You see Instincts, Reflexes, Foreboding, your Premonition and many more are variations of the same Skill branch. They can evolve into each other, however, in the end, it usually takes a form that suits the wielder the best. I implore you to take it… it did serve me well, after all.” This takes me by surprise.
People don’t just share their skills so easily, especially not old-timers like Martha. I don’t have to contemplate long, I like its name, but at the end of the day it's an upgrade and Martha went this far to make me choose it. A no-brainer really.
[Congratulations, you’ve acquired the skill [Premonition lvl 1].]