20 – RUSCKAN VILLAGE – A FAILED PLAN
Right when he was inside the mouth of the beast, before it could even chew and kill him, he exploded out in a shower of magic. He compressed every last fiber of his being, conscious that he was going to die, in that one last display of pyrotechnic magic.
Earth spears erupted from his body, tearing at the beast’s soft insides while knives flew everywhere emerging from an expanding cloud of fire that was shaping itself like a tornado.
Then, the teeth came down and the last thing he saw was a giant molar about to crack open his skull.
Reincarnating in 3, 2, 1…
27° Reincarnation.
>Rebirth bonus: Basalt (x32)
>Choose target location. Current mission; Silverscale forest.
He noticed that his empty inventory now had something in it. Stone, a huge amount of stone. But this was not the time to investigate, rather he had to respawn quickly so that his plan could work.
“Current mission.” He said, and grinned. This time, he would not be the only one who felt pain.
>Confirmed.
>Mission is respawn type. Complete objective to unlock new area.
Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!
He opened his eyes, and saw only darkness all around. Then, he squirmed and wiggled until he felt that he was close to something soft, and took a deep breath. The pain came, as expected, and with it also came the invisible dome that was the respawn protection shield.
It obliterated everything in a small radius around David, and he could see even though the dark veil of pain a glimmer of light coming from the outside. Gravity was playing its role, pushing him towards the bottom of the beast, emerging from its belly and obliterating the tissues that were in his way until he was firmly on the ground.
Then he was on fire. Not literally, but it was as if his insides were bursting into flames. Everywhere. The pain was all-encompassing.
When he came to, the beast was still alive and kicking at his bubble that was about to burst. In just one moment, he would be defenseless again. He leapt sideways, and materialized a large block of basalt right where he was barely a moment ago. It exploded in a shower of stony splinters, a demonstration of the monstrous strength of the oversized lizard.
Rolling away, he spotted the hole that was left where he emerged from its belly. It was right under it, suspended a few meters in the air and bleeding various liquids in a shower of red and green. It was the perfect spot to attack.
He got closer, and prepared his magic once again. The beast, however, reacted and tried to snap its neck towards him in order to once again bite him. He lunged forward, and sidestepped the leaking liquids coming from the gaping hole, while at the same time leaving behind a slew of basalt blocks. They fell down from where he materialized them, and intercepted the muzzle of the monster right on its path, slowing it down and deviating its trajectory just enough so David could dodge it.
He was almost under the hole now, and noticed that the bleeding was slowing down considerably. It was now or never. He prepared his magic, a large fire and water bomb coated in stone like the one he used before against the dwarf. He pushed it, with his telekinesis and his control over the earth, until it was as deep inside the beast as possible.
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The makeshift grenade was as big as a person, yet it was small compared to the hole and insignificant compared to the whole beast. It exploded, but barely a puff of smoke emerged from the hole, and the monster seemed to not even notice.
It kept attacking, in fact. The blocks of basalt, each at least one meter wide tall and deep, were proving to be most useful in this situation, but even then, David knew that he was about to lose his life again. Carving out a hole with his respawn protection was smart, but it barely did anything against a monster so big and tough.
He had to be precise, surgically so, in where he applied his annihilation field. He knew that it only destroyed whatever was inside its radius, because back when the troll attacked him it only repelled the attacks, while both now and inside the mountain it destroyed the material.
But how could he make sure to respawn exactly where he needed to, and where would removing a cylinder one meter wide and two tall of material make the difference?
The brain. He had to die right on the head of the beast. And hope that the respawn coordinates would be relative to the position of its head, so that he would not appear in mid-air once the beast moved around.
A lot of assumptions, for sure. Too many.
The plan was not suitable. There had to be another way.
He jumped, and rolled, and then jumped again on top of a block of basalt. Another jump landed him on top of a falling block that he materialized in mid-air, then another landed him on the back of the beast. He was out of reach of its attacks here.
He had time to think.
He watched in horror as his hopes were shattered. The monster’s neck turned around like that of an owl, and it growled. Then, the head snapped at him and bit half of his body off.
He was still alive. Miracle, or not, he was still alive. He knew what to do. He knew, because the idea came to him like a thunder in clear sky.
In a rush, he materialized several blocks of basalt inside the mouth of the monster, before his consciousness could leave him. They appeared and expanded its jaws wide, ever wider until a snap and crack could be heard. One fell on top of David.
White.
28° Reincarnation.
>Rebirth bonus: New trait: tough body.
>Choose target location. Current mission; Silverscale forest.
He felt his muscles bulge, his skin tighten. “Current mission,” he said defiantly.
>Confirmed.
>Mission is respawn type. Complete objective to unlock new area.
Process complete. Namaste, and good luck!
The pain came in an instant. He had no reason to delay its arrival, and only just now came to the conclusion that he could allow himself a tiny moment before it came if he needed, like he did earlier. It felt like his brain was freezing, the cold enveloping him in a vice, never letting go.
Then it thawed. He was on the ground, standing still like every single time he respawned. The monster was raging through a nearby building, tearing it open with its massive body. The head, however, was dripping blood. Bones poked out of the skin at the sides. Broken teeth laid on the ground.
David grinned. He lunged forward, running faster than ever to reach the beast. With his two knives, he planted the blades inside its flesh where it was softer, and climbed its neck. To it, the wounds were nothing more than mosquito bites, and it didn’t even notice that there was a man, so tiny compared to itself, climbing up.
He had to thank his new body trait for that, because he knew that he was doing something that even an expert climber would have difficulty doing. The neck was jerking, sending powerful g forces every time the beast stomped a foot, and yet David held on tight. He was on the verge of laughing, but suppressed himself so that he would not alert the monster.
His heart was thumping, his blood pumping. His mind solely focused on the Hunt, and the Hunt only. He wanted to think that he was doing this for the sake of the village, but that was only something that occurred to him after the fact. An attempt at rationalizing his actions. He was enjoying this. He was alive.
He arrived below the mouth, and the beast finally noticed him. Looking down, he saw that it was about to stop another house, this one with smoke coming out its top, this one with people inside. His head cleared, him snapping back to focus.
In his frenzy, he was about to let innocents die. He would never, though, and in fact he snapped back to clear headedness immediately. The house, the people, a wake-up call to him. The monster was trying to do as much damage as it could, but it was too late. David could see the soft flesh at the top of the palate, where the distance to the brain was minimal.