A twang rang out. A moment later, a zipping noise passed by Ezra’s ear. The long hook-nosed monster tensed up, then jumped backward. Ezra fell forward onto the ground. He looked up at the source of the disturbance.
Pete was staring ahead, his eyes focused. He blinked and took in Ezra’s form. He rushed forward.
“Ezra!?” He leaned down and reached out a hand. “Are you okay!?”
Ezra reached up and smacked Pete’s arm away. “I’m fine. What the hell was that? You could’ve missed.”
Pete shook his head.
“No, I couldn’t have. That was an ability. [Aim].”
Ezra’s eyes blinked.
“How did you—“
The sound of trees rooting out of the ground entered Ezra’s ears.
“It was by accident!” Pete said. “I just… I don’t know, I suddenly felt calm. I think that’s what did the trick. My head needed to be calm for me to use my abilities!”
Ezra nodded slowly. That actually made sense. After all, the whole time Pete had been with Ezra, he’d been terrified.
“Watch my six,” Ezra said.
Pete nodded and the two went back to back. Ezra’s eyes darted around, searching for their enemy.
“Right. Can you do it again?” Ezra said.
Pete clenched his jaw.
“I’ll try!” Pete said. “But I can’t promise it’ll last long… I think that as soon as I register what’s happening, it won’t work anymore, you know?”
Ezra didn’t have time to respond, because a moment afterward, another tree trunk flew at him.
“[Bind].”
At this point, Ezra had figured out something of the monster’s attack patterns. Ezra dodged down, carefully piercing right through the tree with his needle. He thought of the concept of air. A moment later, the tree trunk disappeared behind him, along with all the other tree trunks Thřuba was using.
Ezra’s eyes narrowed in on the monster and he dashed toward it.
It let out an infernal screech and tried to line up a tree branch to sneak attack him. Ezra avoided the potential attack and jumped into the air.
“[Air Attack]!”
Needle extended out, he crashed into the creature hard enough to blow up a smoke cloud.
733/1000
Ezra pulled out and then stabbed again. The monster cried out and spit flew onto Ezra’s jacket.
534/1000
Ezra reared back for one more stab—then froze. Something was wrong. He jumped back as hard as he could.
A moment later, the ground erupted.
Before he could strike back, it had already dashed into the forest. A zip from behind him caught his attention. He turned around just in time to see a small stone pebble about to strike him in the head—
An arrow smashed the pebble out of the air.
Ezra looked to the left.
Pete had his bow in the ready position. His eyes were focused and clear for the first time since Ezra had met him. Ezra was quiet, then nodded at him. If only things were different, he might’ve considered bringing Pete along with him just for that one moment of brilliance.
Once again, Ezra saw the creature’s gleaming eyes in the moonlight.
Ezra ran and drew his needle inward for a throw. Thřuba let out a little scream and tensed its legs.
“[Precision Prick]!”
Ezra threw his needle out. It went directly through the monster’s chest, causing it to fall to the ground.
Ezra pointed at the monster with a finger gun.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“[Restrain]!” He threw his other hand forward. “[Recall]!”
His needle appeared in his other hand as he continued to dash. In moments, he was in front of the bound-up monster. He raised his needle upward, then stabbed into the monster’s heart twice.
340/1000
0/1000
It let out a little gurgle, then slumped over.
Ezra sighed and almost fell to the ground. He could sympathize with the monster, honestly. Getting stabbed in the heart hurt.
He waited for it to turn to ash.
Nothing happened.
Then, there was a flash of light. Ezra was thrown back and into the air by an unseen force. Tangled up and twisted, flying through the air, he couldn’t see a thing. He rotated and swiveled before landing hard on the ground.
Pain flooded his body. He pushed himself up.
Something was in the air. The creature looked down at him, suspended in the air.
Thřuba - Manipulator Maniac - Lv. 30
It’d gained a title. How did that happen—?
Ezra groaned.
It’s a 2-phase boss fight.
Son of a bitch.
----------------------------------------
Yuki came up to his side and then glanced at the floating monster. Thřuba himself was gathering up loose pieces of material and circling the material around him.
“I thought it died!” she said.
Ezra grunted, keeping his eyes on the monster.
“Two phaser,” he said. “At least, I hope. If there’s a third, I’m going to be really pissed.”
Yuki realigned the grip on her staff.
“You’re kidding me.” She raised her voice. “Are you sure you got its health bar all the way to 0?”
“I saw it!” Ezra said. “I saw it drop down!”
Yuki grabbed her hair tightly. One of her eyes twitched.
“Well, nothing much to do—oh, come on!” she said.
At that moment, the whirlwind of debris shot out toward the two, carrying with it a gust of harsh wind. Yuki threw out her staff and whispered a skill name under her breath.
A green barrier appeared, stopping the debris in its path.
Ezra glanced at the barrier, then at Yuki. The barrier was cracking, and Yuki herself was grinding her teeth together.
The barrier’s cracks continued to grow and grow until it shattered like glass.
The debris rushed forward.
Ezra grabbed Yuki and leaped back, fighting through the hailstorm of material. Random stones, sticks, and other crap smacked into him.
260/300
234/300
202/300
Ezra got behind a tree, Yuki’s hand in his. He glanced over at her, then cursed.
She was bleeding from the back of her head and her eyes had already shut.
He focused on the top-right of his vision. Yuki was at half-health. It wasn’t dropping any lower, but—
An arrow twang echoed out and the creature roared in rage. Footsteps flew up to Ezra’s position.
“Ezra!?” Pete said. He looked at Yuki and gasped. “Is Yuki alright!?”
Ezra didn’t even have time to shout when a rock slammed into Pete’s chest. It was blunt, but Pete still flew backward, propelled by the power of the shot. He rolled along the ground, his health bar dropping by a third. He grunted in pain, his limbs trembled and his eyes shook.
Ezra’s eyes darted over to an incoming attack. He reached out and began to shout a warning.
But it was too late. The rock flew forward and impacted Pete’s head with a loud thump. Pete’s health bar dropped down to a good fifth and he fell over.
This wasn’t looking good.
With every second that passed, things seemed to only be getting worse. Perhaps it was time to retreat? But then again, that would be a risk too. There was no guarantee they’d be able to escape, especially since Ezra would be carrying around two people on his back. And what if something went wrong? What if they were taken out by another stray bullet?
No, Ezra needed that creature taken out. He peeked out from behind the tree and looked at the monster. It was still floating in mid-air, its eyes seemingly unfocused. Then it pointed directly at Ezra.
Ezra’s heart shot into his throat and he dived forward, barely dodging an incoming stone.
Yuki’s body slumped to the ground, falling a foot away from Pete’s limp form.
Ezra whispered a quiet apology to her in his mind. He’d make it up to her a little bit later. Perhaps after he—well, he was planning on leaving, so that might be tricky… He shook his head. There was time to think about this another day. He ran out to the left, hoping to attract the monster’s attention.
At that moment, Thřuba’s head snapped toward Ezra and it threw its hand up. Behind Ezra, stones ranging in size from pebbles to massive boulders flew toward him. The wind ripped and wooshed behind him, the sound getting shriller and higher as it increased in speed.
Ezra’s feet pounded the ground, his breath coming in rhythmically. Already, he could feel exhaustion ripping at his lungs. He would’ve preferred to take a break, all things considered. He glanced behind himself, his eyes widening when he saw the boulders.
Instantly, he sped up, increasing the distance between him and the incoming attack. His eyes glanced from left to right and he broke off to the left suddenly.
A moment afterward, the boulders flew past him, whizzing by the trees.
Ezra sped toward Thřuba. He tensed his legs and jumped into the air, angled directly for the telekinetic monster.
The monster glanced at him, then threw its hand up. Various trees tore out of the ground and rushed toward Ezra
“[Air Attack]!”
A burst of momentum saved him from getting hit and propelled him toward Thřuba. He stabbed out with his weapon, tearing into the floating monster’s throat, the flesh ripping away in a massive chunk
1585/2000
Impossibly, no blood came out, a mystical glow overshadowing the wound. The creature’s face didn’t change in terms of expression, merely looking back at Ezra as he fell away and toward the ground. A moment later, it raised its hand and the ground burst open and flew at Ezra.
Ezra quickly threw out his hand, needle clasped. “[Restrain]!”
Threads wrapped around the flying chunk of dirt and the ground. The clod strained and heaved against the threads, then broke through.
The dirt slammed into Ezra’s stomach and sent him flying into the air even further than before. Blood flew out of his mouth and the air sliced against his eardrums.
121/300
Ezra slowed to a stop. Goddamn it, didn’t this already happen? But unlike last time, he didn’t have a soft, squishy surface to crash into.
His body slowed and gravity started to work. He began to fall.
He stared down and pointed his hand out.
“I hope this works. [Web Trap]!
Threads spun into a web, using the trees to suspend themselves in mid-air. Ezra flew into it at top speed.
Then he landed.