My escape from the desert and the horde of giant scorpions which stampeded noisily after me was stressful but with my first uses of Haste, I kept myself away from the surge. I couldn’t even enjoy the use of the new form of the skill due to the chase. The smallest of these Giant Scorpions was the size of a big dog, with the coloured variants as big as cars. Not little cars, either. I was mortified. The sound of their approach would never leave my nightmares.
Did normal scorpions scream?
Shivering all over, I confirmed that I hadn’t started some kind of hidden event as the sea of chitinous arachnids returned to the sands. The journey back had been long enough for me to decide all kinds of horrible things. In my worst imaginings, the scorpions would sweep through the forest and chase me right through to the other side. I thanked whatever higher power governed the System as I lay on the grass and panted. “I never thought I’d be happy to see this place,” I admitted.
“It’s not happy to see you,” a cheshire voice sounded in my ear. A new rush of adrenaline sat me up and I whirled around before freezing. “No sudden movements,” Naea whispered. I almost nodded, but even that might have shot the starting pistol on the brawl which was about to break out. I couldn’t use my mana carelessly here, It was already clear I would need all of it.
Six sets of yellow eyes were gathered in the dying light. My eyes were naturally drawn to the largest figure, a silhouette in the shadow of the trees. Not only was it an imposingly tall Sundercat, it was the first I had seen to wield a weapon of its own. A vicious looking sword, longer than my arm, was leaning against its shoulder, which itself was covered with a flowing mane.
Ah, my first lion Sundercat. To its left were a pair of child-sized ones which were smiling wide as they glared at me. Three figures stood with swagger on the lionman’s right were a collection of shapes and sizes, feline humanoids all. “Sundercats, ho,” I whispered. Curse my inability to take things seriously. Even the movement of my mouth was enough to begin the battle.
The little lynx twins attacked first. I managed to slip the Fan of Knives from the pouch and used the dual wielded daggers to fend off the cat people. Faces fluffy, hands and feet large, their claws were as sharp as any of the others I had fought. One got my back and I nearly lost my throat to its raking nails. A hastily raised knife from the fan was all that stood between me and death. For all my new strength, I was pretty sure I remained vulnerable to mortal wounds.
For the second time in an hour, I rejected the world. “Fuck this.” Activating Haste, everything slowed. Well, I got massively faster, but perception was reality. The slowed world was much calmer. Perhaps because I created the skill myself, or maybe it was just the impressive effect, but using it felt like euphoria itself. Our battle had shuddered leaves from the trees, and they hung in the air as a slow dullness spread across the world.
I watched with interest as the second small Sundercat dove for my ankles, trying to tear my achilles heels. With supreme ease, I shoulder tossed the one on my back right on top of its partner. Like a stationary backpack, I grabbed the scruff of its neck and with a Heavy Blow for good measure, I cratered the pain into the floor. The thump of the impact and their howls of pain sounded deep until I released the expensive speed skill. The warped noise became a high pitched mewling as natural speeds returned. Due to the speed and force I had exerted, the collision was devastating. These two were broken, and I could ignore them for now. Heavy Blow had even levelled up for the effort.
The larger trio all came at once. The first pair had a teamwork these three didn’t seem to, but that wasn’t going to matter thanks to their size. The largest of the three, a black-furred pantherman, barrelled into me and crushed me into the floor. A heavy kick caught my temple as the only obviously feminine, cheetah variant Sundercat took advantage of my fall. The panther rolled to its feet, dragging me, and launched me at a lithe male tigerman.
A flash of light burst at my stomach and I almost choked on the disrespect more than anything. I was stopped still in the air by the force of the offending Mana Bolt. I was so surprised by being on the other end of my skill, I didn’t dodge a follow-up kick to my shin which sent me hobbling. I snarled. Before this exchange, I had been scared and excited. Now I was mad.
Manasight.
The world sharpened as I ate into my mana regeneration to activate the skill. With enough levels, I would be able to leave abilities like this to flow without end but I currently had to be restrictive. There were still four active combatants after all…
Wait-
I jumped, avoiding both the cheetah Sundercat’s attempt to trip me and one of the smaller pair I had thought incapacitated. With Manasight running, all of the fighters were blazing stars of power unable to avoid my attention. Except, they shouldn’t be this strong, should they? A Mana Bolt sizzled through the air and I got a better look at the flimsy thing. It looked about as potent as my first bolt. “I’m only getting more insulted,” I warned the creatures.
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With five attackers now, the other smaller fight back on its feet also, I could easily see the inciting issue. While he might be panting from the exertion, the lionman at the back was the source of energy bands which connected to the other Sundercats. It was buffing them! Which explained why they fought with strength objectively above their level. It was also probably what let the injured pair get back up so quickly. Yet, the cost was clear in its tiring expression. My angry snarl turned into a vicious smirk. “Let’s see who’s got more in the tank,” I spat. “Heal this.”
As one, the tiger and the panther punched at me. The move was quite synchronised, but by lifting myself off the ground and bracing, their strength became mine. I let myself get pushed back away from the crush of cats, a Mana Bolt formed in my free hand. I threw the Fan of Knives blade and created another bolt for good measure. As I landed, I checked my status. Health was good and I was doing alright on my mana reserve for now. The attacks I had taken stung, but my reserve was getting higher even as it was harder to even do damage to me.
It had been a while since I had used Mana Bolt in a true fight. Compared to the tepid attempts from the tiger mage, these were dangerous. The pale versions which had been thrown at me didn’t have nearly as much Power behind them. “You call that a bolt? This is a Mana Bolt.” I didn’t care which of the pack took the attack, so I threw it into the group without much aim.
The cheetah and panther drew the short straw, both of them launched backwards like arrows as my attacks landed. A pained roar from the lionman brought a smile to my face as I fended off the other three and waited to see what happened. I was surprised when the hard-to-see bonds between the cats still fighting me and their lion leader grew in strength while the downed fighters were cut off from the energy. “Damn,” I cursed.
Either I was stronger than I thought or these Sundercats were less durable than the others I had faced. The speedy lynx twins got faster, their claws able to reach me now. I avoided any serious injuries, but damage was beginning to accrue. At the same time, the pathetic Mana Bolts from the tiger were slightly more effective. As I jumped aside from the twins, I was in the path of two of these sturdier bolts. One would hit on my thigh, easily ignored, but the other was coming straight for my eye.
Instinct kicked in and I expelled as much mana as I could. There was no control, only the intent to overwhelm the offensive magic coming my way. Like releasing a steam valve or popping a balloon, my mana exploded out of me. The melee attackers were pushed back slightly but the Mana Bolts were completely smashed apart. I almost whooped, but the flow of battle hadn’t slowed much. My sound of celebration cut off to become grunts of exertion, dodging once more.
With a flourishing dodge, I replaced the fan and drew the Sorehammer instead. Like a pair of annoying golf balls, I swung the hammer low and then high, sending the aggressive furballs into the air. The connection from the lion to them was cut off even before they landed. With a kick as I ran past for good measure, I had put down four of the combatants in as many seconds. Clearly sensing the changing winds, the leader also stripped the tigerman of his portion of the power. The tigerman flinched and cowered next to a tree as the strength it had been granted left it.
A mighty roar served to remind me the fighting up until now just the starter course. It was time for the real meal. The ground beneath the lionman’s feet churned as all the power it was sharing went into charging straight for me. A vibrant, thrill seeking part of me wanted to clash with the sword it aimed for me, but I dodged instead. The Sorehammer’s handle was wooden and I didn’t want it to break after all. I cartwheeled acrobatically, catching a branch which had fallen during the clashes while checking my status again.
Health
56/80
1.5 per minute
Mana
77/125
20 per minute
Using it as a test, I tried to stop the blade with the thick wood but hopped away as it was sliced as easily as grass. Damn! That thing was sharp, my mind screamed in warning. Forget health points! A single slash from that sword would take whatever limb it happened to snag and the lion wasn’t particular. Its yellow eyes were full of hate as it tried to claim my life.
The ferocity of the lion was impressive, and I was grateful for the level’s worth of Agility I had given myself in my escape from the scorpions. Without the extra oomph, I would have relied on Haste rather than use it as the trump card it currently was. The moment appeared quickly as the final Sundercat stepped in, meaning to bisect me horizontally.
Dragonburn. Haste.
The caustic violet energy of my Aspect skill latched onto the mana which raced through my muscles. The power within me burned as the world became a grey snapshot of itself. Haste alone could eat through five mana a second, though those moments extended themselves thanks to the speed. At full bore, with Dragonburn amplifying it up to ten times, I had to be fast.
Thankfully, all the time in the world was mine. My thoughts were surprisingly clear as the dominating forces within me caused reality to bend slightly. A convergence began within myself as I stepped around the attack and set my feet. My core and Aspect aligned as the two skills which came from them most clearly worked together. This frozen world was my domain. The Sundercat’s eyes slowly crawled to keep up with my movement but it was already too late. I didn’t use Dragonburn for the next part, activating another skill without letting the purple crystals affect the attack.
Even my voice was frozen as I spoke, but I allowed the world to move again by releasing the boosted Haste. The sound returned alongside the violence. My attack was already thrown and landed but my words cracked the air like lightning while my fist landed with a resonance like the rumble of thunder.
“HEAVY BLOW!”