From our elevated position, we had a great view over the entrance area and could easily keep track of the enemies’ movements, although even with that the situation was not particularly favorable for us.
The responsibility to deal with the soldiers would inevitably fall onto Veraxia, which would pit her six against one. And her avoiding killing them herself would make it even more difficult for her. I would be able to help her slightly, but the drones were a problem.
While I would have wanted to say the drones weren’t going to pose any threat, thirty of them were a lot, even if their individual strength could not match mine. I was not very suited to fight against larger enemy groups, but if we wanted to fight against the soldiers without being bothered, the drones had to die one way or another.
Unfortunately, the rather small area was not very large at that, so getting noticed by one would get us noticed by all of them.
So all in all, I saw no choice but to give up on the experience and tell Veraxia that she should not hold back when fighting the soldiers.
“Are you certain about this? You need that experience.” Veraxia voiced her thoughts after I had shared my thoughts with her, but even if what she said was true, it didn’t matter.
I nodded, “I know. I am just saying that you should not hold back. Just in case. I need experience, but I also need you, so just do what you have to do.”
“Aw, that was sweet, girl,” she joked.
“Don’t let unnecessary thoughts and consideration be the cause of your, my, and your death,” I replied indifferently.
“I will keep that in mind,” Veraxia replied seriously all of a sudden.
“Good,” I said after a short moment of silence.
After this had been settled, and with my mana pool expanded and filled, there was no reason to delay any further and Veraxia slowly started descending into the outer core using the roots that grew out of the wall, creating something like a ramp.
Veraxia’s movements were nimble and silent, so even after reaching the ground, none of the bugs had detected us. As I jumped down from Veraxia’s back, I activated Shadow Cloak to keep it that way. To assist in keeping my presence hidden, Veraxia dashed forward even before my feet touched the ground, drawing the attention of all the bugs with a roar. Despite my ears ringing from the roar, my eardrums remained intact. Curse loud noises…
When I landed on the ground, I bent my knees, which barely withstood the strain. Sending a few regenerative waves into my legs, I healed something, meaning the impact had injured me.
And curse you, too, O, body of mine.
All of the Exapoda in the room had their attention fixed on Veraxia and turned their backs to me, entirely unaware of my existence. While the soldiers were the first to sprint after Veraxia, the drones were far less agile and struggled to keep up with their betters, yet for me, with my current stats, drones were slower than me. My only disadvantage was that I could not run or I would burn my stamina too fast. I had over a thirty to kill, after all.
Since I was forced to restrain my speed, I abandoned any thought of utilizing Telekinesis and instead aimed Bind at the closest drone, tying it down where it stood. Due to our difference in level, it could not break free of my bindings and died after I stabbed a mana arrow through its head.
Naturally, the drone did not go down without making a fuss about it, but none of the other bugs seemed to hold any interest in the death of their comrade and were rather happy to have found a new meal.
Following that, I slaughtered one drone after the other without a fight. Apparently, my stats now made me entirely untraceable for the level 20-ish drones. And even though this would have allowed me to take things leisurely, I felt obligated to hurry and rush to Veraxia’s side.
Doubting her abilities seemed foolish since I knew that she was far stronger than any of these soldiers, but even the possibility of losing her—and with that her support—caused me to grow uneasy. Especially knowing that her body was limited by the mana inside it, so if she fought for too long, there was a chance she wouldn’t die by being killed, but by exhaustion.
I peeked over every once in a while to check up on her, but the fight was chaos. Veraxia was buried beneath drones, throwing one off would cause two others to gain a hold of her and the cycle repeated. Despite that, she seemed to hold up quite well, seeing as most of the soldiers showed severe injuries.
This was even more reason that I could not let the drones interrupt her battle. Even if said battle was leagues above what a drone was capable of.
After dedicating three hundred mana, all thirty drones had been exterminated, and although I could have expected as much, the reward for this massacre was quite big.
You have slain [Exapoda Drone | Lvl. 22]. Experience will be awarded.
[Unregistered] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 3 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Unregistered] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 3 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Unregistered] is now Level 26.
[Novice Witch] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 1 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Novice Witch] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 1 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Novice Witch] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 1 Free Stat Point acquired!
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
[Novice Witch] is now Level 33.
Individually, drones were not very profitable when it came to experience, but thirty was by far the biggest number of drones I had killed in a short time without rest. If levels continued to pour in like this, I would be on soldier level in no time.
However, what came next would not be as easy as this. I had to assist Veraxia in her fight against the drones—which honestly sounded kinda absurd coming from me. Before going though, I quickly allocated my new stat points to Vitality and Dexterity. There was no well-thought-out reason behind this decision, just a desire to get the lowest number and turn it into a higher one.
Before trying to catch up to Veraxia and interfere with her fight, I tried to fill up my mana pool by giving the drone I had killed last a bite, but there was no mana inside it for me to drink. This was strange, but there was no time to concern myself with the issue, I could contemplate it later.
On the other side of the entrance area, Veraxia was still fighting vigorously, and she even killed one of the soldiers, but not all was well. The other five were still alive and Veraxia herself did not look to be in a good condition. The right half of her face was molten or burned, her tail was cut off and her left foreleg only was connected to her body by a few vines, barely hanging on.
Seeing the state she was in, I hurried over, ignoring that my stamina was burning away. On the verge of collapsing, I reached the fight. Three of the soldiers were on Veraxia’s body, trying to bite or stab her, while two others lay on the ground, greatly damaged and only recently knocked over.
Seeing this as my chance, I found the one closest to me, and even though the chains instantly started cracking, they did their job long enough for me to ram two mandibles into its body.
You have slain [Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 41]. Experience will be awarded.
Only moments after I killed it, Veraxia threw one of the soldiers on her body off and stomped its head in. Three soldiers were left and two of them were still adamant on bringing down Veraxia. I tried to help, but just as I aimed at one of them, a huge force crashed into my side and sent me flying. The moss on the ground lightly dampened the impact, but it still broke several of my bones. Even though I healed the damage, I was still left disoriented and struggling to get back on my feet in time.
The world around me was still spinning when the soldier charged at me in an attempt to finish me off, but before it could reach me, Veraxia slammed into its side. The two soldiers that had clung to her were behind her trying to catch up to her, so while Veraxia tore apart the other one, I bound the first approaching soldier, aiming for a giant wound on its back. Thanks to that, a single attack was enough to nail the soldier to the ground, even if it did not kill it.
Something similar happened to the second drone and both of them stood immobilized. Their struggle only worsened the wound, and I decided to finish it. Although I disliked the method, it was currently the best skill to use, so I activated Aggravating Touch and the wounds all over the soldiers’ bodies worsened simultaneously, the skill draining the entirety of my remaining mana.
You have slain [Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 42]. Experience will be awarded.
[Novice Witch] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 1 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Novice Witch] is now Level 34.
You have slain [Exapoda Soldier | Lvl. 45]. Experience will be awarded.
[Unregistered] has leveled up! Stat points have been allocated! 3 Free Stat Point acquired!
[Unregistered] is now Level 27.
I dismissed all of the notifications and checked on Veraxia. She had killed her soldier, too, but her body was still in terrible shape, so I quickly went up to her, even though I felt like fainting on the spot.
“Veraxia, you okay?” I asked, my voice quivering due to the exhaustion and worry. This situation was bad.
Veraxia slumped to the ground, coughing, her remaining eye flickering weakly. “No. I am about to lose this body.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Left some alive for you. Thought you could use the experience.”
“Did I not tell you not to mind me?” There was clear frustration in my voice, but aside from that, surprisingly, I was also concerned. No concern because of the probability of losing a powerful ally, but because of a chance of losing Veraxia, even if it would not be a ‘real’ death.
“Nah, everything is fine,” she assured me, a faint smile growing on her lips.
“It’s obviously not,” I protested.
She winced with each movement and pointed to a nearby Exapoda corpse. "Just get me a mana crystal," she said, her voice pained. "I'll probably need more than one.”
I did not hesitate and started forming a mana arrow and started cutting the soldier apart. Since it was dead, I could use the gaps in its exoskeleton, so my mana was enough. However, I quickly realized that an arrow shape is not very suited for cutting, which was a problem. One that I had a simple solution to. I rearranged the mana and molded it into a short blade, about half of my forearm. For convenience's sake, I added a handle and the mana knife was complete.
As I sliced the soldier open and blood and intensities started spilling out, I realized I had no idea where to look.
“Where is the mana crystal located?”
“Somewhere in the front half. I would look close to the head.”
Following those instructions, I took the body apart until I found the crystal containing purple mist. Cutting it free from the flesh and organs, I handed it over to Veraxia, who gulped it down in one go.
Her body lit up, her face returned to its original appearance, her legs reattached to her body and a new tail sprouted from the stump that had been left of the original one. Like my own Regeneration, the crystal completely restored her destroyed body.
“Huh, they don’t do that for me,” I said as I admired the capabilities just one of these crystals held.
“That is… I will explain that sometime later, first, we should probably get out of this place,” Veraxia said, to which I simply nodded. About the same time Veraxia had finished healing, Exapoda all over the outer core started moving, and while most were far away for now, more than a couple dozen grew louder with every word we exchanged.
Despite urging me to leave this place, Veraxia quickly went ahead and sliced open each of the soldiers and deprived them of their mana crystals, before she returned to me and gave me three crystals, while she took the other two for herself. After storing my crystals in my bag, Veraxia grabbed me with her new tail and placed me on her back.
In the middle of our retreat, she suddenly grabbed one of the drone corpses with her mouth. The reason for that was something I could find out later, for now, I let her focus on getting us out of this place and into safety. If there even was something like that down here.
After leaving the outer core without any problems, we settled down inside the tunnel we came from and rested. Veraxia said that while her mana was stable now, her body still required some form of sustenance, which is why she took the drone corpse with her to feed on.
As for me, I sat down and meditated to get my mana pool full before absorbing the three mana crystals in my bag. I did not think I would get into this kind of situation so soon after increasing my mana pool already, but I underestimated how much mana was necessary to mend multiple bones. Even if I had more resources available, I still could not spend them carelessly.
Once I reawakened from meditation, Veraxia was about halfway done with the drone and I went ahead and absorbed the mana crystals.
Mana: 2,145/2,145
My mana pool had broken through the two-thousand mark, but despite that, I was not satisfied. I wanted, no, I needed more. Lots more. I wanted a big enough pool to heal hundreds of lethal injuries without losing my capabilities to fight.
I looked at my hands and clenched them tightly. I still had a long to go.
Getting to my feet, I was ready to return to the outer core, but Veraxia was still in the middle of her meal, so I decided to do some training and mess around with my skills, but when I tried to move my mandibles, nothing happened. When I looked at my belt, I realized that they were not here.
I had forgotten the mandibles, my strongest weapons, in the outer core.