Even as Elijah felt Guardian’s Renewal mend his broken body, he growled, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

Then, he threw himself at the Viking who’d injured him. The spear strike had cut right through Iron Scales and Elijah’s dense Constitution, ripping his heart to shreds. Even Soothe, which was still active, was incapable of healing it before he bled out. So, without any other choice, he’d used Guardian’s Renewal. It had worked, though for the second time since gaining the ability, it had struggled with the task.

Clearly, the ability’s description wasn’t meant to be taken literally:

Guardian’s Renewal

Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per 6.65 Days.

Elijah could only think that the Viking had used some sort of skill that limited his healing. Guardian’s Renewal had overpowered it, but only just. It was just further confirmation that he couldn’t allow himself to become complacent. Even his most powerful ability could be overcome, given the right counter.

But for now, he couldn’t afford to give it any further thought. Instead, the fight before him required the entirety of his focus. He crashed into the Viking like an out-of-control train, but to his absolute surprise, he didn’t trample the enormous man. Instead, the hunter caught him, skidding backward across the desert for a few yards before leveraging his own Strength to bring Elijah’s momentum to a stop.

His hands clamped around Elijah’s wrists, squeezing with incomparable might. In response, Elijah snapped out with his jaws, but the Viking managed to shift just enough to avoid having his face ripped off. So, Elijah kept going, over and over as he attempted to overpower the man. Like that, they struggled to a stalemate for a few tense seconds.

Until the second, weaker version of the Viking stabbed him in the back. His spear didn’t get far past Elijah’s thick scales, but it was enough of a distraction to give the stronger doppelganger an advantage. And the man was more than capable of exploiting any advantage he found. Suddenly, Elijah found himself being shoved backward and into the other twin’s spear. It pushed further into his lower back.

He growled, continuing to snap at the man.

But it was useless. He’d lost the advantage of leverage, and now, it was only a matter of time before he was overcome.

He needed to change the paradigm, or he stood a good chance of dying.

So, he made a sacrifice.

He let his limbs go limp, and the big man was briefly overbalanced. Elijah ripped his wrists free of the man’s grip, but his maneuver meant that the other spear went even deeper into his back, nicking his kidney before scraping against his spine. Pain erupted inside of him, but he shunted it into its own facet of his Quartz Mind.

With clarity of thought that belied his delicate condition, Elijah rolled away, using the brief opening to shift into his draconid form. As soon as four feet hit the ground, he sprinted away. The Viking tried to follow, and for a few moments, he kept pace. However, when Elijah reached the nearby container ship, he slipped inside the rent in the hull. A dozen snakes snapped out in an attempt to inject their venom, but his sudden arrival had surprised them. As a result, they were incapable of bringing their fangs to bear.

Elijah bounded past the snakes and through an open hatch. He hit the painted steel floor, sliding past on legs weakened by blood loss, and colliding with the bulkhead. He righted himself, then sprinted down the corridor. Just before he turned a corner, the Viking entered the range of One with Nature, which meant he’d just arrived in the room with the snakes.

This time, they were not surprised.

Before Elijah went out of range, he was happy to see that at least one of the creatures had latched onto his attacker and injected its venom. But as much as Elijah wanted to go back and continue the fight, he knew that was the worst choice. So, after turning a few more corners, he shifted into his human form and cast Soothe. Then, he used Touch of Nature, channeling as much ethera as he could to quickly heal the wound.

It took almost a minute, during which he continued through the maze-like halls of the ship. However, the bleeding stopped after the first fifteen seconds, which meant he wasn’t leaving such an easy trail to follow. He used that to his advantage, varying his pattern, doubling back, and doing whatever he could to lay a false trail. In the meantime, he continued to heal himself until the wound finally closed.

That highlighted an issue he’d come to recognize. As he grew more powerful, his healing spells had become less effective. It was more complicated than that, but he suspected that it had to do with the fact that it took far stronger attacks to hurt him. It was almost like his life was a bucket full of water. As he leveled, the bucket grew larger. Each attack against him took some of the water, which he could restore with healing spells. Yet, his healing spells could only restore a certain amount. So, even though they continued to heal the same as always, they felt relatively weaker.

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Or something like that.

Elijah wasn’t sure how to adequately describe it except to say that stronger people took more healing than weaker people. Perhaps there was a better explanation out there, but he was in no position to ponder that position. Maybe he could find another Librarian and ask sometime in the future.

In the meantime, once he’d healed himself, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then used Guise of the Unseen. Only then did he allow himself to relax. It was the first alternate shape he’d gained, and in combat, the predator form was still his most comfortable.

And because of that, he knew precisely how to proceed. With that in mind, he slipped into the shadows and stalked the hunter.

* * *

Thor gripped his spear with white knuckles, resisting the urge to let out a frustrated roar. He’d had the Druid! He was stronger! Faster! He could kill him! But somehow, the slippery drittsekk had managed to turn the tables and escape. Then, the coward had disappeared into the bowels of a ship. Still, Thor would have caught up if it hadn’t been for that nest of desert vipers. He’d killed them all, but not before they had injected him with potent venom.

That had combined with the afflictions inflicted by the Druid to slow him considerably. As a result, he’d had no choice but to imbibe his recently acquired Lesser Cleansing Potion. It had done its job, removing the ailments while healing the damage they’d already wrought. Meanwhile, it would protect him from any future afflictions, though only for a short time.

That meant he was on a timer.

So, he forged ahead, ready to finish the monstrous man off. Seeing him shift into a scaley beast had been a surprise, to be sure, but Thor wouldn’t let himself be deterred. Instead, he stalked forward, hunching his great form beneath the ship’s low ceilings as he followed the trail of blood.

Suddenly, something flashed out of the darkness, slicing through his hamstring before disappearing. Thor had never even heard it. Nor was he certain where it had gone. More importantly, even as he stumbled, he felt an affliction take hold. It wasn’t powerful, but the brief moment it existed before being cured by the potion’s ongoing effect told him that it would be a problem.

Fortunately, Thor’s Constitution was high enough that the attack wasn’t much more than a scratch.

Once he regained his balance, he wheeled around, searching for his attacker. But he found nothing.

Then, something hit him again, targeting his ankle. The thing’s claw sliced through his boot with ease, then into his Achilles tendon. It didn’t rip through it, but it definitely did more damage than the previous attack.

He stumbled again.

Then another attack hit him from behind.

Thor swept his spear in a backhanded attack, but he found nothing but air. His potion only had a few more seconds left on it. Then, he’d be far more vulnerable. He knew he needed to act decisively. So, without further hesitation, he used Mirror Trap:

Mirror Trap

Channel the power of your ancestors to create an illusory copy. At the same time, you will appear at the enemy’s rear, unseen and unnoticed.

Without a visible target, Thor simply faded from sight. Meanwhile, he saw his copy, which was indistinguishable from his own form. His clone had already fallen apart back in the room with the snakes, so he was starting to run low on cards to play. In fact, he only had one more before things would begin to grow desperate. Hopefully, he could fool his attacker.

He backed away, still unseen and ready to slaughter the foolish creature. He suspected it was the Druid, but it could have just as easily been some other monster. Regardless, he intended to destroy them. As he crouched, coiled like a serpent, he could practically taste the experience.

* * *

From the shadows, and cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, Elijah studied the odd scene before him. In the center of the corridor was the Viking, his eyes darting around in terror as he stabbed at the darkness. It was a convincing illusion, and Elijah would have been fooled if it wasn’t for one, simple factor:

Using One with Nature, he could sense the true hunter only a dozen feet away, his muscles tense as he prepared to spring the trap. It was almost comical – or it would have been if Elijah hadn’t already seen the man’s resilience. Not only had he shrugged off Elijah’s attacks, but he’d also ignored the host of afflictions – both from the previous Swarm as well as Contagion and Venom Strike – that had been inflicted upon him. He was an absolute tank.

Which meant that Elijah needed to adjust his method of attack.

Hit and run tactics wouldn’t work. Instead, he needed to bring his considerable Strength to bear. Even in his draconid form, it had reached an impressive level, and that was further magnified by his crocodilian jaws.

Elijah knew he wouldn’t get a better chance. The man was completely stationary. So, if he wanted to decisively end the fight, then he knew what he had to do. With that in mind, he stalked forward, staying low to the ground. The illusion continued its pantomime, which Elijah ignored as he positioned himself behind the hunter.

Then, after using Predator Strike and Venom Strike, he pounced.

The Viking sensed his presence at the last possible moment, so instead of clamping his jaws on the man’s skull, he wrapped his teeth around the hunter’s thick shoulder. Knowing he needed to make the most of even that, Elijah flexed his jaw. Bones crunched, and blood gushed. The spear clattered to the floor while the hunter shouted in pain.

To Elijah’s surprise, the man grabbed hold of his snout, then wrenched his jaws apart. Then, before Elijah could react, he threw Elijah down the hall. He flew through the illusion, making it flicker.

But before he hit the wall, which would have almost assuredly broken bones, he initiated a transformation into his lamellar ape form. Then, at the last second, he embraced Iron Scales, lessening the damage of the impact by ninety percent. Still, when he hit, the metal bulkhead dented, and the ship creaked in protest as he caromed off the wall and hit the floor with a deep thud.

Elijah was only stunned for a brief moment before he shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. Across the corridor, maybe forty feet away, was the hunter. The man tipped the contents of a shimmering red vial into his mouth before he tossed the glass tube aside.

It shattered.

But Elijah was more concerned with the fact that the man’s wound had already stopped bleeding.

Clearly, as grisly as the wound was, the fight was far from over.