My prediction proved accurate and only a little while later, my foe expired in a wash of flames.
A level 227 stygian naga has died.
Not entirely unexpectedly, I did not advance in level. The level disparity between me and the nagas was growing—and my chosen target had been especially weak. Going forward, I knew my gains would slow even further.
Still, it was not all bad news. The stygians had not found me yet.
Partly, I expected, this was because I was in near-constant motion, my location always changing. Then, too, the deaths of the two spores earlier might have spurred the void tree to caution. But this was not to say it was taking the slaying of the naga lightly.
The lesser stygians had been driven into motion, and now they patrolled the river in large groups of forty to fifty. The two overlords, interestingly enough, had not taken to the skies as I’d half expected.
But the flying snakes had.
“Ghost, inform Lucius he may have incoming soon. The winged serpents are airborne.”
A pause. “He asks if you want us to portal out.”
I thought about that for a moment. I knew Lucius was a capable sneak. I wasn’t sure about the rest of the nagians though. “Are they able to hide?”
“Lucius says that except for Elise the others lack stealth. But he has a concealing web spell that can cover everyone in the gully. He cautions, though, that it’s only a tier three spell and may not hold up under the scrutiny of the flying snakes.”
I spent a few seconds considering the best way forward. Should I risk the stygians discovering my allies encamped in the gully? Or do everything to keep our forward base a secret?
But the gully was only one of many such locations on the west side of the river, and if it became necessary, we could always relocate the base. The gully was also over half a mile from the river, and given the risk my hidden presence posed to the nest, the void tree might not let the flying serpents range that far.
“Tell Lucius to stay put and raise his concealing web,” I instructed finally. “If the serpents discover you and the others, we’ll deal with it.”
“Got it, Prime.”
✵ ✵ ✵
In the end, it turned out the void tree had no intention of sending its minions past the river’s western edge. The hydras and serpents maintained their patrols, always coming close to, but never quite touching, the water.
The flying serpents followed a similar approach. In groups of ten to fifteen, they skimmed low over the water from the top to the bottom of the horseshoe-shaped stretch of river. Then they winged aloft and repeated the entire maneuver.
The nagas, too, were put to work casting cloying nether, and while I had no way to tell which exact areas they were targeting, I was certain they were also systematically working their way across the river’s length and breadth as they tried to reveal me.
The void tree’s strategy had little chance of working, of course.
There was just too much river to cover. It was interesting nonetheless that it had chosen not to risk the overlords and further spores. That had to make them valuable and rare commodities. Equally noteworthy was the fact that none of the stygians were straying into the water.
“What now?” Ghost asked from the gully.
“It’s time for another probing attack,” I replied while bobbing gently in the river.
“You’re going to kill another naga?”
“Yes. I am going to slay as many of them as I can before my mana runs dry again.” This, admittedly, was the biggest limiting factor when it came to my stolen spells. By most non-caster’s standards my mana pool was large, but it was still a far cry short of what dedicated casters like Adriel and Safyre had at their fingertips.
The simple truth was I could not maintain the same intensity of attacks with magic as I could with psi. Nor could I afford to spend long stretches of time channeling between attacks.
Time itself was a rare commodity.
And as much as I would like to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening thinning the stygians’ numbers, I couldn’t. I had to wrap things up—and soon.
“What about the overlords?” Ghost asked curiously.
“What about them?” I asked absently as I ran my gaze over the nagas in search of a target. They had stopped roving the nest and were now drawn up in a line parallel to the river, chain-casting nether cloy.
“Why don’t you use mana strike against them?”
I smiled. “It won’t do much good, I’m afraid. Lucius tried that on the overlord Safyre slew, but the damage the spell inflicted was minimal. According to Lucius, the Power has a surprisingly small mana pool.”
“Oh.”
“It was a good idea nonetheless,” I assured her as I picked out a target. “I’m about to begin.”
“Go ahead, Prime. The others and I are ready.”
Drawing mana, I did just that.
✵ ✵ ✵
A level 240 stygian naga has died.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
A level 235 stygian naga has died.
You and Ghost have reached level 259!
Ghost’s nether manipulation has reached rank 8.
Your dodging and nether absorption have reached rank 22.
Your nether regeneration rate has increased to 10%.
In the end, I didn’t actually drain my mana pool dry. Before that happened, the nagas withdrew—and not just to the void tree. No, they retreated all the way into the rift.
It was damnably frustrating.
Especially since I knew the nagas were not a spent force. Far from it. In all likelihood, they were hovering on the other side of the rift, waiting to return when required. Still, I had no choice but to be satisfied with my efforts and pull back.
Sopping wet again, I dragged myself out of the river and onto its western shore. There was no longer any reason to launch my attacks from the water. I’d originally intended on using the river to conceal myself from the spores in the event they swarmed around me. Diving beneath the surface—all the way to the riverbed if needed be—there was little chance I would remain in any spore’s line of sight.
Unless, of course, they followed me into the water.
Which it had since become clear they wouldn’t. The void tree appeared unwilling to let the spores overfly the river, and there was no way it was going to allow them to submerse themselves in water—where they would be vulnerable. There was no mist beneath the river’s surface, after all, and without the nether to disguise their presence, the spores would be revealed.
All of this meant that the western river shore was ‘safe’ territory—while I remained invisible at least. What the stygians would do when I revealed myself was yet to be determined.
“Ghost, I have two final tests to conduct, then we can call it quits for the day.”
“More tests?” she asked, sounding desperately bored by the idea.
I nodded unrepentantly, even though she couldn’t see the gesture. “They shouldn’t take long.” I paused. “But they might create more of a stir than my previous attacks. Warn Lucius and the others to be ready.”
Alarm shot through our bond. “What are you going to do?”
“For starters—attack the void tree.” Not waiting for her response, I wove psi and cast.
You have manifested 4 sentient shurikens.
The ethereal blades coalesced in front of me. Spinning rapidly around their centers, the psi constructs bobbed gently in the air as they awaited their orders. “Attack,” I breathed, directing them at the void tree.
Rising smoothly into the mists, the astral projectiles whizzed toward their target. Crouching down, I watched intently.
The four shurikens crossed the river and sped over the patrolling stygians unnoticed. Zipping past the now mostly empty nest and motionless overlords, they swooped down on the void tree.
The stygian Power, though, did not fail to notice the approaching threat, and before the shurikens could complete their attacking run, a brace of black thorns shot out from the tree.
Your shurikens have been destroyed!
I grimaced. The attack’s failure made clear that the void tree was sensitive to psionic threats. I would not be able to blindside it or kill it from afar with psi. And I already knew that the tree was heavily resistant to most elemental magics. But what about Lucius’ mana strike?
Would the spell work against the void tree?
Only one way to find out.
Drawing mana, I began spell weaving anew.
You have cast mana strike.
You have failed to mana burn a level 340 young void tree. The target lacks mana and is consequently immune to this spell.
“Bloody hell,” I muttered.
The number of viable options available to me when it came to assaulting the void tree were narrowing sharply. So far, the only potential strategy appeared using Force attacks—like the one I’d used against the sapling in Draven’s Reach. Still, perhaps, someone else—Ceruvax, Farren, or even the brotherhood—would be able to come up with a better solution.
Rising to my feet, I changed position—just in case. I was still invisible, but there was no point taking chances. “Final test,” I informed Ghost, and drawing psi, cast again.
✵ ✵ ✵
You have manifested 4 sentient shurikens.
This time around, I didn’t send the astral projectiles raging against the tree. Instead, I targeted one of the lesser stygians patrolling the river.
Your shuriken has injured a level 167 stygian hydra.
Your shuriken has injured a level 167 stygian hydra.
…
You have inflicted irreparable nerve damage on a hydra.
1 of 6 of your target’s heads has been permanently damaged.
My face expressionless, I watched the shurikens work.
The hydra didn’t suffer the attacks lightly. But its snapping jaws—and that of the other stygians in the patrol who sought to assist—were too slow to land more than the occasional blow on the ethereal constructs. Yet even a glancing blow was enough to destroy a shuriken.
Of course, when that happened, I simply summoned another.
And bit by bit, the hydra began to die.
Towards the end, I could tell the nether creature wanted to flee, but the void tree’s hold on it was too strong, and instead it died ignominiously where it stood.
“That was easy,” Ghost remarked when I informed her of the kill.
It was, but slaying the hydra wasn’t the test, only the precursor to it. Breathing in deeply, I stepped right up to the water’s edge, then revealed myself.
You are no longer hidden.
Immediately, the gazes of hundreds, if not thousands, of stygians fixated on me. But I didn’t flee. Folding my arms, I watched and waited.
Would they cross over?
An etheric lash has failed to injure you. 3% psi consumed.
My lips twisted. I’d been expecting the attack. Even so, I didn’t move. Instead, I stilled my mind and began to meditate. In response, my subconsciousness stirred, and energy surged out of it and into the impregnable walls around my mind.
You have replenished 6% of your psi. Your psi is now at 100%.
A smile stretched across my face. The tree’s telepathic blows would wash harmlessly off my defenses—so long as I had an opportunity to meditate between them.
More attacks followed.
I meditated through them all, my breathing slow and even.
All the while, I kept my steely gaze on the lesser stygians across the river and the flying serpents above. But despite me standing out in the open, and to all appearances defenseless, neither group ventured to attack.
My smile widened. So far, my test was going about as well as could be expected.
Around the corner of my eye, I spied a shower of glistening ebony slivers heading my way. Stygian thorns. The void tree was doubling down on its assault.
And still, I didn’t move.
Instead, I braced myself and waited.
A stygian thorn has failed to injure you. The attack has been blocked by your impregnable mind, consuming 0.1% psi in the process.
A stygian thorn has failed to injure you.
…
…
Your psi is now at 70%.
I rocked back, staggered by the combined psychic strength of the thirty thorns. But crucially, I had weathered the assault, and already my subconsciousness was working to restore my mental defenses.
You have replenished 6% of your psi.
You have replenished 6% of your psi.
…
Another etheric lash hit me. Then another.
But the attacks did nothing to dim my satisfaction.
While I might not have the void tree beat in a test of wills, any advantage the stygian Power had over me was slim at best. And considering all the other abilities in my arsenal, if it came down to a battle between the two of us, I fancied my chances.
But of course, the void tree and I were not going to be the only contenders in the upcoming battle. My gaze drifted back to the lesser stygians.
Now that I had stymied their ‘Chosen’s’ assault, what would they do?