Even as I forcefully expelled the effects of the creature's spell from my body using mana, the damn reptile didn't stay still. It scrambled out its passageway lair, hissing and spitting out a screeching roar. “Shhaaaassssssh!” It's long but bulky body moved lithely as it leapt onto a nearby walkway, and its four, clawed feet skillfully clutched the stone and metal surface with a rippling, crushing sound, leaving the monstrosity perched there as it focused on me. Meanwhile, I was already busy jumping down the ramp, trying to get to a lower walkway and to get to a better spot from where to fight the creature.

   There was no doubt about its identity, of course, as I recognized the creature's ugly mug from Neduzar's memories. The basilik's reptilian head looked like a mix between a crocodile and a iguanas', with its long jaw filled with sharp, jagged teeth, each about the length of my feet. It's golf cart sized head swiveled as its gleaming red eyes remained fixated on me like it was curious about the bug scurrying around beneath it, but I just scoffed inside, wondering if the stupid beast knew who it was picking a fight with and what I had planned for it.

  Skidding to a halt halfway across a lower level walkway, I cast my first spells for the battle. “! ! !” Almost immediately, a hazy, dark mist surrounded a dozen feet around me in every direction and a dark tinted layer of mana coated my body. Any good magic user or even gamer from Earth knew that buffing oneself before a battle was always a requirement. I just hadn't done so against the bugs, due to the fact that I could only use low tier spells at the time and it had been a endurance battle between my mana reserves and the constant stream of bugs. Thankfully, it seemed like this fight was a one on one, instead. Also, my spell casting was a taunt to the damn thing telling it that I wasn't a damn bug like the ones it had gotten used to squashing.

  Almost as expected, the basilisk reared back its head and flared its spiky frill, roaring, “Shhaaaassssssh!” Even as I got read to cast my next batch of spells, it leapt of its perch, bounding off other walkways below it as it blitzed me, blasting me with another . I got a good look at its body, that was the length of a bus from head to tail and covered in spikes and horns, that literally tore off entire chunks of stone and metal in its frenzy to reach me.

  Forcing more mana into my body, I countered the limited effects of petrification, even as I fought back.“ x 4!” I fired off my most basic mid tier, attack spell, aiming for the quickly moving creature, but it quickly reacted, dodging and using the walkways to shield itself. Only one of the spells hit, but as expected, I saw the monstrosity literally shrug off the hit and not hesitate to keep heading towards me.

  Keeping my mana funneling into my wight body, I leapt backwards just as the creature reached my position, crashing down where I had been standing and sending shrapnel of stone and metal flying everywhere. “Shaasssshhhhh!” It screamed in pain, having entered the range of my aura spell, which should have started to eat away at its hide and flesh. However, the beast didn't even hesitate as it lunged forward with its head tilted, eyes blazing in fury, and jaws wide open.

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  I didn't retreat, letting the dumb beast chomp down on my body, even as braced my arms on both my sides, pumping as much mana as I safety could into all my muscles to reinforce them. My body, which not only was reinforced by a fortifying spell but also had magic armor coating it, literally made a crunching sound, as the basilisk bit me and lifted me up horizontally, shaking me like some shitty chew toy. Pieces of exoskeleton and flesh went flying by my line of sight, along with an arm.

  Most creatures would have been screaming in pain by now, half insane from the terror of being chewed on by a damn monster. However, I was a lich, and I had no nerve endings. “Fucking idiot... x 5!, !, !, !” I cast eight mid tier spells in succession, my max amount, targeting them right into the jaws of the basilik, which was no doubt gleefully trying to shred me. Sounds of crunching were replaced by sizzling impact sounds and the sight of greening mist enveloping the beast's head.

  Almost immediately I was tossed away as the monster screamed in pain and fury. “Shassssssshhhh!” Falling off the walkway, I sensed my body repairing itself, as some shredded muscle groups and fractured bones began mending themselves thanks to the Life Drain spell doing its job. It was enough to leave me mostly in one piece, minus the ripped off arm and a decent amount of torn off exoskeleton and flesh missing from my chest and torso. Not stopping my fall, I let myself crash onto the bottom floor, even as I cheerfully listened to the basilisk still screaming up above me and flailing around, no doubt in pain as it died.

  Quickly getting to my feet, I backed away a little just in time for the the bulky bastard to come crashing down in front of me, sending blood, flesh, scales, and stone fragments flying everywhere. No doubt I probably looked like shit, having been mauled and chewed on, but I was satisfied that the other bastard looked worse. I nodded in satisfaction as my Dark Lance spell had been very effective this time, only having to deal with the soft insides of the monster's mouth.

  The basilisk's head, literally looked like something had ripped off chunks of it in some places, leaving what was left as nothing more than a slurry of melting flesh. Some of its brains were also leaking out of newly created nostrils, while its eyes seemed to have literally popped, as all that was left was some gooey white stuff. However, the rest of its body was in a relative decent shape, leaving most of its scaly hide and most of its bulk intact, just as I had hoped when I let it chomp on me.

  Killing the beast in a long range battle would have kept me in one piece, but I also knew that it would have taken a lot to kill the damn thing. With most its scaly hide resistant against magic and the basilisk also being able to reinforce its flesh with mana, it would have taken me literally tearing the beast apart with different spells to fully kill it the normal way. I also hadn't wanted to obliterate its soul, since I had plans for it. Moreover, fighting this bastard, I had realized it was a strong, mid-tier beast, almost on the verge of evolving to a high-tier basilisk, which made its body even more precious. As a result, my harvest from a hypothetical, long range battle would have been crap compared to what was in front of me now. All I can say is that its luck had sucked, when it had decided to pick a fight with me.

  However, its life story was not over yet. I still needed to upgrade my flesh and armor, and I also needed a real minion. I raised my hands, ready to laugh maniacally, which I thought would go well with my victory until I remembered that I was still missing one of my arms. “Fuck... could have been an awesome ending scene...”