He hoped it signified outrageous success like it happened with what he had done with his heart, but there was no time to think about it. He could feel pain again, and his limbs were once more back under his control. There was no time to indulge in his mini-victory, because the fight was not over.
His hip ached, and, without assessing it magically, he could feel the torn skin and broken bones. His hand still had the creature trapped within it, but, judging by the way it was twisting and struggling to escape, it was only a matter of time until it got free.
He snatched one of the knives that was always sheathed at his chest and stabbed down recklessly -once, twice, three times, and then a fourth and a fifth.
His second attack nicked his own finger, but he didn’t care. A point of mana closed that wound, and he kept stabbing until the monster was dead. Then, once it was taken care of, his attention turned back to the one he had stunned by crushing it between his spear and the wall.
When he checked it out, it was starting to twitch. It hadn’t recovered enough to move yet, but that was only a matter of time. He stretched out to retrieve his weapon, then he pushed himself to his feet, using it as a crutch. Forced to use only one leg because the side that had been proboscised was not functional, he stumbled toward the final monster to kill it. Three painful steps got him was close enough. The spear tip pressed against its central body. It flared blue and then punched through the monster as though it was butter.
He immediately sagged in relief. The pain had been interfering with his thinking process.
“April, some help.” He called out, knowing that none of the injuries he had suffered were lethal and all the enemies were dead or disabled.
A moment later, he was in the café, and the pain was a memory.
He took a sip of too hot coffee and shuddered. “I hate those things. Too fast, crawly, and, if you make one minor mistake, you’re dead. I hate mind eaters.”
“Them being mind eaters is not the problem.” April told him. “You’ve only struggled because they were rank seven. Even if it was a ridiculously, and I do mean ridiculously favourable match up, beating multiple monsters six times your rank is incredible. However, most people have a horrible time against them. In addition to what you saw, they have a potent debilitating mind attack that stuns most opponents, especially other monsters. You were lucky in that you could straight-out ignore that. Those things can take out enemies twice their rank. But, for what we needed, they were an effective catalyst, even if a creepy one.”
“Were they?” he asked hopefully, while waving at the familiar clipboard. “I’m confident I got the spell Heal Brain. But did I get a bonus?”
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She frowned and handed the clipboard over. “No, not this time.”
“Damn it. I was so sure, with all the preparations...”
“You got the sideways evolution with your heart. It’s not going to happen every time.”
“True. I was hoping for something similar for my brain. I want to be able to take a head injury and keep going.”
She made a funny face. “Keep your craziness up, and maybe you’ll find another way to get that. Personally, I’m just happy that I no longer have to set you up to almost die.”
“Well, it’s not over yet. I still need Heal Organs, and then Touch Heal.”
“A standard fight should be enough for both of them. What was needed for brain and heart was at another level. It sucked.”
“Sucked, did it… That’s… um… ah.”
“Yes, it did,” she said defensively. “Don’t think for a moment that I enjoy doing this.”
“It’s just that… Well, I’m the one suffering, so shouldn’t I be the one complaining?”
She laughed. “True. Unless we take into account that you’re a psycho masochist and your kink makes you enjoy this.”
Tom’s mouth opened in shocked surprise. “No, I’m not. It’s… No, it’s not like that.” His eyes narrowed. “Wait a moment. You’re teasing me.”
She started laughing harder. “If you want to believe that, Tom, I can’t stop you.”
“It’s true. If the bonuses weren’t so important, there is no way I would be doing this.”
“I know, Tom. Now, this topic is uncomfortable for me. But I don’t make a habit of judging perverted biological instincts, so you don’t need to worry.”
“April!”
“So, moving right along. I’m assuming the plan is Heal Organs this session and Touch Heal next?”
He hesitated, then decided that changing topics was a good idea. Continuing would just be digging the hole deeper.
“Tom, what stupidity are you considering?”
He needed something to distract her, and there was one thing that he had been contemplating, but knew she would object to. “I was considering,” he told her, “Whether to even bother attempting to get Heal Organ today.”
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t. You’ve got another twenty-six hours here. Which will put you at full fate again. You might as well attempt it. It’s not like you can do something this dangerous in the outside world, because you won’t have a GOD’s shield there.”
“I can,” Tom promised her, thinking about the array of poisons available in the hidden cupboards. “I can absolutely cause multiple organ failure.”
“It’s not like you can do it safely.” April corrected herself. “It’s infinitely better to do it here.”
Tom shook his head. While the idea had started as a distraction, the moment he had said it, it had felt right with a certainty he couldn’t ignore. “No, I think doing it today is a waste of fate.”
“How will fate be wasted?”
“It’s unlikely I’ll naturally get a perfect cast the first time, and, if that’s the case, all the invested fate will go toward that instead of a sideways evolution. I expect Heal Organ to be difficult. I’ve never combined so many different spell forms together into a single evolution. If I delay, I’ll have plenty of time to practice that process. Even if I’m not meaningfully casting the spell, just recreating it a thousand times before going for real will help. My fate reserves are too valuable to waste on a probable failure, not to mention the attempt potentially costing a sideways evolution. No, today I’ll use them to gain Instant Strike, as planned.”