Chapter 114.2: A Battle’s Beginning
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Chapter 114.2: A Battle’s Beginning
(Again, be sure you've read part 1 of this chapter before proceeding. They were uploaded at the same time, this is part 2!)
Trying to split my attention between the approaching Infernals and the Hellions below me—Index’s warnings helped a lot with that—I cast Crippling Chill on any of the Demons that got near and prepared to start using Rays of Frost to focus them down. From what I’d seen with Erani’s Firebolts, it seemed like the Infernals had taken quite a bit of damage already from Astintash’s landing, so they wouldn’t be quite as tanky as I knew them to be.
There were about six Infernals all coming at me that I needed to deal with here, and so I picked one at random to try and kill first. The one closest to me, I decided, was going to die. I raised my hand and shot off Ray of Frost after Ray of Frost at the monster as I backed away, trying to keep my distance between me and the group.
That distance could only last so long, though, and soon enough the Infernals caught up to me. With a crowd of so many of them, there wasn’t much I could do to delay them from reaching me while also dealing damage to them. Gravity Well could’ve worked, sure, but keeping it active on six separate enemies would drain my Mana fast—even with Ethereal Armor’s discount.
But still, with Expedite active on me, I wasn’t as helpless in close-quarters combat as I used to be. The Infernals swung open-handed at me, trying to catch me in a grab, but I bobbed and weaved between their strikes, angering them further.
And the moment I saw an opening in the posture of the one I was targeting, I struck. Diving straight into it, leveraging my boosted Dexterity and the natural Strength I got from Recursive Growth to drive my body straight into its and push it to the ground, where I lay on top of it.
In the little time I had, I activated Noxious Grasp and cast Rays of Frost right up against its face, trying to take away as much of its Health as possible.
You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 24 Infernal.
You have earned 199 XP. Your XP is 1.22k.
Within a few seconds, it was dead, and I instantly moved on to my next target. I spun around and leapt at the next-closest Infernal that was just then reaching down to try and drag me off of its now-dead ally.
While I normally only ever saw Infernals with facial expressions showing some form of rage, malice, or hatred, this was the rare time I saw an Infernal look at me with some other form of emotion. In the moment when I pounced on it like a predator to its prey, arms out and ready to keep Noxious Grasp draining away Health, my new victim looked at me with fear.
It made sense, I supposed—while the Demons as a whole were an oppressive group of dictators, treating the Overworld like their playground where there were no consequences, the individuals probably felt a decent bit of fear when a Dragon crashed through their secure based and now there were a couple of ravenous Humans tearing through their soldiers alongside a couple of bloodthirsty monsters. Even if the Infernals could survive death up here, I had no doubt they’d rather avoid it. Really, it almost made me feel bad for them.
Almost.
I crashed into the Infernal’s body and threw it to the ground, too, with the help of a pulse of Gravity Well to throw it off balance. Its head slammed into the rocky path below us, and I turned around while straddling its muscly, deformed body to shoot Rays of Frost at the other few Infernals that were still trying to kill me.
The bright Rays impacted their faces and temporarily blinded them with a flash of icy pain across their faces, buying me a bit more time with my primary target.
“Arlan, another Hellion!” I heard Index shout.
I was still atop the Infernal’s body, so for a second I was confused.
Index must’ve picked up on that, though, because it continued, “Judging from the trajectory, it looks like the Hellion’s gonna come up straight through that Demon’s chest to try and hit you from below.”
Ouch. Sacrificing their own soldiers just at a chance at killing me? Seemed like they didn’t like this one’s chances at surviving being pinned down by me. Not that I disagreed with the assessment. But yeah, maybe now it was appropriate to feel bad for the poor Infernal.
“Three, two, one...” Index counted, “now!”
I leapt off of the Infernal’s chest just in time to be splattered with a warm, sticky liquid all across my back—along with a healthy number of chunks.
You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 27 Infernal.
You have earned 213 XP. Your XP is 1.44k.
Threshold reached. 1.90k XP.
Your Level has increased to 18.
Due to achieving Level 18 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:
-You have gained 1 Endurance.
-You have gained 2 Conjuration.
-You have gained 1 Intelligence.
-You have gained 3 Stat Points.
-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Dexterity, 2 Conjuration, and 1 Intelligence.
-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 10.
-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 18.
-You may choose a Spell to learn.
I tried to push down the excitement of the new Level down and focus on the task at hand. More Stats, an increased Soft Cap, and a whole new Spell were great and all, but I couldn’t use them if I died. I still had one more Infernal left.
It looked at me with a look of anger, like it was ready to tear my limbs from my body just for fun. Its eyes met mine.
And then it looked up, over my head, at something behind me. What was—
“Arlan! Duck!” Index shouted.
I did so without thinking, and a split-second later, a glowing arrow flew over my head, impaling the Infernal straight through the chest.
You have offered minor contribution toward the slaying of Level 21 Infernal.
You have earned 84 XP. Your XP is 267.
I turned to look behind me, and saw the exact person I wished hadn’t shot that arrow.
“That gave me more XP than expected,” Asmo said, bow in hand. She was standing just a couple dozen paces away, with the familiar axe-wielding woman standing next to her. “Do you have some sort of Talent that increases the XP drops of monsters you fight?”
The axe-wielding woman said nothing, simply wearing a snarl like the Infernals I’d seen before. Except the snarl seemed strange—almost fake. Like she was trying to force herself to be angry at me, or maybe she was just conflicted about how to feel. But whatever her emotions were, she wielded her axe all the same, ready to strike me down.
And I was ready to keep them from doing so.
I’d fled from these royal guards long enough. It was time for a rematch.
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Chapter 114.2: A Battle’s Beginning
(Again, be sure you've read part 1 of this chapter before proceeding. They were uploaded at the same time, this is part 2!)
Trying to split my attention between the approaching Infernals and the Hellions below me—Index’s warnings helped a lot with that—I cast Crippling Chill on any of the Demons that got near and prepared to start using Rays of Frost to focus them down. From what I’d seen with Erani’s Firebolts, it seemed like the Infernals had taken quite a bit of damage already from Astintash’s landing, so they wouldn’t be quite as tanky as I knew them to be.
There were about six Infernals all coming at me that I needed to deal with here, and so I picked one at random to try and kill first. The one closest to me, I decided, was going to die. I raised my hand and shot off Ray of Frost after Ray of Frost at the monster as I backed away, trying to keep my distance between me and the group.
That distance could only last so long, though, and soon enough the Infernals caught up to me. With a crowd of so many of them, there wasn’t much I could do to delay them from reaching me while also dealing damage to them. Gravity Well could’ve worked, sure, but keeping it active on six separate enemies would drain my Mana fast—even with Ethereal Armor’s discount.
But still, with Expedite active on me, I wasn’t as helpless in close-quarters combat as I used to be. The Infernals swung open-handed at me, trying to catch me in a grab, but I bobbed and weaved between their strikes, angering them further.
And the moment I saw an opening in the posture of the one I was targeting, I struck. Diving straight into it, leveraging my boosted Dexterity and the natural Strength I got from Recursive Growth to drive my body straight into its and push it to the ground, where I lay on top of it.
In the little time I had, I activated Noxious Grasp and cast Rays of Frost right up against its face, trying to take away as much of its Health as possible.
You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 24 Infernal.
You have earned 199 XP. Your XP is 1.22k.
Within a few seconds, it was dead, and I instantly moved on to my next target. I spun around and leapt at the next-closest Infernal that was just then reaching down to try and drag me off of its now-dead ally.
While I normally only ever saw Infernals with facial expressions showing some form of rage, malice, or hatred, this was the rare time I saw an Infernal look at me with some other form of emotion. In the moment when I pounced on it like a predator to its prey, arms out and ready to keep Noxious Grasp draining away Health, my new victim looked at me with fear.
It made sense, I supposed—while the Demons as a whole were an oppressive group of dictators, treating the Overworld like their playground where there were no consequences, the individuals probably felt a decent bit of fear when a Dragon crashed through their secure based and now there were a couple of ravenous Humans tearing through their soldiers alongside a couple of bloodthirsty monsters. Even if the Infernals could survive death up here, I had no doubt they’d rather avoid it. Really, it almost made me feel bad for them.
Almost.
I crashed into the Infernal’s body and threw it to the ground, too, with the help of a pulse of Gravity Well to throw it off balance. Its head slammed into the rocky path below us, and I turned around while straddling its muscly, deformed body to shoot Rays of Frost at the other few Infernals that were still trying to kill me.
The bright Rays impacted their faces and temporarily blinded them with a flash of icy pain across their faces, buying me a bit more time with my primary target.
“Arlan, another Hellion!” I heard Index shout.
I was still atop the Infernal’s body, so for a second I was confused.
Index must’ve picked up on that, though, because it continued, “Judging from the trajectory, it looks like the Hellion’s gonna come up straight through that Demon’s chest to try and hit you from below.”
Ouch. Sacrificing their own soldiers just at a chance at killing me? Seemed like they didn’t like this one’s chances at surviving being pinned down by me. Not that I disagreed with the assessment. But yeah, maybe now it was appropriate to feel bad for the poor Infernal.
“Three, two, one...” Index counted, “now!”
I leapt off of the Infernal’s chest just in time to be splattered with a warm, sticky liquid all across my back—along with a healthy number of chunks.
You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 27 Infernal.
You have earned 213 XP. Your XP is 1.44k.
Threshold reached. 1.90k XP.
Your Level has increased to 18.
Due to achieving Level 18 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:
-You have gained 1 Endurance.
-You have gained 2 Conjuration.
-You have gained 1 Intelligence.
-You have gained 3 Stat Points.
-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Dexterity, 2 Conjuration, and 1 Intelligence.
-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 10.
-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 18.
-You may choose a Spell to learn.
I tried to push down the excitement of the new Level down and focus on the task at hand. More Stats, an increased Soft Cap, and a whole new Spell were great and all, but I couldn’t use them if I died. I still had one more Infernal left.
It looked at me with a look of anger, like it was ready to tear my limbs from my body just for fun. Its eyes met mine.
And then it looked up, over my head, at something behind me. What was—
“Arlan! Duck!” Index shouted.
I did so without thinking, and a split-second later, a glowing arrow flew over my head, impaling the Infernal straight through the chest.
You have offered minor contribution toward the slaying of Level 21 Infernal.
You have earned 84 XP. Your XP is 267.
I turned to look behind me, and saw the exact person I wished hadn’t shot that arrow.
“That gave me more XP than expected,” Asmo said, bow in hand. She was standing just a couple dozen paces away, with the familiar axe-wielding woman standing next to her. “Do you have some sort of Talent that increases the XP drops of monsters you fight?”
The axe-wielding woman said nothing, simply wearing a snarl like the Infernals I’d seen before. Except the snarl seemed strange—almost fake. Like she was trying to force herself to be angry at me, or maybe she was just conflicted about how to feel. But whatever her emotions were, she wielded her axe all the same, ready to strike me down.
And I was ready to keep them from doing so.
I’d fled from these royal guards long enough. It was time for a rematch.
Chapter 114.2: A Battle's BeginningAgain, be sure you've read part 1 of this chapter before proceeding. They were uploaded at the same time, this is part 2!Trying to split my attention between the approaching Infernals and the Hellions below meIndex's warnings helped a lot with thatI cast Crippling Chill on any of the Demons that got near and prepared to start using Rays of Frost to focus them down. From what I'd seen with Erani's Firebolts, it seemed like the Infernals had taken quite a bit of damage already from Astintash's landing, so they wouldn't be quite as tanky as I knew them to be.There were about six Infernals all coming at me that I needed to deal with here, and so I picked one at random to try and kill first. The one closest to me, I decided, was going to die. I raised my hand and shot off Ray of Frost after Ray of Frost at the monster as I backed away, trying to keep my distance between me and the group.That distance could only last so long, though, and soon enough the Infernals caught up to me. With a crowd of so many of them, there wasn't much I could do to delay them from reaching me while also dealing damage to them. Gravity Well could've worked, sure, but keeping it active on six separate enemies would drain my Mana fasteven with Ethereal Armor's discount.But still, with Expedite active on me, I wasn't as helpless in close-quarters combat as I used to be. The Infernals swung open-handed at me, trying to catch me in a grab, but I bobbed and weaved between their strikes, angering them further. And the moment I saw an opening in the posture of the one I was targeting, I struck. Diving straight into it, leveraging my boosted Dexterity and the natural Strength I got from Recursive Growth to drive my body straight into its and push it to the ground, where I lay on top of it.In the little time I had, I activated Noxious Grasp and cast Rays of Frost right up against its face, trying to take away as much of its Health as possible. You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 24 Infernal.You have earned 199 XP. Your XP is 1.22k.Within a few seconds, it was dead, and I instantly moved on to my next target. I spun around and leapt at the next-closest Infernal that was just then reaching down to try and drag me off of its now-dead ally.While I normally only ever saw Infernals with facial expressions showing some form of rage, malice, or hatred, this was the rare time I saw an Infernal look at me with some other form of emotion. In the moment when I pounced on it like a predator to its prey, arms out and ready to keep Noxious Grasp draining away Health, my new victim looked at me with fear.It made sense, I supposedwhile the Demons as a whole were an oppressive group of dictators, treating the Overworld like their playground where there were no consequences, the individuals probably felt a decent bit of fear when a Dragon crashed through their secure based and now there were a couple of ravenous Humans tearing through their soldiers alongside a couple of bloodthirsty monsters. Even if the Infernals could survive death up here, I had no doubt they'd rather avoid it. Really, it almost made me feel bad for them.Almost.I crashed into the Infernal's body and threw it to the ground, too, with the help of a pulse of Gravity Well to throw it off balance. Its head slammed into the rocky path below us, and I turned around while straddling its muscly, deformed body to shoot Rays of Frost at the other few Infernals that were still trying to kill me.The bright Rays impacted their faces and temporarily blinded them with a flash of icy pain across their faces, buying me a bit more time with my primary target.Arlan, another Hellion! I heard Index shout.I was still atop the Infernal's body, so for a second I was confused.Index must've picked up on that, though, because it continued, Judging from the trajectory, it looks like the Hellion's gonna come up straight through that Demon's chest to try and hit you from below.Ouch. Sacrificing their own soldiers just at a chance at killing me? Seemed like they didn't like this one's chances at surviving being pinned down by me. Not that I disagreed with the assessment. But yeah, maybe now it was appropriate to feel bad for the poor Infernal.Three, two, one... Index counted, now!I leapt off of the Infernal's chest just in time to be splattered with a warm, sticky liquid all across my backalong with a healthy number of chunks.You have offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 27 Infernal.You have earned 213 XP. Your XP is 1.44k.Threshold reached. 1.90k XP. Your Level has increased to 18.Due to achieving Level 18 in the Minute Mage Class, you have been granted the following benefits:-You have gained 1 Endurance.-You have gained 2 Conjuration.-You have gained 1 Intelligence.-You have gained 3 Stat Points.-Recursive Growth has activated. You have gained 1 Dexterity, 2 Conjuration, and 1 Intelligence.-Soft Cap has increased to Rank 10.-Time Loop Talent Rank has increased to 18.-You may choose a Spell to learn.I tried to push down the excitement of the new Level down and focus on the task at hand. More Stats, an increased Soft Cap, and a whole new Spell were great and all, but I couldn't use them if I died. I still had one more Infernal left.It looked at me with a look of anger, like it was ready to tear my limbs from my body just for fun. Its eyes met mine.And then it looked up, over my head, at something behind me. What wasArlan! Duck! Index shouted.I did so without thinking, and a split-second later, a glowing arrow flew over my head, impaling the Infernal straight through the chest.You have offered minor contribution toward the slaying of Level 21 Infernal.You have earned 84 XP. Your XP is 267.I turned to look behind me, and saw the exact person I wished hadn't shot that arrow.That gave me more XP than expected, Asmo said, bow in hand. She was standing just a couple dozen paces away, with the familiar axe-wielding woman standing next to her. Do you have some sort of Talent that increases the XP drops of monsters you fight?The axe-wielding woman said nothing, simply wearing a snarl like the Infernals I'd seen before. Except the snarl seemed strangealmost fake. Like she was trying to force herself to be angry at me, or maybe she was just conflicted about how to feel. But whatever her emotions were, she wielded her axe all the same, ready to strike me down.And I was ready to keep them from doing so.I'd fled from these royal guards long enough. It was time for a rematch.
