Ch 91
After two more days of battling level 10 monsters, everyone was nearing level 10 themselves. Just as they were about to call it a day and search for a new safe room, Greg finally reached level 10. Upon updating his path, he became an elemental magic wielder. In addition to unlocking his HP and MP numbers, his mana pool was also revealed. Unlike Matt, who had acquired a multitude of new skills, most of Greg's skills underwent a transformation. After settling down for the night, they conducted some tests, discovering that Greg had gained the remarkable ability to wield all forms of elemental magic in four distinct ways.
In practice, this meant that Greg had 65 MP and a mana pool of 6,500, which seemed to replenish at a rate of 65 mana per minute. With these resources, he could employ one element or multiple elements in various attack forms, such as a slash, shot, barrage, or wave. Each additional element increased the mana usage, as did attacks that covered larger areas or involved multiple strikes. Greg noted that he sensed there were other factors influencing how much mana each attack consumed. Generally speaking, executing 1,000 slashes or shots was within his capability, but attempting 100 barrage or wave attacks would be a considerable challenge. This was under the assumption that only one element was being used. On the few occasions he experimented with mixing elements, he discovered that it required more mana than simply casting two separate attacks. Additionally, the mana cost wasn't consistent; he suspected that the more any two elements he tried to mix opposed each other, the more mana doing so consumed.
Despite all of that, Greg was thrilled to explore the possibilities in actual battle the next day as they settled into their nightly story routine. However, it was evident to Matt that everyone was distracted, as most of them anticipated reaching level 10 the following day, based on the pace they had been maintaining. Even Apricity had an outside chance if they encountered some level 12 monsters, but with 288 experience points needed, it seemed unlikely. Meanwhile, Matt was worried because he only had 22 hit points, which made him concerned about how durable they all would prove to be. Nevertheless, with Greg's focus on his mind stat and the fact that he needed healing less often than the others by staying out of the fight, Matt held onto hope.
It was with that hope that the next day began much like the last, until they turned down a hallway and entered a vast chamber. Suddenly, the chamber dimmed, and Apricity gasped, shooting Matt a look of terror. Before she could comment on the sudden change or what her skills were detecting, a single monster manifested before them, while the path both forward and backward was sealed by a dark, ominous energy. Gazing at the creature, Matt couldn't help but sigh as he examined its 60-foot, segmented body. The massive centipede-like beast crawled menacingly around one of the natural stone pillars that filled the chamber, emitting eerie chittering noises that echoed off the walls.
"Greg, now would be an excellent time for you to obliterate it with fire," commented Emily, her voice tinged with urgency. "I'll even let you get away with a few bug girl comments afterward if you succeed."
"Gross, even I have standards," retorted Greg with a smirk. "Mammal and reptile women only, with a few exceptions that I have yet to make."
A moment later, the massive monster was engulfed in flames as Greg unleashed a relentless barrage of fire upon it. However, it seemed to do nothing but infuriate the creature further. It launched itself directly at Greg, and Matt barely had enough time to interpose himself between them, bracing for the impact. To describe the sight of the centipede’s gaping mouth, wide enough to swallow him whole and just feet away, as disturbing would have been an understatement. Even worse, Matt felt himself losing the battle of strength as his daggers struggled to hold the monster’s pincers open. Meanwhile, its whip-like antennae thrashed wildly, targeting the others with vicious intent.
Suddenly, the area around Matt opened up as everyone concentrated on attacking the monster from the side, while Greg shouted out orders with urgency. Fortunately, moments later, a gust of wind and a burst of fire struck the monster directly in its mouth, causing it to reel backward. Matt surged forward to avoid losing his balance. Before he realized it, both his daggers were deeply embedded into the joint where the head segment connected to the rest of the monster's body. As the monster writhed in pain, the head segment detached. Matt briefly thought the battle was over, but to his shock, he found himself trapped beneath the creature as it regenerated a new head.
This placed Matt in a terrible situation, and had he checked his HP, he would have found that he was five points down. However, he had bigger issues to deal with. Due to the way everything unfolded, his face was mere inches from the centipede’s mouth, and it had him locked in with its pincers. The only reason he hadn’t been devoured already was that he had managed to thrust his daggers into the top of its mouth, creating a temporary barrier. Nonetheless, Matt felt himself struggling in a losing battle as he considered his options. Realizing he had only one chance, he activated his lucky dodge skill, hoping it would grant him a miraculous escape from the creature’s deadly grip.
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As if the centipede’s pincers were suddenly slathered in butter, Matt felt himself slipping out of its grip. He quickly sidestepped and aimed a slash at one of its antennae. His knife, however, bounced off harmlessly before he was flung across the chamber, crashing into the wall with a bone-jarring thud. He spat up blood from the impact, but his injuries healed almost instantly. Determined, he used his abilities, Luck Reflection and Give Back to Your Enemy, to inflict double the damage on the creature. Despite his resilience, if he had checked his HP, he might have reconsidered his recklessness; he was already down 25 points, leaving him with only 17 health remaining.
Meanwhile, as Matt was preparing to charge back into the fray, Bob decided to leap onto the centipede's back. He aimed his claws at a segment about midway down its spine, where it was already wounded from previous attacks by Greg, Yumiko, and Eleanor. Bob dug his claws in, attempting to pry the segment apart. To his shock, the centipede reacted by splitting itself, forming a new head and tail, resulting in two roughly 30-foot monsters. These newly formed creatures began to increase their ferocity, their movements more aggressive and unpredictable, as the group faced the daunting challenge of battling both of them.
As Bob went flying, much like Matt had just moments ago, it was Eleanor and Rose who charged in, and between the two of them, they fought against the new head. Meanwhile, Greg’s magic attacks remained focused on the head that had detached before growing legs and was now targeting him, with Apricity trying to attack it while skillfully avoiding its whip-like antennas. This left Zara alone as she clashed with the remaining head while Emily concentrated on healing, and Yumiko carefully aimed each remaining shot in her arsenal. All of this was observed by Matt as he charged directly at the head that had sent him flying, determined to provide Zara with some much-needed backup.
The first thing Matt noticed as he clashed with the centipede was that he was no longer losing the power struggle. Instead, it was evenly matched as he deftly blocked the whip-like antennas and its attempts to trap him in its pincers. Unfortunately, its speed had increased significantly, and just keeping its head focused on him while Zara attacked its body was proving difficult. At least until he heard Greg’s voice calling out urgently.
“Everyone, draw them towards me and get behind me!”
Figuring that he was about to unleash a wave attack, Matt smiled as he took a glancing hit while withdrawing. He made sure to be the last one to retreat, taking a few more minor hits to delay his foe and the one Eleanor and Rose had been fighting. The moment he passed Greg, he felt the intense heat and heard the crackle of electricity as a powerful wave of fire and lightning washed over both massive centipedes. When the flames finally cleared, there were about 20 single-segment centipedes, if they could be called that, scurrying around angrily. However, before Matt could rush in, approximately 20 balls of fire and electricity materialized as Greg unleashed a second wave of magic. Though only two segments perished, the others looked like they were on their last legs, writhing and struggling to move. Matt didn’t waste a moment; he charged in, letting his instincts take over as he prepared to finish the battle.
Once again, his failure to monitor his health nearly led to disaster as he delt the final blow to one segment after another. It wasn’t until he had just 5 HP left that Emily noticed the issue. She quickly sent healing his way, and he felt a surge of energy as 10 HP were restored, just in time for him to lose 12 HP when the third-to-last segment knocked him to the ground. By the time Matt had finished off the creature, the other two had been dealt with, and the notification that he had gained 208 experience points from the fight was drowned out by the cheers of teammates who had finally reached level 10. However, Emily's voice cut through the noise as she yelled at Matt.
“How reckless can you be?” she exclaimed, her eyes wide with concern.
“Reckless? That’s just how I always fight,” Matt replied, shrugging off her worry.
“Matt, how about you take a look at your HP right now,” Emily insisted.
Frowning, Matt pulled up the menu and blinked in surprise when he saw he had only 3 HP left. He gave Emily an apologetic look.
“You’re just lucky I figured out how to use my analytic skill to see HP after you told us about it. My healing can only do so much, and with everyone else getting injured, I didn’t have time to check on you until the end, when you were nearly dead,” Emily explained, her voice tinged with frustration.
“I don’t know what to say,” Matt murmured, his brow furrowed.
“How about ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you,’” Zara interjected, crossing her arms. “I thought you knew you needed to adjust your style when you talked to us about the dangers of having low HP.”
“I did know, but this was the first major fight we’ve had, and I was healing so fast I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t use all my negation skills during that fight because I was confident I could finish it off without them,” Matt admitted, his voice tinged with a hint of regret.
“I didn’t hear a ‘sorry’ or ‘thank you’ in there,” Zara pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s fine,” Emily cut in, trying to diffuse the tension. “We all—”
“No, it’s not,” Matt interrupted. “Emily, thank you for saving my butt, and I’m sorry I almost got myself killed. I promise to do better and figure out how to handle the imbalance between how I feel and my actual health.”
Emily nodded, and with that, everyone shifted their focus back to leveling up, with everyone except Apricity selecting their next path aspect. This also meant that everyone had their HP revealed, and hearing the numbers only made Matt more confused. For some reason, Eleanor had the most with 103 HP, followed by Rose with 71. Yumiko was next highest at 48, trailed by Matt's 42, Emily's 40, Zara at 28, Apricity and Bob, both at 22, and then Bob was all the way down at 11. Bob’s low HP was particularly concerning to Matt as the whole group tried to figure out what determined each of their HP numbers. It was Greg and Emily who said they had figured it out after everyone shared their stats, at least for the most part, as they pointed to durability and spirit as the source of the number. They explained that it was essentially those two stats multiplied together and then divided by 1,000, assuming they had done their math correctly.
