Surveying the battlefield, if one could call it that, I noticed again that mushrooms were sprouting all over the haphazardly scattered goblin corpses. Roots seemed to almost eagerly lap up the spilled blood, and the stipes and caps started growing at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Soon the hallway would be one massive mushroom field, and I couldn’t even imagine the density of the spore-cloud this could create. Mental resistance or not, I wouldn’t want to go through that if I could avoid it. Even more, the spores by themselves would be a significant hazard because it was hard to cover myself perfectly from head to toe - I did not fancy the idea of roots digging into my eyes and ears.

And then it hit me.

I should be able to farm the mushrooms and grind my amber mana up like that.

Hell yeah - a renewable mana farm. I was going to shoot through the levels like no-one’s business.

Immediately, I approached one of the little mushrooms and chopped it off, right under the cap. Instead of a surge of mana entering my body, I got…. nothing.

Well, shit. So much for that plan.

I activated mana vision to see if mushrooms perhaps had a mana structure similar to inanimate objects instead of creatures, but it was the same cycling mana as I had seen previously, at least for the big shrooms. The smaller mushrooms, however, had no mana to speak of. Sure, there were traces of amber in them, but it was so minuscule that it was almost nonexistent. Which meant that I had to wait for the things to grow to the full adult size…

Just to make sure that I was not grasping for straws, I chopped into the stipes of one of the big ones I had brought along. Immediately, a huge cloud of spores entered the space around the cap, some of them glowing with amber mana, whereas others contained a fair amount of purple mana. I could feel the pressure building on my mind, forcing images into my consciousness that had no business being there, but with my increased resistance, I was able to push back hard.

Ignoring the spores as best I could, I chopped another two times in quick succession into the same spot, until I finally managed to cut the mushroom in half.

Not sure what to expect, I stepped back, outside of the range of the spores, and waited for something to happen. After two minutes had passed, I started to become impatient.

Fucking nothing?

I refused to believe that there would be no benefit from cutting down those mushrooms. Yeah, if they were like stupid champignons, something you chop off, throw in the pan and eat… I would understand that there was no reward for killing it. But these mushrooms were dangerous – essentially, they had snuffed out forty goblins just like that. And without the benefit of my ‘Mental Bastion’ title, I probably would have kicked the can during my spelunking as well.

But if there was no gain… then I might be better off taking the mushrooms out before they grew into the big baddies chock-full of spores. Easier like that.

On the flip side, the mushroom field provided an effective barrier against anyone coming from that side of the hallway, which might allow me to finally get some rest in relative safety.

That last point clinched it. I was going to let the shrooms be shrooms and put my ass into the horizontal.

Somewhat despondent, I thought about laying down where I was standing, but the strong smell of blood and the pungent odor of decay coming from the mushrooms convinced me that the comfort of the warm and well-lit kitchen room was the better choice. Slowly, I traipsed back to the cooking area, set on finally getting some good rest, and maybe even some shuteye.

I desperately needed it.

Back in the kitchen, I first locked the doors on both sides with the key that was conveniently hanging from a hook on the wall, and then pulled out a few additional sacks and arranged them in a sort of mattress. I was about to collapse into the improvised bed when I speculatively eyed the lights. Obviously, I had noticed them before, but I had never had the opportunity to look closer at them.

Even though I should get some fucking rest, I could not help myself… I climbed on one of the boxes lying around, which allowed me to just reach the chandelier and touch one of the crystals – it was slightly warm to my fingers but otherwise unremarkable. Using the tip of my dagger, I pried the crystal out of its socket to see what would happen.

Interestingly, the pinky-sized multifaceted sphere kept on shining brightly, even after being disconnected from the chandelier, which implied that there was power captured inside of the crystal. Or perhaps it was drawing energy out of the air?

Only one way to find out.

I activated mana vision and was rewarded with the sight of a complex structure of runes layered in an intricate three-dimensional array and powered by a tiny spec of red mana in the center of the vessel.

For a few moments, I got lost in the depth of the crystal, studying the beautiful structure that turned red mana into light. Or at least that is what I thought happened.

Could I perhaps draw the red mana out of the sphere and into myself? If so, that would be a free source of power, if I could figure out what to do with red mana. But for now, perhaps I should take down a few more of those light crystals … after all, it was the next best thing to a flashlight, and it gave me a backup option in case I ever ran out of silver mana.

I was dead tired and exhausted, but popping out the crystals was kind of relaxing and fun – therapy for the soul, or something like that. It just felt so mundane… like playing bejeweled - stupid and mindless.

The chandelier was quite simple, with a chain hanging down from a hook in the ceiling, securing a wooden wheel, in which the crystals were inserted on the bottom. Before I knew it, I had taken off almost all of the crystals and stuffed them into a little sack I had found in one of the crates.

Maybe I had gone a bit overboard, because by then the light in the kitchen area had grown substantially dimmer, with most of the remaining illumination stemming from the regular torches set into the side of the wall. Most of them seemed on their last leg, starting to sputter and smoke, so soon there was not going to be much light left.

Which… might just be an advantage. After all, I could see in the dark, whereas the goblins couldn’t. At least I thought they couldn’t. So if they somehow managed to thread their way through the mushrooms or, god forbid, come from the other side of the kitchen area, it would substantially increase my chances for survival.

On the other hand… I really was fed up with the darkness. And my mana was limited so I could not see indefinitely in the dark. Not that I needed to… after all, I was planning on sleeping.

After wavering for a moment, I decided to go ahead and clear out the rest of the crystals. Just when I was about to take out the last of the lights, I noticed with my mana vision that there was a thin thread of mana running down the chain, and, along a metallic-shimmering line inserted into the wood, toward the crystal – small enough to have escaped my notice previously.

It looked like some type of energy source… which meant that the mana in the crystals was a finite source? How soon would it run out? Had I just wasted thirty minutes on what was going to be inert crystals within a short while?

Grumbling in annoyance, I shrugged my shoulders and put the last crystal into the bag with the nineteen others. Nothing I could do about that either way.

And then, finally, I laid down on my makeshift bed.

No sooner had I closed my eyes than I heard a soft shuffling noise.

Instantly, I was wide awake and scanned the surrounding with my eyes. The flickering flames of the last remaining torches caused shadows to dance over the walls, creating a surreal, almost feverish atmosphere.

And there it was again - a barely perceptible tapping noise as if something moved slowly, and deliberately through the room.

I froze, not daring to even breathe.

What had happened?

How had anything managed to get through the doors without making a ton of noise? Even with a key, it should not have been that noiselessly.

Shaking in barely suppressed anxiety, I slowly moved my hand down to the side of my improvised bed, trying to locate my dagger and sword.

I already berated myself for not leaving them on, when my hand finally touched cold, solid metal. With an internal sigh of relief, I closed my fingers around the handle of the sword but instantly cursed my clumsiness when the scabbard scratched the floor tiles slightly.

Immediately, I stopped moving, listening into the darkness for any indication that I had been heard.

Nothing. No noise. Absolute quiet.

I could have heard a pin drop from across the room.

My body started to tense up even more. That silence made me even more sure that I had been noticed. Or had I just imagined the earlier noise? Perhaps it had been just a figment of my imagination, born out of the stresses I had faced during these last harrowing hours and days? But no… I was sure there had been something.

And it was coming for me.

And then I heard the noise again. It was coming from behind the crates – a slight scratching noise, like from claws on stone, and the soft tapping of … paws? Instantly, images of the Reaver Dogs crossed my mind, but I thought it was unlikely that a Reaver Dog would behave that deliberately.

Trying to stay quiet, I first activated Shadowskin and Mana Vision and then slowly got up, while soundlessly drawing my sword. At least, however quietly one can do so.

And then I waited for whatever was lurking behind the crates to reveal itself.

The seconds stretched impossibly long until I just could not handle it any longer. With a scream, I rushed around the crates, sword ready to slaughter whatever I might find. I wasn’t prepared for what I was facing though – a giant panther, the size of a big pony or, perhaps a more apt comparison, a Bengal Tiger on steroids, with fur dark as midnight and eyes that were shining in a bright red, full of malice and energy. From its shoulders four tentacles with maws on the tip snaked around the air, reaching about two yards each.

At my sudden rush, the panther shrank back for a moment, fur raised and growling menacingly, while the tentacles whipped around the air in a crazed frenzy, snapping and hissing, apparently driven by their own, independent will.

For a second or two, I stood there, staring at the nightmarish creature, the sight of which chilled the blood in my veins. But then I realized that this might be the best and only shot I’d get. I jumped forward and slashed down with my sword straight at the neck of the cat, putting in every ounce of strength I had.

The panther did not wait for me to connect, though, and almost leisurely shrank back, avoiding the blade by mere inches. In the meantime, the tentacles shot forward, mouths spread open, each displaying serrated teeth like a fucking lamprey.

I twisted to the side, avoiding the first two tentacles, perhaps with help from my Shadowskin, but the third latched onto my thigh, and the last one went right for my chest. Their sharp teeth buried into my skin and flesh, and I almost fainted from the shock of the sudden pain. Clenching my teeth, I pulled back my sword as fast as I could and chopped down hard, attempting to cut off the tentacles. But the beast, or perhaps the tentacles themselves, must have felt it coming, because they withdrew a split-second before I could hit them, leaving me with a couple of gaping wounds.

“Fuck!” I screamed as the pain hit me again, even worse now.

And then reality set in. This beast was way too fast and powerful. The writing was on the wall unless I could end the fight quickly.

It was time for a desperate attack, an everything-or-nothing attempt to end the fight. Utterly focused, blending out the pain, the fear, and my exhaustion, I jumped forward, feinting a stab to the right. The moment, I saw the huge cat beginning to dodge to the side, I changed direction and slashed with all my force to the left, where I expected the beast to move to.

And indeed, the panther did precisely what I had expected. I felt elation rise as my blade sped toward the neck of the creature, only to stare in utter disbelief when my sword swished through empty air and clanged in a shower of sparks against the floor.

Before I could get over my bewilderment, I suddenly was hit from behind by a massive paw, which tossed me forward, right into the wall.

I dropped my sword and fought against sudden vertigo.

What the fuck had happened?

Wincing in pain, I picked up my sword and put my back against the wall. For a moment, everything was blurry, and I was struggling to keep the bile down. And there it was, the giant cat, standing quietly, watching me, waiting for something.

I swallowed hard.

What was it waiting for? Did it think I was going to lay down and offer my throat? Let myself be slaughtered like a little lamb? No fucking way!

“C'mon you fucker, you want to dance? Let’s dance,” I shouted before throwing myself forward.

The panther slid smoothly to the side, easily avoiding my clumsy attack and first one, then two tentacles slammed into my side, causing me to topple over. My face smashed into the ground, and the sharp crack and intense pain told me that I had broken my nose.

Before I could move, I felt a heavy paw on my back, pressing me down. I tried pushing off the floor or twisting my body around, but I was just too weak. Six hundred pounds of cat will do that.

Facing imminent death, I did what I had tried to avoid doing– I dumped all my characteristic points into strength. Not that five additional points in strength were going to matter against a creature like that. But it was a do or die situation, so I had to try at least.

But reality had different plans.

I was unable to put more than one point into strength, and the reason immediately became apparent. Upon making the choice, my body seized up, with hot and cold shivers running down my spine. And then painful spasms set in, contorting my body in all kinds of ways, like a marionette dancing on the strings of a drunk puppeteer, with each muscle contraction leeching more of the little energy I had left.

And then the hunger set it – ravenous hunger. And when I could not provide immediate sustenance, I could feel my body taking it from elsewhere, from all the little fat reserves that my body had built up over the last several years.

Something similar had happened earlier, when my body had developed at such crazy speeds, changing from an unmoving, limp sack of potatoes to a body capable of jumping around, killing goblins. But this… this was an order of magnitude more intense, more taxing on the scarce resources of my body.

I tried moving, but my muscles did not obey me – all I managed was to flop around like a fish on dry land. A fish with a monstrous cat’s paw on its body.

After a few seconds of futile attempts to control my body, I just closed my eyes, waiting for the bite to my neck that would end my life.

But it never came. Instead, the paw slightly lifted off my back, giving me a tiny bit of space to move. I tried seizing the opportunity, my body picked that moment for a particularly violent spasm that froze my body motionless, eliciting a grunt of pain from between my clenched jaw.

And then the paw slammed into my body, tossing me like a rag doll to the side. A split second later, the paw was pressing down on me again, painfully pushing my head into the ground.

Before I could recover from the shock, one of the tentacles slammed into me from the other side, cracking a rib. And then the creature used its massive paw again to slap me right back to where I had started from. Only this time, its claws were not fully retracted, leaving bloody gashes along my side.

The process continued like that a couple more times before I finally started to get back some control over the muscles in my body. This time, when the paw lifted off my back, I was ready.

The moment I was able to move, I whipped the sword around, attempting to cut off the legs of the cat. But, just as before, the panther suddenly disappeared.

As fast as I could, I got up from the floor, sword at the ready, eyes flickering around, trying to spot the huge predator. And there it was, just a few yards away, waiting for me to move.

It was… it was fucking playing with me. Like a cat might play with a mouse.

Fuck.

And suddenly, the cat was gone. I whirled around, just quick enough to see the creature emerge from a shadow behind me and launch two of its tentacles right at my face. This time, I managed to get up my sword in time and intercept one of the tentacles, drawing a bloody gash along its side. The other tentacle missed my face by a couple of inches when I managed to dodge matrix style.

Rather than improving my situation, it looked as if it made the panther more serious about finishing me off. The moment it had realized that the attack had failed and that I actually had managed to injure it, the beast disappeared in another shadow.

Wise to its trick, I did not wait for it to reappear but slashed into the empty space behind my back. The moment the head of the beast reared out of the shadow, my sword was biting into its side. I expected my blade to cut a deep wound, but unfortunately, its fur, or perhaps flesh, was a lot tougher than I had expected – it felt like I was hitting the trunk of a tree.

Completely unfazed, the panther growled menacingly and slowly began to stalk around me, watching me for an opening to strike with its tentacles or pounce on me. I turned with it, the sword between the creature and my body, ready to slash at a moment’s notice.

And then the panther attacked.

It jumped forward, right toward the tip of my sword. But instead of impaling itself on the cold steel, it disappeared a split-second before and suddenly slammed into my body from behind. I tumbled to the ground but managed to hold on to my sword this time around.

Rolling over my shoulder, I immediately got back up in a defensive position, trying to predict from which direction the creature would try to hit me next. And there it was, coming out of a shadow to my right, striking at me with its tentacles and disappearing before I could mount a counterattack. A second later, it pounced on me again, this time from behind, only to jump into another shadow before I could even turn around.

The same pattern repeated itself, with injuries mounting all over my body. And all I had managed to do so far was deal a couple of minor wounds. I needed a way to pin the creature down. Its ability to jump through the shadows was crazy good and probably what allowed it to get through the door as well, without causing any noise.

It could have, probably, taken out all the goblins on its own, if it had wanted to… which begged the question of why it had not. Something must have prevented it from doing just that.

And then it dawned on me. The light!

When the panther attacked the next time, I did my best to avoid a severe injury by bending out of the way. Instead of attempting to strike back, which I knew was futile anyway, I grabbed the little sack filled to the rim with the light crystals. Praying fervently that my hunch was right, I waited for the moment the creature jumped through the next shadow and then immediately ripped open the bag and tossed the glowing crystals in a wide arc around me.

Instantly, the room was flooded with light, positively blinding after the dim illumination of the few remaining torches. I blinked away a few tears and then saw the feline predator stuck between two of the heavy wooden crates on the bottom, in the only shadow in reach, I assumed. Parts of the reinforced container had cut deeply into the panther’s side, and its fur was singed and smoking, filling the air with the pungent smell of burned flesh and hair.

The beast was meekly struggling to free itself from its trap, but I didn’t give it the chance to escape. With a shout, I lifted my sword with both hands and hammered it down on the spine of the creature. It felt like I was chopping into a wooden log.

How hard was the body of the creature? Its skin was nigh impenetrable to the somewhat dull edge of my blade.

But if I couldn’t sever the spine with one slash of the sword, I had to go with persistence instead. I raised my sword again and cut down as hard as I could. And again.

It took me at least a minute, but finally, I managed to cut through the nerves and caused the hind legs to collapse. The tentacles on its shoulders weakly moved around, clearly dazed, but still trying to find me. It was easy enough to evade them, though, now that the creature was immobilized, and I managed to cut through them one by one.

When most of the danger was neutralized, I climbed up on the crates, and looked down at the previously powerful, regal creature, almost feeling a bit of pity.

Almost.

I spat a glob of blood to the side and, cackling like a madman, drove the tip of the sword into the base of its skull using the full weight of my body.

“Hasta la vista, baby,” I managed to croak in my best Arnie imitation, before collapsing on top of the monster in utter exhaustion.