“Alright, I’m going to try something, ok?”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I think that thing is like a ghost or something, and I’m going to try to…” Roy paused as he searched for something with a nice ring to it, but the approaching form of the monster laid that ambition to rest, “Throw some magic at it.”

“Go ahead Houdini, we’ll stop and about face in three.”

“Give me five,” as Madelyn counted down Roy turned his focus inwards to his well of mana. He reached past the membrane that separated nothing from pure power and grasped the ethereal essence, the motions were now familiar with time and practice. Another thought and the concept of fire sparked into being, he wasn’t looking for a candle flame so he let the spark grow and spread until just a mere shell of unaligned mana contained a blazing core.

At five Roy pivoted, dragging his leg through the water and trailing foam. The monster was buried in the mist again, blurred lines resolving into sharp white as it neared. He pushed the mana he had isolated out of his body and let it rest inches above his palm, its almost illusory warmth radiating onto his skin.

He pushed the ball of mana suspended in the air further from him, one foot, two feet, three feet. As the distance grew he could make out a silk thin thread of mana connecting his body and the beginnings of his spell. It was invisible near him, occluded by what he could only describe as a gradient of noise. But near the spell it was clear, shimmering in the void. At four feet the line between his mana and his body grew taut and he felt the strain of pushing his spell further. Where the first few feet flew by in the blink of an eye, now every inch was accompanied by the thunderous roar of water as the monster ate up distance with its languorous but steady stride.

This wouldn’t’ do, he was at five feet and at this point he may as well ram the monster with his spell for all the progress he was making. The prospect of coming within just six feet, or three steps, from the monster in the hopes that his magic would work was unattractive. He would need to try something else, perhaps if he cut the tether he could push the spell further.

Then again, the tether was likely what allowed him to control the spell, that was what all cables did in real life and it would only be good design that this one acted the same way. He’d count on losing control after cutting the line, but gaining greater freedom of movement in return. What then?

The tether was taut, and he was exerting a force on the ball of mana, it was like a paddle ball or a game of tug of war. If he cut the tether while pushing the ball, maybe the mana would keep flying forwards. That was how physics worked, something mass, something force. All he knew was that attention span was negatively correlated with the number of numbers in a given lesson.

Mind set, Roy began to push the ball of mana again. First evoke the mana, then cut the tether. The first he could do, the second he was less sure of. What if he couldn’t cut the teather? New doubts began to enter his mind. Mana had no mass right? Would it even behave like a paddle ball?

Screw it, he pulled his mana into reality, potential becoming actuality as a basketball sized inferno erupted six feet from his outstretch arm. There was enough unaligned mana for it to last a handful of seconds at most so he needed to act quickly.

He gave it one final push and then grasped the tether with every scrap of metaphysical force he could muster, snap he declared, vocalizing for extra oomph, and the string snapped.

He had expected the loose end to recoil and flop uselessly to the ground, instead It’s path more resembled the slow motion captures of raindrops against water, a fine sparking spire submerging back into his body in one fluid motion.

The ball of flame catapulted forwards, jagged edges cutting across the mist and leaving a trail of sparks. Then it struck against the monster and bloomed like a flaming hydrangea, water sizzled, air roared, and for an instant golden orange replaced grey and white.

Roy could feel the heat wash over him from where he stood as golden ripples broke against his legs. Then it was gone and he was blinking spots from his vision. Twenty mana, it occurred to him, he felt like a badass.

“Alright, fireworks over, turn around and start running, I think it’s cross with us,” he was just about to give himself a pat on the back when Madelyn premonition startled him and he turned his clearing vision towards where the monster had been.

It was still there, smooth white exterior now a swirling cacophony. It was coming at a charge, fast as a stampeding elephant and heralded by a nimbus of water. It was doubtful they would be able to outrun it now.

“I know this looks bad,” Madelyn started as they tried their best to dash across the flooded roadway, “But this is objective proof that your Geneva Nightmare works.”

“Before we could at least run, I don’t know if this is an improvement,” but he had to admit, the improvised fireball worked better than bullets. The question was, was it the fire or the magic that was the lynchpin. The monster was closing in and he doubt he had time to stop and put together another fireball, he would have to try something simpler.

“Okay, umm, I’m going to try something again, we don’t have to stop this time,” he focused again, this time he pulled at his mana like a man starved for food, aligning it with fire where he could and pushing it out from his palm in a chaotic swirl.

Careful not to direct any of the mana pouring out from his palms towards himself, he turned his torso and sighted the approaching monster, “Ok, get ready.”

It was more for himself then for Madelyn as he pulled as much of what was coming out of his palm into existence as possible.

First came a gout of flame, brief and mild as it spider webbed across a flash of unaligned mana. Then another flash and Roy could feel his palms sizzle as heat danced across a bright screen of light. Pops and cracks, hisses and blasts, as light and fire played across water and mist in an uncontrolled dance.

The form of the creature was alternately bathed in light and shadow as it hesitated half a dozen yards away from them, its wispy tendrils recoiling with every flash of light.

This was a bust, he had spent about fifty points of mana and all he had achieved was keeping the monster at bay for a few seconds, unless he was planning to sacrifice himself in a delaying action this plan was doomed to failure. However, the flashes of light had ignited his metaphorical light bulb. The monster seemed to respond to the flashes in particular, and by process of elimination the flashes were the product of unaligned mana.

Taking advantage of the monsters brief hesitation, Roy stopped the outpour of mana from his palm and grasped a handful of unaligned mana. Push, evoke, sever, and a ball of light flashed into being. It sounded like bells and sirens and when it struck the monster it broke apart into motes of light.

The creature thrashed under the flurry of light, sizzles and pops sounded and tendrils of smoke dispersed and vanished in the mist. Its two front appendages lifted into the air trailing water, and before Roy could drag his mind away from the lightshow, it swept it arms across in a sweeping motion, appendage narrowing and lengthening as it arced through the air.

He felt the pain before he could process what he was seeing through his eyes. The air escaped his lungs and his chest tightened as he the ground slipped away and the world flipped around. Then came the water, rushing into his mouth as he tried to grasp the escaping air.

He felt the concrete scrape against his back and he lay there for a timeless moment before the water flooded his lungs. He heaved and with every cough he felt fire burst in his chest, his fingers scraped against knives and needles as he tried to right himself. Air, another jerk and the water slipped away.

The world was in double and the ripples in the water slipped past his vision, double, triple, waves going every which way. He could hear a loud ringing in the background and taste breakfast in his mouth as bits and pieces slipped past his tongue. Everything tasted like vinegar and iron.

The ringing in the background began to clear, staccato bursts of sound resolved themselves, gunfire. Right, monster, he looked up and the world spun, he wanted to barf but nothing came out. He closed his eyes and his mind began to catch up. The monster had struck him, he wasn’t dead, Madelyn was holding if off.

He needed to do something, the fireball had worked a little, and the light ball seemed to work a bit more. Both scraped away the thin tendrils the monster broke apart into when it was struck, but neither seemed to slow it down for long.

Maybe he needed to dig deeper, deliver a cut or a stab instead of scraping at its skin. But how? He looked inwards and the world began spinning again, he felt his body slam into water, then asphalt. His fingers were burning as he pushed himself out of the water again, rivulets running across his eyes and vision hazy as tears bled from his eyes.

He couldn’t do it, every motion was torture. Maybe something easier, he needed something sharp so what if he stuck his mana into a sharp object like his knife?

He propped himself up against his arm, reached for the knife in his belt and tugged it free. Then he pushed his mana at the knife. He could feel some slip away into the air as it exited his palm, but most stuck to the knife and gathered in the metal blade. He pushed a bit more conscious of his dwindling mana stores, at ten just a trickle was going into the knife and the rest flew away into the mist. It would have to do.

“Madelyn!” his voice was horse and his chest burned as he shouted out her name. She was about a dozen yards away as she danced around the monster, two shaded silhouettes against the mist, “Knife, magic… catch!”

He tensed his arm and threw, hoping her senses made up for his abysmal athletics. The silhouettes separated as she lunged for the knife, one step, two steps, “Got it!”

He watched as her hand caught the knife and with a flick sent it flying towards the monster. He knew it had struck home when the water trembled and the outline of the creature erupted into a mass of tentacles that barely resembled its previous form. They radiated outwards like an abyssal sun, thrashing against air and water in sweeps and thrusts he could hardly decipher through the mist.

“Nope, nope, nope! Roy, catch!” he barely had time to respond before whatever she’d thrown arced through the air and landed with a splash inches from his free hand.

It was cold to the touch and as he pulled it out of the water he recognized Madelyn’s intention. It was a magazine.

There was no time to hesitate. He pushed his mana at the magazine and it sucked it in like a wormhole, ten, twenty, thirty, as the last of his mana disappeared he realized it could probably take more, much more. This would have to do though, “Madelyn, it’s charged!”

Then he threw the magazine and watched with bated breath as she reached out her hand, and as if it were all rehearsed, reloaded and pivoted towards the monster. He didn’t know what to expect as a bang signaled her first shot.

The light from the muzzle was blinding and the bullet left a searing line in his vision. He closed his eyes and counted the shots and at fifteen all was silent again. Fading streaks of light connected Madelyn to the creature, its outline blurring as it broke apart into curling tendrils of smoke.

He took a long and agonizing breath and before he could call out, a flurry of blue screens assaulted his vision.

Level Up!

Level 4 > 5

+3 Stat Points

Skill Up!

Mana Affinity LV 1 > LV 2 (Novice)

Mana Sense LV 5 > LV 6 (Novice)

Heat Affinity LV 5 > LV 6 (Novice)

Evoke LV 3 > LV 4 (Novice)

Rapid Conflagaration LV 1 > LV 2 (Novice)

Mana Manipulation LV 2 > LV 5 (Novice)

You may now choose a minor perk for Mana Manipulation

Enchantment LV 0 > LV 1 (Novice)

Ability Up!

Fireball LV 0 > LV 2 (Novice)

Arcane Bolt LV 0 > LV 1 (Novice)

Enchant: Hallow LV 0 > 3 (Novice)

Creeping Beryl Blooms Have Spread!

Anemic 3 > 5

Anemic Creeping Beryl Blooms > Creeping Beryl Blooms

Trait Changes:

-2 CON

+0.01/s HP REG

+2 POISON RES

-1 HEAT RES

+1 COLD RES

Creeping Beryl Blooms will generate store 0.01 COLD ALIGNED MANA/s up to 10 MANA.

All COLD ALIGNED spells have +1 POTENCY

It was a lot to go through, he would read it over once his head stopped ringing and he didn’t feel like he was being pressed between a stone slab and a gallon of water. With a though he dismissed the screen and added another three points to CON, that put him one point ahead of the new penalties.

How much health was he at? 200 out of 284, came the subconscious response. A single smack had dealt 84 points of damage, it was probably more because his health was regenerating and it had been at least a handful of minutes.

Had it been the Roy of a few days ago he would have been sent reeling on the edge of death, but now he was still relatively healthy, if a bit winded and dazed. He was superhuman, really! While he had always kept in mind how many more bits he could take from a pistol compared to the baseline teenager, nothing put the world into perspective more than actually taking a normally debilitating hit from a tentacle monster.

What if he got hit by a car, or a truck? Would he be sent flying and then stand up a minute later smelling like daisies? What about a twenty story drop from a building? He’d heard about people surviving drops from great heights due to luck.

“Earth to Roy, Earth to Roy, do you copy?” just as he was about to explore the feasibility of skydiving without a parachute and surviving terminal velocity Madelyn’s voice jolted him out of his daydreams.

“I pilfered the corpse, three vials of juice, and another fungus fryer,” Madelyn passed his dagger and a vial of swamp berry juice to him, her coat sagged with water and her hair was plastered against her face but otherwise it didn’t appear that she’d taken a hit, “What does the blue box say in regards to your health? ”

“Just over two hundred, need a little rest,” he tucked the knife back into his belt and stuffed the vial in his bag. They were probably no more than a few hundred yards from the goblin’s camp it they didn’t take any speculative detours.

“When you’re ready, lead the way.”