Tanuki couldn’t bear the tension anymore. He changed his hold on the weapon into a throwing stance, then...

“Don’t do it.”

A voice spoke in his mind. A primal voice that is as old as the first living being. It is the voice, that has seen every millennium. The voice that bears the primal knowledge of all life.

“My instincts are holding me back, but why?”

His eyes were fixated on the mask. It made him so tense, he couldn’t allow himself to blink, not even as his cold sweat dripped down into his eyes.

But the more he looked at that mask, the more he began to understand the root of his fear and why it was so crucial he doesn’t attack.

Since showing itself, the masked creature didn’t make any move or attack. It was waiting, most likely for an opening on the boy. It is plausible since Tanuki could easily dodge or evade its attacks, and if the great MMORPG rules truly exist in this world, the monster’s attacks were limited by mana, so it needed to make the most out of only a few attacks.

“I see.” Tanuki raised his shield vigilantly. “If I were to concentrate on an attack, it could slip one of its own past my defense and strike my weak points. If I don’t do anything though and concentrate on my defense, the monster has no chance of hurting me. This is a waiting game where the more patient wins.”

There was still an entire night ahead, and Tanuki wasn’t sure the monsters would disappear by sunrise. That being said, he had no other idea than to just wait it out. Maybe he gets lucky and goblins burn in the sunlight, just like vampires.

The waiting game quickly came to an end when the monster realized Tanuki wasn’t going to attack. Hitting its staff against the ground, it summoned a pair of horns and shot them right at the boy, who easily caught both attacks with his shield.

“Hoho, you missed that one!”

Another pair of horns appeared and suffered the same fate as the two before.

“Try another!” Tanuki smiled cheekily.

The monster attacked again, then quickly again, but Tanuki could easily deflect every attack. He was beginning to enjoy it, and his obnoxious taunts clearly had an effect on the monster.

“Hey, how about I try one?” He lunged forward and threw his spear.

The goblin had no time to defend itself. The spear went right at its mask, stabbing deep into the red material, and breaking it into two equal parts. Tanuki’s eyes widened in surprise, as he didn’t think his throw would be so precise.

“D-Did I kill it?” He asked, followed by the hair standing up on the back of his neck, as he saw what was behind that mask.

[ Goblin ]

[ HP: 4/5 ]

One half of the mask remained on the goblin’s face, while the other fell off, revealing the reddest wrathful eyes Tanuki has ever seen. Oddly enough, they looked human, much like the hands that removed the spear from its forehead.

Warm blood leaked out of the wound.

“You imbecile!” The figure cried out in an angry, feminine voice before it banged its staff against the ground and shot a large red horn towards Tanuki.

The horn was five times the size of those from before. It was also much sharper and faster. Tanuki realized this attack cannot be blocked by his shield, and chose to evade the deadly strike. Unfortunately, the Gaia Core was right behind him.

Bang!

[ Warning! ]

[ CP: 6/10 ]

“What the hell?” Tanuki shouted as the numbers appeared in the corner of his eye. “One of those attacks was enough to deal that much damage to the core? If it… no, if she continues to focus on the core, then––“

Fwoosh!

A large horn went spinning by his head and lodged into the ground before him. Not for long though, it quickly vanished as the monster summoned another to attack.

Tanuki turned and raised his shield just in time to block the attack, but it sent him flying away. The sharp fence broke behind him, and he landed far from the core.

The monster didn’t care about that though and continued to pursue Tanuki.

“Crap! She doesn’t care about the Gaia Core! She just wants me dead!”

Another attack came, which Tanuki successfully evaded. He retaliated by grabbing a sharp piece of the broken fence and throwing it at the monster, who easily defended herself by blowing it into pieces.

“Damn it!” Tanuki cursed.

The monster’s attacks seemed to grow stronger with every shot. It was the complete opposite of when her mask was still intact.

“Did her wrath amplify her magic abilities?”

The concept of magic is as old as time. Every human culture has a different interpretation for it, mostly associated with divine or supernatural deities.

Of course, most supernatural or paranormal events can be explained with the help of science. It is only natural, as something that cannot be explained, cannot exist.

But how could this situation be explained? He’s met a real magic user, who’s able to summon weapons out of thin air that get powered up via the caster’s wrath. How could such a supernatural phenomenon be explained? How is this monster able to do such an incredible thing?

Yet even this outlandish concept has to have its laws. If a living creature can bend it to her will, there has to be a basis it operates on, or else mother nature wouldn’t allow such creature to exist.

“That mask…”

The other half of the mask, which hasn’t fallen off, changed. Its horn grew larger and shone with a red light. When the monster summoned one of its attacks, the horn glowed even brighter.

Tanuki tried to put every piece of this puzzle into place. It was clear, the monster gained her magical abilities from the red mask. The attacks resembled the same shape as the horn on the mask and they became stronger as the latter grew larger.

Yet, for some reason, this answer wasn’t enough for Tanuki. He felt there was a secret piece of this puzzle, hidden in plain sight. But what could that be?

“What am I missing…” He asked, while another of the goblin's attacks rapidly approached.

.

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[ Wave Ongoing! ]

[ Active effects: –– ]

[ Enemies left: Goblin (1/3) ]