Time to go all in. Edward thought, as more and more Murlocs were pointing their spears in the air, the monsters’ swarm turning into a hedgehog.

“Rèng khwāmrĕw”, Edward whispered. His perception instantly accelerated, everything moving in slow motion around him. That included him since the spell didn’t make him move faster. However, in a crucial moment like this one, especially when lots of things were happening all at the same time, it gave him the breathing room to plan ahead.

With this additional time, Edward was able to focus on the chieftain’s location. Right in the middle of the swarm, he could see a Murloc that was different from the others. This one was actually having a headgear. He was the only monster Edward saw that was having something akin to a cloth. This looked like an Indian headdress, except made with some long leaves plant to replace the feathers. The chieftain was surrounded by beefed and bright skin Murlocs.

I can’t miss him. He may be able to supervise his congeners, but he has still a lot to learn in terms of strategy. It would have been a lot harder for me if he looked like any random Murloc.

Edward estimated the distance he had yet to traverse. I can do it. He is what? One or two teleport away? He spotted another Murloc thrown his way by one of the beefed monsters. Time had slowed down, but it hadn’t stopped. The monsters were still moving. Besides the spell was also consuming his mana and he wouldn’t be able to keep it working for long.

Let’s go. Edward stopped the spell and teleported forward toward the monsters’ leader, avoiding the projectile aimed at him at the same time. While he was running on the Murlocs’ heads, he couldn’t avoid being grazed by some of the spears, minor cuts making his legs bleed. However, he gritted his teeth and kept going forward, the injuries weren’t serious enough to impend him. The spears were more placed on his way, than really being thrust at him.

Edward was getting closer very quickly, he could now see the face of the chieftain contort in anger and fear. I’m close enough. Before their leader could give them another order, Edward teleported to him and killed him swiftly with his daggers, absorbing his blood in the process and slowing the bleeding from his legs’ injuries. He has quite the amount of power compared to a regular Murloc. It’s almost on par with a Lusus naturae.

The monsters stopped stunned for a brief instant realizing that their leader had been slain. However, that didn’t last and they erupted in a disorderly fury. Edward was right in the middle of them. With his aura he sensed one of the Murlocs in his back letting go of his spear and clawing directly at him. His teleportation was still in cool down and he didn’t have the space to avoid the hit. Shit. The claws rang against the armor Leyla had given him. I forgot I had armor for a moment. I will have to thank Leyla when I see her.

With his teleport available again, he teleported away before the whole mass of Murlocs could jump at him and bury him under their sheer number. However, since he had to run and use two teleportations to get to the center of the group, one teleportation wasn’t enough to get out. He was back on the top of the angry Murlocs. The fact that they were disorganized and had become a mob made them harder to anticipate. Edward moved his leg to jump on the nearest Murloc but he felt as if he was moving slower than he intended to and the Murloc had the time to move slightly in that interval. Edward tripped and fell in the middle of them.

His teleportation was again on cool down and the Murloc he had attended to walk onto turned back and saw him spread on the ground. The monster jumped at him with a hiss brandishing his spear to impale him. Edward used one dagger to parry the blow and another to kill the monster, he felt a little better as its blood flowed into him.

The other Murlocs used his vulnerability to jump and accumulate on him, assaulting him from all directions. Edward tried to block the hits as best as he could, using the Murloc he had just killed as a cushion to soften the blows. But with the number of blows, this was far from enough, he accumulated several cuts on his legs and arms. His chest was safe thanks to his armor, and he used the monster corpse to protect his head.

As soon as he was able to, Edward teleported out of this desperate situation. All in all, it could have been worst, the delay between two teleportations wasn’t that long and he hadn’t stayed under the Murlocs’ assault long enough to incur serious injuries even if the amount of bleeding was a little concerning. However, on top of the injuries, Edward felt strangely sluggish.

What’s wrong with me? I feel light-headed, weak, and slow. It’s as if there is a slight delay between me wanting to move and my body actually moving. He looked at himself, his clothes sullied by dirt and blood. Did I lose enough blood to feel that bad? No, I started to get slower when I was trying to come back and I didn’t sustain that many injuries at that time.

He parried an attack from a nearby Murloc and killed him in retaliation. Usually, he would have been able to kill it before it even had the time to attack him. Actually, he was quite lucky, it had taken him three teleportations to go from the outside of the group to their chieftain. However, with its death, the fringe of the monsters’ group had started to disperse, not seeing Edward anymore in their field of view. That’s why it had taken him only two teleports to get out of the monsters’ mass. That didn’t mean there were no Murlocs, but at least they weren’t standing shoulder to shoulder. Edward teleported further away to gain some space and determine what was wrong with him.

I’m not in any state to take care of that many Murlocs. I need to retreat for now. At least, their leader’s death seems to have worked. They are just a pack of monsters now, rather than an organized enemy capable of using traps and tactics.

Edward noticed that only the Murlocs that saw or heard him were charging at him, the other Murlocs were looking around for him, but they didn’t organize a pursuit once he had teleported away from their sight. He didn’t try to engage more monsters, only dealing with the ones in close proximity who were attacking him. The monster’s blood he was absorbing through his daggers helped him to heal his injuries, the bleeding stopping completely. However, that didn’t alleviate his feeling of weakness. Staying on the defensive, he managed to teleport toward the edge of the cavern until no Murlocs were after him.

Something is definitely wrong with me. What have they done to me? Edward paused to think about it now that he didn’t have to fend off monsters’ attacks. Poison! I remember the book mentioning that Murlocs had weak poison in their saliva. I wasn’t bitten though. He frowned.

He looked back at the Murlocs and noticed one with bright skin walking around, inadvertently rubbing his spear against its skin. Now that I think about it, those ones make me reminisce of poison dart frogs. He winced. And it is just rubbing his spear against his skin which is probably poisonous. Taking into account the number of spears that managed to cut me while I hunted their leader it is no wonder I’m feeling bad.

Edward took a deep breath and sat down on the ground. Hopefully, Murloc poison is supposed to be relatively mild. I have to rest and let the effects dissipate. If the effects, do dissipate. I’m not doing to die from Murloc poison, am I? Edward smiled wryly in self-mockery.

He paid close attention to his condition, sensing the feedback from his body as he moved one of his legs or one of his arms from time to time. The delay between his will to move and the actual movement from his limb was still there, but the effects didn’t seem to worsen.

Okay…So good news first. It doesn’t seem like I’ll die from it. The effects are not threatening. I’m glad my heart or my lungs won’t stop functioning. Now, the bad news, is that the effects are not getting away. I can either give up on the Murlocs and go back to base, but I would rather not. I already did the hardest part, killing their leader. Now they are only a huge reserve of blood waiting to be harvested to power up. My other choice is to wait until the poison effects dissipate.

I don’t know how long it will take. However, I doubt the expedition will leave both without me and without being able to slaughter the Murlocs. They will try to accomplish their task for at least a few days even with how arrogant they are. It is hard to measure time inside of a cavern, but if the poison effect doesn’t dissipate during the night, I’ll consider coming back to them. Otherwise, I’m slaughtering those Murlocs by myself.

Edward felt more serene now that the immediate danger had passed, and that he had taken a decision. It is the perfect situation to try my overwatch meditation in real conditions.

Edward took a few deep breaths to relax. Then he slowly deployed his aura in the surroundings, being careful to let it diffuse. Once that was done, he closed his eyes and let his mind drift away. It wasn’t sleeping exactly, but it was enough to let him rest while being conscious enough to react to his aura if it detected any movement in the area.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Edward opened his eyes again. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but he was feeling better. He moved his body to check if the poison was still in effect. He happily noticed that his body was back to normal, once again reacting to his will without delays. He also checked the state of his legs. He had received several nasty cuts but he had been able to stop the bleeding, healing himself by absorbing the Murloc’s blood.

They are still bruised and reddish, but at least I’m not seeing any opened wounds, or scars. The pain is bearable.

Ok, it is time for payback. Edward grinned, picking up his daggers and walking in the direction of the numerous Murlocs that had stayed in the cavern during all this time.