Chapter Twenty Nine

Synergy Detected.

Skills Accelerated Thinking, Burst of Senses, and Increased Movement are capable of combining.

Skill Unlocked! A Moment In Time: Sometimes one's best just isn't enough. When a moment of extra time is the difference between life and death.

Would you like to merge them?

Should she? She doubted there were any drawbacks, but it wouldn't be the first time she took the wrong choice with limited information. Maybe it weakened all three to allow them to trigger at once. The name definitely alluded to them triggering at once. As for all she knew, time changed when all her senses, mind, and body accelerated. Or maybe it did something else. She would ask the Chrotile, but they would probably get even more annoyed at her for talking. If only she had a phone to call Thrazk or a certain city sized turtle.

Actually, maybe she did. Urus, can you hear me?

Her hope diminished by the second. It was worth a try. If they could contact Urus that easily, they wouldn't need some beacon. The Mezo probably interferes or Urus wants her Chrotile to survive without her assistance. Either way, it didn't change the fact she was on her own.

After a few seconds of thought, she shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't miss something she never had.

A Moment In Time: Sometimes one's best just isn't enough. When a moment of extra time is the difference between life and death.

Effects: Triples one's mind, senses and body capabilities in a near death situation.

Warning! Due to incomplete fusion, there may be side effects.

Wonderful. Maybe she should have kept the skills separate. She bet the incomplete fusion was because she didn't have the strength and endurance version. All the more reason to get them up to a hundred. This was probably why Thrazk told her to get them to at least 100. He didn't mention anything about synergy, but maybe that's why he was so unstoppable. Or he was just that good. If she had a choice, she would rather fling around lightning over a war hammer. The durability he had would be handy, though. Can't have everything.

Should she push for 100 in strength and endurance? A shiver ran through her body at the thought. Something told her that would be a bad idea. It was nice she had the points to do it, though. Hopefully, she didn't trigger the skill before she completed it. She didn't like the idea of side effects. Since she lacked strength and endurance, it probably meant extreme exhaustion or something. She had no idea how long the skill lasted, but if it ran out before she escaped or killed her enemy, she would be doomed. This skill was more of a liability than a help.

She needed to stay with the group at least until she completed the skill. At least then she had backup if it left her incapacitated. Well, maybe not. They seemed to value random Chrotile over her.

Elysia shook her head. No, that was inconsiderate. Why did she think that? Sure, it was frustrating her team stayed, but that didn't mean they chose them over her. She didn't need help, and they did, though the team that saved them should have stayed instead. They could have used the wasted time to hunt, but at least she used the time to improve herself.

Hopefully, the retrieval team arrives soon, though. She didn't want to risk spending more points yet. Maybe while they wait she could go hunting with Ione, but that would probably be the last straw to their time as a team. She was already on thin ice for not helping with the guarding, but it wasn't like she was far away. If something attacked, she could help. There was no point in standing like statues around them. She wasn't built to guard. She was an attacker, not a defender.

Sudden sounds to her right drew her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw all conscious Chrotile also looking toward the jungle weapons at the ready.

Instead of waiting, Elysia sent a mental request to Ione as she sat up. Ione's ears swiveled toward the sound before stalking into the jungle a dozen meters away from the source, probably to curve around undetected.

Images reached her a few seconds later. Several raptors sniffed the air and ground as they worked their way toward the clearing.

Elysia jumped to her feet, lightning just under the surface, eager to fight, only to freeze a moment later as more images came. It showed Ione circling the clearing in a kilometer radius to the opposite side to find another group of three raptors further away, similarly sniffing out the clearing. The situation grew worse as two more groups appeared, all converging on the clearing.

Contrary to Elysia, her team continued to focus on the original source, unaware of the other groups who were further from their clearing. Thinking quick, Elysia had Ione stalk the southern group who were the closest besides the first group of raptors nearing the Chrotile.

She hoped they could handle them. She couldn't allow the others to reach them. There was no way they could handle a dozen raptors at once.

As quietly as she could, she snuck into the jungle. Her steps glided over the jungle floor as she gracefully wove through dense vegetation, as if she was boneless. The recently spent attribute points showed their value as she pinpointed her targets with ease, reaching them less than a minute later undetected.

A prod of her bond with Ione told her the feline was on the opposite side of the trio of raptors. She directed Ione to circle to the south of the raptors as she unsheathed a throwing knife in each hand to the east.

With a fast, graceful motion, she threw each knife at trees near where Ione was previously drawing the raptors' attention toward the knives. Before they realized what happened, Elysia activated Chain lightning, finding it activate far faster than before. With far less effort she strengthened the skill, though at double the power it became unstable.

Worried about incapacitating herself when she had other foes to hunt, she allowed the lightning to travel down her lifted right arm. Her ring glowed as the chain lightning shot from her outstretched hand with a crack. The raptor's heads jerked in her direction but it was far too slow as a moment later the lightning struck her target, the knifes. As she planned, the lightning arced off the knives onto the nearby raptors, locking up their muscles.

A silver flash blurred to the nearest raptor, tearing out its throat before it could react. The raptor dropped to the leafy ground, twitching as blood gushed from its throat. It stilled a moment later as a ding reached Elysia's mind, but she ignored it as she focused her attention on the next raptor.

Still slowed by the opening lighting attack, the next nearest raptor found itself as the next target. Ione leaped onto its back before clamping her powerful jaws around its feathered neck. Without prompting, Elysia released a smite directly onto Ione, who, like the previous jungle, amplified the lightning through her body into the raptor. Smoke rose from the raptor as it collapsed to the ground, brain fired.

Another ding signaled its death as they focused on the last raptor, who lowered itself while baring its teeth. Elysia glanced at Ione, worried about a direct confrontation with the raptor, but her worries turned out to be pointless as Ione shot forward far faster than the raptor could react. With her razor-sharp claws extended, she racked them along the flank of the raptor before finishing with a lightning-fast severing of the tendons on the back of the raptor's left leg.

Even before the raptor reach the ground, Elysia unleashed a smite aimed at its head. Unfortunately, the wild lightning veered off target, appearing to miss the raptor all together only to twist back on target. Brain fried, the raptor twitched on the ground, finished by a vicious bite to its throat by Ione.

Ione contacted her mother's eyes, pride radiating both ways through their bond.

Knowing they had more prey to hunt, they split up with Ione going to scout their next targets while Elysia retrieved her knives. She smiled as she found her knives undamaged. Despite the abuse she put them through. Best purchase ever. She needed to put her whip to use too, but there hasn't been a reason too yet and she wasn't comfortable using it yet.

If only she had more time to prepare for Mezo. The armor seemed to do its job though, like the whip, she hasn't needed it. If she needed her armor, something bad already happened. Best to kill everything before they could touch her and with Ione's scouting ambushing was stupid easy.

Though she doubted every confrontation would go this smooth. Still, having the upper hand from the beginning helped a ton. By the time her Chain Lightning wore off, two of the raptors were already dead. She was right. Chain lightning didn't do a ton of damage to larger prey, but the stun effect worked perfectly for an opening attack.

Images of the next trio reached her mind, sending her to the northeast almost a kilometer. Upon reaching them, Ione and her prepared to ambush them like the last group with the opening attack being her throwing knives, then a Chain Lightning. This time Ione ripped out the throat of two raptors, as Elysia smited the third.

Within seconds, all three raptors laid dead on the ground with Ione standing over the third mouth dripping with blood. She shook herself as lightning sparked off her fur, returning her fur to pristine condition before stalking off to the next target.

Wow, that was even easier than the last one. Ione was really fast. She barely had time to smite before Ione took down two of them. No wonder she scouted everything so quick. She traded ranged attacks for speed.

Though from the first ambush, she had some control over her lightning. Maybe she had a skill to help guide her lightning. Did Ione have skills? Without identify she didn't even know Ione's level, but she assumed it was close to her own or maybe higher with how deadly she was. They made for an amazing team, but she felt Ione was a majority of the work. She scouted and did a lot of the finishing attacks. Of the six raptors, she probably did more damage to four of them, though her stun set everything up. They had their roles, no need to feel inferior to her bond.

This time Ione took a little longer to find the next prey, having to circle around to the northeast to find them. Fortunately, they didn't reach the clearing yet, but they were close. If they didn't strike soon, they would outnumber her team. She knew the first trio had already reached the clearing, but she hoped the Chrotile could handle them. These raptors weren't that strong, but unlike them, the raptors had the advantage as the ambushers.

Instead of circling the clearing like Ione, Elysia cut through to save time. As soon as she broke through the dense jungle, she looked toward the Chrotile to find them facing off with three raptors. Thauzo had his shield raised keeping the raptors back as Thaux flashed around, taking stabs at them. Thres stood in back, sending fireballs at the raptors, but because of the humid air, the fireballs lacked strength. Still, they left scorch marks on the raptors. The tank of the downed Chrotile guarded the other side in case more ambushed them.

After shoving back the latest attack of the raptor, Thauzo looked up toward Elysia, motioning her to fall into formation. Elysia shook her head and pointing in the direction of her targets, not knowing the hand sign to say what she wanted.

Thauzo signaled her to fall in line with more insistence, but had to raise his shield to block the next attack.

Hoping she got her message across, Elysia reentered the jungle and reached her targets a minute later.