Chapter 49: Chapter 46 – Blue Sword & Red Witch

A few days have passed since I teamed up with Christy. We've completed a request to investigate murders in the slum areas of the city, which ended up being the victims of Christy's rampage. The er, Alchemists of the Deep? I've heard whisperings about the group here and there while dwelling in Mou 13 for a few years, but I've never been involved with them, directly or indirectly. Christy on the other hand has been following in the footsteps of her... Friend? Iris. The Bloody Cat. Apparently she got that nickname after slaughtering a group of mercenaries that ambushed her, all alone.

Speaking of names, the rumor mill got churning quickly when news of mine & Christy's teaming up became known. "Mud & Blood" became the front runner for team names started by the guys & gals of the guild. It rhymes sure, but "Mud and Blood"...? It doesn't get any more dreary. I heaved a sigh while we were leaving the gates of the city. We took a new request to go investigate a dungeon in the frontier. Seem's there has been unusual activity surrounding it as of late. Creatures becoming more active, unusual sightings of monsters from lower floors, swarms of smaller critters running from something. I wasn't enthused.

Conversation between me and Christy was lacking. She generally showed little interest in me after our first encounter, appearing to simply tolerate my presence rather than cooperating with me. It felt somewhat tense, but I had decided to give up on trying to cooperate with her. I guess the only reason she's tolerating my presence in the party is the obligation to repay me for her mistake the other day.

While preoccupied with my thoughts, we had engaged a pack of Cob'als, a species of creature related to goblins. The were short, round creatures with wide heads and long, thick horns curving slightly backwards. Their limbs were long but slender, with long, sharp nails and big hands with surprising strength. Their packs consisted of anywhere between 4 to 20, and the one that came upon us numbered closer to the latter. I drew my blades and took my stance as Christy began to channel her magic. This was a lightning spell that she liked to use to deal with clusters of weaklings, she would designate multiple targets before shooting out arcs of lightning.

As they howled and screeched around us, some leapt towards christy. I would intercept the ones that got close, cutting them down quickly and effectively, sticking close to christy as she finished things up. And, a moment later, I dodged a lightning bolt that shot past me to fry a cob'al. Christy had launched her spell and dropped their numbers significantly, causing the remnants to scatter.

Callum: "Christy, please don't try to get me caught in your attacks... I know you can tell my position even while you're channeling that magic." I complained to her, flicking the sticky green blood from my blade.

Christy: "And I know that you can tell where an attack is coming from. That unnatural evasion of yours is really annoying you know." She said with an exasperated scoff, like she was pouting. That really would have killed me though, you know...? What if I didn't dodge...?

I sighed, my face drooping. My blades returned to their scabbards and we continued on towards the spire, largely unaffected by the encounter with the cob'al pack.

Callum: "But really, can't you be at least more considerate of your comrades? Even if I can dodge, it's still rude you know?"

Christy: "Why should I consider someone that's after Iris?" She said with a pout, turning her head away. I'm not after her, though?

I couldn't find any words to refute her nonsense, so I just shrugged it off and continued our walk in silence. The spire was getting closer now, and we could see the entrance. However, something in my gut told me something wasn't right. I could feel the presence of something monstrous coming from the spire. It gave me a bad premonition, and it made me tense up.

We soon arrived at the entrance, and I could tell Christy could sense it too, that something was wrong. Our descent into the darkness was unsettling. We found little to no signs of life, and rarely would a monster jump out to attack us, but even as we fought them they seemed to be agitated by something. We continued further, deeper into the dungeon. The feeling was getting stronger, until we finally discovered it behind the open doors to the "Boss Chamber", a room that held a single powerful monster.

~~×~~×~~

My battle with this twisted abomination had gone on for some time now. My blade dripped with black blood, and bits of flesh littered the area, still writhing. I hadn't yet figured out how to decommission this creature for good. I thought about my various tools and tried many things on it. Fire was my first choice, but I had yet to master any significant fire spells. Nothing that could engulf it in flames and burn it to ash, anyway.

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I considered using a pilebunker, but this thing seems to lack organs, so the damage would be relatively ineffective. It's a weapon made to penetrate armor and cause internal damage, after all, but this thing is more or less made of insides. I'm currently working on cutting it into smaller pieces, but it's hard to tell if I'm having any effect, so I'm considering other options now. Thankfully, the abomination seems to be struggling to find a way to finish me off, as well.

Licht: "It's risky, but we could try to fire a pulse of Ice magic into it with our left arm. If we freeze a large portion and break it off, it would make destroying it easier." He suggested, beginning to channel magic and load it into our left arm. I nodded along and resolved myself, changing stances again. I would wait for it to strike, then dodge and counterattack by plunging my claws into its side.

I waited patiently, my breathing heavy from our long fight, and in a moment, WHOOSH! its tendril came flying towards me, along with its body. I dodged under, and lunged at its wriggling mass. I plunged the claws into its squirming flesh and gripped. In the next moment, a shockwave shot out into it's mass and large portions of its flesh began to freeze solid. As it reached the shoulder and attempted to move away, the arm broke free and its wriggling bits squirmed in each direction, disseminating. 

Shortly after, as we pulled away from eachother and it hisses and grumbles angrily, multiple blocks of flash-frozen flesh fall and crumble. Its form breaks apart, only half of it remaining, yet I sense that it Isn't dead just yet. As its frozen chunks fall away, its form slowly re-assembles into its vaguely humanoid shape. I bite my lip and am about to curse everything before I notice something. The creature's form seems thinner than before.

I see... It dawns on me and I smirk. "You've been losing quite a bit of mass, haven't you?" I say aloud, my grin widening and my blood pumping harder. I eye the bright red shining orb that is now faintly visible within the "chest" region. I grip my blade and dash forward, making the first move. It lashes out with multiple tendrils, but I cut through and dodge between them, leaping up at the red orb. I pierce the writhing flesh, and feel myself slicing through it before the creature moves inexplicably.

I fall to the ground past it, my claws stained in blood, and look towards the creature. It seems to have shifted along the ground as though it slid away. "This fucking creature is so annoying..." I muttered, biting my lip as I regained my posture. Even through my frustration however, I formed a new plan and pressed the attack, rushing forward as I cut through its defenses. I sliced and dodged, forcing an opening as I thrust my blade towards the orb, and it once again began to slide away along the ground.

I was prepared for this however, my left arm opening into the Arcana Magnum formation, and in a split second, a beam of magic blasted out and pierced the orb, the core of this fleshy monstrosity. It cracked several times before exploding into pieces, the body shaking and falling as the worm-like things began to disseminate. I sighed before taking a deep breath, regaining myself. It was my victory, once more.

Despite that, I felt a spreading pain in the back of my skull, quickly becoming a migraine that brought me to my knees.

Licht: "Our mana dropped pretty low after that shot from the magnum. This is the strain from almost draining our mana."

Iris: "Almost draining...? Weren't we fine on mana...?" I asked, sheathing my blade and resetting my left arm, sitting down

Licht: "That blast of frost consumed a significant portion of our magic, and you got too heated up during the battle. You started pushing the primal enhancement further than usual, and it began consuming more power." He said calmly, like it wasn't his problem

Iris: "So basically, I was too reckless?" I said, annoyed. I held my head and massaged my eyes to try and manage my pain. He didn't respond but I could feel him affirming my words. What a bastard. During our usual banter, I heard the doors of the boss room open on their own, revealing the path onwards. No rest for the wicked.