Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Mind Games

The mindgator admittedly had only a passing resemblance to the alligator it got its name from. A wizard had made it and had given the beast the ability to avoid detection by creating gaps in people’s vision so no one would steal his idea. The wizard had wanted to win an annual competition hosted by the university. One guess as to what happened to the wizard and where it’s pet monster had gotten. Much like Sentient items, creating chimeric beasts was also forbidden in the city. 

Disturbing the ‘illusion’ with water broke up its’ hold on our minds. We saw it. It saw us see it. It gurgled a threat and swam quickly toward us.

I surged forward, surprising myself with my newfound Muscle against the inertia of water. As I did so, it began flickering out of my perception again, as if an illusion of the ley. 

Justice was already casting something that shot over my head and hit the gator. It shook off the white bolt of some spell with barely a notice. The bolt refocused the monster into existence for me. It had opened its jaws wide enough to grab my arms and torso with barely an effort. I ducked under the water, using my regular blade to help claw me down and under the monster’s teeth. 

It thrashed and hit me with its body instead, knocking me sideways and the breath from me. I nearly choked but managed to get my feet under me to stand up for air. 

The gator already had turned to Justice, who was using a combination of her hand-to-hand, quick movement and a shielding spell to keep ahead of its massive bite, but she was getting backed into a wall quickly. I lunged forward before it could vanish again, my momentum slowed by the water but not stopped. 

Victory stabbed into its side, managing to slip between the soft tissues between a few of its extra legs. The blade dug in deeper as I pressed. I could hear Katarachin’s wordless roar of pleasure at the fight. 

The gator whipped its body toward me but I’d latched onto it, rather than try to dodge. I didn’t expect to hold on as long as I already had, but my grip seemed tighter, body more assured than I expected. The gator started thrashing towards the nearby wall and I leapt off and away before I could be crushed between stone and scale, abandoning the blade in its side.

Justice had her spellbook out and was reading from one of the pages, free hand outstretched. The psychic monster abandoned worrying about me as soon as I was gone and surged forward. It met a sudden swirling vortex of ice jutting out from Justice’s hand. Unfazed, it thrust its head through it to Justice, knocking her backwards, off her feet and into the water. It was already surging forward to crush her. 

The water was slowing me down as I half swam, half ran towards the beast. It vanished from sight, along with Justice. “Summon me back!” a voice said and with a twitch of effort I had Katarachin’s Victory back in my hand. The action must have counted for something, as the mindgator popped back into sight again. 

I climbed atop the gator again and felt a sudden certainty in where best to strike. Both hands gripping the blade, I planted into the beast’s back, through the top of one of the spiny protrusions I’d assumed were bone. 

I expected more noise and fury, but it suddenly turned over sideways, and I was thrown off again. I think it tried to crush me, but it’s body wasn’t working right past where I’d stabbed it, so I swam away and surveyed. 

It looked like its face was covered in ice, a mantle of which had grown half way up its snout. It looked like a chunk was wedging it’s mouth open, and it was too large for it to spit out. The eight feet of tail and legs behind my blade looked paralyzed.

For a moment, the beast disappeared from my mind, but I forced myself to fill in the gaps splashing the empty space with water.

It flickered into existence, then out. Justice was pulling herself from underneath the water, dragging one leg. 

“Stay back. I’ll finish this.” 

I stepped forward, heading towards the base of its skull. One of its eyes were covered in frost. I couldn’t see the other from where I was. 

It flickered out of existence. I summoned Katarachin’s Victory again. It returned to reality. I shoved the blade into its frosted eye, towards the giant lump that must have been its expanded brain, hoping to end it’s suffering quickly. 

It’s body went blurry for me, before settling back into reality one last time, going completely limp. 

Another Guidance screen popped up. As good a sign as any that the beast was dead. I’d earned another point into [Finesse Weapons]

“Wow, thank god it was a small one.” 

“A small one?”

“A small one?” I repeated. 

“Yeah, they normally can’t get out of the lower levels because they weigh too much for their Limited Telekenesis to pull themselves up. Still, I so can’t believe we got it, they are so fuckin’ hard if you don’t prepare for them. I was hoping to get the Inertia spell before running into them.”

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I wanted to crouch down to rest on my haunches and rest, but the water was still too high. I would rest when we were out of this pool. Instead, I just offered, “I see. Are you alright?”

Justice took a ginger step towards me, testing out her ankle. “Yeah... yeah. It will have a wicked bruise later, but I’ll live. I’ll be good. That was fuckin wild. You should be super thrilled, that thing was like, way over our usual threat level.” 

“I lost my spare dagger though.” I moved over to the dead bodies and began rifling through their stuff. 

“Scaleen, you are so hard to please,” she said wryly. I clacked my teeth in amusement, but continued my search. 

“She’s right. You should be proud of your victories, Scaleen.”

*Pride is for those who are secure enough not to see the luck that brought them high.*

“You are a hard man to please.”

*I am no man, Katarachin, and I’ll thank you not to curse me with such mammalian phrases. I didn’t take damage. Was that your doing?* I was not infallible, and I’d forgotten to look in detail what feats the sentient weapon granted me. I sort of hadn’t wanted to become reliant on it’s benefits.

“[Exhaustive Endurance] was the feat that taught me I could rise above servitude with enough study. I can use my stamina in place of my health as long as my stamina is above 50%. [Killing Blows] doubles critical hit damage. Your stamina was quite substantial there. You didn’t take a breather or pause once.”

*Justice has broadened my experiences, and I’ve acquired a feat that ties my Perspective into my stamina count, among other things.*

“Harenot’s grace, that is a very good feat.”

The bodies were fresh, if the blood murk hadn’t been enough to prove it, and they were very well armed and armored. If It hadn’t been for the matching silver hoods in their pockets and the coin-purses filled with mixed Drakengard and Sumar coins, they could have been any adventurers. Justice came up to me and I handed him the coins and a hood. Her face darkened, “This is what they wore in the attack.” 

“The coins are there to further damn the Drakengard. I am sure other evidence is scattered about other attackers as well. Wonder what these poor fools were being paid to make the attack seem realistic.”

“Not enough. None of them survive the executions, so far as the game was concerned.”

“Let’s try to let that part stay true. I don’t see any other identifying markers on them. Leave the coins. Maybe we can bluff our way in.” Justice nodded, but was frowning. “Let me do the talking.” She smiled at that, and we finally advanced further south, into the mess of tunnels that made up the oldest parts of Sumar City. 

As we did, the bodies of the three cultists, sans several of their daggers, and a mind gator slowly drifted toward a drain into the darkness beyond. 

—----------

You’ve killed a truly monstrous creature. You’ve gained access to a new feat.

[Horror Hunter]

You gain a bonus 10% damage to Abominations and you gain +2 Perspective, Poise and Brawn for the purposes of dealing with Abominations.

Do you accept this feat? 

(Yes)  (No)

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