Chapter 46
How to Win?
Life sucks when all you can do is die over and over. Even so, Elijah didn’t quit; how could he? If he were to give up hope, the abyss would surely consume him. Each time he respawned, he tried a new approach.
His blood spells were useless. The Hammerhead was somehow able to absorb those attacks, consuming them for power. After several deaths, Elijah noticed that the same state of empowered, red frenzy brought about by the monster devouring his blood magic was also caused by it drinking enough of his normal blood.
It was strange, but there was somehow a connection between this aquatic monsterfication of a hammer and the power of blood. If Elijah used Mana Manipulation, and the creature was close enough, he could make out a haze of red mana floating about the beast. Sadly, the Skill couldn’t be used to track the Hammerhead through the murk, as it was full of dirty brownish-green mana motes that obscured his vision, as well as the copious amounts of water mana, of course.
This meant that blood magic was out. Water magic was also useless. No matter how much he tried to restrain his attacks, they inevitably gained power as their momentum drew in the surrounding mana. This slowed the attacks down and made them easy for the monster to dodge.
Dodge was useful, perhaps his most useful Skill, but it had a hefty cost: 15% of his Stamina each time it was used. If he could dodge endlessly, this fight would end the same way his fight with the slime had, slowly whittling down its Health with the retaliatory damage of his Unkillable Trait (a Trait the teen never disabled with his Power Vacuum Skill).
Sadly, that was not an option. Without the aid of his Dodge Skill, Elijah didn’t stand a chance of evading the far more mobile underwater monster. As was proven on his third attempt:
A slightly dented Hammerhead charged the oxygen-starved lad; his Unkillable Trait having done some minor damage. His head was swimming, but his body was not. He had used all his Stamina to Dodge, and he struggled to see, let alone move. All his attention was focused on keeping his lungs closed, full of air, and free of water.
His side blossomed with fresh agony; seven circular holes were made in his flank, following the curve of the thing’s mouth. Despite how accustomed to pain he had become, the teen couldn’t suppress his instinctual reaction; he gasped.
The water looked like cherry blossoms. The white of bubbles mixed with the red of blood, creating an oddly beautiful vista that was destroyed by one of two companions Elijah had carried with him through all his Trials: pain. The second companion followed shortly after.
You have DIED
Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
On his next attempt, Elijah decided to examine his options and see what was available to him. It didn’t look like slamming his head into this obstacle would prove particularly fruitful; he needed a plan!
Wisdom +1
With the System’s approval, he set about examining his Character Sheet. Thankfully, the monster chose not to attack at the start of the Trial, waiting instead for its prey to appear weak. If the teen didn’t move, he had plenty of time to look over his options and see what’s what.
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His Inventory didn’t have much to offer: a few far too heavy books, a piano, a mana core, a triangle made of precious gold, some clothes – of which only his captain’s hat and a pair of briefs were being worn, the battered remains of goblin weapons that wouldn’t even be useful as scrap, the broken swordfish sword, and the enchanted king’s blade that would be incredibly useful if it didn’t have an Agility requirement of 24 – three more than his current score.
Honestly, he debated using the weapon anyway. It wasn’t like he hadn’t found ways to make use of the overpowered blade as it dropped like an anvil from his underlevelled hands. The only problem: he didn’t believe that he’d be able to catch it this time. It fell with a force greater than gravity, and whatever magic compelled it wouldn’t necessarily be affected by the water resistance, as he was. It was an option, but not one the teen was keen on trying unless there was no other choice.
The swordfish sword, although half the size it had originally been and without its deadly point, still had a sharpened edge. When Elijah opened his Skills tab and looked at the first option, he had an idea.
The predator lurking in the murk was initially put off by its prey’s lack of movement; none were calm in the Hammerhead’s domain, not even the others of its kind it was here to test. The monster’s instincts warned it that there was something the strange blood bag knew that it did not. Despite that, after several minutes of the surface creature not moving, the Hammerhead began to think its instincts were wrong.
It moved silently through the gloomy depths, like the ghost of a shark. Drawing close to its meal, the monster tried to take a probing nibble. It darted back when the creature moved.
Elijah’s sudden swing was not so sudden to the monster’s eyes. The Hammerhead was well out of range by the time the broken blade would have connected. It squinted its angled eyes trying to see what it had missed.
Its predatory diligence paid off, for in the next moment, a massive paw made from glowing white energy appeared in the wake of the attack, swinging down with monstrous ferocity. The Hammerhead was just able to react in time. It hammered through the water, trying to evade the paw, but it was too wide to dodge completely.
The fourth claw caught the beast. Unfortunately, its hard wooden shaft and metal head proved too tough for the attack. The monster was batted aside, clearly disoriented but not visibly hurt. No, that wasn’t true… if Elijah focused, he could make out a slight crack in the wood of the thing’s body.
Not wanting to waste the opportunity, the sixteen-year-old seized the initiative. He launched two more attacks in quick succession and immediately regretted it. 50 points of Stamina were consumed instantly, nearly a third of his green bar.
Using that much of the resource that governed how tired he got from physical activity was a bad idea. All his muscles felt like they had just performed a feat of extreme anaerobic exercise, and they needed air immediately. For several seconds after the attack, the lad convulsed, his chest heaving, trying to force in air while he fought to stop it.
On the plus side, both of his attacks hit, causing the wood to splinter and chips to fall off the hardened metal head. Sadly, that wasn’t near enough to fell the beast. By the time the teen got his air hunger under control, it was already too late. The monster had recovered.
You have DIED
Potential rewards will suffer as a result of dying whilst undergoing the Trial.
When he was made whole once more, he shook off his lingering emotions and focused on what he had learnt. Cerberus Slash, his first Skill, was certainly a piece of the puzzle, though it alone wouldn’t allow him to win.
The teen went through his list of Skills and Traits. Slowly but surely, the outline of a path formed before him. It was as narrow as a knife’s edge, but it led to success. There was one problem, however. He lacked the manoeuvrability to pull it off. In the window of peace he had before the first attack, Elijah contemplated his abilities, trying to find a solution.
Blood magic was still his favourite school of magic, and he desperately wanted to make use of it somehow. It was the only attack magic he knew that didn’t require pain or inefficiency, and he wanted to persist in its use, but that would be foolish. Using water magic to attack didn’t work either; as powerful as it was, it was simply too slow while surrounded by water. But there was another option.
The teen smacked himself for not thinking of it sooner.
Wisdom -1
That was concerning. Elijah didn’t realise that being stupid could lower his stats. The Thresholds suddenly appeared far more important, but he didn’t have time to focus on that now.
The Trial started for the fifth time. As soon as it did, Elijah began focusing on the pure mana within his blood. Using the water mana that surrounded him as a guide, he began to replicate its free, dancing patterns.
Water Dance was not a spell he truly understood. It could be powerful, but it caused him to enter a trance-like state. It had let him kill Fan Head, though he still didn’t remember exactly how. If he was going to stand a chance of passing this Trial, he would need to learn.
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