Chương 62: 1-61 Trapping worms

Things weren't looking pretty, and the grotesque appearance of the new creatures was only partially to blame for that. Josef cursed himself for his earlier confidence, thinking that things would be manageable as long as the numbers weren't too overwhelming. Apparently, he had jinxed them, as more and more of the worm-like parasites slithered from the surrounding brickwork.

On top of that, the plant which had called in this backup force was still screaming at the top of its lungs, or whatever equivalent it possessed. Granted, there were less mouths adding to the cacophony, but the noise was grating either way.

"Finish that stupid plant, I can't even hear myself think!" he complained loudly, not that anyone could hear him clearly with that noise. Fortunately, Aifreed must have had the same idea, or he simply intended to finish the maimed creature first. Either way, he began rushing his way through the plant's flailing tendrils, weaving around its strikes and cutting its appendages whenever they got in his way. Linda made to follow him, but found her own path impeded rather quickly.

She just wasn't at the same level of footwork as her knight, forcing her to cut her way through fierce resistance. It also became painfully clear that simply removing the dangerous appendages with persistent sword slashes wasn't going to be enough, as new ones emerged from the shrubbery not long after they removed any of them. Not that they weren't making some headway, thanks to Aifreed's efficiency, especially since the newly regrown vines no longer sported any bulbous mouths.

Without those, the danger of those limbs was greatly reduced. However, until those two succeeded at cutting it down at the source, the rest of them were on their own against the emerging creatures. On top of that, they would have to make sure that those parasites didn't go after their two sword wielders, as Linda especially would be left vulnerable to the added danger they brought. Zippa, never one to stand by idly, descended on the worms with hot fervor, scales igniting as he dove straight for the biggest clump.

Their screeches quickly added to the cacophony of sounds as the creatures tried desperately to get away from the scorching reptile. Both Josef and Pretzel worked together, unwilling to engage in close combat without a natural deterrent like their companion's. Instead, they both created a Water Prison, capturing a large amount of the creatures at once.

While the sphere couldn't drown or crush them, something that appeared to be almost physically impossible because of their anatomy, they still held true to their name, keeping them trapped in place. From there, they both used different measures to get rid of their captives. Pretzel relied on the aid of Dusty, who jumped into the bubble churning with worms with mad gusto. They saw nothing of the attack itself, as the water quickly turned a tainted shade of pink, hiding the bunny's savagery.

Josef's approach wasn't nearly as bloody. In fact, there was no blood at all. While draining mana through the air was an absolute pain, which he was beginning to disdain thoroughly, doing it through another medium was a different matter entirely. The energy inside his orb behaved mostly as he wanted, some disturbance from the monsters' thrashing notwithstanding, so building little tunnels of mana through it wasn't all that difficult.

With one hand on the ball, he began sending out mana in splitting branches, building a little tree of magic energy inside the watery prison. Just a day before, accomplishing such a thing would have likely been impossible. While the actual drain wasn't in effect yet, he was still effectively casting two spells at once. The last upgrade to his Mana Drain, reducing the mental strain of using it, did some heavy lifting here. Or was it more appropriate to call it lightening the load?

Either way, he could form the spell without dropping another, if only just barely. Finally, with a little twist on the magic, started by his own intent, his magical construct pulled in mana. He hardly needed to aim at all, considering the creatures were tightly packed together with no room to escape. Writhing about, trying to escape contact with the suddenly less than pleasant lines of energy, all they accomplished was to hurt and block each other.

His own spell was naturally not unaffected either, losing some of the mana that made it up, despite his best intention of not doing so. However, the amount wasn't large enough to cause an immediate collapse, allowing Josef to maintain it by adding more. Which, of course, came from the energy had just absorbed from that very spell and the creatures within. It was a self-perpetuating cycle of mana, which was quite power-positive on his side.

The same couldn't be said for the worms getting drained for all their worth, as their motions grew slower and almost lethargic. They weren't reliant on the magical energy to stay alive, unlike some of the monsters he had fought before. However, even though they didn't directly crumble to dust, it spelled their doom either way. Weakened from being drained dry, their bodies could no longer withstand the pressure within the prison.

A force which had only increased from being fed the spillover from all the extra mana, as Josef had no need for it after filling his own reserves. Succeeding at his magical combination, and feeling the notifications tugging at his attention, he was giddy about pushing things further, and swung around his water orb to gather the next batch of victims. This was a prime opportunity to push both spells to the next rank, as long as he could continue to use them without interference.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Draining the next batch of monsters, he took note that one of the system messages wasn't merely spelling an increase in his magic's grade, but an entirely different opportunity altogether. High compatibility between Greater Mana Drain and Crushing Water Prison has been achieve Would you like to merge these spells? A straightforward offer, with unknown consequences. At first, he had little interest in the offer.

After all, if he wanted to combine the spells, then he could already do so to some degree, so what was stopping him from getting better at that even without system interference? On top of that, there was no telling what the combination would look and work like. Both spells were quite versatile in their applications, so what if he lost some of that flexibility, only to automate trapping and draining of his targets? Would he even be able to treat mana burn if he encountered it?

The longer Josef tried to find an upside to this merge, the less reason he saw to accept it. Unlike the last upgrade to his eyes, which offered clear expectations of what it would achieve, this one was too much of a gamble. Maybe he shouldn't just accept everything the system offered, just because he could. Refusing to merge the two skills caused the notification to go away, though he realized that the opportunity to do so hadn't left him.

The message had merely notified him that it was possible, and apparently that continued to be the case. He was so enraptured by musing over whether he should merge his spells, he almost missed some parasites trying to sneak up on him. Unfortunately for them, he had no plans to repeat his past mistakes, and his focus on the battle was never fully gone.

Having already prepared his body with copious amounts of earth mana, the creatures had no hope of penetrating his skin, impacting harmlessly, as if they had struck a solid wall. It did take some effort on his part not to be bowled over by the force with which they lunged at him, but their combined might was little more than that of the adult Rachse that had once jumped him. Unbalancing him wasn't that easy.

Whipping around his Water Prison at higher speeds than at the start of the battle, he added the offenders to his gruesome little aquarium. Just as the motion finished enveloping them, another surprise attack occurred. This time, however, Josef wasn't the target. It was Bezzo. The lizard was making a valiant stand against the swarming creatures, dodging nimbly whenever they lunged at him.

Because of their tendency to group into small swarms before attacking, there were enough gaps in their assault for him to slip through with some effort. Occasionally, when he turned an attack into a near miss, he would grab some worms out of the air with deft claws, ripping them apart before they could react. It was a precarious dance, which promptly collapsed as a new group emerged too close to his intended path, making him fumble as he tumbled over them.

They struck quickly, impaling his stomach with a sickening squelch.

"Bezzo!" mortified by what happened, Josef quickly dove for his fallen friend, pulling him away from yet more worms, as he directly pumped healing magic into the wound to close it up. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, he could not prevent the creatures from capitalizing on the opening as they swiftly burrowed into the reptile's flesh.

"Fuck no." His friend cried out, sounding more scared than pained, and he felt quite the same. This was bad. They had all seen what happened to the Rachse that housed these parasites, which were turned into bloated husks, puppeteered by their occupants. How was he supposed to get these out? It wasn't like he could just heal them away, right? He could close the tunnels they dug, but as living beings, they would also profit from his magic.

If they had entered a limb, he wouldn't hesitate to remove it, even if he had to inject a jet of water to explode the affected appendage. That wasn't an option here. Neither could he just scoop them out, treating Bezzo's body like an extra large ice cream tub. Well, he could, but he would have to know where the creatures were located before he blindly ripped out pieces. There were still limits to how much he could heal, especially if it included damaged organs.

Furthermore, they were in the middle of a fight, so he had little time to run triage. Even now, he was draining another batch of creatures, making sure to crush them extra hard at the end to vent his spiked frustration. Could he drain them inside his body? Possibly, but that wouldn't kill them on its own. Worse, they might be able to live off Bezzo's mana, weakening him in turn. Maybe teleport them out? That sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, especially as he could only teleport willing targets so far.

No, the solution wasn't in his own repertoire. Pretzel's options included the same water spells he could use himself, so there was little she could do to aid her. However, his other familiar might be able to do something.

"Dusty?" he asked out loud. There was no need to speak with their link in place, but in his panic, doing so just felt more grounded than clinging to emotions and intent. The rabbit had shown a penchant for launching himself at these monsters and destroying them with gusto, including the ones that were inside those Rachses' bodies. Going back to his earlier idea of digging them out, maybe his bunny could do so?

He imagined the damage Bezzo would suffer from that would still be egregious, but it might just be their best shot. That was, if his rabbit actually had a nose for these critters, as he suspected. His familiar hesitated, and he could see it both in his posture and his feelings through the link. Which was disconcerting, considering how hard it was to feel the bunny unless the emotion was very strong.

"I'll pump him with as much healing as I can spare. Just try your best, get them with as little collateral damage as possible." Josef tried his best to reassure the rabbit, which was a tall order considering how unsure he felt about this. His only other idea was to boil the reptile alive with Zippa's help, seeing as how desperately they were trying to avoid the older sibling on the battlefield. They didn't like his fire, and a high enough temperature might convince them to leave.

That was still a big maybe, though, and needed his healing just as much as this approach. In the end, he didn't want to ask Zippa to do this to his own brother. This operation was going to be gruesome, but if it kept the guy alive, Josef would do it. If Bezzo wanted to complain about it, then he should first survive to do so later. Noting the red hot gleaming lizard who had rushed his way over after hearing his brother's cry, he stopped him from thoughtlessly pulling his sibling into a hug.

"We've got this, Zip. Look me in the eyes, buddy," he tried to get the attention of his distraught friend, catching his frantic gaze.

"I'll fix this, just keep these fuckers away best you can. I don't mind getting a little toasty in the process." Finally, with a nod, Zippa calmed enough to join their stand, aiding Pretzel in evaporating her own latest catch.

"I'm counting on you, Jo."