1.1.19 – Wooper Whoopin (2)

Sweat rolled off my back despite the air in the forest cooling as the sky started to turn orange from the setting sun. I was staring down the jaws of the giant salamander that had chased me around the forest and had me jumping around trees like a Scooby Doo chase sequence.

We were looking at each other like it was a Mexican Standoff. I was sure that, if it had not fired off so much water that it was starting to look like a dried prune, Wooper there would be sweating too. We started to circle each other slowly as I began to take note of the surrounding terrain, making sure to note where the trees, roots, and rocks were.

While the giant salamander looked low on water and had some scratches on its skin from when it rammed into trees after I dodged its lunge, I myself was not in any better condition. My muscles were aching, and my mana core was probably more than halfway empty based on the aching sensation that I began to feel. Something that I had been able to judge more accurately with more practice.

As I was trying to look for an opening to strike, the giant salamander seemed to have found its opening first. It had gradually dragged its large tail into a small pool of water that was blocked from my line of sight by its large body. I could only tell it was absorbing water as the veins along its body started throbbing, signs that it was channeling water to its head.

The salamander opened its jaw and spat out the jet of water, which I managed to evade with a Lightning Infused jump. As I landed, the salamander decided to lunge at me, though its stance was a little off right after blasting off that jet of water. Its speed was slower than its usual lunge, either from the poor stance or from getting tired. Those few seconds allowed me to find my footing before I kicked off in another direction with another infusion.

All this while, I was building up a much stronger charge of Lightning Bolt in both my palms. As the head chomped on the spot where my head was, our eyes connected momentarily, and I almost thought it looked like it knew it fucked up.

“Chomp on this, you oversized tadpole!” I aimed both my palms right beside its left eye and unleashed both spells. The slime covering its entire body had mostly been shed off during the chase throughout the forest. Both the bolts landed on its head near the eye socket, the sound temporarily deafening me being so close to the target.

The eye ball closest to me burst as the body flew past me, splashing some super heated eye ball juice on my face and into my mouth. I hated myself for thinking that it had a fishy but earthy umami taste and promptly spat it out before I could swallow on reflex.

The salamander was collapsed on its belly, all its legs limp by its side. I did not even seize this time as I guessed the concentrated lightning had fried its brain from inside out. I waited a whole minute and sent another bolt at its head for good measure, making sure it was really dead.

I took a few seconds to catch my breath by inhaling deeply a few times. I found that deep breathing seemed to slightly increase the rate that my core replenished its mana when it was empty, albeit only slightly. Whether I was really able to absorb the ambient mana in the air into my core faster or whether it was a placebo effect, I really did not care currently as all I wanted was to soothe the ache in my sternum.

I made my way over to the body with my Electro Perception still running. I could see that there was no longer any neural activity coming from the giant salamander. The last lunge by the salamander right as its brain got fried caused the entire body to bury into the soft soil, creating a trench as the momentum carried its body forward till it got stopped by a large tree.

I stepped over the loose stones that were unearthed along with the soil and approached the body. I could sense the huge well of energy in the core and approached it quickly, afraid that the core might start degrading if I did not absorb it soon.

I placed my palm on the squishy skin above where the mana core should be, which was already starting to feel cold to the touch despite being deep fried by lightning just a few minutes ago. A rush of energy, unlike anything I had ever felt before, channeled through my arms into my core.

I could feel another chime of notification at the back of my mind from the Weave, which I would get to later. The sun was already starting to set, and a carcass this size would attract beasts from deeper within the woods. Something I would not be capable of handling in my current state.

I decided to call it a day and only go back to the cave in a few days after a little more preparation, praying internally to whatever gods people in this world deified that another beast would not settle into the cave that I had just cleared out.

It was a good thing I lacked any visible wounds on my body, and only looked absolutely filthy like I had decided to roll around in the mud for no reason. Marta had given me a death stare and made sure I had thoroughly cleaned myself before joining the rest for dinner.

Her standard for cleanliness had increased ever since I had taught them how to make soap. Not that I mind but a bite or two would not hurt before I cleaned myself as I was starving from having missed lunch.

I was glad that dinner was a rather silent affair as Marta had probably given up at having me stay completely out of trouble and rather not ask as long as I came back in one piece. I finished up dinner before heading to the room, finally getting to the notifications I had held back. I had an inkling I had achieved what I had pushed for the whole winter.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

[Lightning Bolt leveled up 3 -> 4]

[You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 800]

[Your core have progressed to the next stage: Orange -> Yellow]

[New Core Mutation unlocked: Lightning Adaptation]

[Lightning Infusion leveled up 3 -> 4]

[You have increased your Mana Core Capacity by 400]