Antelligent Design

54. Leap of Faith

I have to give it to Tiny, he tried. He gave it a red-hot go. His untameable hunger for battle is well known. I can still remember him as a not yet full-sized ape when he threw himself onto a giant rabbit that reeked of the putrid scent of un-death. Even then, his face had been alight with the joy of battle.

I just wish he’d be better at choosing his battles.

Tiny bellows his rage at the giant croca-commander and smashes his fists into the earth, then strikes himself on the chest in a fearsome display of physical power. There’s no doubt he has some serious pecs on him. The musculature on this gorilla has always been potent. There has never been any question of that. If only his mental attributes were given a small slice of that pie, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.

Confronted by this obvious challenge, the croca-commander turns its hideous double mouths toward my dim-witted ape pet, its triple tails writhing through the air behind it. The croc is a fearsome sight with scales glittering in the sunlight like hardened gems. Beneath that hard defensive exterior, it bristles with physical might. Massive shoulder and chest muscles provide power to the four arms, each dangerous in their own right and tipped with claws that glint ominously as they reflect the light.

Atop all of that rests the sickening double-mouthed head. One set of jaws rests atop another, each studded with wicked sharp teeth that poke out here and there. A phenomenon that causes the croca-commander to appear as if it had two sinister grins at the same time. Smug, in a word.

I hurl my just-completed Gravity Bolts at the commander, and turn all of my minds toward assembling a Mind Mana Transformation Construct with all the haste I can muster. If Tiny is going to go in and duke it out with this damned monster, then he’s going to need all of the help he can get. Otherwise, I expect roasted gorilla will be on the menu.

Mind Magic in combat has been something I’ve been forced to experiment with since I wasn’t able to select Gravity Magic affinity after reaching a sufficient Level in Water Magic. In order to make full use of the Skill, I decided to focus on using it to distract and trick my opponents in battle.

The basic concept is quite simple: use the attributed Mana to construct a bridge between your mind and that of your enemy, then you can craft little ‘packages’ of sensation or understanding, and blast them! Typically by distracting them, causing them to feel pain that isn’t there or hear sounds that aren’t real.

Lightning begins to crackle around Tiny as he starts his charge, electricity writhing over his body in thick ropes, flickering constantly. A contemptuous gleam shines in the croca-commander’s eye. Unhurried, it opens its lower jaw at a relaxed pace, allowing black flames to leak and play across its teeth.

Dammit, dammit, dammit! My emotions roil in the back of my mind, but deep within, I continue to be locked in the calm of the Meditation Skill. My three minds operate in harmony as they weave and fold the construct into place. The very second the final thread of Mana is in place, Mana is drawn out of my core and fed to the construct, emerging out the other end as glimmering Mind Mana.

Now make a dang bridge! My panic and desperation slide along the outside of my awareness as Tiny closes in on his own imminent, crispy doom. It’s happening too fast. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it!

The neck of the croca-commander bulges. It lunges forward and unleashes a torrent of black flame. The heat sears the moisture off my eyeballs from fifty metres away, so intense are those flames. When my vision clears, Tiny is nowhere to be seen. In desperation, I tune every sense to its utmost limits and try to seek him out. In no direction can I see him. My heat detection is completely frizzled due to the residual energy from that flame blast.

I refuse to accept that he’s barbequed!

Even the satisfied look on the croca-commander mocks me. The giant beast readies to deal out more flammable death.

Then my antennae report something strange. Their ability to glimpse into the future is giving me a tickling insight of a future event. An impact of tremendous proportions.

I look up.

And Tiny crashes down.

Holy moly! I knew he had some serious spring in his legs, but I had no idea he could get that high! When the flame had been belched, he must have leaped straight over it, achieving the kind of air time that Jordan could only dream about, before he collapsed down on the croc like a falling mountain.

BOOOOM!

The ground quakes as Tiny strikes home with an overhead smash. Taken by surprise, the croc could only weather the blow by bracing itself, upper body hunched over and legs buckled, struggling to absorb the impact.

Unwilling to let go of the momentum, Tiny unleashes his fists and lightning in their full glory. His body rotates like a pro to transfer his weight into every strike. Each time his fist contacts croc scales, electricity dances along his arms and discharges into the beast, scorching it.

Nice! Time for the bridge!

With a final few, deft weaves, the bridge slams into place and my mind is connected to that of the foe. One mind dedicated itself to holding the bridge and transformation construct in place, whilst the other weaves together our first mental assault.

[Get in there, Crinis! Whilst Tiny has him distracted!]

[Right, Master!]

Out of the long grass, an explosion of tentacles occurs not twenty metres away from the commander. Crinis had done well to sneak as close as possible, keeping a low profile in order to take advantage of this moment.

Weighed down by my Gravitational Magic and distracted by Tiny’s relentless assault, the croc isn’t able to react in time to escape the grasping limbs of Crinis locking on in seconds. Her tentacles latch onto one arm like an iron clamp, and that’s all it takes. In moments, more limbs lash out and use their leverage to pull Crinis’ main body toward her victim, where she will begin her dark work.

Then something rolls down the Mind Bridge and slams into my awareness like a truck.