Between a Rock and a Carapace

105. Speed, I am not Speed

This cocky monster is going to catch these mandibles, just as soon as I get a hook on him. The strange thing is how he was able to enter and exit my Gravity Domain so easily… Is it a question of mass? True, he’s thin as an anorexic stick on an Atkins diet, but I’d assumed he’d be dense, like Crinis. That shadow flesh can be packed pretty darn tight.

I’m starting to suspect they may not have done that in order to avoid hampering his speed. Which means Gravity Magic may not be the answer to my problems. Or perhaps it still is? I may just need to think outside the box. Regardless, I still have tricks I haven’t shown off that I can use.

I take a moment to check on the damage to my carapace, while my opponent is no doubt pondering the meaning of my continuing existence. He gouged a chunk out of my beautiful diamond skeleton. I shouldn’t be surprised considering the strength behind that blow. If my carapace was any weaker, he might have blown a hole right through it. As it stands, the damage is already being repaired by the inner-plating below, the grooves left behind from the claws are filling up with a clear gel-like fluid that will soon harden into new carapace. It’ll take a lot more than this to break down my defence!

Carapace is love! Carapace is life! Diamonds are forever! Gwehehehehe.

Trying to catch the monster unawares, I blast off a quick Gravity Spear, but to no avail. With another seemingly casual movement, the monster steps to one side and avoids the spell, which fizzles into the ground behind him.

He must have very high Levels of the Dodge Skill, possibly even precognitive abilities similar to my own. He just makes dodging look so easy. That slight movement seems to have been the signal for him to start back up again. The monster leans to one side and begins to walk, rapidly picking up pace until he’s sprinting at an insane speed, looping around me. Sand flies up in a curtain, thrown into the air by the creature’s feet.

What is he trying to achieve? I can’t get dizzy, bud. I don’t have to turn my head to keep my eyes on you…

He is staying out of the range of my Gravity Domain, though, which is worth noting.

Not willing to wait for the enemy to make the first move, I draw out my Fire Mana and weave together a particularly nasty spell. The monster is moving almost too quickly for me to get a solid lock on it, but that shouldn’t matter for this spell. It only takes seconds for me to piece together the lines of magic and power them. Within moments, my mandibles open wide and a sizzling hose of flame erupts from in front of my face! Burn, sucka!

A hiss of pain reaches my ears before my antennae tingle once again. Acting on instinct, my nerves fire at once and my body twitches to one side.

BAM!

Another sharp impact! The beast was trying to stuff its claws straight through my eyes and into my head! Nasty! My shift was enough to cause the strike to fall on another part of my head, no major harm done.

I keep the flames going, pouring in more Mana. I’ve now got two spells of different affinities going at once, quite a difficult feat. Without the training I’ve received lately, this would be far more difficult. My brains are truly flexing their power now!

My carapace starts to warm up as I spin in place and blast my surroundings with blazing fire. The sand sounds as if it’s cooking and begins to glow a bright red as the creature leaps left and right, trying to avoid the heat.

Too hot for you, mole-face? I’ve got plenty more where this came from!

The torrent of fire continues to pour out from in front of my face as my minds strain to control the flood of Mana powering the spell. I angle my body, but the opponent is just too slippery, unleashing a hiss of rage before nimbly dodging away, jumping over or ducking beneath the spell and sprinting to find another angle to approach.

Whilst I keep the Fire Magic flowing, the monster is hesitant to approach and seems content to wait me out. Unwilling to allow my Mana reserves to fall too low, I reluctantly let the spell drop.

The Fire Magic was effective and I know for sure I scored a hit. That might not mean much, considering the creature is known to have powerful regenerative abilities, but I’ll take the minor victory.

In fact, this match is going fairly well. I might not be able to damage the monster, but he hasn’t been able to do much to me, either. All in all, I’m feeling pretty safe! Wait, don’t think that, Anthony. That’s a flag right there.

No sooner does that thought run through my mind, than the monster opposite appears to come to the same conclusion. His current tactics aren’t working, and it’s going to be a race to see if I’ll run out of Mana before he runs out of Stamina. Considering how draining it must be to move at that kind of speed, I can’t see me losing that race. In other words, the monster and I appear to decide simultaneously that it’s time to take this fight to the next level.

The monster’s eyes flicker and it leaps away from me. Once it lands, the beast opens its strange, pointed mouth and screams, then its entire body begins to turn red, as if the blood within its veins has boiled in an instant.

Is this your secret powerup moment? Are you about to unleash your final technique? I don’t think so!

Unwilling to let the monster have any time to itself, I flood my mandibles with Gravity Mana and prepare to unveil my next trick. With a mental shout of ‘GET OVER HERE,’ I YOINK the creature with a powerful pull, and its light mass causes it to fall directly toward me. The shock in its eyes is clear as the ground no longer feels like the ground and it tumbles directly toward the eager jaws of its foe. But it’s not the face-hands I want my enemy to catch, but a bit of heat.

My mandibles open wide and fire boils out, submitting my enemy to a glorious roast, one which it doesn’t appreciate, judging by the horrific screech of pain it emits.

Then it completes its journey and slams into my head, clawing and biting like a mad thing having a bad day. As soon as it latches its hands onto me, the beast pulls itself away and starts to go to town on my back with a flurry of enraged strikes.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

With horrific, unimaginable strength far beyond what I have felt before from this thing, it batters away at my carapace with its elongated, curved claws, tearing chunks out of my diamond shell with every strike. What’s more, I can see the creature’s own body is falling apart with every movement. Ichor begins to burst out of its limbs and drip onto my exo-skeleton where it sizzles and steams.