Chapter 19: The Real Test The Real Test
Inasmuch as Xander had more than proven he was capable of handling things in Tatonia, saying that he had become completely accustomed to certain things there would be a stretch.
For instance, the creatures. Mary was an Elemental Spirit, and while that was certainly... odd, she looked human enough, and her behavior was acceptable, so he had no issues with her.
A house-sized spider on the other hand...
’... It is very uh... pregnant.’ Xander felt a bit queasy as he watched the damn thing pop out little spiders from the giant rump in the back, and he felt his skin crawl all over.
Frankly, if he let himself focus only on that, he’d have trouble moving properly. However, between acting as an anchor for his squad, his swordplay, and making damn sure none of the little spiders actually touched him, he functioned just fine.
Anyway, with all that said, the squad was finally about to reach the spider. And true to Aubrey’s prediction, the thing’s attention was now firmly on them, its massive appendages twitching with horrific power.
"5... 4... 3..."
"Making the barrier!"
"2... 1...!"
Two things happened at once.
Before Aubrey’s countdown hit zero, Curtis repurposed the ice walls that had been covering their flanks and back, turning it into a firm wall that sat in front of Xander.
At the same time, the giant spider moved.
And it was fast.
A forelimb smashed into the wall with terrifying force, and it didn’t take long before the whole thing exploded.
But Xander had already moved from that spot, and now he was positioned besides the outstretched limb.
Water Screen
He swung his sword, and a thin screen of water appeared between him and the leg that was starting to retract, but he wasn’t done.
Another thing Xander implemented in his magic that was born from his swordsmanship was synergy. Individual sword techniques were nice, but when used in tandem with complementary techniques, they became even more terrifying.
And Xander had no qualms applying that principle to his magic.
’Frost Flower Thrust.’ He thrust his blade, and cold wind revolved around the blade and condensed at the tip, the hape resembling that of a petal.
It hit the water screen, but instead of simply going through or freezing it on contact, the screen seemed to tent along the point of the blade, rapidly freezing as the two advanced until the touched the side of the spider’s leg, and...
’Ice Breaker.’
SHATTER
The Water Screen froze before shattering violently, but the shatter was concentrated where Xander’s sword was touching the spider’s leg. The combination of frost and the violent reaction of the skills interacting and shattering caused a chain effect, as a result...
SKREEEEE!
The spider’s limb was blown off entirely.
The creature let out a loud shriek of pain as blood spared from the open wound where the leg had been, and Xander exhaled.
Taking a book from that senior he had encountered back at the school gates, since he couldn’t raise his mana output for powerful skills...
’I’ll just use a collection of smaller techniques to achieve the same result.’ Xander huffed, brandishing his sword as he jumped back from an assault by two more limbs from the creature.
Despite this, though, the sheer force from the strikes caused him to slide back, and many of the smaller spiders were thrown away from it as well.
"Xander, most of its attention is on you. It’s also stopped spawning the smaller spiders so be prepared for abilities we haven’t seen before." Aubrey said quickly, and Xander nodded.
As he immediately changed his stance.
Three massive impacts sounded out in that moment, and the aftermath was one long scar that appeared in the earth behind the group, and two more that curved away from them.
Phew.
Xander returned to his stance as he kept his gaze fixed on the spider, inwardly relieved that what he just did worked.
Yesterday taught him that while his strength was great relative to his peers, many beasts still outclassed him in raw power, and blocking hits directly really wasn’t a great idea.
As such, he drew upon what he did yesterday, which was adapting Flowing Tide to allow him to deflect the attacks of stronger opponents away and made a new skill.
Flowing Stream Displacement
"It’s coming again. Curtis, on you!"
"... Ice Magic: Cold Mirror Deflection." Another series of impacts, and another collection of deep gasses in the earth, none of which actually appeared within the group.
This time, several floating disks of reflective ice floated around the group, each at an angle. They were the results of Curtis’s spell, and each one expertly deflected a blow from the spider.
"Each one can at most block three more attacks." Curtis informed.
"In that case, Xander, you have 15 seconds to prod the spider. I’ve detected 2 possible weak points. Underneath it, dead center between its legs, and the predicel." Aubrey informed.
That entire sequence where Xander and Curtis only defended took place for one reason. They were buying time for Aubrey to look for weaknesses in the spider.
Xander endured the first wave of attacks, and Curtis the second.
’15 seconds, huh?’ He took a step. ’I can work with that.’
Feather Steps.
Flowing Tide.
Xander’s figure blurred as water trailed after him, his body moving like the water from a flowing stream, and his steps light and almost soundless.