Chapter Eleven - 011Felix hit the ground and tumbled backwards onto the hard stone floor. Head swimming and aching from that full body push, he stumbled to his feet with his new sword in an awkward grip.
"Bring it--" His half-snarl caught in his throat. A wall of blue-white light stretched before him, completely filling the small cavern with a near blinding radiance. Felix's heart hammered and sweat swiftly beaded on his forehead and back as he regarded his certain doom.
But nothing happened.
The Wisps milled about, swirling and eddying like currents of phosphorous waves, but didn't advance on him. Nor did they use their strange magic either. They just...floated aimlessly.
"'What's going on?' he asks himself for the thousandth time today," Felix grumbled. Then his eyes snagged on a piece of dimly glowing script, nearly impossible to see in the flood of blue-white light. A series of symbols was carved into the floor just inches in front of him. In fact, the carving extended in a line separating him from the mass of Wisps. Felix's eyes tracked the impossibly straight row of symbols across the room, up the walls and even across the ceiling. They framed an opening the size and shape of a set of large double doors. Each of the symbols shimmered with a faint yellow light, like a weak light bulb.
"Is this protecting me?" As he muttered, he saw the script light up. "Why--" The symbols directly in front of him lit up again, flaring as he spoke.
It's preventing sound from escaping the area. Probably light too, since the Wisps obviously can't see me. He smiled wide, genuine joy flaring in his chest. This is amazing!
Felix felt his heartbeat quicken, excited at the idea of real magic. This was the kind of stuff he had been expecting when he found himself in a magical fantasy world. Then his smile froze. If there was a magic seal here, how did he get through? And what was it protecting? Slowly, Felix turned around.
Behind him was a massive room carved into the rock. It was a cave, certainly, but Felix couldn't make himself call it that; the floor was covered in hexagonal tiles, and the walls and ceiling were at near perfect angles. The room was around forty feet wide and maybe twice that in length. Most of the space was open, filled with those hexagonal tiles and nothing else. Toward the far end there was a raised platform, probably a foot tall and quite large. It was hard to tell from his vantage. More importantly, there were five doors: two on the left, two on the right, and a large set of double doors on the far wall.
Exploration is level 2!
It's like a dwarven temple or something. Or wait, is that racist? There's probably loads of underground builders in a place like this.
The room was empty, though no dust covered the ground near his feet and everything looked to be in good shape. Carved pillars lined the walls, creating shallow alcoves between them that held what looked like mosaics. Strangely, there were no shadows, and ambient light proliferated though Felix couldn't tell its source. It was a warm buttery light, unlike the beautiful if harsh wisplight.
Reminded of their presence, Felix turned back toward the swarm. If the magic rune seal kept him hidden and safe, then he had a huge advantage he felt he had to exploit. Not to mention, he had a decidedly different view toward the little creeps than he did just a few minutes ago. He quickly sheathed his sword in the backpack and raised both of his hands, summoning twin orbs of green liquid into his palms with a small burst of effort.
"Bite me, jerks."
Then he unleashed his acid streams.
The magic poured out of him, across the barrier and directly into the milling horde. Handfuls of Wisps died every few seconds, even as they panicked and began to pull up and away from the acid. Packed as they were, it was nearly impossible for Felix to miss. He focused on shaping the stream, trying to flatten it out to cover more area. With a brief burst of his Willpower and a flare of pain, he felt the spell change. The streams fanned outward, spreading horizontally until they covered nearly ten feet altogether. That's when the Wisps began to fall en masse.
Acid Stream is level 3!
Acid Stream is level 4!
...
Acid Stream is level 10!
You Have Learned A New Skill!
Dual Casting (Uncommon), Level 1!
Deal more damage for a higher Mana cost! Damage increases greatly with Skill Level, Mana cost decreases slightly with Skill Level, speed increases moderately with Skill Level.
Meditation is level 12!
Meditation is level 13!
Congratulations! You Have Earned New Titles!
Butcher I (Uncommon)! Kill 100 creatures in a single battle! +1 STR, +1 WIL, +1 DEX
Butcher II (Uncommon)! Kill 500 creatures in a single battle! +3 STR, +2 WIL, +2 DEX
Butcher III (Rare)! Kill 1000 creatures in a single battle! +4 STR, +3 WIL, +3 DEX
You Have Gained A Level!
You Have Gained A Level!
You are now Level 9!
+6 to WIL! +4 to INT! +2 to DEX! +2 to END! +2 to PER!
You Have 10 Unused Stat Points!
By the time the last Wisp was gone, Felix was panting and had a splitting headache. He had meditated the entire time he had attacked, attempting to shore up his regeneration and keep pace with his spell. It had worked, more or less, though he had to pause a couple times to avoid bottoming out. He leaned heavily against the wall, careful not to touch the still glowing inscriptions.
"Holy hell, that took a lot out of me," Felix tried to swallow but coughed instead. His throat was dry and dusty. A symptom of too much Mana use? Or just thirst?
He glanced at his notifications and his jaw dropped. 9 Skill levels, three Titles, a new Skill, and two level ups? And to think, he wasn't going to kill the little bastards at first. Shaking his head, he carefully crept back into the waterfall cavern. The humidity hit him like a slap in the face; he hadn't realized how dry it was in the hidden room. The Wisps were gone. Even their corpses had faded away, somehow. Perhaps an aspect of being an elemental? Either way, the path forward was clear.
Creeping forward, Felix reached out and tried to scoop a handful of water from the thundering waterfall...and almost got thrown off the cliff for his efforts. Windmilling his arms, Felix just barely kept his footing. He felt like an idiot. Of course he couldn't just reach out into a huge waterfall.
Spotting a pool of water on the cave floor, he pushed aside his pride and laid down next to it, drinking from the pool with big slurping gulps. Instantly he felt better, the headache retreating somewhat and his throat clearing up. With a sigh, Felix pushed back up to a sitting position. Then he saw something.
Perception keeps paying dividends, I have to remember that. Felix spotted a single Wisp fluttering nearby. It moved haphazardly, obviously injured. The light it cast was fitful and weak. Felix raised his hand up, ready to use the small bit of Mana he had regenerated to melt the magic mosquito, but paused. His memory, ever active as it was, pinged on a dumb idea. Dumb that is, if it hadn't worked already.
"I'll probably regret this," Felix grimaced as he reached out and snatched the weakened Wisp, cupping it in his palms. Then, before he could think about it anymore, he tossed it into his mouth and bit down.
Light exploded from his mouth, crackling along his teeth and gums with a jolt of incandescent pain.
Pain Resistance is level 13!
Felix felt a sharp crackling sensation soak into his tongue and throat, like he had swallowed a battery made of pins. His head snapped to the side as the muscles in his neck spasmed. His chest felt tight and empty, and he couldn't draw a breath at all, as if a wall blocked all air from entering his lungs. Damage notifications sparked across his vision, and Felix could see his Health bar drop visibly. Attempting to Meditate, he tried to focus his thoughts on absorbing the Wisp's riotous power. He mentally pulled it toward his center, where he thought his Fire resided, nestled just below his ribcage. It fought, pushing back against his efforts even as his high Willpower nudged it ever closer.
Sweat beaded on Felix's forehead and a vein pulsed at his temple. He brought everything he could to bear on the Wisp's Mana, pushing it the final distance into his core. Suddenly, Felix could feel his inner fire eating up the Mana, burning it for fuel. In moments, it was gone.
"Huh," he breathed, slightly disappointed. "I guess that didn't--"
A pulse of energy thrummed through his veins, and a flare of blue-white light discharged around him, scattering a number of tiny pebbles.
Congratulations!
Your Title Gourmand Has Garnered You Insight!
You Have Fully Digested Your Opponent's Mana!