I’m not sure what is coming. It’s definitely large though. Probably not skyscraper large, but definitely large house sized. Comparable to the brachiosaur, though it’s hard to even attempt to compare sizes just on the sound of the footsteps and how loud they are.

  The bad news is that whatever it is, is heading straight for us. Which is also the good news; at least it’s not heading for the city and a population that would be ill-equipped to take on level 20 creatures, let alone the level 30’s and above I expect to find this far out.

  I can see the tension in Chloe’s shoulders as she grabs her [Ruby-Studded Wand] and slips in between all of us. Alana stands beside her and Nicholas, using some sort of Skill that envelops the two in a subtle golden light. Brent and Alexey are in the vanguard, I’m standing next to Tristan in the rearguard, and Lindsey has taken to the trees to scout ahead.

  The sound of an eerie chirping fills the air. It’s like that of a cricket, only louder and— Goddesses above, it’s like the noise is trying to get in my head and jackhammer at my brain! My head grows dizzy for a moment and vision starts to spin, but just as I start to succumb, Tristan raises his staff into the air, exuding a leafy-green radiance outward. Two System notifications follow.

  [You are under the effect of [Nature’s Blessing]. Resistance to Nature-element attacks increased 200% for the duration of the spell. (Time remaining: 1:59:59)]

  [You have resisted [Maddening Cacophony]. You are immune to this effect from the same creature for 1 day. (Time remaining: 23:59:58)]

  Well, shit. Whatever this creature is, is also intelligent enough to lead off with some sort of mind-affecting Skill. Or eldritch enough to just have one going passively. I’m not sure which one of the two is worse.

  Lindsey arrives back a few seconds later with a look of terror in her eyes. She doesn’t look mad or anything, but she’s definitely shaken, probably by that same Skill that tried to assail all of us. She shudders and her face is ashen and her pupils dilated near the maximum and she’s sure as shit not in any condition to fight right now. Nicholas rushes in and chants a few things, and her stilted breathing slowly returns to normal.

  A few seconds pass as the shaking continues to get louder. “Ranger, what are we dealing with?”

  “Something between an amoeba and a cicada. Not really sure how better to describe it. Form and appearance are constantly changing. Attacks by consuming its victims. Size is approximately thirty yards long, ten wide, and ten or so tall as well. Arrival within two minutes.”

  “And the footsteps?” Nicholas asks.

  “It’s letting out various noises to attack its victims’ minds. I managed to resist the worst of it but–”

  “My sister and I both have skills that seem effective against its mental assaults,” Tristan says.

  “And I just got a notification that I’m immune to the effect for the next twenty-four hours after shaking off something called [Maddening Cacophony],” I add. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that aspect of its arsenal. Did you manage to see anything that looked like a weakness?”

  “Unfortunately not. And since it seems to be an amorphous blob rather than a creature with any sort of internal anatomy, I don’t think trying to target vitals is a good idea.”

  I decide that the [Piercing] effect of my [Modular Blowgun] is unlikely to be effective. And I doubt I have enough firepower to freeze something of that size. That leaves fire and lightning as my two options.

  “Sergeant Ivankov!” Nicholas says. “I’m counting on you to keep that thing’s attention on you. I doubt physical attacks are going to be all that effective against something like that.”

  “Pah,” Alexey says. “I hate it, but I agree with your assessment. I shall do all within my power to ensure victory in our fight.” He glows with a crimson aura that I’ve not seen before. Probably some new class ability he gained access to at level 30.

  Chloe taps me with her wand, triggering another System notification. She shakes a bit and needs a moment to steady herself against my arm after casting her spell, but she looks full of relief as she comes to.

  [You are under the effect of [Angelic Blessing]. All stats increased by 21% for the duration of the spell. (Time remaining: 00:42:00)]

  [Current Stats: [Strength]: 30 (25); [Speed]: 30 (25); [Vitality]: 67 (55); [Mind]: 83 (69)]

  “You said you were going to protect me, Sera. This is the spell contained within the book we got after Oneiros. With it, now I can protect you as well.”

  I wish the moment could last a lot longer, but the monster is almost upon us. Not two hundred yards in front of us, I see branches from trees buckling, then collapsing. An iridescent mass of… ooze of some sort slinks through the ground, still radiating those noises that defy all sense of reason and sensibility. Lindsey jumps back into the tree just behind us and begins loosing her [Light Arrows]. I wait a few more seconds before following suit with [Flaming Bullets] of my own.

  I have no way of knowing if my attacks are doing any damage. The attacks are connecting. Each one causes the mass’s body to sizzle for a few seconds, but it’s so massive that I can’t tell if I’m actually burning the flesh and evaporating tiny portions of it, or if the creature is merely absorbing all of our attacks and emerging none the worse for wear.

  Alexey charges off to the south, and by some miracle, the ooze diverts its course, chasing after him. I don’t waste the opportunity. I fire another three [Flaming Bullets] at the creature, all while Lindsey continues to rain hell down upon the supersized amoeba. My [Ethersight] doesn’t identify any obvious congregations of vital energy within the creature’s body, forcing me to aim for different parts of its broadside. One hits along its frontal pseudopod, one dead center, and the third on its backside. None are particularly effective.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I try a bolt of lightning. It’s somewhat more effective. A pair of them in quick succession imparts enough energy to stun the beast for a half second or so. It even briefly considers turning back toward me, but it changes its mind just as quickly and heads back toward wherever Alexey is leading it.

  For the sake of completeness, I try the inverted glyph of [Heat] and launch a [Freezing Bullet] at the blob. I’m utterly astounded when it freezes a chunk of the ooze’s body, which then falls off, crashes into the ground, and vaporizes. And here I thought this thing would be resistant to being frozen.

  At least now I know what I’m dealing with. Unfortunately, that knowledge came at a cost. I’ve already burned up four hundred points of [Ether] and I would rather not burn an [Ether Canister] so soon into our trip. Alexey is doing a good job keeping the creature away from us, and there haven’t been any others that have tried to take advantage of the situation, so maybe this is the ideal way to address the problem. Regenerate [Ether] slowly, bide my time, whittle this creature down bit by bit.

  But just as with everything else, inaction carries its own risk. I don’t know how long Alexey can keep the creature distracted, and if it turns its attention back toward us, I don’t think Alana and Tristan will be able to keep it away from me for long enough to build a [Glyphcasting] array. So I bite my pride, pull out an [Ether Canister] and activate it.

  A refreshing sensation enters me. I concentrate on my internal [Ether] channels, feel them filling, then use my [Intermediate Ether Manipulation] to draw as much of it as I can into my [Ether] core just below my heart. When they refill from the surge of external [Ether] still flowing into me, I continue to pull until I’m loaded up to maximum capacity.

  [Your [Intermediate Ether Manipulation (Rank IV)] has increased the effectiveness of [Ether Canister]. Ether restoration increased from 200 to 347.]

  I had no idea that Skill could do that, and I’m certainly not complaining about it either. All the more reason to have other people learning such an overwhelmingly important General Skill. For now, however, I begin drawing the glyphs, not quite certain how to do so with an inverted glyph. I see no reason why it shouldn’t work just the same as with any other, but I’ve been surprised before.

  The circle and the enneagram are as before. I construct everything perfectly to specification, my Skills giving no indication that any of the lines or arcs are off even the slightest bit. First, the central glyph, a reversed [Heat]. Next, the two supplemental glyphs to augment and refine the overall spell further. The first is my trusty [Impulse] glyph to improve the speed and penetrating power of the attack. And the second is the inverted [Repulsion] glyph. Including this glyph should cause the creature’s body to be drawn in toward the center of the attack, dealing far greater damage.

  It is my hypothesis that this creature, like amoebas and cells more generally, contains some sort of inner nucleus that I was unable to spot before. If I can damage, or better yet, destroy that core, then I should be able to do far more damage than simply trying to chip away at its blobby body.

  Alana grabs my sword at my hip and begins hacking away at the creature with twin swords, though I barely notice her as I continue my glyph tracing. I envision the spell effect that I want, converting that mental image into a phrase with the limited vocabulary of glyphs and runic connectors that I have at my disposal. I’d like it to translate as ‘Sphere of Cold that Freezes the Very Core’, but it ends up being something closer to ‘Attract the Center and Remove the Heat’. Rather inelegant, but for a novice [Glyphcaster] who doesn’t even have the appropriate class, it’ll have to do.

  My mind buckles, even while fortified under the effect of Chloe’s [Angelic Blessing]. Nicholas casts another aura, having no doubt noticed my predicament, and I feel the mental load of trying to cast easing up. One last double check of every glyph and every connection. Every sluice between the three glyphs seems correct, as do the targeting runes and other auxiliary features of the full spell.

  I release it the moment the ooze turns toward us. My attack is eerily silent, no concussive shock wave, no loud bang, no streaking arc of lightning crackling with power, nor even the flicker of flames lurching toward the slithering titan. Just chill, frozen, silent, cold.

  It slams into the creature’s undulating body and barrels inward. What was slimy and amorphous before is now crystalline, silent and still. It doesn’t affect the entire creature, even with a thousand points of [Ether] behind the attack. But it does enough damage to whatever internals the creature has that the entire body begins to break apart.

  Nicholas and Tristan stay behind to cover for me, as I’m too weakened and lightheaded to be of any use, while Alana leads the charge, my sword and hers both leading the way. She hacks at every piece of the monster, slashing off chunks of oozy flesh which fall to the ground and dissolve into the dirt with a fetid hiss. Alexey has also turned back around, no longer luring the creature away, but instead pummeling it with his fists and… is he launching shockwaves with each attack? Whatever he’s doing is clearly having an effect, and he’s definitely showing the power of whatever new techniques he has access to now.

  Has he been studying glyphs in his spare time as well?

  Bit by bit, the tiny oozlets that have dispersed out of the main creature’s body are being whittled down. Brent and Tristan are getting in the action, the latter slashing with his own sword while Tristan summons hammers of wood that splatter them underneath. Even Chloe gets involved, vaporizing a particularly large mass with her hourly [Fireball] spell. I want to be upset and bemoan my powerlessness to act beyond throwing an errant [Ether Bullet] toward the smaller oozes, but I know that it’s only because of my abilities that we managed to turn the tide so conclusively.

  Finally, after about ten minutes of mowing the creature’s daughter-spawn down, we get the all-too-welcome System notification.

  [Your party has slain a Giant Forest Ooze (Level 33). You have been awarded a boosted 18,000 Experience.]

  I assign all four free points to my [Mind] stat. Right now, my [Glyphcasting] abilities are the most important Skill I bring to this party, and the [Mind] stat governs both my ability to maintain the glyphs as I draw them, as well as my maximum [Ether] and [Ether] regeneration rates. I want more [Speed] and [Vitality], but I choose to prioritize teamwork over my individual preference.

  [Level: 24; Experience: 101,160; To Next: 3,840]

  [Maximum Health increases by [Vitality] x2 + Current Level + Rand[1, 3] = 137]

  [Maximum Ether increases by [Mind] + Current Level + Rand[0, 2] = 100]

  Sadly, no, my increase in maximum [Health] and [Ether] does not take into consideration the temporary increase from Chloe’s spell. As much as I would have liked to have stumbled upon such a useful exploit, it seems it’s not to be.

  [Current Stats: [Health]: 2,141 / 2,142 ; [Ether]: 254 / 1,336]

  [Current Stats: [Strength]: 30 (25); [Speed]: 30 (25); [Vitality]: 68 (56); [Mind]: 90 (74)]

  [Your [Glyphcasting (Rank IV)] has upgraded to [Glyphcasting (Rank V)].]