The whole group forced themselves to their feet. The wave was nearly upon them and Billy could now see that is was a pack of snizards. Despite these creatures' metre-long, greenish-brown bodies, they barely reached knee level. The tall grass provided them with an ideal camouflage.
He used [analyse creature] on one of the incoming creatures.
[Rabid skink level 3. Strength: speed. Mildly poisonous. Favorite food - spicy squirrel]
Billy paused for a moment. his [analyse creature] skill at level 4 gave much more information. And these creatures had a name - skinks.
“Shoulder to shoulder!” he yelled.
There were too many to fight the way they normally did and the skinks were way too fast to outrun. They had discussed such a situation and decided that the best solution would be to form a line of three with Trevor in the middle and Billy and Yuki on the outside. Su Li would stand behind them and attack when she saw opportunities.
Billy had faith that Yuki was fast enough to dodge attacks but he was worried about Su Li. With her stats. If they were outflanked, she would be at great risk.
The tide of skinks hit their defensive line with a fury. Legs flailed in a frenzied dance as they desperately attempted to avoid the snapping jaws. Billy and Trevor fought bravely but their attacks were largely ineffective against the ground-hugging skinks. Fortunately, the only attack the skinks seemed to have was their bite.
Billy resorted to the well-tested strategy of stamping on them. Although the skinks were venomous, they lacked the chameleons' resilience and were easily crushed. After a series of heavy stomps and forceful hammer blows Billy started to kill off his attackers.
Billy ignored the notifications as he struggled to maintain his focus. There seemed to be gaping maws everywhere and the sinuous bodies merged into one mass of writhing flesh. Fortunately, Trevor and Yuki seemed to be faring better. Trevor had adapted to the attacks and was crouched low, using his shield to block incoming attacks. Yuki was efficiently using the reach of her staff to strike the skinks with a force that left them dazed.
Su Li was quietly darting in and out of their legs as she stabbed at the vulnerable parts of the skinks. With limited space and reach she was not very effective but every little helped.
The biggest danger was their stamina which has already been low after the previous fight with the chameleons. Billy could sense that Trevor was reserving his energy better this time - merely holding the skinks away while Yuki did the damage. Billy, however, was running on fumes. The frantic need to dodge and kick was draining his stamina quickly and he could not see an end to the tide of creatures.
He had also been bitten twice already and he could feel the toxin slowing down his body. His mind, however, remained lucid. His thoughts flashed back to when he had perused his cultivation techniques. Those techniques would help right now.
Suddenly, another skink exploited his moment of inattention to sink its teeth into his ankle.
Anger flashed through him - he would not be beaten so easily. He could feel the mana flowing around him - just like when he was meditating. Desperately needing something - anything - to help he reached out to it and pulled it towards him.
He could sense that air, fire and void mana were plentiful here. He grasped at strands of each and drew them into his body. His veins seemed to blaze and agony surged along his nerves but he did not quit. He drew more and more mana in and pushed mentally for it to circulate just like the instructions in his cultivation manual.
His teeth bared. He screamed aloud and again pushed mentally. Like molten lava the mana started to flow towards his meridians. But he knew it was not enough. He needed to mesh the three types of mana together.
The pain intensified as the air and fire elements intertwined, yet his grasp on the void mana continued to weaken. In a moment of despair, he abandoned the attempt to blend the void mana with the other two, opting instead to spiral the void mana. He then drew the air and fire strands through the heart of this spiral and applied pressure. Despite the void mana's resistance, Billy persevered, squeezing with all his might until a sheath of void enveloped the air and fire braid. As a result, the torment in his body subsided, and the mana began to circulate more smoothly.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
He could feel a surge of energy and the effects of the poison dissipated. He felt a boost to his stamina and he screamed again. He knew he could not hold onto this for long so he forced himself forward.
He picked up a skink by the tail and started to thrash at the other skinks with it. He cursed when the tail came off in his hands - the skink’s body dropping to the ground. He let go of the still-writhing tail and picked up another skink - this time by the head. He crouched and swung it in a semicircle, clearing away a space in front of him.
Yuki caught on quickly and started to do the same with her staff. Each collision threw the creatures into each other’s way and soon they were doing more damage to each other.
Su Li used the space to step out to one side. She started to swing one of her blades on its chain. Billy knew this attack - whirling air blades.
It proved to be even more effective against the soft-bodied skinks. Her knife scythed through the creatures. Parts of bodies flew everywhere.
It was soon over and Su Li fell to the ground exhausted.
Billy too fell to the ground; finally letting go of the mana threads. In his final instant, before slipping into oblivion, he read the last notification.
Dang!
***
Billy awoke with a scream. He now understood Lorna’s description of dying. He felt mangled - his body was fine but he felt emotionally drained and mentally screwed up.
It took all of his willpower to just sit up. Mostly he just wanted to lie there and sleep for days.
Holding his throbbing head in his hands he reviewed the notifications. He had received 155 XP from the fight with the skinks. Unfortunately, he had lost 100XP from dying, otherwise he would be verging on level 3. Still, he was getting closer. The problem was he had low constitution and could not take the hits.
Other notifications were also interesting. His use of mana, which had ultimately killed him, had resulted in an increase to his skills and techniques.
[mana control: 3]
[mana sense: 3]
Defiance level 2: ignore debilitating effects for 20 seconds.
Resurgence level 2: regain 30% stamina and 15% health.
He had also received two new skills.
[Hammer blow level 1: +20% to hit when using a hammer]
[Skink sweep level 1: clear away attackers using the body of a skink]
He had done something right when trying to access his techniques and something very wrong. Clearly, the way he had forced the mana through his channels caused a heavy backlash.
When he accessed his status menu he found even worse news.
[Mana channels damaged: status - mana channels too damaged to maintain mana flow]
His mana was essentially at zero now. Looking at the status report he hoped it would only be a temporary issue.
He looked around the room and found that the stock of robes had been replenished. He quickly donned one. Despite his aching body and mind he wanted to return to the others as soon as possible.
“Hey, Billy!”
Bill turned around quickly, his hands reaching for a weapon that was no longer there.
Su Li stood in the doorway. Her head drooped a little and her normal grin had disappeared.
“Su Li, how did you get in?”
“Err, the robe Billy?”
Billy flushed. She too was not wearing one of the white robes. He could also now see the tears in her eyes.
He walked over and gave her a big hug. He was not naturally a tactile person but he knew what she needed.
Su Li started a strange mixture of sobbing and howling. It was like the sorrow was being wrenched from her in waves. Her body shook against him for what felt like hours as all Billy could do was to hold her and stroke her hair.
Eventually she started to calm down and he stepped away. There were still tears in her eyes but the anguish seemed to have faded.
“Are you ok?” he asked in a quiet voice.
She nodded.
“Was it a total wipe?” Are the others here?”
“No, I think they are ok. The party interface says they are a little injured but still alive.”
Billy cursed himself. He had been too wrapped up in his own status to think of accessing the party menu. Some leader he was.
“What happened?”
“I got hit by a couple of fireballs. Some stupid chameleon attacked us as we were resting.”
“They are hardly stealthy,” Billy said.
She looked up at him and he regretted his words.
“Sorry, I know you were exhausted.”
The grin appeared back on her face. “No, you are right. We were still shocked by your death and were not paying attention.”
She sat on the edge of the bed. “I did not understand what Lorna meant about dying. I guess I felt it would be like a game and… poof!... Su Li’s back again!”
“Yeah, it hurts. Big time. The first time I did not feel anything - probably because the initiation stage had not happened. One thing is certain, I do not want to die again.”
She nodded.
Billy smiled as he looked over their party status. “Well, on the bright side, we are now all level 2. And you and I are close to level 3.”
“There doesn’t seem much point unless we can add those status points.”
It was not like Su Li to be negative. He could tell she was still feeling the emotional pain of dying.
“Agreed. We need to work on that. Come on let’s find the other two. I will feel better with my weapon in my hands as well as with proper clothing.”
As if the system was listening to him a notification appeared.
Billy and Su Li looked at each other. Dilchak’s warning had come true.
Another notification appeared.