Liam saw the predicament they were in and started to panic internally. Artem, who had a distant look and a few flashes of color in his eyes, continued to stare at something as the Alpha Mare Kelpie channeled a decent size of mana in order to attack. Liam understood they someone needed to either distract the monster’s attention or interrupt the creature’s incoming spell from launching.

  Blair, Roman, and Mercer were in the middle of replenishing their health, mana, and stamina so they didn’t see what was going on while Ariyana and Gimmel tried to run away from the angle the monster was going to attack at. From their looks, they were unaware of Artem’s state and didn’t see that he wasn’t joining them.

  Deciding to take action, Liam reached for a vial in the pouch on his leg and threw it as hard and fast as he could. The vial smashed right against the back of the Alpha Mare Kelpie’s head releasing several lines of lightning across its body before the Flash Powder ignited the flames. The stun and the burning sensation was enough to make the monster’s attack change trajectory, however, instead of the attack heading right for Artem, the wild water bullets flew straight for Ariyana.

  “Fuck! Watch out Ariyana!” Liam shouted in a panic causing the other three on his side to see what was going on.

  Liam watched as the water bullets soared. Their speed was impressive, and he knew he didn’t have anything that could make it in time nor protect his teammate. Albeit, he didn’t need to worry. Right after Liam had shouted Ariyana’s name, Artem snapped out of the trance that was building up and without thinking he conjured an Aqua Sphere while chanting a spell. As he extended a hand out, the Aqua Sphere raced over towards Ariyana. The speed of the Aqua Sphere was slower than the water bullets racing towards the woman, but due to him being closer to her it was able to get in front of her and expand while taking the shape and form of a circular shield.

  The water bullets slammed right into the water-like shield with a powerful force, however, instead of hearing a thud or smashing right through, the water bullets looked like they dove right into a small body of water. Each Water bullet pulled some of the water from the shiels with it, making it look like rubber extending before the water bullets dissolved and blended with the water that made up the shield. The lines that had extended quickly flattened out and returned back to its normal shape.

  Liam stood there shocked as he watched it happen. His heart, beating really fast grew excited. He wasn’t sure what Artem had done, and as he looked at the man who made the miracle happen, he noticed the same puzzled expression on his face. That expression grew even more as his eyes widened at seeing something. Liam guessed he must have received a notification, but he wasn’t sure what it was…

  Artem suddenly pressed the air in front of him right before a strange pressure filled the air around him. That pressure then rippled outwards indicating that something had changed. Liam could only think of one thing that meant. Artem had just evolved his class.

  As if to answer that Liam’s guess was right, Artem started chanting a spell. An orb of water formed right in front of him before he shot it out. Liam was expecting the orb of water to race towards the Alpha Mare, but instead it had missed the creature by a large margin as the orb soared past the monster until it reached right in the middle of Liam, Blaire, Roman, and Mercer. The moment it reached that point, Liam heard Artem mutter, “Light Healing Mist.”

  The orb of water then suddenly fell to the ground and exploded right after he finished those words. The explosion of water scattered and turned into a light mist that washed over them. Even though the water had exploded and cover their bodies from head to toe, they didn’t feel like they were getting wet or soaked. Instead they felt the warmth of healing magic coat their bodies as the mist washed over them. The healing mist didn’t last long, but the effects of the healing had shown it was stronger than the healing mist items he had made.

  Liam now understood what had triggered the trance Artem was getting. It was his Weak Healing Mist Chemicalized Creations. He wasn’t sure when his friend had started focusing on the items, but he understood that both when he came across his own discovery of his Shadow Manipulation mixed with the water and when he used the items on Blair, Roma, and Mercer that final time, that must have been the triggering point for it.

  Feeling relief from both his two teammates surviving the attacks and the replenished resources from Artem’s Light Healing Mist, Liam took another look at the Alpha Mare Kelpie who had just reemerged from the water glaring at him. He noticed the waterlogged plant like hair was completely singed and some of its skin was slightly burned.

  After looking at the creature’s health Liam was surprised to see that it had taken a lot more damage than he had believed it would since it was an aquatic creature. However, after seeing the results from his attempt to only distract the monster he gained a new set of knowledge of the creature. It wasn’t just an aquatic creature; rather…it was also a plant type monster.

  Liam looked at Mercer and saw he had come to the same conclusion. They needed to somehow trap the monster outside the water and attack it with fire magic. Liam had some ideas, but since his role wasn’t to be the Control Tower, he kept his mouth shut and waited to see what the two who were placed with that role had to say.

  To both Mercer’s and Liam’s surprise, it was Ariyana who shouted out a command. “Gimmel! Head to the others. Blair, Mercer, Roman, and Liam…with Gimmel try to keep the monster’s attention on you guys. Artem I need you to shield me in case they can’t keep the monster’s attention!”

  Liam noticed Roman and Blair looked surprised as well, but instead of standing there confused, they did as she commanded as they tried to send out attacks in order to gather the boss monster’s attention. It had worked as Blair’s shouts, Roman’s Lightning Hand, Mercer’s arrows, and Gimmel’s illusionary puppets raced out and caused the monster to try and attack them while Ariyana stood there, clasped her hands together, and started chanting. Artem stood in front of her as Barty paced back and forth in a menacing way.

  Liam stood back and watched. He chanted his Shade’s Corruption and Epidermis Luminescence to include some D.O.T. damage, but didn’t do much besides that. He knew if he tried to send out any of his tool weapons, they would just get in the way due to how far the monster was and how many different attacks were all going out at once. Not to mention each time the monster dove in and jumped into the air he would need to change the direction of his tool weapons to keep up.

  However, as he watched the Alpha Mare Kelpie jump after the fifth time he noticed something really interesting. Two branches on one side of the watery center and two other branches on the other side were growing and circling around each other in a manner that looked like they were intertwining. They were slowly expanding outwards in the air above the water and towards each other almost as if their goal was to connect to each other.

  Liam looked at Ariyana and noticed she was channeling a lot of mana, but at the same time the amount she was channeling she was also using as she looked to be chanting something. Her focus on whatever she was doing was intense as she didn’t look to hear or see Artem and Barty fighting off Aquatic Plovers and Sharp Tooth Crocs that had made their way towards the three.

  Liam was about to sprint over to help but stopped as he remembered Ariyana had given them the command to focus on the gaining the attention of the boss. He decided to trust that three could handle themselves and focused on what he could do that didn’t get into anyone’s way. That was when the Kelpie Splashlings started to jump up and start their assault.

  Liam tried to throw a couple of his throwing daggers at one, but due to how fast they were jumping and diving back into the water, he wasn’t able to land any of his daggers. He started to get irritated as he tried to think what he could do. He then had an idea about a possibility. He used Shadow Manipulation to gather as many shadows as he could.

  When he created the blob of shadows he stared at it and thought back on the water that had been sucked within. He was contemplating whether he could do the same with a dagger. However, he hesitated as he remembered the dead Aquatic Plover that was sucked within and how it completely disappeared. Deciding to take a chance, Liam took one of his lowest quality throwing daggers and placed it right in front of the shadowy blob. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. As he opened his eyes and let out the breath in a sharp burst he shoved the dagger into blob.

  To Liam’s surprise the shadowy blob swallowed it. Also to his surprise he felt the dagger within. It hadn’t disappeared. He also took note that he could feel there was room for more. As he felt the need to put more into it, he didn’t do so. Instead he moved to his next test.

  Liam extended his hand to point towards the watery area with Kelpie Splashlings jumping around. He aimed for a spot where he noticed one was jumping around and readied himself. He wasn’t sure if the dagger would fly out with the same force as the water had earlier, but he was hoping for it. He waited for just the right moment and them pushed his will into the shadowy blob.

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  The shadowy blob shuddered right before the throwing dagger zipped right out of it. Liam was shocked at the speed of the dagger’s flight that he was disappointed as it missed the creature. However, instead of hitting its original target, a Kelpie Splashling behind it had taken the hit in the stomach and let out a painful whine as the dagger plunged into it. Liam had also miscalculated the force behind the attack as the creature flew onto the sand. It had started to use its two front horse legs to pull itself into the water, but as it moved, black lines started to spread from the wound the dagger had plunged into and spiderwebbed out, draining its health in a strange manner. It died before it could reenter the water.

  Liam stared at the creature and was completely confused as to what had happened. He didn’t have enough time to contemplate more on it as he heard Artem yell out, “Are you alright Ariyana?!” He turned his focus on the two to see Ariyana had dropped to a knee and was gasping for air.

  From where he stood, Liam heard Ariyana say, “Yeah…I just…used too much manna…I couldn’t…finish what…I wanted to do…though…”

  Liam looked at what she was working on and saw the four intertwining branches had fully connected over the water. In the middle of the water where the Alpha Mare was jumping around, four branches were starting to make their way down, but had stopped a few inches away from the starting point.

  Liam wracked his brain to think about what it was she was trying to do and came to a conclusion. She was trying to use her Entangling Roots spell in an unorthodox way, by stacking them over and over. However, she had strained herself too much and ran out of mana before she could finish it. Luckily, the branches weren’t receding and stayed the way they were.

  Liam grew a smile. He looked down at his hand and understood what he needed to do. Liam didn’t hesitate as he sprinted towards the tree that had the branches stretched out on his side. As he reached the tree he quickly jumped and raced up it before pushing off of the trunk and grabbing the branches. He used his momentum to swing up and place his feet on the intertwined branches. He tested the strength of them as he slowly stood up and waited.

  When he felt the branches could support his weight, he moved as carefully as he could towards the center. As soon as he reached it as close as he could he flicked the shadowy blob towards the edge of the branches that were dangling over the water and began chanting, “Hidden within the dark, I call upon you to bind my target. Grasp them with the tendrils you possess. Remind them why they should fear their own Shadow. Grasp of the Shadows!”

  As soon as he finished the chant he focused on sending the spell through the shadow blob. Two thick black tendril shot out right in time and ensnared the Alpha Mare Kelpie. One snaked around its neck and wrapped around its legs while the other wrapped around its back side and tail. The Alpha Mare Kelpie, shocked at what was going on started thrashing around trying to free itself.

  The sudden thrashing caused the intertwined branches underneath Liam’s feet to sway around. This caused Liam to lose his footing and balance making him tip off to the side. Liam quickly reached out and grabbed one of the intertwined branches and held on with dear life trying not to fall into the water. He could feel his stamina start to drain as the branches bounced up and down while the monster continued to thrash about midair.

  Not wanting to lose this opportunity, Liam used a free hand to grab a vial full of tannish liquid. Trying to time his throw right, Liam aimed and then tossed the vial at the boss monster. To his relief he watched as the vial crashed and shattered against the monster. The tannish liquid spread across the monsters body and coated as much of the skin as it could before Liam started to chant another spell while holding his free hand out, palm facing the monster, “Come forth heat of flames and burn the pyre before you. Become the tool that will help. Light and burn!”

  A flame burst to life in front of his palm, but didn’t have enough time to grow as Liam pushed it at the monster. The moment the flame touched the oil slicked skin of the Alpha Mare Kelpie it burst into flames. The boss monster let out a painful scream as its thrashing grew even more into a panicked state.

  Liam smiled as he watched the monster’s health begin to plummet. However, as he watched he didn’t hear the branches snapping above him. He only came to the realization when it was too late, and he was dropped right into the water. As he fell into the water he could hear the others calling out his name in a panic.

  As soon as he felt his body plunge into the cold water he started moving his arms and legs to resurface. However, before he could break the surface of the water something ran into his side. Then another force hit his body from the opposite direction. Then a third and a fourth.

  Each force that hit him was powerful and hurt like hell to him. However, the fact he was getting hurt wasn’t what had made him start panicking. It was that with each hit the direction his body was going wasn’t up to the surface but rather down further into the water. He tried to struggle and make his way up, but as he tried to do so he came to another issue. His stamina was starting to reach dangerously low levels. He could feel his muscles start to tightened and his lungs were starting to burn as he held onto the remaining air he had in his lungs.

  He could feel his arms and legs kicking and moving slower and slower as his stamina pool dropped into the thirties, twenties, tens. Once it hit nine he couldn’t move his arms and legs anymore. Instead he was just dropping slowly. His vision was starting to blur and grow black around the edges.

  As this was going on he hadn’t realize that the monsters had stopped attacking him. He didn’t have the focus nor the time to as he watched a giant shadowy blur quickly approaching him as his body turned to the left. That one shadowy blur then turned into a strange figure as it looked like it had a long horizontal body while also having a vertical half with…arms?

  Liam felt something grab his body as the strange creature reached him and they started making their way back to the surface. It wasn’t long until they broke the surface. As soon as he felt the air brush against his skin he opened his mouth and gasped in a huge amount of air before coughing violently.

  He didn’t see what was going on, but before he knew it he was laying on the beached area looking up at the others who were staring down at him. Artem was casting his healing spells as Mercer tried to force feed him a Minor Stamina Potion. He hadn’t realized his body was shaking until he felt the effects of the stamina potion start to swim throughout his body. After his body finally settled and the sore muscles had eased up he looked up at the others and asked, “Did we kill it?”

  He heard a few scoffs from a few of them while Roman laughed and Gimmel weakly chuckled. “He almost drowns and the first thing he wants to know is if we killed the boss monster? Seriously what are we going to do with you?” Mercer stated in disapproving tone of voice. that disapproving look on his face didn’t last long as he slowly grinned and replied, “Yes we killed it. did you not get the notification?”

  Liam blinked a few times before seeing he had a few notifications. He was surprised he hadn’t heard the chimes or notice them, but then again he had almost drowned, so his focus was placed elsewhere. Before he responded as well as looked at the notifications he felt a sudden change happening within him. First he felt extremely cold before a warm sensation washed over him. He then felt something akin to his resources replenishing.

  Everyone noticed the confused look suddenly appear on Liam’s face and started asking questions. He ignored them as he looked at the only place he felt he would get answers. His notifications.

  [Congratulations! Sub-stat Resilience has reached level 26! Progression to level 27: 13%!]

  [Congratulations! Sub-stat Agility has reached level 28! Progression to level 29: 3%!]

  [Congratulations! Knowledge Theory Controlling the Shadows with Ease has reached level 15! Progression to level 16: 56%!]

  [Congratulations! Shade’s Corruption has reached level 16! Progression to level 17: 26%!]

  [Congratulations! Shadow Manipulation has reached level 14! Progression to level 15: 100%!]

  [Congratulations! Shadow Manipulation has reached level 15! Progression to level 16: 20%!]

  [Congratulations! Field of the Lunar has reached level 16! Progression to level 17: 23%!]

  [Congratulations! Epidermis Luminescence has reached level 16! Progression to level 17: 23%!]

  [Congratulations! Focus Point Production Craft has reached level 20! Progression to level 21: 13%!]

  [Congratulations! Light and Burn has reached level 20! Progression to level 21: 13%!]

  [Congratulations! Crafter’s Endurance Improvement (Weak) has reached level 20! Progression to level 21: 3%! Crafter’s Endurance (Weak) has evolved into Crafter’s Endurance Improvement (Minor)! When crafting or using any type of crafting abilities and/or skill for a long use, the drainage of stamina will be lessened slightly more than before.]

  [Congratulations! Hidden Crafter Class conditions have been met! You have unlocked new Resources! You have unlocked Crafter Mana Pool! You have Unlocked Crafter Stamina Pool!]

  [Crafter Mana Pool is a resource used when using Crafter Class or specific Crafter abilities. Crafter Mana Pool will also grow alongside your Mana Pool.]

  [Crafter Stamina Pool is a resource used when crafting or using Crafter Class or specific Crafter skills. Sub-Stat Crafter’s Endurance will now be directed and only focus on resource Crafter Stamina Pool.]

  [Note: Mana Type Hands spells are now considered Crafter specific abilities!]

  [Note: Ability Crafter’s Endurance Improvement (Minor) will now only affect resource Crafter Stamina Pool!]

  After Liam stared at the last few notifications he began to understand what that strange sensation was. Everyone around him were still trying to get his attention asking what was going on and why he had that strange look upon his face. However, he didn’t hear any of them and when he finally opened his mouth to say something, the only thing he could say was, “Huh. So that’s how you unlock those.”

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