Elisa. Elisa. Elisa.
What would Elisa do?
Would she bet on me moving my aim towards the tentacles at the sides? If so, which tentacle? Right, or left? How should I know?
Inside the Forest Of Yarnha.
We had to choose.
I chose 'Right'.
She let me choose.
But I think... She would have gone 'Left'?
Then does this mean she will go 'Left'?
Me choosing 'Right' again would make sense.
No, that's not enough to bet on!
How does she do it?
How does she always know my next move?
How does she always act accordingly?
Is it her speed? Her Agility Stat? Her Sense Stat?
Does she react once I start moving?
That won't work! There's no time for that!
Think! Think!
What would Elisa do?
Click-
Mark contracted his arm muscles, and the amount of Mana between his palms increased even further.
'Trust my decision. Trust myself... Trust... The image of Elisa that's inside my mind!'
How does Elisa fight?
How does Elisa move?
How does she act?
I've seen it over and over again.
Use all those things to predict her next move.
Elisa likes running. She likes moving. She likes fighting.
No, she likes sparring. She likes playing tag.
She dislikes killing.
No matter the enemy, she dislikes killing it.
Aiming for their limbs, limiting their ability to move and attack, that's how Elisa fights.
To give me the opportunity to... No. To give them the opportunity to run away until the last moment.
'That's why I know you won't continue running in a straight line. At the speed you're going, at the speed those tentacles are approaching... I just need to hold it one second more. And then!'
The laser-like beam of intensely compressed flames was shot, aimed at Elisa's back as she got further and further away.
'The point where my attack, you, and the Monster's limbs meet. An instant before the three cross, you'll...'
The Princess swung her Timeworn Elven Daggers twice at the approaching tentacles before hopping off the ground with a cartwheel, allowing her to take footing on the tentacle on her left.
Mark's attack, now visible, the toad-like Monster moved its other tentacle to block. A hole was easily made through that tentacle.
'You'll run to get closer. Closer to its eyes...' The white-scaled Monster thought as it continued firing the beam. 'But we still don't know how many of these are around here. We don't know what it's hiding under the water either, so you'll stop and-'
After crossing little over half the distance separating her from the toad-like Monster, the Princess, with great dexterity, sheathed her Timeworn Elven Daggers and, without turning around, jumped back to dodge the tentacle's end that was approaching her back.
In less than a second and while remaining in the air after performing a graceful somersault, she aimed her Wind Arrow and pulled on the bowstring between her fingers.
'Tsk.' Mark clicked his tongue as the toad-like Monster opened its mouth.
The stream of compressed water collided with the beam of condensed flames.
Pshhhh-
A cloud of evaporated water immediately hid the area where both attacks met.
Mark could feel it though.
'Evenly matched...? No. The water is being evaporated. The meeting point is getting closer to it. Still...' His headache grew more intense as he tried to add more Mana into the attack while keeping it relatively stable and controllable. 'Will it run out of water before-'
The white-scaled Monster's eyelids rose slightly as it realized that the endurance match wasn't truly one.
Instantaneously, Elisa's feet landed and slid on the ground while the Wind Arrow she had shot collided with the side of the toad-like Monster's head.
The explosion due to the high quantity of wind being compressed didn't deal much damage to the Monster, as its body was covered by sturdy scales of a light sand color.
It didn't deal much damage to those scales, but the explosion forced the toad-like Monster to move its head.
And as its head moved, so did the stream of water, leaving Mark's attack free to close the distance.
Realizing the threat, the toad-like Monster tried to flee underwater, but the beam was too quick to allow that.
It collided with the upper portion of the Monster's mouth.
The compressed flames gnawed at and scorched the sturdy scales, leaving a vertical line of carved and charred flesh on the toad-like Monster's head as it lowered itself underwater.
But before it could hide completely,
Ice Spike-
Ice Spike-
Ice Spike-
Ice Spike-
The toad-like Monster's escape was stopped as the water around it started solidifying.
The Moonlit Feline raised its head up, and the Mana materialized.
The Freezing Spear above it rapidly cut through the air and moved towards the Monster's left eye.
Unable to escape underwater, the Monster raised its tentacles defensively.
The Freezing Spear collided and pierced its tentacle, and the latter started freezing rapidly.
The Frost moved up the tentacle until it reached both the water and the rest of the Monster's body.
Eventually, the beam of compressed flames pierced through the Monster's skull.
CROAK-
CROAK-
The Monster's anglerfish-like feelers started rising out of the water.
Elisa immediately jumped back as the 'women' at the extremities of those feelers appeared.
Now being able to see them more closely, their bodies seemed slimy and lacking in detail. It was as if they were being consumed, or had become part of the Monster's body.
Noticing that did make Elisa click her tongue.
She did not know whether that Monster was born that way or not, but the thought of those women having, once, been separate from it made her feel sick.
Luring them closer, consuming the males, keeping the females to lure the next victims...
Elisa wasn't sure that it was this way. Still, this was the border leading to Lust.
The women's voices cried out and screamed.
Elisa watched, feeling both sick and disgusted.
Eventually, the beam of Compressed Flames made its way through the Monster's head.
[You have defeated a Krishren!]
[You have earned 400 Experience Points!]
Mark stopped pumping Mana into the attack and let out a sigh.
The next second, both ground and water shook violently as a dozen Krishrens emerged, the women at the extremity of their feelers shouting in anger.
