Chapter Twenty Two - 022
While the wurms seemed taken aback for a moment, Felix checked his Health. He had lost nearly 10% from his landing and his left ankle twinged painfully, even through his resistance. Still, he smirked at the wurms as if he was fine and raised his fists up in what TV told him was a boxing stance.
New Skill Learned!
Acting (Common), Level 1!
You stand upon the stage, now make it yours. Convey emotions and intent with greater fidelity per Skill Level.
Then as if a switch flipped, all of them surged forward, their mouths open and glowing with an orange flare of light.
He went to work.
Fighting the Wurmlings was routine at this point, and maybe it was the higher levels in Unarmed Mastery and Dodge, but their attacks were predictable. Felix ducked serpentine strikes and wove between their armored bodies even as he laid about him with heavy slams and punches. In moments the skin on his knuckles burst open again, each stroke hitting heavy rock-like plating, but he didn't stop. He crushed the Wurmlings one after the other, even as his Stamina depleted faster and faster.
Heat Resistance is level 3!
Physical Conditioning is level 14!
The heat was excruciating down here. Those movies where the heroes fought above a pit of lava had it all wrong; they should have been cooked alive. The dry air pulled moisture from his body like a sponge, his sweat evaporating as fast as he produced it and his skin cracking as it dried, creating fissures up his fists that expanded slightly with every swing. More agony that he firmly pushed to the back of his mind. Now wasn't the time to be weak. These monsters wanted to fight?
Felix would show them his claws.
Six Wurmlings fell to his strikes, crumpled beneath his superior Strength, but then one of their older brothers joined the fight. A Yungling Wurm surfaced from beneath Felix, taking him by surprise and tossing him into the air. He landed nearly thirty feet away, only a stones throw from the open channel of lava at the end of the room. Felix stood quickly, unsure where the wurm was going to emerge. He could see the large group of them still milling over toward Pit's cage, but the Yungling that hit him was nowhere to be seen. Then he felt it. Rumbling beneath his feet.
Flexing his Manasight, he could see a torch-sized flare of orange Mana zip upwards through the dark earth. Felix rolled out of the way just as the Yungling Wurm breached the surface, it's large three foot diameter body crashing onto the ground like a hydraulic press. It left behind shattered stones wherever it traversed.
This is taking too long, Felix thought. He glanced back toward Pit, who was watching him with fierce eyes. I've gotta end this now.
As the Yungling barreled toward him along the surface, Felix summoned an Acid Stream, hoping to pour it down the wurm's throat. But a sudden burst of speed put the wurm too close too soon, and Felix had to abort the casting. But that didn't mean it wouldn't get hit. Grimacing against the pain, Felix gripped the half finished orb, splashing green acid all over his palm and fingers, and delivered a sharp right cross.
The wurm's skin crumpled like paper, it's head ricocheting off the ground like a ball.
New Skill Learned!
Corrosive Strike (Rare), Level 1!
Imbue your strikes with the power of acid, destroying their defenses even as you pummel them into submission.
Felix stared wide eyed at the notification.
You can do that?
Ideas began to flood his head and his fingers itched to find his journal so he could write them down.
The Yungling Wurm rolled woozily to it's belly, beginning to slither toward Felix. He dismissed the Skill notification and regarded the wurm. With an effort of Willpower, Felix released a concentrated blast of Tides of Vellus, knocking the ten foot long wurm to the side again. The monster was hurt, but it wasn't down for the count, not by a long shot. He quickly Analyzed it, checking it's Health.
Health: 344/899
Felix frowned. Then he did the only thing he could think of: he cast everything he had. Influence of the Wisp paused the wurm for a few seconds, giving him a chance to tie it up with Shadow Whip. A single thick tendril of darkness shot forth, wrapping itself tightly around the wurm. Holding it in place, Felix cast Tides of Vellus as fast as he could. Shock after shock after shock, the Yungling Wurm was rocked back by the kinetic force of the spell, and each time its movement was arrested by the Shadow Whip. Felix strained, his Mana draining rapidly even as his muscles screamed in protest. His strength was high, but this was dancing at the limit of his ability. After the tenth time casting Tides, he saw a kill notification come across his vision.
Shadow Whip is level 2!
...
Shadow Whip is level 6!
It was dead. Finally. But he had no time. In his struggle he hadn't realized that the other Wurmlings had surrounded him.
A Yungling Wurm Has Been Enthralled for 1 Second.
Influence of the Wisp is level 19!
Influence of the Wisp is level 20!
Most of the wurms stopped dead, and the few outside his range collided violently with their brethren, knocking both to the ground. But Felix was already running toward the nearest Yungling, pushing himself as fast as he could go. Just as the Wisplight began to fade from the first Yungling, Felix swung down with a Corrosive Strike, putting his entire body behind the blow.
The ground beneath them caved in, cracks racing outward and splitting the uneven stone. Unwilling to rely on chance, Felix swung three more blows, each as powerful as the last, until he noticed his hands were simply splashing in a gelatinous puddle of purple muck. Disgusted, he leaped from the depression he had made and turned to the rest of the wurms. He was covered in gore and bubbling green acid dripped from his fists.
Corrosive Strike is level 9!
"C'mon!" he roared, all of his anger and frustration and fear pouring out of his lungs. "We're not done yet!"
New Skill Learned!
Intimidation (Common), level 1!
They say honey catches more flies than vinegar, but you've found blood works just as well.
Felix blasted out Tides of Vellus, throwing the smaller Wurmlings back and killing a few of the nearer ones. He rushed forward, stomping on any wurms that got too close, and striking out at the rest. Corrosive Strike tore through their bodies like tissue paper, and even Acid Stream simply dissolved jagged holes into their carapaces. The last Yungling Wurm had retreated to the row of hanging cages, obviously smarter than the rest of its kin. As Felix dispatched the last Wurmling, he saw that the Yungling held up its whip like tail covered in bony protrusions and rock hard armor and poised it over the cages. Its meaning was immediately clear.
"Fuck you," Felix spat, holding up his left hand as shadows gathered in his palm. "I've got a whip too."
Felix snapped out his Shadow Whip just as the Yungling hissed and swung at the cages. Thankfully, his high Dexterity and Perception made the shot easier, and the Shadow Whip latched onto the wurm's tail. Felix pulled, his strength just enough to redirect the force of the swing, causing it to slam powerfully in the stone just ahead of the cages. Quickly re-gripping the strange shadow substance, Felix pulled hard and jumped forward at the same time.
Shadow Whip is level 7!
Rock dust billowed, driven on by the hot volcanic winds, but Felix didn't need eyes to see his enemy. Manasight made the wurm's position clear, and as he rocketed through the dust cloud, he already had a fist prepped for the opening maw of the beast. He swung, and the blow knocked the Yungling Wurm back a step, its serpentine body thrashing to keep upright even as Felix was knocked backward by the force of the collision.
He landed gracelessly on the rocky ground, tumbling a few times before he could get his feet under him. When he did, he looked up to see the Yungling Wurm only feet away from him, four-part maw opened and poised to swallow him whole. Felix threw up his arms, catching the top two jaw segments even as the bottom two sunk deep into his thigh and calf. Screaming in pain and terror, Felix pushed with every ounce of Strength he possessed, even as his blood poured down his legs and his head grew light. An orange light bloomed deep in the nightmare creature's tooth lined throat, flickering with a growing strength and heat.
"Not," he grunted, still pushing against the wurm's massive jaws. "Today," he shifted his legs, bracing himself against the ground below. "You...piece...of..shit!"
Tides of Vellus.
Tides of Vellus.
Tides of Vellus.
Felix spammed the spell three times, sending waves of concussive blasts directly down the wurm's throat. Teeth snapped and membranes ruptured, flooding the creature with putrescent purple blood. His Mana plummeted, the shaped and boosted spell costing far more than the vanilla version, and Felix's already light head began swimming. Despite that, he held his trembling arms up and pushed his feet down into the shattered stone beneath him, and he whispered.
"T-tides of Vellus..!"
The interior of the wurm swelled for a brief instant before it exploded in all directions, its insides becoming very purple, very messy outsides.
Blue lightning crackled around the impact site, the rest all darkened stone and sundered meat. Felix stood up on shaking legs, throwing a fist into the air even as purple offal and pulped flesh sloughed off his shoulders and chest. He oriented on the last remaining Yungling, positioned farther down the chamber, and pointed a suddenly steady finger at it.
"You're next."
The wurm went extremely still, then turned and dove into the stone wall.
It ran.
Intimidation is level 2!
Felix watched with his Manasight until it fled out of range, and only then did he collapse bonelessly onto the ground.
"This world sucks."
