I sat on a nearby rock, wishing I’d gone for the bird instead. At least that would’ve been fun.

  The skyscraper-sized monster rolled around in the lava, blowing bubbles.

  “WindUp,” I called.

  {Affected stat Grind/Crapshoveler : Shovel affinity}

  [9:56:00]

  It’d been six hours since I last checked? No wonder I felt tired.

  “Alright big guy!” I shouted, summoning fields behind me. “It’s getting pretty late and I’m sick of fighting monsters, so why don’t we make this quick?”

  The Beastmuncher rolled his eyes.

  Of course, he was forgetting several very important details.

  “Radiant echo.”

  The screen popped up in front of me.

  {Radiant Echo}

  [Each attack increases the potency of all transcend damage by spending ten times mana expended over maximum mana.]

  [This resets twenty four hours after the first usage of mana.]

  [Current effect : 18.3]

  [Time until reset : 15:02:00]

  My ability damage was converted into transcendent damage, which was then turned into true damage with a combined damage multiplication of three hundred sixty five, for—after a little head math—six hundred eighty six damage multiplication.

  I hurtled a thousand-mana yellow orb into the monster’s face.

  The monster’s skin pulled away, creating a tunnel straight through his head for the orb to pass through, ineffectively striking the wall on the other side.

  That was going to be a problem.

  Although I’d never met a Beastmuncher, I could reasonably assume their skin didn’t normally split apart to let attacks through, meaning this was likely a more sophisticated form of literal self-control.

  I could only hope it took conscious effort. In that case, I just had to fire more orbs than the monster could process.

  Either way, it was an unsettling thought. This monster was more intelligent than the monster before him. He had to be.

  So when I killed him, I had to be really, really sure he died.

  I created one ten-mana orb of each color with just a little mental energy, throwing them at the monster. Each of them passed through, spinning around, and snapping back.

  Except for the grey orb, which moved so slowly through the air that Riot caused it to detonate before contact. When I managed to make a yellow and grey orb—split down the middle to get yellow speed and grey properties—it passed just like all the others.

  Out of all the orbs, the green ones had the most volatile detonation, forcing a huge section of the nightmare to snap back to avoid damage.

  So I made a hundred and twelve green orbs, launched at every angle.

  The monster glanced over one shoulder.

  He smirked.

  Everything just passed through.

  “Yeah yeah,” I grunted. “I’m not done yet.”

  What else could I do?

  I sat on the ground and started to think.

  If nightmares took damage like slimes, physical force wouldn’t do anything—not that I would’ve been strong enough to land hits anyway. I’d adjusted to Xoiae’s bands a little, allowing a little mental energy, but not nearly enough to weaponize my aura, let alone fight purely with mental force.

  If I could somehow remove the bands, and if the training was working way, way better than I could’ve ever expected, maybe then that would be an option. I poked the steel bracelet, feeling my skin stuck to the underside like glue.

  Unfortunately, in the event those were somehow broken, I still had two other bands around my ankles.

  That left me back at manifested energy.

  I created a mixed green and yellow, blasting it into the monster’s chest and detonating inside.

  His chest hollowed out in a sphere, snapping back to place. I threw another green and yellow moments before the puncture sealed again.

  The nightmare’s body just dodged again, before snapping into place.

  “How is that balanced?” I grumbled to no one in particular. “It’s an ability that dodges everything without any apparent cooldown, cost, or weakness.”

  In order for slimes to ignore physical damage, they have no durability and virtually no movement. Even then, though they wouldn’t take physical damage, if you hit them hard enough, big slimes could be broken into smaller ones.

  There had to be something.

  I created a red orb, loading it with steadily more anger until it burst into flame, rocketing toward the nightmare with a fiery streak.

  This one hit the nightmare dead on.

  {Ability type : Absorption}

  [Transcendent damage has been consumed.]

  [Beastmuncher Nightmare : +(10m) 343m Hp]

  The monster made a sound like laughter, clutching his stomach.

  Think.

  THINK!

  If this monster can absorb things, only grey orbs would work. They absorb to deal damage, so there’s nothing to absorb until it explodes, which produces true damage that can’t be absorbed.

  But the grey orb has to hit! How can I make any projectile actually hit this thing? This monster can just manipulate its body to dodge everything—

  I—

  Hang on.

  The monster has a fluid body that moves to avoid attacks.

  What’s the disadvantage of a fluid body?

  I sat and watched.

  The nightmare picked at his teeth. Other than teeth, the rest of the monster’s body was all nightmare membrane, basically black slime.

  As the monster shifted, my eyes snapped wide open. Bits of itself were catching on the lava.

  I fired a small projectile toward one, causing it to leap back into the main body.

  In order to dodge attacks, the nightmare manipulates his body. That requires his body to be incredibly flexible, even beyond what slimes can do.

  There’s something similar in people. On earth, some people are double jointed, allowing a greater freedom of movement. But that flexibility also makes a joint more fragile.

  I could work this.

  While I didn’t know all the purple combinations, I knew enough.

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  Weeping purple and mortal red, or just an implosive burst.

  It shot through the nightmare, then exploded.

  The nightmare’s membrane enveloped the orb.

  {Ability type : Absorption}

  [Transcendent damage has been consumed.]

  [Beastmuncher Nightmare : +(10m) 353m Hp]

  The Beastmuncher flinched, rolling toward me, as if to double check what had happened.

  Although it could absorb my attacks, it hadn’t meant to do it that time, and it definitely hadn't flung itself at the projectile.

  I’d figured it out.

  The nightmare settled back into the lava, trying to ignore me.

  I fired my entire bar of mana, throwing myself backward, forming a crater in the wall. Car-sized beams of energy formed a massive purple ball, glowing brighter than the lava below, crashing into the monster.

  The Nightmare was already on its feet, jumping away. But it was too late.

  The purple detonated, dragging the nightmare into the dark gray core nestled within, flaring orange.

  If the monster wouldn’t let my attacks hit it, I’d bring it to my attacks.

  I covered my eyes from the scalding light.

  The nightmare howled in agony, as half its body straight-up vaporized.

  {Beastmuncher : (-313.8m) 39.2m Hp}

  The entire blast hit like a train, throwing the monster back, blowing the roof off the cave system, splitting layers and layers of rock. I went flying, landing with a dull thud who knows where.

  [Beastmuncher Nightmare has been dealt [True Damage]]

  [This unit has lost 313 instances of [Health] [Strength], [Durability], [Endurance], [Potency], and other statistics.]

  “HA!” I took a shaky step forward. “You should’ve taken this fight seriously!”

  {Beastmuncher has been executed by damage source [True ]}

  Golden light enveloped the monster’s entire body, tossing him backward into the melted cavern. By the time the monster landed, the corpse was bubbling and separating, like boiling oil and water.

  I dusted off my hands. “Well. That wasn’t so bad.”

  {Beastmuncher has entered second form}

  The corpse solidified into bone.

  “Uh.”

  I took a step away from the crater.

  “Crap.”

  The Beastmuncher howled, tearing from from the pool, growing enormous claws and crawling up the cavern.

  {Beastmuncher Nightmare : (+700m) 700m Hp + (100m) 100m Str}

  ~

  {Mana : (+3) 3k}

  I ran for my life, detonating green beneath my feet, shooting like a rocket into the sky, where I smacked into something gross and squishy.

  “Gack.” I wiped my face, looking up.

  The other nightmare turned around to look at me.

  I was currently on the neck of the Aviator Nightmare.

  A dot of brown shot from the ground, grabbing me by the waist and tossing the two of us off the bird seconds before it burst into million meter-high needles.

  “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” She screamed in my ear.

  “I BEAT THE MONSTER!” I snapped back. “YOU’RE WELCOME!”

  The Beastmuncher grabbed the ground, sprouting massive muscles over its bone legs. It jumped about a half-mile into the air, landing on the bird like it was riding a surfboard. The bird didn’t really seem to mind.

  The beastmuncher grew a sword the size of a skyscraper from its shoulder, tearing it off with a chalky snap.

  “We need to get out of here,” I hissed.

  “We can run once we land!” Ardenidi barked. “I’ll make a cushion for our fall.”

  Since I had basically no mana, my percentage-based regeneration worked wonders, allowing me to create a decently sized green orb tethered to our feet.

  I grit my teeth. “Sorry but there’s no time! Drop your health!”

  Ardenidi stopped her ability. “What?”

  “Drop your health and hold on tight!”

  //Grind 100 Hp//

  ~

  //Ardenidi 100 Hp//

  We flew, skimming inches from the path of a stupidly long sword, hissing through the air like a bullet. Ardenidi created a mushroom on the hillside to absorb our fall, where we crashed, tossed to the ground with a thud.

  “A-r-Ardenidi…” I choked, turning purple.

  Ardenidi removed her clenched hands from around my neck. “Sorry. You told me to hold on.”

  The bird landed in the flat area that had once been the city, chirping with the Beastmuncher.

  We had a mile of distance between us, and we must’ve moved too fast for the monsters to realize we’d escaped.

  My entire body burned and my breath was sitting heavy in my chest. I hadn’t gotten hit, so only one could be happening.

  I was getting tired.

  But I wasn’t done just yet.

  I forced myself to stand, taking deep breaths.

  “At least we’re safe for now,” I muttered.

  “Don’t jinx it.”

  Both monsters whipped in our direction.

  Ardenidi groaned. “See?”

  “How is that supposed to be my fault?!”

  And then, a little speck jumped up from the ground, nailing the beastmuncher in the face.

  Chunks feel from its bone hide, dusting the sand like snow. Or glitter. The wreckage of the city blew out in waves, almost like a rolling storm, raining down past the horizon.

  Catania’s voice crackled through my earpiece.

  “Looks like you guys could use a hand.”

  I swallowed hard, unable to think of anything particularly witty. “Where’ve you been?”

  “Leveling. Oh, by the way, a certain member of our party finally made himself useful.”

  The Beastmuncher bashed against her, bouncing off like straw against iron. Catania picked her up, and pounded him into the ground, flattening several acres in an instant.

  {Beastmuncher : (-100m) 600m}

  I choked.

  “She’s not normally that strong, right?” Ardenidi whispered.

  I continued choking.

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  The Aviator floundered in surprise as an enormous web nailed it to the ground.

  {Toya : Counter : Expended}

  ~

  {Catania : Guard + Counter: Expended}

  [Guard : Block one attack.]

  [Counter : Increase strength of next attack by force of next landing attack]

  She grabbed another potion from her inventory, popping the cork.

  “Potions?” I asked. My eyes shot wide. “Do they have—”

  A blue vial flew through the air, smacking me against the head.

  “Whoops,” Sip grunted. He walked up behind us, picking up the potion and dusting it off. “Sorry man. Why didn’t you catch that?”

  I started smiling. “You’ve sure missed a lot.”

  “What are you doing!?” Ardenidi shouted, grabbing Sip by the collar. “That’s a full restore Mana potion! Those are worth more than most houses! You can’t go throwing it around!”

  “Listen lady, I have twelve of those.”

  She just looked at him.

  “...Twelve?”

  He nodded.

  “And how did you get twelve potions worth more than most houses?” I asked.

  “Looting. Buildings, that is. Not monsters. I was way too scared to fight any of those.”

  He just looked at me without the slightest ounce of remorse.

  Ardenidi held her head. “Grind? Please don’t tell me this clown is seriously a member of your team.”

  “They were all free!” Sip protested. “Well, realistically speaking, anyway.”

  I turned over the vial in my hands. “So, while everyone else was valiantly fighting the monsters infesting the city, you were breaking into stores and taking all the potions.”

  “Ahh…” Sip swallowed. “Yes.”

  I gave him a pat on the back. “Good work.”

  He puffed out his chest. “Well, we’re all just doing the best we can. That’s all you need, isn’t it?”

  “This is unbelievable," Ardenidi muttered.

  “Their owners are probably dead, so I don’t think they’d mind.” I popped the potion’s cork, bracing against the uncontrollable energy in my veins, crackling like wildfire.

  {Mana : (+860k) 860k}

  We might have a chance.

  We might actually have a chance.

  Sip squinted into the distance.

  “Hey where’d the third one come from?”

  // {Notice} //

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