CalCroissant
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1.41
🕑 Added 2024-07-16 00:47:33 +0000 UTCA/N: Surprise Monday chapters! And yes, that's chapters with s. I'm posting part 2 and 3 tonight. The (third) and last chapter of the week will be posted Wed or Thur, whenever it's ready (still being edited, it's a chonker compared to the usual chapters)
As always, thank you all for the support. Hope this makes your Mondays slightly better ( if they weren't good already )
1.41: The Goliath (Pt.2)
The taste of blood and bitter venom mixed in Henry’s mouth as he chewed his way to the Goliath kraken’s brain. Half of his Octominds were supporting him, keeping him focused on dealing damage, while the other half–aside from the limb carrying Maurice–allowed him to constantly channel his mana into Arcane Regeneration, especially when he got whacked enough to see stars.
He’d already blacked out. Once or twice. It wasn’t a good sign, but unlike the battle with the serpent, he wasn’t close to dying. His health never dropped below 50%, and he was still somewhat aware of his surroundings.
The Octominds were amazing. He could feel the arm carrying Maurice constantly re-adjusting. He could feel his attention on Arcane Regeneration, activating it whenever he got injured, and all of that freed him to focus on the task at hand.
Pump the kraken full of venom and eventually exhaust its mana reserves.
“Still, next time I’m working on a helmet-limb.”
Henry braced, seeing another attack coming at him and pushed more mana into Trickster’s Resilience. The slick coating shone for a moment, but the heavy and magically empowered limb of the Goliath was too much for it. The magic fizzled after only absorbing a fraction of the force impacting Henry.
The good thing was, all these hits were helping him dig deeper and faster into the kraken’s head. No matter how tough the damn thing’s flesh was.
Henry kept the venom pumping and his intense focus. He almost triggered Pyroclastic Ink but stopped himself.
Maurice was too close. And Henry didn’t know how far the attack would extend. It might hurt him as well.
“Draining Bite… Not yet. But everything else… yeah.”
Bite of the Echo Seal. Bite of the Riptide Shark. More venom.
Ghostly jaws gnashed on the kraken’s tough hide and it screeched. When another glowing attack came for him, Henry triggered the Scale of the Sea Serpent.
A glowing, emerald-scaled pattern appeared on his skin and coupled with a new instance of Slick Coat. He looked like a snake, and for the first time since this bout had started–however long that was–Henry took a hit and barely felt it.
“[Henry?]”
His own mana was getting low, and Draining Touch wasn’t efficient enough. Not yet. But he could feel the kraken’s healing slow. It took it more time to close up the ruined flesh Henry’s beak had left. A second or two more to neutralize the neurotoxic venom.
They were getting there. Henry bit hard, enough to feel his beak growing sore. “I just need something more… More than a beak. Something stronger than a tentacle. Something with joints…”
If he’d had his own body, this would be much easier. He’d have to be larger, of course. And armed. With a knife. Or a trident.
Henry would have grinned at that image. “That’d be a sight.”
Henry broke out of his reverie when the kraken tried to grab him again, then braced for the reaching limb. It wasn’t too worrying. He just needed to make sure he had Slick Coat on. Even though the monster’s strength was tremendous, it just couldn’t constrict that well.
It could pull, though.
Henry latched with all his might as the Goliath tried to pull him off. In response, Henry released one arm and used to cut into the monster’s eyes.
That was enough of a distraction. The Goliath stopped trying to pull him off and cracked him again with an armored arm–and Henry opened his eyes again.
“[Henry! Can you hear me?]”
Henry continued his assault, and his eyes turned to Maurice. “[Sorry. I’m alright. Are you okay?]”
Maurice stared back. The arm holding him pulled back as another attack came from the kraken. “[I don’t think you’re alright. You weren’t hearing me. But yes, I’m okay. Are you sure you don’t need me to help?]”
Henry looked down at the monster he was slowly chipping at. The defensive magic borrowed from the serpent was still going, and it was surprisingly effective. He should really consider keeping it permanently.
Well. Next time he encountered a serpent, he’d think about it.
“[Sorry. Got too absorbed for a moment. Yes, please. Help me. Aim at its eyes. It might try to run–and I think that might be soon. But don’t ignore the clones.]”
“[There’s only one left. I got the second.]”
Henry’s eyes widened. “[Good job. Alright, hold on for a second.]”
Henry tore deeper into the tough flesh and pumped some more venom, then leaned back and triggered Pyroclastic Ink.
A cloud of gray and black surged out of his siphon, and Henry grit his teeth from the heat. Three defensive layers and Living Furnace were barely enough to stop the inferno that surged at the monster from burning his own flesh.
The Goliath roared in pain as its envenomed flesh seared and scarred. It lashed out, trying to hit anything, which was when Henry turned to Maurice before unleashing everything he had again.
“[Pop its eyes!]”
Maurice and Henry burned through their mana. Razor Limbs. Implosions. Venom. Henry even shapeshifted a limb into a lance-like bone and tried to impale the kraken. When his mana got low, he used Draining Bite. His reserves surged with mana, while the kraken’s was getting lower by the second.
Through Mana-Sight, Henry saw greenish light begin to flow toward the kraken’s many injuries. Considering his decently renewed mana reserves, he decided to splurge.
Henry moved Maurice away and used the Dispelling Bubble. The green lights of the kraken’s healing were snuffed out, and it roared in anger.
The water churned around them. The limbs of the monster were breaking over the surface, sending water up in sprouts and waves. At some point, Henry was pretty sure he himself was above water, but he could only focus on dealing damage. Eventually, the kraken’s resolve broke.
It began slinking toward the ledge that led down to the Trickster’s den.
“[Keep hitting its eyes!]”
Both Henry and Maurice tried, but the damn thing kept healing them as fast as they ruined them; and even when blinded, it kept going in the right direction.
Henry cursed. Was it the clone? Could it guide it? Is that why it was still invisible?
The duo scrambled. They tried to pull the kraken away, hit the eyes, shove another spike into its brain–which only made it stutter for a couple of seconds before it healed around the foreign object. But as the ledge approached, Henry had an idea.
There was no time to think it through, so he went for it.
Maurice’s Telepathic Sense pushed around as he imploded the kraken’s eyes again. It was fun. Well it would be, if they weren’t hanging on for dear life. And if it wasn’t for the other clone around.
Maurice could feel its frustration. Its mood shifted from anger, to outrage, to calculating. He knew it had something in store, but he couldn’t get a bead on it.
It knew he was looking for it, so it kept moving.
Maurice popped the eyes again as they regrew. He kinda wanted to taste them, but the arm carrying him kept moving, and now wasn’t the time to waste mana on Telekinesis. Their prey was trying to run.
To be honest, Maurice had been worried at first. He was still worried, in fact, but things seemed to be going well. Especially now that Henry wasn’t getting knocked out every few minutes.
Maurice didn’t know much, but that didn’t seem like a healthy way of doing things. He would have run already if he’d been hit that hard.
He popped the kraken’s eyes again and tried to push it down with an Arcane Pincer, but Maurice’s ability gave as much resistance as the kelp stalks around.
“We have to stop it…”
He still had enough mana, thanks to the Traits he’d gotten from Henry, but still. He had to be smart. And efficient. And–oh?
Mana flared out of Henry, quickly followed by a cloud of Ink. When the smoke-screen dissipated, Maurice saw the cliff he’d been looking at. But he was pretty sure it wasn’t where it had been moments ago.
“[Ooooh! Good idea!]”
“[Thanks….I think the clone might be helping this one. Keep it busy.]”
Henry’s voice seemed faint. Maurice remembered the illusions taking a lot of mana out of the kraken–or was it human? Maybe Maurice should ask about that.
In any case. Illusions were expensive. And what Henry just did must have taken a tremendous amount of mana. And effort.
Actually, that seemed too much for a new ability. How did he go from summoning birds to changing the scenery?
Above him, Maurice could feel the clone’s confusion and felt it pause in the same spot. The crab immediately titled his head up and sent a spray of bubbles, but they didn’t hit. The clone had noticed his attack and moved.
He clacked a pincer in annoyance.
The kraken slinked toward the cliff, and a sense of alarm came from the clone. The kraken froze, looking around in confusion, and then–
The clone appeared.
It hovered to their right, and below him, Henry cursed. “[It’s showing him the right direction.]”
Maurice hummed. “[Can you make it invisible?]”
Henry paused under him. “[I don’t think it works like that… The clone could just move out of the way and it’ll be visible. And I don’t think I have another big illusion in me.]”
Maurice eyed the clone, recalling how it had tried to eat him barely a day or two ago.
“[Can you get me near it?]”
Henry shoved a spike of bone into the kraken’s brain and continued tearing into it, but his eyes turned to Maurice. “[If I let go of the kraken, we might not be able to catch it again.]”
Maurice pointed at the clone with a pincer. “[If we don’t get rid of it, we’ll lose. It can just show the Goliath the way home, and we’ll be forced to let go then. Right?]”
Henry took in the words and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were on the clone. “[You’re right.”]
Maurice liked hearing that.
[“We’ll do this quickly. We kill the clone and finish up the Goliath. On 3… 2… 1… Go!]”
Henry’s limbs let go of the kraken and surged toward the clone, and Maurice raised both pincers in anticipation. He couldn’t say if he was laughing or screaming, but he knew he’d never felt this way before, and that he might never be able to live without it.
The sense of adventure.
