Chrysalis

The slowly rotating vortex of death engulfed the Gigantic Croca.

Die! Die you overgrown hand bag!

Please?

The Gravity Bomb continues to suck in air, sticks and whatever else is unable to resist its immense pull. The power of the Gravity Bomb still shocks me to my core. When mana reaches a critical density, scary things start to happen and the Gravity Bomb is a pure example of that. However, I know that this is only half the spell I'd hoped it to be. Whatever property the Massive Croc had imbued into its flame it had eaten away at the mana packed in my spell, reducing its strength dramatically.

It's too hard to get a decent visual on the enemy with the spell still in effect. My pets and I dig in our heels to resist the insidious drag of the bomb and prepare ourselves for the moment the spell drops.

The next five seconds feel like an eternity. My heart pounds in my chest as I await the results of my spell.

The spell flickers for a moment and fades. For a brief moment I see the Beast, then the world is fire.

HOT!

The clever son of a Garralosh! The damned Croc sacrificed an arm to the spell! It must have sensed the density of the mana coming towards it and reached out to trigger the bomb before it could touch its torso!

The level of strength required to resist the pull at such a close range … is something I can't think about right now! It's too damn hot!

Flame erupts everywhere around me and I immediately fire off my three prepared gravity bolts and task my sub brains with cranking out a water construct on the double and I leg it! The three spells are reduced by the flame as they pass through but retain some of their power as they strike home against the crocs left leg.

This monster looks fairly damn strong but I'll take any advantage I can get at this point!

"Vibrant! Hit the thing but keep your distance!" I holler.

"Roger-Roger!" she cries as acid begins to fly at the Croc from behind its shoulder.

Yikes!

A torrent of flame continues to pour out of the beasts mouth. It's obviously a little annoyed but that friendly bomb I lobbed its way since the fire seems to follow me wherever I go.

Dash!

My legs blur as I activate my dash skill and begin to sprint in a zig zag moving away from the damn beast.

[Tiny! It's focused on me. Give it heaps!] I order.

"ROOOOOW!" Tiny bellows and thrusts both meaty hands forward at once.

CRACK!

Two twisting snakes of lightning blast forth from the apes hands and stab straight into the Croc's side! The electricity ripples across the beast and the smell of cooked flesh begins to fill the air.

"HURRR!" the Croc bellows and turns its blazing eyes towards this new target.

With a moment of reprieve I begin to spin together a few more gravity bolts and assess the situation. To my horror I can already see the arm that had been consumed by my pre-emptive strike is beginning to regrow. A bubbling lump of flesh had appeared where the arm connected to the shoulder, rapidly extending outwards.

I curse within my mind and launch another two Gravity Bolts at the Croc's left leg before turning more attention towards the water transformation construct. It's my only chance of being able to counteract the damn things flames!

Acid continues to fly out of the surrounding trees as Vibrant launches strikes from a distance. The Croc seems to content to simply shrug off those blows, even as the acid steams as it eats away at the scales on its back. Perhaps its confident it can regenerate the damage along with its arm? That doesn’t bode well!

[What about me Master? Should I strike?] Vibrant calls desperately from her hiding place.

[Absolutely not! You hear me? Don't come out until I give the word!] I cry.

I have to hold Crinis back until the critical moment when she can get close enough to apply her damage unscathed. The trick is getting the monster to that point!

[Tiny, JUMP!] I scream.

The Croc has opened its upper set of jaws this time and a crackling blue flame has begun licking the space between the Croc's teeth when I shout my warning to Tiny.

Too late.

Caught up in his bloodlust Tiny was too focused pouring every ounce of electrical energy he could into the Croc. Controlling the lightning from that sort of range was taxing on Tiny in the first place, combined with his intense focus it isn't any surprise he wasn't able to react in time.

The Croc darts its head forward and a focused torrent of blue flame spears through the air. The heat is intense. Even though the flame isn't directed at me I can feel a rush of searing air roll over me.

Tiny is almost quick enough. He cuts off the flow of lightning and leaps high, but one foot is caught in the narrow blast of flame and burned clean off.

"ARRRRRRRR" the giant ape bellows as he lands awkwardly, falling to one side and propping himself up on his hands.

I can see an evil glint in the Croc's eyes at it looks down on the ape. It takes a lazy step forward and opens its upper jaw once more, preparing to incinerate the largest of its foes.

Wrong move!

Forceful Water Cannon!

[Meditation has reached level 5]

[At this level a skill advancement may be purchased]

[Mediation-> Deep Mediation. cost 1 sp: Allows the user to further separate their emotions from their thoughts and for a longer period of time. A slight boost to mana sensitivity will take place whilst the skill is active]

Take it!

Outside the bubble of my thoughts my emotions are a roiling mess. Seeing Tiny injured has rocked me to my core and for the first time I wonder if we've gone it too deep. Have I been to confident? Too complacent?

I refuse to let my friends die!

As soon the Croc opens its mouth it cops a Water Cannon to the face. The dense beam of water slashes into the soft tissue of the creatures palate before it snaps its jaws shut and turns to glare at me once more. That's right you overgrown gecko. Leave my ape alone and come get some!

I maintain the forceful water cannon and shunt its control off to the sub brains. The little minds are on overdrive right now as they feed they transform the mana, condense it and maintain the cannon. Only under the effect of the mediation skill are they able to find this level of efficiency but this is the limit. If I push them this hard for too long the darn things will cook themselves.

I can feel them heating up now, within my body the temperature is spiking high around the spot where three little furnaces are generated tremendous heat.

The area around us is a sea of flame now. The red flame from the lower mouth may be able to eat mana but it still seems fairly good at setting fire to regular things too! Trees and plants, only moments before saturated with the abundant water of the marsh are now extra crispy and the trees are crackling as the flames consume them.

In only a few moments the enormous Croc has transformed this watery swamp into a raging inferno.

The blue flame is even more frightening. The devastation caused by it is less, since it was fired in such a narrow beam, but wherever it touched has simply been incinerated to nothing.

Well, let's see what we can't settle this fire at the least. I'd rather not have to fight surrounded by flame if I don't have to.

I make sure to keep the forceful water cannon playing over the Croc's face as it twists its head from left to right, trying to avoid the painful beam.

The creature seems quite capable of resisting the penetrating power of the spell unfortunately, the beam that is quite capable of ripping through Shadow Flesh like a laser is not able to do the same to those bright green scales. So long as I keep the torrent of water aimed at its face, it won't be able to open its mouths to unleash those terrifying flame breaths.

What's the play now Croc?

Rage burning in its eyes, the Croc steps towards me.