NOVEL NEXT 2.34: Experimentation
Curiously, after spending the first few minutes floating about the harsh environment, Ethan realized it was slowly growing on him. Sure, he had to keep his mouth closed and keep the spellform that changed his eyes going, but other than his mouth and eyes, he could barely feel the burn. His scales were almost pulling on the heat of the environment, and it was as if he was soaking in a comfortable, hot tub. He hadn't done a lot of that as he rarely has had the time, but his old gym did have a modest—but still clean—spa corner with a sauna and therapeutic pool.
I wonder if this is just me or if it's something related to the fire affinity of the Draconic spellforms, he mused as he floated around, observing the slugs. The creatures were generally content to crawl about, leaving molten trails behind them. Unless he flew lower, that is, at which point they reared back and just spewed literal lava at him. Which meant he was going to test his scales' resilience against lava before he dared fight them from up close.
While he flew and looked for an empty spot, Ethan switched his affinity to water to test his theory and he immediately grimaced as the heat grew slightly unpleasant. But it hadn't become painful. If he were to put words to it, his scales, claws, and wings had suddenly grown… grouchy. As if they'd prefer to have some water around than this. It didn't mean that the heat would hurt them, though.
"Interesting", Ethan mumbled as he found an isolated spot near the edge and switched the affinity back to fire. There might be a mild difference in the resistance to the environment, and maybe even benefits. Though that'd likely take more than a few hours to figure out.
Warily, Ethan landed on the hot, crunchy black soil. Slowly, he stepped forward toward the glowing liquid, a [Crystal Dart] ready to shoot out of his claws as he approached the edge of the platform but already, he could feel the limit of his scales. The heat was quickly going from comfortable, to very uncomfortable to painful, and he was still a few yards away from the bubbling, swirling molten rock.
Seeing the large bubble forming near him, Ethan hopped back and away, wings beating as they carried him back up in the air right as one of the slugs burst out of the lava, surprisingly quick, but Ethan was already high up.
So that rules out close-ranged fighting, he thought as he got started on the concussive fireballs. His horns lit up as the orbs floated above his brow and in the meantime, he pointed a hand and shot the crystalline dart toward the slug. The piece of mineral hit the glowing flesh and just… melted away.
Ethan clicked his tongue. "No melee, no crystals. Concussive blasts, then. If that's out, I might need to get the water hose."
Though he said that, he felt a simple [Water Jet] might honestly not be enough. It might be completely vaporized before it reached the slug's flesh. He'd have to switch affinities and probably would need to get familiar with the damn spell and upgrade in the span of hours. It might not be too hard considering he had a little experience with all that and it being tier-1, but still.
I could increase the volume, pressurize it, drown the whole space…
There were options. But for now, he just continued channeling mana into his modified fireballs, pulling back on the fire and heat and focusing instead on the force of the explosion as he scanned for his first target. Eying the one that had just tried to ambush him, he gave the fireballs a couple more seconds then sent one of them down at the still peeved slug.
The orb of pale yellow zipped down and hit the slug. There was a flash of light and crack so loud it might have been thunder, and when Ethan's eyes blinked away the light in his eyes, he saw what remained of the slug as the giant iceberg-like platform tilted back into the lava until it was flush once more.
The slug was not dead. But it had, for a lack of a better word, exploded all over the place. Chunks and globs of lava-like flesh covered the platform and as Ethan lowered himself toward, he saw what he could only describe as the main body of the slug. It was longer than he expected, but thin. It was of a darker red and now it squirmed and twisted, though it didn't look too hurt.
Huh. Maybe I don't need to go that hard on the explosions so I don't mess up the platforms. But fires and explosions are not enough to kill this thing, he thought as he plucked out [Whisper], and [Acid Orb] out of his Arcanum of Forms. The latter he removed just because he'd prefer not to have the acid boil and smoke while he still had to send so much time out here. Then he replaced the two spells with [Enlarged][Water Jet] and as he scanned for [Arc of Force], he found already slotted in the Prime Arcanum.
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Alright, let's test that one first.
An arc of gray force slammed into the back of the main body of the slug, but it only let out a bubbling wail and suddenly picked up speed. It didn't look like it'd done too much damage either, and now the creature was inching toward the lava.
Floating after it, Ethan then pointed a claw down and foot-wide stream of water shot out, instantly sending up steam and vapor as its edges bubbled away, but it did touch the lava slug, and the creature most certainly didn't like it though the arcing bolts of pale blue electricity might have had something to do with it, considering both [Enlarge] and [Electrified] were being applied to [Water Jet].
Ethan couldn't hear it as it had been submerged, but he could see its glow immediately dim as the water cooled it off. Its movement slowed in the next few seconds, and then it just… stopped.
You have defeated [Slavug - Level 68 (I)]
Rift challenge: Cull the Slavug population (1/30)
"Alright, then. I just need to do that 29 more times. But I should make things a little more interesting…" he mused as he scratched the scales under his chin. A smile stretched across his lips as he eyed the remaining slugs and smiled. "Let's get to work, then."
Over the next few hours, Ethan played around with his spells and tested a few more things. His flames, no matter how much he concentrated them or how much mana he burned into them were just useless against the slugs, which made sense, considering their composition. And though they certainly disliked explosions, considering the concussive fireballs were very effective at shunting away the layers of protective tissues, it didn't seem fatal to them. Given enough time, they would just dip back into the lava and basically disappear. To bulk up again, he assumed.
But water was effective. Not that effective when they had their thick layers, but when their main body was exposed, water did wonders. Even without it being electrified, though the modifier helped quicken the creature's demise. So after a handful of downed Slavugs, Ethan got comfortable with the process.
Start with a concussive fireball, which he had the chance to practice a bit better, then follow it up with a [Water Jet] and slowly but surely, his proficiency with the spell grew as he cast it over and over. He began by narrowing the spell's output to pressurize the water further and even went as far as removing [Enlarge] so it wouldn't foul him. He continued trying to pressurize it enough to punch through the protective coating of the monsters, but it was harder than it looked. By the time he managed to down twenty of the things, he still couldn't kill them with just a [Water Jet]. But he knew he was close.
"I need to make it thinner. More water at once," he said as he slotted [Enlarge] back into the Arcanum. "The coating is too heavy… too hot," he grumbled as condensed water beaded down his scales. Ethan hummed as he opened and closed his hand as he cut off the twenty first monster's path as it squirmed toward the lava. Extending a finger, he frowned, the spell on the tip of his finger. But he refused to let it go. He kept narrowing it down, forcing the enlarged spell to come out of a tighter exit point. He continued building up the pressure, and when his angle was right, he pushed more mana until the pressure in his soul made him bare his teeth, then he let it go.
A finger-thin jet of pressurized water punched straight through the slug's head, sending smoke and shards of cooled-off rocks geysering back. Steam billowed out of the wound as the slug trembled, and then it flopped down, its coating spread out around it, as if it had lost control over it.
You have defeated [Slavug - Level 64]
Ethan grinned, opening and closing his hand as he felt the soreness of pressurizing the spell fade. "I wonder if I can pressurize fire this much," he mused as he flew back up in the air and scanned for more slugs, just as a notification came through.
Congratulations. Pressurized Stream (Tier-2) can be learned.
Ethan chuckled as he flew toward his next target. "I guess I just needed to play with something other than fire for once."