Chapter 26: Shattered Teeth and Rainbow Light
[Glimmerfang defeated.]
[You have gained 49 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have earned 38 survival points.]
Sarah swung her wrench at a Glimmerfang that tried to dart past Reidar’s defensive line. Her aim was poor, but the heavy tool clipped the beast’s shoulder and sent it stumbling sideways into the path of an Aqua Sprite’s water blast.
"I did it!" she said, surprised by her own actions.
"Good. Keep fighting!" Reidar encouraged while firing a Stone Bullet at the lead Glimmerfang. The projectile struck its crystalline horn, shattering the growth and earning another pained howl.
[Your Stone Bullet strikes Glimmerfang for 67 bludgeoning damage.]
[Arcane Leech effect triggered. 16.75 damage points converted into mana.]
[Glimmerfang defeated.]
[You have gained 69 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have earned 56 Survival Points.]
It didn’t take much for Reidar to kill most of the Glimmerfangs. The remaining three seemed to be having trouble at that point, especially after they lost what looked to have been their pack leader, but they didn’t show signs of wanting to retreat.
<How peculiar.>
Reidar couldn’t tell if something was pushing them from behind or if killing was just in their nature, but either way, they weren’t acting normal. Most animals would’ve run off by now after seeing so many of their pack go down.
These were monsters, it was true, but this behavior was illogical. Even viruses and bacteria had survival instincts—why did these things not?
<While they look like wolves, they aren’t as smart as them.>
Mike tried to help by swinging his crowbar at one of the creatures, but his inexperience showed. The Glimmerfang dodged the clumsy attack and lunged, aiming for Mike’s arm.
Reidar’s Wind Sprite intercepted the attack, taking the bite across its torso. The summoned creature’s shell cracked, and several crystal fragments were planted in its body, but it had prevented Mike from serious injury.
[Summoned Wind Rift-Sprite has been defeated.]
Reidar kept having to summon his creatures again and again. It wasn’t a problem with mana thanks to the leech effect, but it left him open to attack.
"Mike, stay back."
The burning Glimmerfang finally went down to its injuries, collapsing in a heap of charred fur and shattered crystal. Its death throes sent rainbow light patterns dancing across the forest floor as its crystalline teeth caught the sunlight one last time.
[Glimmerfang defeated.]
[You have gained 64 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have earned 47 Survival Points.]
...
...
...
[Your Wind Blade strikes Glimmerfang for 112 wind damage.]
[Arcane Leech effect triggered. 28 damage points converted into mana.]
[Glimmerfang defeated.]
[You have gained 59 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have earned 45 survival points.]
[LEVEL UP. You have reached level 14.]
[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]
The last Glimmerfang found itself alone and outnumbered. It backed away slowly, growling low in its throat, but seemed unwilling to continue the fight without its pack’s support.
Reidar’s remaining summons closed in from multiple directions. The creature tried to use its Dazzling Howl skill one more time, releasing a brilliant flash of light that temporarily blinded everyone present.
In the moment of confusion, the Glimmerfang sought to flee. But Reidar had anticipated this. Even with spots dancing in his vision, he cast a Stone Bullet in the direction he’d last seen the creature.
The projectile found its mark, striking the fleeing beast in the back legs and sending it tumbling to the ground. His Ember Sprite followed up with a fireball that ended the fight once and for all.
[Your Stone Bullet strikes Glimmerfang for 58 bludgeoning damage.]
[Summoned Ember Rift-Sprite strikes Glimmerfang for 73 Fire Damage.]
[Arcane Leech effect triggered. 14.5 damage points converted into mana.]
[Glimmerfang defeated.]
[You have gained 62 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]
[You have earned 50 survival points.]
Silence fell over the forest again. All the group could hear was everyone catching their breath and the soft crackle of flames where Reidar’s spells had set the undergrowth on fire.
"Is everyone okay?" Reidar asked, looking around.
Mike checked a shallow scratch on his arm where a crystal fragment had grazed him. Sarah was shaking but was otherwise uninjured. Linda, Margaret, and George all appeared to be in good condition too.
Frank stared at his tire iron, which now had several crystalline teeth embedded in its surface. "I can’t believe I actually fought one of those things."
"You all did great," Reidar told them. "Honestly, better than I expected—especially against monsters like that. My first time fighting Rift-Sprites wasn’t nearly this rough."
It was worse, but it was better to keep some things for himself.
"Are all the monsters like this?" George asked.
"Not at all, they were unusual..."
Reidar had two big worries, though. First, those monsters were far too dangerous for being common ones—and at a lower level than him at that. He was pretty sure that if they’d been at his level, he wouldn’t have made it out alive.
The second thing that worried him was how the monsters didn’t instantly die from his and the summons’ spells.
He assumed it was because either he didn’t have a spell or an element that directly countered their resistances or because they had some kind of magic resistance stat he knew nothing about.
Regardless, that meant that he would not be able to rely on magic every single time and that he would need to find a way to also fight with physical weapons or at least to get spells that would make fighting this kind of monster easier.
<Or get summons who could fight melee...>
He sighed.
<Unfortunately, there are not enough monsters for me to get skills out of them, so I can only think about this when I see a vendor.>
Margaret pointed at the crystal bits scattered around the fight, snapping Reidar out of his thoughts. "Are these worth anything? Should we grab them?"
"Good thinking," Reidar said. "Monster parts should have some kind of crafting value, but I think only Vendors will be able to tell us how to use them."
"Why didn’t we get a quest?" Mike asked. Everyone turned to look at him. "In all games I played, when monsters like these attacked, players usually got quests, but we got nothing."