Chương 18: 1.1.18 - Wooper Whoopin (1)

The air was cool and crisp, not nearly cold enough to make me shiver but still having that cool dry air of winter. There was a bead of sweat rolling down the side of my face despite the cool air as I approached the cave. It was unlikely that the cave would be empty this far into the forest, but one could always hope. I had to take note to avoid any puddles of thawing snow as I approached to make sure I was silent and not accidentally alert any potential beasts.

There was a good chance that the beast would be Yellow. I would not be able to tell the core grade immediately but beasts generally grew in size along with their grade. Yellow cored beasts could be the size of a fully grown human or larger, depending on the species and their habitat. If it went according to plan, I should be able to detect if there was a beast lurking in the cave and its size. If it was too large, it was more likely that its core would be Yellow than Orange.

In that case, I would have to give up, turn back, and start from the other side of the river the next day. There would be no point exploring further in as the beasts only got stronger the deeper into the forest I went. I could not help but gulp down my saliva as I approached the cave entrance. The cave was by the river, not close enough for a high season to drown it but not that far that it remained completely dry. While the cave mouth was a little low for an adult, I could enter by crouching slightly.

It was set in a low rocky fold of grey stone, partially covered by hanging roots and fern sitting on top of the cave. This was exactly the kind of secluded and secure type of location I would need for my experiments. I kept Electro Perception on the maximum as I walked closer. Once I got close enough such that the range of my spell should cover most of the interior of the cave, I stopped and swept the interior with my eyes, looking for any signs of a living beast.

While I had not encountered any non-organic creature in this world yet, I read enough fantasy books in my life to not entirely dismiss non-traditional creatures such as elementals or any other creatures I could not understand and that fall outside the detection of my spell. I looked through carefully and almost sighed in relief when I thought the cave was empty. Either it was uninhabited or the occupant was out looking for food.

Before I could relax, I noticed there was some unfamiliar liquid that did not really look like water but more like slime, smeared along the path from the cave towards the direction of the river. I stopped in my tracks and studied the slime, tracing the path of residual slime. A realization dawned on me as I quickly scanned the path towards the river, and just in time, as I saw a lumbering figure within the river lunging towards me.

Whatever it was probably realized that its jig was up and decided it was time to attack. I activated my preconfigured use of Lightning Infusion to jump backwards in a burst, wet mud flying through the air as I flew in the opposite direction. If I was a second too late I would have lost an arm or a leg as a giant jaw with razor sharp teeth clamped down on where I was standing just a moment ago. Wet soil and pools of water were displaced, followed by a loud squelching sound as the figure landed on the forest floor.

I activated Lighting Infusion and jumped backwards two more times to put more distance between us while I assessed what it was that ambushed me. My carelessness almost cost me my life this time; while I had accounted for a returning beast even if the cave was empty, I had not accounted for the beast being amphibious and hiding nearby in the water. I was mostly paying attention to the direction of the forest rather than the river. It was the first time I saw a beast this big.

It was practically the size of a large alligator, one that was the size of three to four large men. I could not get a good look as the body and tail were partially twisted. A beast this large definitely had a Yellow core. While beasts did not have spells per se, they tend to develop intuitive use of their element through simple manipulation of their element or a specialized organ. The beast looked like a cross between a giant salamander and an axolotl.

However, its body was thick with corded muscles, looking more like a crocodile. It also had a big tail that was almost as thick as its body, with weird looking holes and thick bulging veins that did not seem to carry blood, running from its neck all the way to its tail. I did flip through the Magical Beast Compendium but I did not read it in detail. I could not quite remember if I came across an entry for this beast, but based on some characteristics, I could tell this beast definitely had a Water based core.

Which meant it would be more susceptible to my Lightning Bolt at least. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. The beast was fast, I doubt I could out run it if I tried running through the forest terrain. The only saving grace was that it did not seem very agile. It slid straight past where I was after it missed its attack and slid for another two or three meters, clearing a path in the melting snow.

I could tell it was sizing me up, still trying to figure out if I was just stupid lunch that wandered near its home on my own or whether I was dangerous enough that it was not worth the trouble. It seemed that it had decided I would look better if I was in its belly as it seemed to get in stance, ready for another lunge. There was already quite some distance between us and I decided to jump backwards to put even more distance between us to give me more time to evade if it did lunge.

My spell was mid activation, which made it too late to change directions even if I cancelled it as I saw a swirl of water in its mouth as it opened its jaw. Its ugly serrated teeth in its full glory as the water was ejected in a strong stream flying towards me. For a moment, I thought my second rather short run in this new world had come to an end as I mentally braced myself for the jet of water to hit me. I had to thank my lucky stars as one of my feet slipped on a moss covered rock when my boosted jump activated.

I had not looked where I landed in my hurry earlier when I jumped back. The slip caused me to fall on my back, as I watched the jet of water zoom right in front of my face when I was on my back. I rolled to the side and quickly got up, risking a look to assess what the aftermath of that water jet was. The jet of water had hit a tree and while the tree was still standing, the bark and part of the trunk was torn off.

It might not kill me in one hit, especially since my body was reinforced both by my Orange core and Nature's Constitution mutation, but I would definitely not be in good shape after that. Note to self, jump backwards diagonally if I must beforehand, or better yet, assess first before deciding on a course of action. The water jet it ejected seemed to have taken a bit out of the salamander as it seemed to catch its breath, its oversized body seemed to have shrunk a little.

If I had to guess, it probably had this water stored somewhere in its body and expelled it as a form of attack. I thought I would get a break as it probably could not fire too many of those if it was using stored water, but boy was I wrong. I saw it start to pull in water from the puddle near its tail, probably using those holes lined along its tail. Its body started to swell in size as it absorbed the surrounding water. I mentally cursed before I decided I should stop being defensive.

I unleashed a Lightning Bolt at the giant salamander to disrupt it, mentally hoping that it would drop dead like those wasps. The air cracked as the bolt closed the distance between us, and I could see the sheen of slime on its body light up as my Lightning Bolt struck it. Unlike other animals where the damage becomes more concentrated and localized, the sheen of slime seemed to help me conduct my Lightning Bolt better, but at the same time it was spreading the damage everywhere to prevent a localized failure.

The good news was the Lightning Bolt seemed to have disrupted whatever it was doing. However, it also made it angrier as it decided to chase after me. I dared not turn my back to it and decided to keep a certain distance while evading sideways when it lunged. I learnt to recognize the difference between a lunge and a water jet after a while. While the salamander would tuck its short stubby legs by its side before either attack, its neck would swell slightly with the accumulation of water before it was fired.

A spot behind its neck would also glow slightly, what I assumed was its mana core. The light was probably only visible due to its slightly translucent skin and muscles, and the accumulation of water being concentrated before it fired the jet of water. Being able to spot the attack before it came was useful as I would be able to fire off a Lightning Bolt to disrupt it if the area I was in was not suitable for evasion.

If I had secure footing, I would evade it and only fire off the Lightning Bolt when it tried to draw water from the vernal pools throughout the forest. I had pulled it away from the river so that the giant salamander had no easy access to water to replenish its attack, but the melting snow had created small pockets of water throughout the forest. And hence began the long chase of cat and mouse, or should I say giant salamander and boy.

I made sure to evade in the direction of the outer forest so that I would not accidentally stumble upon another Yellow cored beast, though they generally have a much wider territory. I thought it would have given up on me after a while but maybe it really did not like the shock therapy I gave it as it did not stop chasing me. Luckily or unluckily, I did not come across another Orange or Red cored beast as I was evading it. The other beasts were probably frightened by all the commotion we were making.

After several shots of water jets without being able to replenish the water in its body, the salamander seemed to have shrunk visibly. The slime on its body also seemed to have dried off after several Lightning Bolt that I had fired off at it. Any normal Orange cored beasts would have already collapsed after one or two spells but this salamander had taken at least five or six. My muscles were also starting to ache from the repeated use of Lightning Infusion.

I decided to stop running from it and stood my ground to finish this. The salamander seemed to have sensed my intent as it also stopped chasing me. It seemed to have also run out of water as it had stopped firing water jets in the last few minutes. Only one of us would walk away from this it seems, and ain't no way I would be this Wooper's lunch before I gave it my all. Author Note: This is the work of Josh Shoniix. This work of fiction will only be published on Royal Road and Space Battle for free.

If you're reading this on another site or paid through Google Books, this work has been stolen.