Chương 57: 1-56 Under pressure

"What's so funny?" Bezzo asked Josef, questioningly lifting a scaly brow. ✩✩ Restoration (Pinnacle) -> ✩✩✩ Restoration (Moderate) Anyone can use magic to destroy. Undoing that damage is a fine art few are capable of. Not all patients are receptive to treatment. Increases effectiveness of healing on unwilling targets.

"Oh, I just reached the next rank of my affinity," he explained.

"Because treating an unwilling patient was apparently the last push I needed."

"Well, at least that lunatic was useful for something…" the reptile just shook his head in disbelief.

"I still can't believe people swallow that dragon's damned shit Sanctum is feeding them." Josef could somewhat understand the feelings that plagued his friend. Cults had been a problem even back on Earth, and this one apparently wouldn't be satisfied until they held as much power over people as possible.

"There will always be people supporting the craziest ideals. Sometimes it comes from narrowmindedness, or overlapping beliefs. But there are also those who will follow because of despair and manipulation." He was trying to be diplomatic in his answer.

"Considering they're monopolizing healing, many will probably come to them out of sheer necessity, only to get wrapped up in their agenda." Bezzo was obviously not happy about giving any kind of excuse to Sanctum's followers, as his indignant hiss signified. Though he ultimately didn't argue and let the argument rest in silence. Not that they had much time to ruminate on the topic, as they had already reached the bottom of the stairs. The sight that greeted Josef was different from the floors above.

While the general sewer layout remained, it was no longer neat, if grime covered, rows of bricks. Instead, the stones were more roughly hewn and loose or broken up in many spots. Between those cracks he could spot the occasional tiny root poking through, and there was even the sound of dripping water, as droplets found their way through the stonework. He doubted that this would be a source of safe drinking water, especially since those roots looked rather sickly, but the sight sure was fascinating.

"You have been here before, right?" Josef asked the brothers.

"Anything to share about these coming floors?"

"Well, kinda." Zippa was the first to reply.

"We are already past the monsters we know, considering they all came up to higher floors. Except for one type, which I didn't see yesterday. Maybe those still live around here." Bezzo continued the explanation.

"The traps are getting more sophisticated, too. Watch out for any foliage growing from those roots. Not only are the leaves poisonous, but they often hide triggers when on the ground."

"We only ever made it to floor 28, though. We could never keep up with all the afflictions, and our supplies were never enough. Really would have liked to see the next boss." The older sibling finished.

"Coming this far with only the two of you sounds really impressive, Zip." Josef patted the dejected lizard on his shoulder.

"Besides, you're going to get through these floors this time around, so you have a new boss to look forward to."

"Just don't disappear and do it on your own, okay?" The words had more bite than he would have expected. Was Zippa worried about him?

"Sure, I promise." As if someone had smelled the lull in their conversation, the sound of a blade being drawn cut through the air.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have enemies incoming," it was Aifreed who warned them, pointing out a group of approaching creatures.

"What the fuck are those?" For once Josef wasn't the first to react to a grotesque new creature. Instead, it was Linda who surprised everyone with more colorful language than she usually displayed.

"I concur, my lady." Her loyal knight was in full agreement. All of them were, because what came running towards them was ugly as sin. Or maybe its movement should be called skittering, with how many legs it used to move. Skittering Rachse - Level 34 Clearly the system agreed, and the resemblance to the creatures from the earlier floors was definitely there, but that one change to their bodies made one hell of a difference.

Where adult Rachse looked somewhat similar to large dogs in shape and size, this one looked more round and bloated, like a balloon with legs. And they were the creepiest legs Josef had ever seen. Its own furry limbs hang in the air, unable to touch the ground, as six long brown tendrils took over the role of legs for this creature. He couldn't quite gauge whether these were roots growing from the monster's body, or insect legs.

They looked thin and gnarly like the former, but had the glossy and smooth texture of the latter. Worst of all, they emerged from the beast's stomach, as if something was living inside and walking around in a bodysuit.

"I can't believe I would ever miss the mosquitoes. This is horrible." Nobody refuted Josef, as they readied their stances to welcome the ten abominations.

"Maybe now is a good time to show off your skill, Zip? I wouldn't mind if you made them scream in pain."

"Fine," the reptile laughed.

"Watch this!" Meeting the foremost critter in a headlong rush, Zippa barely managed to jump back when its front legs came down like spears, looking to skewer him through the face. Then, with the strangest hiss, he spat something, hitting the monster straight in its hideous face. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. No, Josef had to correct himself on that. His friend didn't spit the projectile.

He squeezed it from another opening, if the trickle of steaming red fluid in his face was anything to go by. Zippa had just shot blood from his eyes!

"Hold on, I've read about something like this before. Are you some kind of horned lizard?" It was an odd bit of reptile trivia to remember from home, but some inventions of nature were too strange to forget.

"Actually, most call me a horny liz-" Apparently, the skittering creature wasn't a fan, flailing blindly with its limbs, trying to kill the reptile who had just blinded it. Fortunately, Zippa was agile enough to step out of the hazard zone, even though he was rubbing his eyes with some fervor. Instead, it ended up striking one monster that had tried to make its way past the first, creating an almost metallic clanging noise as their limbs collided.

"You should do that more often, cause that seems to work pretty well!" The amount of chaos that blinding attack had caused was truly useful, and going by the sizzling sounds, the effect was still ongoing.

"No can do," Zippa complained, rubbing his eyes.

"It stings like shit, even for me." Within seconds, the creatures got entangled with each other and tethered precariously at the edge of losing balance. Not one to waste an opening, Josef immediately fired up his newest water spell and lined up a Water Shot, aiming for the body of the blinded creature. While his aim was on point, as he would deny anyone who claimed differently, the sphere unfortunately erred in its path and only grazed his target.

Just as he was about to try a second time, another sphere slammed right where he was aiming, courtesy of a smug noodle that had slithered up next to him. As it got bludgeoned by the wet orb, the monster finally lost its balance and fell into a heap with its companion.

"Lucky shot," he murmured. Pretzel only hissed happily in response. Those two didn't last much longer, as Zippa descended on them like a demon, his blazing claws cleaving apart the hide and flesh of the first one to rip its body open. Or rather, they shouldn't have lasted much longer than that, because those things didn't have the decency to just die after getting gutted. Confirming Josef's earlier hunch, the actual monster was occupying the insides those bloated torsos.

Or maybe they were somehow fused, judging by its pained reaction? What they revealed didn't look like an actual creature, but more like a loose ball of shiny, fleshy roots. Similar to the legs outside, but smaller and more squishy. Fortunately, that yarn of intestines couldn't do much as Zippa breathed his flames onto the creature, killing it within seconds. As the central portion was reduced to a charred mess, the attached legs flailed for a few moments more before going completely limp.

The second one didn't leave its companion waiting for long, as Dusty appeared right beside the collapsed creature before tunnelling into its stomach. Whatever happened in there, only he knew, and Josef had no interest in finding out. By the sound of it, it involved way too many teeth.

"You better take a bath before getting back on my shoulder," he whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. Not that his rabbit was going to heed that order anyway. Bezzo was dealing with one of the horrible Rachse on his own, dancing deftly between the lethal limbs as he looked for openings. Meanwhile, both Linda and Aifreed were occupied with one creature, as the older elf apparently was giving lessons to his lady in the middle of combat.

Not that Josef could complain about that, with how often he abused encounters to test something new. That left one monster unaccounted for, which Josef planned to finish himself. Out loud, he let his companions know of his intentions. After all, if he wanted to improve his own offense, he would have to bring down a creature like that on his own. Closing the distance, he fired several water shots in a row as an opening strike.

While the first two went wide, several more managed to connect, causing a chime to go off in his head. ☆☆☆☆ Water Shot (Inferior) -> (Moderate) He barely acknowledged the improvement, knowing it only signified that his grasp on the new spell had become passable enough to hit. While the damage he inflicted in this manner wasn't severe, the continuous impacts caused the monster to reel, unable to keep up its rhythmic steps as it tried to rush at its intended meal.

Seeing his chance, Josef sent a Water Prison straight at the thing's torso, encasing it completely within the crushing sphere. Unfortunately, he didn't expect the creature to be barely affected by his spell, as it pretty much used its locked body as an anchor point and viciously lashed out with two of its limbs. He could barely sidestep the first, but the second sunk into his stomach, pulling back out moments after with a horrible squelching sound.

Josef would have gasped, but his body locked in shock, while he tried to suppress the sudden spike of terror impairing his mind. Even though this was far from his first time getting hurt, the sheer brutality of getting gored felt much worse than even the chemical burns from being submerged in a slime, or getting squashed by a giant elemental.

Reeling back, having enough mental capacity left to try to get some distance between him and the monster, he quickly channeled a massive amount of healing magic towards the hole left in his stomach. He felt the spikes of emotion from both present familiars, and it took a lot of willpower to get them to stand down. This was his fight, and he intended to finish it. Even if this mistake had cost him dearly, the consequences were only temporary.

After all those times his trusty water orb had secured his finishing blows, he had grown complacent in writing off the fight once it landed. Sure, there were many cases in which the spell was obviously useless, as the prior two boss fights had shown, but outside of such clear-cut cases it had never let him down. Having dealt with the worst of the bleeding, he delegated the remainder of his health to a beefy cast of Regeneration.

As the monster still insisted on engaging him in close combat, Josef kept it occupied by barely staying out of its reach. He even deflected the occasional close call with his right arm, having reinforced it with earth mana. All, so he could buy a little more time to quell the pain and formulate his killing spell. That's what his left hand was up to, gathering more and more water mana, packing his limb as tightly as he could, and then some.

Remembering the sensation of being overly full from his first experiments after his body's big change, he could tell that with his conscious effort, he had pushed beyond his former limit. Then, as critical mass was reached, and thin streams of water mana burst from his arm, he moved. Deflecting one last blow from the creature, he stepped close to its body and struck with his left hand. He pictured bursting pipes, an erupting geyser, and even one of those industrial waterjets used to cut metal.

He focused on the sensation of pressure in his arm and added it to his mental image. Build up. Pressurize. Burst. Magic followed his will, and he showed the creature how to open a proper hole in someone else's body.