Chapter 35: O.P.

Unlike the previous shard the air within this one was stagnant. Whether due to the trees every three to five meters or the thick miasma which hung about like dense smoke one thing was certain -- a stifling energy had gripped both Katrin and Agni.

For the first time in a while they both felt on edge. It was as if their previous week of training amounted to nothing, despite all the gains they'd made. Agni herself suddenly felt small and as a result her senses felt fragile and easily snapped. She stepped forward cautiously, her halberd at the ready as she walked. Katrin fell back to her usual position, to the rear and left of Agni as they moved. This was partially to keep an eye out for unseen threats and watch Agni's back. The other reason was that the Scribe class was not particularly suited for combat, being able to only wear light armors like hides and other soft metals. Much like Agni, Katrin too was on high alert as she called forth her Mag-gun and prepared herself for imminent battle.

Agni could feel her own thoughts spiraling into dire situation simulations. What if they were ambushed by several creatures at once? What if they were wiped out completely in a single strike? Though this was a foe she'd faced hundred times now, Agni couldn't shake the feeling that today's encounter might be different.

The pair were about fifty meters away from Bracha, so far that they couldn't even see her within the mist, when the first of the creatures began to appear. They arrived as light blue pulses of energy which reminded Agni of a lighthouse. The blue energy pierced the mist briefly, flaring up suddenly then fading away just as quickly. Soon they were surrounded on either side by half a dozen of the lights which blinked in and out of existence in the distance.

"Agni." Katrin said, a sense of urgency lended to her voice. This drew Agni's attention towards a particularly close creature. As she took note of the nearby foe she was also struck with the realization that the Stags they'd fought prior to now paled in comparison.

A dense shadow, approximately three meters in height stood stock-still next to them. It's appearance was so sudden that Agni wondered if it appeared from thin air itself. It's eyes held a particularly sinister intent, its killing aura easily transmitted. This in turn gave Agni room for pause as she gripped the shaft of her weapon.

Katrin on the other hand pointed the muzzle of her gun at the creature's face, but did not fire. This was partially because the creature itself seemed completely unconcerned though Katrin was sure it was aware of her presence. The Mag-gun was not the strongest weapon of its type, rather its attack power depended largely on the user of the weapon. This was due to the fact that mana was used to condense and fire bullets. The weapon did the bulk of the work, all the user had to do was supply the mana.

In Katrin's case she could fire forty bullets in succession before her mana was depleted. This was only under the condition that she didn't charge the bullets. When doing so, she increased the mana condensation of each bullet by feeding more energy to the gun. In this case when facing such an imposing creature, she used her instincts to determine how much mana she would need to infuse into a single bullet in order to gain the creature's ire. Currently she'd fed 20% of her mana into a single bullet and the creature still ignored her.

Agni on the other hand was experiencing the full intimidation of the creature's gaze. She watched the slow spark of occasional lightning travel upwards along the horns of the Fulger Stag. This was something she'd seen hundreds of times before,but what surprised Agni was the density of the mana particles she was now sensing.

Upon dabbling more with her magic abilities, Agni came to realize that many aspects affected a spell or conjuration. For example, she could make the size of a fireball larger simply by feeding mana into it but that wouldn't necessarily make the fireball more dangerous. Mana was closely correlated with one's Soul stat. This stat formed the basis of what you could consider 'base damage' or effectiveness when it came to magic spells. But you could also condense mana by restricting its growth and instead more densely packing the particles together. As one would expect, this had an effect on any element it was applied to. For example, wind blades would grow heavier and slower. Fireballs would explode and deal more damage, but this was the first time Agni had seen lightning which looked so pure and dense.

She couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to be zapped by energy like that, and the moment this thought occurred to her she watched the worse case scenario play out in her head--a shocking death! The reason the Stag didn't seem bothered by Agni or Katrin was because, to it, they seemed much weaker. Agni knew it subconsciously without even needing to admit this to herself or gaze into the creature's cold eyes.

Agni focused hard on the Stag so that she could discern even a bit of it's info via analysis, the miasma seemed to interfere with this process which normally happened within a second or two.

[Fulger Stag {⇌} Level 12

Affinity : Lightning

Vulnerability : Piercing Strikes 50%, Fire 75%.

A Grimlock that can channel lightning in its horns. Can discharge it's attacks in an area of effect or single target manner. Seems to require significant time to perform it's elemental strikes.]

Upon viewing the analysis info provided by Systema, Agni couldn't help but feel puzzled. The creature was within her level range, in fact she'd faced off against level 10 creatures solo at a few points, so she doubted that two levels would make a significant difference. Thus Agni found it strange that such a creature would give off an ominous aura. What's more, the Systema upgraded itself based on the fact that she'd been hunting a create deal of Grimlock lately. Around her 200th kill the system began showing even more detailed info. This was the first time Agni noticed the strange mark next to a Grimlock's name however and she wondered if it meant anything at all.

Nearby Katrin's mind was racing as well. Normally she awaited some kind of signal from Agni before taking action but it had not come. In fact Agni seemed at a loss for what to do for the first time ever. The thought of being potentially surrounded also made Katrin even more anxious.

With these circumstances in mind Katrin decided to take a gamble. She placed 30% of her mana into a single shot and leveled her weapon at the creature's chest as she took aim and fired.