Chapter 27- Mana Exhaustion

Despite how loud a crashing waterfall could be I started to feel at peace while listening to it, despite the fact that every time I heard it a battle soon followed. It was oddly calming.

"You see anything?" Ivar asked as he looked out over the crescent of the waterfall, seven Bullywug corpses lay strewn around him. 

"Nope, this one is probably a dud. But it wouldn't hurt to check" I said as I stood up from my kneeling position and dropped the enchanted spyglass into my storage bag. I spent around five minutes slowly going over the small mountain under us, but not a single spec of light showed through.

"This particular waterfall is large, a little over twenty meters tall if I had to guess. Plenty of room for a cave system to lay behind the waterfall" Ivar said as he began checking over his crossbow and securing his bolt quiver.

I could agree, as we've been expecting a cave system to be hidden behind one. Which was my main guess for where the potential boss room to be, though it was beginning to seem like a myth.

"How are you doing on bolts?" I asked as it had been a day or so since I crafted any. I myself didn't have to worry about how much ammo I had, the thunder quiver was truly a valuable item.

"Around seventy left, there are a few shy of three hundred below us" Ivar reported to my surprise. It was the largest infestation we've come across, not by much but the fact remained.

"Luckily there are a few groups of fifty or more together, so with your wizardry this fight shouldn't be a problem" Ivar judged as he continued looking over the crashing waves. I nodded at his proposal as I came over to do a little recon myself.

True to his word there were four groups of around fifty-five bullywugs, perfect targets for my gauntlet. That would still leave around a hundred frogs left but surely we could take that many out with the swift bow and the modified crossbow.

"What does this make it, the fortieth?" I asked offhandedly as I did a few stretches. Today would mark our fourth week on the ninety-eighth floor and a week after we found 'the eye of Tullius'.

After a few seconds of debate I decided I would dump a large portion of my mana to keep this battle from going out of control. Two fireballs for each group, leaving me roughly a hundred mana in case of emergencies.

"Ready?" I asked Ivar as I raised my arm and awaited his signal. The crossbow fired and echoed around us. Not a moment later eight fireballs followed it, multi fire was something I had just discovered was possible.

After a few experiments I realized if I forced more mana into the gauntlet I could rapidly fire as well as multi-fire. It was a rather dangerous characteristic I would've missed if I wasn't so curious about my magic items.

Currently I could shoot five fireballs at once while I could also continuously shoot fireballs until my mana ran dry. Though that is something I'd rather not try again, well unless I had no choice.

The term I've taken to calling it is 'Mana exhaustion'. As the name implies if I use all my mana I will either pass out or lose control of my body. It has only happened twice as the first was an accident during my first fight with Orgnar while the second was just to test the theory. My running theory is that Mana itself is similar to a muscle, if it is strained too far it will forcefully stop me.

Still the fact remained how dangerous it would be to incapacitate myself like that, I'd be a sitting duck and quickly killed. Or I'd be a liability to my companions as they'd hopefully protect me.

I thoroughly tested this apparent weakness, if I ever had to force myself in Mana Exhaustion then there was a set time limit before I could move again. Roughly twenty percent was the threshold. It took me a minute to regain a tenth of my mana, so I'd be incapacitated for two minutes. 

Not being able to move in this tower for two entire minutes? That is an almost guaranteed death sentence if Ivar isn't there.

I hummed as I pulled back the string of the swift bow. I had to admit how trivial raiding these waterfalls has become. Three hundred enemies, a number that would've caused me to piss myself now fell like dominoes. 

In three minutes everything was over, not one managed to climb the waterfall and engage us in melee combat. 

"I think we're too OP for this area" I said to Ivar which caused him to raise an eyebrow in apparent confusion.

"Your terms are stupid" Ivar blasphemed much to my shock.

"And you're a barbarian who doesn't know what toilet paper is, so there" I jabbed childishly as I began looking for the safest and most efficient way to climb down the waterfall.

"Oh quit being a milk drinker" Ivar said with a chuckle as I felt a force push me forward towards the waterfall's edge. 'No….'

I watched in slow motion as I fell towards the edge of the waterfall, I tried to twist and turn to stop my momentum but the farthest I got just turned me around.

"Ivar you fucking bastard!" I screamed in fear and rage as I fell over the waterfall's edge, not once did I scream like a girl, surely.

I hit the water below like a cannonball and felt the air get literally knocked out of my lungs. It was a shock but I quickly began paddling like a wet puppy towards the sound of the crashing waterfall.

As I managed to pull myself into the cave I caught sight of the bastard himself. The same one that was laughing his ass off while holding his gutt. 

"Go to hell..." I said as twisted onto my back and laid down.