Chapter 17 - Mana Points

The Beast of Carnage was being impressively forced by Willow to stay slack-jawed and completely static. This gave him time to stand up. However, the moment he stood up, he felt his left eye start to twitch on its own and his mind wavered for an instant, which made the Beast of Carnage manage to move slightly.

'What was that?' Willow asked when she managed to stop the creature again. 'It felt like the effects of extreme tiredness that I usually feel after several hours of work.'

Then Willow looked in the top left corner of his vision and realized that the classic HP and MP bars were there. He could probably see them now because, for the first time, he felt he needed an answer, and that answer came via his MP bar, which was descending and becoming empty instead of maintaining its blue tint. This was to be expected, considering that he was using a skill. However, the speed at which it was going down was frightening.

'Damn! The Beast of Carnage is a very high-level monster. I obviously won't be able to hold it off for long. What am I supposed to do? How am I going to get out of this situation?'

If Willow turned around and tried to run, he didn't know if the magnetism magic would continue to work without him having to look at the target. If he tried to maintain the ability while backing away from the creature, his mana would run out in a few seconds, and he would be easily reached by the monster.

"Damn, damn, damn..." he muttered through clenched teeth. He could feel the creature struggling, trying to free itself, and knew that any second more could be fatal.

Looking at the MP bar, he saw the blue color fading fast, like a river drying up under the merciless sun. If he didn't find a way to escape, it would be the end.

It was then, in the midst of his despair, that he heard a strange sound, like the wind cutting through the air, followed by an impact that made the earth tremble. The monster let out a strangled roar, and Willow saw, after blinking his eyes for just an instant, a tree trunk hit the Beast of Carnage square in the head. Everything seemed to slow down, as if time itself was being dilated.

The person he saw holding the trunk was Aria. After the log hit the Beast of Carnage, Aria let go of the log and raised her hand, wiping the sweat from her brow as she gasped and watched the creature being thrown along with the log towards the other trees.

Willow noticed a small spark of magic in her eyes. "Whew, it's a good thing I insisted on learning physical strengthening magic."

"You...!"

Aria smiled at him. "I finally got a moment to attack thanks to your distraction, Willow. I would never have gotten enough time to invoke that magic without you taking his focus off me and trapping him. But it seems that wasn't enough for this creature."

With its torso tossed aside, the Beast of Carnage growled as it stood up, as if furious at having been struck.

Willow was catching his breath and struggling to keep control of his abilities.

The creature's jaw was visibly dislocated and hung grotesquely to one side, but that didn't seem to deter its hatred. It shook its head as it stood up, and its eyes burned with anger.

Aria turned quickly to Willow. "Please, Willow, lock her up again. I have one more idea." she said with implacable calm.

Willow nodded, held out his right hand, and activated the magnetism magic again. Energy erupted from his palm, forming an invisible barrier that forced the creature to stay in place.

The Beast of Carnage remained static, but Willow could feel the fierce resistance, as if it were trying to hold back a turbulent river with just its bare hands. With the creature temporarily contained, Aria made her way to a nearby tree. She was such a graceful-looking elf, with fine, noble features, that it never occurred to Willow that she might possess brute strength. But then he saw what she intended to do, and the sight stunned him.

Aria planted her feet on the ground, stretched her delicate hands around the sturdy trunk and, with a grunt, she began to pull the tree upwards, and the roots began to detach from the ground with loud pops.

Willow felt his heart beat faster. The image was surreal, almost poetic, of raw power rooted in such an apparently fragile figure.

'She's uprooting an entire tree?' Willow thought, perplexed, as he watched the scene out of the corner of his eye.

Aria raised the tree above her head and turned to Willow. "Get ready. When I give you the signal, let him go," she said, fixing her hands on the trunk, as if preparing for a mortal blow.

Willow swallowed and only nodded in agreement, as his arm was already beginning to tremble with the effort of keeping the Beast of Carnage immobilized.

"Now!" Aria shouted.

Willow released his ability, letting the creature free at last.

Immediately, the Beast of Carnage lunged forward, charging at Aria with a menacing roar. Aria, for her part, swung the trunk with both hands and used the weight of the tree to send it hurtling towards the creature with impressive speed. The sound of the impact was like thunder echoing through the surrounding trees and once again the creature was thrown backwards along with the trunk, knocking down trees in its path with its massive body bouncing off the ground.

Willow felt relieved, but unfortunately, it was a temporary relief. Before he could speak to Aria, a deep, angry roar filled the air.

The Beast of Carnage, which Willow thought was at least a little wounded, began to rise in an awkward manner. Its claws dug into the ground, and it stood up again. With a sudden movement of its head, it snapped its neck, and its twisted jaw found a more functional position, wriggling into an almost normal alignment.

It was then that Willow realized that the fight was far from over.

Aria worriedly held out her arm, a protective instinct she couldn't control. "Watch out, Willow! That monster still has strength."

However, the monster's target was no longer me, but her again. Suddenly, the creature moved so fast that it seemed to defy the very laws of physics. One moment, Aria was on her feet and the next the Beast struck her with a violent blow, knocking her to the ground.

Willow's eyes widened in shock as he watched it all happen.

Immediately, Aria tried to get up, but the Beast put its forepaws on her arms, pinning her firmly against the ground. Aria struggled, trying desperately to escape, but the Beast's weight was overwhelming.

Willow saw her face distorted by pain, her lips compressed, and her gaze fixed on the creature that showed that, for the first time, she seemed to be afraid. He knew then that there was no more time for hesitation. He had to act. He stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the creature, and watched as it opened its monstrous mouth, revealing its abyssal throat. Willow knew that the Beast of Carnage was preparing to suck the life essence out of Aria.

Desperate, he looked around, searching for something — anything — he could use to help. In this way, his eyes landed on a broken spear, the same one he had used before and which had been broken in half in one of the Beast's attacks. He had no idea if it would work, but he had to try.

He ran towards the piece of spear, picked it up with one hand and ran towards the creature. He knew that the creature was a bit distracted when it was holding a potential victim, so he didn't even hesitate or get scared to run with everything he had without having to worry about being stealthy.

When he got close enough to see Aria with a misty look on her face and something like a mist coming out of her mouth and into the Beast of Carnage's mouth, Willow used the piece of the spear like a dagger and drove the spear into the creature's mouth, aiming exactly at the spot he had once read about in an Ether Online forum about the Beast of Carnage's weak point. It penetrated deep into the creature's throat, and when Willow felt the momentary resistance, he used even more force. Then he finally heard a metallic click. This meant that he had succeeded in breaking the Iron Heart, and he knew, in that instant, that the battle was over.

Immediately, the creature snapped out of its hungry trance and, without so much as a roar of pain, began to fade into pure mist — after all, the Beast of Carnage was not a monster of flesh and blood, but the very mist that enveloped that part of the forest.

[You have killed a Beast of Carnage and received +25000 XP.]

[Leveled Up!]

[Leveled Up!]

[Leveled Up!]

[You completed the Mission of Opportunity "Mystery of Pavagar".]

[You received +2000 EXP.]

[You received +1 Skill Point.]

[You received the "Double Skill Activation" Feature].