The Curator
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Chapter 6: First Fight
🕑 Added 2024-10-10 15:35:32 +0000 UTC
Thalion and his team moved stealthily through the dense jungle undergrowth of the first stage. Strange, bioluminescent plants cast an ethereal glow, lighting up the alien landscape in hues of green and blue. Towering trees, their leaves as wide as shields, blocked most of the sky, making it feel like they were walking beneath a green dome.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, the canopy above began to thin, allowing sunlight to pierce through the leaves in dappled patterns. Eventually, the trees gave way entirely, and they stepped into a sunlit clearing. In the center stood a small, fragile-looking branch, no more than 1.5 meters tall, bearing three marvelous fruits. They resembled apples, but they were nearly three times the size, exuding a sugary, sweet aroma that made Thalion's mouth water.
"That’s an Illusive Lure, Level 3," Emily said after identifying the plant. "Strange name... doesn’t look like it should be called that."
"Maybe the fruit tastes horrible," Mike smirked.
Before anyone could step into the clearing, Emily pushed them all back, her finger pointing upward.
A creature glided gracefully toward the Illusive Lure, its body resembling that of a manta ray, with shimmering, bioluminescent patterns. It had three tails, each tipped with a red spike likely poisonous.
"It’s a Lumina Manta, Level 2," Jason whispered, watching intently.
The Lumina Manta landed delicately on the twig holding the three fruits. It moved with precision, slowly consuming the fruit.
Suddenly, four massive leaves, camouflaged under the moss, snapped upward like a trap. The manta screeched in panic, attempting to escape, but it was too late. With a loud thud, the leaves closed over the creature, forming a tulip-like enclosure. The manta, still alive, flailed violently inside, its bioluminescence flickering as it tried to stab the leaves with its spiked tails, to no avail.
A squelching noise followed as the plant pumped digestive fluid into the enclosure. The fluid level rose quickly, and the manta's struggles grew frantic as it drowned in the liquid. Its light dimmed until it flickered out completely.
Thalion had seen enough. Seizing the opportunity while the plant was distracted, he conjured a fireball in his hand and hurled it at the Illusive Lure. The fireball hit with a small explosion, flames licking up the side of the plant, but then fizzled out. The plant stood nearly unharmed, showing only a few minor burn marks.
"Well, that was disappointing," Thalion muttered.
The digestive fluid filled the plant entirely now, and they could no longer see the manta. Without hesitation, all three melee warriors descended upon the plant, hacking at its massive leaves.
"Man, this reeks!" Mike grimaced as the fluid spilled from one of the large gashes he had made.
You have slain Illusive Lure, Level 4
You have reached Level 1
"Two levels for hacking up a plant?!" Mike cheered. "And it even leveled up after killing that manta lucky for us!"
Lukas and Jason both reached Level 2, while David and Emily didn't level up at all, likely because they hadn’t contributed much to the fight.
Thalion felt the surge of new power coursing through him as his level increased. He gained three points in intelligence and two in wisdom. He placed the two free points into intelligence as well, hoping to increase the potency of his spells.
Still, he was frustrated. His Fireball had been almost useless against the plant. "Maybe if I can channel more mana into the spell, I can make it stronger," he thought. The mana cost was negligible to him. He regenerated the mana for one Fireball in about three seconds.
He conjured another Fireball, watching as it grew in size. He tried to force more mana into the flame, pushing it from his hand into the growing sphere of fire. It worked briefly as the Fireball grew a little larger, but then it stagnated. No matter how hard Thalion pushed, the spell refused to grow further. Frustrated, he let the skill go, and the flame flickered out.
"I think we should take those remaining fruits from the illusive lure. Maybe we can use them to attract more mantas," he suggested, still deep in thought.
"Good idea. Do you have a telekinetic spell you haven’t told us about? Because I’m not wading through this mud," Mike exclaimed, eyeing the pool of foul-smelling fluid beneath the plant.
Thalion considered his options. "Maybe I can use my Mana Barrier to grab the fruits." He activated the spell, summoning a mist-like barrier in front of him. "Hmm... that’s not right," he murmured, dispersing the barrier. He tried again, this time halting the mana flow before it fully formed, creating a shorter, flatter barrier.
The others watched intently as Thalion summoned one barrier after another, experimenting with different shapes. But it wasn’t working. He couldn’t make the barrier move horizontally. However, he discovered that by holding the spell steady and pushing against the mana, he could move the barrier slowly forward.
"I could just shoot the fruits with an arrow," Emily interjected as sweat beaded on Thalion's forehead.
"Give me a little more time. I can make it move faster," Thalion insisted, still focused on the barrier.
Half an hour later, he finally did it. He could now move the barrier from his position to the plant and back without it dispersing.
"Okay, let’s give this a shot," Mike said. "But please don’t screw it up. I’d like to avoid smelling like this for the rest of my life."
Thalion summoned the barrier, and Mike held onto it as he carefully pushed it toward the fruit. Once the fruits were secured, Mike placed them into his spatial ring. Thalion then pulled the barrier back, pouring extra mana into it to keep it stable. After a few moments, Mike jumped off with a triumphant grin.
"Haha, we did it! Let’s find another clearing and see if we can lure in more mantas," Mike said, his excitement contagious.
The others agreed eagerly, but Thalion interjected, "I’m all for it, but I need to rest for a bit. I’ve burned through most of my mana, and I think I’ve got some minor backlash from overusing it."
"No worries, mate. We’ll wait," Jason said enthusiastically. "If the bait works, we could hit Level 5 and ascend to Stage 2 by tomorrow."
Everyone nodded in agreement, though Thalion felt a strange emptiness. His mana reserves were low, and he felt sluggish, like his body couldn’t pump enough energy through his system. At one point, he asked David to heal him, but after a quick examination, they gave up.
Thalion tried a different approach. He focused on drawing in nature's mana from the surrounding environment, but nothing happened.
The group passed the time in their own ways. James and Lukas engaged in a fierce arm-wrestling match, while Mike practiced different techniques with his attack skills. Emily, despite repeated failures, attempted to craft new arrows, and David amused himself by trying to "talk" with one of the large trees nearby, though the tree remained unresponsive.
As the sun began to set, the group relaxed, eager for what the next stage might bring.
