Chapter 141: Swamp (2)

Jaxir kept moving after confirming that the marker behind him still hadn’t changed its distance. The twisted tree line marking the deeper marsh was already ahead.

The dry ground disappeared another few hundred meters later, replaced by knee-deep water broken apart by muddy islands and thick mats of reeds. Jaxir stepped onto one of the larger patches and caught movement beneath the surface to his right, followed by a pair of dark eyes rising above the water. The creature’s information appeared once he focused on it.

―

Name: Swamp Crocodile

Level: 12

HP: 760/760

―

"There’s one." Jaxir raised a hand before the crocodile finished turning toward him and released two Casts into its broad snout. Both bursts landed almost together and snapped its head backward.

[-42]

[-41]

The crocodile recovered faster than Jaxir expected and opened its jaws wide, drawing swamp water toward its mouth until a muddy sphere formed between its teeth. A compressed jet tore across the distance a moment later, but Jaxir stepped clear and watched it smash into a clump of reeds behind him.

The reeds bent beneath the impact without springing back up, thick strands of muddy water clinging to them until they sagged toward the ground.

"So it sticks too..."

Jaxir moved farther to the side while the crocodile fired again, then watched another layer of mud collect over the first. One hit probably wouldn’t do much beyond the blunt impact, but enough of those jets would coat someone in layers of magically thickened swamp water until moving became a problem.

Jaxir flicked another Cast toward the crocodile’s shoulder. It struck hard enough to twist the creature halfway around, but instead of charging him directly, the crocodile sank into the mud until its entire body disappeared. Mana spread outward beneath the surface at the same time.

[-43]

Jaxir’s eyes followed the distortion as it cut through the marsh like something tunneling through loose earth. The crocodile wasn’t swimming so much as slipping through the saturated mud itself, its body concealed while a narrow trail of mana raced toward Jaxir’s left side. He formed another Cast and waited.

The ground burst apart beside him and the crocodile came out with one claw already sweeping toward his ribs. Jaxir stepped backward before the strike reached him and released the Cast into the exposed side of its neck. The creature crashed past him and rolled through the mud.

[-56]

Jaxir smiled and followed rather than giving it room to reset. The crocodile planted its front claws, twisted its whole body and sent its thick tail whipping across the space between them.

Jaxir jumped back from the tail and watched the creature’s head turn almost completely away from him as the rest of its body followed through. The attack carried enough force that getting caught would hurt, but everything from its ribs to the side of its throat remained open until the rotation ended. Jaxir raised both hands.

Three charged Casts formed around him and fired into the same exposed section.

[-131]

[-136]

[-139]

Then he unleashed a beam that crushed the rest of its HP the instant it hit a crippled state.

The crocodile collapsed before it completed the turn. Its body began losing definition at the edges, and Jaxir moved over to it before Mana Dissipation could take hold, storing the corpse inside his Enhanced Inventory. A notification followed immediately afterward.

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[You have killed Swamp Crocodile]

―

+24 Experience

―

Jaxir continued through the swamp and found another two before he had gone much farther. Once he knew what their mana looked like before each attack, their options became much less impressive, and the water jets never came close enough to touch him. The more useful use of his time, though, was watching exactly where their mana went.

The jet gathered around the mouth first, then spread into the surrounding water before pulling it inward. Their stealth dash did the opposite, sinking mana through the abdomen and limbs before spreading it into the mud, while the tail swipe flooded the rear half of the body and briefly left the front starved. Jaxir filed away each pattern without bothering to Hex them yet.

He wasn’t learning the crocodiles for the sake of killing crocodiles. The Willow Treant Witch waiting inside the dungeon was a Magic creature, and if Nightmare difficulty made her as clever with mana as the government’s notes claimed, simply throwing Wither or Fracture at her and hoping they worked sounded lazy. Jaxir wanted to see how her body and spells moved first, then find exactly where Hex belonged.

Another crocodile disappeared beneath the mud ahead of him. This time Jaxir didn’t even stop walking, sending one Cast toward the point where its mana trail would surface and another several meters farther along in case it changed direction. The creature emerged directly into the first shot.

[-63]

"You’re going to have to come up with something new." Jaxir grinned and curved the second Cast back around after it missed. The crocodile jerked away from the first attack only for the returning burst to strike behind its jaw.

[-61]

The rest of the trip continued much the same way. Crocodiles appeared from pools, reed beds and mud banks, while Jaxir slowly stopped reacting to individual attacks and started reacting to the mana changes that happened before them. His Casts still weren’t gaining the insight he wanted, but his understanding of the things he intended to Cast at was becoming much sharper.

The noise of other players eventually replaced the sounds of splashing water and snapping jaws. Jaxir pushed through a final stand of reeds and found a broad open section of marsh crowded with people, most of them gathered into parties while voices carried over one another. Tanks shouted for Healers, Melee players searched for ranged damage, and several groups argued over which difficulty they were willing to attempt.

At the center of it all sat the entrance to the Drowned Willow Dungeon. A perfectly stable whirlpool turned in the middle of the marsh without pulling in a single reed or disturbing the surrounding water, its funnel descending farther than Jaxir could see. Wooden platforms and strips of packed earth had been built around it for the constant traffic.

"Hey, mage!" A man standing with four other players waved Jaxir over before he reached the water. "We’re missing Magic, you want in?"

Jaxir turned toward him, but the man’s eyes flashed as he scanned Jaxir’s information. His enthusiasm disappeared when he reached the Level. "Level 8... never mind."

Jaxir chuckled and continued toward the whirlpool while the man went back to his party. Several quiet words passed between them, and then all five looked over at Jaxir with increasingly strange expressions.

He didn’t blame them. A Level 8 player wandering around a post-tutorial region was strange enough without announcing it to every person he passed, and Jaxir had no interest in spending the day explaining himself. He adjusted his shroud until only Jaxir Chance remained visible while his Level disappeared.

"Better." Jaxir stopped at the edge of the whirlpool as a screen unfolded before him. He hadn’t come all this way looking for teammates anyway.

―

[Drowned Willow Dungeon]

Level: 15

Entry Limit: 5

[Please Select Difficulty]

>Easy

>Hard

>Nightmare

―

Jaxir selected Nightmare.

The whirlpool turned jet black.

He stepped into it before anyone nearby could say a word, and the dark water swallowed him whole. Behind him, the man who had rejected the Level 8 mage stared at the blackened whirlpool as the rest of his party slowly realized the same thing.

That lunatic had entered a Level 15 Nightmare Dungeon alone.