Chapter 142: Mire Lash

The black whirlpool swallowed Jaxir and released him onto damp ground a heartbeat later. He straightened inside what looked like a cave grown rather than carved, with enormous roots twisting together to form the walls and ceiling while curtains of wet vines filled the spaces between them.

The humidity hit him hard enough that his skin felt damp almost immediately, and the air carried a sickly sweetness underneath the smell of mud and rotting vegetation.

Water dripped somewhere beyond the tangle overhead, feeding shallow pools that gathered between the roots and disappeared into cracks farther ahead.

Pale green moss spread across most of the wood, giving off just enough light to keep the tunnel from becoming completely dark. Jaxir breathed through his mouth after the first few steps and decided whoever designed this place had taken the swamp theme a little too seriously.

Something large shifted inside the first pool ahead of him. A scaled back surfaced through the muddy water, followed by another several meters deeper into the chamber, and Jaxir recognized the creatures immediately even though these ones were noticeably larger than anything outside.

He focused on the closest.

―

Name: Swamp Crocodile

Level: 15

HP: 1,800/1,800

―

"That’s quite the upgrade." Jaxir raised one hand and started firing before the crocodile could finish pulling itself onto the exposed roots. His mana flowed so smoothly now that he barely needed to think about forming a Cast, and he released each one almost the instant it stabilized so Channel wouldn’t begin feeding more mana into it by accident.

[-38]

[-36]

[-39]

The crocodile’s health barely moved compared to the effort, which told Jaxir exactly what Nightmare difficulty had done to their defenses. The creatures outside would have taken those same Casts far worse, but this thing shrugged them off and opened its jaws as swamp water condensed between its teeth. Jaxir stepped aside before the jet tore through where he had been standing and kept firing while he moved.

[-37]

[-40]

The second crocodile disappeared into the muddy floor. Jaxir felt its mana spread beneath the ground just like the ones outside and kicked off a root as the creature burst upward behind him, claws cutting through empty air. Three Casts were already waiting when it surfaced.

[-35]

[-38]

[-57]

[Critical Hit!]

The last Cast caught the thinner scales beneath its jaw, snapping its head backward hard enough to expose the softer flesh down its throat. Jaxir noticed the difference immediately, not just from the damage but from the way the creature recoiled, and began placing more of his shots around the same vulnerable areas instead of wasting them across the thick scales covering its back.

Even then, Nightmare defenses made the fight more about volume than raw power.

Jaxir moved through the pair while Casts left his hands almost continuously. He didn’t bother charging them, partly because he wanted Cast practice and partly because the delay gave the crocodiles too much room to attack, so every burst remained small, clean and fast. Once one committed to a tail swipe and left its side exposed, Jaxir punished the opening with another rain of mana.

[-40]

[-39]

[-38]

[-59]

[Critical Hit!]

The creature collapsed soon afterward, followed by the second once Jaxir worked around its water jets and forced another bad tail swipe. He continued deeper through the root cavern without storing the corpses, keeping his pace brisk while the last Cast faded from his staff. The dungeon was already proving useful.

More Swamp Crocodiles appeared over the next few chambers, though none of them showed him anything he hadn’t already seen outside. Their attacks came faster and hit harder, while the mud dash covered more ground before they surfaced, but the mana patterns remained almost identical. Jaxir gradually stopped watching the creatures themselves and started watching what their mana did before every movement once again.

The first unfamiliar enemies appeared where the tunnel widened around a shallow pool filled with waist-high bushes. Jaxir almost ignored them until one of the bushes shifted against the direction of the dripping water, then lifted itself from the ground on a bundle of twisting roots. Three more followed it.

―

Name: Mire Lash

Level: 15

HP: 1,500/1,500

―

Jaxir formed two Casts as the closest Mire Lash unfolded several long vines from the mass of leaves surrounding its body. One snapped toward his head and another swept low toward his knees, forcing Jaxir to step between them before peppering the central knot with mana.

[-39]

[-37]

The Mire Lash jerked backward, then lashed out again. Jaxir had already seen the range of the vine and moved just far enough to let it pass in front of his chest, expecting the attack to end once the tip missed him. Instead, a thin line of clear liquid shot from the end of the vine and carried forward another several feet.

It struck his forearm before Jaxir could react. For half a second he wondered whether the liquid had somehow increased his weight, because his arm suddenly felt like it had doubled in mass and his legs became harder to move with every heartbeat. But his Weightless Boots continued working perfectly while the rest of his body became almost useless.

―

[You have been afflicted with Mire Lash Neural Toxin]

[Motor Function reduced by 90%]

Duration: 03:00

―

"... Dammit." Jaxir attempted to step backward and managed little more than dragging his foot several inches across the damp roots. Whatever the toxin was doing, it wasn’t making him heavier at all.

His muscles simply weren’t responding properly. The command to move reached them slowly, like his mind and body had suddenly been separated by several seconds of lag, and even lifting one arm became enough work that dodging another vine was completely unrealistic. Jaxir stopped fighting the feeling and activated his Mana-Skin Aegis instead.

A thin film of mana settled over his body as the next vine cracked against his shoulder. The Aegis absorbed the impact and pulled from its stored mana reserve in place of Jaxir’s HP. It wasn’t how he wanted to spend the treasure but was far better than letting three minutes of free attacks tear him apart. Another pair of Mire Lashes started moving toward him from the edge of the chamber.

"Fine." Jaxir planted his feet and let his barely responsive arm hang where it wanted. "Come get your target practice."

Casts began appearing around him one after another. Jaxir didn’t need much movement to form them anymore, and the moment each sphere settled into shape he released it before Channel could catch hold, turning the space around him into a steady stream of small mana bullets. The first Mire Lash shuddered under the barrage while its vines continued beating against his Aegis.

[-36]

[-38]

[-40]

[-37]

Jaxir adjusted his aim as he learned where the dense knot of its body sat beneath all those leaves. A shot punched through a gap where several vines joined together and the creature folded inward for a moment, giving him another weak point to abuse. The next Cast went into the same opening.

[Critical Hit!]

[-58]

"Much better." Jaxir kept the pressure there until the first Mire Lash collapsed into a loose pile of vines and began dissolving into mana. He shifted the barrage toward the second without changing his stance.

The fight became embarrassingly simple after that. Vines struck him, the Mana-Skin Aegis paid for them, and Jaxir kept firing until the remaining creatures died one after another. By the time the chamber went quiet again, his body still felt almost completely frozen.

Jaxir pulled the debuff screen back up.

―

[Mire Lash Neural Toxin]

01:52

―

He stared at it without blinking. The Nightmare clearance record for the Drowned Willow Dungeon was one hour, thirteen minutes and fifty-seven seconds, and he would have to waste a full three minutes in this state.

"You little shits..."

Jaxir looked toward the fading remains of the Mire Lashes, though none of them were alive enough to appreciate the insult. If this toxin appeared throughout the dungeon, getting caught even a few more times would kill any chance of pushing the rankings.

The timer crawled down while control slowly returned to his fingers, then his arms and finally his legs. Jaxir rolled his shoulders once the screen disappeared, stepped forward to make sure his body obeyed him properly, and looked into the twisting root tunnel ahead. He had no idea how deep the dungeon went.

He did know one thing though... he couldn’t get hit by that again.