Chapter 144: Testing New Magic

They moved deeper into the jagged terrain, the looping mana currents growing stronger with every pulse. The water here felt thick and sluggish, resistant to Gray’s movements. His blade-tentacles carved through it, leaving faint trails of displaced current in their wake.

Cindy stayed close, her frills splayed wide as she read the mana flow.

"It’s getting worse," she murmured. "The currents are spiraling tighter now. Like something is pulling them in."

Gray’s senses swept ahead, mapping the terrain through vibration and electroreception. The fissures in the seafloor were deeper here, their walls glowing with faint veins of pale blue mana that pulsed in erratic, stuttering rhythms.

Then he saw it.

At the center of a wide basin, surrounded by a ring of jagged rock spires, was a creature. It looked like a giant anemone, its base anchored to the seafloor, its body a thick column of translucent flesh that swayed gently in the looping current. Hundreds of thin, delicate tendrils extended from its crown, each one tipped with a tiny, glowing node that pulsed with the same pale blue light as the veins in the rock.

But it was the center of its crown that made Gray pause.

A single, massive eye, easily three feet across, dominated the anemone’s face. Its iris was a deep, swirling blue, and its pupil was a vertical slit that contracted and expanded with each pulse of mana.

[CYCLE ANEMONE — Level 40]

HP: 1800 / 1800

MP: 1200 / 1200

Threat Level: HIGH

« Analysis »

A rare, stationary predator that anchors itself to mana-rich seafloors. The Cycle Anemone feeds on ambient mana, drawing it in through its tendrils and storing it within its central core. Its single eye can cast a variety of mana-based spells, including binding, draining, and disorienting attacks.

Behavior: Passive until provoked. The Cycle Anemone will not pursue prey, but will defend its territory with overwhelming force. It prioritizes threats based on mana output, targeting the strongest source first.

Weakness: The tendrils are fragile. Severing them disrupts the Cycle Anemone’s ability to draw in mana and weakens its spellcasting. The central eye is heavily armored but vulnerable when the tendrils are disabled.

’The mana loops,’ Cindy said, her voice quiet with realization. ’It’s this thing. It’s been pulling in the ambient mana and cycling it back out. That’s why the currents are stuck in a loop.’

Gray felt that this creature wouldn’t be too difficult to fight because it had arcane burst.

’It’s Level 40 huh....’

"It’s stationary," Cindy said. "It won’t chase us if we leave. But if we want to explore this area, we’ll have to deal with it."

’Then we deal with it.’ Gray turned toward her. ’You said you wanted to test your water magic. This is a good target.’ He paused. ’And if it targets the strongest mana source first...’

Cindy’s frills stiffened as she understood what Gray was implying.

"...It’ll target me."

’Yeah. So we need to control the engagement. I’ll draw its attention while you disable its tendrils. Once the tendrils are gone, I’ll hit the eye.’

Cindy nodded, her frills steadying.

"Okay. Let’s test this new dynamic."

Gray activated Phantom Cloak and dissolved into the darkness, his presence vanishing from every sense. Then he circled wide, drifting behind the Cycle Anemone’s crown, positioning himself outside the reach of its tendrils and out of its eye’s line of sight.

The Cycle Anemone’s massive eye swiveled toward Cindy, its pupil contracting as it locked onto her mana signature.

The tendrils began to rise.

Gray waited, watching Cindy hold her position as the Cycle Anemone’s tendrils lifted and the water around them began to churn.

"Gray," Cindy said, her voice steady despite the tension. "Whenever you’re ready."

Gray exploded out of Phantom Cloak and fired Void Reaper’s Lance directly into the base of the Cycle Anemone’s crown, tearing through a cluster of tendrils.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 208 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 1592 / 1800]

[BLEED — 10 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[TENDRILS SEVERED — 12]

The Cycle Anemone’s eye snapped toward him, its pupil dilating with shock and fury.

But Cindy was already moving. She raised both hands, and the water around the Cycle Anemone’s remaining tendrils began to twist. A vortex formed, tight and fast, pulling the tendrils inward, tangling them together.

"[Water Vortex]!"

The tendrils thrashed, trying to escape, but the current held them in place, compressing them into a tight knot.

[WATER VORTEX — TENDRILLS RESTRAINED]

[MANA ABSORPTION — DISRUPTED]

The Cycle Anemone’s eye flickered, its spells faltering. Its mana output stuttered, the looping currents around it breaking apart.

’It’s working!’ Cindy called. ’It can’t draw mana while the tendrils are bound!’

Gray fired Needle Storm into the tangled tendrils, the crescent blades slicing through the knot.

[NEEDLE STORM — 148 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 1444 / 1800]

[MORE TENDRILS SEVERED]

[MANA CYCLE — DESTABILIZED]

The Cycle Anemone’s eye narrowed. It couldn’t cast its binding spells, but it still had raw mana. The iris blazed bright, and a pulse of pure, concussive force erupted from its pupil.

The blast slammed into Gray before he could dodge, sending him tumbling through the water.

[-126 HP]

[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 1046 / 1290]

[CONCUSSION — 2 SECONDS]

’Tch! It can still attack!’

Cindy’s voice cut through the ringing in his bell. ’Gray! Its eye is charging again!’

Gray forced his body to move, the concussion slowing his reactions. He activated Current Dash, dissolving and reforming behind the Cycle Anemone’s crown, out of the eye’s line of sight.

’Cindy, keep it looking at you! I’ll hit it from behind!’

’Roger that!’

Cindy raised her hands again, and a second vortex formed around the Cycle Anemone’s base, pulling at its anchored body. The creature shuddered, its eye swinging toward her, its pupil narrowing with rage.

Gray drove all eight blade-tentacles into the back of the Cycle Anemone’s crown, where the flesh was softer.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 216 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 1228 / 1800]

[BLEED — 10 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[CORE EXPOSED]

The Cycle Anemone convulsed, its remaining tendrils flailing. The eye tried to turn toward Gray, but Cindy’s vortex held its body in place.

’Now!’ Gray shouted. ’Hit the eye!’

Cindy raised both hands, and a spear of ice formed above her palm, larger and sharper than any she’d cast before. It pulsed with silver light, her Fifth Circle mana compressing into a single, devastating point.

"[Glacial Lance]!"

The spear shot forward, straight toward the Cycle Anemone’s massive eye. The creature tried to dodge, but the vortex held it firm. The lance struck the eye dead center.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 312 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 916 / 1800]

[EYE — CRACKED]

The Cycle Anemone screamed, a high, keening sound that vibrated through the water. Its pupil flickered, the vertical slit widening and contracting erratically.

Gray didn’t let up. He fired Void Reaper’s Lance into the cracked eye.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 224 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 692 / 1800]

[BLEED — 10 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

[EYE — CRITICAL]

Cindy followed with another Glacial Lance, the spear punching through the damaged iris.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 308 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 384 / 1800]

The Cycle Anemone’s eye went dark. Its tendrils went limp. The vortex holding it in place dissipated as Cindy released the spell, her mana nearly spent.

Gray wrapped his tentacles around the Cycle Anemone’s crown and activated Grip Jaw.

[GRIP JAW — 68 DAMAGE]

[GRIP JAW — 62 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 254 / 1800]

Overcharge detonated directly into the cracked eye.

[OVERCHARGE — 218 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE — HP: 36 / 1800]

One final Void Reaper’s Lance ended it.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 228 DAMAGE]

[CYCLE ANEMONE DEFEATED — 1,800 EXP]

Gray absorbed the Cycle Anemone’s remains, the taste strange and faintly sweet, like fermented fruit.

’Not bad,’ he said. ’The eye was the weak point, just like the analysis said.’

Cindy drifted beside him, her glow dim and her frills drooping. ’That Glacial Lance took more out of me than I expected.’

’That was good, though. You handled it cleanly.’

Cindy nodded, then pressed her hands against his carapace, healing the damage he’d taken.

’You did well back there too,’ she said quietly.