Trickster and Wavecaller
*SWOOSH* *POP*
The Brookborns seemed never-ending as they obstructed Ayaan's path forward.
Halfway through the path to the next cave dwelling, Ayaan felt his vision turn a bit fuzzy. The path to the cave-dwelling in front rippled a bit. Because of the increased perception, Ayaan didn't fall for the trick this time. This also made his decision regarding the available Stat points much easier.
He used leftover Stat points, all of them on the perception.
Perception (SEN): 64+5>69+5
The rippling image became clear, however instead of the previous image, it displayed three Brookborns Tricksters with their heads and hands out of the water extended towards Ayaan.
They are trying to cast another illusion over him and this time, the threat is a lot more than some Monster mob gang. Behind the three Tricksters, a brookborn stood. It is much bigger and taller than the rest of the brookborns.
It is almost as big as Ayaan with its upper torso and head completely out of the stream.
Level 3: Brookborn Wave caller [██████████████████████] 100.0%
But its size or name is not the most eye-catching part.
There is a scythe in its hands which is completely conjured out of water. Ayaan can clearly see that it was water, not even ice, just water, but it took the shape of a scythe and acted like a solid object. The brook born spun the scythe and slashed it towards Ayaan.
Even though there was a distance of hundreds of meters between them, Ayaan felt a sense of danger. He immediately ducked forward.
The swing of the scythe created a small disturbance on the surface of the stream making a bit of water rise.
The water that rose like that, moved towards Ayaan with an incredible speed and by the time it reached Ayaan.. the small disturbance turned into a sharp and concentrated wave that missed his head by a hair's breadth.
As Ayaan ducked forward and didn't get a chance to shoot down, one of the Level 2 Brookborns reached Sam and tried to bite him off.
HP-1
The notification slightly pissed him off. He caught the brookborn by its head and forcefully threw it at the second incoming wave sent by the wave caller.
The brookborn hit the incoming wave squarely and its body split into two. But the wave has also died down instantly.
However, what followed were two simultaneous waves. Ayaan decisively dove into the water. He put the Black Alloy Sword into the inventory and held the Black Iron Combat knife.
As the Brookborns tried to surround him, he stabbed one in the eye and shot a water bullet.
*POP*
Its head exploded, but Ayaan noticed that the water bullet was not working that well underwater. Previously, the head of a Brookborn exploded into at least a couple of dozen pieces with a single 2 MP bullet.
But now, it only turned to five or six pieces. It is getting the job done, but it is not as efficient in his opinion.
Of course, he didn't stop and dwell on it.
'Enhanced Aqua Respite'
He activated the skill and is now on equal footing with the Brookborns. Now that he doesn't have to worry about breathing, the slaughter began.
Ayaan skillfully maneuvered underwater stabbed the Brookborn and then shot it down. All the while, he just let the stream carry him forward.
Within two minutes, the Tricksters are Wave caller are left clueless in their positions. All the movement ceased. They could neither see their brookborn companions nor could they spot Ayaan.
At this moment, underwater.
The webbed feet of the three tricksters are moving back and forth keeping them afloat. The water is completely dyed blue with the Sapphire blood, completely blocking off whatever little could be seen in that already dark cave.
Two human hands appeared and caught hold of the two tricksters by their feet and dragged them underwater.
*SQUIRT* *POP*
The already blue water turned an even darker shade with the addition of new blood.
*SCREECH*
The remaining trickster screeched as it was also dragged down at the moment. All three tricksters, three aquatic creatures taken down into the water to be killed. The irony of it all….
*SCREECH*
The wave caller screamed loudly as it waved its scythe around. It is sending the sharp waves leaving marks on the sturdy cave walls. However, the waves themselves do not break past the surface of the stream and enter underwater.
Meanwhile, Ayaan captured the loot of the three tricksters and swallowed the essence of the three, increasing his perception.
Even in that murky water, he can see them clearly.
He swam close to the wave called, took out two Black Iron swords, and stabbed into both of its feet.
*STAB*
The black iron swords went through the foot and lodged into the bed of the stream.
*SCREECH*
The wave called screamed again and dove into the water. It is unable to move forward. When it tries to move its legs, the swords are tearing into its flesh, making it scream in pain.
Ayaan who was swimming near the wavecaller fell into its line of sight.
It swung its scythe at him angrily. Even though the cutting wave didn't come underwater, the scythe still remained coming towards Ayaan's neck.
For some reason, it didn't even have the same resistance Ayaan had when he usually swung his sword.
Ayaan moved to the side, dodging the scythe. It is big, but not big enough to cover the whole width of the stream. As it locked into the ground, Ayaan swam past the Wave caller and came out behind it. The wave caller sensed his arrival, but it couldn't do anything.
It couldn't even turn around, with its body locked.
Maybe if it got more angry and desperate, it would have torn through the swords and attacked him. But Ayaan didn't want to give it that chance. He came out of the water, aimed his finger at its head, and shot a 2 MP bullet.
*POP*
But Ayaan was surprised by what he saw.
[█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 3.0%
The wavecaller didn't die. Even at the point-blank, even with its head open and blood spilling out, it still has faint life left over. It didn't die immediately.
Its body fell into the water and its HP slowly dropped soon reaching 0.
Two drops appeared.
One is the shard and the second one is another pill. This one is different than the essence of a trickster.
==============================
ITEM DETAILS
==============================
**Name:** Aqua Manifest
**Type:** Consumable
**Grade:** Uncommon
**Description:**
The essence extracted from the Brookborn Wavecaller. Allows player to temporarily manifest a weapon of choice. The manifested weapon can be wielded for five minutes or until its durability is exhausted.
==============================
Ayaan realized what made the scythe appear in the wave caller's hands. He placed it in the inventory and swam forward. He soon reached the third cave dwelling within minutes.
As soon as he arrived, he already felt a slight headache. The tricksters are ready for him. With his increased perception Ayaan wasn't subjected to any illusion.
He watched as a mob of Level 2 Brookborns swarmed him. He swam through them and arrived at the open space of the cave dwelling where the water was a little above his knees. There are a couple of brookborns that caught hold of him with their mouths trying to bite him off.
[HP-1]
[HP-1]
But that is all the damage they could do. The Water Serpent King armor did work wonders against these superficial bites.
He smashed their heads in and took out his sword. The slashing and swinging began. The only problem is that apart from the mob of these level 2 creatures that numbered around thirty, there are two wave callers and three more Tricksters in the room.
The wave callers are slashing their scythes sending the sharp waves at Ayaan.
Ayaan only had one answer for them. He picked up a Brookborn and threw them against the waves. Not only was it easier than killing them, but he also got the Exp that he needed.
Within a few minutes, Ayaan made a short work of the Level 2 Mob. He is getting good at using Water bullet in conjunction with the melee weapons.
He wiped the blood off his knife as he looked at the Five monsters left. The tricksters… they are the biggest gift yet in this scenario. Apart from the small initial hiccup with them, most of the time they are just free Exp.
*BAM* *BAM*
The wave-callers are attacking him constantly. Ayaan dodged the attacks but didn't charge forward. Instead, he took out the Aqua manifest pill and popped it in his mouth. A cold surge of weird energy entered his body.
With a mere thought, a spear solely made out of water conjured in his hand. Ayaan's hand tightened around its shaft. Apart from the cold and soothing feel it gave to his hand, it felt as solid as an actual spear.
*BAM* *BAM*
He dodged the next two attacks, slipped to the side, and threw the spear at one of the wavecallers.
*WOOSH*
The spear cut through the air and whistled its way toward the wavecaller.
*STAB*
The spear went through the wave caller's arm. Ayaan lunged forward and caught hold of one trickster, throwing it at the second wavecaller. He then jumped at the first wave caller that was already hit.
It pulled out the water spear and threw it away before swinging its scythe. Ayaan blocked the scythe's movement with the alloy sword. He took out the Black Iron Sword and slashed its neck.
The black iron sword went halfway through its neck and got stuck in there.
Sapphire blood gushed out as the wavecaller knelt on the ground. It tried to move, but its body lost its strength with the bleeding.
Its HP that hit ten points is slowly dropping.
Ayaan ignored it and turned to the remaining three opponents. The tricksters ran towards the stream to escape into the pathway leading to the fourth cave dwelling.
And the remaining wave caller covered him.
Ayaan picked up the spear and threw it at the wave caller. It swung its scythe deflecting the spear, but Ayaan already closed the distance and swung his sword.
*BANG*
The wavecaller blocked his attack and tried to push him back. Ayaan used the same tactic as before. He took out a second sword and stabbed it in the gut. The wavecaller brought the scythe down onto the second sword while trying to step back.
While it did succeed in doing that, Ayaan's first sword went through its flesh and he didn't stop there. He lunged forward, not giving it enough gap to wield that scythe. The wavecaller blocked the incoming sword again, but as soon as it was blocked, Ayaan just let it go and a third sword appeared in that hand.
*SWOOSH*
The wavecaller didn't expect this. The sword went through its gut. Ayaan let go of it and kicked the fallen sword up stabbing it in its chest. The first sword now was free without any blocks, so he stabbed it in its heart.
The three swords two in the chest and one in the gut did enough to make the wavecaller drop to its knees.
*SCREECH* *SCREECH*
The two remaining tricksters are screaming as they swam into the tunnel. Ayaan stored his swords away and only held the Alloy sword. He collected the loot and got ready to chase after them.
But after taking a few steps into the tunnel, Ayaan stopped in his tracks. There are several glowing dots in the dark tunnel. Dozens of them. The whole tunnel seemed to be full of them and they were charging at him.
Ayaan immediately turned his tail and ran back to the open space. He stood there and got ready. He stabbed the alloy sword into the ground and popped one of the aqua manifest pills in his mouth. As the surge of cold energy swept through his body, he saw the wave of monsters come at him.
The charge is being led by three wavecallers and all of them wielded their scythes at the same time. With a thought, a shield made of water conjured in Ayaan's hand as he blocked in the incoming attacks. The three waves clashed against the shield, he did feel some impact, but no damage was done.
Ayaan aimed his hand and started charging water bullets. But this time, he went past 1 MP and 2 MP. He conjured a bullet with 3 MP. It took some more time to conjure and gave a chance for some Level 2 mob to close the distance, but when he did shoot it…
*BOOM*
The bullet made an explosive sound as it went past the Level 2 mob, exploding three heads before blowing the four away.
Ayaan changed the direction a bit and aimed the bullet at the wavecallers. The Level 2 mob is unable to go past the shield Ayaan held. He stood in a narrow space and the shield is as tall as him.
He moved the shield around and pushed the mob, while he focused on the wave callers.
*BOOM*
The second bullet went past the mob and hit the wavecaller directly.
The bullet pierced its chest, left a deep hole and sent the wave caller flying into the stream.