Chapter 123: Battle of Roots

The monster was huge, easily the size of a school bus. Its body was covered in plant fires.

These plants looked more like parasites feeding off the ant’s body. Using my mana sight, I could see that the roots were wrapped on the monster’s core, seemingly feeding off its energy.

Every breath that the ant took caused a ripple of mana to pour out of its body. The amount of mana the beast used just to exhale seemed greater than the total amount of mana I possessed.

Amanda drew her blade and stepped forward, flanking the monster on the left as if to draw its attention away from me.

"We’re going to have to work together on this," I said, moving to its right.

Amanda looked at me and gave a small nod.

"I’ll face it head on while you look for an opening," I continued.

"Are you sure?"

"While I may not be as powerful as this monster, I’m positive I can tank its attacks."

I increased my size to match the giant ant and snapped at the monster like an anaconda, aiming to wrap myself around it just like I did with the shrimp, but the beast was fast.

It swerved out of my path and rammed its head into my body like a battering ram.

My exoskeleton shook but still managed to absorb the blast.

The creature then grabbed a hold of me with its mandibles, aiming to crush my exoskeleton.

At the same time Amanda surged forward like an unstoppable wave. She circled around the creature like a hawk as she watched for any weaknesses.

This wasn’t hard to find; the monster’s body was covered in cracks, and each crack had roots growing out of it.

The roots seemed to have taken on a life of their own. They shot out from the creature’s carapace and latched around my neck.

Immediately, I could feel my mana being drained as if it were being sucked out of me.

Using my forcipules as a blade, I cut through the roots and set myself free.

"Be careful of the roots!" I warned Amanda as she continued to circle around the beast.

The roots shot out like tentacles, swatting at her and aiming to grab her in its clutches.

Amanda moved like a leaf drifting through a storm of attacks. She ducked, jumped, and slashed her way through the roots until she was directly behind the monster.

She targeted its back leg. The obsidian blade tore through the monster’s exoskeleton, biting deep into the flesh below. The giant ant kicked its leg like a horse being bothered by flies. Still, the ant lowered its head and rammed itself into my body once again.

I tried to shove back, but it felt as if I were being hit by a train going 300 miles per hour. I flew through the air and crashed into the wall on the other end of the chamber. The entire structure shook from the impact, and a section of the wall collapsed onto me.

I groaned and tried to pick myself off the ground, but the moment I opened my eyes, the ants were above me. Its leg slammed into my carapace like a spear. I was crushed against the ground, sending web-like cracks through the chamber, yet still it couldn’t penetrate my exoskeleton.

I activated my eruption spell, and immediately the ground erupted in magma just below the monster’s body. The hot liquid shot upwards, burning the monster’s underside and melting through its exoskeleton.

The giant ant didn’t react and instead slammed its spear-like feet into my exoskeleton once again.

And just a few seconds later, its melted exoskeleton began to heal, and the mana emanating from its body practically doubled.

It was as if the roots were pumping an endless supply of mana into the monster’s body.

Yet there was something strange about this monster. The amount of mana it had didn’t make sense.

With the sheer amount of mana coursing through its body, it should’ve been a lot more powerful.

It should’ve been launching an endless barrage of spells.

It had almost an inexhaustible well of mana to draw from. Yet so far most of its attacks are physical and regenerative.

It hadn’t used any spells. It was almost as if it couldn’t.

Even if you had mana, you still wouldn’t be able to cast spells if you didn’t have affinities.

Usually in such a scenario, the creature would use its mana to buff its physical strength. Like an orc, for example.

This monster before me was one such creature. Yet it was strange for a monster that didn’t have the mage class or affinities to possess this much mana. It was practically unheard of.

It was almost as if these roots had attached themselves onto a relatively weak monster and supplied it with mana until it had reached this level of power.

Lily claimed that these roots contained ichor, which was the blood of a race of Celestials.

The monster raised its leg once again to crush me against the ground, but just then I sprayed acid over its face.

At the same time Amanda attacked the monster’s back leg once again. Her blade tore through both exoskeleton and flesh.

The monster stumbled from having one of its legs cut clean off, and at the same time, I created a stinger at my rear and through the monster’s abdomen while at the same time wrapping myself around it like a noose.

As I wrapped around the ants, the roots inside its body shot out and wrapped around my body, creating a tangled mess.

My strength faded, but just then I felt the pressure on my body fade as Amanda cut through the roots wrapped around me with calm ease.

Whenever new roots would grow, she would cut them down in an instant. While she protected me from the roots, I compressed my body against the ants.

Loud cracks rippled through the air as the ants began kicking its leg violently. It thrashed and fought to escape my hold as its body was being crushed.

Orange juice sprayed out of its body and covered my exoskeleton, creating a sticky mess.

Its strength waned as the lower half of its body was crushed. Its organs and blood splattered out onto my exoskeleton, creating a foul scent that almost made me gag.

Soon its body went limp, and the sound I was waiting for finally rang out inside my head.

[You have slain a Splicer Void ant.]

You would think that after killing such a creature I would gain enough EXP to level up, but it was almost as if the creature I had just killed was of no significance.

It was like a monster amped up on steroids with no real strength of its own.

With the monster dead, I released it, allowing its body to plop onto the ground like a useless doll.

Amanda sheltered her weapon and collapsed to the ground almost immediately.

"Phew, that thing is a lot weaker than I thought it would be," she rasped. "What’s up with that?"

After such a battle, I collapsed beside her while she fanned herself with a piece of the monster’s exoskeleton.

"Have you ever heard of a race of celestials?"

She froze, and the blood in her face seemed to have evaporated at once, turning her as pale as a ghost.

"Where did you hear that?"

"I-"

My words were caught in my throat as a sharp pain suddenly ripped through my body. It felt as if something had crawled its way through my exoskeleton and was now burrowing into my body.

I squirmed and snapped at my own body, trying to stop whatever it was. When that didn’t work, I activated my mold skill, trying to shed my exoskeleton before the thing could reach inside my body, but it was too late.

It was inside my body, and shedding my exoskeleton meant nothing, and soon a new exoskeleton grew in its place.

I could feel it writhing inside me almost like a worm as it made its way towards my core.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Amanda rushed towards me, dagger in hand.

"It’s inside me!" I shouted.

I didn’t have to elaborate; she immediately understood.

"The roots!"

"Yes, cut it out! Before it gets to my core!"

I directed her to where the monster was inside my body. Amanda took a deep breath and stabbed forward, but what we failed to realize in that moment was just how hard my exoskeleton was.

Her dagger slid off my exoskeleton uselessly, unable to create a single crack. In fact, it was her obsidian blade that was chipped as a result.

Even though they were both made from my obsidian, the obsidian on my body was still much harder since I molded. I didn’t have time to create another dagger that could pierce my armor since it was too late.

The roots wrapped themselves around my core with the strength of a vice.