The Grand Weave

Without thinking, I pushed both of my palms outward and started spraying a torrent of fire at the monster. If the strategy worked once, it should work again, or at the least distract the naga so that we didn't get impaled by a spear.

I channeled enough mana to dip into the first stage of mana fatigue, and the sudden flash of cold made me stumble. When I caught myself from falling, I looked up and saw that the monster was staring at me behind a barrier of orange light. Her amber, snake-like eyes glared down at me and grabbed my attention. It felt like I was a tiny mouse looking into the void of a serpent's jaw. I found myself unable to move or run away. The witch's cold eyes became the only thing I could think about.

Vaguely I could see her dropping the magic barrier and raising one of her arms. The only reason I didn't become a shish kebab right then and there was due to something tackling me from behind. With an oomph I smashed my face into the ground, and I could feel my nose break. A loud echoing hiss spread throughout the cavern as I felt a rush of air breeze over my head.

"Andrew! We need to go!"

Large meaty hands grabbed my shoulders and hauled me up. The thing that tackled me had been Andrew, and where I stood before he knocked me over was one of the crystal spears. Another loud hiss made me focus back on the witch. The man named Oro was using a skill that sent out what looked like blades of compressed air. The witch's barrier was back up, and each hit made it flare up in a burst of light.

"Cyrus, we have to run. We can't fight that thing. It's tier two," Andrew said hurriedly.

My eyes widened at the revelation, but I wasn't that surprised. If I had a full tank of mana, I would be more confident fighting the monster but seeing as I was already nearing empty, it was a moot point. I nodded at the man and followed him as he ran toward his teammates. Ruina gripped her brother's shirt as Aaron stood to her side with his blade out.

When we got close, Oro started backing up, with Ruina dragging him backward. The witch tried to throw one of her spears at him, but another wind blade forced her to abandon the action and put up her barrier again. Andrew positioned himself next to Oro, and I found myself behind him. As quickly as we could, we moved closer to an opening in the wall with stairs leading upwards.

"How long can you keep this up, Oro?" Andrew asked worriedly.

"Not long. Only have enough mana for another three Air Blades," Oro replied while gritting his teeth.

"Delay your first two shots. It buys us time; hopefully, she'll worry about you sending out more."

"Damn it all. Fine!"

We made a few meters of progress as we swiftly backed up. Oro's first shot impacted the glowing barrier doing no damage. He waited another ten seconds before he sent out the next one. I avoided looking the witch in the eyes again, but I could tell she was furious by the increased amount of hissing coming from her. The witch kept her barrier up and waited for more than fifteen seconds. She started slithering closer when she lowered her barrier, and nothing got her way. Before she could throw two of the spears in her hands, Oro sent the final Air Blade, which sliced into the scaled flesh of her lower right arm. The two spears cracked and shattered when they slipped from her grasp.

The naga's staff started glowing again, and I hoped she would conjure another barrier and sit there till we got into the stairwell, but that dream was crushed when she started charging at us. Her winding snake body covered ground faster than we could run.

"Ruina!" Andrew shouted.

Ruina stepped in front of her brother and started vibrating. The feeling set my teeth on edge as I backed away quickly. The witch was hit by whatever skill Ruina was using and slowed enough for Andrew to activate his own skill and rushed at the monster in a blur.

Even when slowed by the skill Ruina was using, the witch was able to block Andrew's axe with her last remaining spear. The spear shattered into pieces after the collision, but the naga smashed into Andrew's shoulder with her free arm, knocking him away. Her long tail reared up and slammed down on the same spot where her fist hit his shoulder. With a cry of pain, Andrew rolled to his feet and jumped away.

I couldn't afford to use any more mana. Otherwise, I'd find myself unconscious from extreme mana fatigue. Something I was not willing to do inside a dungeon about to explode with monsters. With nothing else to attack her with, I started conjuring random pots and pans I had in my inventory and threw them at her. The sound of a metal pot smacking into her head would have been comedic in any other situation.

Andrew had a look of confusion on his face, but he used the brief distraction to run back to the group. Then Ruina stopped her skill and huddled closer to her Oro. I threw the last remaining piece of cookware I had left and joined them. I could tell they wanted to ask questions, but thankfully none of them did.

By now, we were only a couple of yards away from the stairwell. If we could distract the witch long enough to run, we could escape the floor and rush into the safe area.

"What now?" I asked while sputtering blood out of my nose.

"Anything else you can throw at her?" Andrew asked.

"Sorry, I'm all out. I could throw my dagger, but I'd prefer to keep it."

"Then we back up as quick as we can and hope she doesn't kill us."

"That's fine, but why is her staff starting to pulse?"

"Shit! Fireball incoming!

The witch's staff was now radiating energy, and small bursts of flames started spiraling around the shaft. She swung the weapon in our direction with two hands, and a growing ball of fire emerged from the tip. I heard what sounded like crying coming from behind me. Andrew crouched and brought his axe in front of him, most likely in some poor attempt to block the incoming projectile. Oro was in front of his sister again, arms akimbo, while Aaron slung the backpack off his shoulders and hid behind it.

If the fireball hit, there was a more than likely chance everyone would become barbeque again. I knew I was supposed to be resistant to fire, even more so after my new skills and passives. I also knew it would be a horrible idea to try putting that resistance to the test against a monster two tiers ahead of me. But I did have the highest chance of surviving the incoming explosion.

A wave of anger and frustration hit me, followed by sounds of very angry chirping. It was hard to follow what she was saying to me, but I understood it quickly enough. This was still going to hurt, but I should come out of this ordeal only somewhat crispy.

I heard Andrew ask me something, but my heart beating in my chest drowned out his words. My blood started to boil and writhe beneath my skin. Despite the insaneness of my plan and the incoming pain, I was getting excited. A rush of adrenaline pumping through me made me smile with my teeth bared.

The spirals of flame around the staff spun fast enough to make the staff look like it was made of fire. In less time than I had to blink, a screeching ball of fire blasted out from the weapon like a rocket. The fireball trailed ribbons of flames, making it look beautiful to watch for just a moment. Even with my resistance to fire, I could feel the heat of the fireball. With an exhale of breath I didn't know I was holding, I started to channel the little mana I had and made it suction in.

The fireball smashed into my chest and sent me rocketing backwards into the first flights of steps. I felt the impact of the stone steps slamming into my back, but I was busy focusing on the torrent of flaming mana spinning into my chest. Zharia gave me as many instructions and feelings as she could, helping in directing me in taking in the flames. With a sharp inhale, I started swallowing the mana. The fireball was made of condensed fire mana spun in a direction to add momentum. To break down the mana, I had to try siphoning off the condensed energy and disrupting the spin.

It sounded technical and complicated, and combined with the fact my only teacher was a spirit beast who only knew how to do it instinctually, it made the task all the more difficult. I felt the foreign mana enter my body and reach my metaphysical lake. It burned with a ferocity that set the lake's surface on fire. I wasn't sure how it looked on the outside, but in my inner world, I saw the mana break down and become one with my own mana.

It felt like minutes passed as I tried to steal away the fireball's energy, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. With each jab at the flames, more fire-aspected mana rushed down into my chest. As quickly as possible, I channeled the new mana through my body and tried to flare up my flames against the fireball. The fireball felt smaller than before, but I was being overwhelmed. The fire scorched my throat, and my chest burned in agony. I was desperate to stop the pain and wanted to scream but couldn't. Another poke at the fireball finally caused the spiral of mana to skip and unravel itself. With another pulse of supercharged heat, the fireball exploded outwards and away from me but still knocked my bruised body against the stone.

A deep groan escaped my dried throat. Thanks to the necklace, my mana channels were bruised before; now, they were raw channels of pain as my mana sputtered through them. Looking inward, the lake I called my mana was steaming and on fire in some spots, but it filled up enough to push me out of mana fatigue. The only downside was I replaced sharp, cold pain with sharp, hot pain.

This time, two sets of hands slowly pulled me off my back and sat me up. Ahead of me at the entrance to the stairs, Andrew and Aaron were parrying away the witch's attacks. Staff and fist met axe and sword, but her taller stature and longer reach made the task difficult.

I looked back and looked Oro and Ruina in the eyes. "Help me up."

With difficulty, I managed to stand up shakily. Most of my weight was being supported by the two behind me, and I bit my tongue as I clamped down on a scream when my back spasmed.

"Andrew! Aaron! When you're ready, rush behind me. I have an idea."

The two grunted, and I hoped that was them acknowledging my words. A wide swing clipped Aaron's wrist and caused him to drop his sword. Before she could retaliate with another, Andrew hacked into the witch's hand and sliced off three of her fingers. She recoiled with a hiss and grasped her hand. Aaron went to grab his fallen sword, but Andrew clamped him on the shoulder and tugged him up the stairs.

When the two jogged past me, I mentally reached into my inventory and conjured up the webbing from the blood spiders. The crimson webbing fell in a wet clump and stuck to the floor. Biting back another moan, I urged my two living crutches upward after Andrew and Aaron.

The witch thumped her tail against the stone wall and cracked it. Her staff started charging up as she slithered up the stairs after us. Looking back, I saw her reach the clump of spiderwebs and giggled in glee as the tall bitch nearly smashed her head on the steps. A series of loud hissings began, and a smaller ball of flame screamed through the air, but thanks to the others, they helped me up the steps as the miniature fireball splashed harmlessly against the stone.

The scramble to get to the safe area felt like it took way too long, as each step up caused the bones in my back to creak. Eventually, the stairs widened into an open room bigger than the one between floor two and floor three. When we stumbled out of the stairwell, the two holding me up slowly settled me against the wall and sat down. The sounds of laughter tinkled out of Ruina's throat, and the others were cackling along with her when it rose into a full belly laugh. I would have joined in, but giggling at the witch before already ruined my throat past the ability to make sounds.

Exhausted beyond belief and feeling more like a piece of fried chicken than I'd care to admit, I began to channel my mana a final time. The others around me stopped laughing as they saw the golden flames start to sprout from the feathers across my body. With a final surge and a mental popping sound in my head for comedic effect, Spirit Lord's Invocation ended, and Zharia reformed on the top of my head. I gently scooped her off my hair and held her in my lap. A barely audible sigh escaped my throat, and I felt myself turn to jelly against the stone floor.

When I looked up again, I saw the others staring at me with their jaws wide open. A series of confusion and incredulity stared back at me.

"Uhhh, what's wrong? Is there something on my face?" is what I tried to say, but it came out more as a series of grunts.

Zharia lightly nudged my thumb and chirped. "Master, don't be silly. You're wearing your mask. They can't see your face."

I brought a hand to my face, and sure enough, my mask was still on. I had forgotten the entire time that I still wore it—looking back at everything that happened, I cursed. If I wore the mask the whole time, it meant my transformation had the mask on. This meant that these guys never saw my face and probably had no idea if I wasn't also some dungeon monster when I first came to help them.

Err. So I kinda can't speak right now. And I still need to wait before I summon Áine. Do you mind being my voicebox for now?"

Zharia shook her head and expressed how much she thought I was being silly. "Of course, Master. I'll make sure these humans listen to you!"

I sighed but prompted her to repeat what I said to the humans.

"My Master wants to know why you have your jaws on the floor! Is there a problem?!"

I facepalmed, and I felt a headache coming on. It was hard to remember that Zharia's way of speaking was a little haughty. Without being able to speak myself, I wouldn't be able to stop them from thinking I was looking down on them. Thankfully, her words got them to recollect themselves and stare at each other in awkward silence. Finally, Andrew cleared his throat and tried to say something, but Aaron beat him to it.

"You're not a spirit?!"

Now it was my turn to look like a surprised fish. Did they all really think I was some kind of spirit?