Nikolai knew large cats were not only fast, but strong. However, this bloody thing broke every single preconception he had. It moved gracefully despite it being obviously dead, but emanated raw strength and ferocity. He was guessing only its undead state was holding it back frankly.

  Dying did have a tendency to slow you down after all, and muscles and tissue stiffening up obviously wasn’t helping it. Granted, he was no expert on undead, but perhaps it was something Kaelith might be able to answer at a later point.

  Lurk clashed with it in the center of the room, and the noise of it was clamerous. The big, silent undead unit of a monster even occasionally managed glancing blows, on the other very large undead.

  Yeah, it was obvious things weren’t working out for Lurk in this particular fight, much to his obvious frustration. Nikolai had to assist the big guy.

  Kaelith stood back for the time being. She was looking at him calmly, which he took to mean that he had to be the one to act. She had said she wanted him to grow stronger, to advance his stage, and he supposed fighting large undead monsters was one way to do that.

  He took a deep breath, then nodded. He started with his Curse of Torment. It would work on the two-headed lion slowly, and hopefully gradually slow it down. He still wasn’t quite sure what it did to someone exactly, and it hadn’t been effective against Lurk at all, but it was cheap to cast, and any little bit would help.

  Also, just getting into the habit of using it was important, leaving abilities unused was just silly.

  Then there was Mind Wipe. Somehow, he instinctively knew it wouldn’t work well on undead in general, not unless they had intelligence to actually wipe. Of course so far, he had only fought the Corpse Lords that might fit that bill, but this lion thing… Nikolai experimentally cast the spell and was surprised to see it actually activate.

  Even with the two heads, could it be called a chimera? Chimeras were monsters, cobbled together from different species, at least that was what had been explained in that anime he had watched years ago.

  Whatever, that worked. Calling it “the lion thing” just felt a bit weird. The Chimera stumbled slightly, but seemed largely unaffected, which was more than he had expected to be fair.

  Still, that slight stumble was enough for Lurk. His sword caught up to it and carved into its backside, cutting crosswise and severing the monster’s tail. The tail clanged to the floor. Shockingly, Lurk did a small fist pump before continuing to harass the Chimera.

  Nikolai blinked, glanced at Kaelith whose mask revealed nothing, she just tilted her head slightly. Nikolai rolled his eyes, then pushed the thought out of his head.

  The Chimera seemed enraged now and charged Lurk, bearing down on him. Nikolai cast Lesser Essence Drain and felt the surge of stolen essence hit him. He grinned. If this continued, he could either heal Kaelith or save the reserves for his trump card. Such a useful spell, he cheered inwardly, especially with someone tanking the monster for him.

  Lurk got his feet up against the monster’s underside from his now-prone position, the Chimera still on top of him, and kicked it off him with surprising force. He rose to his feet, dropped his sword, and immediately launched into a wrestling match with the monster. Nikolai stared, mouth agape. What the—

  Kaelith sighed beside him. “Bloody oaf does this sometimes. He’ll obey orders if I give them, but if not, his overly competitive nature takes over. Seems he wants to test his strength…”

  Nikolai looked at her, flabbergasted. “You know, I’m taking this extremely seriously. I’m fighting for my bloody life here, and you… he…” He inhaled sharply and glared at her. “Is this a bloody joke to you?”

  Kaelith gave him a puzzled look. “I told you my stage, didn’t I? I mean, it’s not like that overgrown cat couldn’t harm me. I don’t want to get anywhere near that thing. That’s why I have Lurk. He’ll get himself torn up, sure, which is why I’m standing here. I’m saving my mana to fix him after. I am worried though.”

  “About what?” Nikolai demanded, still frowning and gesturing toward the fight. “Look at that!”

  Lurk had one of the Chimera’s heads in a deadlock and was in the process of twisting it off barehanded.

  Kaelith ignored the wrestling and pointed to the flame. “One lit flame. Seven unlit poles. Which means…”

  Nikolai understood her meaning and cursed. “Shit. Seven more fights after this one? This is just the first…”

  Kaelith nodded. “That would be my guess.”

  Nikolai kept the drain going, deciding on the spot he would need as much essence as possible. “Could you ask him to finish it off? We can’t have him worn out or too damaged to fight.”

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  Lurk was already sporting deep gouges in his armor, arms, and legs from the Chimera’s claws.

  Kaelith sighed. “He’ll be cross with me, but yes. Probably best I intervene.”

  Lurk’s head snapped up to look at Kaelith. Almost like a petulant child, he tore the head off, grabbed his sword, turned back to the severely battered Chimera, and began hacking it apart.

  Once done, he walked back to where the two of them stood, his eyes still locked on Kaelith. She held up both hands in an appeasing manner. “There will be more to fight in a moment, Lurk. Calm down!”

  The big man wasn’t threatening. He probably couldn’t be. But he was absolutely sulking. His shoulders drooped slightly, and his gait dragged, boots scraping as he scuffed forward like an irritated kid denied dessert. Nikolai might have chuckled, if not for the knowledge that something else would likely be coming—especially as the second candle ignited on its own, followed by the floor opening in three places.

  ‘’Fuck me..’’ Nikolai groaned

  A horde of insects erupted upward, chittering like a living nightmare. These were very much alive. And furious.

  Nikolai got the immediate feeling from his skill that each of the ant-like creatures wasn’t a huge threat on their own, but they just kept pouring out. Without hesitation, they charged at his little group.

  Kaelith hissed. “Myrmexen. This could be trouble!”

  Nikolai didn’t like the sound of that one bit and readied himself to fight for his life.

  Kaelith wasn’t holding back this time. Black flames roared forth from her hand, catching a large group of the skittering monsters in a cone. They screeched in pain, but their brethren didn’t pause in the slightest.

  Moments later, they were on them.

  Lurk held the front, swinging his sword in huge horizontal arcs, while Kaelith torched large groups with each spell. Nikolai decided he was the support of the group for this one and positioned himself between the two of them. He began conjuring mana shields, boxing off their flanks, so the Myrmexen had to come at them straight on.

  He had never held more than one shield active at a time before, but if there was ever a moment to push his limits, this was it. The monsters crashed against the shields, making them flicker. Nikolai reinforced them with more mana, funneling stolen essence into mana conversion with a greedy efficiency he hadn’t known he possessed.

  Their attacks weren’t powerful, but they were numerous. He felt the drain on his reserves. He wasn’t in danger of running out just yet, but as the Myrmexen kept pouring into the room, he had to wonder when it would stop.

  Lurk carved through swathes of the monsters with each swing. Black ichor sprayed violently.

  Kaelith changed tactics, and already dead insects began rising, bluish necromantic light swirling around her fingers. The risen Myrmexen turned on their living kin, forming a macabre protective ring around the three of them. He wondered what her limits were.

  Slowly, the risen Myrmexen increased in number and formed a ring around the trio. They seemed stupid though, in the sense that they only really did a few simple things, stand, kill, that was it. It was effective though…

  Eventually, the pressure on his left shield eased. He dismissed it. Their backs were to the wall now, so the bugs could only get at them from the front.

  It was time to recover a bit.

  He tried something new. His experience with working around affinity limitations told him that spells weren’t necessarily locked to one expression, that will and intent could reshape function.

  He visualised Kaelith’s shadow tendrils, layered that multitasking intent into his next spell, and swept his cane forward while casting Lesser Essence Drain, trying to hit multiple targets.

  It worked.

  Not perfectly though. He only latched onto a few of them, but even that was still bloody magnificent.

  The drain per insect was weaker, but the total intake? Exponential. Essence surged in. Mana began refilling. He instinctively knew he could cast Sacrificial Mana Blade without cost to himself now, but he kept draining anyway.

  Then the risen ring broke and was shoved backward. Nikolai stood about hip-height to the charging insects. Not Chimera-scale, but still towering enough to qualify as premium nightmare fuel for any sane human back on Earth.

  Despite the danger, Nikolai felt the pull of battle surge through him. Fear took a back seat. He pushed Soothe higher, dulling the fear further, sharpening logic instead.

  A curved blade of blazing white essence formed in his hand. Step. Swing. One fluid motion. The Myrmexen split like wet paper under shears and caught fire instantly. He kicked a burning segment into another insect and watched the horde recoil.

  They feared fire. Good to know.

  He hurled the blade forward into the throng. It carved through several monsters before embedding in the skull of an unlucky Myrmexen that immediately ignited from the blade’s intense light.

  Nikolai yanked the connection and rolled sideways, dragging the blade back through the swarm in a burning trench as it returned to his hand. He sidestepped, swung, vaulted over a charging insect, and made an elaborate swing over his head while inverted mid-leap, cleaving the creature crosswise.

  His movements were elegant, smooth and athletic. He felt amazing.

  The battle fervor swallowed time whole. Seconds blurred into minutes. He was aware Kaelith and Lurk were fighting. Through the bond, he felt Kaelith’s condition. She was fine, if a bit tired.

  The battle eventually slowed. The Myrmexen stopped coming. Then retreated. The floor openings sealed. The trio cleaned up the remaining insects with ruthless efficiency. When the final Myrmexen dropped, Nikolai stopped, his blood still boiling with adrenaline. But with no foes left to fight, calm consideration returned.

  He dismissed the blade in his hand. The light winked out. The room felt darker than it had before, like sunset had arrived mid-breath.

  Kaelith looked at him, surprised at his expression. She nodded. “Impressive. But more to come…”

  Nikolai saw the third pole ignite and cursed. Two down. Six to go.

  He exhaled, cane tapping the floor, and followed Kaelith to the center of the room. Two down, six to go…