The gorilla swung its fist down, about to flatten Nesha like a pancake. Percy and Elaine were too far to save her, currently locked up with the creatureâs packmates. But she didnât need help.
Right when the attack was about to hit, something strange happened.
Nesha took a step back. Just a single, quick step. But her foot landed over a dozen metres behind her, her leg stretching like a rubber band. Next, the rest of her body stretched, and then snapped back, letting the creatureâs fist hit nothing but empty space.
The punch still pulverized the ground where sheâd stood a moment ago, sending a rain of splinters all over the place. But Nesha was completely unharmed, already preparing her next spell.
Naturally, it wasnât her body that had changed shape. It was the space between the two spots that sheâd compressed, allowing her to traverse it more easily. Whatâs more, this was merely a Crude spell â Space Squeeze! Evidently, even the simplest applications of a rare affinity were quite flashy!
She hadnât developed it by accident either. Her previous lack of mobility had bothered her for a long time, having been one of her greatest weaknesses. It was the reason she had been unable to fully participate in the fights against Grian, Jason and the Divine Root. Even though her offensive power wasnât lacking, it would have only taken a single hit to eliminate her, unless she had somebody covering for her. And that wasnât always an option.
Admittedly, the spell did eat a lot of mana, despite its low tier. Or perhaps,
because of it
. But that was ultimately a small price to pay, to preserve her life.
And it wasnât the only thing sheâd been working onâŠ
âThird timeâs the charmâŠâ
she thought, focusing on the mana inside her core.
The gorilla was furious. It let out a savage roar as it pounded its chest, each thunderous shockwave sending the air around it into turmoil. Then, it landed on all fours, charging towards her. Even like this, it towered over her, but she didnât let fear get in her way.
Splitting part of her attention, Nesha concentrated on the Green core thrumming inside the creatureâs hulking frame. She couldnât see it as clearly as Percy, but that was fine. She only needed to track its location.
Feeling the shrinking distance between them, she pushed forth a packet of mana, hoping it would meet its target.
The monster was about to reach her when it stumbled, its features twisting in agony. It fell to its knees, barely holding itself up with its knuckles.
That was when something truly appalling happened.
Mounds of flesh squirmed under its fur, before exploding in a rain of blood and gore, a flock of black butterflies flying out in every direction!
The gorilla was still alive, as sheâd failed to teleport any of her constructs directly inside its skull, but it wouldnât be able to continue fighting like this.
Listening to its gurgled howls, Nesha felt bad for the creature. She launched another barrage of butterflies, this time into its head, finally putting it out of its misery. The Status didnât miss its cue either, celebrating her first solo victory against a Green beast with an announcement of its own.
[Congratulations! Your spell has evolved: Chaotic Garden â Refined -> Chaotic Execution â Refined!]
For a long time, sheâd been unable to control the exact spot where the butterflies manifested. The best she had been able to do was to surround her opponents and attack them from every direction. But sheâd known this was only a testament to her own lack of skill. There wasnât any reason why she shouldnât be able to send her constructs directly inside an enemyâs body.
Since she entered the Valley, sheâd resolved herself to eliminate all of her weaknesses, one by one. The lack of mobility and the randomness of her attacks were just two examples. By the time she was done, she fully intended to develop a few earth spells as well, and to master Circulation with both of her cores.
In fact, sheâd already drawn some inspiration from her other spells to solve the issue of her space channels. The problem was that many of them led to dead-ends, but perhaps that was only to be expected for a space affinity user. Since she could stretch the space around her and even teleport her butterflies, couldnât she do the same with the mana inside her channels?
Figuring out the specifics was still a work in progress, but she felt more confident than ever that she would complete the pattern sooner or later.
âHopefully the other one isnât as complicatedâŠâ
Other than that, it would be nice if she could learn Percyâs dance moves too, combining them with her new movement spell. Of course, sheâd have to go a different route with it, because she had no intention of fighting in melee range like her companions. Her affinity was more suitable for keeping her distance from her opponents, taking them down from afar using her spells and her traps.
If possible, sheâd like to dip her toes into affinity fusion too, though that might be asking for too much. She had no idea what a fusion of earth and space would even look like.
âWow, did you seriously rip a Green beast apart from the inside?â Percy asked, finishing off his own gorilla.
This time, theyâd been attacked by a whole pack of them. A large one too, with four Green specimens and dozens of Yellows. Finding even a single Green beast was rare, so House Ypnos had really lucked out with these guys. It was a pity they were about to get wiped out, but theyâd made for decent opponents, at least. Elaine was about to dispatch the last of the two Greens she was facing, the surviving Yellows having already dispersed.
âYou saw that? I told you it was possible!â she grinned. âNow, Iâm the strongest one in the group!â
âDream on!â he chuckled. âI should be able to predict where the butterflies will appear after seeing the spell a couple more times. As for Elaine, I bet she can take you out before you even use it.â
Nesha shrugged.
âOnly if you guys see me casting.â she said, thinking of something else. âReckon I could snipe Acton with this?â
Percy rubbed his chin, pondering her question. But he shook his head a minute later.
âYouâll struggle to get close enough. Even if you do, Iâm pretty sure his domain will mess with it.â
She frowned, but she didnât disagree with his assessment. Leaving aside whether sheâd be personally affected by the domain, her constructs certainly would be, once she tried to teleport them inside the kidâs body. After all, spells were essentially a mix of mana and willpower, and domains were thick with willpower too. It would interfere with her control.
âDonât let Mr. Grumpy here spoil your achievement!â Elaine said, joining the conversation. âItâs an impressive spell. You should be able to assassinate anyone below Blue with it!â
âIâm not trying to âspoilâ her achievement.â Percy rolled his eyes. âI just donât want her to think she can go ambushing Blues just because of a spell upgrade. Itâs the quickest way to get killed.â
âHey, Iâm not an idiot, you know!â Nesha said. âIâve no interest in playing hero. Iâll leave the Blues to you two monsters. Iâll just support you from a distance. Or keep their Greens busy. Assuming they even have Greens left by the time we fight themâŠâ
Reminded of the tall obstacles before them, everyone fell silent. The gap they had to close was colossal, and their enemies werenât exactly fiddling with their thumbs either. The only way to stand a chance was to work several times harder than them.
But it wasnât all gloom and doom.
It had been over three months since they entered the Valley, and everyone was improving rapidly. Even more notably, theyâd adjusted to the environment by now, settling into their new routine. All three of them had grown noticeably stronger, having a much easier time fighting the beasts. Even Nesha could hold her own against a Green now, though it might be a while longer until she felt confident protecting the whole group by herself.
Theyâd learned to passively shield themselves from the globules too. Technically, they could have cheated, by having Percy forge a suit of armour for each of them. But they ultimately chose to learn how to deal with the globules properly, since theyâd be staying in here for a while. Besides, neither she nor Elaine would be able to use the armour well in a fight.
Without access to Percyâs mana, they wouldnât be able to turn it invisible or intangible. The runes would still offer
some
protection, but without the ability to control the network of strings holding everything together, they wouldnât be able to properly absorb the impacts. The armour would fall apart after the first hit. Finally, they wouldnât be able to feed the self-repair enchantments if the armour got damaged.
In any case, everyone was able to get more sleep nowadays, and their fights werenât as difficult.
âHey, Percy? Think you can start working on the Dance?â Elaine suddenly asked. âUnlike Nesha, I donât have a fancy new affinity to work on. Iâll be busy trying to upgrade my other spells for the next few years, but it would be nice if you could figure it out by then.â
Percy nodded, looking just as excited as her.
âTomorrow.â