105 Inheritance (2/2)

The wyrm pawed the grass with her front leg in frustration, her claws extended out but utterly useless in this fight. Unless she could get close to swipe at the rootbeasts, she could do nothing, and that was provided she could maneuver her way through the horde of swinging roots and punch through the spines.

She stared at Azhar with a low growl of jealousy, watching as the ranger shot forwards a jagged edge of bark he picked up from the ground. The bark, rotted and softened, did not make for a good projectile, but the sheer force with which it was launched made its impact strong enough to blow apart at least some of the rootbeast's spines, shearing away its defenses bit by bit.

”You don't have to feel bad about what you can't do,” said Li. ”Just watch and learn.”

The wyrm stood still, seemingly heeding Li's words, but after Azhar threw another piece of bark, her eyes widened as her mouth opened, a nod of understanding moving her head.

Li watched in wonder as the wyrm's chest began to expand. She started to cough. Her jaws opened unnaturally wide, the flesh splitting at the sides of her mouth to make for more space. Patches of black light were visible through the skin of her throat. Her coughing had now become almost like vomiting, her chest convulsing with her mouth open.

”Azhar, I would advise stepping back,” said Li.

Azhar jumped back, escaping a few roots that tried to grab his legs.

Finally, a burst of obsidian black light exploded from the wyrm's mouth before a fireball shot out. The whole motion reminded Li almost comically of a cat coughing up a hairball, but there was nothing funny about the strength of the attack.

The dark fireball, though perhaps only about the size of a basketball, struck one of the rootbeasts head on, exploding into a pillar of sweltering fire that roared high and mighty, towering over even the trees outside the clearing. The flames were darker than the night, flickering just as visible as a regular fire would have.

The unlucky rootbeast shriveled up, desiccating before burning into a blackened crisp.

”I take back what I said about limits. I guess you just have to surpass them,” said Li to the wyrm, but she did not hear him. She fell to her side, her breathing shallow. Li immediately moved beside her, placing a hand on her back, but realized she was fine, just completely spent out of energy.

”Suns and spirits and gods above,” remarked Azhar as he looked back, sidestepping a few roots that now were slow enough for him to dodge with ease. ”Ain't her mother a Lerneas? That ain't poison. How'd she learn to breathe fire? And the hells kinda fire is that?”

Li saw the fire almost immediately extinguish once it had eaten up all the life it could in its vicinity. It did not so much burn as it wilted, withering organic matter out of existence. This was not regular fire. This was demonfire, utilized by high level fire demons to bypass fire resistances to deal true damage straight to life force, but it was not limited to demonkind.

Eldritch monsters also utilized it.

”I guess she really does take after me,” commented Li with a nod as he hoisted the tired wyrm into his arms. She had evolved once more, and once again, she had taken up Li's characteristics. This time, his eldritch powers.

But demonfire was meant for high level monsters at least level 50. Considering she was barely above 20, the strain it must have placed on her body to conjure this up would have been massive.

The ground rumbled, and Li paid attention back to Azhar and the single remaining rootbeast.

The rootbeast was getting larger, pulsating with vibrant green energies that shimmered from its body down to the ground, echoing outwards in a faint shockwave that highlighted the countless roots underneath. Several roots were raised around it, wiggling around like tentacles.

It was taking control of the remaining two rootbeasts' root networks, empowering itself with a massive burst of nutrients while also tripling its offensive powers.

”It's time to head back,” said Li to Azhar. The ranger had unsheathed his dagger, but that was a futile move. ”A Clustered Rootbeast isn't something you can handle right now. Any hit you put out on it, it'll just regenerate with all that extra life its sapping up now.”

”To handle all that extra juice it's munchin' on, it's gotta form a core to stabilize it,” said Azhar. ”Just gotta' take that out.”

”Easier said than done. You have to find it first, and it'll be hiding it. This thing won't be moving much now that its slowed down by so many roots. You'll have a chance to fight it later, and the wyrm needs healing.”

”Trust me on this one, Li, I got this. It ain't gonna' take any time.” Azhar grinned as his eyes scanned the towering rootbeast up and down. The rootbeast did not attack as it was still convulsing, its form growing as it morphed from the massive influx of three root networks worth of nutrients.

”I see what you're tryin' to do, brainless bastard.” Azhar flipped his dagger, grabbing it between his fingers by the blade. He cocked it backwards, his eyes narrowing. With a powerful breath, he threw the dagger.

Not at the rootbeast's main body, but at one of the many upraised roots wriggling beside it. The dagger pierced through the root, taking out an apple sized black seed.

The core.

In an instant, the rootbeast halted its movements like a puppet whose strings had been cut. It collapsed to the ground, surrounded by withering and fallen roots.

”Ya might not believe me, but I could see it, all of it,” said Azhar excitedly. ”I could see where it was hidin' its core, where it was keeping all that life just packed up in that little ol' nugget.”

It would appear that the wyrm was not the only one to take up after Li.