Lucille lifted her hand in the direction of the sli.
Her spell had already activated, but she still needed to wait a lot longer than a regular person for it to co into effect.
The Giant mud sli slowly made its way toward her, its massive form undulating across the forest floor. Each movent sent ripples through its translucent body, the five opal stones visible deep within its core like glowing jewels suspended in amber.
Ning and Jax waited patiently for Lucille’s spell to activate. They had moved back a safe distance, understanding now what her restriction ant in practical terms.
Her restriction was an annoying one that made it take her far longer than necessary. Jax found himself counting the seconds, wondering if sothing had gone wrong. Ten seconds passed. Then twelve.
This was too long in Jax’s opinion. How was anyone supposed to fight with such a restriction?
He had thought his restriction was bad with being able to use only one spell at a ti, but Lucy’s was so much worse. In a normal battle, a monster would’ve already pounced upon her and killed her.
Thankfully, this was a sli. The Giant mudsli was far enough away that she didn’t have to worry. The creature’s pace was slow, giving them all the ti they needed even with her problematic magic.
Lucille’s spell finally activated after nearly fifteen seconds.
A bolt of blue lightning crashed down from the sky onto the mud sli. The sound was a deafening roar, a crack that seed to split the very air around them.
Bright light forced Jax and Ning to look away from the impact, while shockwaves shook them to their very core. The flash seared through their closed eyelids, leaving dancing spots in their vision.
They were splattered with sli matter when the explosion hit. Warm, sticky droplets rained down on them from above. Jax wiped the sli away before turning toward the scene of the battle.
When they looked back, the sli was nowhere to be found. Not a single bit of it had survived in the location where it had stood before.
In its place, there were five opal Navi stones floating in the air where the creature had been monts before.
Jax had never seen a giant sli like this one being destroyed so very effortlessly.
Lucille seed unsurprised by her attack. She didn’t know when it was going to activate, but she had been ready for what it did. She walked forward and grabbed the opal stones. She tucked them away without ceremony and wiped her clothes too.
The stickiness wasn’t going to go away so easily though.
She turned toward Ning and Jax.
"So, that is what I can do," she said. "And what I can’t do."
Jax slowly nodded. The power behind her spell was crazy strong. And the restriction for it was far crazier.
"That was great," Ning said, swinging his spear to get rid of the sli residue upon it.
"That’s an annoying restriction," Jax said, sympathizing with her. "You must’ve had friends to help you get even this far."
He understood just what it was like for soone with an annoying restriction to deal with.
Lucille didn’t acknowledge the question and simply turned around. "Should we continue?"
They went through the forest and Jax showed them the rest of the beasts. He pointed out the Cinder Ants they had already encountered, explained the habits of the Phantom Gorilla, and warned them about the Venomwing Hawks that hunted in the deeper parts of the woods.
Those venoms were incredibly difficult to deal with if they didn’t see the hawk before it attacked. Treehoppers were similar, but they were far too loud to be missed by anyone.
None of his words did anything to scare his other two party mbers. Both Lucille and Ning thought they would have an easy ti here. The monsters were straightforward, their patterns predictable. Nothing seed beyond their capabilities.
Lucille seed doubtful she was going to work that hard in the 9th Carriage. "We should leave this village in a week or two. I think we can make our way to the cities soon. We’ll need to find another mber for our party too."
Ning nodded, agreeing with her, but Jax explained that they had to wait.
"I have a quest I need to fulfill. I have a friend in a similar situation. Only when we fulfill it can we leave."
Lucille narrowed her eyes. "Is this the Lakeborn Monkey boss?" she asked.
"Yes. I need a flower that grows in the lake," he said.
Lucille seed annoyed but her words said otherwise. "I suppose I can stay for a bit longer than a few weeks. But we must leave soon though. There will be a few things to do outside of the village too.
She said nothing more and continued through the forest.
Ning had no qualms with how long they had to stay or leave. He ntioned sothing about this universe being a unique one and ti moving at a very different rate in the Celestial Express, than it did outside.
So it didn’t matter if they hurried or not, and he was here for whatever journey they wanted to take. As long as he could go to the next carriage and then the next until he t the Navigator, he was fine.
Sotis, Jax thought Ning spoke in a language that he could never understand.
A few days passed in such a way.
They hunted together each morning, learning each other’s rhythms and capabilities. Jax’s binding magic proved useful when his threads could withstand the monsters’ attacks. Ning’s precise strikes made quick work of most creatures once he located their critical spots. Lucille’s devastating spells ended fights instantly, when they finally activated.
The routine was comfortable, efficient. They were becoming a proper party.
On the fourth day, Jax finally introduced them to the fourth mber of the party, layne.
"Oh, these two bought from before," layne said.
As it turned out, introductions weren’t necessary at all.
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