novelraw Chapter 57: Energy Leeches!
Chapter 57: Energy Leeches!
The metal walls were warped and melted in places, as if they had been hit by intense heat. It wasn’t a clean fight.
It was a desperate running battle. "The previous explorer," Daniel realized. "The one who left the log."
He stood up and followed the trail. He moved silently, his [Shadowsteps] skill dampening the sound of his boots on the metal grate.
He walked for about ten minutes. The tunnel twisted and turned, descending deeper underground. The heat grew more intense.
Then, his [Omnivision] picked up something. It wasn’t a single large signature. It was a cluster. A swarm of small, erratic energy signals floating ahead.
They were gathered around a large, ruptured pipe that was leaking raw blue energy into the air. Daniel slowed down.
He crept closer, using the steam from the pipes as cover. He peeked around a large support pillar.
Floating in the air near the leak were strange creatures. They looked like jellyfish, but they weren’t made of flesh. They were made of translucent, blue static electricity.
Their bodies crackled and popped. They had long tentacles that floated in the air, reaching for energy.
There were about six of them. They were feeding on the leaking pipe, absorbing the power.
Daniel scanned them.
[Energy Leech - Level 2]
[Stats: Very Low Strength, Low Vitality, High Agility, High Spirit.]
[Abilities: [Energy Drain], [Phase Shift], [Static Shock].]
[Threat Assessment: Parasitic elemental creatures. Immune to most physical damage while phasing. They drain mana and stamina on contact. Do not let them touch you.]
"Energy Leeches," Daniel whispered. "Level 2. Weak, but annoying." They were floating in a tight group.
It looked like an easy target. Daniel unslung his Skyreaver Bow. He decided to test their defenses. He didn’t want to waste mana if he didn’t have to.
He nocked a standard arrow. He aimed at the largest leech in the center of the swarm. He drew the string back to his ear. He exhaled.
TWANG!
The arrow flew true. It cut through the steam and headed straight for the creature’s core. But just before it hit, the leech flickered.
Its body turned transparent, like a ghost.
[Phase Shift].
The arrow passed harmlessly through the creature’s body and clattered against the metal pipe behind it.
CLANG!
The sound echoed in the tunnel. The swarm reacted instantly. The leeches stopped feeding. Their bodies flared brighter, turning from a calm blue to an angry violet.
They sensed the disturbance. They sensed the life force nearby. They turned toward Daniel.
They didn’t have eyes, but he could feel their hunger. They floated toward him, drifting through the air with absolute silence.
"Physical attacks are useless," Daniel realized, putting his bow away. "They can just turn into ghosts."
He drew his Twin Fang daggers, but he hesitated. If he tried to cut them, they might just phase through his blades and latch onto him.
And if they touched him, they would drain his energy. He remembered the threat assessment. ’Immune to most physical damage while phasing.’
"Okay," Daniel said, stepping back as the swarm glided closer. "So I can’t stab them. And I can’t shoot them."
The leeches picked up speed. They spread out, trying to surround him. Daniel looked at the narrow tunnel, the metal floor and the walls.
He smiled. He didn’t need to hit them with a blade. He needed to hit them with something they couldn’t phase through.
He needed to disrupt their form. He sheathed his daggers. He stood his ground, waiting for them to get closer.
"Come on," he taunted. "Come and get a snack." The leeches swarmed.They rushed at him, their tentacles reaching out to drain his soul.
Daniel took a deep breath. He focused all his energy into his hands. He wasn’t going to target one of them, he was going to target the space they occupied.
He waited until they were just a few feet away. He could feel the static electricity prickling his skin.
"Let’s see how you handle a shock," Daniel whispered. He prepared to unleash his [Forceburst]. He was going to turn the air itself into a weapon.
He thrust his palms downward, aiming directly at the metal grate beneath the hovering swarm.
"[Forceburst]!"
BOOOOOM!
The explosion of kinetic energy was deafening in the narrow tunnel. It erupted like a bomb.
The invisible wave of force slammed into the metal floor and rebounded upward, creating a pressuring storm.
The Energy Leeches were made of unstable electricity. They relied on [Phase Shift] to avoid solid objects, but they couldn’t phase through a shockwave that disrupted the air itself.
The blast hit them hard.
POP! POP! POP!
Three of the leeches simply burst apart. Their unstable forms couldn’t handle the sudden change in pressure.
They exploded into showers of harmless blue sparks that faded before they hit the ground.
The other three survived, but they were thrown into chaos. Their [Phase Shift] failed.
They flickered violently, turning solid for a brief second as they tumbled through the air.
"Now!" Daniel shouted. He didn’t give them a chance to recover. He drew his C+ Twin Fang daggers in a blur of motion. He lunged at the nearest leech while it was still solid.
SLASH!
The dark metal blade cut through the creature’s jelly-like body. There was a sizzling sound, like water hitting a hot pan.
The leech shrieked and dissolved into light.
Two left.
Daniel spun on his heel. He didn’t use his daggers for the next one. He gathered mana in his left hand.
He wanted to make sure they stayed down. "[Mana Bolt]!"
A purple sphere of magic shot from his palm. It slammed into the fifth leech, which was trying to drift away toward the ceiling.
ZZZT-CRACK!
The magic bolt overloaded the creature’s energy form. It flared bright white and then disintegrated.
The final leech tried to flee. It turned transparent again, engaging its [Phase Shift] to escape through the wall.
"Oh no, you don’t," Daniel growled. He activated [Shadowsteps]. He closed the distance in a fraction of a second.
He waited for the exact moment the creature tried to pass through the pipe. He knew that to interact with the physical world, even slightly, it had to solidify its core.
He thrust his dagger right into the center of the fading blue light.
SHINK!
The blade hit. The leech twitched and melted into nothing.