Ben leaped out of the way as a ball of dark energy whizzed past him. He nearly tripped while trying to dodge it, and the way it hummed made him feel like he would have been toast if it had touched him. To Ben, It felt like it had been forged in the heart of the deepest, darkest dread known to the universe.

  The black ball, encircled by white highlights, crashed into the treeline a short distance away. There was neither an explosion nor a shockwave as it splattered like a sack of ink. It had covered a small forest area, acting like the strongest acid Ben had ever seen. Within seconds, the bushes were gone before the ground started to melt, and when they pierced through the tree trunks, the tops of the trees fell as if lumberjacks had cut them down.

  A few other projectiles were hurled toward Ben, who continued to dodge and zig-zag through the trees before he started encountering rough patches where it looked like an excavator had gone to town. Even the surrounding flora started to look shriveled and dead like their lifeforce had been sucked dry. At that rate, he figured the entire forest would cease to exist, and there would be nowhere to hide.

  Ben ran toward the area where Jerry was last seen, keeping his sight pinned in the direction where he was being attacked. When he emerged from the treeline, he focused on the monstrosity they were up against.

  The sporemancer looked similar to the regular fairies but had a few differences. It towered over the area at twice the height of the nest mother at the proving grounds with a high degree of decay, making it look like something out of a zombie apocalypse. While locked in a melee with the fairy commander, it simultaneously cast many balls of decay directly above its head before launching them at the allies.

  Ben couldn’t even stay still and had to hop out of the way, using his mana to charge his movements lest he be melted into oblivion. He figured out that the sporemancer must have been regenerating its mana while fighting them the same way Hauxwell could.

  Alfred appeared out of the treeline, using his mana like a shield before sweeping his sword across the enemy's legs. That gave the fairy commander a moment to hover back to catch a breath of relief as two arrows flew across the battlefield, one behind the other. The orange trails led directly to the sporemancers head before erupting like a volcano, expelling dark goo instead of lava.

  The balls of decay stopped moving as if suspended in animation. It seemed like that was the end, but suddenly, the goo formed the shape of a head, and everything returned to how it had been moments before. The balls kept coming, albeit at a slightly slower rate.

  Great, another crazy healing factor! At least it slowed the damn thing down a little.

  Putting on his thinking cap, Ben flicked through the files of his mind to formulate a plan. One way would be to completely burn the crap out of it like they had done with the nest mother back at the proving grounds. The fire arrows were good but would only take out a limb or two at best, and it wasn’t like Jerry could spam loads of them at once.

  Come on, there must be another way!

  With all the allies tired from all the dodging, their movements became sluggish and sloppy. One thing that looked strange was that whoever got in close range of the sporemancer, the trajectory of the balls seemed to change and fly towards the allies that were further away. It felt like the sporemancer was trying to avoid contact with the stuff as if it was equally as corrosive to itself as to anything else it touched.

  An idea popped into Ben’s head.

  Yes! Now, that’s worth a shot!

  Ben hurried toward Jerry, avoiding the balls occasionally flung towards him. He pointed above the sporemancers head aggressively. “Hey! Try to shoot those things above its head with your regular arrows.”

  Jerry gave a thumbs-up as he hopped between the dead patches to a place with a better line of sight with the sporemancer.

  A volley of arrows found their targets above the sporemancers head. When they made contact with the balls, they melted away like candles and expelled a hissing smoke. The surface of the spheres had become unstable as ripples trembled throughout their surface.

  The sporemancer had stopped in its tracks and stood still as a stone. Its head was pointed up with a look of disbelief as it slowly moved away.

  The fairy commander sprang to action by hovering a dozen meters away in the sky. His weapons started to glow purple as they condensed magical energy for a special attack. Before the sporemancer moved too far away, he sliced his swords with a crisscross pattern at the balls.

  The sporemancer grunted as the black goo rained down across its entire body. The acid ate through its skin, flesh, and bones. Black smoke rose from the body before everything started to shrivel like a sundried raisin. From within the empty spots, its regeneration was visible for a moment before the effects of the decay slowed it down to the point it was useless.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Jerry shot a few fire arrows at the enemy while others blasted it with several special attacks. But all that was useless as the acidic black goo seemed to absorb much of the damage.

  “Cease fire!” The fairy commander yelled before calling everyone together. He motioned to Ben, “Using the creature's attack against itself was a good idea, but nothing we do is useful if it keeps regenerating.”

  Ben nodded. “Well, it gives us time to find a way to defeat it. I feel it’s using the surroundings to siphon unlimited energy for its attacks and regeneration. I’m going to meditate and figure out if there’s a way for us to cut it off. That might give us the edge in this battle. Until then, all of you should get some rest.”

  The fairy commander nodded before looking around at everyone. “You heard him. This battle is far from over.”

  Ben dropped to the ground, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the wailing body of the sporemancer, where multiple strange energies were connected to various sources across the valley. Most were small and insufficient to power their aggressive abilities and attacks. Looking closer, Ben found one thread resembling an industrial power cable like the ones used on pylons.

  That’s it!

  Following the lead revealed a cave system under which the mountains met in a pincer. It led deep down, where the energy hummed similarly to a vein of Mirium.

  No way! That’s a genius idea!

  Ben opened his eyes and sat up quickly. He moved towards where Alfred, Jerry, and the fairy commander stood. “The damn sporemancer’s using an entire vein of Mirium.”

  The fairy commander glanced at the creature and shook his head. “Endless power like that will be the end of us. I doubt it’ll use that same attack again after what happened. My warriors and I will keep it distracted while the three of you devise a plan.” The fairy commander ordered before they readied their weapons.

  Alfred shot Ben a glance. “Those mountains are miles away, and that thing looks like it’s ready to get up at any moment."

  Ben nodded before clearing his throat. “You know how volatile Mirum is; we can use that to our advantage.” Turning to Jerry, he added, “I’ll need one of your enchanted arrows to stab the thread. The disruption might be enough to create a chain reaction that could potentially destroy the vein and the sporemancer simultaneously.”

  Just as Ben had stopped talking, the sporemancer leaped up from the ground and back to good health. Luckily, the fairy commander was right, and the sporemancer started using more direct melee attacks. Occasionally, it shot out rays of darkness, which started incapacitating some of the fairy warriors it faced.

  Jerry passed Ben one of his fire arrows. Alfred stood ahead of Ben and used his mana to create a large sphere of protection strong enough to deflect the death rays and any melee attacks that came their way.

  “We need to get closer; otherwise, I won't be able to find the thread,” Ben stated.

  As they got within meters of the sporemancer, all the fairies had been taken out except the commander, who whizzed around the air, avoiding the rays and giving it his all with a flurry of attacks and sometimes deflecting various melee attacks. It was evident he was getting tired and would meet the same fate as the other within moments.

  Ben closed his eyes, searching for the thread. The raw power of the Mirum was hard to miss, and within seconds, Ben had formed a connection. An overwhelming amount of energy hit Ben like a ton of bricks, causing him to drop to his knees. Knowing he would soon lose consciousness, Ben formed another connection from his body and pumped the excess energy back into the thread. Before disconnecting from it completely, he stabbed the thread.

  A large fire explosion knocked Ben and Alfred back towards the broken tree line. The sphere had taken the brunt of the blow before shattering into speckles of magical dust.

  Ben saw the thread burst into a trail of flames that crackled toward the mountains. A massive explosion shook the entire valley like a powerful earthquake, causing extensive damage as if a nuclear bomb had detonated there.

  Another fire trail shot back and directly hit the enemy, who burst into flames like a large percentage of its body were gasoline. The flames and smoke rose into the sky, making it look like a tower block-sized bonfire.

  The fairy commander took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before checking on his warriors and helping them rise after handing them an unfamiliar item. Ben thought it might have been the fairy equivalent of a health potion.

  It took a few moments before finally a notification appeared.

  [You killed Infected Fairy Sporemancer Level 32: +360XP.]

  [You are now Level 8: +1 Skill Point Available.]

  [Order of the Hollow Moon (Faction): You have been promoted to Senior Sergeant.]

  Taking a breath of relief, Ben dropped to the ground and lay there. His entire body was sore from taking in all that energy, and he needed some time from all the madness.

  The fairy commander stood beside his head and looked down. “I never thought defeating that monstrosity was possible, but you proved me wrong. Your plan saved all of us here today. With the valley clear of enemies, my people can use this area to rebuild. Soon, we will have the strength to free the Feruslands from the spore scourge.” He removed what appeared to be a tea bag filled with herbs from a little pouch and knelt. “We use these herbs for healing. I believe humans also use these for their potions. Just chew it and don't swallow it lest you want to become sick.”

  Ben stuffed the tea bag in his mouth before mumbling, “Thanks for that.” He instantly felt a buzzing sensation on his tongue, which went down his throat when he swallowed his spit. The soreness began to fade, and he was able to sit up without his muscles feeling like they were being stabbed to death.

  “It was an honor to fight alongside all three of you. You kept your promise and helped us clear the valley. Furthermore, when things looked grim, you fought with us even when your lives were at stake. If that doesn't demonstrate your commitment, then I don't know what does. Let’s return to camp so I can inform the elder of your actions,” the commander praised.