A pulse of mana buffeted the room as the intensity of light from the rift strengthened. Daniel’s fears of an incoming level 4, or higher, power were slightly allayed as he realized he’d somehow assimilated some of the shockwave. It was just 5% or so of his maximum restored, below the amount a level 1 mana potion would give him, but that had never happened before with other mana pulses.

  His optimistic theory that this was from the complete absorption of the first crawler’s energy was dashed as every tag on the monsters updated, Daniel registering the change on the melee monsters first.

  Arcadian Mauler - (Astral Projection: Grade 2)

  “Oh fuck.” While the mauler’s tag was the first one he noticed change, the warden exhibited the first physical evolution as a second arm grew out of the rearranging neck space. “Oh fuck!”

  “Uh, guys? I can’t find the other crawlers anymore,” Shuni called out, abandoning her attempt to sneak up on the impaler Daniel hadn’t designated as a target. Daniel looked himself, but he didn’t have them tagged as he couldn’t perceive them even with Shuni pointing at them.

  Matters turned worse as he realized the javelins the impalers were throwing had begun to glow with the heightened light of the rift, every one appearing with it as it was called from the center of the stadium.

  They had a brief amount of breathing room, but the maulers had begun moving faster, and their arms had been made based off the same principles as the shank stomper, save for a more mace-like appendage rather than a scythe. Their frames were also bulkier than the impalers, suggesting they’d be harder to take down.

  The stress on him redoubled, and yet Daniel found he wasn’t completely crushed by the pressure suddenly placed on him by the expectations of leadership. It might have been one of the good aspects of his oath bond or just growing with experience, but he didn’t need a Moment to rethink their strategy.

  “Khare, volley out. Find the crawlers!” Firing wildly in the hopes that damage still disabled their stealth might have been hopeful, but most of Khare’s potential was in stacking their bleed effect or in dealing with massed, weak enemies. With the arcadians showing no susceptibility to Bleeding Blades, this was the next best use of them.

  He barely had time to catch his breath before sending out the next order, seeing an impaler line up to throw at him out of the corner of his eye. “Willow, bring out Tlara’s shock runner!”

  “She can’t dominate with two out,” Willow quickly replied, her breaths ragged from the exertion of dodging, using her own shields to deflect attacks, and keeping in range of Tlara.

  “Not the time for that. I don’t know if she can dominate these, they don’t have levels.” The javelin targeting him almost grazed his shoulder as he threw himself to the side, withholding Dodge Roll because of the other power he had active. The weapon chipped slightly as it bit into the floor, but otherwise remained stable. Dozens had been thrown over the course of the battle so far, none accurately enough to do more than score enchanted armor that immediately fixed itself. That they persisted after being thrown, and now flowed without any other obvious improvement to the impaler, concerned him.

  What was more concerning were the approaching maulers. They were Daniel and Sigron’s to handle, Khiat still occupying the attention of the warden while Shuni tried to sneak a kill. Killing all of them would simplify the fight and allow him to try closer range shots against the impalers, so long as the crawlers didn’t make a nasty reappearance nearby.

  Similar to the first time he’d encountered an arcadian, Daniel was preparing to hit a mauler with a fully charged Power Shot. He refused to believe it could survive something like that at close range, unless the boost they gained was bullshit. He’d die from a shot like that even with Regeneration. Tlara in peak wyvern form would too. Hell, Gtoll would blink at it. Artificers were a treasured class in the Octyrrum because of the added value their enhancements stacked on an already competent Blessed, and he just so happened to be the kind that could fend for himself in a fight.

  The difference to their first encounter was that he didn’t have the rest of the team to buy him time. In fact, that was what he was currently doing with Sigron, while trying to keep an eye on all of the impalers and being constantly on edge for monsters coming out of stealth. At the very least the warden’s directed shields didn’t seem to go farther than the start of the bleachers, which was no doubt why most of the monsters aside from the crawlers had been near the goalposts before their sneak attack.

  Daniel engaged a mauler in melee, keeping a tight grip on his blast bow with one hand while keeping the other free. In an absolute worst case scenario he could use Claw Strike with his free hand to divert and block a hit, since the ability came with minor damage reduction, but it would mean releasing the building Power Shot.

  The maulers hadn’t reached anyone before they got to grade 2 of being an astral projection, whatever that meant, but he could guess how differently they would have fought before the upgrade. With only one of them to Sigron’s two, Daniel still felt pressured as spiked arms came for him in a relentless attack. The tanks that the crawlers had been meant they couldn’t hound an enemy as fiercely. As it was, Daniel was forced on several occasions to take blows to the chest where he was armored to avoid more critical damage elsewhere. The strikes staggered him, and on one occasion he’d almost been spiked by an impaler that had timed a throw for when he’d gotten knocked in the sternum. Willow, riding awkwardly on the shock runner, had intervened with a timely shield that had stolen enough momentum to prevent the javelin from penetrating.

  Beast Mode was in the back of his head constantly, roaring to be triggered so he could reverse the losing momentum. Power Shot answered with a louder one.

  The mauler attempted to dodge his shot, but this close it lacked the speed to considering how fast the slugs traveled. Daniel had worried about the projectiles just going through and not instantly killing the mauler if it didn’t have the same properties as the crawler, but it appeared this attack had enough force behind it to make it a non-issue. Even as a hole bigger than his head was formed in the chest of the mauler, it was shot back to impact the far wall, which first cracked from being the terminus of his shot, before caving in slightly with the mauler’s impact. Its purple aura died, and haze began to coalesce from the wounds to flow toward the rift. It wasn’t hollow like the crawlers, but it shared the same death effect.

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  Sigron was doing exceptionally well on his side, not having managed a kill but roughing up the other two while holding his own. It could be said that the entire team was performing to that degree, as though the kills had been limited, they’d stayed safe. More so in some cases. He already owed the absence of a hole in his chest to Willow, but Khiat’s keen shots had been keeping the impalers suppressed the entire time. Even if the warden was supporting with barriers, she at least forced both it and those it protected to consider her a threat before an arrow through a conical head did the job for him.

  If we can get on top of the warden and cripple those hands, Khiat could mop up the fight herself, Daniel thought. Individually, the arcadians were still weaker than the average member of his team. They had coordination and a wave of buffs on their side, but with Khare having struck lucky with both crawlers before they’d crossed the halfway point, they didn’t have any new tricks to pull.

  That was, until the stalking bird finally got her prey. Shuni’s role in the hunt had been the least pronounced, fitting of a Rogue. Her angle after revealing the now dead crawlers had been on sniping the impalers, but whatever powers and methodology she had required a careful approach. Daniel had been able to keep track of her by her aura, which he was pretty sure she could disable herself if she wanted to, and had noted her trying various approaches to the central area before doubling back and trying another tack.

  As the death of a mauler drew the attention of all other combatants, she suddenly burst forward, briefly becoming invisible to Identify Creature before reappearing on top of the impaler with a long knife digging into where the neck would be. The power didn’t have an incantation, and he imagined it would be stupid for Rogue powers to have one, but it was scary to watch and know she could pull that off on an ally at any time. A glance at the mauler’s dead body told him he was perhaps a bit of a hypocrite.

  The now headless impaler released a stream of fresh purple toward the rift, and as soon as it connected, the light shining from it became as bright as a light bulb from his world. It’s not time-based, Daniel thought. They get stronger the more we kill them, every two so far.

  He realized they’d taken the opposite of an optimal strategy too late. With the fourth kill and another, stronger mana pulse restoring over 10% of his reserve, every remaining arcadian reached grade 3. If he’d known about this at the start he would have had the team try to cripple every enemy before finishing them off, ideally at the same time. Did the rift near where we left the tunnel get empowered too, or is it only if we fight them here? The only relief was that grade clearly didn’t correspond to level, as fighting an enemy that had leveled up five times over the fight would’ve been impossible. Still, the changes that affected the remaining monsters were concerning.

  The spikes on the mauler’s arms began to glow like the impaler’s javelins, which gained additional radiance from the rift as well. The crawlers, at least, didn’t turn invisible, but their rocky hides contorted to grow sharp horns everywhere. Not as big a concern for him unless he was forced into Beast Mode, but any dedicated melee fighter like Sigron was now at an additional risk against them.

  Worst was the warden, who remained at four hands instead of gaining a fifth as Daniel expected. Instead, a barrier flicked to life around it, and there was no obvious body part projecting it. We needed to take that one out first, Daniel realized. It had been their aim, but then they’d played it too safe when the sneak attack had failed. Not one of their attacks had penetrated the warden’s shields, and if it got a free one around itself from now on, their only hope was killing everything else and then wailing on it or finding a way to bypass it with the benefit of nothing else trying to kill them.

  Only, who knew how strong it would be at grade 5?

  Beast Mode poked him in the head again. Imbue Astral seemed like just the thing to get around that barrier if he combined it with Flash Jaunt. The combo might one shot the crawlers depending on how that interacted, and Sense Astral would give him important insights if not.

  Or it’ll just heal them, because they’re astral projections, Daniel thought back while in frozen time. He’d pulled the trigger on Moment of Clarity, spurned by the heightening stakes and mana refresh. That was the oddest thing about all of this, that the rift replenished them somewhat while buffing the enemies. If the monsters weren’t trying to kill him, this would feel like some kind of graded challenge where once everyone was ‘knocked out’ they’d get loot based on how far they got. It could also be that his surroundings were constantly reminding him of sports.

  Honestly, we should leave the crawlers for last. I don’t like that the impalers didn’t get a real improvement last time. The spindly, javelin-wielding monsters had previously struck him as the greatest threat, and the shine in both their weapons and now the maulers’ gave him the greatest pause. It had taken both teamwork and luck to have avoided allowing those throwers to live up to their name. There was also the fact to consider that the warden prioritized their defense while allowing the others to go beyond its range, assuming that it did indeed hold a position of command over the rest.

  I have to hope Sigron can hold the other two maulers. Tlara and Willow aren’t being too useful, but she’s also keeping Willow out of danger which is good enough. Between Shuni and me fighting up close, and Khiat and Khare giving ranged support, two barriers aren’t going to stop us.

  Time continued to drag on as he grew close to breaking his record for the longest Moment. The reduction in its cost and expanded mana pool from level 2 had made the ongoing mana cost of the ability close to negligible, with level 3 promising a relative hour of mental breathing room for only 10% of his mana assuming the trend continued as it had.

  Still, Moment’s greatest strength was also its greatest weakness: nothing changed while he thought. Daniel was about to stop the power when he paused, mentally frowned, and considered that. The only real reason he couldn’t do anything here was the active mana flow from the ability. For other people like Tak and Hunter who were brought in externally, the Octyrrum seemed to completely lock them down. As he still didn’t know why those two were brought in, putting it up to something complicated with the bond, he’d just considered it impossible to do anything while in a Moment.

  But if the only thing holding him back personally was active mana flow, could it be possible to do something? He mentally recalled the ability’s description, and it specifically said that he couldn’t move while the effect was active. You know what doesn’t need me to move? Telekinetic Reach.

  Daniel tried activating the ability, seeing if he could move the trigger on his blast bow. The full weight of the active ability already running slammed against his attempts. It was like trying to swim up a waterfall of syrup. Yet, he knew people could develop dual-channeling techniques. Whether what he had just considered would be harder because of the time dilation was a thought, but if he could figure this out, it’d be more of a game changer than his blast bow. Unfortunately, his initial attempt showed that if he did ever manage this combo, it would be a matter of months or years of practice to get there.

  Not like it would help now. He’d let too much mana slip by on an errant, if possibly productive, tangent. He eyed his targets, all of the impalers seemingly in the process of retreating to the goalposts now that Shuni’s trap had sprung. Knowing there wasn’t any point in delaying things further, Daniel let his power go. It was time to get his head in the game.