Chapter 14: Good Night Sleep

  Gaia World, 4 Days After The Shattering

  Sitting in the dark, Pawel appreciated having warm autumn clothes, as the night had grown chilly. He opted against setting up his tent—with such a high chance of enemies emerging, he preferred not limiting his visibility at all.

  After a long day of exertion, sleep was tempting, but it didn't feel smart.

  "Would I be safe? These tadpoles react to movement, so perhaps they'd ignore me in my sleep even if they came here?"

  "Actually—before I sleep, I need to exercise my new powers," he mused.

  Too tired for traditional cross-legged meditation, Pawel lay flat on the ground, covered with his sleeping bag, and began the exercise.

  Meditation and awareness of internal and external mana came easier with every session. This time, he managed it after just a few minutes of steady breathing.

  First, after settling into the proper mindset, he directed his attention outwards, a little worried about the orange-wire things he'd seen with his mana sight last time. Plus, observing the different flows of energy was mesmerizing and relaxing on its own.

  There seemed to be more types of mana—or perhaps he was getting better at seeing them?

  "Here they are."

  Pawel noticed two separate orange-wire things. They reached out of his sight range in the direction of the anomaly.

  Now that he thought about it, there seemed to be more new types flowing from the anomaly.

  "Perhaps it's producing them? Was that wire thing also just a different mana type?"

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  He observed them warily, but none attempted to get anywhere near him. They just slithered in the distance with no apparent purpose.

  Satisfied that nothing was encroaching, Pawel redirected his mana sight inwards and instructed the newly acquired energy to begin mending his hand.

  It was simultaneously mentally taxing and relaxing—a combination that eventually lulled him into sleep.

  He startled awake, confused, not knowing where he was, hearing a weird sound.

  It took Pawel a good five seconds to realize what the sound was—momentarily, his heart jumped to his throat in an adrenaline rush.

  It was a clay tadpole's teeth chattering, and it was close.

  He jumped to his feet, grabbing the hammer, and assessed the situation: One of those buggers had entered the circle of light created by the glowsticks and was wobbling near one of them, making that creepy noise.

  The monster was turned toward Pawel, with the glowstick between it and him, but when he cautiously closed in, the creature just kept fixating on the light.

  "Is it blinded by the light?"

  Only when he was already mid-swing did the tadpole finally realize there was new danger—but it was too late.

  He put down the hammer's head on the ground, leaned on its handle, and looked impassively at the monster's body dissolving.

  "Freaked out so much seeing them spawn by that anomaly, but was that really warranted?"

  "With slow and telegraphed attacks, these things are practically oversized Chihuahuas."

  "They are loud and aggressive, but can't do all that much."

  His musings were interrupted by annoying chattering. Just as he rotated and lifted the hammer in preparation, a clay tadpole had already jumped.

  There wasn't enough time for a full swing, so he just pushed the hammer's handle into the airborne monster and knocked it to the ground. But as he did that, a second one had already prepared its attack.

  A last-second reaction made it impossible to do anything about the second tadpole lunging into Pawel's calf.

  It lodged itself into his leg with a sharp pain that caused Pawel's knee to buckle slightly, making him lose balance. He took two steps away from the first and regained his footing just in time for the first monster to signal its attack again.

  Not knowing how to dislodge the one snacking on his leg, Pawel took a desperate swing and let the hammerhead fall on the one readying itself.

  The hit had no extra force added—only the weight of the weapon—and even that barely struck the thing's head, but it was enough.

  "Argh... fuck," Pawel grumbled, grimacing in pain, and fell over, letting his weapon go.

  The clay tadpole held his muscle clutched in its jaws and wriggled, causing intense pain.

  The downed man reached for the enemy's jaws and, with effort, unclenched them, forcing them open.

  Blood started staining Pawel's pants with a steady flow.

  Not having any weapon, he began fisting the clay skin with wet, hollow sounds—but with no effect, besides not letting the opponent any time to prepare an attack.

  The clumsy thing only wriggled, trying to get away.

  After ten seconds of beating on the tadpole—with the only result being hurting his own fists now—Pawel crawled quickly for his hammer. Using it as a crutch, he stood up. Uneasily standing on both legs, he descended the hammer, squashing the monster.

  Pawel did not even wait for the energy to finish flowing into him and hobbled to his backpack, still clutching the hammer.

  "Fucking overgrown Chihuahuas!"

  The remaining bandages were barely enough to wrap his calf a few times, with blood still visibly seeping through.

  "Oh, this can't be good," he mumbled.

  "Let's hope I can magic this problem away..." He jested, but with clear worry in his voice.

  Pawel lay down again, with the hammer in reach, and looked around for any threats.

  "If I don't bleed out tonight, I'm gonna hunt them down for more power."

  With that decision, he closed his eyes in an attempt to heal himself.