BANG
A loud sound rang out, startling Neil, but he had no time to look.
Gritting his teeth, Neil pushed himself away with all his strength, tossing his own body as far as possible.
And then…
BOOOM!
The Caustic Gnat smashed into that place, almost crushing Neil under it.
'Ughhhh Fuck!' Neil felt drops of green fluid fell of his feet and arm as he hurriedly covered himself, before creating antidote for the poison by Aquamorph.
After a minute the rain finally ended, and within moments all the green fluid evaporated and disappeared.
"Now!!" Neil threw the blanket away and got to his feet unsteadily, then he threw Magnar forward, as the familiar's size increased rapidly.
ROOOAAAAARRRRRRRR
Magnar let out an ear-piercing roar, as a burst of extreme fire energy exploded towards the Gnat from its horns.
Neil recondensed the big bubble of the highly inflammable fluid and threw it over the creature.
BOOOOOOOM!
The fluid spread over the Gnat's body as the extreme fire scorched the fly's body, spreading rapidly.
SCRRRRIIIRRRRRRRR
The fly let out a terrifying scream, although it did seem to damage the Gnat a little, but the beast appeared to be immune against the fire mostly.
"Damn damn damnation, I am damned!"
Neil was afraid of the exact same case, since this creature was made from Magnar's blood, so there was a chance it might have fire immunity.
And his fear came true.
He hurriedly moved back, it seemed he needed to change strategies.
But there was none other, Magnar was his trump card and the only chance at winning.
'Think think!!'
If they didn't kill it, then he would be stuck in an endless cycle of death until he gave up.
The flames died down, and the Caustic Gnat seemed even angrier.
Neil thought of every possibility.
He couldn't get close. He couldn't handle another scream. He couldn't burn it. He couldn't crush it.
…But maybe he didn't need to.
Neil repeated all his observations in his mind.
The scream killed Neil instantly.
So, the Gnat requires to inhale a long breath and needed vibration membrane.
And the membrane visible near the broken wing seemed to be the exact thing.
The acid leaks around its body showed there were pressurized sacs inside.
'The broken wing stump has exposed vibration tissue.' Neil thought after a look at the creature.
This creature hurt itself every time it screamed.
Neil just needed to force that damage to multiply.
'Right. Any creature with caustic acid, vibration sacs, internal pressure, mutated organs… naturally has bioelectric charges across membranes like eels, but weaker.' Neil pushed his body, mind and senses to the limit.
But before he could continue…
BANG
The large body of the Gnat was blasted towards the sky, as it used highly compressed pressure to bounce itself upwards yet again.
"F…uck!" Neil stared upwards in bafflement, as the Gnat's body started falling towards him.
But before Neil even had a chance of reacting, Magnar jumped high, smashing itself against the enormous fly.
The magma flowing down Magnar's body came in contact with the Gnat, and right at that moment, the large bug released the green fluid.
BOOOOM
"No, get awa-" The Gnat possessed some level of intelligence, it had actually used Neil as bait to lure Magnar.
The familiar's body was thrown away, a big injury on its right arm as blood flooded out.
Magnar released a painful wail, falling heavily.
"Damnit, this is going to be so much more difficult than I expected." Neil cursed, hurrying towards Magnar.
Reaching close to Magnar, whose size had already decreased, Neil picked him into his arms and created some distance.
At least the Gnat seemed a bit slow.
'It is also mostly immune to fire, not to mention this bug is using me to bait Magnar, it is also intelligent.'
Creating the best healing potion he could currently, Neil covered Magnar's shoulder with it, stopping the bleeding, pain and poison.
"Sorry buddy, but this bug is going to haa pay several times over." Neil said, feeling his familiar's shivering form.
EEIIIIIRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE
The Gnat suddenly waved one of its arms, which seemed quite sharp like a blade, then it detached from the creature's body and flew towards him.
WHOOSH
Before Neil had a chance to react, the blade passed through his belly, slashing him cleanly in two.
For a moment he just stood there, staring at thin air with wide eyes, then…
COUGH
He coughed out blood, and his upper body slid down as the world turned dark, pain shooting through his senses.
Before completely disappearing.
[You Died.]
[Analyzer Activated.]
[Would you like to restart/ continue?]
[Start Again/ Give up/ Continue?]
'Start again.'
…
Neil arrived right at the moment when he had just entered the Nest, the big creature was yet to even notice him.
"Magnar, don't increase your size until I instruct." Neil used the few moments he got.
'Nemo, helmet.'
A helmet appeared over his head instantly, which soon was covered by the same thick fluid, then Neil put some of the same bubbly fluid around Magnar's head too.
Just a moment before the battle was about to start, Neil extended both his arms forward and produced various types of fluids.
To test and see the scream's reaction over each fluid.
KRRIIIEERRRRIIIIEEEEEE
Again, the Gnat let out a twisted screech at an extremely high pitch, making everything around shudder.
Extreme pain shot through Neil's head but it was now a little manageable, while Magnar was perfectly fine this time.
'Ughh Alright let's try with it.'
Neil thought, knowing fully well that after this scream the creature would be disoriented for a few seconds.
But his first attempt resulted in failure, as his body got crushed…
[You Died.]
[Start Again/ Give up/ Continue?]
'Again!'
Neil shuddered, feeling as if countless insects were crawling over his body, dying was truly terrifying.
Pain disappeared from his body, but it always remained in his mind.
But he got to work hurriedly, continuing with his experiment.
"Magnar, try to puncture that area near its broken wing." Neil said, after protecting themselves against the scream.
But…
[You Died.]
[Start Again/ Give up/ Continue?]
…
Again and again, it became so painful, so hopeless that Neil really just wanted to give up.
Was it truly worth it?
What even was the reason for him to continue to live?
Not to mention, he would have to keep suffering the same torture again and again and again.
[You Died.]
[Start Again/ Give up/ Continue?]
…
Moments after Neil returned, his body got consumed by acidic fluid, the quantity and speed surpassing his capability.
It hurt like hell, dying so many times didn't make it any easier or decrease the pain.
This skill felt like a curse.
Each experience was a nightmare, so painful, he almost felt like going mad.
Yet for some reason, Neil couldn't give up, even as he got torn, grinded, burn, melted or much more.
[You Died.]
[Start Again/ Give up/ Continue?]
'Continue'
…
No matter what, even if the world burns, he wanted to survive.
He wanted to survive so badly that he would die for it.
Hours of torture passed and Neil at least managed to obtain a lot of information about the disgusting, hateful bug.
And he was getting better at using his skill.
It was probably attempt number 132 or was it 140?
Keeping count of his deaths was a bit hard, especially when the situation was so hopeless and pain was the only thing filling his memeory.
…
WHOOSH
Neil barely managed to dodge the spinning blade of chitin the Gnat flung at himl.
Though it still managed to leave a long cut over his left arm.
Getting close to the bug, Neil noticed that the bug was about to scream again, as the exposed tissue near its neck trembled.
'Perfect!' Neil packed more of his bubbly fluid around his helmet and chest, thickening it until his vision blurred.
SCRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE
COUGH-
His head spun, blood spurted from his mouth.
He still was hurt, but survived.
"MAGNAR NOW!!" Neil shouted, while summoning a heavy, swirling mass of thickened fluid, dense as mud.
❖❖❖
Thanks for reading...