Chrysalis

The monster in question cannot detect my pheromones, at least I hope they can't, so I'm not entirely sure why I bothered to taunt it. Probably to hype myself up for the fight, because just looking at this thing is intimidating. All of my senses scream that something is wrong and the closer I get to it, the more my body protests. My antennae ripple with the sensation of pain, as though the air itself had become toxic. To my mana sense it appears as if the energy surrounding the creature were being… infected, for want of a better word… changing from the familiar shadow and death mana to become something completely different.

As the flow of energy eddies and swirls, that pulsing green and yellow disperses the further from the source it gets, but even small amounts seem to be having an effect. Everywhere it has touched, the corals and other small living things that live here in shadows have started to die, wilting as if they'd been sprayed with weedkiller. It's a shocking sight, because I don't believe I've come across any type of mana that would kill with merely its sheer presence. From what I can detect, the monster itself hasn't cast a spell of any kind, it's simply exuding this virulent mana in a steady flow, and the mana does the rest…

Just what sort of mana is it? Surely nothing as simple as poison?

The creature itself is the next thing that catches my eye as it prowls in the darkness just beyond the range my eyes can see well. Its face is definitely frog like, but the mouth is too wide, and its eyes are far too large. Beyond that, I can't make much out other than its limbs are thin and wiry, almost weirdly when compared to the size of its face. It's big though, possibly close to my own length, if not close to my mass.

My first encounter with a monster from the legendary strata of infection. I sure as heck hope that I don't catch anything gross from it.

[Invidia, I want you on healing and backup. Keep a close eye on the mana around the monster. I have a real bad feeling about it.]

[I sssshallll.]

a tougher fight than you're ready for and until I know more about these monsters I

[But, Master-!]

[GRRRR.]

you think I'm going to let you run in and get yourself

on the beast in front of me. I take a few measured steps forward as my considerable brain power starts to tick into overdrive. What magic should I use to counter it? How will it attack? Being able to fight against so many new foes recently has been a real treat after the endless varieties of shadow beast I've dealt with over the previous weeks, and this

you going

slightly closer, the monster slows its own movement, watching my every move with two bulbous eyes. I

of engaging in conversation. There's something about the way it's eyeing me that makes me think trying to talk to it

case, if we're going to go for it, then I'm better served by going large early. The omni-elemental construct is prepared and I start pumping burning hot blue fire mana through it, weaving the resulting energy into a burning jet of flame that I hold at the ready. My feet continue to

start to circle around each other. The other monster is lithe and wiry, if it weren't for that head, I'd think it was well built for speed,

WHOOSH!