Chrysalis

Turns out that, whilst the fire was indeed crispy, the monster did not enjoy it. The only unfortunate thing was that it didn't not enjoy it sufficiently enough to immediately perish. Having missed its initial bite and then been bitten and burned, the toad creature snarls, its lips pulling back from those horrendous teeth and grinding out a sound like nails on a chalkboard combined with bones snapping. It's quite distressing.

I allow the flames to dissipate to get a better visual of my opponent and I find them lurking just out of the fire’s range staring at me with baleful eyes. With this level of distance between us I feel confident taking a second to evaluate myself and I do so with one of my sub-brains. What I find is more than a little shocking. Despite not suffering an attack, despite only being close to the stupid toad for only a few moments, it's chewed through ten percent of my HP! How?!

[Invidia?! Can you check me for impurities in my mana?]

[Sssss. It will be done.]

The piercing green eye flashes with power as that immense brain goes to work and in only a few heartbeats the little demon has completed his work.

[It hassss infected you. Your mana issss being tainted.]

How in the hell?! Watching the frog carefully I use my sub-brain to turn my mana sense inwards, scouring through the mana channels of my own body and I'm shocked to find that Invidia is completely correct. It's small, but there are places where the creature's mana has somehow gotten into my system, and just as it’s doing in the area around us, it is converting the mana it comes into contact with its own, spreading the damage further.

can better see my own carapace and I'm shocked to see a few places where the glittering diamond has crumbled into a blackened mess. The spots are small, easy to go without noticing if I wasn't looking so carefully, but they are definitely there. It managed to break down my carapace so quickly? That's insane! I didn't even feel it? Except there was that moment of blinding

just an

stare at the toad, the more I think I'm right. Somehow, the mana around its body is corrosive, infectious and replicates itself, and I think it can control that mana at will, as if it were an aura generated by a gland. It's the

as the frog decides it has had enough of sitting back on its legs and launches into action. With two leaps with

Not good!

in an instant. Holy Moly! That is intense! Keen not to get hit again I continue to move in rapid bursts, relying on my nerves and foresight to track the frog as it throws its body around the tunnel at Vibrant-pleasing speeds, raining hell on me from above, to the side and

to close the distance, which is hard when it's so much faster than me… Even though getting closer to it is a guaranteed way to

DASH!

in sequential bursts to stack up multiple dashes at once, I rocket forward, zooming in a straight line toward the point I predict the frog will have to land next. As I'd hoped, it doesn't seem capable of changing its direction in mid-air and is forced to complete its jump, which will place it right in range of my jaws. As I rush forward, another ball of sludge flies over my back

When I'm paying attention, I can feel it go to

DOOM CHOMP COMBO!

than a second, I launch three rapid doom chomps, my entire body straining with the sheer amount of energy it takes out of me, but it's worth it. Put in a poor position to dodge, my toad nemesis is forced to try