The plan was for Tesilim, Rose, and Alyx to push the initial charge. The idea was to let Lili save as much mana as she could to effectively deal with any surprises that might come from the cave. As for Jasmine, well, as they had learned, she was incredibly hard to heal, and the last thing the party wanted was for her to get hurt in the initial attack and then be a possible liability when or if things came out of the cave. Meanwhile, Drex had a limited reserve of mana and was best kept at full strength. Essentially, the party wanted half of the team fresh and ready to go in case a nasty surprise sprang up.

  There were also other reasons why the initial members of the attacking group were chosen. First of all, the fights would be one-on-one. The idea was to eliminate the hounds with Tesilim’s die, then have each of them engage an enemy. Rose would fight the tharnik while Tesilim and Alyx went for a nancles, then the two would move to help Rose. Though, honestly, Jasmine and Lili would be on standby to assist as they could without wasting too much mana.

  Tesilim and Lili got the closest to the edge of the forest. The rest of their group was about two dozen feet away. They had discussed having Alyx cast a mass stealth spell, but the decision was made not to waste the mana. Instead, they would wait for Tesilim’s die to activate before rushing in. So, Tesilim waited from the top of a thick branch until the hounds were closest together; then he threw his die.

  With his breath held, Tesilim watched the die fly through the air, the aberrations none the wiser until it landed beside the two hounds.

  A second passed by, and nothing. However, Tesilim figured the die was still rolling, then it finally stopped.

  An explosion of ice erupted from the die’s location, icicles instantly exploding against the nearby shifter hounds. The hounds were quickly overcome, their bodies freezing and shattering as around half of the couple of dozen icicles turned them into popsicles.

  Tesilim hadn’t waited long after the initial explosion happened and was already rushing towards the other aberrations who were looking in the direction of the hounds. The rest of the icicles were, much like Tesilim, homing onto the remaining enemies and keeping their attention from the incoming elf and friends. Rose was a few feet behind Tesilim, with Alyx a couple of feet behind the redhead.

  Sadly for the team, the remaining icicles did little and were instead met with beams of force. The nancles had about a dozen tentacles of varying sizes, each capable of shooting beams of force. Still, they were distracted, and the engaging trio managed to snag the initiative.

  Tesilim teleported above his targeted tentacle monster, looking to plunge his poisoned blade deep into its pinkish body. The problem with that tactic was that his blade ran into a shield and was stopped dead in its tracks. Of course, the monster noticed him instantly, and all its tentacles pointed in his direction.

  “Shit,” Tesilim mumbled and teleported right before a bunch of beams shot at him.

  Rose was glad to have a Tesilim, who could teleport at will, because it meant that the tharnik was letting her get plenty close. The elf and the beams that followed caused the giant pink muscle to turn toward the nancles and away from Rose. So, Rose was only a few feet from it when it finally noticed her, and at that point, it wouldn’t react in time, which let Rose stab her poisoned blade deep into the monster's chest.

  One thing Alyx was glad for was that the Eldritch Gods were limited in sharing their mana through the Ethereal Barrier, and that they also saw invading worlds as a way to cull the weak. Otherwise, aberrations would be a much bigger pain in the ass to deal with. Even without them receiving free mana, they were still annoying to deal with. Thankfully, there was one surefire way to deal with them, though first Alyx had to make sure his target stayed still.

  Alyx hadn’t gotten that close to the action and was a respectable distance from where Rose was about to stab the tharnik. He also knew Jasmine, Rose, and Drex were not that far behind. They wanted to let the aberrations lock in on their current enemies before showing themselves. To that end, he was glad that Tesilim had bought him some more time to finish his spell.

  "By shadows deep and void untrue;

  Let darkness spread in warped review;

  Light undone and space unmade;

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Twist and bend, let paths evade."

  The spell was meant to summon a shroud of darkness around the second nancle, but not just any shroud. It had taken a good chunk of mana to power the spell properly, but it was worth it. The nancle was a Mid D Ranker, but its spatial sense was a touch more sensitive than most aberrations. So, the spell also blurred the space in the darkness, making it difficult for the aberration, which relied on its spatial senses, to stay oriented.

  “Chaotic Slash!” Tesilim yelled, then realized it was a bad idea to give away his new position. What made things worse was that the blade of blueish ice shattered against the tentacle monster's shield.

  Dodging the various beams of force sent his way, either by the usual method or by making short teleports, Tesilim swiftly approached the nancle. Yet again, the blade of the katana did nothing against the monster's shield before he was forced to teleport away. Tesilim had hoped to goad the monster into melee and have it drop its shield in the process, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. It was obvious the aberration was happy to shoot beams at him.

  One of the most significant issues was that the nancle was High D Rank, so unless Tesilim really threw everything he had at it, there was little chance of him easily breaking through its shield. Not only did it have plenty of mana stored in its crystal, but it was also more adept at using the Ambient Mana in the air. Luckily, their crystals were their weak spot, and Tesilim wasn’t alone.

  “Hey, killing this thing will dry me out completely without some help. Lili or Jasmine, can you help me out a bit?”

  Hearing Tesilim via their mind link, Jasmine answered, “Sure, tell me when, and I will hit it with a good beam of power.”

  It was incredibly clear that the poison was already doing its job, even though it had only been a few seconds. Of course, it was also clear that Rose was not getting her sword back right away. She had stabbed the monster, but when she tried to pull her sword, it had flexed its muscles, causing her sword to stay in place. And in a moment of instinct she had yet to train out of herself, Rose had chosen to double down on trying to pry her sword free.

  At that point, Rose had felt the monster's body spike with power and tense fury as a fist was unleashed upon her. Luckily, she had enough time to release her grip on the sword and brace, both hands on her shield.

  The mighty fist struck her shield, and with an “oomph,” the wind was knocked out of her as she was sent flying backward. Rose came to a sliding stop next to Alyx, who had to have just finished a spell. There she took a deep breath, nodding casually at the gnome, who also nodded back at her, before she got up and ran back towards the damn aberration, who was also rushing at her.

  Her enhancement going at the max, Rose sidestepped the monster's first fist, which dented the ground, and with a “Shield Bash!” she blurred forward before it could launch another punch. Her shield slammed into its chest right next to where her sword was, and in the same motion, she wrapped her hand around the sword handle, pulling it out when the aberration stumbled back under the force of her bash.

  After ensuring Rose would actually hold back the tharnik, Alyx refocused on his target. His darkness spell would only last so long; the aberration would first be confused by the sudden loss of its senses, but after it got itself together, it would unleash blasts of energy, causing his magic to dissipate faster. However, Alyx still had enough time, and with Lili and Drex arriving next to him, he didn’t need to worry about the tharnik as much.

  The gnome planned to spend a good chunk of normal and pure mana to pierce through the aberration’s shield in one go and strike at its Heart Crystal. Because once the Heart Crystal was shattered, the aberration was as good as done. To that end, he needed the right spell and to know where an aberration’s Heart Crystal was, which, for nancles, was usually at their center. Though they could move it, they only did so if an attacker made it obvious what they were going for, which was why his combination attack was so good. The shadow spell disturbed the aberration, causing it to worry about other things and hopefully keep its crystal in its normal spot. Then, his second spell would finish the job.

  "From heavens high and depths unknown;

  Let piercing force be set in stone;

  A mighty rod, sharp and true;

  Strike with power, break right through!"

  As he chanted, Alyx saw as his first spell lost some of its power when beams of force broke through the shadows. Thankfully, it would last long enough to keep the monster preoccupied while also revealing its location. The spell was a one-sided thing only affecting the senses of the creatures stuck within the shadow, which meant the actual space was just fine from Alyx's perspective. Still, the problem had been the shadows that blocked his sight, but now he could see half of the creature's body. Finishing the spell, he directed the piercing rod of stone right at its center.

  The speedy spike of stone came flying down from high in the sky and was slightly slowed as it struck the nancles shield. The delay was brief and something the aberration couldn’t react to in time. So, unable to direct more mana into a very small spot in its shield, it failed to stop it with any amount of reserve mana it might have had.

  Piercing through the shield, the spike continued in a blur, shooting right into the nancles body and hitting its Heart Crystal. The Heart Crystal mounted another minuscule defense, but the force and power of the spike was more than enough to overcome it in less than a second, and the stone projectile pierced through the monster's body, inserting itself into the ground. The power behind the projectile was enough to propel it forward, and it disappeared into the earth, leaving a small hole behind, along with a whoosh and a wave of air.