Gray yanked the spine from his side with a sharp tug, the paralytic already fading. The wound throbbed, but he forced himself to focus. Five Pale Sentinel Urchins now filled the grotto, their single eyes all fixed on him, their needle-spines quivering with anticipation.
’Cindy, give me a narrow barrier at my back.’
"On it."
A shimmering wall snapped into place at his back, sealing off the corner the first urchin had been herding him toward. Now the creatures would have to come at him from the front and sides.
The first urchin, the one he’d already wounded let out another scream. The others answered in kind, a chorus of crystal-breaking screams that made the grotto tremble.
Then they attacked.
Three volleys of pale spines launched simultaneously from different angles. Gray twisted through the gaps, Flow State folding the current around his silhouette. The spines whispered past, close enough to taste the paralysis on his tongue.
The fourth urchin had circled to his left while he dodged, and its spine volley came from behind the shimmer of Cindy’s barrier. Gray saw it at the last moment and dropped flat against the seafloor, letting the needles pass overhead. One grazed his bell, leaving a thin line of numbness.
[-8 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 868 / 900]
’They’re very experienced at hunting in groups, what an annoying creature.’
Cindy’s voice was tight. "What now?"
Gray’s tentacles coiled beneath him, pressing against the sand. ’I need to break their formation.’
He activated Flow State and shot toward the wounded urchin, ignoring the other four. The creature’s eye widened, its maw splitting open in a shriek of alarm.
A volley came from the right. Gray spun mid-charge, letting the spines cut empty water. Another volley came from above. He twisted again, the water bending around him like a cloak.
’You’ll have to do better.’
He reached the wounded urchin and wrapped his tentacles around its body, careful to avoid the spine-tips. Grip Jaw locked on and squeezed.
[GRIP JAW — 32 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (1) — HP: 170 / 340]
The urchin thrashed, trying to fire its spines point-blank. Gray turned it, using its body as a shield. The volley from the other urchins struck their own kin instead.
The wounded urchin’s HP drained faster.
[FRIENDLY FIRE — 44 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (1) — HP: 126 / 340]
’Thanks for the help.’
Overcharge detonated through Gray’s tentacles, the electricity flooding the urchin’s body. Its central eye bulged, then went dark.
[OVERCHARGE — 94 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (1) DEFEATED — 420 EXP]
Gray dropped the corpse and spun to face the remaining four. They had repositioned, forming a wide crescent around him. Their eyes tracked his movements with cold precision.
’Cindy. How’s the locket?’
"Better. But I can only manage maybe two more barriers. Three if I push it."
’Then I need to end this fast.’
The four urchins shrieked in unison. This time, the spines came from every direction, a relentless rain of pale needles filling the water like a storm of shattered glass.
Gray dove, rolled, twisted. Flow State made him faster, but he wasn’t untouchable. Spines grazed his tentacles, his bell, his margin. The paralysis numbed each wound but didn’t stop him.
[-12 HP]
[-15 HP]
[-18 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 823 / 900]
Then one hit him dead-on, burying itself deep in his bell.
[-34 HP]
[PARALYSIS — 2 SECONDS]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 789 / 900]
His body locked. He floated frozen in the water, helpless, as the urchins closed in from all sides.
’No! Not yet!’
Cindy’s voice cracked. "Gray!"
[PHYSICAL BARRIER — ACTIVATED]
A dome of silver-blue light burst into being around Gray, the spines clattering against it like hail on glass. The urchins shrieked in fury, their eye rolling with frustration as their prey vanished behind the shield.
A gasp tore from Gray as the paralysis released him, his bell pounding hard.
’...Thanks.’
"Don’t mention it. Just tell me you have a plan."
Gray sensed through the shimmering barrier at the four urchins pressing in. They had formed a tight circle, their spines aimed at the dome. Waiting for it to fall.
’...I do now.’
He let his senses spread outward, tracing the faint electrical fields of the urchins’ bodies through the water. The urchins’ spines were long, thin, and brittle. The grotto was filled with them, embedded in the stone, the sand, even the plants. The whole floor had become a field of pale needles.
’Cindy. Drop the barrier on my signal.’
"What?! They’ll shoot you the second it goes down!"
’That’s what I’m counting on.’
He positioned himself at the center of the dome, coiling his tentacles beneath him. Then, with a sharp pulse, he signaled.
"NOW!"
The barrier shattered outward in a spray of silver light. The four urchins fired immediately, their volleys converging on Gray’s position from every direction.
Gray activated Subterranean Ambush.
He vanished into the sand just as the spines crossed the space where he’d been. The volleys collided with each other, needles shattering against needles in a storm of fragments.
The urchins went still, their eyes swiveling in every direction as they scanned the water with sharp, jerky motions. The grotto, once filled with their shrieking, had fallen silent. They knew he was still somewhere near, lurking just beyond their senses, but none of them could find him.
Gray erupted from the seafloor beneath the closest one, his serrated bell driving up into its unarmored underside.
[SUBTERRANEAN AMBUSH — 78 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (2) — HP: 262 / 340]
[STUN — 2 SECONDS]
The urchin flipped onto its back, spines thrashing, but Gray didn’t stop. He swept past, caught it with two tentacles, and sent it crashing into the urchin beside it.
The two urchins smashed together with a sickening crunch, their spines shattering against one another and driving deep into soft flesh as their shrieks tore through the water.
[COLLISION DAMAGE — 32 DAMAGE]
[COLLISION DAMAGE — 30 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (2) — HP: 230 / 340]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (3) — HP: 310 / 340]
The third urchin recovered first. Its eye locked on Gray, and its maw split open in fury. But before it could fire, Gray didn’t give them a chance.
He fired Cavitation Pulse into the tangle of stunned urchins.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 58 DAMAGE]
[CAVITATION PULSE — 56 DAMAGE]
Steam exploded outward. Both creatures convulsed, their spines curling inward as the superheated water scalded their flesh.
The fourth urchin, the one that had just fired at Gray, tried to retreat toward the grotto entrance. Gray intercepted it with Riptide Slash.
[RIPTIDE SLASH — 88 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (4) — HP: 252 / 340]
The blade split its shell, and with a shriek, the urchin spun and fired a desperate volley. Gray dodged, watching as the creature’s aim scattered wildly, panic overtaking its movements.
’That’s right. Fear me.’
He closed the distance and slammed Overcharge into the crack in its shell.
[OVERCHARGE — 96 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (4) — HP: 156 / 340]
[STUN — 5 SECONDS]
The urchin seized, its eye rolling back. Gray wrapped his tentacles around it, careful to find the gaps between its spines, and squeezed.
[GRIP JAW — 34 DAMAGE]
[GRIP JAW — 30 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (4) — HP: 92 / 340]
The creature’s spines went limp, its central eye dimming as the last of its strength faded.
Gray finished it with one more Overcharge.
[OVERCHARGE — 94 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (4) DEFEATED — 420 EXP]
He turned to face the last two urchins. Their shells were cracked, their bodies leaking pale fluid, and their shrieks had grown weak and desperate. They fired, but the water was so thick with broken spines and green mist that even they could no longer see clearly.
Gray drifted toward them, serrated bell glinting.
’You should have let me leave.’
He fired Riptide Slash.
[RIPTIDE SLASH — 90 DAMAGE]
[RIPTIDE SLASH — 88 DAMAGE]
The crescent blade hit both remaining urchins, splitting their damaged shells further. One of them collapsed, its spines flattening against the seafloor as it tried to burrow.
Gray killed it with Cavitation Pulse.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 60 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (2) DEFEATED — 420 EXP]
The last urchin fired one final spine in desperation. The needle stuck in Gray’s already-wounded tentacle, bringing a fresh wave of numbness. He ignored it.
[-14 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 775 / 900]
Overcharge detonated one last time.
[OVERCHARGE — 96 DAMAGE]
[PALE SENTINEL URCHIN (3) DEFEATED — 420 EXP]
Gray hovered in the center of the carnage, surrounded by the broken bodies of the Pale Sentinel Urchins. Their central eyes stared up at him, empty and dark.
[TRAIT FRAGMENT ACQUIRED: "Paralytic Needle" (1/5)]
[LEVEL UP!]
[You are now Level 33.]
[20 Stat Points available for distribution.]
[2 Skill Points available.]
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