Randy

As if on some fucking cue, the Megacada, who was previously sitting on the cavern corner, suddenly got up and run directly into my position.

Dammit! I not even out of my egg yet!

What do I do what do I do?!?!

Tail?

Tail, yes! Wiggle it out, punch through the shell, assist it with magic. QUICKLY!

I open a hole just large enough for my body diameter and start climbing up to escape. Getting my head out, I can fully detect Megacada’s large body looming right above my entire being. The atmosphere thickens with gratifying pressure as I struggle to keep my composure.

Looking at it’s bright mana-infused body is far more terrifying from directly in front of it than from the safety of my egg.

H-HOOOLY FUCK THAT’S LARGE!!!

This Megacada’s height is easily two times my entire length. Mana Vision distinguishes its features clearly enough, not that I wanted to look at it with such details. Its basically a large cicada with teethy housefly mouth. It’s wingless, but those feet look strong! It might even be able to jump onto the ceiling. Its decorated with sharp jagged edges, which covers its entire body along until its abdominal tip, even making something of an imitation stinger.

Whose God in their sane fuck decides to create something like THIS?!

The Megacada stands high in front of me as if its taunting me. Cold shivers run onto my back, as my head go blank with nothing but fear.

Everything about this sounds sooo much better in theory; I just need to fight some large insect, lob some magic, and kill the damn thing. Easy and simple, it should've been.

I never take into account that reality is often disappointing.

I can only stare in horror as my fight-or-flight response went straight to freeze instead. Looking at the darkly bright figure of mana in front of me once more, something in me snaps and I start slithering the hell away from it.

…

My mind went blank through and through as I keep on internally screaming. I slither faster as soon as the Megacada slams its front feet onto the ground, which is the entire difference between running away and being squished by one of its large legs. The entire ground shakes as it displaces and reorients.

WHO THE FUCK CARES ABOUT THAT NOW! SAVE MEEE!!!

One disoriented and frantic slithering later I find myself running away from the hideous beast of a monster, which is just barely slower than I am, but still keeps up due to its sheer size and travel length.

Any attempt of reaching back to sanity is gone wasted as the only thing I can do is lose myself to the snakey instincts screaming at me to slither away, taking near-full control over my own body in the process.

*KRBOOM* *KRRGHMMM* *THUMMM*

The Megacada keeps on attacking me with its two front legs, barely hitting me every time it did. It’s a smart one, engaging in a battle of attrition instead one of quick finish. A battle of attrition I'm clearly losing. Not after long, I’m already running out of stamina, wit, and mental power. Not to mention, with the ground tremors created by its sheer power every time it pounds, its getting harder to find the apex travel path to distance myself from it.

This is seriously different from everything I had read about dungeons.

No challenging combats, no grand tactics, or skimming its health little by little with carefully planned out attack strategies. None of those fancy shmacy "attack the soft spots" or "let's keep it up, it's dying".

Unfamiliar, terrified, and alone, the only thing I can do is run away in circles against this monstrosity of an insect.

Dammit, can’t I do something? Anything at all?

My shrinking portion of calm mind remembers that I have magic. In franticity I called upon the UI.

[MANA CONDENSER ACTIVATE!!!]

In an instant I feel half of my panic dissolving, instead being redirected to focus on collecting large amounts of mana and clumping it in a sort of ball. More of it went into the clump. I’m starting to strain but I cannot feel the spell slowing down.

If any, the spell is taking quite long.

Running in circles over the increasingly broken cavern floor, I am condensing mana in large amounts, which results in a single large uneven ball floating in my peripheral vision. I carried it for sometime until I’m getting really tired.

Tired of exerting mana, tired of running away, and tired of only being able to run away.

You know how too much of everything ruins the experience? Well now I’m tired of being scared.

Exhausted, with a slowly dissipating fear, and with a newly growing feeling of being pissed off, I snap my head back to look onto the large abomination dead on.

I lob the ball at it, smashing to what seems to be its head. The mana ball shatters, and I can feel some amount of mana going back to me.

ONLY 21?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

Megacada stops on its tracks to shake it off and look at me. I can feel its entire being being covered in anger, directed towards me, and me only. It swings its front legs in horrifying precision.

Jumping left to dodge the left leg, I got kicked by its right leg instead, sending me flying through the room and landing on the opposite wall.

*SMACK* *THHMMP* *THUCK*

THAT FUCKING HUUUURTS! HUUUURTS! MY BAACK! MY FAACE! MY ENTIRE BODY!

JUST FROM THAT ONE HIT? ARE YOU BEING FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!

Hurting literally everywhere, I lift my head back up a little bit. I can see the Megacada charging straight into me.

Still in intense agony I forcefully clump manas into a crystal. My mind is running on fumes as I can barely perceive what I am doing anymore. The only thing I know is I’m conjuring mana crystals and I’m about to lob it at this insect bastard.

With blurry perceptions, I aim for its center of mass, and release the crystal.

That’s… good I guess?

There’s a mana tendril that is now detached and starts leaking mana back into the air. It must be one of its legs. I might not hit it directly, but it’s still a hit regardless.

Slithering away from it as far as I can, I start to tend to my body for a bit, which is nothing but basically rubbing one part of my body with another to… well… I don’t know really, it just feels a bit better to do so, like rubbing your hands over a stressed area.

The Megacada stumbles around and makes something of a clicking gesture with its frontal legs. It writhes in agony as it tries to pick itself up but still hurting due to the limb.

A precious few seconds! I take this chance to calm myself a bit more and start to mentally slap myself back to real world. A few self-talking and incessant swearing later I feel just a tiny bit better.

A tiny bit more of mind clarity goes long ways. Remembering some parts of the plan I had devised, I quickly shape up a long thin spear of mana crystal, which although is crude, should do the job.

I barely have time to conjure the explosion thing as it is now charging at me like a raging bull. I froze in panic as I kept trying to compact even more mana into the Bullet Spear. As its coming closer, I find myself unable to continue holding on to my actions.

*FWBOOOMM*

…I let go too early. I’m too scared to even think of it. The “gunpowder” explodes and it propels the spear forward.

The crystal spear went low and pierced its dangling mouth, and grazed the abdomen, before hitting the wall behind it and shattering.

I guess that explosive power is enough then. I can shape up larger spears instead.

The Megacada steps back in recoil, before it gets increasingly agitated and stares into my entire being with pure animalistic fury. Frightened, I call upon another of the spell which only now I remember had prepared.

[Activate Spell: Bullet Spear]!

Instead of manually making a spear and tube, I feel my energy and MP draining by quite a bit, in exchange for a fully ready Bullet Spear contraption ready to fire.

Before its ready to charge, I accidentally let go of the compacted mana.

It missed and hits the wall instead.

Dammit!

Uninterrupted, the Megacada is now charging at me.

Calling the spell once more, I opt to actually aim before shooting, to its general center of mass. It hit dead on, impaling a bit to the left of what I assume its face.

I slither to the left and went to the other corner of the room. It took its sweet time tending to its left eye, which is still impaled. Apparently if its not a wasted shot the crystal I conjured will stay stuck.

Still a bit hurting I curl rub around myself before calling another Bullet Spear.

Although, before I could aim properly my reflex jolts and I instantly roll to the side.

*BHWHAAOOUUMMM*

I-i-it shot a beam at me. IT SHOT A BEAM AT ME!

IT SHOT A FUCKING CHARGED BEAM AT ME! BRIGHT ENOUGH THAT I CAN SEE THE ENTIRE CAVE FOR A SECOND!

FUCK! I MISJUDGED IT! THIS IS GOING TO BE HARD!!! FUCK FUCK FUCK!

I call upon Bullet Spear again and aim it a bit to the right, before releasing the compacted mana propellant.

I start to attack in a rudimentary tactic which consists of lobbing a couple spears, running to the opposite end of the cavern, lobbing a couple more spears, rinse, and repeat.

…

*KRHHBWHOOAAUUUMMMM*

KHGYAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! IT HUUURTS!!! IT FUCKING HUURTS!!!!!

YOU OVERSIZED FLY! YOU’RE SO FUCKING DEAD!!!

[BULLET SPEAR!!!]

…

...

Uuuugghhhhh...

I’m tired as shit…

I am running on what is basically adrenaline fumes now. I am exhausted beyond belief, my tail is still AWOL, and my MP is down to 300ish. I will need to conserve mana or I will actually die by fainting and getting eaten. As much as my fear had faded I’m still not ready to die.

No one is ever truly ready to die.

On the other scale, Megacada also looks battered up. Mana flowing out of its body, which outline is barely even discernible anymore as my barrage of spears made it look like a Hedgehog.

I’m guessing that mana is infused in the blood of every organism, and that is what’s flowing out of it.

It lost one leg on each side, so it can barely use any of its legs to attack, and it runs solely on its charged beam attack.

Problem is; IT JUST WON’T DIE! It’s as if any injury it took only made it stronger and recover faster!

I keep on slithering here and there as to not lose adrenaline just yet, as I’m depending on it. Because aside from the fact that I actually do, that corpselike Megacada is actually sprinting faster and faster.

This feels like a really shitty beep test I got in PE once at the school’s gym.

Gambling on it, I call another Bullet Spear and aim at its right side. I will need to sever two of its legs and incapacitate it in a single sweep if I want to end this.

Dammit! Another one!

NO! ANOTHER MISS!

I have one last shot. I have to aim this carefully.

I slither around once more, getting even more tired with every inch of it. It starts charging again, albeit far slower than when we first clash.

Crap, my adrenaline is wearing out. I’m shivering in extreme cold as my grip on reality starts fading.

It’s too soon for that dammit!

With fading eyes, I start to aim. Shaky, inaccurate, laced with a million prayers and hope, all I can do now is bet on it, as my feeling of being pissed off fades, and actual fear starts kicking back in. Fear of failure, fear of hurt, and fear of death.

The loss of adrenaline, overexertion of my physical body, and the returning fear, all result in a deadly cocktail of emotions which made my entire soul shiver.

It’s too shaky to aim!

FUCK IT AAAALL!

*FWBBOOOM*

FUCK YEAH! IT HIT!

…

Wait, no!

NO!

IT DIDN'T HIT THE LEGS!

DAMMIT! FUCK!

F-FUuuuuuuuUUK!

I-I NEED TO- T-To… f-finish…

A-Aarghh... I- I- I… I’m slipping away….

Nooo….

Fuck…..

I don’t wanna die……….

…. Please….

.....God….

......anyone…

.......help me….

.....Mommy….

….