Chapter 29 Croc Landing (1/2)

New learnings!

So I'm able to consume the cores of my fellow monsters in order to reinforce my own, and this has the effect of increasing my max MP?

Fantastic! This means I'll be able to practice one extra time when I do my mana manipulation practice. It also means I've learned one more thing about the system that governs my growth in this place.

If I want to gain more and more MP then I need to consume monster cores to do so.

That feels like it would be a ma.s.sive challenge though, in order for a monster to have a monster core it must have reached max level and spent an evolution on it. By definition that means the monster will be strong, not something I'll usually be able to mess with.

I was lucky this time. I can't expect I'll be able to gain more monster cores this easily in the future.

Enough thinking! Time to chase after the t.i.tan-Croc.

Even if it isn't rus.h.i.+ng, the sheer size of that monster means it moves fairly quickly and I really have to hustle to get back into my shadowing position behind the ma.s.sive tail trailing behind the beast as it moves.

It isn't long before we finally reach the place this unstoppable beast has been heading toward this whole time.

The forest suddenly gives way and an open vista appears before me.

It's a lake.

A huge body of water, glowing with incredible light occupies a large clearing. After travelling for over an hour we have moved toward that center of this huge cavern, but something tells me we haven't even reached it yet.

This lake is easily a hundred metres across, I can even see small rivers and tributaries running off it. I suspect this lake is fed from an underground source, the water flowing up from beneath the rocky bed and then overflowing to create these small streams.

What really dazzles me is the twisting ropes of blue light that rotate slowly around each other in a slow dance within the water. Almost like a double helix pattern. These ropes appeared to be connected to the source of the lake and drifted around, pushed by some invisible current.

Mana!

I had seen this phenomenon before in the rock pool above but it had been far, far weaker, the twisting ropes had been almost invisible. Even so, the water had been suffused with mana, causing it to draw monsters from all over the cavern to drink and absorb the energy, trying to condense their cores.

This water must have truly dense mana in it!

Just like before, all manner of creatures had been drawn to the water source to drink and absorb the energy. Perhaps a good chunk of these monsters had already condensed their core and were just restoring MP they had used up, I would have to test that idea!

Within my range of view I could already see a huge range of monsters, some I had seen before but others I had not.

A large tangle of the basic centipedes is here, I think I glimpsed inside a slightly different one, something about its colour or shape but it was concealed within the writhing bodies of the more basic kind and I couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was nothing.

An evolved version of the Wolf Dragon cub is here, larger and more intimidating that before, it has what looks almost like a lions mane around its neck, thick proud fur that projects pride and status.

I could swear that the creatures eyes were on fire, it's hard to make out the details but the air seems to be s.h.i.+mmering with heat haze right around its eyes…..

Surely not?

There are other creatures I've never seen before. A gorilla looking thing with ma.s.sive, thick arms and a bat-like face, smaller monkey like creatures swarming and screeching around its feet.

Over there I can see a few of those gargoyle like monsters I'd seen descend from the roof.

Past them is what I believe is an evolved Thorn Lizard, not much larger than the original but looked more densely muscled and its spikes more menacing than before.

Another creature had the appearance of an armoured bison of some kind. Built with its legs low to the ground and thick plates of a rock looking substance protecting its face and back.

More and more I spotted new types of monsters around the lake, the sheer variety of them was dizzying. Just how many different types of monsters were there down here?

It was going to be a real pain trying to remember all off this!

Unfortunately, most of them look too strong for me to deal with, I'll have to continue to choose my targets very carefully.

As the giant t.i.tan-Croca approaches the waters' edge the nearby monsters wisely create s.p.a.ce for it. I can see the area the Croca has settled in is a large, flattened muddy zone where the monster can stretch out its full length and lap up the mana charged water at leisure.

It sure looks good to be the king!

Even with all of these monster types here around the lake there isn't anything that looks like it could go one on one with this guy.