Small enclosed areas are disconcerting when you have to fight monsters.
The entrance appeared as a jagged tear across the face of a small cliff. The rise of the cliff wasn’t very high, but if the cave went further underground, it could be any size. He’d actually passed it once, not thinking anything of it on his trek. The second time he’d come near it, he noticed a flash of blue barely visible inside the entrance. When he stalked closer to inspect the sight, he caught his first glimpse of his prey.
Blue crystals formed a somewhat humanoid body that was almost seven feet tall. The face was a blank slate of the colored gemstone with two glowing orbs for eyes. The entire creature looked like an old polygon model from classic video games with its blocky appearance. Water Elemental - Level 16.
Fighting these creatures was a different story. His cat form was nimble and great at dodging, but it still badly lacked combat skills. He needed to make it a priority to attack similar creatures in the form to pick up new skills. It worked great with the cheetah and the blood hunter.
His bear form suffered from a similar problem. While great at soaking up damage, it lacked much in the way of powerful combo attacks. This left him standing in front of the cave entrance in his normal form, staff at the ready. Not wanting to fight more than one elemental at a time, he targeted the creature just inside the entrance and cast Nature’s Wrath. The green balls of energy rocketed forward and slammed into the crystal body of the monster.
You dealt 26 damage to Water Elemental with Nature’s Fury. (Elemental Weakness)
Ooh, perfect. They are weak to nature style spells.
With a smile, he followed that spell with Sunfire. The cast time on the spell was almost nonexistent as a beam of golden light appeared over the elemental’s head and seared into the creature. The downfall was it did less base damage at the same casting cost.
You dealt 20 damage to Water Elemental with Sunfire. (Elemental Weakness)
The crystalline monster plodded toward Atlas as though nothing happened. It walked in a slow and steady rhythm, causing slight tremors in the ground as it moved. Atlas could make out a few small cracks from his spells, but they were barely hairline fractures.
Lifting his staff, he activated Charge and closed the distance. The staff thudded into the torso of the monster and he followed with Triple Threat, Pursuit, and Double Slash. The monster never even attempted to dodge or counter as the wooden staff thwacked against its head, arms, and chest. The final blow of Double Slash landed, and Atlas grimaced at the notification.
You dealt 2 damage to Water Elemental with Charge. (Elemental Armor)
You dealt 6 damage to Water Elemental with Triple Threat. (Elemental Armor)
You dealt 2 damage to Water Elemental with Pursuit. (Elemental Armor)
You dealt 4 damage to Water Elemental with Double Slash. (Elemental Armor)
Atlas looked down at his staff. I need something that has more power behind it.
His mind turned toward his nightstalker form but quickly dismissed it. The creature was fast but lacking in raw strength.
I could keep blasting it with magic.
That thought swirled in his head, but he realized if that was his only option, he was woefully unprepared and would probably have to go back to town. He’d need a real caster weapon if he intended to go that route. Without the damage amplification and some bonuses to his mana pool, he’d be almost useless for more than one fight.
With only one genuine option left, he transformed. His body shifted and changed as the power coursed through him, and after a couple of seconds, the fearsome form of a Dire Bear confronted the elemental. The blue creature swung its arm in a powerful strike, and Atlas hopped backward.
The arm flew past his nose. Air buffeted his face from the powerful attack. Without hesitation, Atlas rushed back into the fight and activated Charge. He burst forward in a rush of speed before slamming into the creature’s chest with the top of his head. Crystal crunched as the elemental stumbled backward. Maul followed and his giant bear claws slammed down onto the creature, expanding the previous cracks while the claws dug furrows through the body, flakes of gemstone flying away from the impact.
You dealt 20 damage to Water Elemental with Charge. (Crushing) (Critical)
You dealt 32 damage to Water Elemental with Maul. (Crushing) (Critical)
Perfect, the strength of this form lets me punch through its armor. It must be really weak without the armor since it’s giving me a lot of critical and crushing damage.
The elemental froze in its movements and raised both of its arms over its head. Blue energy swirled and grew larger as it gathered between the limbs. After watching the display for a few seconds, Atlas kicked himself for being an idiot and attempted to dash forward. His rush was too late as the elemental lowered his arms and rested the power in one hand. The ball solidified into a solid orb of ice and the creature punched forward with his other hand, shattering it and sending shards of ice catapulting toward Atlas.
Standing mere feet from the elemental, he had no time to dodge, so he lowered his head and took the blast. Shard of ice cut into his thick hide and pelted his head and shoulders. An icy chill filled him as the small spears melted and the cold seemed to seep into his very bones.
Water Elemental dealt 40 damage to you with Ice Shards.
Your movement speed is slowed by 15% for 2 minutes due to Chill.
Atlas growled in response and activated Charge again. His rush forward wasn’t as quick as before because of the Chill effect, but the creature didn’t seem interested in attempting to dodge, anyway. The attack shattered more crystal from its chest and he used Maul. The
