The situation was dire. Adam's mind raced. 'Ignis's fire and solar abilities are useless underwater. My fire breath and Ember Shard would be severely weakened. I have to get her to the surface, now.'

He wrapped the tip of his tail around Ignis's torso, securing her. «Hold on! We're leaving!»

To his surprise, Ignis's mental voice crackled with excitement, not fear. «Whoa! This is a big one, Boss! A real monster of the deep!»

Adam couldn't help but feel a surge of fond exasperation. She really has no fear, does she? "We can't fight it here! We lure it to land!" he ordered.

«Okay, Boss!» Ignis replied, still buzzing with adrenaline.

Adam used his powerful coils to propel them toward the surface, but the Mugwump was a creature born of the water. It moved with terrifying, fluid grace, its massive body displacing water with silent efficiency. It was faster.

Just as they were about to breach the surface, the Mugwump contracted again. Another Hydraulic Jet slammed into them. Adam twisted, taking the brunt of the concussive force on his flank. His Monarch's Aegis flared, the layered defenses dispersing the impact, but it still sent them spinning, delaying their escape.

Enough of this! "Phantom Onslaught!" Adam activated the skill, focusing on dragging Ignis with him through the teleportation dashes. It was a strain, moving another large creature, but it worked. They vanished from the path of a third jet and reappeared meters closer to shore, bursting through the water's surface into the air.

Adam beat his star-lit wings, climbing, Ignis held firmly in his tail's grip. Below, the water erupted. The Mugwump, seeing its prey escape, launched its entire colossal, slick body into the air in a terrifying leap, its cavernous, spiny maw gaping wide enough to swallow them both whole.

"TOO SLOW!" Adam roared. He twisted in mid-air, aiming his maw downward. "Ember Shard Shot!" The enhanced, superheated obsidian shard screamed down and struck the roof of the Mugwump's mouth just as it reached the apex of its jump.

THWACK! The shard embedded deep into soft tissue, and the creature emitted a gurgling shriek of pain, its leap faltering.

"NOW! EVERYONE!" Adam commanded, releasing Ignis, who immediately spread her wings.

«SOLAR LANCE!» Ignis cried, a beam of concentrated sunlight lancing into the Mugwump's wounded maw, cooking the injury from the inside.

From the shore, Lilith's Crimson Gaze hit one of the creature's small, black eyes, searing its mind and causing its body to spasm mid-air.

Alice, a blur of void energy, used Void Step to appear on the monster's slippery back as it began to fall. She delivered a point-blank Void Bolt into its spine before leaping away.

Adam finished it. He dove, claws extended, and with all his enhanced Strength, he slammed into the Mugwump's side, driving it away from the water and onto the rocky shore. Before it could recover, he delivered a final, crushing bite to its neck, his Venom of the Void ensuring a swift end.

The massive body twitched once and lay still.

[ Mugwump Defeated! +180 EXP | +250 EP ]

[ Ding! Level Up! ]

[ You are now Level 43! ]

[ Next Level: 143/215 ]

[ Skill Point: +1 ]

[ Evolution Points: 659/3500 ]

Panting, Adam looked at his team, assembled on the shore around the colossal amphibian. "Well done. That could have gone badly."

«But it didn't! Because we're awesome!» Ignis chirped, landing and shaking water from her scales, seemingly none the worse for wear after nearly being eaten.

Alice sniffed, padding over to Adam and butting his leg. «You're all wet. And you let it drag you under.» Her tone was critical, but she was pressed firmly against him.

«A most efficient transition from an unfavorable to a favorable battlefield,» Lilith remarked, her gentle voice approving. «The prey played its role perfectly.»

Adam nodded and then said, "Now, let's harvest this one. Its essence might be useful."

He consumed the amphibious horror, absorbing its unique adaptations for underwater movement and ambush.

[ Consumed Mugwump! ]

[ Skill Fragment Acquired: Hydro-Spike Adaptation (1.0/1.0) ]

[ Fragment Complete! ]

[ New Skill Acquired: Pressurized Spines (Active) - Cost: Medium Mana ]

Effect: Launch a volley of high-pressure, water-aspected spines from your scales. Effective in both air and water, these spines pierce deeply and can cause bleeding.

A useful addition, especially for aquatic combat or against foes resistant to fire. Adam flexed, feeling the new potential within his scales.

Adam focused internally, allocating his newly acquired Skill Point. The Fire Breath had served him well, and increasing its potency made strategic sense for the coming siege. He willed the point into the skill, feeling the pathways in his maw and throat expand and intensify, the mana required for ignition becoming more efficient and the potential heat increasing.

[ Fire Breath: Lvl 1 -> Lvl 2 ]

Satisfied, he surveyed their surroundings—the eerie, glowing lake and the rocky cavern. "It's strange," he mused aloud. "In other areas, defeating a major predator or finding a place like this often came with other rewards—item, herbs, something. This place feels... barren. Alice, has your Void Sense picked up anything? Any hidden caches or concentrations of energy?"

Alice, who had been scanning the area with her senses focused, let out a frustrated huff. «No. Nothing. The mana in this water is too thick, It's like a loud noise drowning out everything else. My senses can't pierce through it to find anything subtle.»

"A shame," Adam said, a slight frown on his serpentine features. Resources before a boss fight were always welcome.

A soft, melodic voice interjected. «If tangible treasures are hidden, the local fauna may yet know of them. Their minds, while simple, hold maps of their homes.»

Adam turned to Lilith. "Can you do that? Extract that kind of information?"

Lilith's crimson eyes glowed softly. Her tone was patient and gentle, as if explaining something obvious to a child. «You forget, Adam. My connection to the hive-mind, even severed, has left me with certain... aptitudes. I can brush against lesser minds, sift through their surface thoughts hunger, fear, the location of safe holes, and yes, shiny things they cannot eat. It is not complex telepathy. It is more like listening to the rumble of a stomach or the itch of an instinct.»

She paused, and her gaze drifted meaningfully towards Ignis, who was happily nibbling on a piece of the Mugwump's leftover hide. «Of course, the clarity of the information depends entirely on the complexity of the mind in question. Some thoughts are... simpler than others.»

A sharp, staticky laugh burst from Alice. «Hah! She means most monsters are as dumb as rocks. And some of us in this room prove you don't need to be a monster for that!» She smirked at Ignis.

Ignis's head shot up, a piece of hide still dangling from her mouth. She swallowed quickly, her scales flushing with a brighter glow. «Hey! I have a brain! A good one! I can think lots of things! Like... tactics! And... and remembering where the good hunting spots are!» she protested, her mental voice indignant.

«It's just for show anyway,» Alice continued, her mental voice dripping with playful malice. «A shiny decoration. Probably nothing but fire and air inside.»

«Nuh-uh!» Ignis retorted, stamping a foot, sending small sparks flying. «My brain is smarter than yours! I'm smarter! I know lots of things!»

Adam watched the exchange with an amused smile, but shook his head at Alice. «Alice, that's enough. Don't tease her so much.»

«I'm just stating facts,» Alice replied with a haughty flick of her tail.

Trying to be supportive and end the argument, Adam turned to Ignis and said, in what he thought was a reassuring tone, «Look, Ignis. It doesn't matter. Even if you don't have a brain, I'll always accept you as you are.»

A dead silence fell over the cavern. Ignis's proud, fiery expression crumpled. Her wings drooped, and her head lowered. She looked utterly dejected, a small, wounded puff of smoke escaping her nostrils.

From her perch, Lilith let out a soft, disappointed sigh. Her gentle, melodic voice cut through the quiet. «Adam… that was a truly catastrophic attempt at encouragement.»

Alice, meanwhile, burst into peals of staticky laughter, rolling onto her back and kicking her legs in the air. «HA! See! Even he knows it! He said it!»

Adam blinked, replaying his own words in his head. His serpentine eyes widened in horror. 'Oh, shit. I did not just say that.'

«Ignis! Wait, no! That's not what I meant!» he rushed to say, slithering closer to the despondent drake. «I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! You do have a brain! A great one! You're the smartest, most clever monster I know! Don't listen to them!»

Ignis looked up at him, her big draconic eyes shimmering with hurt. «...Really?»

«Yes! Really!» Adam insisted, nuzzling her gently with his snout. «You came up with the idea to use Solar Wind to pin the Mugwump's tentacles! That was smart!»

«I… I did, didn't I?» Ignis said, perking up slightly.

«You did,» Lilith confirmed, her tone returning to its serene baseline. «A strategically sound maneuver.»

Alice had stopped laughing, though a smug grin remained on her panther face. «Fine, fine. You're a genius lizard. Happy?»

«Yes! I am the smartest! Smarter than Alice!» Ignis declared, puffing out her chest, her momentary dejection completely forgotten.

«In your dreams, lizard,» Alice shot back, her tail lashing. «I am ten times smarter than you!»

«Is not!»

«Is too!»

Adam could see this childish argument spiraling for hours. He needed a distraction. His Hunter's Tri-Sense caught a faint ripple in the violet lake—a genuine disturbance, but likely just a stray creature, not a real threat.

He seized the opportunity.

"Hey," he said, his voice dropping to a serious tone as he stared intently at the water. "Something's moving in the lake. Getting closer." He turned his head towards Lilith, his star-lit eyes meeting her crimson gaze. He gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. "Lilith, I'll handle the subduing. You're on interrogation duty. Let's see if we can get some useful intel about this area."

Lilith's many red eyes glimmered with understanding. She could sense no significant threat in the water, only a simple-minded aquatic creature. Adam was deftly changing the subject and giving her a purposeful role. A gentle, knowing smile seemed to touch her psychic presence.

«Of course,» she replied, her voice a soft, confident melody. «Leave the extraction to me. Even the simplest mind holds echoes of its territory.»

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