Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 62 - 59: Molt

Deeper into the cave, the broken stone husks became more numerous and larger.

"Light Technique?"

"No, the amber bubble is glowing faintly. As long as we can see the path, we’re fine."

The two stayed close together, relying on the protection of the amber bubble as they ventured deeper into the cave. Rorschach noticed that there were fewer of the piercing pink crystals and the sand they had contaminated.

Finally, they reached a point where nothing was falling, as if they had entered a tranquil space. The amber bubble shrank, returning to its position around the beetle.

But now, Rorschach and Yina grew even more tense, trying to make every step as silent as possible.

They had arrived inside the husk of something. The so-called broken stone shells were likely the molted skin of some creature. They were now inside a complete, intact shedded skin.

Its size was immense, its specific form indiscernible.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Something at the far end of the shed skin was striking it repeatedly. There were no bestial roars, only a dull, mechanical thudding.

Then, it stopped. The cave fell into dark silence, with only the faint light from the amber bubble. This light, originally meant to guide the Mages, now attracted something else. The sound of dry earth and stone being broken came through, followed by a noise like a snake slithering across the ground, mixed with the vibration of hoofbeats.

"It’s coming. Get ready," Yina determined.

To get a clear look at their opponent, Rorschach raised his hand to cast. It wasn’t the Light Technique. Instead, he directly activated the surrounding Ether and converted it into the Fire Element, igniting a wide area in flames that illuminated the battlefield.

The creature that emerged from the fire was not the Giant Beast or Deer-headed God Rorschach had anticipated, but rather a bloated lump of earth. Upon closer inspection, it was a giant creature. Its head was absurdly large, hanging so low that it was pushed along the ground by its body. The first thing Rorschach and Yina had seen was its head.

The interior of the shed skin was not regular or wide, barely giving the monster room to move. It seemed disoriented by the flames, not charging directly at the Mages but ramming about randomly inside the husk. When it turned its side to Rorschach, he saw how comical the monster looked. Behind its enormous head was a stiff, long neck and a relatively small body, something between a cow and a camel, though its overall build was elephantine.

’It’s like an excavator with a Tunnel Boring Machine welded to the front.’ The more tense the situation, the more Rorschach’s mind tended to wander.

Yina analyzed the monster’s behavior. "It has no intelligence. This appearance... a Catalepas?" She didn’t elaborate on the origin, instead recalling its recorded weaknesses. "Legend says it favors water sources, but it emits a deadly poison, and its head is too heavy to lift."

Rorschach observed the monster’s body. Its skin was grayish-yellow, dry, and hard. The flames had left no mark on it. As the fire gradually died down, the monster finally locked onto their position. Its hideous head plowed through the earth as it charged toward them.

Yina and Rorschach didn’t stay put. They moved, trying to maintain a safe distance from the monster.

But the distance closed anyway. Its massive body charged with surprising speed. The dust and vibrations declared that its mere movement was an act of terrifying, unstoppable violence.

Yina raised her hand, and six revolving silver stars materialized above her head. She guided the stars to shoot out in rapid succession, aiming for the beast’s eyes. Three stars sank into each of the beast’s eyes, erupting in a blast of silver light and dust.

Dust? As the eye sockets shattered and widened, Rorschach and Yina saw that the so-called eyes were nothing more than two hollow pits.

At this closer range, Rorschach got a clear look at the Catalepas’s skin. The grayish-yellow surface wasn’t so much scales as it was the cracked pattern of a dry riverbed. It constantly crumbled, shedding fine dust as it moved.

It was truly a corpse, an undead creature without a doubt. Not only was it dead, but as it got closer, Rorschach felt his own skin growing dry, as if it were about to crack.

"It’s not poison, it’s an aura of decay and withering," Rorschach concluded. He tried his best to move, but the distance between him and the dead beast was still shrinking.

Yina shot into the air and then cast a spell on Rorschach. The young man felt his body become weightless, and he was "tossed" into the air as if gravity had ceased to affect him.

It seemed they weren’t using the same magic. Yina floated with perfect stability, while Rorschach nearly tumbled headfirst toward the ground. "Steady yourself. This thing can’t even lift its own head. We’ll have better mobility in the air."

"By my deeds, I prove my heart. To vanquish foes and save the lost, a light to shine upon the world." Hovering in the air, Yina had a chance to chant. As she finished her incantation, a soft, milky-white light emanated from her body. The light then condensed, its gentle glow sharpening into a piercing, silver-white Ray of light.

’What?’ Rorschach was surprised when the Ray passed through him first before sweeping diagonally downward onto the monster.

’What kind of Magic has friend-or-foe identification?’ Rorschach was astonished to find that the withering aura affecting him had been dispelled. Meanwhile, the monster, struck by the Ray, had clearly suffered heavy damage. Large chunks of earth crumbled off it, making it look like a broken terracotta warrior. An ominous, deathly energy emanated from the shattered holes in its body.

A new Magic appeared on his panel: [Light of Viniya (Gray)]. Rorschach didn’t have time to examine it closely; it was grayed out and unusable anyway.

"It’s not an evil creature."

"Just a corpse."

After her assessment, Yina chose the Stone Claw Skill. A giant, powerful hand made of stone burst from the ground and violently slammed the Catalepas’s slender neck to the floor.

"Rorschach, attack now! The Stone Claw Skill won’t last long." The cost of casting three attack spells was substantial. For the first time in a while, despite being in an environment with such a high concentration of Ether, Yina felt a sense of weakness.

Dust. Rorschach was increasingly convinced that the Giant Beast was made of dry soil. He decided to try a daring method of attack.

[Stone Shaping Skill]. The range of the skill surprised Yina. Rorschach reshaped the entire ground beneath the monster, causing its head and body to sink halfway before the earth solidified into a hard surface. Then, using Magic Mastery, he didn’t cast a specific spell. Instead, he broke down the steps of the Stone Shaping Skill, first infusing the monster’s body with as much of the ambient Ether under his control as possible.

As the Ether invaded, Rorschach felt it was similar to infusing the Earth Element with the Stone Shaping Skill, but then he discovered another aura or energy resisting him.

After a moment of contact, Rorschach narrowed the scope, concentrating all the Ether from his Magic Control on the Catalepas’s head and gaining the upper hand in that localized area.

"Activation," he commanded, and continued to inject Ether. Rorschach had no intention of actually shaping it; simply suppressing the monster’s unknown energy was difficult enough. He just performed the most direct input and "Activation." The scale-like cracks began to writhe, and the monster’s skin started to churn.

Just like the first time Rorschach had failed when using the Stone Shaping Skill, the Catalepas’s head began to explode. An orange-red aura, one that could make space itself decay, gushed out.

Before it shattered, its hollow eye sockets seemed to be fixed on Rorschach. From beginning to end, the Giant Beast had never made a sound of its own. It was truly a dead thing.

The amber bubble expanded again to envelop the two of them. The target’s body continued to shatter and erupt until everything dissipated, leaving only a broken husk behind.

A new shedding was born.

From within the collapsed remains, a gray, rotting head poked out. It was barely recognizable as belonging to a goat. Pink crystals were embedded in its skin and eye sockets. Then came the front paws of a lion, equally decayed and encrusted with crystals.

It forced out a roar the Catalepas had never uttered—a series of sounds like bubbles popping in a mire, disgusting and foul.