Chapter 113: Passive
"You could have timed your attack a little better, Alysara," Esofy criticizes during our after-action analysis.
"Don't blame her, Esofy; you didn't call for her when you called for Irela and Uloru!" Chyzu defends me.
"Er, fair enough. I'm just not used to including her; she hasn't attended our practice after all." Esofy says, giving an excuse.
"Perhaps you should attend our monster-fighting practice, Alysara," Chyzu suggests. "We focus on teamwork, mostly, as that was our biggest problem the last time we were in here."
I nod weakly, not much in the mood to talk. The two years I spent alone are resurfacing again.
"What's wrong, Aly? Tell me, I know something is troubling you," Chyzu says, bending down to eye-level with my clone.
With [Clear Mind] working hard, I force down my teen angst.
"I-I just feel like you guys don't even need me," I manage to say.
"Of course we need you," Chyzu says, pulling my clone into a careful hug. "Who else can prepare us for the bosses so easily? Who else can give us detailed information, map these dens or tell us how much mana and vitality a monster has? You can tell us their Bond-level and type and what tier their Class is."
"Knowing what to expect from our enemies is a huge advantage." Jowaru nods in agreement.
"Not everyone has to be good at killing monsters," Esofy pats my head as she continues. "Jowaru has probably contributed the least in terms of damage, but she's a valuable member of this group, just as you are. Information is half the battle, Alysara. If we know ourselves and know our enemy, then the battle is already won."
"You may be an annoying child," Irela says. "But you have put yourself at risk for us to bring us valuable information. I don't think we would have survived blindly walking into the Mind Slime, let alone the Mind Eater.”
"U-Um, Y-you can't expect every fight to go well," Tana stammers. "M-mistakes are bound to happen sometimes, w-we can only learn from them."
I can't help but start purring as everyone shows their support, the depressive cloud above my head banished.
"Thank you, everyone," I say, the corners of my mouth tugging into a smile that I allow to carry through to my clone.
We collect what monster parts we can and continue down to the fourth floor; our first target is the Dream Eater Arachnoid. Due to its nature, we can't get any more information on it, and we can't use clairvoyance on it either. It is unknown if it will also 'eat' skills like [Battle Sense] and [Sense Danger], but the majority of us have agreed that [Sense Danger] is too close to a clairvoyant skill, an idea that aligns with the system name starting with ‘sense’.
[Battle Sense] is the really iffy one, as it's kind of clairvoyant but also kind of not. You 'feel' the flow of battle, and I think that sounds a lot like how sense skills work, but Esofy and Kadona disagree.
"You're not actually 'seeing' battle.” Esofy says. “It's just... a feeling, like intuition, or a hunch," Esofy says.
"In order to perceive, something must be acted upon!" I argue. "With eyes and ears, it is your sensory organs that are being acted upon by light or sound. With sensing skills, you are acting upon something, like how your sense of touch works." Kayafe understood perfectly when I explained this to her, but Esofy just stares blankly at me.
"It's different, though! This comes from within, a gut feeling!" Esofy animatedly gestures to her stomach.
"I hate to admit it, but I think Alysara is right," Irela says.
"That's because you haven't used the skill before." Jowaru chimes in. "It's a staple skill for every warrior; it helps us read the flow of battle, and it's why us warriors can more easily cooperate."
"W-we s-shouldn't risk it" Tana manages to get in. "A-Alysara does have an enhanced sense skill, so she knows more."
"That... is a fair point," Kadona concedes. "But once you feel it, you'll be able to see the difference. I can compare it to my [Sense Life], and it certainly feels different.”
"I hope you're right..." I say with a sigh.
This fight is going to be tough for me because I'm blind; I need my sensing skills to see. Perhaps I should get [Echolocation] like Jowaru; that way, if I'm up against or ambushed by a monster that can eat or jam my perception, I can at least run away.
This is the second boss in a row that I won't be able to really do anything to. If only I could passively sense mana. I smell and hear mana, sure, but I've not trained to use those in a battle situation, plus I'd have to be there physically, which I'm not. If only I could have mana act upon my senses instead of the other way around...
I am reminded of my tournament fight with Jowaru. I was invisible, and yet she used her metal to sense me. Then there's the old skill I had, [Triangulate Summons], which works like a radar. If I can instead ping off the boss's mana and have that mana bounce back to me... Perhaps I can see it.
This will only work if I know what to ping the mana off of. By sending out a pulse of mana and using the opposing MM force to bounce the mana back, I should be able to see things via Radar... or would it be Manadar? Madar? Whatever.
I use the waystone key to get to a closer waystone and start channeling a spell. I don't know how much mana this requires, but let's start at one hundred. I'll be pinging off anything with poison essence. Since the boss has a poison Bond, it should be the clearest signal.
Poison essence's elemental alignment is actually fire, which might be because it's destructive, or because it damages the body through chemical reactions, something that fire also does. Either way, I just need a pulse of ice element mana to see any fire- or air-based elements and essences. It's not perfect, but I don't need it to be. I already know what room the boss is in; I just need to know the exact location.
I cast the spell in the right direction and wait. About a half-second later, I see some of the mana come back. Perfect. Now I need to learn how to use [Sense Mana] passively.
I turn off my perception, but I focus on using my skill. Rather than ‘feeling out’ the mana, I open myself to it. Instead of sending myself out into the world, I allow the mana to come to me. I send out another pulse of mana and wait. I feel the ice mana chill the air around, and I think I see something, but I need to do it again to be sure.
I cast the spell again and again, becoming ever more sure of what I am seeing. It's just a blurry blob that becomes more opaque in the center, but that's to be expected. I can't see what or who I’m looking at, or what abilities something has, but I can see that there’s something there.
Ting! Sense Magic has met the requirements for a breakthrough and will continue leveling past level 720!
36th Breakthrough: You have learned how to sense passively; this will help you avoid retaliation at the cost of less information.
That's not all. I need to now use my breakthrough to split my passive 'perception' into two points, like eyes, so that I have depth perception.
I easily split my new passive perception and send out another pulse of mana from each point. This time I easily see how far away the Arachnoid is.
Ting! Sense Magic has obtained levels 570-576!
Now I need to learn how to 'see' from my clone. By attaching my perception to my clone and sending out the pulse of mana from it, I should be able to see. However, I need to be able to use the mana pulses without actively casting them. I need to make an item that uses one hundred points of mana periodically. A simple amulet spell crystal with a mana battery capable of holding one hundred points of mana. Once filled, it should automatically cast the spell; I just need to continually feed it mana.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This is going to be a tough battle. They are going in with little information. What they know is that the floor boss has some way to trap and attack their sensing skills. It has a poison Bond, and, judging from its Class name, it might not be a warrior type. Whatever the case, they need to be cautious.
"The usual formation," Esofy says.
Everyone nods and readies their weapons.
"Be careful of its poison, and expect anything from it," Esofy adds.
Jowaru is the first to charge in, immediately drawing the monster's attention. Esofy feels her [Battle Sense] kick in, but it doesn't get stuck like Alysara was worried about. However, a small part of her brain suggests that the boss simply doesn't have the required breakthrough. It is fundamentally different from sensing skills, but Alysara seems to think they work the same. If that is the case, then it may be possible that they can encounter a creature that does have the breakthrough.
Jowaru has the full attention of the Arachnoid, so Esofy breaks off to the side and slices the first leg as she does. Kadona takes the opposite side, trying to cut another leg.
Irela and Chyzu work in tandem to aim for the eyes while Alysara charges up her spears, although she shouldn't be able to see.
What is she doing? Esofy wonders.
Alysara did mention she figured something out. She was mentioning 'passive sensing', but even if she tried to explain, the genius keeps using complex words, 'see', 'mana', 'return', 'pulse'. The final word ended up being 'pulse of returning mana to see', which just doesn't make sense.
Esofy shakes her head and focuses on the battle. If her mind keeps wandering in the heat of battle, then perhaps she needs [Clear Mind] or some variant like [Battle Mind].
By killing hundreds of Arachnoids, both boss and non-boss types, they've perfected a method against them. First, take out the eyes and cut the legs off, to limit its sight and movement, then have Uloru hammer in Irela’s metal nail to tear it up from the inside. It will die quickly even if it regenerates.
The boss ferociously attacks, trying to sink its fang into Jowaru, but, as Tana's flames spread, it goes into a panic and opens itself up to more attack as it retreats through its webs. Tana burns the webs to flush the Arachnoid out. Esofy keeps a keen eye out as she watches the burning nest. Sure enough, the Arachnoid leaps out, trying to pull Kadona into its grasp with its remaining legs; Chyzu shoots out a few well-timed ice spears, forcing the Arachnoid to reel back.
Jowaru jumps in front of Kadona and covers her with her shield, and soon everyone is back into their positions. The battle continues under the glow of the burning nest, and half of the Arachnoid's legs are quickly cut off. With its movement impaired and unbalanced, now it's time for the final bit.
"Nail!" Irela shouts, the signal for Uloru to get ready to follow up.
Uloru jumps just as Jowaru and Esofy pressure the boss so it can't retaliate, then Uloru brings down her hammer. The chitin isn't as hard as the Ruby-Backed Arachnoid, but the nail doesn’t go in cleanly. Regardless it is enough, and Irela’s metal is now in. The Arachnoid squirms in pain while Alysara delivers her attacks to kill it faster. Soon the remaining three legs curl up as the kill notification sounds in Esofy's mind.