The sound of impact rang through the camp, sharp and clear, like a metal ball striking glass.
At first, everyone turned to each other in confusion.
Then the system notification appeared.
Their feet moved before their minds could catch up.
They rushed after Sir Braedon and Kaelen. Luckily, the two had not gone far.
Unluckily, a strange fleshy tendril was already stretching from Sir Braedon's shoulder.
"S-Sir Braedon? K-Kaelen?" Selene asked, raising her left arm as her eyes scanned the clearing. "What's going on?"
"He attacked me. I think he is some kind of mimic or something, his armor is alive!" Kaelen yelled, using the moment Sir Braedon turned away from him to leap back and gain some distance.
Selene half expected the man to turn around and explain that something was inside his armor.
Her theory died as he turned.
The armored plates making up Sir Braedon's body were covered in toothy maws, each filled with teeth sharp and thick enough to break stone. Small droplets of acid fell from each mouth as they salivated around what had once been Sir Braedon.
Then he lunged.
Selene's body moved before she could think.
She raised her left arm, angling the large spike along her elbow like she was presenting the tip of a blade.
Above them, Liora stood in the air as the wind around her whipped and rose. A blast slammed downward, flying straight at Sir Braedon.
Selene moved, anticipating that he would dodge.
He did.
But not the way she expected.
His arm shifted at the shoulder, sliding down toward his hip like the mechanism of a crossbow. The blast missed and struck the ground behind him before his arm snapped back into place.
Aiden stepped forward, spear in hand.
He threw it at Sir Braedon's head.
He ducked low, and the spear flew high.
Aiden spun, one of the enchantments of the spear activating as a length of white silk shimmered into view, pulling the weapon back into his hand just in time for his spin to finish.
The butt of the spear cracked against the mimic's jaw.
It flew a couple of feet to the right, its feet skidding through the dirt before it stopped.
Party member Liora has used skill Wind Blast (D)
Mimic has dodged the attack.
Party member Aiden has used item Spear of the Seven Hunts (D)
Party member Aiden has done 30 damage.
The mimic hissed.
When it spoke, its voice was distorted but still horribly familiar, coming from all the mouths across its body at once.
"That is hardly the way to treat your instructor Aiden!"
It lunged forward.
Selene was already moving to intercept.
She caught one of its strikes with the spines along her arm, but as she looked at the mimic, she saw a gleam in what now looked to be several eyes.
One of its mouths opened.
A spear that looked exactly like the one in its hand pushed out from inside it. The weapon curved like something alive, bending through the air as it struck Selene in the back.
The force slammed her into the ground.
Pain sizzled through her body.
Selene gritted her teeth, but as she lay pinned to the dirt, the spear began to drip.
The pain exploded from the wound.
This time, she could not stop the scream.
Acid bit into the injury, opening it wider as she clawed at the dirt and cried out. The spear stayed planted through her back, holding her down.
"Get off her!"
Kaelen thrust his staff forward.
The mimic jumped away from where it had been towering over Selene.
With it came another wave of excruciating pain as the spear ripped free again.
It hurt.
She wanted to go home.
She wanted to eat a slice of pie while her mother talked about the tactics her father was using again.
She did not want to be in pain.
But she was a tank.
Her job was to protect.
Her pain was tolerable.
This much damage, taken by one of the others, could have been fatal.
Selene struggled to her feet, her right arm shaking from the effort.
She sent a pulse of energy into her left arm, and her fingers sharpened into talons.
She swiped backward, not trying to land a hit, but to buy time for everyone to group up.
Right now, Kaelen was separated from them.
If the mimic decided to go for him, he would be an easy target.
The mimic easily jumped over her hand.
Then it lunged toward Liora, who was still in the air and already starting to move away.
She was not fast enough.
Party member Kaelen has used skill Condemn the Wicked (E)
Mimic has dodged the attack.
You have used skill Claws of the Beast (E)
Your condition flares up.
The flare-up was settled by the aether in your body.
Mimic has dodged your attack.
Blue strings shot forward, wrapping around the mimic's leg.
Thalia pulled.
Jax lunged.
For a second, it looked like they had him.
Then the mimic changed the shape of its foot.
The strings slipped loose as Thalia tried to yank it down.
As Jax rose up for his attack, the mimic grabbed Liora by the foot and swung her like a weapon, slamming her down on top of him.
The two hit the ground hard.
Party member Thalia has used skill Marionetting Fingers (E)
Mimic has broken free of the restraints.
Party leader Jax has used skill Iron Fist (E)
Mimic has intercepted using party member Liora.
Party member Liora has taken 7 damage from the fall.
Party member Liora's skill Light as a Feather (E) has activated.
Party member Liora's fall damage has been negated.
Party leader Jax has used skill Lifeforce Control (E)
Party leader Jax has spent 10 Ki to take 0 damage.
Still lying on top of Jax, Liora raised her staff and fired another blast of air.
This one was weaker now that she was not in the air, but the mimic was airborne too.
It had no way to dodge.
The blast struck it in the stomach and launched it backward through the air.
The spear it had been planning to run through Liora and Jax twisted, reforming into a set of climbing claws. It grabbed a nearby tree and started running sideways along the trunk, moving over bark as easily as if it were stepping across stones in a river.
"Hold on. I need to clean the wound."
Aiden ran over to Selene.
Blood trickled down her chin where she had been biting her lip to stop herself from screaming.
The acid continued to melt into her back, and the hole in her stomach was getting bigger.
Selene channeled even more energy, changing her mutations from thicker skin and armor into acid resistance.
The change washed over her.
Where the acid had been terrifyingly fast before, it now seemed sluggish and confused.
Aiden reached out and scraped the acid away by hand.
Selene saw him wince as the flesh on his fingers burned.
He splashed part of a healing potion onto her wound, and the pain of rapid healing snapped her slowly clouding mind back into focus.
Then he handed her the rest.
Selene started to drink while Aiden quickly wiped his burned hand through the grass.
Party member Liora has used skill Wind Blast (D)
Mimic has taken 19 damage.
Mimic had nothing to hold on to and was launched back into the air.
Mimic has used skill Adaptive.
You have used skill Mutate.
Your condition flares up.
The flare-up was settled by the aether in your body.
You have traded Thick Skin mutation for Acid Resistance.
Party member Aiden has cleaned your wound and used item Basic Healing Potion (E)
You have been healed for 18.
Party member Aiden has taken 4 acid damage.
Party member Aiden wipes away the acid.
Selene turned, trying to find where the mimic had gone while she was distracted.
Instead of the treeline, she saw teeth.
They were inches from her face.
The mimic had lunged.
She could not move.
The world around her seemed to slow.
Her left arm rose to stop the bite, but she could feel the plates of bone creaking and snapping as the mouth continued to close.
Even her arm, durable enough to break down a stone wall, was breaking like a wooden training sword.
What hope did the rest of her body have?
She felt movement around her.
The others lunged forward, trying to stop the bite.
Moments flashed before her eyes.
Playing with her brother.
Her father laughing.
Sitting on his shoulder and shouting commands to the troops.
The tragic birthday.
The jaws closed tighter.
The day her father ran in when she had a nightmare and only stopped at the last second from killing her.
Breaking her brother's arm.
The servants' comments about her being a freak.
The jaws closed tighter.
Then newer memories came.
Eating with Aiden, Jax, Liora, and Kaelen.
Drinking the energy potion on a desperate prayer.
Seeing the notification that the flaw would be partially suppressed.
She could feel teeth sinking into her shoulders.
I don't want to die ye—