Thalia's fingers ached as the strands flew forward.
They wrapped around two nearby trees first, anchoring themselves for stability before launching toward the mimic's mouth.
The strings caught on teeth, jaws, and armor as Thalia braced herself for the sudden pull.
Her feet skidded through the dirt, and her arms were nearly wrenched open, but she held.
The mimic's mouth stayed forced open.
It could not bite down.
Thalia yanked her arms back, and the mimic was thrown away from Selene, hissing as she stole its prey from inside its jaws.
"H-Hurry up!" Thalia yelled. "It's heavy, and my strings won't hold forever!"
She could already feel the first painful twinges of strings snapping.
Selene fell backward, her body covered in wounds.
Kaelen ran to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked pale, but he still forced himself to speak.
"Hear me, Mother of love and family. Let your embrace wash over your people and mend their tired bodies before your loving hearth!"
As Kaelen said the prayer, Selene's wounds knitted themselves together at a rapid rate.
The gouges from the teeth and the acid burns faded back into normal skin.
Then Kaelen started spitting blood.
Small veins bulged across his body as his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth began to bleed.
He stumbled back, gasping in pain.
You have used skill Marionetting Fingers (E)
You have restrained the Mimic (E)
Party member Kaelen has used skill Healing Prayer (E)
Party member Kaelen only has 17 of the required 25 Faith for the skill's activation.
Party member Kaelen's body has been cannibalized to make up the difference.
Party member Kaelen has taken 16 damage.
Selene turned back to Kaelen with a worried look.
That was when Thalia realized the others still were not taking this fight seriously enough.
"He attacked with lethal force!" Thalia yelled. "This isn't Sir Braedon! It's a mimic!"
She launched her strings toward Selene as her mana ticked down.
At the same time, she channeled power from her ring, forcing more energy into herself.
Selene, Aiden, and Liora all turned toward Thalia.
Then they nodded.
Selene jumped up.
Her left arm grew and expanded as purple streaks of color spread across parts of her face.
She lunged forward, her fist slamming into the mimic.
The mimic leaned to the side, its foot sliding through the dirt as it caught the impact and managed to remain standing.
So Thalia yanked her strings.
Selene's strike swung back around and hit again.
The mimic slid backward through the dirt, the armor plates on its right arm cracking from the force.
Jax rushed in beside Selene, his paw coated in energy.
He slammed it into the mimic's chest.
The metal bent inward.
The mimic flew backward, crashing through a tree with a thunderous crack before skidding to a stop.
The tree toppled to the side of the battlefield.
Party member Selene has used Soul Skill Chimeric Surge (C)
Party member Selene's Strength is enhanced for the next 20 seconds.
Party member Selene has used skill Claws of the Beast (E)
Mimic has taken 20 damage.
You have used skill Assisted Strike (E)
Party member Selene attacks again.
Mimic has taken 15 damage.
Party leader Jax has used skill Iron Fist (E)
Mimic has taken 44 damage.
Seeing the mimic fly through the tree, Thalia threw her strings out again.
The ring was empty, and she was down to 58 mana.
That meant she had five more uses left.
Six, if she went beyond her energy limit the way Kaelen had.
Her strings lunged forward and began wrapping around the mimic, but as quickly as they formed, they were snapped.
They were so close to winning.
They just needed to hold it down long enough to land the final blow.
So Thalia channeled more mana.
A skill activation automatically took a set amount of energy from the body, but every bored kid over the age of ten knew that energy could be felt.
Moved.
Forced.
If someone concentrated hard enough.
So Thalia forced mana into her fingertips.
Five mana.
Ten.
Twenty.
Three times more than normal.
More strings shot forward.
When the mimic tore one apart, Thalia sent two.
When it tore ten, she sent twenty.
It was not a true hold, not in the traditional sense.
Instead, she was pinning it down by forcing it to waste every movement tearing the strings away.
"It won't be still long!" Thalia yelled.
Liora and Aiden rushed forward.
Liora jumped back into the air, footholds forming beneath her feet out of compressed wind as she swung her staff.
Aiden grabbed the leather belt over his shoulder and yanked the ripcord.
The gears spun to life, and his speed sharpened all at once.
Liora's blast shot forward.
The mimic ripped one hand free and tried to reach over to tear away the rest of the strings, but the wind struck its arm and forced it back.
Aiden rushed in and thrust his spear into the mimic's chest.
The spear burst out through its back.
For one brief moment, excitement rose through everyone.
They all looked to the system screen, waiting for the announcement of victory.
You have used skill Marionetting Fingers (E)
You have overcharged your Marionetting Fingers (E) skill.
Its effect changes.
Party member Liora has used skill Soaring Rhythm (D) to create a foothold in the air.
Party member Liora's wind magic is bolstered by the skies.
Party member Aiden has used item Clockwork Coil (E)
Party member Aiden's senses and body are pushed faster than normal.
Party member Liora has used skill Wind Blast (D)
Mimic has taken 40 damage.
Party member Aiden has used item Spear of the Seven Hunts (D)
Mimic has taken 17 damage.
Mimic has stabbed at Aiden.
Mimic has stabbed at Aiden.
Party member Aiden has taken 15 damage.
Party member Aiden has taken 23 damage.
WARNING WARNING WARNING: Party member Aiden has fallen unconscious.
WARNING WARNING WARNING: Party member Aiden is bleeding out.
Aiden slumped forward.
Twin spikes of flesh stuck out of his back, mirroring the way his spear had gone through the mimic.
Shit.
Kaelen was out of energy, and Aiden was the backup healer.
Thalia had a healing potion at her side, one she had made with Aiden's help, but it would not do anything unless the mimic retracted its spears.
The mimic, however, seemed perfectly happy to keep them where they were.
It held Aiden's limp body between itself and Liora like a shield.
A strange expression crossed its face like it wasn't happy with how things had happened as it scowled at the rest of them.
Thalia thrust her hand forward.
Her blood seemed to hiss as pain wracked her chest and head.
She gave a piece of her body to scrape together two more points of mana, forcing herself back up to twenty.
Then she spent all of it on her strings.
They shot forward, wrapped around Aiden, and yanked him free.
A painful ripping sound tore through the clearing.
Thalia was silently thankful Aiden was unconscious.
Selene rushed forward and caught him.
Her knees hit the ground and slid painfully across the stones. Thalia could see the bloody streaks left behind where Selene's legs had been skinned open.
Selene bit her lower lip, refusing to let even a small cry of pain escape.
Then Jax rushed in.
His head shot forward as he lunged, diving straight into the mimic's stomach-mouth.
The mimic began to bite down.
Then it suddenly shuddered.
The armor across its body started to crack and fall apart.
The mimic collapsed in pieces, breaking apart like a scarecrow bursting into hay after someone cut its strings.
You have used skill Marionetting Fingers (E)
You have cannibalized your body to gain 2 mana by taking 4 damage.
You have overcharged your Marionetting Fingers (E) skill.
Its effect changes.
Party leader Jax has used skill Iron Fist (E)
Mimic has taken 38 damage.
You have killed a Mimic (E)
+20,000 XP
They did not have time to celebrate.
Thalia rushed to Aiden's side.
Selene was already holding the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Her skill ended, and she visibly withered, her left arm returning to its normal state.
Thalia grabbed her own potion and the ones at Aiden's side.
She poured the contents of her potion into his wound, then poured one of his into his mouth.
The wound was graphic.
Bits of what looked like his guts spilled onto the ground, and Thalia had to force herself to focus.
There were two reasons for using the potions this way.
Unlike healing magic, potions could only heal cells that were aware they were damaged.
That meant she had to apply the potion to the outside of the wound to close him up, and give it to him orally so the internal damage would mend as well.
Thalia checked the system.
Her potion's effectiveness was much lower than Aiden's, but that was not what scared her most.
What scared her was the possibility that she had made it wrong.
Then the system confirmed it worked.
You have applied Healing Potion (E) to party member Aiden's wound.
Party member Aiden has been healed for 10 HP.
You have made party member Aiden drink Healing Potion (E)
Party member Aiden has been healed for 21 HP.
Aiden shot upright, reaching for his spear as he looked around wildly.
Then he saw the pile where the mimic had died.
Aiden fell back and lay on the grass.
Thalia grabbed one of his other healing potions and handed it to Kaelen, who looked drained and half dead.
Then again, Thalia was not feeling much better.
Running to zero energy was a horrible feeling.
Using energy beyond zero was worse.
It felt like walking through mud, like everything in her body had gone slightly numb. She felt weak, lightheaded, and hollowed out.
Thalia sat down next to Aiden and stared up at the sky.
She had done it this time.
She had not failed.
Her mind drifted back home as unpleasant memories resurfaced.
Pleading for people to listen when she knew something was wrong.
The dismissive looks she had been given.
The shattering of wood.
The way the stones had moved and quaked.
"Wonder if that mimic had a quest after them," Jax asked, sprawled out on the ground.
"I don't think so," Thalia said with a shrug.
"Plus, I don't think we can take a quest after we have already completed it," Liora said, lying down next to Jax.
"That's so dumb," Jax said with a sigh.
"Agreed," everyone answered.