Chapter 23: Little Madness

[Little Madness (F)]

[Level: 0]

[Physical: 31]

[Mental: 3]

[Will: 6]

—-

Sylas looked at the creature again. Seeing that its Will was so low, he had some questions himself about how this would go.

Madness was obviously part of what this dungeon wanted him to comprehend, but he had also done it in a very unconventional way… or so he assumed.

But if this python could use Madness as well, wouldn't it lose its mind almost instantly?

Even with 36 Will, Sylas could only use Madness for five minutes. How would this creature fare?

Sylas picked up a rock and tried to throw it right at the python's head. But before it made it far, it bounced off a barrier.

'Seems it won't let me play any tricks. This probably means if I take a step in there, I won't be able to exit.'

The python didn't even react to the change, but Sylas took note that the barrier here was identical to the large one that surrounded the entire forest.

He rushed in.

Much like always, when he made a decision, he never hesitated.

The python stirred awake, its scales rippling as its orange-black slit eyes landed right on Sylas.

It opened its jaw, and a scream came from it. It was a cross between a steam engine's whistle and a hacking cough. It was the kind of thing one would never expect to come from a snake at all.

And then it pounced.

Sylas activated Madness. The one thing he hadn't been able to test was how his Comprehension could influence other creatures, because there weren't any creatures around to influence. However, there was one thing he had noticed previously.

When he pushed his Will outward, using his Charisma as a conduit to impose his thoughts onto the world, it went beyond just an ethereal result.

Back then, he had been able to push the shoreline of the lake away from him. It was just a few centimeters, and hardly noticeable. But when his intention was poured onto the snake, its acceleration plummeted and its eyes turned red.

It seemed to lose focus on Sylas and its body thrashed about wildly.

As expected, the Strength and Constitution of the snake were off the charts, but its Speed and Dexterity were lacking.

Sylas ducked beneath a swing of its tail and slashed his Blade Aura-infused antler blade at its scales.

The femur short spear was his best weapon, but he didn't want to use it just yet, not until he understood just how hard the defenses of this python were.

Soon, he realized he was right to be cautious.

His attack did nothing but slightly push the head of the python toward the ground. His blade rebounded off of its scales as though he was a toddler trying to wrestle with his parent.

Sylas ducked and rolled, leaping back to his feet on the other side of the thrashing python.

It was beginning to move more and more wildly, attacking every- and anything indiscriminately.

The reaction was fiercer that what Sylas had expected, but it also didn't put the python out of commission. Considering the disparity in Will, and likely Charisma, Sylas would have hoped to do more than just make this powerful creature rampage about like this, but he considered himself lucky to even be in this position to begin with.

'Maybe I can tire it out,' Sylas thought.

He didn't want to gamble on it. He could only last for five minutes, and the Constitution of this snake was so high. Who was to say that it would run out of energy to give before him?

'Attacking its eyes is the best chance. I can only hope that Aether doesn't help these creatures to be invulnerable to even such a sensitive location.'

Sylas' gaze sharpened as he circled around Little Madness. He didn't dare to release Madness for fear that the snake would regain control of itself soon after. He had no choice but to end this within five minutes.

He suddenly accelerated forward.

Sylas only had 5 Strength. It wasn't a surprise to him that his attack wasn't strong enough to injure a beast like this. He would have to lean on his strengths.

With the python thrashing about so wildly, most wouldn't be able to do anything about it. How could you target such a small target when the rest of it was moving so erratically?

But the moment Little Madness entered a relatively central part of the clearing, Sylas burst into action again. He raised his bone short spear up in an overhand grip. Veins pulsed across his body, his green eyes gaining just the slightest sheen of red to them.

'There.'

He struck down, piercing right into the python's eye.

However, he miscalculated.

It wasn't his strike itself.

What he didn't realize in this state of absolute madness was that Little Madness couldn't even feel pain. It didn't change its actions in the slightest, still madly lashing out at everything there was.

It was a common misconception that animals didn't feel pain the way humans did. It was evolutionarily beneficial to them to hide their pain so that they could survive in the wild, but they felt pain much the same way humans did, if not more so. In fact, many of the most predatory beasts in existence were maybe even more cowardly than humans as well.

Unfortunately, in a state of madness, the python didn't care for any of that.

Sylas dodged backward, forced to let go of his bone spear.

The python continued to madly thrash about, so much so that it headbutted the barrier, shattering Sylas' femur short spear and driving it further into its skull.

Finally, Little Madness shuddered. Even in its last moment, it probably didn't notice that it had done this to itself. But Sylas couldn't even feel happy.

His jaw clenched. He had lost his best weapon, just like that.

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