Chapter 46: Evolve?
Fin stood, steadying himself behind the purple rocks. The fight raged nearby. Hana and Mary darted in and out, their blades leaving shallow cuts on the spider’s thick legs.
Gary swung his hammer with tiring predictability, each blow slightly less forceful than the last. Susan held her ground, shield scarred, absorbing heavy hits but being pushed back inch by inch.
Lucas’s energy blasts were becoming less frequent, his breathing ragged. Joe’s daggers still flew, but his accuracy wavered.
They were losing. The spider, though wounded, was relentless, fueled by primal rage.
Fin watched, his mind clear, the chaotic rush replaced by cold focus. He saw the patterns, the openings they missed, the spider’s momentary shifts in balance. He waited, the silver core a steady warmth within him, the other core thrumming quietly beside it, hungry but controlled.
The moment came when the spider lunged aggressively at Susan, overextending its reach, putting immense weight on its forward legs as it tried to crush her shield. For a fraction of a second, its flank was exposed, its attention locked entirely on the tank.
Fin moved.
He didn’t charge wildly. He flowed forward, staff extended to its full polearm length. Three swift, ground-eating strides brought him alongside the distracted beast. He didn’t aim for the head or the tough carapace. He drove the tip of his staff directly into the fleshy joint connecting one of the spider’s thick mid-legs to its thorax – a spot momentarily vulnerable due to the creature’s lunge.
The tip sank in. Contact.
Instantly, he ignited his Absorption.
There was no uncontrolled surge this time, no mental fog. He felt the connection lock, a channel opening. Power – raw, tainted with the spider’s venomous nature – began to flow into him. It was faster than before, a stronger current, yet he remained anchored, processing it, filtering it through his core.