In a sudden, silent shock, the first tongue swung out and stuck his ribs, forcing the breath out of his chest. The second came at once, yanking him sideways and coiling around his hind leg. Glowing grass rushed up to meet him, and the world tilted.
[ENEMY ATTACK: Double Tongue Lash]
Hit 1 Damage: 6
Hit 2 Damage: 7
Status Applied: Slowed (0.5s)
Total Damage: 13
Amadeus HP: 39 / 60
The impact rattled trough him, his lungs burned as he hit the ground hard. The tongue tried to pull him in by coiling tightly around his hind leg, burning and squeezing. Refusing to be dragged like prey, Amadeus twisted sharply and dug his claws into the ground. With a violent snap of his body, he spun against the grip, stretching the smooth muscle to its braking point.
Amadeus twisted against the rubbery muscle, a thin split opening along its length that made it tremble. Dark fluid beaded along the tear. The frog let out a sharp croak, its throat pouch deflating unevenly as pain rippled through it. The sound it made was no longer booming but strained. With a shudder through its swollen body, the tongue violently recoiled and snapped back toward the frog.
[COUNTER: Tongue Strain]
Damage Dealt: 2
Bog-Tongue Toad HP: 29 / 40
He raised his head, his eyes blazing with indignation.
“You have touched me twice,” Amadeus hissed in a steady, ice-cold voice. “You will pray for both.”
He tore upward in a vicious, rising arc as he twisted and slid beneath the creature’s drooping body, tearing open its belly and causing dark fluid to spill into the glowing grass.
[ATTACK: Rending Claws]
Damage Dealt: 12
Bog-Tongue Toad HP: 17 / 40
As the frog’s body seized in agony, it let out a shriek that tore through the luminous air. Amadeus appeared behind it, his eyes cold with increasing impatience.
With crushing force, the creature turned, its tongue rising like a falling pillar and the slamming down. Amadeus was knocked to the ground by the blow.
[ENEMY ATTACK: Tongue Slam]
Damage Taken: 11
Amadeus HP: 28 / 60
For a single fraction of a second, he lay motionless, allowing the world to calm down around him.
It’s getting boring.
Then he got up. Amadeus leaped at the creature’s eyes rather than its body. His claws were quick, and decisive, like judgement.
[CRITICAL HIT: Eye Gouge]
Damage Dealt: 20
Bog-Tongue Toad HP: 0 / 40
The creature let out a broken, bubbling shriek and trashed once before his strength failed.
“Lied down,” Amadeus whispered to him.
The enormous frog’s throat pouch deflated into silence as it fell, its body folding into the glowing grass.
[TARGET DEFEATED]
Bog-Tongue Toad
XP Gained: +8
Silence returned to the field once again, settling over the glowing grass like a held breath.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Amadeus stood where he was, his chest slowly rising now, his muscles shaking from the violence. His fur was covered in mud and blood. Real and unavoidable pain throbbed through his body, reminding him that this triumph had been earned rather than handed to him. He glanced down at himself, observing the ripped fur, the dark blood smearing his coat, and the dim, glowing number that hung on the edge of his consciousness, silent and waiting.
Amadeus HP: 28 / 60
After one faint, almost hesitating pulse, the number changed.
[PASSIVE HEAL: Regeneration]
+1 HP / min
Amadeus HP: 29 / 60
Slowly, warmth crept out from his chest, softening the sting of pain. The hurt in his shoulder subsided, no longer demanding attention, and his breathing became steady. Feeling the subtle change in his body, Amadeus tested his weight.
“Hm,” he murmured. “That feels better.”
His glace returned to the unsightly body. He stood over it for a few slow breaths, waiting for the familiar response, for the glow to eat it up, for the world to subtly straighten itself and get back in order. Nothing happened.
The corpse lay where it had fallen, heavy and real, the orange streaks along its throat turning to a bruised, lifeless hue, its dark green skin already dulling. Blood soaked into the grass beneath it, matting the glowing blades and anchoring the ugly creature to the world.
“That is inconvenient.” Amadeus scowled.
Like mist that had forgotten how to rise, a faint light shimmered around the body clinging low to the ground and collecting around the frog’s chest and limbs. It was uneven and pale, almost hesitant, as if it weren’t sure it should be there.
With his ear low and his ears forward, Amadeus made one full circle, keeping an eye out for any movement. There was no reaction from the light. He poked the corpse with one paw. The frog remained motionless, but the glow flickered slightly, and there seemed to be a click in the air.
As through drawn by an invisible hand, the light compressed and shrank, folding inward on itself until it took on a new form.
LOOT DROP
[ITEM ACQUIRED]
Earth Essence x1
It was a shard condensed terrain energy, pulsing with the slow, steady heartbeat of the world itself. A tiny sphere of amber brown light arose into the air from the faded stain in the grass. Rotating slowly, its surface swirled like molten stone under glass as it hovered at Amadeus’ eye level. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, not impressed by what he saw.
“So, this is what you consider treasure,” he said icily.
But he sensed it. A massless weight. A presence that resisted rather than pushed, as though the concept of earth itself had been condensed into a single breath.
Amadeus gazed at the text above.
Essences shape the path of awakened beings.
The glow of the essence pulsed once, then faltered as it drifted toward him. Something in him resisted, and the light recoiled, folding in on itself before condensing into a solid fragment.
[ESSENCE COMPATIBILITY FALIURE]
Absorption unsuccessful
Earth Essence added to inventory.
The frogs body finally responded before him. Unlike the brilliant bursts of butterflies, light dripped from the body in slow, deliberate threads. The dark green skin softened as its edges blurred, as if the creature were being gently erased rather than destroyed. The orange markings on its throat flared once before fading. Collapsing inward, the body folded into itself and vanished into floating specks of light that descended on the grass for a moment before disappearing completely. Only flattened blades and darkened soil remained in its place.
Amadeus gazed down at the vacant area, the quiet surrounding him more profound than before. He just stood there for a long time, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. The sudden absence of his opponent unsettled him more than the fight had. Unhurried, he padded forward, surveying the open filed with his tail loose and ears turning slowly. No frog, no immediate danger, just the open, vigilant sky above him and the familiar sway of glowing glass.
Then it happened. Without apologies, a flutter of yellow floated into his path, its wings softly glowing and dispersing the same faint dust he remembered from before. It didn’t flee. Rather, as though challenging him to respond, it dipped low and hovered right in front of him.
Amadeus came to a halt, his eyes focused on the luminous figure floating in front of him. The butterfly drifted just out of reach, moving with reckless assurance, its light pulsing softly.
“You again,” he uttered.
As though purposefully trying his patience, it fluttered languidly, almost grazing his whiskers. Amadeus struck. This time, there was no game of patience or speed, no chase. His claws closed around the brittle light as his paw snapped upward in a quick, efficient motion. The butterfly burst without making a sound.
[TARGET DEFEATED]
Luminous Field Butterfly
XP Gained: +2
Current XP: 10 / 20
He sat back on his haunches, and gave this careful thought, his eyes narrowing as the dim glow of the numbers hovered just outside of his consciousness.
Fascinating.
Farther away, another butterfly emerged floating wildly over the grass. Amadeus got up, and finished it effortlessly, cling the distance in two fluid strides.
XP Gained: +2
Current XP: 12 / 20
Then another followed, just as careless.
Current XP: 14 / 20
Every kill was clean and efficient, nearly boring, but the number kept shifting, filling, and progressing. The word XP kept coming up witch each kill, hovering on the periphery of his consciousness like a silent assurance. He found himself wondering what would happen when that bar eventually filled up.
He let the next butterfly drift closer before ending it, watching the glow fade in his grasp.
XP Gained: +2
Two more, he told himself.
He was right mid step when the grass rattled like bone chimes shaken by a giant’s hand. The field darkened around him, not with light but pressure, as though the word itself were holding its breath. His ears snapped forward, every muscle in his body locked.
Beneath the glowing blades something vast was moving, dividing the grass in slow, purposeful waves. The air grew heavy with the promise of violence as a long ridge sliced across the field like a scar.
