“You want to face the swarm of spider infants? Have you lost it?”
Hazel tilted her head to the side, looking a bit confused. “I would have lost it if it was just the spider infants I was after. Have you forgotten about the sentinels?”
“I was hoping that you weren’t planning to face the sentinels. Even if we managed to kill them, what would happen if more showed up? How do you plan to fight them then?”
It was one thing if they only faced two Sentinels like last time, but a part of Astrid knew that something would go wrong. They originally only faced one until the first Sentinel called for reinforcements.
Things could be different this time around. Instead of just one or two, at least five sentinels could appear. And they might even be stronger than the first two they fought. And Astrid couldn’t risk taking on the swarm and the sentinels. Not if they were too powerful.
And yet Hazel didn’t seem fazed by the swarm’s numbers, or anything else compared to before. Astrid couldn't help but wonder if the witch had some kind of trick up her sleeve.
Hazel looked down the building, watching the spider swarm approach them. Despite seeing the incoming spider army, she remained calm and cool, not even batting an eye toward the numerous foes coming their way.
Hazel stared down at the swarm for a few seconds before turning her back toward them.
“We should get moving. Since we have Nycteris on our side, we can lead the swarm without risking getting caught.”
“What do you plan to do?” Astrid questioned, afraid of what Hazel could say next.
“We fly around the swarm, keep them focused on us. Considering that we’ve been marked by their queen, it should be simple for them to follow us. We just need to keep them busy while I work on something.”
Astrid narrowed her eyes, suspiciously staring at Hazel. “Work on what, exactly?”
Instead of answering, Hazel simply smiled while walking over to Nycteris to climb on him. When the dark elf saw that wicked grin on her face, she knew that she was planning something incredibly dangerous. It reminded her of when they dealt with those humans in the dungeon or the Dungeon sub-boss.
Although Astrid was worried about the swarm, she decided to put her trust in Hazel like she did before. She hadn’t proven her wrong before, so maybe there was a plan in mind.
“You better know what you’re doing,” Astrid groaned while climbing on the Nightwing.
“Of course I do,” She maliciously beamed. “And you’re gonna love what I have in store!”
Astrid couldn’t help but grow more worried after seeing her evil smile. She could tell that Hazel hadn’t worked on that grin at all. If she didn't do something about that soon, she’d soon be viewed as an actual witch by the eyes of the people.
However, all Astrid could do at the moment was pray that she would fix that smile before it caused misunderstandings in the future.
...
The trio soon flew in the air, keeping their distance from the swarm but staying close enough to where the thousands of eight-legged creatures were still within their sights. Astrid was at the front of Nycteris, giving the Nightwing directions of where to go while Hazel sat in the back, currently focusing on the so-called plan she declared to her partner.
It wasn’t much of a plan and more of a Hail Mary tactic. In fact, she only decided to do this because she not only saw this as an incredible opportunity but also because she had no other options.
Because they were currently on their own, Hazel couldn’t call for backup and have Zoe and the rest of her team support them like before. And it was because of this that she was resorting to this tactic.
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What kind of tactic was that? Well, it was a kind of experiment with her curse spells.
Hazel had been wanting to test the limits of her spells and also their versatility, but she was unable to after what happened with the spider swarm from her initial experimentations. However, it somehow came full circle because now she was allowed to perform one of her biggest experiments yet.
And that experiment...was her attempting to create a new spell for her arsenal.
During the fighting with the Jester sub-boss, Hazel managed to create not only two new spells but also a new element, which was Entropy. She accomplished this by fusing her Curse and Rot elements together, creating Entropy in the process.
Ever since she performed this seemingly miraculous feat, she started to wonder. How else could she manipulate her spells? Was there a way for her to create another spell by performing a similar process like with Entropy but only with her curse spells?
In theory, it should be possible, but Hazel never got a chance to test it. Until now.
“Hazel!” Astrid yelled, sounding desperate. “I don’t want to sound pushy, but if you have a plan, then could you please do it now? Those spiders are beginning to catch on to our evasive tactics and starting to corner us.”
Astrid was right about the spiders catching on to them. To prevent the swarm from getting near the Jetport, Nycteris had been flying the player pair around the city within the Queen’s domain, zipping from corner to corner and attempting to spread them out further, making them more manageable when Hazel was ready to proceed with her plan.
However, this strategy of theirs wasn’t going to work for long. As Nycteris zipped around the corner of the city, he spotted several spiders up ahead, as if they were cutting him off. And this kept happening a lot more frequently as the Nightwing kept this up.
Hazel knew that it wouldn’t be long until the swarm completely surrounded the trio, cutting off all escape routes except for the sky. Which was why she needed to hurry with her plan and fast.
Proceeding with her experiment, Hazel tried to summon a curse spear, but not in the traditional sense. As soon as she mentally conjured the spell, she watched as strands of cursed energy materialized before her to form her weapon.
However, when she spotted the tendrils of cursed energy manifest, she instantly canceled the spell while mentally keeping the malicious strands from disappearing in the process. Her little experiment was a success as she stared at the sporadic purple tendrils pulsing and levitating in front of her.
Hazel could tell that she was struggling to keep the ominous energy from dissipating as her mind vigorously strained from the pressure. She needed all of her mental strength and will just to maintain its current unrefined form. However, the fact that she succeeded in the first stage of her experiment was enough to encourage her to keep going.
With the cursed energy flailing around in her grasp, Hazel attempted to mold the energy to her desired shape. However, when she attempted to nudge and move it around, she felt a strong resistance from it. If she had to put it in words, it felt like she was trying to bend a piece of strong metal into something else, but the piece was too rigid to actually mold it.
Thankfully, Hazel had a solution for this. And that was telekinesis. Considering that this spell was able to control her spells like her cursed spears and Mana Bolts, it stood to reason that it could interact with the incomplete form of her curse magic.
Using her telekinesis spell, Hazel proceeded to physically mold and shape the curse energy. While she experienced a similar resistance as before, with the combined efforts of her spell manipulation and telekinesis physically altering the energy’s form, she was slowly shaping the energy into her desired appearance. She wasn't making anything complex or creative since this was her first time attempting something like this. She just tried to make something simple yet extremely effective for her to use.
As she molded the energy like a blob of clay, it didn’t take long before she was finally done. What used to be a simple tendril of cursed energy was now a large purple sphere around the size of her hand.
[Your understanding of the Curse Element has increased!]
[New Skill has been created!]
[Skill Curse Bomb has been obtained!]
Rank 1
A ball of condensed curse energy capable of detonating and infecting a small area with a debilitating curse effect!
Hazel marveled at the panels in excitement, realizing that she managed to create a new curse spell all on her own. She honestly didn’t expect it to work so well but was glad that it was a success.
She held the ball of cursed energy in her palm, curiously staring at it. Despite looking stable and dormant, she could sense that this ball of curse was extremely dangerous and volatile. One wrong move and it could very well explode in her face. Which was exactly what the skill description had stated, and what Hazel was hoping for as well.
With her cursed ball in hand, Hazel called out to her familiar. “Nycteris, fly over the swarm, okay?”
Astrid turned back with a frightened expression. “What are you planning now? And what’s that in your hands?”
“Oh, this?” She presented the cursed ball to Astrid with an evil grin on her face. “This is most likely our ticket to destroying that horde.”
Astrid stared at the malicious violet ball, her eyes narrowing at the item with suspicion.
“I do not like where this is going...” She grumbled.
Despite how Astrid felt about the matter, Hazel, on the contrary, was looking forward to the outcome of her new little spell. And it was time to test it out.