Ryan stared at the spot where the shadowy figure had flickered out of existence. A "Dark Echo Node," his Interface had called the pulsating, evil-looking crystal. And a puppeteer.
This whole situation had just upgraded from "very dangerous monster fight" to "very dangerous monster fight with a creepy ghost-thing pulling the strings." Fantastic.
He was really racking up the Frequent Fright Miles today.
He quickly used his Lore Scanner function, the one powered by the Corrupted Data Fragment from the Precursor Tablet on the Dark Echo Node.
If he was going to survive this, he needed to know what he was up against.
Scanning Target: Dark Echo Node [Corrupted Precursor Artifact]
Type: Precursor Control Device – Corrupted
Function: Emanating A Subtle But Potent 'Subjugation Field.' Currently Amplifying Aggression And Coordinating The Actions Of Nearby Dark Echo-Infused Entities.
Source Of Corruption / External Control Link: Unknown Entity [Shadowy, Intermittently Manifesting].
Weakness: Direct Physical Trauma to Crystalline Structure. Essentially, Hit It Hard.
System Note: So, it's a mind-control rock being used by a spooky ghost. Smash the rock, maybe the ghost gets mad and leaves? Or maybe it just gets really mad. Worth a shot, probably!
"A Corrupted Precursor Control Device," Ryan muttered. "Subjugation Field. Unknown shadowy entity."
"Weakness: Hit it hard." Ryan appreciated the simple, direct advice. Sometimes, the best solution really was just to whack things.
Just as he was processing this new, alarming information, the shadowy figure flickered back into view near the Node.
It didn't try to speak. Instead, Ryan felt a sudden, intense mental assault.
It wasn't a physical pain, but a crushing wave of dizziness and despair, like all the bad news in the world had decided to have a party in his brain.
His vision swam, and he stumbled, his knees feeling weak.
His Spirit stat [ currently a respectable 24 ] and his Intellect [ a solid 22 ] fought back. He felt them like an inner shield, pushing against the worst of the mental attack.
The overwhelming despair receded to a dull, throbbing headache and a lingering feeling that he'd really like a nap and a cookie.
"Nice try, Casper the Unfriendly Ghost!" Ryan grunted, shaking his head to clear the last of the mental fog. "But my brain's already full of weird thoughts, not much room for your bad vibes!"
The shadowy figure seemed to ripple with annoyance. It couldn't break his mental defenses easily.
But it didn't need to. Its three meaty puppets, the Rage Boar, the Grove Stalker, and the Distortion Hound, chose that moment to attack with renewed, almost frantic ferocity.
They were no longer just coordinated; they were moving like a well-oiled killing machine, each one covering the others, their attacks perfectly timed to try and overwhelm him.
The Rage Boar charged, its tusks aimed at Ryan's gut. Ryan used a precious charge of his Short Blink from his Phase Gauntlet, zipping out of the way just as the Boar thundered past, its tusks gouging deep furrows in the rock wall where he'd been.
He reappeared near the Grove Stalker and, taking advantage of its momentary surprise, managed to land a deep, poisoned slash along its shadowy flank.
The Stalker hissed in pain, its form flickering even more erratically. His poisoned knife was definitely doing something.
But the shadowy figure wasn't done with its mental games. As Ryan dodged a phasing attack from the Distortion Hound, the "Whispers of Despair" hit him again, harder this time.
Images of failure, of loneliness, of being trapped in this horrible, dark fissure forever, flashed through his mind. He was stunned, frozen for just a critical second, his defenses momentarily faltering.
And in that second, the Distortion Hound's shadowy claws raked across his back, sending jolts of cold, chaotic energy through him.
Simultaneously, the Rage Boar, having turned with surprising speed, slammed into him again, not a direct hit this time, but enough to send him sprawling, his head cracking against the stone floor. Again.
"Okay," Ryan groaned, spots dancing in front of his eyes. "Maybe the ghost is a problem."
He was taking too much damage. His level-up healing had fixed him once, but he couldn't count on that happening again anytime soon.
He remembered his six unspent Flex Essence Points. He'd been saving them for an emergency. This, he decided, qualified as a full-blown, five-alarm, pants-on-fire emergency.
Lying there, with monsters closing in and a ghost trying to give him a metaphysical wedgie, he quickly accessed his Interface.
"Points!" he thought desperately. "Need more brain armor!"
He allocated his 6 Flex Essence Points: +4 to Spirit, +2 to Intellect.
He felt an immediate surge of mental resilience. His Spirit jumped to 28, his Intellect to 24. The lingering despair in his mind lessened, replaced by a stubborn, slightly angry determination.
The shadowy figure launched another mental assault, trying to capitalize on his downed state. But this time, Ryan was ready.
The mental "Whispers" felt more like annoying background chatter now, like someone trying to sell him an extended car warranty in a language he didn't quite understand.
He could still feel the pressure, but it only caused a brief moment of disorientation, not that crippling stun.
"Not today, spooky!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet. His new Cloak of Shifting Umbra helped him blend into the shadows as he moved, making him a slightly harder target.
He knew he couldn't win a direct slugfest with three Frenzied Anomalies while also playing mental dodgeball with a ghost. He needed to change his tactics.
The poison on his knife was his best bet against the creatures themselves. He had to weaken them, make them sluggish, while he figured out how to deal with that mind-control rock.
He focused on evasion, using his Short Blink sparingly, relying more on his Agility and his Environmental Camouflage.
He darted in, landed a poisoned cut, then melted back into the shadows before they could retaliate effectively.
The shadowy figure kept up its mental harassment, but it was more annoying than debilitating now.
He managed to get good, deep, poisoned wounds on all three of the Anomalies. The Grove Stalker was starting to look particularly unwell, its movements becoming slower, its shadowy form less stable.
The Distortion Hound's phasing was becoming more erratic, less controlled. Even the massive Rage Boar was starting to snort with a wheezing sound, its red eyes looking a little less frenzied and a little more sick.
The poison was working! It was slow, but it was working.
As the Anomalies weakened, Ryan saw his chance. The shadowy figure was still trying to mentally poke him, clearly frustrated that its main attacks weren't working as well anymore.
It seemed to be concentrating so hard on him that it wasn't paying as much attention to its puppets or its mind-control rock.
Ryan ignored the mental whispers. He took a deep breath, then used a Short Blink, not to attack an Anomaly, but to bypass them entirely.
Zip!
He appeared right in front of the pulsating Dark Echo Node.
The shadowy figure beside the Node shrieked a silent, mental screech that lanced through Ryan's mind, but his enhanced Spirit held firm.
The figure seemed to try and solidify, to physically manifest to defend its precious rock, but it was too incorporeal, too much like smoke. It swiped at him with shadowy, intangible claws.
Ryan ignored it. He raised his reinforced, poison-coated knife, the one he'd upgraded with Ironwood Vine fibers.
He didn't know if poison would affect a rock, but he was going to hit it with everything he had.
"Timber!" he yelled, and brought the knife down with all his might, aiming for the very center of the pulsating, crystalline Node.
CRACK!
The sound echoed through the fissure like a gunshot. The Dark Echo Node fractured, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface. The sickly yellow light sputtered and died.
And the shadowy figure let out one final, fading wail of fury and frustration, then dissipated completely, like mist in the morning sun. This time, it felt permanent.