The Rampaging Koala just continued to chew on its eucalyptus leaf while staring at us, barely showing any recognition. Either the creature was blind and unable to see us, or it could see us and just didn't care about our presence. I stepped to the side, but my foot ended up kicking a rock that caused a loud sound as it tumbled into a small crevice. It echoed with each impact as it fell for several seconds. Yet, the monster didn't seem to care. It continued just chilling in its spot, pausing ever so slightly with each echo but returning to its meal as soon as the noise subsided.

"Is it deaf?" Michael whispered, his voice being carried much farther than he was expecting.

Everybody froze, waiting for the monster to do something, but again, it just continued chewing.

"Or maybe it didn't hear us," I replied, not whispering, taking a gamble.

Thankfully, the creature continued to just chill away as if truly not at all bothered by our presence. However, I was not deluded enough to believe this monster would not act if we gave it a chance. And to make things worse, the flower that we came to pick up was directly underneath it. I was 100% positive that if we were to approach that area, the monster would believe that we were going after its food source, even though that wasn't our intention. Not to mention that while the creature existed here, Trix wouldn't be able to come back and gather her plants from the cave that she spent so long cultivating. So, one way or another, we had to get rid of this thing.

"Let's split up. Michael, you and I go right. Astrid, take Riley and go left. Rex, stay in the back and be sure to help us with any skills that you have that are long range. Try not to catch the monster's attention."

The Rodenti frowned. "Why? Rex can fight."

"If you have to dodge, I think you're going to be in trouble."

There was a pause, and then he looked down at his stone stump and nodded with a sad expression. Even if we were trying to have Rex show off again, it was more important for all of us to come out alive, not just for him to be the one to kill the creature.

With that understanding, we all started to move, but everything unraveled in just a moment. Rex took a few steps back. Michael and I veered to the right. Astrid and Riley were mirroring our movements on the other side. But the moment Astrid pulled out her axe from her back, the Rampaging Koala suddenly burst into action. It dashed across the cave so quickly that we were barely able to follow it. Or at least, Astrid, Michael and I were. Michael and Riley were able to notice, but they didn't catch what was happening in time. But instead of being attacked, Riley was pushed away by Astrid in an attempt to keep the witch from being hit by whatever was about to come.

The monster's body slammed into Astrid, sending her flying into the wall to the side. Thankfully, some of the plants that were there cushioned the impact. Otherwise, I was sure she would have broken something. The monster roared and charged again after the Huskcarver, but this time Michael was already firing a couple of arrows at the beast. The koala barely felt it as the projectiles bounced off its skin, and instead of continuing its attack, it stopped and skidded across the cave floor, turning around to face the Archer.

"Oh no," Michael gasped as he saw the koala charging at him with the same speed that it did at Astrid.

Noticing a loose rock on the path between the monster and us, I reached out with my staff and triggered {Compression}, making the rock grow enough to cover the monster's vision. But even so, the creature didn't stop, smashing it into thousands of tiny pieces as if it was made of rotten wood. That small gap in its sight was enough for Michael and me to jump away from where the monster was coming.

The archer stumbled to the side and fired a couple more arrows, this time aiming at its mouth and nose, as the eyes were too small for him to get a clean shot. And not wanting to just focus on the defensive, I leaned forward and activated {Elemental Imbuement} with {Firestarter}, with my staff igniting in flames just before I slammed it on its left hind leg.

Yet, the monster didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that its fur was now burning. It just turned around to face me and continued to charge at Astrid. The koala was stomping across various plants and bushes that covered the cave. From one of the bushes, countless strands of silk burst forward, trying to grab the creature and hold its progress. Riley was able to create a trap at this distance. It was incredible in itself, but that wasn't enough as the Rampaging Koala continued to move with only a slight reduction of its speed.

That created another problem, as Michael trusted Riley's ability a bit too much. He was already preparing another attack and decided to go with it despite the Rampaging Koala still barreling down in his direction. He fired one arrow aimed straight at the creature's eyes and jumped away, but it wasn't fast enough. The koala, while unable to tackle the Archer, swiped its claw on the ground, sending a large wave of dirt in his direction. If he had moved sooner, he would have been able to clear the debris in time. But since Michael decided to attack, some of the larger rocks slammed into his torso, causing him to tumble to the side.

The fur on the back of the leg of the koala was still burning, but the creature didn't seem to care or notice. Instead, it continued to run towards Michael, almost desperate to kill him. Only when the creature changed direction to actually hit Michael again did I understand why. One of the arrows that the Archer fired landed directly in the eye of the monster, and I couldn't really blame the koala for its obsession. If someone were to stab me in the eye, I would very much want to kill them too.

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The creature charged at Michael again, but this time the Archer wouldn't be able to escape in time. But to my surprise, a large rock suddenly fell from the ceiling, slamming into the monster, who stopped in its tracks and snarled angrily, looking around, unsure of what just happened. While the creature didn't know, I could tell that it was Rex's work as he had probably loosened the rock and made sure to drop it right at the nick of time.

Just as the koala pushed the boulder off its head, Astrid finally joined the battle. The Huskcarver had rage in her eyes and her axe covered in a layer of frost. With a single swing, her attack pierced the skin of the creature and left a gash on the opposite side of where the fur was burning. Which gave me an idea.

'Sis, can I use the elements that are already on the monster for {Clash of Nature}? So it blows up from inside it?' I asked as I started running to the area where the fur was burning, hoping to help make the flames larger with another strike.

[User is unable to create an explosion inside another creature's body using {Clash of Nature}. However, user is able to use clear and evident elements that are present on the creature's body to create the explosion at the location of impact.]

And while what the System said was somewhat confusing, it, as usual, also sent the explanation directly into my brain, allowing me to understand quickly. Basically, if I wanted to use {Clash of Nature} using elements that were already on the target, I'd make the second element just aim at either the fire or the ice created by Astrid. I could use the fire created by me or the ice that was crawling over the creature thanks her skills and use that as a spark for the explosion.

The attack just gave me more options, especially when I was dealing with creatures that had weirder elements or if I was fighting with people who were capable of using something else.

Still, that wasn't something I wanted to use now. Astrid was already handling the creature, and I had a different plan in mind. Jumping to the side, I dove under the monster's legs and hit its nuts with my staff, or where I assumed they should be. It was strange, as when I passed below the monster, its genitals were nowhere to be seen. In fact, the creature didn't even seem to be bothered by my attack, and that was starting to piss me off.

Riley fired a ball of silk that slammed onto the monster's face, wrapping its remaining eye in a cocoon of sorts. The creature tried to escape, but the silk was too sticky, forcing it to claw at its own face in order to be free. Taking advantage of the distraction, Astrid brought her axe down once more, this time actually activating {Crawling Frost}. The ice spiders burst from the point of impact and started to spread around the monster more and more. One of its arms seemed to be frozen almost instantly. As it tried to break free, came my opportunity.

Moving towards its face, I prepared an elemental clash using both fire and water. The fire was still covering the staff thanks to {Elemental Imbuement}, and water existed inside of me because it was activated due to {As I Flow So Does The Current}. But before I could reach the monster's face, the creature, with a forceful motion, broke free from the ice and clawed away at the air.

The attack was not directly aimed at me, but I was just on the edge enough to be on the tail end of the blow. I had to quickly shift to the side, hoping that the pelt of frost would be enough to withstand the Rampaging Koala's claws. I was tossed backwards, tumbling on the ground, feeling some of the thorns of the plants digging into me.

With a snap, I jumped back to my feet, ignoring the pain that I was feeling and the slight numbness in my leg, and rushed forward once more. Michael fired a couple of arrows, trying to pin down the koala's arm just as Astrid delivered another {Frost Chop} at its leg, causing it to tumble to the ground. Right as it did so, Rex used one of his skills to create a set of five rock spikes that emerged from the floor, pushing through the vegetation above and creating almost a cage to trap the creature inside.

With the monster truly trapped, I rushed toward its face, and with a spin, activated {Formless Swipe} together with {Clash of Nature}, using fire and water to create a cloud of super-heated steam. The attack aimed directly at the Rampaging Koala's nose.

My hope was that if this wasn't enough to deal any significant damage, at the very least the heated air would burn its nostrils and maybe even its lungs, which would give us an edge so we could continue fighting. But to my surprise, its nose seemed to be a bit less protected than the rest of its body as the explosion of fire and water opened a large gash on its face, revealing the inside of its skull. Blood, spit and bile dripping from the wound

The creature roared and pushed up, breaking free out of pure hatred, and slammed its back against the rocks. It tried again, and this time the stones cracked. But Astrid wasn't going to let that happen. She brought down her axe once more on its front arm, hoping to damage enough of its muscles to make it stop moving, while I spent the my Energy on another {Clash of Nature}, the last one I could muster. This time targeting the armpit on the other side of its body.

The combination of attacks seemed to be dealing a lot of damage, but the creature was still moving. It forced itself up by the hind legs, breaking the rocks, and jumped forward, targeting Michael still, despite all the damage that we were doing to it. The Archer tried to jump away, but his foot got caught in some of the roots on the ground, and the Rampaging Koala landed directly on top of him. It seemed like that was the end, as the creature was now motionless and we all felt the particles rushing into us.

We all froze for a second, not really sure what happened to Michael, until Astrid was the one who screamed his name and rushed towards the monster's body. I ran right after her in hopes of helping save our companion, but I couldn't help but notice how Rex was very calm about the situation. He was looking at the koala with a smile on his face.

Just as Astrid and I reached the head of the koala, we saw Michael underneath it. The head of the monster raised from the ground, being kept aloft by a large stone spike that pierced its nose and was now holding the creature at bay, with Michael just staring at the remaining eye of the monster while shaking.

"Did I piss myself?" the Archer asked as an acrid smell hit our noses.

Astrid chuckled and shook her head. "Not you."

She looked to the monster, who now had evacuated its bowels as most things did when they died.

Almost as if to confirm everything, a cheesy upbeat sound played in my head.

[Congratulations, user Cassandra, for the level up. Current level 3. 2 attribute points available.]

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