William
"Tch." Jiang clicked his tongue as he saw the unknown creature come towards them. He had no idea what it was, but it was definitely nothing good. 

Seeing as the thing was closing quick, Jiang shifted his stance. With his right hand already gripping the middle of his polaxe, he lifted it and gripped the end of it with his left, as if using a spear. When dealing with potentially tenacious beasts, it was just better to have a bit more reach and heft. The mud would be quite unfavourable to a fighter that relied on footwork to quite an extent, but he could manage. 

Remaining in his current spot as in this case it was better to inflict the first strike rather than support from behind as one would a common humanoid opponent, considering that a targe didn't hold up the best against the savage features of such beasts, he gave a knowing look to his teammates, any previous cheer temporarily stowed away for the moment.
Paul
It was coming towards them! The creature revealed itself to almost be like a large snake. Even though it didn't move particularly fast, Momo wouldn't have time to equip his bow. Instead, Momo gathers a ball of murky, green magical energy in his hand. He launches this `Toxic Bolt` at the creature, aiming at the general outline of the creature and the direction it seemed to be running at.

Then he immediately drops down the `Orb of Light` in front of him as he tries to distance himself by taking a few steps backward. 
```
Cast Icy Arrow (Gen. Speed Debuff) 7.5 Mana
Regen +11 mana
272.5/280 Mana

Orb of Light 17/20 turns left
Project Barrier (4 QU defense) 1 turn left
```
Travis
_Almann casts Denwen's Blessing for 10 mana. He'd meaneuver around the serpent and hit it with some fire when it got close enough. For now, he'd simply get ready for impact. He'd equip his shield and unsheath Anat in anticipation of the beast. Almann would also move 1 meter southeast of Jiang._

```Almann casts Denwen's Blessing for 10 mana.

Effects:

Max running speed 8 m/s -13 m/s for 6 turns```
Kanesha
*In quick coordination, the three of you would all reposition yourselves and take defensive actions against the incoming beast. Momo's Toxic Bolt would fly through the air and make direct contact with the outline of the creature, seemingly slowing it down a bit. However the creature would keep on getting closer and closer and closer and... It would suddenly disappear. At least in the eyes of Momo and Jiang. There were no ripples, no outline, nothing. It wouldn't make much sense as the water should be shallower where you three are so it should be easier to see. But Almann with his keen hearing would realize what had happened, and hear swirling movements from beneath his feet*
Travis
_Almann lunges backwards towards Jiang, unleashing a Fiery Breath towards to where his feet just were. He readies his shield for an attack from the beast, as it might jump out of the water._

```Almann spends 15 mana on fiery breath towards the swirling below. 134/150 mana left, 9 regen.```
Paul
Almann would suddenly try hop to Jiang and spit fire at the ground! It honestly scared Momo, although this wasn't some crazy circus act. *Almann is trying to dodge something. He also seems to be aiming his downward...*

From Almann's reaction, Momo repositions himself yet again and takes cautious steps towards the left. He begins to equip his bow that'd been strapped to his back. 

While doing so, in between his fingers was a paper ofuda that had magically spawned and consumed itself. Momo had buffed Almann with `Snake Spirit` in hopes to aid him in his actions. 

```
Cast Psionic Speed. Almann's Gen Speed increased by +0.1 for 6 turns (Gen Speed is now 1.1). Cost 15 Mana

Regen +11 Mana
268.5/280 Mana

Orb of Light 16/20 turns left
Project Barrier shattered
```
William
Jiang reacted immediately, [Engulfing Wind] being applied to his polaxe blade as he covered Almann's retreat with a downward swing from the right shoulder. He intended to catch and stun it, leaving it open to other attacks.

```Engulfing Wind (10 Mana), 52.5/60 Mana```
Kanesha
*Just as Almann would leap backwards, he would feel his feet sink downward for a moment as the water would get pulled in slightly via some sort of suction. However his flaming breath would make contact and heat up the water slightly, causing it to bubble up and push him out of way, and just in time as well.*

*Mere miliseconds later a large burst of water would appear where Almann was just standing along with a high pitched screech. As the muddy water fell down, the three of you would now have a clearer picture of the creature before you. It's long body was covered in slime and gunk and as seen earlier there were thin spines sticking out of the surface of its skin. Thinking of it as a snake wouldn't be wrong, but looking at its head you would see that that was infact none. Rather you would see a massive mouth filled with rows of teeth, giving the impression of a worm instead of a snake. It would attempt to lunge Almann, but Jiang's defensive strike would intercept and push it back slightly. But it wouldn't be enough to throw the worm off balance, if that is even in possible in the first place, so it would continue to look down on the 3 of you with the 3 m portion of its body that was out of the water, hissing aggressively*
Paul
**A Death Worm!**

Momo had heard of these beasts before, usually from adventurous stories by other New Sunlight members. He had only briefly skimmed a study on them, but he didn't have time now to think of the details. 

Momo stood still, inhaling a deep breath before swiftly knocking and launching an arrow towards the worm's jagged mouth. In between his finger yet again was a small wooden ofuda. Seeing that Jiang was able to slightly deflect the worm with a strike, Momo decided to buff Jiang with `Ox Spirit`.

```
Cast Herculean Strength. Jiang's Strength increased by +2.5 for 6 turns. (Strength is now 6.5). Cost 15 Mana

Regen +11 Mana
264.5/280 Mana

Orb of Light 15/20 turns left
Almann's Psionic Speed 5 turns left. 
```
Travis
_Almann launches a 'Bronze Lance' at the base of the beast while getting up from the mud. He'd dirtied his clothes and armor anyways. He couldn't wait to clean out the cracks crevices from each pieace of laminar he was wearing. Every scale would have to be polished too. Nonetheless, he had to focus on killing the damn worm._

_As he was getting up he'd back more towards solid land, not allowing for the worm a murky environment to slink back into. Assisting Jiang would also be a priority once he gets his footing._

```Almann launches a Bronze Lance at the base of the worm, spending 15 mana, leaving him with 122.5/150 mana.```
William
*The fuck is a death worm doing here?* 
Despite that burning question, there was little time to think. Seeing that Engulfing Wind wasn't so effective, Jiang decided to simply go in for a proper chop- this time another downward swing from the left shoulder, aimed at centremass.

The strength that rushed into his veins was a nice bonus as Jiang went all in to pressure the frightening worm, allowing his teammates to recover and formulate a plan.
"Anyone know ice magic or any deriatives?!"
If so, it would become much easier to deal with this bastard.
```55/60 mana```
Kanesha
*Momo's arrow would fly true into the creatures massive mouth and it would screech on in pain as it pierces the underside of its palate. It would turn its attention to the annoying prey that had hurts its mouth before letting out yet another screech of pain as Almann's lance pierced its belly. And if that wasn't enough, Jiang's chop would dive in deeply into the creature, ripping out a good chunk of its slimy flesh. Thick green blood would be seen dripping out into the murky waters as the creatures thrashed out in agony before diving head first deep into the water again, disappearing from sight. However Almann could still hear it swirling around deep beneath the surface, not having given up on its prey just yet*