Elmo was startled when he felt someone grab his shoulder. He was still unsteady on his feet, his vision was still blurry, and was sure that his stamina was still probably too high. So, when someone grabbed his shoulder, probably to get him to stop running in circles, he nearly fell over, taking the person with him.
"Whoa, calm down kid," her heard a feminine voice say.
"Sorry," he apologized. "I was trying to use up my stamina. "I think I absorbed too much of the troll's stamina and I can't see straight."
"Well, do you have any idea where Jonas is?" the person asked. Elmo couldn't be sure who it was, their face was just too blurry. "Kim said that there's something around here that's keeping anything fire related from getting close to the troll. So, she asked me to look for it and suggested I try to get Jonas to help, but I can't find him anywhere."
"Well, he's probably in the fight right now," Elmo said. "He might even be in the troll's shadow, I don't know. I can barely see you with how blurry everything is."
He heard the other person sigh. "How much stamina do you have?" she asked Elmo.
"Let me check," Elmo said, "Status."
HP 59/24
MP 79/98
Stamina 58/12
Elmo didn't pay any attention to anything after that. He was focused more on how much stamina he had, as that's what concerned him the most about his situation. Although, he found it strange that it was perfectly clear when everything else in his vision was so blurred.
"I have 58 with a max of 12," Elmo said.
"Wait, how'd you get so much over?" the other person asked.
"I used my absorb spell. I guess it lets me absorb past my own limits," Elmo said, wondering if he'd sentenced himself to die because of his carelessness.
"So, you think the best way to lower your stamina is by running in circles?" she asked, her voice sounding rather skeptical.
"I couldn't think of anything better to do," Elmo admitted, willing to accept any ridicule he might receive about running in circles.
"Well, at least it would get your stamina used up eventually," the girl admitted. "Though, have you seen anything that might be what I would be trying to look for?"
Elmo shook his head. "Sorry, all I've seen has been just the troll here. Otherwise the room had seemed to be empty," Elmo said.
"Well, that just means whatever it is, is well hidden, I guess," the girl replied.
"Have you tried looking along the ceiling?" Elmo asked. "I can't see up there very well, with everything being so blurry, but in many RPG games, if there's something that keeps the boss from being killed, it often means you have to do something while fighting it, and it could be that you have to find a secret or something around here. Since we didn't see anything on the level we're on, maybe it's in the ceiling or hidden in the floor?"
"Okay, I'll check the ceiling," the girl said, her silhouette moving as if she nodded. "Keep using up your stamina and I'll check with you if I can't figure something out."
"Okay, good luck," Elmo called after her, continuing his running as he saw her shape suddenly change into a much smaller one. One that moved upward, it's arms moving up and down, as the shape headed towards the ceiling.
Elmo shook his head slowly, not sure what to make of what he'd just seen. He hoped that he wasn't hallucinating things. That would really be bad for him, especially since he had no idea if it would be merely another symptom of whatever was happening to him.
After all, he couldn't be sure how it would progress. Although, he suddenly remembered about his MP charge skill. It would help him use up excess stamina and he could use his spells on himself to reduce his excess HP. Then the charge would allow him to restore his MP while using up his stamina.
He could kick himself with how simple it was. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about it. Which meant, he needed first to use his most costly spells against himself that would be for a single target.
"Magic Burst!" he cried out, his hands against his chest, bracing himself for the pain he was sure was coming his way.
What he didn't expect was to have himself thrown five feet from the magical energies he'd unleashed on himself. However, he wasn't done. He did that three more times, with the same results. Then as he checked his stats, he was pleased at what he saw.
HP 35/24
MP 59/98
Stamina 58/12
He'd significantly reduced his HP, so he used his Magic Burst twice more on himself, so he knew that it would be under his limit, then began spamming his MP Charge. He kept a strict count on it, hoping that he wouldn't lose count.
At the very least, he could feel himself using up his stamina fast. Much faster than he'd been doing with just running around. He hoped the MP Charge wouldn't make him exceed his maximum amount, but at the moment, he was more worried about his stamina.
He needed to get it so he could be useful again. Besides, if whoever spoke to him couldn't find whatever it was that kept fire from getting close to the troll, then he could help look for anything that seemed either unusual or might be something other than what it appeared to be.
Then there was also the chance that she might be able to find it, but wouldn't be able to do anything about it. At which point, unless he was able to see properly again, he wouldn't be of any use. Which again would point out to him just how careless he'd been with spamming his absorb spell. Well, either careless or stupid. He was willing to accept either adjective or adverb. He could never remember which was which.
In the end, when he was pretty sure his stamina was back to its max, he checked his stats again.
HP 21/24
MP 79/98
Stamina 12/12
Elmo sighed in relief. If whatever had been happening to him had been because of that, then he was sure that he'd go back to normal shortly. Either that or he would need to find Elin to see if she could treat whatever it was that was affecting him. Not that he knew where she was at the moment. Everything was still pretty blurry for him.
Though, as he waited patiently, he felt his vision begin to return to normal. He wasn't sure how long it took, but it definitely felt like it took longer than he'd have liked. Yet, he couldn't argue that he'd at least gotten that dealt with.
Looking around, he saw a falcon flying around the ceiling, At first, he couldn't figure out why there was a bird in the room in the first place. It took him a minute to realize that it had to be Sonya.
When he realized that, he also realized that it had to have been Sonya who'd talked to him when he was working on getting his stamina below its max. He shook his head, and was happy when the world didn't spin around him, annoyed with himself that he didn't realize it when she first approached him.
Sighing, he looked closely at the ceiling, trying to determine what might either feel out of place or could be where whatever was keeping fire away from the troll might be located.
While there didn't seem to be anything that immediately drew his attention, he felt like his gaze kept returning to an upside down pyramid structure that looked like it had been put there as part of the aesthetics of the design along the ceiling. Yet, he couldn't help but feel like there was something else about it that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Not sure what else to do about it, he decided that if they couldn't logically figure out what was causing it, the next best thing to do was randomly smash stuff. After all, he didn't have a better option, so he focused on the upside down pyramid and called out, "Magic Burst!"
He saw the energy of his spell head straight for his target, and as it struck it, it glowed blue. He wasn't sure if that actually meant anything, but he sent another Magic Burst at it regardless. Yet, before he could even see what happened when that hit his target, let alone send another one, he suddenly felt his body flying across the room.
He realized suddenly that for some reason the troll had focused on him and he had no idea why. Yet, he had a feeling that he found what it was that Sonya was looking for. Only, he had no idea if he'd be able to communicate that to her.
His last thoughts were about how to let them know about it when he felt his body slam into the wall and darkness overtook his awareness. He was surprised at how little pain he felt. It was almost as if someone was turning the lights off rather than him falling unconscious.