Ethan focused all his concentration on the superheated liquid tendril lashing towards Ziak. With a surge of will, he amplified the invisible current he had briefly created. The tendril bucked and writhed, its trajectory wildly disrupted, narrowly missing Ziak.
"I can… I can influence it!" Ethan gasped, his brow furrowed with effort. The feeling was strange, like trying to control a powerful, unruly beast with his mind.
The Cerebrocrastiens, their bulbous heads tilting in unison, seemed to register the shift in power dynamics. They intensified their attacks, multiple tendrils of superheated liquid converging on Ethan.
Instinctively, Ethan lashed out with his hands, visualizing the liquid around him. To his surprise, a swirling vortex of the superheated gas erupted from the platform, intercepting the alien tendrils. He wasn't just influencing existing liquid; he was drawing it from the very atmosphere, condensing it into a weapon.
The control was still clumsy, the movements jerky, but the raw power was undeniable. He managed to deflect several attacks, creating chaotic bursts of superheated spray that forced the Cerebrocrastiens to momentarily retreat.
"He's learning fast!" Kiaz exclaimed, firing a volley of energy blasts that staggered one of the aliens. "Keep the pressure on them, Ethan!"
Emboldened, Ethan focused on offense. He gathered a large sphere of the superheated liquid, concentrating his neutrino energy to make it denser and hotter. With a grunt, he hurled it towards a group of Cerebrocrastiens. The sphere exploded on impact, sending a wave of searing heat and scalding droplets across the platform. The aliens shrieked, their iridescent skin momentarily darkening from the intense heat.
However, they were far from defeated. Their movements became more coordinated, their telepathic communication likely allowing them to adapt to Ethan's burgeoning abilities. Two Cerebrocrastiens focused their combined power, creating a massive wave of superheated liquid that surged towards Ethan, threatening to engulf him.
Thinking quickly, Ethan mirrored their action. He drew an even larger volume of the atmospheric gases, condensing it into a towering wall of swirling, superheated fluid directly in the path of the alien wave. The two masses of superheated liquid collided with a deafening roar, creating a chaotic explosion of steam and energy that obscured the platform.
"We need to use this chaos to get inside!" Ziak yelled, propelling himself forward through the dissipating steam. Kiaz followed close behind, his energy weapon charged.
Ethan, still struggling to fully control the volatile energy he was wielding, used the momentary cover to advance towards the pulsating structure, the tracker on his wrist now glowing with a steady blue light, guiding him towards the Cellucas egg signature within. The battle with the Cerebrocrastiens was far from over, but Ethan's unexpected mastery of their own element had given them a crucial opening.