". . . So that's why they're trying to kill me," I said, explaining Hana and Avoure's whole ordeal; while Hana might not appreciate telling this to the others. They deserved to know the full story of why the other students were trying to kill me.
"I see," Naobulim said, nodding his head.
"Cowards all of them," Barbatos said with a scowl.
"You read my mind, big guy," Naobulim said.
"He should've picked a fight to the death, a true way to resolve this problem," He said, puffing his chest wholeheartedly. Hearing what Barbatos had said cemented him in my mind as a barbarian type of dude, a total battle junkie.
"Ok maybe you didn't read my mind," Naobulim said.
"So will you guys help me?" I said. As much growth in power recently, there is no way I could survive the Gauntlet alone while other students attacking me, potentially Avoure and his teammates too if I'm unlucky today–though there might be some chance I could take his teammates on.
"Of course," Naobulim said, hearing him agree made me internally sigh in relief.
"I'll also stick with you, maybe a worthy opponent will show up!" He grinned widely, revealing rows of pointy teeth, laughing like a maniac.
"Thanks a lot,t guys," I said, sighing softly in relief that I was not alone. But a small part of me was worried for the other. There was something strange, where was Michael?
"Where's Michael?" I said looking around for him.
"Don't know, but I wouldn't worry too much, the guy is capable," He said.
"If you say so," I said.
"It was through him we found you," He said.
"Really?" I said.
"Yeah, he for some reason ran back to the starting point, until he ran into another direction we were about to follow him until we heard the explosion occurring and then found you," He said.
"Did Michael know?" It was strange he'd randomly go back like he knew.
"Don't know, ask the guy himself," He shrugged.
"Enough chatting let's go now, we'll meet up with Michael later," Barbatos said.
"You sure, what if he's in danger?" Naobulim said.
"He's a capable warrior. If he can't survive this much, he shouldn't be in this academy," he said. I couldn't help but stare at him with widened eyes.
"Isn't that a bit harsh?" I said.
"It is the way of battle! Now come on," Barbatos said.
I hope the others are fine like me.
__________________________________
Hana blocked the man's wooden gauntlet with her silver rapier, but his pure, overwhelming strength prevented her from gaining a steady grip and knocked her back into a wall. Thankfully, she reinforced her back with Mana, so nothing was broken, but it still hurt like hell.
"I'm disappointed that a child of the Von Yue family is this weak," he said. Unlike the rest of the students who attacked them, he was more powerful and skilled, as he was a senior. Why is a senior like you attacking us?"
"Vin Mae paid me good money to take out your friend. Speaking of which, where is he?"
"Come and find out," Hana stood up and pointed her rapier directly at his head. Seeing her display of confidence he scoffs at her arrogance. "Isn't it delusional to think you can beat me?" He charged forward, running at her like a raging bull, raising his fist as he was about to strike at her head–his fist was about to hit her. In the last possible second, she dodges the attack letting it harmlessly fly past her head and digging it deep into the wall.
"Crap!" He said.
Hana stabbed the rapier into his chest, putting all of her Mana into this one attack because if she didn't, she would lose this momentary advantage. "Blazing Gallant!"
Flames burst through his entire body–the pure impact of it sensed him flying to the other side of the room. He crashed into the wall leaving a deep indent, once he was seemingly knocked out she turned the flames off. Finally done with the fighting her legs broke making her collapse on the ground. "Are you done too?"
"Yeah," Ayjin let go of her last opponent like Hana: and collapsed onto the ground exhausted.
Both girls simply stayed there for a minute, trying to catch their breath. Next to Ayjin was Shadow Fang, trying to comfort its owner. Looking around the place, something was amiss, and then Ayjin realized it. "Where's Jackson?"
"He must've been separated during the fight," Hana said, then noticed one of the tunnels was blocked by rubble when previously it wasn't. A mental image conjured up in her head as to what happened with the boy.
"We have to find him quickly! Shadow Fang tracked him down," Ayjin said. The Lycrow nodded and began to sniff the floor until it seemingly picked up a scent, the shadow wolf wagged its tail and then sprinted into the tunnels. Ayjin followed suit with the wolf and Hana was about to follow the two of them but stopped.
She felt something, it was like someone was watching her, a stalker tracking her movement from the shadows; but it didn't seem malevolent or wanting to cause her harm oddly enough it felt familiar. Looking around the place there was nothing, it should've been impossible as there wasn't any hiding spot, unless.
"Come out now Michael," She said.
"As you wish. " A person emerged from among the shadows, like a pool of darkness. Stepping out of it was Michael, who bowed to her.
"Here to protect me?"
"Yes, mistress," he said. Hearing him say that made her irritated, especially now that it was too late.
"Well isn't that a bit late?" Looking around at all the people she knocked out.
"My deepest apologies, this was something I didn't expect," He said.
"How were you even able to track me?" Hana was sure Michael's team was somewhere near the front, so unless they purposely stayed behind if that was the case why didn't they help?
"I placed a Shadow Doll to keep track, but it was destroyed in the fight. That's when I knew you were in danger," He said. Right He had those Shadow Dolls that can act like trackers she had forgotten about since he didn't use those much often.
"How sloppy for a Shadousutōkā to be this late," Even though she didn't want his help it was still sloppy for a Shadousutōkā to be this late and she would've appreciated his help in the battle.
"I shall accept any punishment you want."
"No, I don't want to punish you. Just get out of my way," she said. She wasn't in the mood to punish him or want his help.
"No," He said. Hearing this Hana raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" She said,
"It's my duty as a bodyguard to protect you. I won't fail now," he said. After he said his vow, Hana couldn't help but sigh.
"I don't need protection, I'm fine on my own," She said.
"No," He said.
"I can protect myself, as you see," she said. She didn't need any more help; until now, she was fine.
"That doesn't matter," Michael said, his voice now irking her.
"Must you always be so stubborn? " she said, clearly remembering that even back in their childhood, he was always this stubborn. He fussed about about how he should always stay near her, even when she was sleeping. It took months before she was able to convince him to give her some privacy.
"It's my duty as a Shadousutōkā and your bodyguard to protect you. I've failed twice now, and I don't want to fail a third time," he said.
"Yet all those times I was fine, so leave me," She said it was getting annoying at this point; talking to Michael was like arguing with a wall.
"No," He said the third time.
"Is that the only word in your vocabulary?" She said,
"Please don't make this difficult, if you want I can hide in your Shadow."
"I don't need your help, I'm a noble not some damsel in distress," She said, feeling a splitting headache and then rubbing her temple to soothe it.
"You know what my answer will be," He said.
They were now at a standstill, both of them wanting two things that contradict each other. Hana tried to think of something to make him leave her side. "Have you seen Maverick?"
"Yes, he was with Naobulim and Barbatos," He said.
"If you want to protect someone, then he's your candidate," she said in a tone that left no room for argument.
"You really don't want to be protected?"
"I'm not a child," She said. She is from the great Von Yue family, a prestigious family that has connections with the Royal family and her older brother is Midas Von Yue. How can she bear the name Von Yue when she needs protection? She can do this without any need for more outside help.
"If you insist, but at the very least have this Shadow Doll if a serious problem arises," Literally claiming out of Michael's shadow was a tiny chubby doll-like creature that was colored black and had two cartoonishly big pure white eyes. It jumps around in joy at being given life and then waddles its way to Hana climbing until it snuggles inside of her pocket.
"This is acceptable," She said. She tried to hide it but she did find the Shadows Doll to be cute.
"See you on the other side," Just as Michael emerged from the shadows he jumped into the black pool.
"He, why did you stop?" Ayjin came back looking confused.
"I think we should continue looking for the exit," Hana said.
"What about Jackson!"
"He'll be fine," She said.
"How do you know that?" Ayjin said.
"Michael contacted me, his team found Maverick so he's fine, we should worry about ourselves,"
"As expected nobles will always be selfish," Hearing Ayjin saying that almost made her snap, but luckily at the last moment she controlled herself. "You are testing my patience Fe,"
"I'll keep doing it until you help me find Jackson," She said.
"Do you see Maverick as that weak?" She said,
"W-what?" Ayjin said, her eyes widened at Hana's proclamation.
"Do you see Maverick as a child?" She said.
"Of course not, what are you even talking about?" Ayjin said.
"You keep talking about Maverick like he is a child, but he's not. Unlike you I trust him. He is a capable person and has a team of more capable people with him. The ones who need saving are us!" Seeing how Ayjin didn't have any rebuttals Hana pressed further releasing all of her an
While a small part of her agreed with Ayjin, the more logical part said he'll be fine, he's strong and has the other to back him up. Still, it didn't sit right with her at all but she'll endure it.
"If you truly care about Maverick, then focus on the mission. The sooner we can finish this farce Gauntlet, the better," Hana said, waiting for Ayjin to argue against her.
There were a few moments of silence before she spoke. "Shadow Fang, can you track any exit here?" The wolf nodded and began to walk. Seeing Ayjin agree with her almost made Hana fall flat on her face. She sighed in relief—one less burden is gone. "Wait up."
A few minutes later the two of them were walking through the desolate empty hallways, it was pitch black without a light source and was impossible to see, so Hana had created flames on her rapier and used it as a torch. She looked at the Endian girl wondering if maybe she was too hard on the girl. Then remembered how Ayjin was always on her ass so she dismissed those thoughts, maybe it was time she was given her own medicine.
Both of them kept walking in silence, the awkwardness was so thick one could probably cut it with a knife. Hana felt like she should've made some small talk to break this unbearable tension with Her but after their last conversation, Han was sure she didn't want to talk with her. Hana noticed how dirty, sweat-covered, and ripped her clothes were, a small disappointed sigh escaped her mouth, another set of clothing reduced to trash, especially this one from a very famous fashion designer; this wasn't exactly cheap even for her.
"What is it, boy?" Ayjin's sudden voice snapped Hana out of her thoughts. The Lycrow had suddenly stopped and began to sniff the ground, seeing this made Hana a bit worried; maybe it could've been a trap.
"Is it a trap?" Ayjin said, getting down on the wolf's level and patting its head as she waited for its response. It came in the form of a low growl.
"A trap," She said.
Hana looked around but couldn't see anything. Even if nothing was visible, she trusted the Lycrow's instinct; after all, one of the Magical Beast's more famous traits is its impressive survival instincts.
"We should head in another direction, I'm not too confident traveling this way," Hana said.
"Yeah," She said.
They took the right path instead of going forward. At the very end of the pathway was a room. Hana opened it to find a long concrete platform going straight ahead. On both sides, there was nothing but darkness. Hana looked at the side to see how far down it went; the bottom wasn't visible. She doubts it'll be lethal, but it would certainly hurt and be very inconvenient to get back up.
There were also several giant metal balls swinging side to side at a fast pace, with how tight the platform was. Just one hit from those balls would send you flying.
"This looks like something from Warrior's Parkour," Ayjin said. Hana was sure it was an old television about non-Arcana people doing parkour stunts.
"Yeah, it does," Hana said, agreeing with her. It wasn't something she was interested in, but her brother was, so she had caught a few episodes alongside him. This whole premise was similar to that show.
"Huh, color me surprised. You watched the show?" She said in shock.
"What of it?" Hana said with a raised eyebrow.
"The show never struck me as something Nobles would watch," She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I don't find it interesting, but my older brother does love the show," In fact using his own money to make sure the show stays afloat.
"Figures you don't like it," Ayjin said with a snide tone.
"What's that supposed to mean!" She said angrily.
"Nothing," Ayjin said.
Both looked at the swinging ball. To the underside was a door; maybe one of the golden tickets was there. "Do you think you can get there in time?" Hana said.
"I've trained and watched enough of Warrior's Parkour," Ayjin said, stretching her muscles and legs to get herself ready.
Getting into a running position, she tried to keep calm and focus; one wrong move and she could be sent flying across the edge. Before the first step could be taken Hana walked over to the swing balls and melted it with her flames. "You know I can just do this," She said.
"Ah, right forgot, hehehe. . . " She felt her cheeks getting hot with how embarrassed she was.
Seeing this Hana couldn't help but chuckle a bit. In a span of a few minutes, Hana kept melting all of the giant balls until none remained. At that point, they were at the door on the other side.
Opening it both found another room, this one instead of one long platform there were multiple tiny platforms one could barely stand on and another bottomless pit. On the other side was a door.
"I wonder if the seniors liked Warrior Parkour," Ayjin said.
Hana couldn't help but agree. "Well, there's, no time to be standing around; let's go. " Hana jumped onto a platform with ease, then jumped to another platform and kept going, occasionally using her flames to boost her jumps.
Ayjin stood at the back as she had thought of a more easier way to get to the other side as just jumping would take a long considering how long the room is.
"I summon Hugin!" The metallic bird flew from her shadows and landed next to her. While Hugin doesn't have the strength to carry someone by himself, if one reinforces him with Mana, that might grant him enough strength to reach the other side.
Crouching to be near Hugin's level and placing her hand placing her hand on to him. Pouring Mana into his metallic feather, the vines-like pattern appears on its feather. It began to energetically jump, probably feeling better from the boosted strength. All that was left was to test if it could carry her. "It's time to find out," Ayjin said.
She commands it to firmly grasp her shirt, making sure not to press too hard, or else it will rip it. "Now!"
Hugin flew, carrying her. She instinctively closed her eyes, waiting for the plan to inevitably fail. A few seconds passed, yet nothing happened. Then, a minute and a few more minutes passed, and nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see she wasn't falling; the plan had worked. "I did it!"
"I'm impressed Fe!" Hana said shocked to see her flying. She landed on the other side safely. "Do you want some help?" Ayjin said.
For a moment Hana thought about it but shook her head. "No."
"If you say so," Ayjin said, sitting down on the edge and waiting for her. As Hana kept parkouring, Ayjin questioned herself why she didn't accept her help but reminded herself she was a noble. They were always the same self-righteous bastards; Hana was just a little different.
Eventually, Hana made it to the other side. "You should've accepted my help," Ayjin said, a little annoyed at Hana's pride.
"I could do it on my own," She rolled her eyes after hearing what Hana said.
The next room was strange, it was a massive wide room, so much space you could probably fit several buildings here and there would still be enough room. A few feet away from them was a thin white line that went from one side of the room to another. What caught her attention was at the very back of the room was another white line and a giant mechanical machine that vaguely resembled a starfish. It was entirely made out of metal this machine had been down here for a long because of the rust forming on certain parts of it, it was clear this wasn't some Lost Tech because of how unfinished or shoddy it looked: Inside was exposed showing all of its mechanical parts like gears, wires, and hydraulics constantly pumping, there were also several small clear tubes connecting all of the parts and inside was some sort black liquid, probably oil of sorts. The entire inside of this thing was somewhat reminiscent of organs, if it weren't for the fact it was all made of metal this would've been a very gory sight.
In the middle of it all was a giant, faintly glowing red crystal ball. Two people held it on either side. Several wires attached to this red ball connected it to the rest of the machine. On the bottoms of its 'legs' were a dozen or so wires connecting the machine to the ground like the roots of a tree.
Another notable feature of this room was a CCTV camera in one corner and ventilation shafts on each side of the walls. "What the heck is that?" Ayjin said, pointing at the machine starfish. Hana couldn't agree more about what on Gaeia is that.
Hana noticed something on the ground; a note. Picking up the note she read it. "If you complete this challenge you'll be rewarded with a ticket. This is called Stoplights. If you cross the white line you'll start the game; if the ball is red you can't make any large voluntary movement, if the ball is green then you can move. Whoever finishes crossing the line at the end of the room will win and if all the players' teams are caught moving all of you will lose, lastly be warned there may be more challenges than this one."
"That part at the end sounded ominous," Ayjin said and Hana agreed very much.
"We should start now," Ayjin said, before she could cross the line Hana tapped her shoulder. "Wait a second," Hana looked around the room searching for any traps but there was nothing. Still, it was better to be cautious than reckless. "Can your Lycrow smell any traps?"
"I'll give it a shot," Ayjin summoned the shadow wolf. Patting it on its head and then whispering something into its ear. The Lycrow nodded and sniffed the place, running around the area. Eventually, it came back to Ayjin pointing its snout at the vents. "Is there some kind of gas in there?" Ayjin guessed.
Seeing that there was nothing else she could make the Lycrow do, Ayjin made it return to her shadows.
"I assumed so, what else would be the punishment," Hana said.
Hana looked at the vents, thinking of a way she could potentially cheat. Maybe she could burn the machine that triggers the gas, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't release the gas upon destruction. Plus, all of those vents were high up, so it would be difficult to destroy them.
Then Hana looked at the starfish-like machine. "Maybe I could destroy that machine?" Hana said, musing the idea.
"Isn't that cheating?"
"They didn't specify anything about this," Hana said, pointing her rapier at the machine.
Ayjin tried to make rebuttals, but nothing came out of her mouth. She sighs, rubbing her temple. "Well, if we get in trouble, it'll be your fault."
"Noted," Hana slightly adjusted her aim at the machine then fired. Controlling the flames and turning them into a straight thin line, shooting across the field right to the center of it. The flames bounced off to a wall as a purple barrier appeared the moment the flames were a few feet away from the machine. "Ayjin, can your crow carry you to the other side?" Hana said.
"Yeah, that could work," After summoning Hugin Ayjin reinforced it with Mana. It picked up Ayjin and flew to the other side. "It's working!" She said, While flying Ayjin noticed the red orb seemingly glowed a purple hue color seeing this made her worried.
A compartment opened up in the machine, metal parts sticking up from the machine combining to form some kind of gun, Ayjin freaked out when it pointed at her. "It's gonna shoot me!"
"Come back!"
As Hugin was about to turn around the Machine's gun shot at the metal crow making it let go of Ayjin and it was knocked back to where Hana was. Ayjin lay face first on the ground, getting back up and rubbing away the dirt on her face. "Man, they thought of everything," She said, quite surprised at their meticulous attention.
After de-summoning Hugin Ayjin walked back to Hana.
"Guess we have to play fair for this one, no more cheating," Hana said to herself.
"The light's green!" Ayjin said, reinforcing her limbs with Mana she sprinted forwards.
"Hey, be careful," Hana said. She crossed the white line using Mana to increase her speed. As she watched Ayjin run, she noticed a large bump in the ground. "Fe, wait!" Hana tried to warn the black-haired girl, but it was too light. Stepping on something different from the ground, Ayjin looked down to see red blinking lights and an explosion in her face.
Ayjin was knocked back to where Hana was. "Are you fine Fe?"
Ayjin nodded, stood up, and wiped away all the dust and dirt. Hana didn't see any injuries on her, so she assumed she was fine. "The explosion isn't that dangerous, but it certainly stings."
"I guess this is what the paper meant with more challenges," Hana said.
"If so, this should be easy. We just have to avoid stepping on those landmines."
The machine's crystal then turned red again. Both girls waited in anticipation to change their color again–the light turned green.
Both girls rush forward–while making sure to avoid hitting on the plates. Each of them was quickly making progress with the help of reinforcing their legs with Mana, and Hana using her flames to give her a boost so in a matter of seconds she was ahead of Ayjin with a large growing gap. Seeing the noble so far ahead of her sparked a competitive spirit in the Endian. She wasn't going to lose to her of all people reinforcing more Mana. She sprinted as fast as possible; it was like she was a black blur–the light turned red.
Hana stopped dead in her tracks, her boots leaving behind a skidmark from the sheer force of her speed. A large amount of dust was kicked up from the ground, and she tasted some of it. Some of the dust also went into her nose, making her almost sneeze–thankfully, she was able to hold it in.
At the same time, Ayjin nearly trips herself to a landmine though she catches herself just in time. Seeing this made the Endian sigh in relief. "That was close."
Hana released a breath she didn't know she was holding–that could've been bad if she had fallen, Hana guessed if one of them then the two of them would get the punishment.
Both girls waited for the light to turn green. Hana particularly readied herself, putting Mana in her legs. Her eyes were stared straight at the goal. Unlike Ayjin, who was halfway there, Hana was just a quarter of the way through. Ayijin's being so far ahead lit a competitive spirit inside Hana.
Both girls sense a competitive spirit with another; both knew neither wanted to lose.
Hana almost missed the sound of something clicking. It was faint, so she didn't even notice. Heck, with how focused she was on getting to the other side, she would've missed it entirely if it weren't for a particularly loud snapping sound. It sounded like it was coming from the wall near her, which made her cautious.
She was curious about what it was. She heard more mechanical sounds, like metal hitting each other and gears rapidly turning. A barely visible line formed on the wall, making a square pattern. Almost instinctively, Hana would've grabbed her rapier if she hadn't remembered about the machine.
That section inside the line began to slide down revealing darkness, letting the smell of old air in the room and also something else. A low growl rang throughout the room coming from what was inside the darkness. Something black leaped out of the shadow landing in front of Hana.
It was a Lycrow. The same type of Magical Beast as Shadow Fang. But this thing was big, even bigger than Shadow Fang or even Hana herself as it easily towered over her. Like Shadow Fang, it was entirely black with no other colors, piercing red eyes, and pure white fangs. The only thing that separates this thing and Shadow Fang is its visible veins. The veins were somehow visible through the skin and were glowing an unnatural purple color making it even more noticeable against the black skin of the wolf, the only other notable thing about its appearance was the thick metallic collar around its neck. Being so near it Hana could smell the foul odor it was producing, it was so potent Hana felt like she could taste it; the odor was like something rotten mixed with fish. Almost gagged but was able to hold it in.
Seeing this Lycrow Hana reinforced her entire body with Mana in anticipation for it.
Ayjin also saw the black beast, recognizing what it was. The beast was a Lycrow no doubt about it but it wasn't the same type of Lycrow as her Shadow Fang. Just as how if a wolf lives long enough it would become a stronger variation called a 'Dire wolf'. The Lycrow also works in a similar process but instead of aging it's how many times it had killed something–this variation is called a 'Dire Lycrow'.
Before Hana could react she was knocked across the room dust kicked everywhere from the impact of her landing–momentarily clouding her vision before quickly standing to face down the creature–a loud buzzing noise coming from the machine. "Crap I moved!"
Hana notices one of the vents open up to reveal a metal turret; it quickly looks at Hana and fires goops at Hana. She dodged it in time but felt her foot touching something metal looking down was the landmine. "Oh shit-!" Hana was launched back again and crashed to the other side. "Damn it!"
Another one of those currents popped out of the vents and began to fire at Hana. With both turrets aimed at her, each one rapidly firing the goob at her. Gracefully dodging each one, then the Dire Lycrow roared and ran up to Hana swiping its claw at the Noble girl.
She blocked it with her rapier, this made her stand still for a couple of seconds–long enough for the turret to land a successful hit on Hana. She felt the goob's slimy texture wrapping around her leg, and it seemingly hardened.
Hana felt it weighing down on her. Using her distraction, Dire Lycrow smashed its head against Hana, pushing her to another landmine and detonating it.
From the explosion, Hana rushed out stabbing the Dire Lycrow in its chest. "Blazing Gallant!" Flames burst forth around the Dire Lycrow. This thing howled in pain but this didn't stop Hana as she kept stabbing this thing over and over again–reinforcing her rapier to further increase the damage.
Unfortunately, another goobs landed on her remaining leg, further weighing her down. The goobs threw another swipe at her, but Hana wasn't able to dodge in time because of the goop. This knocked her a few feet back.
While this was happening Ayjin was conflicted, she wanted to help Hana but also wanted to gain a ticket. She wants the four million Silver that could change her life for the better, even being able to pay for her fee at the academy and have enough to send it back to her parents to help them too. It would be so easy to ignore Hana's battle; after all, she wasn't in mortal danger and could probably handle herself she didn't need her help. Hana was plenty strong enough–plus she was a noble and when has ever nobility helped her? Most of her pain was from nobles and their discriminatory ways.
There are so many reasons why it was fine to ignore Hana's battle then why is it her body was telling her to help her: it was because it's the right thing to do. A wave of shame went through her, isn't she just doing what she hated the nobles for? How can she call herself a person when she's doing the same thing she hates? Finally, Hana wasn't like those nobles she hated, she cared about people and was kind, and after all the pain the two of them went through Ayjin can admit to beginning to care about Hana. She knew what to do. "I summon Shadow Fang!"
A loud buzzing from the machine can be heard, making Hana surprised. "Fe!"
From her shadow, Shadow Fang burst forth running up to its Dire variation, and began to claw at its side. Ayjin waited for the machine to announce they lost. Yet nothing happened. "What?"
"It's Maverick!" Hana as she dodged some of the good.
"Huh?" Ayjin said in confusion.
More turrets popped out of the vents firing at Ayjin. With reinforced Mana limbs Ayjin easily dodge the attacks.
"Remember, the rules state all of us should be caught to lose! We still have a chance!" Hana said before another goob was fired hitting Hana's chest. The good began to harden even further, weighing her down and limiting her movement; this made Hana click her tongue. "Hey, you garbage pile of trash!" She said yelling at the beast. Her plan right now was to distract the beast away from Ayjin.
This caught the Dire Lycrow's attention. The wolf of darkness glared at Hana before getting its face blasted with searing hot flames, literally melting its face, skin and flesh turning into liquid mush piles, and the fountain of blood turning into more mush, Hana even saw the skull of this thing with its popping out and the other one barely holding on. The burning flesh made a disgusting smell. Even though it smelled horrible she still kept firing fire at the beast, she didn't stop for a second consuming nearly all of her Hana. The Dire Tried to swipe at her but it missed every time as it didn't have any eyes anymore. More of that goob kept hitting her, just a few minutes most of her body was covered in it still this didn't deter her, it made her will stronger to keep pushing the beast.
Ayjin ran as fast as possible, she was getting closer and closer to the underside. The currents kept firing at her.
"I summon Hugin!"
"I summon Void Tank!"
The shadows beneath her rapidly expanded and in a blink of an eye, Hugin and Void Tank came out–already sensing what was required of their mistress. Hugin flies in front of every goob that is about to hit Ayjin; taking a bullet for her. While Void Tank uses its body as a shield to defend her.
As a response, more turrets popped out, firing at Ayjin, though most were blocked by either Hugin or Void tanks. Despite this, one managed to get past both the Magical Beasts. The first goob to pass hit her leg, slowing down considerably. It was like a block of concrete was attached to her left leg. Ayjin clicked her tongue at the annoyance. Ignoring this hurdle, she kept going, making sure to dodge the land mines.
Another one got passed them and hit Ayjin in the other leg. "Damn!" She said. Reinforcing more Mana in the legs kept running.
Slowly more and more of the goobs hit her.
In the arms.
In the chest.
In the thighs.
And more.
Even her Magic Beasts were no use as all of them were covered in the goobs.
The finish line was almost at arm's reach. "I won't give up!"
More and more of the goobs fired at parts that were already–further weighing her down like a truck. Yet determination flowed in her as she kept running.
It was so close . . .
Almost there . .
The line was within arm's reach.
She made it; crossing the finish line.
"I did it!" Hana said. Relief and happiness flowed through her. Those words kept repeating over and over in her mind, if she had died right now she would have died without any regret; to be honest at the last second she had thought she wouldn't make it, but she did it.
Hana saw the Dire Lycrow stop suddenly, on its collar was a red bulb blinking. The Dire Lycrow growled leaping over with its mouth wide enough her head could easily be swallowed.
"Shit!" Hana raises her rapier ready for it. The beast stopped suddenly, its fangs inches away from her face; it was so close she could smell the disgusting smell from its mouth, hearing the individual breaths.
The beast was frozen like a statue. This made Hana confused as to why, it was unnerving to not know why it froze like that. Was it planning something?
"I did it!" Hana turned around to see Ayjin–who was covered from head to toe in the goob the only remaining thing that wasn't covered was her face. Standing on the other side of the white line. "You did it Fe!" Hana said her eyes widened in triumph.
"We won—Hana behind you!" Ayjin said, pointing at something behind Hana. Turning around, she saw the dire Wolf convulsing. It was shaking a lot as if the Dire lycrow was being controlled, but it was struggling to resist. The Lycrow roared, shaking the room. Hana was knocked back by a few feet before standing up, readying her rapier for anything else the wolf had. She glared at the wolf, almost daring it to try to attack her.
It stood there simply convulsing, its head wildly shaking like it was trying to get rid of something. The entire sight made Hana uneasy, especially since its face half melted off. "What's wrong with it?" She said to herself confused.
Then it snapped standing still like a statue. Alarmed by this Hana was about to fire at the creature, but it growled at her showing its fangs–even smelling its horrible breath. The Dire Lycrow ran back to the opening where it came from going back into the darkness where it once belonged. With the Dire Lycrow gone Hana slumped down on her knees sighing in relief. "We did it, it's finally over Fe."
"Not over yet, we need to find Jackson and win the Gauntlet," Ayjin said walking over to Hana, hearing what she said made Hana roll her eyes and click in her tongue in annoyance. "Let me have this victory please?" She said a bit annoyed.
"Sorry to be a party pooper," Ayjin said feeling embarrassed, it wasn't her intention to bring the mood down but just to remind her it was a long way before celebrating total victory.
"Hana, do you have any idea how to get rid of this?" Ayjin pointed at the goob that was stuck to them. Before Hana could answer something happens, something that answers Ayjin's question. It began to rain, Hana looked confused and looked up to see there were sprinklers attached to the ceiling spraying seemingly water on them. "Great, my clothes are further ruined," Hana said looking at her dirty soaked clothes. Her bra was even visible because she was wearing white.
Slowly the goob began to liquefy, turning into a gelatinous substance sliding off of them leaving no trace of their existence–Hana shivered at the feeling it was like cold jelly running down your skin.
Admittedly, even though the water ruined her clothes, she admits to feeling somewhat refreshed now. After this whole thing is done,e she is taking a long bath and maybe treating herself–heck maybe she'll include Jackson and Ayjin in this treat, speaking of the Endian girl.
Hana turned to see the girl slump down next to her. The girl was somehow not bothered by being soaking wet and enjoying the refreshing feeling of the rain. "You did a good job, Fe," Hana said, feeling somewhat embarrassed. An hour ago, she was arguing with the Endian. Her pride aside, it was obvious that without her help, Hana couldn't have done this.
Hearing Hana compliment her made Ayjin freeze for a second before she spoke. "T-thanks, Hana. You also didn't do a bad job."
"What's with that look?" Hana noticed the shock on Ayjin's face.
"It's just I'm surprised you can give compliments," Ayjin said, hearing that rubbed her the wrong way.
"I'm not that prideful; I'm just confident," Hana said, which made Ayjin roll her eyes.
"Right," She said.
"Still you didn't do a bad job," Ayjin stood up, lending a hand to Hana–which she accepted.
"I may have misjudged you Fe," Hana said.
"We should really find Jackson," She said, she was starting to worry about Jackson. Especially since a lot of people are after him.
"I agree it's about time we find him, but I wouldn't worry too much remember he has the others to protect him," Hana said, reminding the Endian he isn't alone.
"Let's go!" Ayjin said. Both girls ran back to the start of the obstacles, intent on finding their friend.
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[Name: Jackson Maverick]
Level: 48
Title: Incel|Loser, Bloodied Survivor
[STATS]
Points: 30
Strength: 51
Speed: 49
Defense: 39
Mana: 20
Calamity Point : 100
[SKILLS]
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-Lightning Style-
-Void Style-
-Critical Strike-
-Mana Reinforcement-
[QUEST]
[SHOP]
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