Lyra sped through the water jets being shot at her, nimbly avoiding every one of them, she used her senses and physique to her utmost power

As she dogged she scouted, one, two, five… Twelve enemies, that’s how many there were, two clinging to the ceiling and ten to the walls

Locating the lowest of them she changed her direction to it, all while she paid heed to attack coming from all her directions, horizontal and vertical alike

Within mere seconds she was already next to the roundish wall, the whole cave was like a sphere, only the ground was semi-flat, which was good for Lyra as she used her momentum to jump and run along the walls, she ran up with a slant, thus she reached above the clinging rodent which turned its head to blast her with a water jet

But Lyra didn’t even give it a chance, as before it even turned its head she had already leaped down, taking the head of the Spalax with her before she ran down the wall and used the new momentum of falling to facilitate her climb of the huge rock on the ground, which she leaped off with unprecedented power, sending her face to face with two of the Spalaxes on the adjacent wall

The Spalaxes were faster than her though this time as they shot toward her airborne self, alas the attacks were destined to miss as she twisted her body midair, letting the jets fly above and below her while she continued one her way toward the rodents, as soon as the first was within reach she used both her front and back feet to press down on it making a another leap while it was sent catering toward the ground, dying in a horrible fall

Then before the other could charge up its attack she grabbed it by the neck with her maw and ran across the wall once again heading to the highest point she could reach on which the second highest Spalax was, but he was read with another shot as he blasted the water toward her

That’s when Lyra threw the one in her mouth toward the water, blocking the shot and sending another one into the ground to die, this gave her the opportunity to swipe at the rodent causing both of them to lose balance, falling to the ground

As they fell the others shot toward them while the one falling with her charged up to shoot, although its sensors were going high wire, but instead of dogging Lyra kicked the falling Spalax into the water jets trajectory while it shot its own jets randomly hitting two of its own companions, sending one of them to the ground while the other managed to cling to the wall mid-fall

The kick provided Lyra with enough power to make it to the nearest wall, which she started to descend with as much speed as she could, the other six rodents were on the opposing side of the cave, and she had to get to them before time ran out

The Spalax had figured her strategy out by now so they started to climb higher, without enough momentum she couldn’t reach them, thus they could blast her until she dies

When Lyra made it half way through the cave the others had made it up the walls and started bombarding her with shots, but they were much easier to doge as they were only half the amount, but now she had to worry about reaching the rodents high up

As she ran she saw the holes in the walls that they used as tunnels and her gaze sharpened, when she reached the wall she didn’t start running up, instead she used the holes as footholds, she would put a foot in and use it to propel herself up the wall, this made dodging a lot harder but she had no other way to make it up

She got closer and closer but it made dodging harder and harder, and soon she was hit with a blast, sending her down the wall

“WU” She thrust her front foot into one of the holes as she was descending, ensuing a bone rattling crack as her foot dislocated, but she ignored the pain and used her other feet to run back up, putting more focus into dodging, once again she made it to the same distance before two shots hit her square in the shoulder, but she thrust the same foot into the wall, preventing her from falling, but twisting her foot more

The rodents who didn’t expect this sudden sacrifice hadn’t prepared another shot when she quickly sprinted up, grabbing the nearest Spalax with her mouth while kicking another down, causing her to rise up with the rodent in her mouth where she once again threw it, this time in close range at its next companion causing them to fall and take another one who was under them with them, their entanglement with each other prevented them from latching into the wall, causing a triple kill to occur

But the wolf was not done as she continued her ascent reaching the last Spalax on the wall, and with a mighty swipe she sent it catering to the ground, while she herself fell into the water

Splash~

Lyra was submerged in the weird water, ever since they fell the first time she felt something unnerving about it, and she wanted to get out more than anything, but she could feel that while it did make her uncomfortable it still seemed to sooth her injury, but she didn’t linger for there was one more Spalax, and that was the other one clinging to the roof, near the hole

She popped her head out of the water, but a water jet came toward her direction, she expected it so she instantly submerged herself back, making the water jet lose its momentum when it hit the water, before she jumped out onto the ground

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Then there was a period of silence, Lyra gazing at the high up Spalax, while it poked it head toward her direction, then it turned to the direction of the shield housing Yu, and back onto her, a few more seconds passed in silence before the Spalax unexpectedly climbed into the hole which they dug out and continued to climb up. Soon going out of sight

Lyra breathed in heavily, and let out a triumph howl, signaling her victory, against the odds, against death, and most importantly, against her own failure

“AWUUUUUUUUUUUUUU”

The cave resounded her howl, echoing it again and again, until it got weaker, and faded the dark tunnels

As the high feeling of victory started to fade, pain reared its ugly head and assaulted the poor Lyra, causing pitiful wines to escape her mouth, but she grits her sharp teeth and made her way toward Yu, flipping him over

“Wu wu” She tried to wake him up but he did not respond, his tickling breath seemed to be getting weaker with time, his took much internal damage in his forceful attempt at challenging what was beyond his capabilities

“Wuuu wuuu” She continued to nudge him, she wanted him to wake up, she wanted to show him that she didn’t need saving, she wanted to show him that he could depend on her, she really, really… didn’t want to lose him

“Wu…wu…”

Her cried were muffled as she gazed at his face, a raging sea of emotions seemed to be brewing within her bright eyes, one that didn’t belong to a beast

Suddenly she turned her head to the back, peering at the water, she remembered the soothing sensation her wounds had gone through, maybe, just maybe…

She didn’t hesitate any longer as dragged Yu into the underground lake, submerging both of them in

The annoying feeling of suffocation stung her again, but her wounds seemed to feel better by the second, so she continued to submerge both of them under the water, only going out for a breath when she saw bumbles rise out of Yu’s mouth

……

The darkness was not scary as many thought. For me, the darkness was only the other side of light, for they are born from each other, so how could something born out of pure light be evil?

And how could something evil birth the light into the world?

No they merely didn’t understand, for darkness was the same as light, they only feared the unknown, the feared what they could not see, only when the light shown in the darkness, when they saw with their own eyes what was beneath its cover, would they accept it

I wasn’t like them, I didn’t need to see, the mystery kept me guessing, it kept me intrigued, it made me seek to uncover the truth, and if it wasn’t there, if it was unknown, I would not be dismayed, I would not turn my back to it, I would embrace it, embrace the unknown, for it only meant the infinite possibilities that could happen

……

“HAAAH COUGH Cough! Cough-ugh, haaah haaah..haa..”

Yu coughed up all the water in his lunges as he wheezed in between breaths trying to breath, it was as if he hadn’t breathed in ages as he took in air greedily

“Where.. Lyra?”

He quickly surveyed his surroundings and found that he was still in the same cave, he could tell by the nearby lake, but other than that everything else was too dark to make out

“Wuu?”

Hearing the familiar sound Yu hastily turned his head toward the lovable wolf, seeing that she was okay he felt no small amount of relief, he quickly adopted a smile as he brushed his hand against her fur

“I’m glad you’re okay” That’s all he said, he was truly glad she was okay, he didn’t care whether she won or lost, he really only wanted her to live at that second, that second where he thought of nothing but giving her the chance to live

“Wuu~”

Lyra rubbed her head against his hand while she gazed warmly into his eyes, glad that he too had tided through this

“Hm?” Yu noticed her front foot slightly bruised so he asked her if she was hurt but she shook her head and looked at the lake

“Did you use the lake to heal it?” Following her sight Yu looked at the lake as well, he was slightly puzzled, how could that water heal her, if it did it couldn’t be normal by any means

Yu wobbly got up and headed toward the lake, he scooped a little and drank it

“Hmm, it makes me feel energized, come to think of it I feel a lot better than before”

“Wuu” “Ahh did you use the lake to heal me? No wonder I’m all wet and was choking with water, smart choice though” “Wuu~” “Hehe”

Yu smirked at Lyra’s proud face, then he peered into the water, he wanted to see what was shining at the bottom

“Hmm? Hey isn’t that!” Yu’s eyes suddenly widened like saucers, he suddenly dived into the water leaving the surprised Lyra behind

“Wuu Wuu!” She didn’t know what got into him but she didn’t want to go into the water anymore either, of course is he seemed hurt she would dive too but seeing as he had gone in on his own accord she believed he had something to do

And he didn’t disappoint, emerging seconds later with a shining plant in hand, the plant was white all over, shining brighter than fire, but it was gradually losing that light, and it was happening very quickly

“As I thought this is the famous Pure Peony, I had never thought I would ever see it with my own eyes, well I didn’t recall its existence until only now so that could be part of the reason, but it should be extinct, it is said that this plant had been hunted down into extinction a few thousand years ago, because once a beast eats it, it may purify its element, giving it a massive boost that could give it the chance to make a leap toward the next Rank, everyone was crazy about this thing”

Naturally something that could make a beast leap toward the next Rank would be sought after by all and any who tamed a beast, of course this plant could not be moved from its place thus it had to be eaten on the spot, nor was it know how it reproduced, so it soon went extinct due to the greed of humanity

“You should quickly eat it, don’t worry there are five more down there, the others would have their share as well”

Yu held the plant toward Lyra but she refused and shook her head vehemently

“Why? It’s really good for you” Again Lyra shook her head and pointed at the water

“Hmm?....oh crap, I forgot you had both fire and darkness attribute, this planet had lived in water and it purifies, hmm though I remember even darkness beasts could benefited from it, well maybe the books weren’t so accurate, after all how could such a legendary plant exist”

Shrugging Yu looked at the plant in his hands, it would soon die and he would lose one of the five opportunities

“Lyra, I’ll have to unsummon you, I think I know who could use this the most”

Lyra nodded at Yu’s word, she also wanted to go back to be healed, and it was about time that one finely made its appearance

Unsummoning Lyra Yu looked at the water and braced himself, he then started chanting another string of unintelligible words, excitement and intrigue filled him, he would finely summon it for the first time