There were three others in the room that were alive. Their armours were shattered and their bodies were covered in countless wounds.
“Are you guys able to run out of here?”
The one closest to me, a man dressed in tattered black robes, took one step and fell to his knee. “I think so…but what about that monster?”
“I’ll handle her, you guys just–”
Before I could finish, the ceiling erupted in an explosion of dust and suddenly she appeared on the ground in front of me.
“What was that, you cocky bastard?!” She roared.
The beast woman pounced at me and I only nearly managed to dodge it. She was insanely fast, even Ilinore hadn’t given me as hard of a time.
I dodged and weaved narrowly through her attacks and each time managed to escape with my life. I felt the ferocious pressure behind her attacks. Just one blow was enough to make me lose a limb if I wasn’t careful.
“I’m not the same as I was before. I…I can do this!” I stated.
Her confident smirk dropped into a menacing scowl. “What are you smiling about?”
Her paws flew at me with the concentrated power of a hammer, led by the massive claws that were the size of my fingers. I dodged back and forth and when an opening arrived, I closed the gap between us and delivered a cross-slash from my blades.
There was no blood, only a scattered handful of white fur. The moment right before I hit her, she brought her arms in front of her and puffed out the furry ends of her arms.
Even up close she had me beaten with speed.
“How are you so strong for a human? Are you even a human; did Ellios do something to you after he left?”
Her questions flew one after another behind every attack. For her to be so calm during a fight meant only one thing, she wasn’t giving it her all.
I grit my teeth and steeled my heart. I flipped backwards through the air in an elegant display of speed and height. Just as I reached the height of my jump, my hand extended out.
“Dragons Breath!”
The intense inferno of a dragon released from my hand and within an instant, set forth a blazing rage.
She disappeared behind the flames but my body still felt restless. That demanding presence that Mei and I felt when we entered the floor hadn’t appeared since I found that room. Yet in that moment…I received a taste of that power.
“Those weak flames…I guess you’re not Ellios after all.” She walked out the flames holding her neck.
***
Olivia rushed through the barren tunnel with a blinding speed. Her armour hung tightly over her body but the long red material at her waist erected behind her as she ran, it looked as though it were hanging on for dear life. She had her sword drawn at her side and blew past any monster that bared its fangs.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
A trail of corpses was left in her wake. The true display of an upper-class silver rank and rust rank was night and day.
“I’m coming Rei…just hold on!”
She flew off the ledge of the first tunnel and entered the massive drop that took her deeper below the cave's level.
She had landed on a lower level of the cave with multiple paths and caverns laid out in front of her. Although she felt the strong presence of mana calling to her before, it had then disappeared when she landed.
Suddenly a wave of mana hit her all at once. Her feet nearly pulled away but she kept her footing long enough to find her composure.
“What is that? Is there a monster making that much of a presence?” Olivia pondered aloud.
The ground of the cave rumbled with a mighty roar. Its regular dark colour rose from the ground. It was an endless pool of darkness under her feet that suddenly came up to her knees but by the time she noticed, she had already been caught in its grip.
“I can’t—ugh what is this?!” She panicked.
It bound her legs and steadily made its way up to her chest when suddenly a powerful light erupted off the ledge above her.
Her face shifted to the light and forced her to shield her eyes from its intense wrath. Between the gaps of her fingers, she noticed a figure leap from the ledge.
“...Lily?” She muttered.
The slender figure of her saviour descended and landed beside her. One wave from her hand and a stream of light flowed out to combat the shadows that surrounded them.
A veil of pink hair swished back to reveal her beloved teammate and closest friend, Lily Sverti. She was dressed in light silky material that bounced with every movement she made. It looked more like clothing a dancer would wear than an adventurer.
Trinkets and jewellery danced with every wave from her hands and feet. She wove an intricate symbol through the air and spoke out in ancient words that even Olivia didn’t speak. Suddenly a beam of light surrounded them and pulsed out into the darkness surrounding them, purifying it in a single wave.
“Lily, you saved me?” Olivia was dumbstruck.
Lily turned to her comrade and puffed out her cheeks. She delivered a stream of soft punches to Olivia’s chestplate that felt like blows from a pillow.
“How could you run ahead like that? You made the master yell at all of us! Why did you leave me alone with those people, you know I can’t handle them by myself?!!” Lily yelled.
“I’m sorry–I’m sorry! I just wanted to help Rei…”
Lily’s eyebrow rose and her flurry of soft punches seized. “Who’s Rei? Is he the reason the oh-so-complacent Olivia decided to run off so dramatically?” She pushed on the matter but Oliva remained quiet.
Off the ledge, more and more figures crashed down beside them. First was the large shirtless fighter, Herien. Then their leader Adder arrived. The other members of their party trailed behind them but didn’t dare to jump off the ledge like the first four. They took the path that spiralled around the drop at a swift pace.
Adder arrived enraged, it was then that Olivia realised her mistake and the reality of the situation caught up to her. She turned awkwardly to her guild master and bowed her head slightly, lowering her eyes to the floor.
“Master I…”
“I’ll deal with you later.” He dismissed her. Adder turned to one of the branched-out tunnels and pulled a disgusted expression. “There was a magic output slightly ahead of here just a second ago, where did it go?”
‘If I knew there’d be an enemy this strong I wouldn’t have only brought two silver ranks with me…Damn it! The world is out to stop me from succeeding but I won’t let it!’ Adder thought.
He bawled a fist and directed it towards the intense presence of mana ahead of them. “Anybody who isn’t prepared to die can get lost! We’re not taking on some scrub mission anymore, this is serious.’”
His eyes let off a menacing glow as he glared back to his guildmates. Their eyes faltered if only for a second, a moment later their voices united as one and called out in response to their leader.
“Y-yes sir!!”