Near the edge of the archaic city, Charlotte gasped and flinched. She reacted so viscerally that eX-0281 had to hug her tight and restrain her.

Too slow… he thought at once. Though the sub-dragons were running their fastest, they remained in the heavily polluted ruins above the City of Grandesia.

Her air tank must have run out. She was suffocating and convulsing. Either that, or her body was going into arrest from the mana poisoning.

In her fit, Charlotte's hands flung around his neck and squeezed tight enough that eX-0281 thought that he would be the one to choke. "We need to get out of here!" she cried, voice clear as always.

Already, he was running his fastest. "What… is it?" he huffed out.

"Beheflea! One just hit me. Ugh! It touched me."

"What's a beheflea?" eX-0704 asked. That exact question had been on the tip of eX-0281's tongue.

"Do you see any more of them?" Charlotte asked, no less panicked than before.

"Calm down," eX-0281 tried murmuring to her. "It was just a bug." Though he had originally tightened his arms around her to keep her from thrashing to the ground, eX-0281 kept his grip strong as if to reassure her.

A mana-corrupted insect was hardly just a bug anymore.

The already vibrant, green landscape had been made even greener by his [Night Vision]. Unable to pick out anything in particular, eX-0281 made a general [Scan] to discern anything's presence in the area.

Two red boxes appeared in the air ahead of them, each about the length of his claw.

Target: Beheflea 1

Vitality: 100%

Discrete Parts: Abdomen (100%)

Mana Reserves: 100 Mu

Element: Nature

The second screen had the exact same information, only differentiated by its number.

Target: Beheflea 2

Even the mana levels were the same at a nice, round 100 Mu. This informed eX-0281 that it was the bug's maximum capacity for their ley system, which made sense given its full vitality. The behefleas were in perfect condition.

Alas, he sniffed sadly at his wounded pride. Even the bugs on the outside have more mana than me.

The dangers of any creature infused with mana could not be dismissed. So, eX-0281 queried for more information on the monster species. The boxes on the screen shifted around to accommodate a panel of information.

Entry: Beheaflea

The beheflea lives in the coat of a behemoth and exists in a symbiotic relationship. Capable of flight, the beheflea can be observed anywhere in proximity to its host. For this reason, behefleas are known as the harbinger to the behemoth.

…

The paragraphs went on, but that provided all the information that eX-0281 needed at this time.

"Behemoths are bad news, huh?"

A few, fierce bobs of Charlotte's head could be felt against his chest. "Go another way—whichever way the behefleas aren't flying!"

His claws scraped against the concrete and tore up some moss as eX-0281 banked a turn to the south. Though eX-0704 took the sudden turn in stride and followed him, he disappeared in the next dozen meters.

A languorous squish sounded from behind.

"Wait, 704?" eX-0281 slowed, and looked over his shoulder to see nothing but the couple of behefleas that they had left behind. He stood alone with Charlotte in his arms, searching for where eX-0704 had gone.

An updated [Scan] focused on a particularly luminescent patch on the ground.

Target: Slime Trap

Vitality: 100%

Discrete Parts: None

Mana Reserves: 20,000 Mu

Element: Water

"Now that's a lot of mana!" eX-0281 gasped.

The slime trap looked like mana had taken on a liquefied form and gained sentience—or at least, enough qualities resembling life for the battle assistant to pick it up.

A smaller red box floated inside of the first.

Member: eX-0704 [Sub-Dragon Shifter (Dragon Form)]

Vitality: 92%

Wait… eX-0704 was inside there!

The exterior of the slime exploded for a sub-dragon's head to surface. "Ah!" he screamed. "Help. It burns!"

His vitality had dropped lower than it was before, and the number kept trickling down.

Vitality: 90%

"704, no!" eX-0281 dashed as quickly as he could back to his friend's side. "Grab my hand!" Without ceremony, he set Charlotte on the ground a little ways off.

When eX-0704 floundered every which way, the movement of his limbs, wings, and tail were all stopped by the slime trap's gelatinous body. It moved with him, keeping him effectively imprisoned per the slime's namesake.

"Argh!" eX-0704 attempted to slice through its membrane with his claws. Just like how his horns had pushed through, eX-0704 managed to tear an arm free.

Target: Slime Trap

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Vitality: 100%

It was worth noting that slime was impervious to physical damage. Luckily, they did not need to kill the amorphous monstrosity but simply escape.

eX-0281 slapped their hands together and pulled with all his might. In return for his good effort, eX-0281's own scales started to erode away with the corrosive effects of the slime trap. "Ugh!" he pulled as hard as he could, but eX-0704 would not budge.

Without warning, the slime trap rolled to the side at a speed faster than it should have been able to achieve. The glob sprung straight for Charlotte.

"Ah! 281," she cried. Hands drawn up to her face, she held her air tank as if it could double as a shield.

"Whoa! I've gotcha." eX-0281 snatched up Charlotte and carried her away with a rush of his wings.

Thanks to the slime trap's sudden movement, eX-0704's head went back under. Notably, he took a big gasp before he was submerged within its fluids. His vitality levels dropped alarmingly fast when his unprotected head was exposed to the acidic concentrations of mana.

Member: eX-0704 [Sub-Dragon Shifter (Dragon Form)]

Vitality: 80%

"How do we get him out of there?" eX-0281 hollered at Charlotte.

"Ice!" she said. "Not just [Manifest Ice]. You have to [Snap Freeze] it!"

"What?" Dismay fell over eX-0281, not knowing how he could possibly learn a more advanced spell with what little time his friend had left.

When he fought his way back out, eX-0704 was crying with renewed panic. "Help! Please help me! I think it's eating me!"

eX-0281 had to listen to such pain and terror evident in his friend's voice. The stress in his own voice became more agitated and raw. "I'll save you!"

Much further away, he set Charlotte down again. "Coach me."

She nodded and started yelling instructions. "You're not creating anything this time. Instead, you're using your mana to draw energy away from the source—sap all the heat from the target and plunge it into sub-zero temperatures."

Determined, eX-0281 leaned forward in his charge. Circling around in his sprint with his wings aflutter, he kept the slime trap's movements contained—always one step behind him. Though eX-0281 focused with all his might, nothing happened while he kept running about. "Do I need to touch it?"

"No!" Charlotte screamed. "Don't you dare touch it!"

"What if I got a stick?" eX-0281 could totally poke the slime with a stick and try to freeze it that way.

Apparently, the question did not warrant a direct reply.

Charlotte let her eyes fall closed, and she took a deep breath. "Just think about the things you hate most in your life. You're a reptile. You hate the cold! You hate a slime trying to eat your friend alive!"

eX-0281 definitely hated the cold. Since when did he have to get stuck with an ice alignment? More than that, eX-0281 and eX-0704 had gone to such great lengths to come this far. He was not about to lose his friend to a blob!

The surrounding air suddenly felt cold, emanating from around the slime. Its consistency had gone from a jelly to a solid. A smooth surface of bright green ice coated the monster.

[Snap Freeze] learned!

Updating information for eX-0281….

At this point, eX-0704 thankfully had his head free. Just as well, the tip of his tail poked out and wiggled. Otherwise, he could not move a muscle entrapped in the ice. "Ah," he panted. "Ah, you did it!"

eX-0281 bent over onto his knees, breathing hard too. After doing their secret tail flick only once, he flitted his eyes to Charlotte. "It says it's still alive."

Target: Slime Trap

Vitality: 100%

That number taunted him on the screen.

"You need to deal the killing blow."

"Of course." eX-0281 bowed his head briefly to eX-0704 trapped within the chunk of mana ice. Lifting his gaze, he charged forward, leaped into a [Double Jump], and went crashing down with his clawed feet onto the slime trap.

A million crystalline pebbles collapsed around eX-0704 and all across the ground. They made a pretty, tinkling sound as they collided with each other like tiny bells.

Vitality: 0%

eX-0281 landed a fair distance aways, but did not waste a second before turning heel and dashing back to eX-0704. "Are you alright?"

A morbid moan confirmed his fears. "It still burns." Though eX-0704 found the strength to sit up, he clutched his claws to his face in agony.

"[Manifest Ice]," Charlotte called from the sidelines. "Let the ice melt against his skin, and the water can wash away the residue."

The frozen slime pieces crushed under his boots. In the event that they would soon melt, eX-0281 brushed them away before crouching down by eX-0704. "Here."

When eX-0281 checked his own mana reserves, he saw that the [Snap Freeze]—which had taken all 10 Mu—did not leave him depleted for long. In an environment of superfluous mana, his ley system experienced rapid refills. Though it was not quite as bad as a mana replenisher, a modest B-class mage ought not undergo regeneration rates like this for long.

eX-0281 put his hands up to eX-0704's face. The scales had been blackened where they were not excoriated away. The chemical burns looked excruciating. [Manifest Ice] sent lumpy, ill-formed sheets of ice over his skin to numb the pain and wash away the remaining mana.

Slumped over, eX-0704 made no response to the treatment.

"You should change into your human form," eX-0281 whispered. "Natural body heat will help it melt faster."

Even in lumps of ice, eX-0704's hands were shaking violently. Given that he was in pain, it would take more will power to shift—something that he did not possess in excess at the moment. eX-0704 lamented, "Why couldn't I have done that? I wish I had that ability. I could've freed myself right away."

eX-0281 crouched down by his friend. "704, you can do anything that I can do. We're one and the same."

The optimism was lost on eX-0704 in his demoralized state. "What are we doing, 281? Why are we out here? We're in way over our heads. I want to go home!"

Saddened to witness the breakdown, eX-0281 did not know what to do other than to settle himself on the ground, cross-legged. The two of them were seated in the center of the carnage. The shards glittered like a sea which encircled them.

A small, round orb had dropped in the shattered remains of the slime trap. The swirling blue and green colors within drew his attention to that spot on the ground.

Curious, eX-0281 tilted his head and performed a [Scan] to make sure it was not dangerous.

Component: Mana Nodule (200 Mu)

A solid ball of mana that exists at the core of every slime. The core comprises 1% of the total mana reserves. It is a basic component used for many things.

At least we got something out of it? eX-0281 tried to look on the bright side and picked up the item.

Their first monster encounter: a slime trap. Innocuous-looking enough, eX-0704 had stumbled right into it. Though eX-0281 felt shaken too, he needed to reassure his friend right now.

"Turning back isn't an option," he tried to remind him gently. "We have to press on."

"Guys…." Charlotte's voice piped up.

As he calmed down and the ice numbed his pain, eX-0704 shifted into human form. "I just wish you didn't have to save me."

"You rescued me from that ventilation shaft back there," eX-0281 insisted with a hand touched to his shoulder. "Neither of us have to save ourselves as long as we're together!"

"L-Like brothers?" The words seemed to have finally gotten through to eX-0704.

"Yeah!" eX-0281 said, delighted. From his understanding, brothers were more than just friends but inseparable. "We're brothers."

Confidence was restored to his eyes. With a smile lifted on the corners of his human lips, eX-0704 shifted back to dragon form.

"Guys!" Charlotte barked a second time. "This is really touching, but there's more behefleas."

Both of their attentions snapped to the side. Red boxes floated around everywhere like a cloud to the point where eX-0281 had to disable the feature.

Target: Beheflea 1

Target: Beheflea 2

Target: Beheflea 3

…

Target: Beheflea 73

"We need to get out of here," eX-0281 gasped and helped yank eX-0704 up.

The warning on the information screen harkened back to mind.

Behefleas are known as the harbinger of the behemoth.

Whatever monstrosity was a behemoth, eX-0281 did not want to find out. He scurried to pick up Charlotte, but when he had his back turned, she let out a horrendous scream.

Her finger pointed over his shoulder while her nails bit into a chink of his armor. "Behemoth!"

Terror seized his heart as he flung himself around.

At the center of the swarm, a hulking creature had appeared from nowhere. Its eyes, two blackened holes with a hazy, purple mist about them, focused on eX-0281 and eX-0704 in return.