[You have defeated a Level 8 Warrior!]

[Your Level Has Risen to 69!]

I stared at Jalley as we ran towards our destination, though at a slower pace for I had to accommodate our guests. See? They only slow us down!

The woman was flying in the air, doing twists and turns, sometimes standing in her broom, and even going upside down. Somehow she never falls, no matter what.

If Orlean could make something that could just give flight like that, then how come she didn't give one of those to us?

I tried to ask the question by repeatedly pointing at the broom, to which Jalley asked if I were just too excited to peek up her witch skirt from below.

I rabidly shook my head to Flaze's laughter, the traitor saying nothing to clear my good name.

I managed to actually ask the question when we took a breather at some random gas station. It was written by the charring of brick, and Flaze seemed a tad disappointed by my query.

"Jackal." She said. "I'm interested too, but you can't just ask people to reveal their abilities."

"That's right. Never pry on a woman's secret." Jalley winked, and then landed, doing an exaggerated bow. "I will tell you though, because I feel like it."

Arnold spoke. "You really shouldn't. But I already know you do not listen."

"Aww. You know me so well." Jalley cooed. "Well, I probably shouldn't go into too much detail either, but you know how Flaze here is a Knight? I bet she's got Skills for using a shield or even for her sword."

All eyes turned towards Flaze, and she spoke. "Kind of. But not exactly."

"...Right." Jalley refrained from asking for more details. "Well, it differs by build. But the point is, just as a warrior might see their swords be enhanced, so too can I enhance my brooms. I can even fly with it."

I pointed at the enchantments of her tool.

"Oh! Those enchantments aid me, letting me fly faster, but the flight itself is mostly my own power."

Huh.

Tools, weapons, gear. My heritage as a horse closes all these doors for me. It's a bit vexing, but I do realize that I've my own advantages. Orlean had confirmed with us that I get a lot more running speed with the relevant stats, than a human would for the same price.

My curiosity sated, we went back on our way towards the college. Jalley once again soared high into the air, and I admitted to myself the envy that I felt. A typical scenario perhaps, to covet flight, but it certainly seems very fair.

And then she fell straight out of the sky.

What.

It took a precious second, for my mind to process what had just happened. Jalley was just making circles in the air when a shadow suddenly descended. She was swatted down from the air, and then crashed to the ground without any of us being able to react. A cloud of dust obscured her form, and I thought she had died.

The worry was thankfully dispelled, when her voice resounded loud and true.

"[Lament of The Fallen Witch]!"

The world finally returned to motion, and we all reacted. I dashed towards where Jalley had crashed while taking a look at the monster that we faced. It was a pitch black spider with an oblong-shaped torso, and only two eyes, each positioned in the front and back of the body respectively. Its legs were long, and they ended in hook-like talons or pincers. The monster held onto the walls of tall buildings, but its grip was slipping. A force, a curse, was forcing it to fall.

[Hybrid - Level 100+]

I reached my patient, just as the sound of breaking concrete echoed throughout the area. I immediately threw my heal on Jalley, and she hopped right up to her feet. She was injured but not nearly as much as I expected. The witch wasted no time and flew back into the fray.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Turning my attention back to the monster, I noticed Arnold with his staff, repeatedly tapping the ground and sending vibrations through the earth. Stone cracked apart and formed a path, leading away from the streets, and towards the buildings on the side. The cracks continued to snake upwards, converging on the monster that we faced. The walls of the buildings failed, where our foe was hanging on. It tried to reassert itself, but a curse had invaded its system, and the subsequent attacks that followed offered the creature no quarter.

Hellish Fireballs lit the sky, and exploded against the mass of black. Flaze taunted our enemy, lasting only a few seconds at most, so she turned into a squire and let loose shockwaves tinged with the power of lightning. Jalley reached the monster just in time, and I saw her engage it in melee. She swiped one of its gigantic eyes with her broom of wire bristles, causing light cuts. One of the creature's limbs shifted in response, turning from rigid legs that held it up to a snaking tentacle that swatted the annoying fly away. Jalley took the hit, I saw her maneuver to prevent herself from being grabbed, but was injured all the same. She was sent hurtling through the air, and yet she smiled. Jalley grinned through the blood pouring out of her mouth and pointed at the offending limb. It warped and bled, as retaliation for its sins. Another curse.

The cracks in the earth and buildings multiplied. Arnold continued his dance of repeatedly hitting the ground beneath his feet with the bunt of his staff. Asphalt exploded, large pieces of wall continued to fall apart. The creature tried to run, but the suppression fire provided by me and Flaze took its toll, and Jalley more than distracted it, albeit the hits of the bristles of her broom left little more than small scratches.

"[Death by A Thousand Cuts]"

She cast her spell, and all the shallow and inconsequential scratches that she'd left suddenly turned into thousands of small and tiny cuts. Each still small and inconsequential by itself, but a whole torrent of pain as a collective. The monster balked for a second, we redoubled our efforts at bombarding it from afar, and Arnold cast even more earth magic by smashing the ground, causing the next wave of falling debris to veer towards our enemy.

The monster beyond all our levels faltered, it lost its grip on the tall monuments of stone and started falling. The beast still managed to react quickly, limbs shifting from hard and steady, to soft and flowing. It tried to grab hold of the walls again, and it would have succeeded too, but I saw all that coming and began running.

I jumped high. And then I jumped again, this time even higher.

Flaze then leapt of my back at the apex of my rise, her wooden sword sheathed in her new scabbard.

She pulled it out just as she reached our enemy's body, a weapon wreath in an edge of lightning. She stared at our enemy, and the abyss of a monster stared back. It should've blinked instead, for Flaze's sharp sword plunged into it in the next moment, an attack that was repeated by a clone that was just summoned. The accessories Orlean gave were lacking from the copy, but Flaze had somehow managed to retain the electric edge provided to her sword.

Both wooden weapons glowed within their prey, the shockwave released along with all the lightning gathered, and the monster's eyes exploded from the inside.

A loud shriek resounded, I knew not where exactly it came from, for the monster had no mouth. The incomprehensible spider began falling, too enraged and focused on Flaze. The creature used all its limbs to try and catch my friend, instead of maintaining its position in the air.

Flaze Clone began slashing, she attacked and flailed at the limbs until she was caught and ripped apart with a horrifying crunch of flesh and bone. The appendages continued to snake through the air right after, nearly reaching the original, but I managed to catch her just in time and we sped away.

I felt the rush of air behind me, when the monster was finally grounded. Jalley quickly descended upon it from above, I saw her wounds be mended by strands and bristles that came loose of her broom.

I swiftly turned around, to finish our quarry once and for all. Arnold was still attacking from afar, cracking apart the asphalt and summoning spikes from the abyss that forms.

I caught up to the creature once again, and Flaze immediately disembarked from my back. I left her to work on killing our enemy's other eye, meanwhile I jumped up to its large back and started running.

[Horsekick Gambit]!

Light and fire followed in my wake as I ran across the monster's long back. Tendrils of leg still chased me as I went, as did my allies suffer the same fate. The appendages were fast and flexible, I only managed to stay on the monster for a few seconds before I had to hop away. I did a double jump but was still caught in my ankles by one particular leg whose end had morphed into the shape of a hand.

[Curse of The Horse]!

I activated my curse, and the monster slowed down in its motions. Our new allies proved competent, and Jalley descended from above, while Arnold sent a spike of earth from below. I finished off the combo with a hellish fireball of my own, and the leg that held me had to let go under the strain of our assault.

I wasted no time in turning around for round 2, for we knew that the monster would be able to get up and regain its bearings should we ever let up. I looked for my friend, and found Flaze having trouble fending off the legs going after her. She only managed to barely evade, for she had finished blinding our foe.

Arnold provided his properly timed earthquakes and earth spikes as cover, so that I could retrieve Flaze from her position.

Another bombardment followed after, for we had to rest and lick our wounds. Jalley had to hover idly above, and I realized that I have not seen her use a single ranged attack, nor any obvious magic like fireballs or lightning strikes.

I couldn't help but ponder the build of our new acquaintances, so different from my assumptions. The witch was a fighter on the frontlines, meanwhile the muscular monk stayed in the backlines as support and auxiliary. Both were listed as hybrids, and I subconsciously made my judgements based on appearances. The boss that we faced now was also of the same case. The Hybrid label can be used to obfuscate one's build.

The battle reached a climax, a shift occurred in our dynamics. A screech of the monster halted us in our tracks, and we saw all its limbs suddenly detach from the burnt and bloodied torso. I questioned for a second if we had won, but that was quite obviously not the case. The severed legs began acting like snakes with differing heads; from claws and mandibles, to pincers and a drill. None of them had any eyes to actually see, nor any of the common facial features for that matter.

The main torso on the other hand began growing many layers of carapace. Another one of my fireballs clashed against it, but it dissipated harmlessly.

Already tired from the battle, I and my allies were forced the fight the limbs that remained behind. We tried to go after what was once the torso, but it had grown a cocoon of carapace that kept on adding to itself with every passing second. Fireballs of mine only managed to lightly char it, and all our other ranged options proved to be no better.

The limbs were less defended, but even when Flaze managed to cut off the 'head' of one, it still managed to keep on functioning. They slithered like snakes and attacked us relentlessly, able to even fly by crawling through the air.

"Retreat." I heard Flaze's voice say, as my mind was still alight, parsing through the possibilities and desperately trying to form a plan to win. I had forgotten the option even existed, I was almost offended by what my good friend suggested. But a second glance at the battlefield told me that such indeed was the best course of action. The boss would likely not remain an armored cocoon forever.

"I'm with her." Jalley said, before shouting towards her partner who was still content to attack from afar. "Arnold. Retreat!?"

"Yes! Retreat!"

And so the vote was unanimous. I was yet unable to duplicate Orlean's feat even with a team of competent fighters.

Next time. Next time for certain.