Almost copying a bullet, Robert’s body had shot from his spot with lightning speed. The mad grin was plastered on his face, while he was conjuring multiple sharp blades all over himself. Before the giant managed to react, Rob had dived into his enormous eye after a powerful leap. Cutting through the flesh as if it were tofu, he went deep enough before the first wave of pain had reached the creature. The screams and hiss were so loud that they could be easily used as a weapon. The tremble was so strong that Robert was almost thrown out.
However, by this point, he had turned himself into an improvised hedgehog with tens of thin quills. The ends of each of them had a small hook, effectively keeping him in the same place. That didn’t stop him as Rob was continuing his way inside. The closed eye left him in the darkness, while all surroundings were constantly in motion. Rob soon found himself almost upside down. An attempt to reposition only made it worse, as it brought a more torturous feeling to the beast, which set him on another crazy roller coaster.
Calm down and go outside!
Of course, all Robert’s curses and wishes were futile. Not only he didn’t have an opportunity to check where the lizard was, but also it started to do the most obvious thing that any creature would do in such a case – to rub its eye. The simple pressure from the giant monster’s action had almost crushed him. Changing the quills to a sphere, Rob barely resisted the applied force. The lizard had completely disregarded the possibility of wounding itself even further on the solo goal of getting rid of an intruder. Luckily, it was hard to overcome a natural instinct to close an eye in such circumstances.
Let’s proceed with the plan because this time I don’t have another way out in the form of the hole from the opposite side.
The conjured pike had pierced the flesh just a moment after creation when the lizard repeated its rubbing motion. That led to even more irritated hiss. The sound of a thunderstorm in the background raised Robert’s optimism, making him double his efforts. Slowly redirecting all his available energy from a self-made defense construct to the pike, he pushed it further and further, increasing the length of the future lighting rod in the process. On the other hand, the raging lizard wasn't calming down at all. On the contrary, the trembles from the wall hits were quickly growing their frequency.
It isn’t working… Fuck!
The realization of the problem became even bigger when the beast started to tear its flesh apart, completely going mad after multiple failed attempts to get rid of an annoying bug that somehow managed to hurt it. Catching the thin pike, that was still protruding from its eye socket, the lizard tried to pull it. The thinness of it together with its huge and clawed paws was too big an obstacle for the monster. Still, the force behind such attempts managed to cause enough trouble for Robert.
His connection to the steel wasn’t subtle in the slightest, otherwise, he wouldn’t have managed to conjure his sandals, shields, or any other stuff that always felt glued to his skin. That was exactly the problem when another push on the other side of the pike threw him upwards. The closed eye protected him from dropping out but nothing more. Before Rob managed to do anything, he was once again pushed to the back of the eye socket. Each such movement only widened the wound inside the eye, hurting the lizard even more, which led in turn to more attempts to take him out.
The tenth hit to a meat wall had put an end to his struggles, as Robert just dispersed the pike, completely abandoning his plan. There were no new ideas in his literally shaken head as the situation had turned 180 degrees. The whole initiative went to the huge lizard, turning Rob into a passive side with a single option to react in time. The goal to kill the beast dropped down on his priority list, being pushed by a simple wish to live. Maybe that did save him as acting by instinct, Robert conjured a sphere around himself. The steel covered his body right before the moment when the giant had lost in temper completely.
Half-roaring, half-hissing, it simply tore the part of its own flesh, throwing it to the side. The short fly ended in the nearest wall of the volcano, almost cracking the thin steel. Just a dent from the impact punched Robert’s face, breaking his nose in the process. However, the amount of adrenaline in his body was on such an insane level that he didn’t even blink. His body was already a huge mess – covered with his and the lizard’s blood, partly cut or eaten, so nothing new. Dispersing the sphere, he started his fall. Luckily, the nearest tunnel was mere meters away from him.
The attempt to jump inside almost ended badly as his current state couldn’t produce enough strength. Missing the main hole, he had hit the edge with his bare chest. The heavy body immediately started to pull him down, but instinctively conjured hooks to stop him right before the fall. Feeling the breath of the enormous predator, Robert pushed his body up, barely avoiding the swing. Crushing the stone somewhere beside him, the clawed paw sent debris everywhere. Quite a few had hit his own back. Despite that, and knowing that it was a dumb idea, Rob still couldn’t resist not shooting a quick glance back at the lizard.
The image of a wide-open maw that was rushing to him at an insane speed accelerated his own movements to a supernatural degree. However, such panic didn’t add any agility at all, making him stumble on the third step. The awkward fall turned into a roll, which was pushed even further when the huge was closed in a few centimeters (inches) behind his back. Moving by inertia, it still pushed Rob forward, throwing him out of balance. Hitting the wall with his forehead, Robert was stunned for a few seconds. It wasn’t long, but the creature continued its effort to devour him.
Not seeing anything, it stubbornly pushed its maw further and further through the narrow entrance. Fueling by a rage, it used so much force that even the stone crumbled under its body, slowly giving up. Rob managed to recover just when the teeth of the lizard were already touching his skin. Dropping to the side, he once again had missed the fate of being bitten by the length of a stretched finger.
Fucking fuck!
Inwardly shouting the same word again and again, Robert’s stressed mind struggled to produce any variety of filthy curses as he was too occupied with his own survival. The absence of his Hive-Mind ability had limited this aspect to the bare minimum, almost crippling him in verbal altercations. Not that he had any opponents here. Still, Rob managed to notice how inaccurate the swings of the lizard had become after blinding in one eye. Another thought was about the tunnels.
They had to be the paths for lava. Do I need to go downside? It can save me right now, but I am sure there is no other way to the surface. The single one is the volcano itself. Or itself if I am correct because that is how I remember their structure. However, maybe I can squeeze through the gap into another one… Let’s do this.
This inner dialogue took a mere second, while he was observing the darkness before him. The raging monster had almost blocked any sunlight with its own body, leaving Robert no options to observe his surroundings. The possibility of wandering there without any light wasn’t attractive at all. Therefore, directing his attention to a small crack in stone that led to a fissure, Rob strengthened his resolve before pushing himself through.
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The feeling of being pressed from all sides, a limited space, an inability to move anywhere except forward, the trembling surroundings from the hits of the giant – everything had pulled claustrophobia on top, almost clouding his mind just after a mere minute. Robert never thought he had a problem with such fear, but it appeared he just never experienced it personally. The thoughts of being stuck started to attack his mind, while he continued his way, using only his touch. There was no light and only the remnants of lizard’s crap near the entrance gave him hope that there was an exit.
Rob, focus on movement and breath!
Squeezing himself through a narrow passage, he was leaving a bloody mark. His bare body constantly was cut by a stone, when he pushed himself by another meter. Blinding searching for an empty space, Rob was also fighting with growing panic. Another tremble after the hit appeared to be so strong that the rock had moved. It was not more than a centimeter, but the feeling of such movement that suddenly made the touch to his elbow was shocking. He barely managed to hold his scream only to lose his composure when all his attempts to find a further way had failed.
His shaking hand was touching the surface of the rock, wherever it moved. He tried again and again, but there was no empty gap. The solid rock didn’t even react on a few hits out of despair. It took some time for Rob to accept that the path was blocked. Maybe there was no path in the first place. All his struggles were futile as he had to return. However, the push backward was met with another problem. Robert just couldn’t fit there. His body was too big. And while his Agility stat had overgrown the average human’s peak, he knew it was related to the muscle-control part, while his flexibility was on par with a brick. Therefore, the moment he realized his worst nightmare of being struck came to life, Rob’s emotions almost exploded.
Calm, fucking down, dumbass! It will not help!
Repeating it a few times, Robert managed to keep his cool. The trembles of the surroundings were the only sign that he wasn’t alone in this place, covered in darkness and silence. Breathing in only too slowly exhale the air after a short pause, Rob started to check his surroundings once again. His stretched arm was methodically touching everything in front of him. Unfortunately, the result stayed the same.
I am not giving up!
The search continued, redirecting to the sides. Nothing. Or, precisely speaking, there was everything, except so desired nothingness.
I will not die here!
Again and again, Rob tried to find an empty spot. That soon turned into an attempt to crawl backward, but he just couldn’t push himself through the narrow spot that angled far too much. He couldn’t bend his knees in such a way. His always skinny ass also appeared to be too big this time. Robert how he even made it here, while not being able to repeat the same process in the opposite direction.
As time went on, the trembles started to fade together with optimism. Only his regeneration kept his body from being stiff after a long stay in a weird position. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep his cool in such circumstances. There would be no help in this world. Robert couldn’t just wait for it. He could only rely on himself. But if he had no options left, what did he have to do in such a case? The only thought of suicide made all his entity resist it as a sign of weakness. With his improved body and external energy source, he might live for months with ease, turning this time in darkness into a sadistic torture.
I better die from hunger but not lose even a single chance to survive!
The feeling of resolution made him nod with full motion, almost hitting the rock with his back head. Almost - because surprisingly it didn’t feel anything. The nascent hope appeared in his mind as Robert attempted to turn around and check it.
Fuck, yeah!
By the moment Robert squeezed himself into the wide tunnel, he breathed harshly as few points were so narrow that he had to exhale everything from his lungs just to make it through. Still, the grin on his face was clear as he was so happy to get out from the personal hell of each claustrophobic person that he forgot about the main threat. However, the loud hiss after the thunderstrike quickly reminded him where he was. The short inspection showed Robert in his own awful state, decisively shoving away any idea to kill the beast right now and postponing it to an unspecific future.
Therefore, Rob carefully looked out from the entrance of the tunnel, before starting climbing up, this time carefully planning his ascend beforehand. His state wasn’t helpful, especially the damage on the hand that only started to heal. The giant lizard was right on the bottom of the volcano, curled in the ball, and looked like crying from pain. Not knowing its size and aggressiveness, some dumb activist from an animal protection organization might even take pity on the beast, but not Robert. He personally knew how scary this monster was.
At least such a wound will not heal, giving me more chances next time. Because there will be a next time. I will definitely…
The horrible sound that was a mixture of angry roar, full of hatred hiss and gnashing of teeth interrupted his thought, making Rob look down only to see his own reflection in the huge eye of the enormous lizard. The latter was hastily raising up, shortening the distance between them in mere moments. Where the smaller predators had to climb, this giant could just stand on the back paws and lean onto the inner wall of the volcano. And that was what it was doing currently.
Looking around, Robert could only curse his unstable luck. He had nowhere to hide, while this beast didn’t even need to climb to get him. Rob already saw a death sentence in a single eye. Raising his head up, his eyes captured the cloudy sky that started the process of calming down, exhausting most of its strength by this point. The sun was already there, unmoving and cold, despite its radiating heat. Robert just sighed, before dropping down.
Turning right in mid-air, he conjured a huge spear. The instantaneous appearance of the steel, aimed directly into the eye of the lizard wasn’t noticed by its owner. The predator, fully absorbed in the image of its offender, failed to see the thin pike, which was turned to it with its sharp end. Moreover, while trying to catch the annoying elusive bug, the lizard was eyeing it not to miss it. Thus, it only made it worse for it.
Robert, on the other hand, wanted to shout “Take that!”, but the speed of the fall together with the beast’s movement towards him didn’t grant him such an opportunity – so fast everything was. The outer observer could easily add – lighting fast – as it what exactly happened. When the spear’s point just connected with the eye, the thunderstorm made its move. The line of white energy pierced through the air, entered the steel rod, and went through only to outburst with all its energy directly into the brain of the enormous creature.
The eye evaporated momentarily, leaving a burn mark in the socket. However, the biggest part of the strike penetrated the flesh, destroying the nervous system in the process and finally getting to its brain. The smell of grilled meat had spread around the surroundings, when the corpse of the lizard started to full, taking the frozen figure of Robert. The latter completely had missed everything as when the spear only touched the surface of the eye, the overwhelming shocking strike had sent him into the darkness. The contracted muscles stopped him from falling, turning him into a statue. The struck spear only added stability to him, when both opponents crushed on the bottom of the volcano, continuing to stay motionless.
The thunderstorm made a few more strikes near them warning everyone and everything who was the most powerful here, before finally disappearing until next time. The silence fully embraced the extinct volcano. Most of the small lizards, who managed to survive the attacks from amphibians and Robert, were too scared to show up after intensive battle with their alfa. Thus, the scenery appeared to be frozen, unmoving, and unchanging. If it was a random magic world, it might be turned into a natural monument of epic battle between the evil dragon and its slayer. The sign of glory and simultaneously the tomb for both. However, only the sun witnessed the fight, but, as always, it didn’t care about anything below itself.