Whenever Eversharp clashed with Chase's sword, sparks burst into the air. I tried to keep track of Chase the rest of the time as he ran around me like a hornet.

More than before, I had to use BD as my second set of eyes. Though she kept her wings close to her body, she would use her tail to block attacks I wasn't prepared for.

I had to keep moving. I wouldn't outrun Chase, but staying in one place would make it easier for him to burn away my tough flesh. I noticed that, regardless of how fast Chase was, it didn't translate to his reaction speed. I thought back to when I awakened and caught one of Chase's friends despite them going faster than I could see with my eyes. In other words, Chase struggled with moving targets as much as anyone else who was slower than him.

There was another reason I kept moving. Chase dragged his sword into the ground, creating balls of melted rock and dirt he would throw at me. When he thought he had me trapped, he would stab the ground, creating eruptions of hot liquid that would go in a line toward my direction.

This earth manipulation is like the ghoul we dealt with in the Amazon.

Chase had once again grown stronger, but how did he manage this upgrade? He must have gone through another round of the Silver Challenger Project procedure. Was this something Chase wanted, or was it forced upon him?

Perhaps it didn't matter either way. Chase would use every ounce of his new power to defeat me, even if it destroyed him.

Even still, it wasn't enough. Despite being able to hit me, between my fast healing and BD at my side, Chase was on the back foot. I could see the frustration on his face. His inability to beat me was starting to weigh on him again, even after getting stronger.

Then, I saw a spark of inspiration light up his eyes, and he moved away from me. Chase then transferred all of his heat into the sword, causing it to light up brighter than before. Once the sword glowed as bright as finance, he plunged it into the ground, creating eruptions that encircled Chase.

As Chase was kneeling, something was forming in front of him. From the earth lept a jaguar made of molten rock. Its spots were polished obsidian that reflected the forest fire's light. Its claws and teeth were also made of pointed obsidian. Its roar stopped the eruptions from going off, and Chase stood up, smirking triumphantly.

I had seen the ghoul do something like this before summoning golem-like creatures to fight at her behest. While Chase's creation wasn't as big or numerous as the ghoul's, it would have been hands down more deadly if it had managed to come in contact with me.

Something else stood out to me about the creation as it made its attacks. Unlike the golems, the jaguar's eyes had a glint of life. It noted what I would do next rather than mindlessly overwhelming me with force.

As the jaguar and Chase rushed at me and BD, I summoned my spectral golden claws to keep the jaguar at bay. Since the creature was made of lava, I figured cutting it at close range would splash it on me. When the spectral claws sunk into the jaguar, my suspicions were correct as the hot liquid was sprayed on the already dying grass.

Chase took the other side of me, but BD's tail blocked his attacks. Then, she jumped off my shoulder to focus all her efforts on Chase. The dragon forced him to retreat by breathing fire in his direction and pursued him when he got too far.

The jaguar fought like a slime. It avoided my attacks by contorting its body around slashes and spectral-clawed projectiles. When it got close, it tried to sink its sharp, black glass teeth into me. The initial impact didn't even scratch my skin, but the real damage came when it started to drool lava on my legs. With a yell, I cut off the jaguar's head with Eversharp, but the head reattached itself after releasing its jaw from my leg.

When the jaguar bit me, I had fully transformed into my werewolf form. The added fur prevented the lava from reaching my skin, and the increased muscle size empowered my attacks.

Not that it would do much good against this thing.

Using the combined knowledge of BD and my instinctual knowledge, slimes acted the same way as elementals regarding having an artificial soul and that destroying their physical form doesn't kill them. The negatives of destroying either outside of a shadow realm had less severe consequences since there is less magic to consume for energy to grow individually. A slim will struggle to unite if possible, allowing anyone around to burn or properly destroy individual pieces. If not, the remaining pieces would take years to reach a threatening size, assuming they don't get eaten.

If the jaguar was similar to a slime, then all I had to do was cut it up until its pieces were scattered across the battlefield, but something else was off. When something with an artificial soul is first conjured, it has no consciousness and is closer to a robot. This could only be possible if the jaguar was a summoned beast that could only be manifested by spell casters. Chase might have grown in strength, but there was no way he could have learned magic.

Suddenly, my ears perked at the sound of sirens in the distance. Even in heated combat, I could tell they were the sounds of fire trucks barreling down the streets. I wanted to escape before they arrived, but Chase didn't give me an opening. Even if I could slip through Chase, he would catch up quickly.

We continued to fight until Chase could hear the sirens. Blue lights flashed in our eyes as two red trucks pulled up in front of us. The firefighters jumped out of their trucks.

One of them screamed over the sirens, instructing Chase and me to escape the fire. I didn't know how to respond. As the other firefighters quickly unloaded equipment to put out the fire, the one talking to us continued to convince us to move out of the way.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Chase's muscles flex, and I turned to him just in time to see the bloodlust in his eyes. The madman was about to attack the firefighters.

I couldn't react fast enough to stop Chase from taking off, and in a blink, I heard the breath leave the firefighter's lungs. I was brought back to the day Chase did the same thing to me. I had forgotten the apathy on his face as he and his friends looked down on my bleeding body.

My breath was hot as golden claws shot towards Chase. He turned the motionless body towards the attack in response, but I was prepared for such an attempt. At the last minute, I switched the trajectory of the claws to go around and behind Chase so they could come back to stab him. Chase released the firefighter just as the claws were about to graze him. The claws sunk into the ground while Chase made his way towards me.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I pulled myself towards the claws and brandished Eversharp with an arcane glow. I intended to cut Chase as I passed him, but he slid under the slash while using his sword to burn my leg. I landed in front of the first fire truck, and I could smell burned clothes and flesh. The firefighter was run through with Chase's claws, so he could not have survived.

"What's your problem, Chase?" I screamed over the sirens. Why do you always involve others in your conflicts?"

"That's what the strong do," Chase replied. "They will always crush the weak or command them. Besides, I already have to fight you. I don't need the yapping of a human who can't comprehend what's happening."

"Do you not understand the weight of this? If your father finds out--"

"Don't speak about my family!" Chase's eye glowed orange momentarily, and one of his irises changed from a circle to a rectangle and back to normal. "Once I kill you, there will be no one who can challenge me, no one who can hurt the people I care about. I am a monster and will do whatever it takes to not live in fear."

BD grew to be as big as the fire trucks, to the shock of the other firefighters. Oddly, a part of me understood what Chase was going through. I was confident the world had crushed him in a way that mocked him for weakness. He was given a chance to have unmatched power, and he took it and disregarded the consequences. He may have been allowed to go down a better road later.

That wasn't what happened, and I couldn't let him go any further. I had to put him down now.

With the power of Eversharp, I sent forth a horizontal slash large enough to give Chase a hard time to run around it. BD followed with a fire breath, leaving Chase with one option to run to.

I met Chase with a clash of our swords. The jaguar attacked BD, so I used my spectral claws to help BD while simultaneously fending off Chase.

The firefighters got over their shock and grabbed axes and water hoses. One truck sprayed water on the jaguar while the other focused on the forest fire. Four firefighters came running, axes raised, attempting to beat down Chase.

Chase avoided their attacks, but the firefighters, now knowing partially what they were dealing with, stood back to back to cover each other's blind spot.

With the firefighter's help, dealing with Chase's speed wasn't an issue. As our swords clashed at a rhythmic pace, I smiled again as I gained the upper hand. When Chase burned my arms, I cut his leg. When he tried to cut me across the chest, I parried and succeeded in doing the same.

Once Chase slowed to an average speed, I kicked him in the chest. He rolled on the ground until his back was inches from the extinguished forest fire. The jaguar ran to Chase's side with its body more solid than liquid. It was followed by BD, who perched on my shoulder. I dismissed my spectacle claws, and my eyes went from silver to blue.

Though standing tall, I was just as out of breath as Chase, who was struggling to get up.

Chase laughed. "You bet me again. Why do you always win in the end?"

"I don't always win against you," I replied.

"But you never back down. You keep fighting until you are the last to prove you don't accept defeat. You always come back stronger."

"Because I wanted to be left alone. If I had just remained defeated, you would have continued to use me like a servant."

"But it wasn't just yourself you were fighting for," Chase paused, his eyes drifting to the sky. "At some point, I envied your resilience in standing against insurmountable odds. I wanted that strength—that and more. And yet, I don't think I ever grew to fear you like Shadow Fang did."

"Have I not given you a reason to be?"

"...I think you have, but it motivated me to become stronger. It cost me greatly."

"Those were your choices."

"Yeah, and it allowed me to fight you at your best. I'm glad…"

Chase lowered his head, leaving his neck bare. Without hesitation, I raised my sword and took aim despite the cries to be stopped by the firefighters.

Then, Chase was gone. I found myself with Eversharp stuck blade first in the ground.

"What happened?" I asked BD.

We were both confused as it felt like we had dozed off and missed a few minutes. At the same time, my hand felt numb, and there was evidence that I tried to attack something, and Eversharp was knocked out of my hand. The firefighters were dazed and were starting to reorient themselves.

"Perhaps we should get out of here before we ponder," the dragon suggested. She was just as desperate for answers as I was, but it was better to get out of the way of the firefighters lest they ask too many questions.

BD carried me as she flew from the scene and looked back at the firefighter, who was still lying on the ground. Chase would pay for what he did today, yet I couldn't help but wonder what drove him to do what he did. We were different, but his pain and desire for more power were familiar. For a moment, I wondered if I could have been a monster like Chase.

-------------------

Talib-Ki looked down at his mask, which was now split in two. Silver could still move when the wizard tried to put his mind on pause so he could grab the leatherback and run. Silver should have been frozen like everyone affected, including the dragon, but the Iron Wolf pushed through and used his sword to cut the metal mask on Talib-Ki's face.

Chase had little choice but to run with the masked man. Although he had never seen the person, Chase would have been a fool to waste time by asking questions. However, now that they were in town and had time to take a break, it was a good time for questions.

"Who--" Chase began, only for him to start to cough violently. The taste of copper was at the back of his throat, and the hand he used to cover his mouth was sprayed with blood. Black dots danced in his vision, and he would have collapsed to the ground if it hadn't been for the jaguar fighting by his side.

The jaguar was surprisingly soft and warm, and although it didn't breathe or have a heartbeat, Chase could tell she was just as alive as he was. As he steadied himself, Chase realized he didn't know where the jaguar came from or how he knew it was a she. Summoning the jaguar was so natural, and yet there was no way that this was also the result of the Silver Challenger Project experiment. Did it have something to do with the ghoul's heart? Possibly, although that wasn't a satisfying answer. The ghoul's ability to create constructs out of bone and earth did not give life to the creations, even if you could consider the jaguar alive.

Chase's thoughts were interrupted by the man who saved him. To Chase's shock, he found himself looking at an elf. Although the elf's ears were expertly hidden behind his well-kept hair, and his face looked no different from a human's, his eyes were pale and reflected the world like a mirror. Some believed an elf's eyes were symbols of their limitless capacity to draw in magic.

"Hemoptysis," the elf began. "You haven't allowed your body to fully adapt to your new powers. I am Talib-Ki."

"What?" Chase asked. He wasn't sure why the elf went from spouting medical facts to introducing himself. Chase shook his head and proceeded to his next question. "Were you working with Shadow Fang?"

"Shadow Fang is dead, and the Red Dragon needs a new spokesperson."

Chase wasn't sure if this was how elves usually spoke, but he decided to match Talib-Ki so that the conversation didn't drag. He didn't think he could stay conscious for long.

"Why can't you be the spokesperson?"

"The Red Dragon has chosen another, and I need to keep you alive. Shadow Fang invested too many resources into you, but he was a gambling expert. But even experts must pay a price." Chase wanted to ask more about Talib-Ki, but his eyelids were growing heavy, and his grip on the jaguar was weak. "We must find the scroll I gave Shadow Fang. From there--"