“That stupid man.” Mel’s voice cut through the encampment as she stomped out of the apartment building. “I know that he’s strong, but you literally carried him back the last time that he fought that thing!” She threw her hand’s up in frustration as she shouted at Craig.
“I understand your worry, but at least know that he has grown quite significantly in the past days.” Craig did his best to soothe the woman, who had been somewhat volatile since Domison’s departure.
“He’s right Mel,” Mike stepped out of the butcher shop, bag of rinds in one hand and a nano-infused energy drink in the other, and came to Craig’s aid, “I’m not sure what that man did before this, but Craig has grown up with this system, has been trained for system-enhanced combat for decades and Domison has even been able to teach him a thing or two. If he says that he can kill it, I believe him.”
The warehouse walls shook violently as Pabu’s large form crashed into its facade, his snarling only halting from when he hit the wall, to the moment his paws hit the ground. A full-throated growl tore through the air as he lunged, not towards the bear, but into the shadow at his feet. The same moment that his dog was slipping through the darkness, Domison stepped up to the Demon Bear’s side. The monster had to toss its head quite violently to remove Pabu, who had latched his jaws with such bone-shattering force that when the area boss shook him free a large chunk of flesh came with. The flailing of its head allowed Domison to step in close and the open wound was where he aimed his left, taloned, hand.
Though the form around his fingers was still wispy, the claws penetrated flesh either way and the man’s hand plunged into the wound like a blade. He shoved it as deeply as he could before curling his fingers and tearing his arm free. The massive beast trembled in pain as he removed his hand and attempted to shift its head and snatch the man up in its yawning maw. As it moved, however, the shadows beneath its feet rippled, and a glistening set of teeth clamped around its neck again, wrenching its head toward the ground.
As soon as its head crashed against the ground, Domison’s sword struck the top of its neck, right at the base of the skull. Unfortunately, his blade bounced away, but a small wave of power still entered him and he felt his energy beat up against a smooth barrier, like when he had been fighting Myacept’s high-level lackey during the first days of the tutorial. The barrier keeping his energy from reaching havoc within the beast's body was much thicker than the deer-like monster’s though, and he knew instinctively that it would most likely not be the deciding factor.
The Area Boss roared in pain and frustration, lashing out with its foreleg at Domison. The man was barely able to pull his left arm up in time, blocking the blow partially before it crashed through his defense and sent him tumbling through the air. He righted himself as he soared over the ground and he could see the Demon Bear had managed to pull Pabu up through the shadow beneath its feet. He had to get back into the fight, but he was still off the ground with no shadows to use his shadow step.
He swore under his breath as his arms flailed, knowing every second was crucial in this fight. He was still twenty feet in the air and after crashing through the trees, he would be several dozen yards away from the fight. Though he had no luck thus far with conscious shadow manipulation, besides what seemed to naturally occur during his meditation and volatile mood shifts, he instinctively reached out towards the shadows on the ground, willing them to heed his commands. At first, he thought nothing was going to happen, but after the longest second of the man’s life, the shadows within the canopy directly below him began to tremble… After a heartbeat of only shifting darkness, a tentacle of shadow shot up from the ground and wrapped around the man’s waist. As soon as the shadow tendril made contact, his eyes locked on a point of shadow near the fight and he flickered from existence.
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Pabu skittered along cracked concrete and over vines as he scrambled to regain his paws. The Demon Bear was bleeding heavily from the two wounds on its neck, but it loomed above the dog with fury in its eyes. A massive foreleg rose to strike a devastating blow, but the moment it started to descend, a dozen black tendrils rose from the ground and wrapped up its arm. A second later the thin form of a man rose from the shadows next to the Area Boss, his sword ready. Black energy was wrapped around his blade and the shadows around him were undulating unnaturally as he thrust his blade forward.
As the sword’s tip pierced through the air, darkness seemed to permeate the air, and a whirl of black energy followed the sword. When the black blade met flesh, it parted easily and he was able to sink his weapon up to the hilt in the beast’s neck. Instead of wasting any time to tear it free, he pivoted and ducked below the gleaming claws that struck out at him in retaliation. As the Area Boss’s forepaw was ripping above the man’s head, he brought his left hand up and gripped the exposed tip of the blade from the left side of the creature's neck, and grabbed the handle again with his right.
Across his connection with Pabu, he could sense his companion regaining his feet and sent a mental shout for help. All he needed was another few seconds of distraction. Pabu did not waste any time at all and as Domison raised his legs up to press his feet against the base of the Demon Bear’s neck, he attacked. The Demon Bear was thrown off balance between the paw trapped in shadows and its haphazard swipe at Domison, so it was taken supremely off guard by the black streak that slammed into the top of its back. Pabu had leaped on top of the beast and secured himself by clamping his jaws around the back of the massive, bear-like monster's neck.
The monster completely forgot about the small man hanging from its throat and began a gurgling roar, furiously bucking its body in a vain attempt to dislodge the canine. Unfortunately, it did not get the chance to continue this struggle. As soon as the Demon Bear reared up in preparation for one more rigorous attempt at freedom, Domison found his footing and simultaneously pushed with his feet, while yanking on the blade with all his might. The area boss’s flesh held for only a split second, before a wet tearing noise cut off the furious roaring and a waterfall of blood followed Domison in his tumble toward the ground.
Not two seconds after Domison hit the ground in a huff, the massive body of the creature followed, nearly pinning the man beneath its weight. If he hadn’t quickly rolled out of the way, it would have. For a full minute, Domison only lay on the ground, panting in deep breaths of air. He was bruised and battered, but fully intact. Pushing himself to a sitting position, he threw his hands in the air and shouted in joy. Pabu padded over to the man before sitting regally next to him and letting out a long howl, joining the man in his jubilation.
After getting out all of the battle frenzy, and shaking the trembling of adrenaline from his hands, the man laced his fingers through his canine companion’s fur and pulled himself to his feet. He stood unsteadily before wrapping his arms around his dog and burying his head into wispy black fur, “Well done Pabu.” Domison lifted onto his tip-toes to scritch at the spot right behind his dog’s ear, his favorite spot, before continuing, “That was a lot easier than I thought. I know that we have both gotten quite a bit more adept with our abilities, but I assumed I would be limping out of here at the end of it.” The man shrugged noncommittally, “Meh, well I guess I won’t rebuke an easier-than-expected fight.”
It was at that moment, the Demon Bear stirred. A glowing red light began to grow in its one remaining eye and steam began to rise along the monster's body. Domison could feel the energy start to swirl around him, and it felt like mana had completely saturated the air around him, pressing against him like heavy humidity. Upon seeing Pabu’s golden eyes glow brighter, Domison followed his instincts and cycled mana to his eyes. Pabu whimpered slightly and Domison immediately knew why. Cycling mana to his eyes seemed to allow him to visualize natural mana, and what he was seeing was horrifying. A rainbow of different colors was rushing around the dying Boss monster in a whirlpool, seeming to infuse the creature with an obscene amount of energy. The Demon Bear’s body started to shudder and stir as more and more mana flooded into the creature. The steam rising from its skin gave way to a small flicker of ghostly flames and the monster began to rise.
“I just had to open my mouth didn’t I?”