-Mike-
Mike and the hoar serpent locked ravenous gazes as the horned human damned to hell hauled ass toward the enormous beast, his lengthy sword extended perpendicular to his body. Mike hadn't noticed it then, but Blessing from Petra had already activated, giving him a slight boost in stats due to his building anger. However, his anger toward the men who'd trapped him wasn't enough to bring any meaningful change, as each of his stats was only increased by a small margin.
Stats Mike Vitality 10 (12) Intellect 10 (12) Agility 13 (15) Luck 10 (12) Strength 13 (15)
The moment Mike began to step forward with lethal intent, the viper slithered toward him at a remarkable speed, far beyond any snake he'd come across in the real world. This massive serpent of ice, one whose size exceeded a football field if it were to unravel its body, bared its teeth at Mike, pointing them directly at the horned man as if they were bladed weapons of their own.
With a mighty swing, Mike made contact with the beast. The sound of steel meeting ice resounded and reverberated off the walls of the stadium-sized dungeon as Mike's weapon clashed with the serpent's fangs. Mike winced, positioning both hands on the handle of his blade as he tried to match the creature's power. Though he presented every last droplet of his resilience, those upgrades to his Strength stat, along with Petra's Blessing, weren’t enough to stop this serpent from beginning to overpower him.
Before Mike could lose his footing, a tremendous ray of magical blue and white energy was discharged onto the snake’s face, knocking it off balance and compelling it to release a hideous howl as its body wriggled in anguish on the dungeon's floor. Mike's eyes snapped to his left, finding Charlie blasting the monster with their incredible magic beam from across the dungeon, pinning the monster's face against the wall. This attack had a lengthy startup, was tricky to land, and completely drained Charlie of their Mana; however, the damage being dealt outweighed the shortcomings.
Seeing that the beast was pinned and off balance, Mike dashed toward it, putting that upgraded Agility stat to good use as Charlie's magical ray ceased. Mike then released an earsplitting roar as he extended his greatsword beyond his head, striking the serpent in the stomach with everything he had! Upon making contact with the monster’s frozen skin, Mike’s weapon was deflected backward, bouncing off of the serpent after only leaving a small chink in its icy armor. Mike’s eyes broadened as he found himself off balance, giving the snake ample time to slither into a more ready stance before lunging itself toward Mike, opening its mouth wide enough to swallow Mike whole! ‘Damn it! This fucker is gonna-’ All Mike could do was watch as the serpent came closer. The world around him was moving in slow motion as he strained, placing his sword in front of him in one last attempt to block the oncoming bite. However, it was of no use, the serpent's speed was far greater than he could react.
Just then, a blinding light appeared once more, striking the snake and sending it barrelling into the dungeon's border. Again, Mike’s eyes found Charlie's, watching them straining to keep their scepter straight as the unstable beam fought back against its caster. 'Kid's a good shot. I wish I had them on the platoon as one of my DMs back in Afghanistan.'
Mike directed his attention back to the monster and took this opportunity to batter the snake, summoning his trusty war hammer rather than the greatsword. ‘When I fought those skeletons, blunt weapons proved more useful! If that’s the case, then maybe a blunt weapon can shatter this snake’s skin!’
Mike extended his arms outward and spun his body like a shotput thrower, building momentum before cracking the snake in the face, sending its head into the wall upon impact, chipping some of its skin away.
Good hit! Michael cheered from inside their collective consciousness, glad that Mike was the one who had to deal with this horrifying monstrosity.
‘I was right!’ Mike said internally as the snake lifted its head and locked its rage-filled eyes onto the hammer-wielding human. “Come at me you big piece of shit!” Mike exclaimed just before the serpent threw itself at him. Mike grinned. “Looks like all those years of baseball are gonna finally come to good use!” Mike swung his hammer like a bat the moment before the snake made contact with him, sending its head reeling in the opposite direction, barely chipping off a minuscule piece of its skin.
Meanwhile, Charlie fired yet another blinding beam of magical energy, hitting the snake’s body and tacking it against the wall. Mike ran forward, similarly using this free opportunity to attack the monster. Using his upgraded Agility, Mike lept onto the snake's body, using it as a springboard to launch himself toward the beast. After spinning twice to build momentum, Mike slammed his hammer onto the diamond-shaped pattern on the snake's head, lodging it into the beast's skin.
Nice!
The creature unleashed a frenzied wail as it began sporadically moving its head in an attempt to rid itself of Mike, but planted his feet as best he could on its icy exterior, slipping while holding onto his hammer that he'd stuck inside the snake's cranium.
Meanwhile, Charlie was seen taking one last sip from their Mana flask before charging that same spell that knocked the beast down three times. After this, they would have no mana left and would have to fight using other means, but that was the last thing on Charlie's poised mind; all that mattered was landing this final hit! “Don’t miss kid!” Mike yelled out as the snake continued attempting to fling Mike away sporadically.
Charlie won't miss. Michael said from inside the body, putting every last ounce of his faith into their mage companion.
“I wont.” Charlie whispered aiming their wand at the wriggling beast. It was going to be a tough shot, as were the last three, yet they were still confident this spell would land. Charlie took a deep breath as the tip of their staff shone brightly, preceding the incredible, blinding ray of light discharged across the dungeon. The spell connected with the serpent's jaw, breaking a huge fragment which then shattered into pieces upon hitting the ground. However, as evident by the monster's writhing and bellowing, it wasn’t enough to kill.
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Enraged, the snake forgot all about the man who'd lodged himself onto its skull and locked gazes with Charlie, slithering toward them with the intent to kill. “Shit! Kid!” Mike called out, trying to remove his hammer which wouldn't budge from the snake's frozen head.
Give me control!
“No offense but I don’t think you’re gonna be much help here kid!” Mike mumbled as he still pulled, slipping on the icy exterior of the snake yet remaining upright.
Give me control! We have to save Charlie! They’re going to die!
“Yeah, especially if you try to take control!” Mike said as his greatsword materialized in his right hand his left hand held onto his hammer. He began chipping away at the snake head, swinging it with one arm as the other held onto his hammer for dear life. He was barely even scratching its skin, but the serpent took notice and for a moment, ignored Charlie and redirected its attention toward Mike. Rather than trying to shake him off, the snake raised itself into the air and slammed its own head onto the ground, bashing Mike's body into the dungeon's foundation, and drawing blood.
-Michael-
Michael found himself in control of the body, subconsciously summoning his white scepter in his right hand as his mage's cloak materialized over his body. There was a second or two of dizziness; through his blurred vision and the blood dripping down his face, Michael could make out the shape of the snake bolting toward Charlie, who was equipped with a bow, firing arrows sporadically in a senseless endeavor to slow down the beast, dodging its attacks with their nimble agility. Seeing this, Michael slowly rose to his feet. He hadn't noticed it, but his watch was chiming, informing him that his Health Points were critical; however, Michael didn't give a damn. “I won’t let Charlie get hurt…” Michael said through his teeth. “I won’t.” Michael stumbled forward, unconsciously activating the Blessing that was given to him by Petra the moment before he stepped into the sixth floor of Tartarus. However, unlike Mike's which barely moved due to his anger being far from its peak, Michael's stats would dramatically.
[Energize: Activated]
A divine light flashed around Michael’s body, and though he didn’t take notice, his stats were doubled for his next attack. Additionally, he received a small boost to his base Intellect stat on top of it thanks to the armor he'd purchased from Marut.
Stats Michael Vitality 20 (40) Intellect 21 + 5 (47) Agility 15 (30) Luck 5 (10) Strength 5 (10)
The end of Michael’s wand shone, though rather than glowing in that magical bluish-white color that he was familiar with, it was a raging orange flame! After a second or two of charging, a massive fireball was blasted from the tip of his weapon, which recoiled as if he'd just fired a high-caliber marksman rifle. This boulder-sized fireball soared through the air, and just mere seconds before the serpent could throw itself at Charlie and swallow them whole as they found themselves backed into a corner, Michael's spell made contact with the serpent, burning a hole through its body, causing it to squirm and holler as the icy skin around the hole began to melt.
Once its wriggling and bellowing had ceased, the serpent's attention shifted toward Michael, rushing at him with his fangs bared. Michael took a deep breath as he was enveloped in a white glow, activating his Blessing unconsciously and doubling his stats once more.
[Energize: Activated]
Stats Michael Vitality 20 (40) Intellect 21 + 5 (47) Agility 15 (30) Luck 5 (10) Strength 5 (10)
The serpent was just a few feet away from Michael, within another second, Michael would've been snake food. Before that could happen, Michael hurled yet another ball of fire at the beast, his staff jerking upward and backward upon casting his spell. With perfect precision, the fireball entered the serpent's mouth, burning it from the inside out as it made its way through half the snake's entire body, burning one long hole through the beast's digestive tract! Instantly, the serpent went limp and what was left of its head smacked the ground, coming to a sliding stop at Michael's feet.
Michael and Charlie made eye contact from across the dungeon for a moment, and he could make out a smile on their face from afar. Michael raised his hands above his head. "WOOOOO!" he cheered, releasing the built-up tension after having bested such a great beast.
Good shit, kid... Mike was stunned. His partner, with whom he'd shared his body throughout this short journey, seemed like someone else entirely. Though in reality, Michael was the same Michael as before, he'd simply found his way of being strong. Mike, in a way, felt like a proud older brother during the moment, but at the same time, he felt powerless. This child, or at least, this person he viewed as a child in his mind, had almost instantly become stronger than Mike could even imagine himself becoming. 'So, this is the power of Petra's blessing.' Mike wondered. 'If that's the case, why didn't mine activate? Rage, she called it. I guess it's 'cause if the kid died, I wouldn't have really cared. It would've been nothing more than an inconvenience to me.'
Mike watched through Michael's eyes as he and Charlie embraced each other. "That was incredible!" Charlie told him. "I thought I was done for..."
Mike's introspection continued. 'But for him, it was much more than that. It hasn't even been a day; yet, he would throw his life on the line if it meant Charlie could be safe. I only know 'cause we share the same body. That sensation that overwhelms us when he's in control and sees them in danger is the same as what I felt when I stormed that college campus and killed those boys. I guess he and I are more similar than I originally thought.'