The crashing of waves echoed inside the circular room.

An inferno emerged behind the humanoid silhouette clad in armor, standing at the top of the spiral staircase. A string of Natural EXP Crystals sat around its neck.

Florence clenched her fist around a leaf, pressing against the brick wall with red eyes and smearing sweat on it. But Stella rubbed the Memory EXP Crystal on her forehead, rustling her hair.

Sam curled into a ball on Stella’s lap, tucking his tail between his hind legs.

Aisling gasped, clenching her chest and wrinkling her hooded shirt. Her lips thinned. She sat still on the concrete floor next to Jack, staring at the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

The heat descended the steps, dancing on Florence’s skin. The sweat secreted from her pores evaporated on her skin.

The nerves in her swollen ankle, knee, and half of her face shrieked.

Feno flinched. Not looking behind her as she loomed over, Holland fainted on the concrete floor.

In the middle of the room, Yuze snored.

The spiral of stairs creaked. The humanoid silhouette clad in armor descended it, and the swirling flames followed behind.

A jet of fire flew, zooming closer to Stella and Sam.

Florence lunged at Stella and Sam, pushing them away.

The fire spat as it exploded on the wall. Waves of heat crashed into her, spreading across her skin. The smoky stench of burning fabric filled her nostrils.

The fumes built up inside the room, rippling through the air.

The red eyes dotted across the brick walls turned their pupils towards the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

Feno turned around, facing away from Holland.

Florence coughed and choked, gripping her throat. Her head wobbled.

“Why’re you with her?” The humanoid silhouette took another step down, reaching halfway through the staircase. “I… don’t get it.”

Jack groaned. “It ain’t much. But how did that monster keep finding us?”

A firestorm behind the humanoid silhouette clad in armor erupted tendrils, lashing out in every direction.

The brick blackened.

The handrail burned bright red.

One of the many tendrils whipped towards Sam.

He hissed, flattening his ears. His tail pointed upwards.

Stella wrapped her arms under his belly, rolling away. A blaze ignited at the end of her hair. She yelped, smothering the flames.

The inferno sliced through the air, speeding toward Feno, Jack, and Holland.

Florence jumped to her feet, but she plummeted to her knees. Her muscles relaxed, giving up. The nerves under her skin screeched from her swollen ankle, knee, and half of her face.

The flaming tentacles were now just inches away from engulfing Feno, Jack, and Holland.

Amongst the crackle, a screech rang within the room.

Scratches manifested along the wall with a shrill.

The inferno dispersed into scattered wisps. A claw mark gashed across the chest of the humanoid silhouette with a shriek.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor wobbled, leaning against the handrail.

Florence’s lips dried up. The saliva in her mouth evaporated. She blinked, smacking her tongue and rubbing her eyes.

A creak reverberated.

The staircase underneath the humanoid silhouette clad in armor collapsed. It plummeted, spiraling downward. The screws and steel clattered. The humanoid silhouette clad in armor smashed against the floor, cracking the concrete.

Aisling trembled. Her eyes widened. She cupped her ears, burying her face between her blotched knees. Her bottom scraped against the floor until her back hit Jack.

Florence stumbled to her feet. Her swollen ankle and knee stung the nerves under her skin. She bit her lips, limping forward, eyeing the necklace of Natural EXP Crystals.

“What’re you doing, pleb?” Sam growled. He extended his claws, swiping it. “Come back here and protect me.”

Florence squeezed the leaf on her palm. “Pardon me; I am trying my best. Could you not tell that?”

“Florence, don’t go over there,” Feno said. “That monster… you saw what it can do.”

Florence limped, slapping her feet across the room. With every step, she inched closer to the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

The Natural EXP Crystals glowed blue, glimmering under the descending flames.

Someone from behind gripped her wrist, tugging her back.

She looked over her shoulder.

“What’re you trying to do?” Feno shook her head. She squeezed Florence’s wrist, whitening her hand.

Florence opened her palm, relaxing her grasp around the leaf.

Feno rustled her hair. “Do you’ve any idea what this does?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” Florence said. “I’m just… I don’t know.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Are you trying to eat that Ability Leaf and the Natural EXP Crystal together?”

“Absolutely not… nobody told me about it. I just want to look closer at that monster you’re talking about.”

Flames spat through the gap between the humanoid silhouette’s armor.

Feno pushed Florence down to the concrete floor.

The inferno swallowed the room.

The end of Florence’s hair burned. Her skin reddened, sending her nerves screaming. Acrid fumes wafted through the air.

A screech rang.

The gust rustled Florence’s dress, extinguishing the blaze on her hair. Then the wind howled, cutting with claw-like marks through the flames swirling above her. The fire died down, and the humanoid silhouette clad in armor stood up.

“I guess… I got my answer,” Florence said.

“Listen to me,” Feno said. She flipped Florence around, facing her, clutching her shoulders. “Whatever you do, do not ever eat that Ability Leaf with the Natural EXP Crystal.”

“Pardon me, but why?”

“How did you not already know?”

A firestorm from the back of the humanoid silhouette clad in armor surged toward Feno and Florence.

Florence and Feno rolled out of the way. The heat danced on Florence’s skin as the blaze blew past her.

“Why’re you with her? Tell me,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor said.

“Pardon me, how does it keep finding us?” Florence asked. “And does it always ask this question whenever we encounter it?”

“Honestly, I don’t really know,” Feno said. “Jack, do something.”

Jack rubbed his lower back. “Just give me a moment… like maybe a few minutes or hours.”

The inferno twirled into the palm of the humanoid silhouette clad in armor, forming a towering hammer.

“We definitely don’t have time for that,” Feno said.

The hammer crackled, smashing against the floor into pieces between Florence and Feno. Cracks spread through the concrete and up the brick wall.

Jack wiggled his wounded left foot. “Do you see this?”

“Of course, I can,” Feno said. “I’m not blind.”

The flames slipped through the fissures. It sizzled underneath Florence’s belly.

Florence scrambled, sliding onto her back. “I think… we should get out of here.”

The ground bulged. Then, the magma erupted, reaching the ceiling.

Florence squealed, straightening her spine. She slid her bottom across the room.

A static played on the screen of Jack’s television head. “Feno? I ain’t ready yet.”

“I’m fine,” Feno said on the other side of spewing magma. “Our leader protected me… again.”

Ear-piercing scrapes rang from the armor. Out of nowhere, claw marks gashed across the wall, floor, and humanoid silhouette.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor roared, swung its arms back and forth, and its heavy footsteps echoed, shaking Florence to the core.

The wind snuffed out the blaze excreted from the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

“Our leader, thank you very much for… saving us,” Feno said.

Sam meowed. “Any ideas on how to get out of this mess, pleb?”

“Pardon me, does it look like we have any ideas on that?” Florence asked.

The humanoid silhouette bellowed, letting out a heatwave of fumes through the gaps of its armor.

The smoke pushed Florence back, smashing her skull into the brick wall. A strand of unkempt hair rustled, falling on her face. She clenched her fist, whitening her knuckles. A liquid leaked from her head.

In front of her, everything blurred into a black, orange, and red mesh.

Her eardrums rang, muffled those shouts, screams, and crackles.

She blinked.

The haze cleared out of her eyes.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor stomped towards her.

The concrete beneath them vibrated.

Everyone else around the circular room fainted, suffocating from the thick smoke lying scattered under the staircase.

The leaf tickled Florence’s skin, tugging her arms towards the necklace of Natural EXP Crystals.

She forced herself up to her feet. Her swollen ankle and knee shrieked. In a groan, she wiped her face, leaving a red fluid on her fingertips.

“Why’re you with her? Tell me,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

“Pardon me, could you stop asking me the same question?” Florence asked. “This is not getting us anywhere. Isn’t it?”

The armor clanged as the humanoid silhouette charged. It clenched its fist and thrust toward her, causing fragments to grow beneath it with every step.

Florence tossed herself out of the way, thudding onto her side.

An explosion ember spilled between the armor of the humanoid silhouette’s forearm. The force alone rustled Florence’s hair and the fibers of her clothing.

“Why’re you with her? Tell me,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor said. It grabbed the collar of her dress, yanking her closer.

Florence raised her eyebrow.

“Don’t you dare not answer me,” the humanoid clad in armor said. “So, tell me. Why’re you with her?”

Florence stretched her arm out with the leaf in her grasp, clutching on the necklace of Natural EXP Crystals. She pulled it. But the string didn’t snap.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor swung its head. It cracked her nose. Blood flowed out of her nostrils and down to her chin.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor pulled its fist back. “Why couldn’t you answer me?”

“How do I begin to explain myself?” Florence coughed with half of her facial muscle shrieking. “I honestly don’t know where to begin.”

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor pummeled Florence. Its knuckles repeatedly crashed her cheekbones, and the bruises swelled on her face.

“So, are you going to answer me?” The humanoid silhouette clad in armor threw another punch.

Florence jerked her head forward. Her teeth gritted against the necklace. The string snapped. The Natural EXP Crystals fell, spiraling down the air. She opened her mouth, biting down on a Natural EXP Crystal, swallowing it with the leaf on her palm.

Her throat stung with each constriction, pushing the Crystal and leaf towards her stomach.

“Why did you eat it? Tell me,” The humanoid silhouette clad in armor said. “Are you insane?”

Florence shrugged. “Maybe I am crazy? Eating the Natural EXP Crystal with Ability Leaf gives the one who consumed it an ability. Well, at least that is what I heard one of you said… I think?”

“What did you say? Speak properly.”

“I know.”

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor clutched around Florence’s neck.

Florence gasped, suffocating. The stream of air stopped flowing into her lungs. She scratched and pulled on the fingers around her throat.

A loud cough and slapping of palms reverberated.

“Over here, you monster,” Jack said. He waved his hands.

The humanoid silhouette clad in armor looked over its shoulder. “How… impossible?”

Jack pointed at his television head. The static played on his now cracked screen. Shards of glass fell out from him. He whistled. The rupture spread wider across his screen.

“I see,” the humanoid silhouette clad in armor said.

A screech rang throughout the circular room.

A scratch mark slashed the concrete floor.

A wind blew past Florence, knocking the humanoid silhouette clad in armor.

It smashed through the wall, sending it into the waves.

Hands with their skin peeling off from the water emerged from the bubbling depths. The fingers wrapped around the humanoid silhouette clad in armor, dragging it down.

The smoke vented through the hole.

Jack hobbled towards Florence.

Florence looked at Jack. But her face was paralyzed and ached with the beating she received.

“Please, don’t tell me you ate it,” Jack said.

Florence shook her head.

Jack placed his hands on top of his television head. “So, you did eat them.”

Florence nodded.

“Seriously.” Jack rubbed his lower back. “Great, I’ve got another Ability—”

A water spout erupted from the waves, and the humanoid clad in armor emerged.