Brighid followed her keen senses to detect traces of magic.
They arrived at an unwelcoming cave. Its entrance was festooned with rotting beasts and corpses impaled on stakes. Some bodies lay headless, others missing arms or legs.
It was an unmistakable warning sign.
Safira pinched her nose as memories of her village flooded back. The blood, the bodies, the stench—it made her nauseous. Her stomach churned, and she leapt from her horse. She bolted to a nearby tree and vomited up her morning coffee.
"Ugh!"
"Can you keep going?" Colin asked.
Safira wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.
"I can, just need a moment to breathe…"
"Brighid!" Colin called. "Can you charm the horse to stay nearby?"
She nodded. "Leave it to me!"
Extending her tiny arms toward the horse, she murmured phrases in the ancient tongue. The animal turned and trotted off into the forest.
Colin's instincts warned of imminent danger inside the cave. He gripped his fists and stepped forward, Safira and Brighid at his heels. Chanting another spell, Brighid summoned an orb of light that illuminated the stone corridor. They couldn't see the end, but they felt peril lurking in every shadow.
Colin drew his stellar-steel sword.
The cavern's interior was horrifying. Piles of corpses from varied races lay heaped together in blood, entrails, and every vile remnant imaginable.
Their tension mounted with every step. Their breaths grew rapid, fear wrapping tighter around them with each echoing sound—fear of whatever watched them from the dark.
After several minutes, they entered a wide chamber strewn only with dust.
"Is this the lair?" Safira whispered, her voice trembling.
"Seems so," Colin replied. "But it doesn't look like they're here." He scanned left and right. "Maybe they went out hunting?"
"No!" boomed a guttural voice so powerful the cave seemed to quake.
Colin's eyes widened; he searched frantically for the source. Safira squeezed his hand so hard he thought she might break his bones, and Brighid fluttered up to perch on his shoulder.
"Rats," the demon said, voice dripping contempt. "I can't decide if you're brave… or just stupid for ignoring all the warnings I left."
"Why don't you step out into the light and face us?" Colin asked, voice shaking.
"A dragon's hatchling, a fairy—and… a dark elf? No, you're not an elf. You smell like one, but you aren't. A halfbreed, maybe… or something else."
A huge, shaggy paw emerged from the darkness, trembling the ground with its weight.
BAM!
That was when the demon revealed itself.
It was covered in metallic-black fur, its tail enormous—large enough to coil around the entire cavern. Its head resembled that of a panther, eyes gleaming gold. Its furry paws hid claws the size of a grown man, and its breath stank as if it smelled a sea of corpses.
Horror—that was what gripped Colin as he beheld the creature in full. He froze utterly, unable to move an inch.
He only snapped back when a searing pain shot through his left hand. Looking down, he saw Safira's terrified grip squeezing his hand even tighter. Her legs trembled, and her eyes shone with utter despair.
"A Bakurak?!" Brighid gasped in surprise. It had been centuries since she'd laid eyes on one of that race.
"Oh! So the little fairy knows about me?" the Bakurak rumbled in that demonic voice that reverberated through the cave.
Brighid swallowed hard. She was afraid, but not as terrified as her companions; after all, despite its size, this being was still a hatchling. Fortunately for her, Bakuraks were solitary creatures that left their mother at birth. She didn't have to worry about another one arriving to complicate matters.
"I thought they were extinct," the fairy whispered.
"There are few of us left these days." The Bakurak rose, standing on all fours, at least fifty feet tall, its long tail swishing. "I was hungry, lucky for me, breakfast came to me."
With each step it took, the cavern trembled more violently.
"You're the one who made the pact with the road village, aren't you?" Colin asked, forcing his voice to stay steady.
"Yes, little thing. That was me. Why do you care about those greedy humans?"
"I made a deal with them. I need you to break the contract."
AHAHAHAHAHA!
The Bakurak laughed—a thunderous roar that sent birds scattering and animals fleeing, the cave quaking, so fiercely its walls cracked, and huge chunks of rock rained down around them.
"You're hilarious for something so small. You'll be the last thing I kill, how does that sound?"
"Brighid!" Colin murmured. "Can you beat this thing?"
"Y-yes…but I'll need time!"
"All right, can you cast your support magic on me and Safira?"
"I can, but you two could—"
"Balance it: heal us while you strengthen us. Can you maintain that concentration, then finish off the monster? Safira and I will hold it off!"
Safira tightened her grip on Colin's hand, and he looked down at her.
"Be careful, Safira, I'll need this hand to fight!"
"I-I can't fight it…" she whispered, voice trembling. "I want to, but I just can't…"
"You can! Focus on my commands, Brighid will help us, but we have to do our part, okay?"
She let go of Colin's hand and wiped her tears away.
"Brighid, can you do what I asked?"
"I can!"
"Good!"
"What are you whispering about?" the Bakurak growled, lifting its massive paw.
The three of them sprang back as the demon drove its paw into the earth, sending up a cloud of dust that filled the cavern.
BAAM!
Colin came out of the smoke running around Bakurak with such frightening speed that he resembled a blur.
________________________________________________
STATUS
NAME : COLIN SILVA
AGE : 23
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POWER TREES
PRIMARY TREE : HEAVING - LEVEL 00
SECONDARY TREE I : MIGTH - LEVEL - 01
SECONDARY TREE II: CHAOS - BLOCKED
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VITAL ATTRIBUTES
HP (VITALITY): 1100 + 2000
MP (MANA): 125 + 2000
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COMBAT ATTRIBUTES
STRENGTH: 35 + 50
DEXTERITY: 26 + 50
AGILITY: 23 + 50
INTELLIGENCE: 24 + 50
STAMINA: 28 + 50
________________________________________________
So that's the power of a tree? I feel like I can manipulate my mana freely... it's like I know exactly what to do.
Brighid stood focused, hidden in the shadows, drawing on every ounce of her knowledge to push Colin and Safira far beyond their limits, and it was taking everything she had.
Colin and Safira's bodies quivered between searing pain and utter relief; without Brighid's healing magic, they would have been torn to pieces.
"You're nothing but ants!" the Bakurak bellowed.
"Now, Safira!" Colin shouted.
Safira raised both hands toward the beast, unleashing the swirling smoke. All that raw power coursing through her filled her with courage she'd never known. Even standing face-to-face with such a mighty creature, she felt no fear.
Concentrate, feel the mana flow through your body, the heat in your palms, and expand it! It's like absorbing flames, but now you're going to expel it! Right, I can do it!
[Sphere of flaming chaos].
A massive fireball burst from the magic circle formed by Safira's palms, striking the Bakurak's chest and hurling it into the cavern wall.
BAAM!
The entire mountain shook—an earthquake felt for miles. The villagers watched the distant peaks and swallowed hard.
"It's begun…" the elder whispered.
Safira stood stunned by what she'd just done. She stared at her trembling hands, then at the dust cloud billowing from where her foe had smashed into the rock.
Colin felt the same awe, but his body adapted instantly. Planting his feet against the wall, he sprang forward like a bolt of lightning across the night sky, driving his blade toward the Bakurak's neck, only to be slammed by the creature's tail.
BOOM!
The impact sent the false elf crashing back into the stone.
"Colin!" Safira screamed.
Safira stood firm, a crimson mana swirling around her. A glowing magic circle shimmered before her, ready for what came next.
Yeah! She thought. Just do what you do in training. Concentrate, Safira, you can do it! Make yourself useful!
She raised her arms towards Bakurak, and another magic circle appeared in front of her hands. A sphere made of flames formed and grew, even larger than Safira herself.
WOOSH!
The fireball whizzed through the air and hit Bakurak in the face.
BOOM!
That explosion caused the monster to be buried by rocks.
The cave began to collapse, and Colin emerged from the dust in a bluish flash that left sparks wherever he went.
He picked Safira up and left the cave in a split second.
The entire mountain came crashing down, valleys were split in half, earthquakes hit nearby villages, and dust rose into the sky.
Coughing up blood, Colin placed Safira on the ground and rested his hand on her chest.
"Mr. Colin! Are you all right?" she asked, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Brighid wasn't kidding, that's pretty tiring."
He was puzzled by something else.
Safira had used two spells and managed to do a colossal amount of damage, and she didn't even look tired. He, on the other hand, had done nothing but run and was exhausted.
________________________________________________
(!) NOTIFICATION
[STATUS: TEMPORARY]
[TIME REMAINING: 487, 486, 485... SECONDS]
[MANA: 1382]
________________________________________________
A fresh tremor shook the ground, and the Bakurak reemerged, hurling burning boulders skyward in a scorching blast. The fiery stones plummeted around the valley like tiny meteors. Bit by bit, the entire vale ignited in roaring flames.
It was impossible not to be awestruck by such raw power. Not even Colin could believe he was facing a creature of this magnitude.
His body trembled with adrenaline and excitement, feelings he'd never experienced so intensely. Part of him wanted to flee, but his thirst for battle and the need to see how it would end held him in place.
The monster's roar echoed beyond this realm, a herald of something infernal lurking in the world's depths. The Bakurak opened its maw, and a swirling energy began to coalesce before it.
That power condensed into a dark sphere, ominous enough to set everyone on edge. Wisps of wind spun around it as the orb grew ever larger.
"Safira! We have to get out of here!" Colin shouted.
"But Colin, look!" she cried, pointing behind them. Their village lay directly in the sphere's path.
Colin had no real sense of how destructive the blast would be, but if the village were wiped out, his long-sought reward would vanish too.
With a deafening whoosh, the Bakurak unleashed the sphere. Trees and everything in its path disintegrated instantly. Colin threw himself over Safira, shielding her as the dark orb swept past—far wide of them—and streaked toward the village.
A few miles from its target, the sphere began to glow with an eerie green light and veered skyward, exploding in a blinding boom.
KABOOM!
For a heartbeat, two suns blazed in the sky.
Thanks, Brighid! Colin gasped.
But before he could catch his breath, he felt the air shift again. Another attack—far more devastating than the last, was already forming, hurtling straight for him.