The plant-element beast stood in the center of the sun-drenched clearing, unaware that it was being watched. It looked like a hunched, predatory badger, but instead of fur, its body was covered in thick, interlocking layers of dark green leaves that rustled like dry parchment. Its vine-tail flicked lazily, occasionally snapping at a passing insect.
Armen felt the air grow heavy. It was that pressure again. The invisible weight emanating from the plant beast was almost identical to the sensation Lumy and most beast in town gave off. It was a vibrating, low-frequency hum in his marrow.
"So this is actually like a Rank F pressure," Armen whispered, his body pressed against the rough bark of a cedar tree. "It's a match. Well, thanks to this, I can avoid the beasts with more powerful pressures than Lumy. I just have to trust this feeling."
He looked at Lumy. She was crouched so low her belly was brushing the dirt, her obsidian scales blending perfectly with the roots and rot of the forest floor. Despite being larger than the mossy creature, Armen didn't want to take any chances. This wasn't a game where he could just hit 'respawn' if things went sideways.
"Okay, girl," Armen murmured, gesturing with his hand. "We're going around. To its back. Lay low. Don't let it see the light from your spikes."
They moved with agonizing slowness. Armen stepped carefully, making sure every footfall landed on soft moss rather than snapping twigs. Lumy followed, a silent shadow that seemed to flow over the terrain like spilled ink. They circled the clearing, keeping the wind in their faces so their scent wouldn't betray them.
The plant beast suddenly perked up. Its amber eyes scanned the perimeter. It opened its mouth, revealing rows of wooden, thorn-like teeth. It let out a soft, huffing sound, and a cloud of shimmering green spores drifted from its back. It was preparing its only defense: a localized burst of sleep-inducing pollen.
"Now!" Armen hissed. "Lumy, use Voidlit Ravage!"
The transformation was instantaneous and terrifying. The faint golden glow of Lumy's spikes vanished, replaced by a terrifying, pitch-black aura edged with a faint, molten white glow. The shadow vapor from her horns thickened into a heavy mist. As she lunged from the brush, the grass beneath her feet turned instantly to grey ash, her mere presence snuffing out the life of the flora.
Lumy hit the plant beast like a falling boulder.
The mossy creature let out a high-pitched shriek of agony as Lumy's claws, now infused with the Abyssal-Death element, tore through its leafy hide. The Voidlit Ravage didn't just cut; it bypassed the physical armor of the leaves entirely. Where Lumy's claws struck, the green fur didn't just bleed; it withered. The flesh beneath turned black and necrotic instantly, the life force being drained directly into the void.
The plant beast spun around, its vine-tail snapping forward like a whip. The wooden barb at the end caught Lumy across the shoulder, tearing a shallow gash in her obsidian scales.
"Keep at it!" Armen shouted, his heart pounding in his ears. "Don't let it breathe!"
The plant beast tried to release a massive cloud of its green spores, but Lumy was too fast. She lunged forward, her wide jaws gaping. Her luminous teeth, now edged with that same white-hot shadow energy, clamped down on the beast's throat. There was a sickening sound of crunching wood and wet tissue.
The plant beast thrashed wildly, its legs kicking at the air. Blood the color of dark chlorophyll sprayed across the clearing, staining the yellow fruits Armen had dropped earlier. But the wound was lethal. The Dark element was spreading through the creature's veins like a poison, turning its vibrant green insides into a grey, black mess.
After a final, shuddering breath, the plant beast went limp. Its amber eyes faded to a dull, lifeless brown.
Armen stepped out from the trees, his hands trembling. The smell was overwhelming: a mixture of freshly cut grass and rotting meat. Lumy stood over the carcass, her spikes still flickering with that dark, molten light, her chest heaving as she tasted the victory.
"You did it," Armen said, his voice shaky. "Good girl, Lumy. You really did it."
He walked closer, looking at the mangled remains of the creature. He remembered the quest board back at the guild. A beast core. That was the prize.
"Lumy," Armen said, pointing at the creature's chest. "Use your claw. Open the chest. Find the core."
Lumy looked at him, then back at the body. She understood. With surgical, if brutal, precision, she hooked a claw into the center of the beast's ribcage. She pulled back, the sound of snapping bone and tearing sinew echoing through the quiet clearing. She began to carefully dissect the beast, peeling back the layers of mossy fur and blackened flesh.
Armen watched, his stomach churning at the sight of the gore. The insides of the beast were a strange mix of animal organs and plant-like fibers. Finally, buried deep within the cavity near where the heart should be, he saw it.
A small, translucent sphere was lodged in the tissue. It glowed with a faint, earthy green light.
"There it is," Armen said, reaching out.
But as he got closer, his face fell. The core was riddled with tiny, spiderweb cracks. Even as he watched, the green light began to flicker and dim. The energy was leaking out, and the solid surface was starting to turn into a fine, sparkling dust that blew away in the slight breeze.
"No, no, no!" Armen cursed, his shoulders sagging. "It's cracked. It's useless. I can't turn this in for a reward."
The fight had been too intense. The Abyssal-Death energy from Lumy's Voidlit Ravage must have been too much for the Rank F core to handle, or perhaps the grass beast had tried to channel its last bit of life force into the core to defend itself, causing it to shatter.
Armen looked at the dusting core and then at Lumy. The creature was staring at the cracked sphere with an intense, predatory hunger. Drool mixed with black and white vapor dripped from her jaws. She looked like she was starving.
Armen sighed, the disappointment heavy in his chest. He looked at his ragged clothes, then at the dead beast, and then at his partner. He couldn't get his points or his gold today, but at least he could strengthen his only ally.
"I guess we're not getting paid today," Armen said quietly. He looked at Lumy and gave a small, tired nod. "Go ahead. Eat. It's better than letting it turn to dust in the wind."
Lumy didn't need to be told twice. With a low, excited churr, she lunged at the carcass. She started with the core, her teeth crunching down on the remaining shards of the green sphere, swallowing the raw elemental energy in one gulp. Then, she began to tear into the rest of the beast, the sound of her feast filling the clearing as Armen turned away, looking back toward the dark forest.
Armen sighed and said just go eat. And Lumy started to eat it starting with the core.