MATTHEW'S POV
I didn't understand myself sometimes. Especially what I did two minutes ago. I ran away from Samuel, who was just trying to be a good friend. My dumb self didn't think everything in advance. So, here I was, hiding behind a tree, catching my breath as a ventifio roamed around. This was the underworld for heck's sake! This place was the domain of those horrendous creatures and I just had to test my luck and ran without a care to my surroundings.
I slapped myself. 'Great, Matthew. Just great. What are you gonna do now?'
I slid down the tree as quietly as possible, not wanting to attract the ventifio's attention and digging my own grave. I regretted yelling at Samuel. He was the one who saved me and introduced me to the world of the elites. He was also the one who pretended to be my cousin so I could get away from Elijah and Sasha. He taught me how to properly summon my soul protector. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be alive right now. I should be thanking him back, not yelling at him because I didn't want to accept his help.
I grasped the button tightly in my hands. Beads of nervous sweat rolled down my forehead. I breathed in and out to give space in my chest, which felt like it was compressing against my lungs. I told Samuel that I didn't need help anymore, I might as well prove to him that.
I studied the ventifio thoroughly. It looked normal, though it seemed to be a little bit more to the skinny and small scale. I think I could handle this, but I was so nervous. I remembered Samuel telling me that the more I was panicking or nervous, the harder it will be to summon my soul protector, and I wasn't taking any risks.
I tried to ease my nerves before I would summon. A few minutes passed. My heartbeat was finally at a normal pace again.
'Okay, let's do this, Matt!'
I felt something pierced in my body. I tossed the button up in the air, sucking in a breath as power and adrenaline overwhelmed me. The red button in the air transformed into a black figure. And Matt descended on the ground. The ventifio had noticed me when I summoned Matt. It roared boomingly, making me deaf for a second.
Matt took the screech as a threat and lunged forward to the creature, its hands raised into a fist to punch the ventifio.
The creature foresaw what was going to happen, and evaded Matt's attack flawlessly. Six claws emerged from the ventifio's hand. There were thirty-six claws in all.
My soul protector jumped back when the ventifio attempted for a scratch. Matt countered the ventifio's attack by round-house kicking the ventifio in its face. That kick caused me chest pains and for my vision, black spots were appearing.
The ventifio turned its head to the side from the impact of the kick. One of Matt's outstanding abilities, aside from being strong, was being quick. The soul protector wasted no time and went in for a tackle. The two enemies wrestled on the ground, clawing and punching each other.
Matt was the one at the top. The soul protector had the ventifio in a chokehold, but the creature, with its many arms, managed to stab Matt at the side using its claws.
I screamed in pain as I felt an unbearable burning and stinging sensation at my side. Whatever the soul protector felt, its master feels it too. I held my right side in reflex. There wasn't any blood, but the pain was too much.
Matt poofed back into being a button. I remembered Samuel's words as it did this.
'Whenever a soul protector's hurt, it will go back to being a button to repair that wound.'
The ventifio, who I angered by fighting it, had blood on every part on its body. I could tell that the ventifio had been weakened, but it was still standing.
The creature let out a meek roar. It was still so loud. I had a problem. The red button was near the ventifio. I had to go get it. I slowly got my gun out. I pointed it towards the ventifio. My hands were shaking, I needed to be steady, or else I would miss the shot.
I realized there wasn't time to calm down. The ventifio noticed my fear and took this advantage to attack. With claws out, the creature got ready to strike. Underestimating my skills to fire a gun, the ventifio faltered from side to side. The bullet had hit the creature on its cheek area. A little more to the side and I would've completely missed it. It left a graze on a ventifio, but it still counted as the creature seemed stunned.
I dashed for the red button. As soon as it was safe in my hands, I ran to someplace to hide. The effect wore off quickly as it came, making the ventifio run after me. I was starting to feel grateful that I was in the track n' field because I put a good distance between me and the creature.
I continued to run. I took a glance behind me to see the creature still on my tail. I prepared my gun once again. I aimed it at the ventifio and pulled the trigger. The force of the shot made me stumble, but it connected with the ventifio. As the creature swayed aimlessly, I hid behind a withering tree. I placed a hand on my chest to catch my breath. There was still a stinging sensation on my side, but panic, exhaustion, and terror overwhelmed the pain.
I looked at the ventifio who began to hunt me down. The creature was getting closer and closer, so I knew I had to summon my soul protector immediately. I took deep breaths to alleviate the rising fear. I felt something stab me in my heart. I threw the button up. As the small, red button spun, Matt had appeared.
My soul protector saw the ventifio. The creature had its back turned against us, so we had the upper hand. Matt instantly knew what to do. The soul protector jumped high in the air and kicked the ventifio on its back, making the creature face-plant on the ground - Matt just delivered a flying kick on the ventifio.
I suddenly had the urge to puke, like someone had punched me in the stomach. It also momentarily knocked the wind out of me.
As the creature landed with a disturbing crack, Matt its feet and swung the ventifio around. The soul protector gained speed and power in rotating the ventifio. Then, Matt slammed the ventifio on a tree - the action caused my ears to ring. The creature who was already tired from the fight earlier was lying unmoving on the ground. The gold-eyed entity had eliminated the threat and went back to being a button.
I had my hands on my knees, panting. I wanted to go back to the mansion and apologize to Samuel. But I had only killed one ventifio - Samuel said the minimum I should kill was three. I picked my red button up and rested it in my hands. I was just going to wait here until a ventifio finds me to not waste my energy. So far, no one has called for back-up yet.
Almost a minute later, a skinny-looking ventifio came. The creature looked like it was sick and malnourished. This should be an easy fight. I prepared the red button and transferred my energy to it. I felt a slight pain jolt throughout my body. I flicked the button upwards and Matt made an appearance.
The result of the battle was just as I predicted.
Matt speeded towards the oblivious creature. The soul protector had its hand balled into a fist and punched the ventifio. The force of the punch was so strong, it sent the creature flying. A headache made its way and also brought a wave of fatigue. Matt hurled the ventifio in the air. Once it was within reach, the soul protector grabbed the back of the creature's head and accelerated the ventifio's crash on the ground. I swore I could see a splash of red on Matt's hands. The soul protector reverted to the button once it noticed the creature laid still on the ground.
I groaned in pain as I put a hand on a tree to support my balance. I felt like I was gonna faint. The pain and the fatigue were too much to handle.
This was why I hated that I was two years late. I still wasn't used to everything while elites younger than me looked like two ventifios weren't a challenge. There was still one more ventifio I needed to annihilate, and I felt like I was too tired to fight any more creatures. I resumed in my strategy, to let a ventifio find me instead of looking around for one.
I waited and waited. There wasn't a single creature in sight. The whistle of the wind was the only sound in the eerie silence of the underworld. I was slightly shivering from the cold, and from how long I was standing in the back of the tree. Maybe there's no more?
I left my hiding place. And damn, I shouldn't have done that. Once I wasn't behind the tree anymore, an obnoxious roar made the hair on the back of my neck rise. I turned around to see an unbelievably huge ventifio charging towards me. Compared to the first and second ventifio that I fought, this one seemed to be twice or thrice their size.
The ventifio completely caught me off guard. And since it was already running towards me, I had no time to throw the button up in the air nor to get my gun ready. My only option was to dodge.
I dove to the side. I barely made it without a scratch. My body landed with a 'thud' on the ground. I quickly pulled my gun out and aimed for the creature. The bullet seemed to go by in slow motion after I pulled the trigger hurriedly. The ventifio noticed a small piece of lead was coming towards its way, so it ducked. Its arms were outstretched towards me.
Everything was miscalculated. The bullet, again with my poor aim and panicked state, just barely grazed the ventifio's head. The claws of the ventifio wanted to go for my stomach, but the creature must've not thought about how far we were, and scratched my leg.
The ventifio stood up dizzily as if it was seeing two's. On the other hand, I screamed in agony as my ankle was bleeding. Warm liquid dribbled from the side of my ankle to my foot. The edge of the pant leg was ripped off revealing three claw marks. The pain was intolerable as I kept clutching my foot to block the bleeding.
'It hurts so much!'
I looked back up to see the creature snapping out of its daze. I was so focused on my foot that I forgot the effect could only last for at least ten seconds. I held my button tightly. The pain and panic were making it hard for me to calm down. If I didn't calm down soon, I'd be ventifio food.
The creature let out a screech. I was frozen in fear when it started sprinting towards me. Its mouth opened, showing me rows of sharp teeth. All kinds of feelings and emotions rumbled within me. I was scared - scared that this was the end for me. I felt regret - not by becoming an elite, but for not having a chance to say sorry to Samuel. I also felt sad - I wouldn't be able to see my family anymore. I wouldn't see my mom's bright smile, taste my grandma's cooking, or listen to my grandpa's stories anymore. I closed my eyes, accepting my fate. I never knew I would die by a creature that sounded unreal to someone normal. It was the least I expected for my reason of death.
'I'm sorry, everyone. I guess I just wasn't worthy.'
I expected to feel pain that was more unbearable than my bleeding ankle. I expected the creature to take the life out of me. And I just expected to die.
It never came.
It was taking too long. I opened an eye to see what was going on. I gasped in shock when I saw a soul protector that wasn't mine tackled the ventifio away at the last second. The two fought each other - crimson eyes clashed with ocean orbs. A gradient of purple sometimes appearing if the two mix with each other. I blinked to confirm that it wasn't an illusion. There was a soul protector that was brawling with the creature.
I studied the familiar features of the soul protector - slightly messy hair, height the same as mine or an inch taller, and those blue orbs... Those were the reason why I was even alive in the first place, and it saved me again. I looked around for its master, and there he was. His head was lowered, eyes dark and his expression was scrunched up in pain.
Samuel.
The captain rushed over to me, who almost tripped in the process as a wave of exhaustion overcame him, and knelt next to me. His mouth opened to say something, but his eyes trailed to my bleeding ankle. Something flashed in his eyes as it widened. His hands hovered above my foot, trembling and seemingly not knowing what to do.
"O-Oh shit, Matthew, you're bleeding." On most days, I would've been sarcastic with him, but in my situation right now, I was in no mind to even think. I was oblivious to my surroundings due to pain. I didn't notice that Samuel's soul protector had already defeated the ventifio.
I groaned. Samuel flinched at my voice. His teeth were gritted, his eyebrows were furrowed in worry, and his breaths were sharp. I never saw this side of Samuel before. I already saw his scared, angry, and happy expressions. But for him to be this worried, panicked, and scared was a whole new side compared to the captain personality earlier.
I gripped his shoulder to tell him how much it hurts. My voice was lost. My mind was having trouble processing the pain. My body was so tired. Samuel stared at me, his brain going haywire at what to do. Then, he called his soul protector over.
"Damn, n-no, this is bad. Rio, get Matthew to the principal."
Rio scooped me up in its arms. I was so embarrassed, but I didn't protest. Admittedly, I needed the help. I let the soul protector carry me and jumped in the air and got inside the portal to Earth. I glanced down to see the underworld one more time. I saw Samuel still kneeling, his hands were balled into fists. Before I lost sight of the Night Fog Forest, I saw the captain punch the ground.