Petra and I watched in a mutual silence as the spider and Randall began fighting. The spider shot a thick line of web at the boy, which he dodged by ducking under it as he charged at the beast. He sliced upwards with his long weapon, cutting off a front leg of the spider which was hurtling towards his head.
Randall hopped away from a wild swipe the beast threw and brought a hand off of his weapon. I watched his lips move rapidly, and saw an orb of flickering flames form a few inches from his now-extended arm. He pushed his arm forward, which caused the ball of flame to hurl towards the creature. The beast avoided it by scuttling to the side of it.
"He still needs to chant. It's putting him at a disadvantage," Petra commentated, watching as the boy barely rolled away from an overhead stab by the hefty beast, "and he forgets he's holding a weapon when he uses magic." She finished, shaking her head as she saw him attempt the same spell again, only to be thwarted mid-chant by a thick glob of web, which forced him to cut it with his polearm.
"So you can cast magic without any chants?" I asked, not looking away from the fight below. As Randall dived underneath the spider's body and amputated one of its back legs from halfway up the leg. "That sounds like quite the achievement."
"I can only do it for a few spells. I had to do them a lot to remember the feeling of molding mana for them." She replied, watching eagerly alongside me as we saw Randall get caught by one of the spider's spits, which tethered his two hands to his weapon. "Can you use any magic?" She inquired, not knowing how hard that question was to answer.
"A little," I mumbled, wanting to avoid the question as much as possible, "but he's faring better now he's using his weapon. Magic doesn't seem to be for everyone." I spoke quickly, trying to change the subject back to the fight, in which Randall had just rammed his blade into the spider's side, and spun furiously, throwing guts on the lower seats.
"I guess so. Good magic swordsmen are a rare breed," she agreed, watching as the spikey-haired boy finished his fight by leaping into the air and bringing his blade down upon the beast's fat body, cracking and cutting straight across the back of it, "and I aim to be the first magic swordswoman." She stood, looking me in the eyes with a ferocious intensity before hopping down a row at a time.
I watched as she landed in the circular arena, just in time for Randall to be released from his webby restraints and before being handed a necklace. He high-fived Petra as they passed, and hopped up the rows of seats. He high-fived me as he arrived on the row of seats I was on and sat much closer than the girl had.
"That's fucking intense man," he exclaimed, his body still rocking from the adrenaline, his legs shaking and his head bopping as he sat, "I didn't expect a big spider to be so tough. That was the first monster I faced to the death." He admitted, looking to me for praise or acknowledgment.
"Yeah," I replied, too distracted by a wooden, ape-shaped beast entering the arena, "it was a good fight. What was that necklace?" I asked, sharing my attention between looking at Randall and watching Petra, who withdrew two curved daggers.
"It's proof of our affiliation with the Guild. Our rank." He stated, putting the chain around his neck, and holding up an E-shaped accessory which hung from it, a small H engraved on the letter. Despite the low rank, he appeared proud enough of it, a huge grin encompassing his face. "I'm E-rank, but the barmaid said I'd be D-rank if I could cast without chants. Pretty neat, eh?" He bragged, sitting back in his seat with his hands behind his head.
"Pretty cool," I replied bluntly, too focused on the fight which had just started. The wooden ape, which had a small bush of leaves blooming from its head, charged towards the girl. As it charged, slamming its fists on the ground to push it along, Petra dashed forward too.
I watched as she cut in a scissor-like motion, embedding her blades into the thick exterior of the beast. She yanked her blades from within the beast's fist just in time to avoid a small bundle of vines that creeped out from where she had pierced it. The vines retreated into the beast's arm as it swung its girthy arm down towards the petite girl.
She hopped back from the animal, landing a safe distance from the beast's reach. I watched as she stood, unable to perceive what she seemed to be doing until I looked at her blades.
Her daggers seemed to have an aura, the two blades trapped within cyclones. The air around her blades seemed to cut out relentlessly, only growing more furious as she dashed back towards the beast once more. The beast threw a weighty jab at the girl, but the attack didn't even cause Petra to flinch as she met the punch with one of her blades, and cut clean through the fist, up to the shoulder.
Vines burst out from the beast's body as it took the damage, and wrapped around the girl's body before she could even turn around. The vines curled around her legs, then coiled up to her body. I began to worry as I watched panic wash over her face, realizing her predicament as she was tugged and dragged across the ground by the beast.
The vines slowly retracted, pulling Petra to the beast. the wooden creature raised its other, uninjured hand in an attempt to slam the girl. As the beast growled and began to bring its hand, Petra slashed at nothing in the direction of the attacking hand, and I saw a small ripple in the air before seeing the monster's arm get cut off from the elbow, rendering the beast's attack futile.
The monster's other arm never sprouted any vines, and due to the girl's distance from it, became confused as to how it had lost its other arm. Petra took advantage of this, and slashed both blades in a scissor-like motion once more, this time sending two ripples towards the beast's neck, sending its head flying off of its body.
"I think I got it wrong back in the training room…" I mumbled, baffled by the superior skills in magic she had exhibited. I watched as the vines around her body loosened, allowing her to squirm free. She slid her weapons back into their sheaths and bowed slightly to the barmaid as she accepted her necklace.
I hopped down the rows of seats and landed beside the girl. I nodded to her, still feeling awkward about the coincidental rift between us. She nodded back, and flashed a necklace, with a C-shaped accessory dangling from it. She smirked at me and went up to take her place beside Randall to watch my battle. I noticed the barmaid taking the beast's corpse away, and began running over to her.
"Wait," I shouted, stopping the busty woman mid-step, "can I check something on this?" I requested, and she nodded, dropping the leg she was dragging it away by. I crouched down next to the beast and placed my hand on the cut left by Petra, genuinely examining it until a message I had begun to adore appeared.
[Devour this beast's skills and stats?
'Yes.'
[2 Levels Gained.
Skills Gained: Thick Skin, Vine Control.
No wounds or fatigue to heal.]
"Thanks," I smiled to the emerald-eyed beauty, who nodded back before she returned to dragging away the beast. I returned to the center of the ring, admiring the green blood which Randall had caused the massive spider to spill, as well as the chips of wood from the oaky-ape that Petra had defeated.
I glanced at the two of them, an unconscious smile appearing as I noticed how close they seemed to be until an approaching presence put me on alert.
[Name: Envy (Levi Elbrus)
Species: Leviathan.
Level: 12
Magic Skills: Devour, Electric Discharge, Electricity Resistance, Water Manipulation (+5), Web Secretion, Vine Control.
Physical Skills: Transform, Night-Vision, Thick Skin.
Innate Skills: Mountain-Splitter Style Swordsmanship (Advanced) ]