Chapter 19: Purple Scaled Illusion Snake
The five students ran off towards the distance, rushing at extreme speed. They looked like five vague shadows flashing about in the terrain. They soon came to a stop at a huge hall like passage that screamed ''creepy'' all over. With eerie red lights that illuminated the place and a darkness that could terrify most men, it was safe to say that the five were very, very guarded.
"This IS the place right? Right? Why is it so—" Keith said.
{A/N: It seems our talkative never fails to disappoint. Always the first to speak.}
"Creepy. And dangerous." Melanie finished his sentence. Keith nodded.
"Something is seriously wrong here. I can't feel anything." The blue haired boy spoke with a wary look.
"Come on Harris. What are you talking about? Can you feel this? Huh? Huh?" Keith poked at him.
Harris glanced at him like he was looking at a fool.
"Not that you idiot! I can't FEEL anything either. It's like this place has been cut off from the outside world. No Mana fluctuations, no prescence. Nothing. Don't you notice anything unusual?" Melanie sighed as she looked at him.
"Apart from being slightly creepy, no. Now that you mention it, I do feel quite uncomfortable. What's going on here?" Keith asked in puzzlement.
"Are you just noticing that now? Are you ignorant or just plain stupid?" Melanie asked with a baffled look on her face that screamed "how did you survive up until now?"
The other three glanced at Keith with interest and slight condescension, mixed with a little pity.
Keith was speechless.
"I was just lucky." Was all he could manage to say.
"Never mind that. We have a job to do. Stay focused you guys." Desmond said coolly.
'What's going on here anyway? There's this sense of danger I feel. Is it the surroundings? Or is it some powerful creature giving off this strange pressure.' Desmond thought with cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
"You can feel it too right?" The other girl glanced at him.
Desmond looked at her and smiled warily. "You have good senses, Mila."
'Damn! This girl is terrifying. She could sense it too! And she looks so calm. I think she might be the most powerful out of all of us here. Question is, why is she here? Shouldn't she be on her own? I really can't figure her out. Let's just see how this pans out.' He thought as he looked at her.
"What are you guys talking about? This is no time to play secretive!" Melanie shouted.
But just then, all their expressions changed.
GROWL!
A faint powerful growl rang out, sending chills down their spines.
"Damn it! You've drawn its attention to us. Come on guys, battle ready!" Desmond said coldly.
"What is this IT?" Keith asked.
"I'm guessing, it won't take us long to find out." Melanie said while a weapon appeared in her hand. It was a giant silver needle about 6ft long with an ominous looking edge. Its point shone with a dangerous gleam. The eye of the needle was connected to a sharp blood colored thread.
The rest of them drew their weapons. Even Keith eventually read the room and drew a silver rapier from his spatial ring.
All of them looked at their surroundings with wariness in their eyes.
The growl grew louder and louder as the students got tenser and tenser.
Phwark!
Out of nowhere, a black shadow hit Keith on the chest, causing him to spit out blood.
"What the? Keith! Are you alright? What just happened?" Melanie asked in shock as she looked at Keith with worry in her eyes.
"Yeah. I think I'm ok. That beast is scary fast though. Don't worry, it barely grazed me. Nothing to worry about." Keith smiled.
"You...You idiot! Can you be more careful next time?" Melanie looked at him with anger.
"Huh?" Keith asked confusedly.
Melanie huffed and turned away from the blue eyed boy.
{A/N: I think something juicy is going on...}
The other three looked at their surroundings with fear and interest.
'I didn't see that coming! If that was a fatal attack, he would have been dead!' The two boys had the same thought.
Melanie looked at the area the shadow flashed by.
'Enough speed, stealth and agility to overwhelm at least a Basic level mage. Must be at most Intermediate level middle tier. Which beast is it?'
The shadow flashed about again, but this time, the students were ready for it. A black blur rushed towards Desmond, but before it could touch him, two extremely sharp looking sabers appeared out of nowhere on his palms. Grasping them tightly, he slashed at the shadow. The strike seemed to have blocked the shadow's onslaught as it swerved over to the side.
Keith rushed at it, opting to go for a head on assault as he pierced at it with his rapier.
Harris equally joined in the fray as he held on to his spear, spinning it in an elegant yet dangerous fashion. The spear seemed as if water coated its surface, like waves following the tides. He lunged at the shadow with a mad glint in his cold turquoise eyes. It seemed he was getting serious.
"Offensive Spear Technique: Water Style Magic— Rushing Tides!"
He shouted coldly.
The attack landed on the shadow, causing it to hit the walls of the labyrinth as it crashed on to its sides.
The shadow looked at a bit incapacitated, so the five had a bit of time to see its appearance. They couldn't take a look at its full appearance as the creature looked like a vague shadow that had a wolf like shape.
"Is that a wolf? A Shadow Wolf? Or Night Wolf? I've never really seen one so strong before. What do we do guys?" Keith asked tiredly as he looked at it.
"Don't let your guard down! This thing may be injured, but it's not dead yet. Be careful." Desmond said with a cautious glint. It seemed he was quite wary of the creature.
'Why are you even talking like that? Or even talking at all? It's not like you did anything.' Keith pouted.
"Relax guys, there's nothing to worry about." Keith said with a smile.
Just then, the shadow moved.
And it rushed at Mila, taking everyone off guard.
Mila, was caught off guard for a different reason. She sensed that the beast was in a panic, and was trying to attack her to create a diversion in which it could escape.
'Smart. For a beast that is. I thought it'd be more powerful though. Was I wrong in my calculations? Why is it trying to escape? Even the four of them combined could never match up to its power, so why is it intentionally acting weak?'
Before the beast could reach her, a cold light flashed out of nowhere. Mila withdrew from the beast's range.
Blood splashed, and something fell out of the shadow's body. The five looked closer and saw....
"A scale? Since when do wolves have scales?" Keith asked in confusion.
"Never mind that! It's coming again!" Harris coldly said while gripping his spear.
The shadow continued to strike at them from all directions, with each of them defending against its attacks.
"Damn it! What's up with this beast? Is it toying with us?" Desmond said coldly. The others silently agreed with him. It seemed they had begun to notice the true nature of the beast's attacks.
Desmond held his two sabers while looking at the place, as if trying to burn the image in his memory.
The shadow flashed again, this time towards Harris.
"All right! We've fucking had enough of this! How dare you a silly beast, make fun of us huh? How dare you fucking toy with us?! I will FUCKING KILL YOU!" Desmond flew into a rage, sending everyone else into a state of surprise. He was usually known to be the calmest, with Harris following close behind. So it came as a shock to them that he would suddenly lose his cool like that.
Something must be seriously wrong here. The others thought.
"Des! What are you doing?! Stop attacking blindly! You're only aggravating the situation! Calm down and think this through!" Keith shouted at the raging Desmond.
The others looked at him in shock. Even Mila glanced at him with surprise.
'This guy....can actually think of this? It seems like he isn't a "lucky" idiot after all.' The thought rang in their heads.
{A/N: TBH, I'm also surprised. Hehe.}
"What? Why are you guys looking at me like that? Did you really think I was just 'lucky'?" Keith glanced at them.
They smiled awkwardly.
{A/N: Even I also smiled awkwardly.}
The shadow suddenly landed a blow on Desmond, sending him flying. But before it could escape, Keith shouted.
"Guys! Attack! Now!" Keith pierced at the shadow with his rapier.
Melanie and Harris joined in the fray, both of them landing a hit on the shadow. But as the attacks connected, all of them were shocked to find out that their attacks had no effect whatsoever.
Mila just stood there quietly.
"Hey! Aren't you going to do anything?" Keith shouted at her with dissatisfaction.
Mila looked at him with slight surprise in her eyes, but it was only for a brief moment.
She made her first attempt at the shadow. No, not an attempt. A sure hit.
A orange light flashed, blasting the shadow towards the walls of the creepy shrine like place with extreme force the impact resounded like a loud bang.
A second later, the shadow's silhouette began to burn in bright orange coloured flames. A cacaphony of voices echoed throughout the place, sending chills down the spines of those who heard it.
"Why are you just standing there? Use a water spell on it." Mila glanced at Harris and said coldly.
"Why?" Harris looked at her.
Mila stared at him. "Just do it. Now."
Harris didn't waste anymore time and rushed at the shadow. Spinning his spear with extremely fluid movements, he slashed at the shadow, causing a wave of water to gush out at an extremely higher pressure. The resulting wave struck the shadow, causing it to let out another cacophonic scream.
"Why the hell does it keep doing that? I thought it was a wolf?" Keith said as he covered his ears.
But then, the wave of water spread out clearly, allowing the students to see its true appearance.
"As I thought, it's really it. The Purple Scaled Illusion Snake. A great find." Mila said with a chuckle.
....