Is this is the end? Kiera thought as she sharp fangs of the panther were only a few inches from her neck. In that small instant as the beast closed in on her neck, something happened.
BHAM. THUD.
Those were the only sounds she heard as a large wolf, with snow-white fur and deep blue eyes crashed against the panther. The wolf, that stood over little over seven feet tall, had crashed on the panther and pierced the panther's thick neck easily its fang, pushing the panther away from her.
She was saved. By a wolf. A beast? No! A monster! A monster units unleashed form had just saved her from certain death. She watched in shock as the wolf tore open the panther's neck, killing it.
The wolf turned to her. It's mouth was red from the panther's blood. And eyes,… it's blue eyes were staring straight into hers as if checking if she was alright. "I am okay!" Kiera blurted out to the wolf unconsciously as if she knew what it was thinking as it stared at her.
Estrid, Olga and Stella who were still standing, were about to help Kiera before the wolf intervened, could only watch in awe as Kiera spoke to the wolf. Tracy and the dwarves rose to their feet eyes fixed on the monster.
Then the huge white wolf started to glow, and transform. What was a monster seconds ago had now turned into a man. A tall, handsome, young man with long dark hair and deep blue eyes that seemed like they were staring directly into one's soul.
The white wolf that had just transformed into a man,… was Jordan.
Jordan, having just transformed back, was half naked. Only his trousers had survived the transformation.
As Kiera watched the wolf that had just saved her life transform into a handsome young man, her heart began to beat fast. Faster that it ever had even when she was battling dangerous beasts.
Jordan walked slowly towards Kiera, as he got close to her, he stopped and said in his usual soft voice. "I'm glad you are okay."
That was when Kiera knew, she had fallen in love with her saviour.
*
*
It had been a few weeks since our fateful encounter with Dorian and his party. After the incident with the Black Vine Snakes, we went our separate ways. Dorian and his friends had to turn in the Black Vine Snakes they had killed to the guild so they could collect their reward for the completed quest. And we had to continue our three month adventure.
My party members and I had spent almost a week on the forty-third floor fighting beasts, mining ores and gathering other materials that were valuable and could only be found in the dungeon.
After over a month in the dungeon, we were getting used to the life, the routine. We wake up, take our meal, and go have some adventures until we get exhausted and retire for the day.
Today, after heading to the room on the forty-third floor known as a repository for all sorts of ores, we decided to head back to the safe room we had been using on this floor. But today was a little bit different.
As we were heading back, we heard sounds a battle coming from a room ahead of us. We decided to watched how the battle was going before we act. Then we saw a party of nine, seven women and two men, fighting Sabretooth Panthers. The panthers were strong beasts that are known to travel in groups of two or three at most.
But this situation was different. This party were being attacked by nine panthers. Something must be wrong. I thought as I watched the fight. Before we could decide weather to interfere or not, the party members defeated their attackers quickly.
No! There was one more. I could see it. It was hiding in the darkness behind a doorway. But the adventurers must have noticed it too. They look powerful after all. They were able to defeat the nine successfully. But then, the let their guard down.
No! I thought when I noticed the last beast was about to attack an adventurer. I won't be able to cover this distance quickly, I won't be able to save her. Unless… I thought then started to run towards the panther, then…
*Activate Unleashed Monster Form*
*Unleashed Monster Form: This is a form a monster takes when they unleash the form of their clan. For monsters, when they are born, they are in their monster form. When they grow to a certain age and gain a little strength, they enter the Early Innate Realm and gain humaniform. But they ate unable to turn back to their monster forms until after conquering the Final Innate Realm. Then they gain the ability to shift between forms at will.*
My hair started to turn white, my canines started to turn to fangs. My hands turned to paws, my fingers to claws. Then hair started to grow from almost all parts of my body. Then I transformed, into a giant white wolf and sprinted towards the panther.
The beast was already in the air. It's teeth aiming at the adventurer's neck. So I leapt up at it. I got close to it then bit its neck as hard as I could before we crashed to the floor. Then I ripped its neck out with my fangs. My mouth became stained with its blood.
I turned back to check on the adventurer who was almost maimed a second ago. I looked her straight in her brown eyes and thought. Are you okay? Her eyes still fixed on mine.
"I am okay!" She exclaimed to me like she heard what I thought.
I smiled in my head. That's good. Then I shapeshifted back into my humaniform.
Humaniform: A form and/or appearance like a human or like that of a human
My body slowly turned back to normal, but my clothes. Only my trouser was able to remain intact after I transformed without warning like that. My hair colour also returned to the black it was.
I walked close to the human and said. "I'm glad you are okay."
That was when Nick, Jade, Ace and Grey ran inside the room. They must have been caught off guard by my sudden transformation to be able to react to the situation. Well I can't really blame them.
Nick walked up to me and asked. "Are you okay Jordan?"
"I'm alright." I said. Then he handed me a little piece of cloth. "What for?" I asked.
"You have a little…" He said pointing at my mouth.
Oh! I still had a smudge of the panther's blood on my mouth. That is embarrassing. I took the piece of cloth from him and rubbed the blood stain off. I turned to the woman I had just saved. "We can't stay here. It's not safe. Let's head to the safe room." She was ad in armour that made her look like a knight.
"We can't," A female giant (Estrid) standing behind her said. "we won't make it. Look at us, we are exhausted. We have been in battle nonstop since we came out today."
"She's right," the woman I saved finally said. "We need rest. Even if it's for a little while." She turned to her friends. "Thank you for saving me, but we can't leave yet. We'll manage."
Hmm. "Alright then."
"Wait!" Jade said. " What if… what if we helped. We could stay with you guys for a while, until you are well rested. They we can go to the safe room together." Then Jade turned to me and asked. "What do you think Jordan?"
"Sure. If they accept."
"That will be great!" Another woman (Tracy) shouted. "Right Kiera?" She said to the knight.
Kiera. That must be her name.
"Kiera." An elf (Stella) called out. "Tracy is right. We could use the help."
"Alright," Kiera said as she turned back to me. "we appreciate your help." She turned to her friends again and started giving orders. "Olga, Estrid. The three of us still have a little more energy than the rest. We will guard the doorways."
"Sure."
"Got it." Estrid and Olga said.
"Nick, Ace. Assist them." I ordered them to help Kiera's friends guard the doorways.
After Kiera and her party members were well rested, we decided to head to the safe room. Fortunately, during the thirty minutes while they rested, we weren't attacked by any beasts. Maybe it was due to the fact that we stayed together in a large group. Or maybe, it was just luck.
During the time we rested, we had all exchanged names to ease communication between the teams, and to ease our curiosity. Jade had Ace take the lead with Estrid, and Grey handle our rear with Stella. We travelled at a steady pace, so to reduce the strain on people who were still a little bit tired.
"So!" Tracy exclaimed. She was the first to break the almost suffocating silence that was lingering. "Are you guys like famous adventurers or something?" She said to Jade.
Jade looked at he and smiled. "No. We are new actually. We only became adventurers a month ago. And, we have been in the dungeon since."
"Really? A month?" Tracy said. "What rank are you guys?"
"We are all C rank adventurers!" Jade replied her.
"C rank?! Then how come you are in the fifth section of the dungeon. The fifth section in meant for adventurers of B rank and above."
"No Tracy!" Kiera said. "That's wrong. Lone adventurers can only stay in their designated sections. But parties are different. A party, depending on how strong, is allowed to go a section lower that that of their rank."
Tracy's face instantly turned sour. "Oh! Guess I was wrong then."
"Sorry about her." Kiera said to us. "She's just hungry. And when she gets hungry, she just talks on and on."
Jade shook her head at Kiera. "It's alright. We understand."
After that, we continued to walk in silence for a while until Nick moved closer to me and said something I was already considered before.
"Jordan." He called. "Those beasts back in that room. Those panthers. Didn't you find it weird."
"You mean their numbers, right?"
"Exactly. We have been seeing things like this for a while now. Beasts that everyone know to hunt alone, now suddenly form groups and attack people. Perhaps something's wrong somewhere."
I have been considering this long before he mentioned it. Ever since we entered the dungeon a month ago, I have been noticing these changes. First snakes ambushed adventurers, then a boar gained the skill to control other boars. Many other occurrences like that keep happening.
"It's the great change." Kiera said. She must have heard us talking. "Or at least, that's what most people think."
"The great change? What's that?" Nick asked.