"....."
"..."
"Where am I"
"... And…. Why is everything so dark"
"COME NOW MY CHILD"
"SURELY YOU WON'T ALLOW THESE WEAK FOOLS TO DEFEAT YOU SO EASILY?"
"M..Mother.."
"I WILL GIVE YOU ONE MORE CHANCE…. DO NOT FAIL ME"
"Yes Mother"
.
.
.
.
Ink black eyes opened and looked around, seeing the bodies of its prey, it glared at Ashley's body, which rested in such a deep sleep she almost looked dead, but the beast could smell the blood still coursing through her veins and hear the faint breath which left her body. The raucous cracking and rearranging of bones can be heard.
"CRRRSHHK CSSSC SHHHCK" The popping of dislocating bones was so forceful it would surely cause one to recoil in their own skin, suggesting if they tried hard enough, they might be able to tuck their head and limbs inside their torso for safety much like the average turtle, therefore deafening this horrid sound. Nails tore through flesh, growing longer, and curling over becoming more claw-like than ever. The spine protruded from the back, with a now tattered, bloody, membrane thinly covering it. It splintered in such a way that resembled spines while the back itself was stretched out, muscles swelled, the jaw hung low looking almost disjointed. The arms could now drag against the ground even when in an upright position. While the legs had a new curve, creating a wolf like structure. The beast now approached Ashley in its new bulked up state.
"I need to wake up."
" My body should be healed enough for me to offer some kind of aide." Ashley thought while she stared into the dark abyss of sleep.
Suddenly she opened her eyes as she attempted to get right to her feet, wincing a bit from pain but successfully doing so, making sure that she wouldn't be tempted to lay there for a bit. Afterall, she can assess the current level of damage by how much her body aches while moving. She didn't have much time to process that however as she noticed Akira and Totara laying face down and passed out on the floor with only some minor injuries. On top of that, she had an ugly, beefed up creature coming towards her at a sluggish speed. The only redeemable feature of it was the long black hair and remaining purple scales on its body. Seeing the dire situation she was in, Ashley could not help but try and lighten the mood for her own sake.
" You know…that is not what they mean by a glow up lady, although, I do have to say the muscles you got are quite impressive." She quipped a small smirk on her slightly bloody and bruised face.
"SSShut up little girl." Scoured the beast, who was now upon her, swinging its arms like an ape and launching itself towards Ashley. Ashley jolted to the side only to yelp in pain due to her injuries, but knowing this the beast timed itself perfectly so that it could outstretch its arm and slice open the back of her calf.
"AGHHHH I GAVE YOU A COMPLIMENT!" She yelped out in shock before landing to the right of the beast.
"… Oh wait, it was a bit backhanded. That's what you get for being the perverted freak of nature that you are." Ashley stated in a neutral tone of voice.
Managing with the pain she dashed towards Akira and Totara. Knowing that none of them could deal with this beast alone before its first transformation, and now even more so, continuing to run she took something from her pocket that she had bought before entering the dungeon.
Honestly she was surprised it had not broken a while ago but as they say small blessings. Snapped it open, the contents of it wreaked sulfur and rot yet she stopped next to the unconscious boys and sprinkled some in front of their faces.
Faces distorting in a way that conveyed disgust, Akira and Totara groggily exclaimed "Who died!"
Seeing this the young woman smiled before dodging to the left out of instinct, looking back at the monster she fired a volley of fire arrows trying to keep its attention away from the still slowly rising boys.
While Ashley took the attention she had from the beast to redirect it to the opposite side of the room. Sitting up to see the situation, his eyes widened in shock and worry, Totara blurted "W…What is Ashley doing?! She's going to be completely eviscerated." before standing to his feet only to slightly stumble and catch himself.
"Better question is, how long were we asleep for this creature to become even more grotesque? Did we not kill it? How are we to stop this thing?!" Akira said in an almost dumbfounded, angry and fearful tone. Still sitting on the ground.
Grunting, Totara standing up offered Akira a hand to get up. Once they were both on their feet Akira shot a spear of ice at the beast's ribcage distracting it. Ashley, seeing this, gave a look to Akira as if to ask if they were ready for her to bring the monster back around. With a slight nod from Akira Ashley hollered:
"Hey I can see why you'd have so much beef with me. I mean I am the one who's gonna escort you to the afterlife." Somehow, Ashley had a bit of pep in her step, almost hopping along despite being not fully healed and the ghastly injury on her calf. However, the way her skin and muscle buckled in and out felt so weird and uncomfortable she would instinctively say "Oh ow" or "Agh" even though there was nothing but a weird tingling/pulling sensation coming from the wound it was concerning but she would have to worry about that later.
She used a quick burst of flames to scorch the wound shut and as she got closer to Akira she could feel some kind of connection begging to grow stronger. It didn't take long for the beast to catch up to her and so Totara and Akira both tried to grasp an arm but it was as if they were turned into itty bitty ants easily shaken off. Totara landed face first into the ground spitting a mouthful of dirt out. Akira on the other hand slammed into Ashley's back, causing her to pivot a full 180 to help him back up. His hand was ice cold and she noticed a single streak of white hair beginning to appear on his head while her hand was actively glowing with power which reacted strangely to Akira's. A thin line of purple lined their hands wherever contact was made.
As she flung him back to his feet they grasped each other's hands tightly. While running they took their intertwined hands and shot a small bit of ice and fire which created deep red, blue, and purple hues of flames with clouds of frost emitting from the flames. Looking once more at each other with surprise and awe of this power combination they knew exactly what to do.
"Hey Ash do you have a plan"
"Nope, I was hoping you did.."
"...Well I have an idea"
"I'm listening?"
"We need to end this in one big attack",
"Akira.. Neither you, me or Totara have enough energy to do such a feat".
"I know bu-
Out of nowhere, the beast veered its arms into them. Sending them crashing into a wall, all the while they kept hold of each other's hands as if being controlled they outstretched them towards the beast.
"Awww how cute." The beast's monotonous tone continued as it walked towards the two.
"What are you gonna do now? You all are so weak compared to me, I am a goddess, a being beyond comprehension. I will finally tear you limb from limb unless you are trying to contest me with the power of friendship. Your stupid little hands joined together HAHAHA oh~ how I love teasing but never mind with that. Let's get to the tearing you apart–"
The beast's words were cut off when it felt a sense of dread, as sigils ice and fire and symbols of a language long dead started to appear and float around the teens, Ashley's hair started to burn once more but this time it burned a brilliant orange while a fiery aura burned the air around her. While for Akira more snow-like streams grew in his hair before half of his head was white and the air around him and the wall behind him began to freeze and crystallize.
The two's power started to form a small orb of power before it grew and grew becoming the size of their combined hands, the white and orange power continued to swirl before mixing and forming an ivory blaze.
"YOU TWO ARE DEAD!!!" It screamed for the final time.
The beast roared loudly as it charged at them with everything it had, raising its arms about to slice the two teens.
"FOSFER"
"Is this how I die?"
"... I am sorry moth-"
"FOSFER" Akira and Ashley shouted in sync, exerting all their strength through their arms and out their hands. The beast's head and surrounding bits of the chest was blasted clean off. No head, no heart, and seemingly unable to regenerate, the beast was finally destroyed. The bones of the area were in perfect condition, completely cleaned of all blood and grime. The flesh now visible was not frozen, nor burned, but had the texture and look of a freeze dried substance.
Looking down Ashley realized her thigh had been stabbed all the way through by the beast's claw. Next to her Akira was already passed out, with her heart and head pounding too loud to bear she followed suit. Blurred vision allowed her to see the shadow of a person walking towards them.
"We found them"
That is all she heard before everything went black once more.
.
.
.
.
.
Name: Akira Rose Dell
Moniker: ?
Rank: Mid B - Low A rank adventurer
Power: Unknown
Fighting style: Art of the lone fox
Race: Human
Skills: Kuraokami's maw, ?
Combo Skill: Frost burn... Requirements: Ashley Redwood, ?
Personality: Akira to many who don't know him will see him as cold and don't care, but to those who have gotten past his cold exterior he is kind and caring in his own way tho he will hardly show it.
.
.
.
.
.
Name: Ashley Redwood
Moniker: Flame Princess, ?
Rank: Mid B - low A rank adventurer
Power: Fire manipulation
Fighting style: Boxing
Race: Elf
skills: Fire sword creation, Fire arrow creation, Fire javelin creation, Flaming Boxing gloves.
Combo skill: Frostburn.. Requirements: Akira Rose Dell, ?
Personality: Ashley is kind and caring with a strong spirit, she has always been ready for an adventure and very easygoing, But when the going gets tough she's ready for anything with a smile.