"August! Get up!"
He wiped his eyes groggily for a second, then shot up to his feet.
He was in the dark forest, and that was his friend screaming. This was not the kind of situation he could be wasting time in.
As soon as he got to his feet, he watched Alia get thrown into a nearby tree. Her armor was torn open and there was a large gaping slash running down her chest, blood spouting from it.
He immediately frowned, not many beasts could manage to break the redhead's skin– much less catch her, but for those that could, reaching him and cutting his body to pieces would be much smoother sailing. From just that single detail, he realized that he would be fighting from range for this battle.
August did not know what left her like that, but he summoned an aura mold and attempted to move towards her, trying to give her a means of creating a new defense for the time being. She was just thrown, so whatever it was that had attacked her couldn't have been too close at the moment.
Suddenly, he was thrown to the side, sent flying by a shadowy figure. He rolled for a few seconds before balancing himself and shooting to his feet.
'I jinxed it, didn't I?'
He summoned four swords, encircling himself and preparing to fire in any given direction. He saw Alia pulling herself to her feet a few meters in front of him and screamed at her.
"What are we fighting?"
The redhead discarded a broken sword and shot a glance at him.
"No bloody idea!" She shouted back.
He summoned another sword in front of her, which she grabbed without hesitation, even considering the blade was bloody. Suddenly, a shadow enveloped him and he felt his ribs crack.
He screamed, and Alia dashed towards him, throwing him aside and attempting to slash at the shadow that had attacked him.
The shadows vanished back into the bushes and August was left coughing and gasping for air.
He heard Alia cursing, then the redhead was thrown so violently that a tree broke under her weight, falling towards his head.
He rolled to the side and pushed himself up, calling upon all the weapons he had, having them appear above the trees, all while dashing over to Alia before letting them rain down around the two.
There was a violent growl, and August saw a shadow leaping towards him. Alia must have seen it too, because she pushed him back and he saw her slash at it, there was a metallic clink and he watched a creature sail back through the air.
He returned his weapons to storage and got back up, watching as the cat-like beast got up and dissappeared again.
This thing was a master of darkness, and neither he nor Alia was capable of fighting what they could not see. August felt a familiar sense of helplessness engulf his body, taking hold on his movements and making him tremble.
Alia looked at him, then shook her head.
"August." She said his name calmly.
"What?" He responded, searching the area with his eyes, attempting to see the shadow.
She sighed and then spoke.
"When I tell you to do it, run."
Suddenly, August found himself glaring at his friend. His body had stiffened and he was now more angry than scared.
"What the hell did you just say to me?"
She did not look at him, and said nothing in response.
"I'm not going anywhere, so don't pull that card on me, got it?"
Alia raised her sword to block an incoming shadow, and August fired a sword at it. He felt his anger slowly swell into a familiar emotion.
Rage.
He was still being looked at like that, she was looking at him like a coward she needed to protect. She was treating him as if he would be a liability in a battle.
He hated that she was right.
Yes, he was becoming much more confident when it came to fighting alongside her, but he still feared dying. He feared many things, in fact, he wasn't very fond of the dark, which is why he opted to sleep through it instead of during the day.
Even so, he was also afraid of being forced to run again, to be dead weight. August feared having to Amandine his comrade once more, leaving his friend to truly die this time.
He was not going to give that fear a chance to become reality.
August summoned the [White Lion's Legacy], and the orb brought some light to the dense forest, even if it was only a dim one. That dim light was more than enough to reveal their adversary.
A black tiger stood before him, dashing toward him. August summoned five lances and shot them at the beast, all five bounced off the beast's hide and the tiger pounced upon him.
Then the beast was violently thrown aside, and Alia's sword appeared where it once was. The metallic clink providing evidence of the sword not breaking skin.
August watched as the sword in Alia's hand cracked, then shattered, and cursed under his breath. The red haired girl looked at him and dropped the hilt in her hands.
"They're not strong enough to cut the bloody thing." she said.
"I can tell, buy me a second." He said, summoning another sword for her to grab.
He closed his eyes as Alia dashed towards the beast, and metallic banging flooded his ears.
Forcing himself to focus, August imagined a pristine longsword. He needed a blade that was forged in the hottest flame possible, perfectly shaped and so incredibly sharp that he would need to measure it's blade width in microns.
Of course, the apex predator that formed this orb deserved nothing less.
He felt his orb change in shape, and then he was holding the leathery wrap of a blade's hilt in his hands.
He opened his eyes, and was nearly blinded. In his hands was a glowing blue longsword, the heat coming off the blade made him sweat profusely, then evaporated that sweat in mere moments.
He was forced to look away as a loud shattering sound behind him coupled with a small yelp indicated that his friend had bought him all the time she could.
He sent the sword to his inventory and looked around, seeing the redhead coughing up blood against a tree.
"Alia! Get ready for this!" He shouted.
The girl in question raised her hand, and suddenly the glowing sword's hilt was clutched in her hand.
Suddenly, the forest was covered in light, much brighter than before this time. The tiger was dashing through the bushes at him, and August prepared his weapons to fire.
He never got the chance.
Suddenly the tiger was violently thrown aside, there was no metallic clink to indicate the monster's skin had held, and the steam that came off the sword told him that the poor thing's body had not been well enough braced.
"August" Alia started "just how much can this thing take?"
August gave her a smile and chuckled.
"This sword was made from one of the most powerful monsters I've ever seen, go for it."
Alia nodded, then assumed a stance he had never seen before.
"Don't blame me if it breaks." She said.
By now, the black tiger was shooting around them, dipping in and out of shadow. The beast appeared in front of Alia, bounding from her shadow, clawing at her face.
And then both of them were gone.