Everyone stared as the elixir started taking its effects; for most of them watching this has turned into a routine since it's a yearly event, but this time one of the regulars paid more attention than was necessary.
The curious bystander noticed that something was wrong with the process. Even though it's supposed to be painful, it should only last a few seconds, not as long as it did in front of their eyes.
[Sage Eye]
Sillia, who was the one watching closely, walked towards the screaming girl, using her ability to see what was the problem, the mental barrier that blocked any interruptions. No matter what they tried, it now welcomed her, like a parent concerned about their child.
After walking through the entrance created inside Luna's mind space, she exhaled. 'For the first time in sixteen years, I succeeded in entering this place.' The short woman chuckled as she explored the girl's mind.
Unluckily for Sillia, most information inside was still blocked, ruining her plan of teasing Luna later. It seemed that this level of urgency wasn't high enough for the barrier to abolish the censorship completely.
The usual calm blue hue of a mental space was now fiery red, signaling the dire situation of her mental state.
The deepest parts of the young girl's mind were now being trailblazed by Sillia. The core, which manifested itself into a curled-up Luna in her purest form, was shining brightly. But it didn't sting in her eyes; it was very pleasant, pulling the sage in.
"Just like I thought," the woman said while inspecting the core. Unstable pulses shook the entire space around her. "Well, it makes sense since the elixir is made out of monster materials."
Ingredients used in preparing the mixture were specifically made to be absorbed all at once; if Luna's ability devoured only a part of the ingredients before they circulated in her body, the rest of them would leave her paralyzed for life.
The only thing Sillia could do was support the process and hope that the core would stabilize itself with the girls sheer willpower. With a few hand gestures, the short woman's palms began glowing with a soothing light, matching the core's pulses and color.
At the same time outside, Luna was rolling on the ground in pain. Not noticing the kneeling body of her auntie.
'It hurts too much! Think! Think!'
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'I can't let it get absorbed... Don't fall asleep!' The pain was so great that she started foaming at the mouth, feeling her consciousness fade.
'1000... 993... 986... 979...'
Suddenly a warm feeling spread through her body, starting at the brain and ending all the way in her toes. It somehow lessened the pain, which helped her with pushing through it.
Luna sank her fingers in the ground below as the entirety of the elixir was almost absorbed. Her veins bulged, muscles tensed up, and her right eye started bleeding. The purple iris changing color to vermilion, signaling her successful passage.
"And with that!" Rogard ran towards her, preventing her from falling face-first on the ground. "Luna became part of the Wolf Corps!" The entire crowd cheered as loudly as they could.
But the exhausted girl went right to sleep.
...
When Luna opened her eyes, she could see all of the slayers celebrating her success by dancing and drinking as much as possible around the entire fort. The storage was being emptied of the best food they could find.
Drunk Rogard was dancing with one of the other slayers in a wig, mistaking him for a beautiful woman.
She turned her head and saw that Dirk was the one looking over her while she was sleeping.
"Congratulations. Now you are one of us." He put the palm of his hand on Luna's forehead, checking if she was sick. An unreadable expression on his face.
Luna slowly stood up, feeling buzzing in her head; everything around felt way more vibrant, way sharper. The smell of beer, which was meters away from her, hit the nostrils like a truck.
"Is that how you feel at all times?" The intoxicating smell of the beer kept rushing into her nose, forcing her to block the airways with her fingers.
"Yes, but you will get used to it with time. You should thank her." Her uncle pointed towards Sillia sleeping on one of the benches behind. "The entire time you were asleep, she was making sure everything was okay."
That came as a surprise, the always bitchy and annoying Sillia caring for her. It was true, though; she remembered the sudden warmth from earlier. She hesitantly walked towards the short woman. Putting her head close to her ear.
"Thank you, Aunt Sillia..." She whispered, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment. She could feel something twisting deep in her stomach, almost like an emotional barf. But she couldn't just not thank her; after all, she would be dead without her help.
The feast got worse and worse as everyone around her had gotten drunk, even Dirk and recently awoken Sillia. Evening approached quickly, and the sky became dark.
Luna walked towards Rogard, who was surrounded by mugs, most already empty but some still half filled with beer. "What about other candidates? They still didn't come back." The older slayer looked at her and gasped loudly.
"Enad ulcichil!!" After screaming, he puked all over himself and fell asleep. Everyone around was in a similar condition.
'Those damn drunkards!' Luna had a bad feeling about this.
She grabbed a few potions from the drunk slayers but also took some time to find a blanket in the storage room, putting them away in one of the storage compartments in her bag.
After preparing everything as fast as possible, she ran towards the thunder wolf's den, determined to save the five other contestants.
The effects of the elixir were already being felt, letting her react to things faster.
Densely covered forest, which she wasn't able to traverse by running earlier, was now nothing more than a playground for her.
Stormy clouds appeared in the sky, covering everything below them with heavy rain. Pulses of cracking light kept lighting the sky.
When Luna saw that, she froze instantly, her eyes opening widely and her hands shaking.
The warnings from the "compendium of monsters" flashing in front of her eyes.
THUNDER WOLF ENCOUNTER DURING RAIN
If you spot one of these bastards in rainy weather, you should drop everything and run away. And if that weather turns into a thunderstorm... you are as good as dead.
There was not a single person in the entire fort that didn't know that; not even the most experienced slayers dared to try their luck against such an opponent.
'I can't just leave them behind. Maybe if I create an opening for them...' She was either overconfident or just stupid, but that didn't matter right now.
Without any plan, she pushed onward, quickly getting out of the thick forest to a small field in front of the den.
She could see four of the five candidates lying on the ground with wounds all over their bodies. The last one stood in front of the beast, barely breathing.
The thunder wolf lunged towards him with a clear intent of killing him.
Luna Thunder stepped to grab the sword lying next to the unconscious body of one of the contestants.
Then with another step she stopped in front of the beast, and with a clean hit to its head made it fall to the ground, surprising herself with the newfound power dwelling inside her. Giving her some hope of winning.
"No time to explain! Just run to the fort for help!" She pushed the guy she just saved aside, not even letting him speak.
He didn't need any extra convincing, escaping as fast as possible into the forest. Leaving Luna one-on-one with the prey in front of her.
The wolf sensed the power of its opponent and began bouncing between the droplets of rain, accelerating with each jump.
Electricity crackled around him like a shield thanks to the water's conduction.
To its surprise, Luna chased after it, thunder-stepping from droplet to droplet behind it, barely succeeding even with the help of her heightened senses.
'This is so much fun!' The girl looked down, loving the altitude that this new power allowed her to reach. 'I feel so free!'
Even though one wrong move would lead to her death, she couldn't stop smiling.
ROAR!
The wolf called the thunderstorm to strike it repeatedly, surprising Luna.
There was no mention of such an attack in the books; she had a hunch as to why.
'Better stop it or I will be dead.' If it wasn't mentioned in the book, it meant that no one has ever lived to tell the tale.
The rain got worse, falling faster and harder, making it difficult for Luna to balance the dashes.
But the weather got so bad that she couldn't keep up at all, making her time the dash wrong and fall.
On her way down she could see the lightning strikes hitting the wolf, making it cry out in pain.
A blue light got brighter and brighter in the creature's mouth due to the sheer amount of energy it had stored.
Luna landed gracefully without breaking her eye contact with the wolf.
She looked around to see that the four contestants were right next to her.
'Shit, I need to move away from here!' She ran with everything she could to make the distance between herself and them.
Dark clouds rumbled loudly, tearing wide open as the biggest thunderbolt yet hit the monster.
With the final strike, the sky cleared and the rain stopped. The entire forest went silent for a moment, like a calm before the storm.
Light inside the wolf's mouth turned into a blinding color, overflowing and tearing its skin apart.
All of the power stored inside was released at once at Luna.
A bright laser beam big enough to eat the girl whole shot out, creating a sonic boom and killing the beast.
It shone so brightly that everything around looked like it was in the middle of the day.
"Oh shit!" Path of destruction swallowed the girl whole, leaving nothing but rubble in its way.