Monster-10
Booooom!
-
-
Ouch, talk about a rough landing. I haven't flown this fast in like, three decades. Guess I was getting rusty. I was currently lying face down on the ground. From the massive dust cloud around me as I turned my face up, how big of a crater had I left?
Forming a mental image, I quickly returned my Ability back to normal. The pulsating feeling quickly lessened, though it remained present as compared to before. Yup, I was definitely close to the Crack now. Good. All that’s left is securing the perimeter and waiting for Michae- ?
Wait, I couldn't hear anything, were my ears damaged? I think I broke the sound barrier.
Healing my broken eardrums with my Ability, I stood back up and wiped the dust from my shades and face.
-
"Whiii—"
-
But before the dust cloud around me could fully clear, a sharp whistling sound entered my now-healed ears.
!!
-
Without thinking, I jerked my head down, just in time as I felt the wind from some sort of object slicing through the air above, where my head had been just a second ago.
An enemy? An ambush? I- How? They knew I would be here? How could they have possibly detected the Crack beforehand?
-
-
-
No, this timing felt way too unnatural and out of place. Using my Ability, I generated a massive gust of wind from my body, completely blowing away the surrounding dust cover still obstructing my vision.
I could have used it to give myself heat-detecting vision of the sort to see through the dust, but I was wary, and it was better to keep my cards hidden and acting straightforward. I didn't know how much they knew about me, and I certainly didn't know anything about them.
But as the dust cleared, I found myself staring at a- a……
-
-
A massive, towering figure wielding some sort of two-handed axe. No wait, a halberd? Bundles of loosely-tied cloth covered its lower body, and from the top up, it was completely naked, save for several cloth bands, and small little metal plates here and there, revealing its huge physique and pale-green skin. Massive arms which alone, made your average human look like a puny twig. A pair of bloodthirsty eyes and a toothed jaw snarled at me.
-
A monster.
No. Ridiculous. It had to be an Origin with some shapeshifting capabilities. It-
Shit. The thing in front of me rushed towards me. It was fast. For a regular Origin, that was. It swung its massive halberd vertically towards my figure, clearly intending to cleave me two halves.
Thinking quickly, I sidestepped. The halberd narrowly missed me, before smashing down in a surprisingly refined arc into the ground below. Ok. Despite its burly nature, it seemed to have a lot of proficiency with its weapon.
It quickly pulled its halberd from the ground with a grunt, before slashing it towards my torso with impeccable aim.
I took a step back, allowing the halberd to narrowly miss my chest as it veered off to the side. Yep, thought so.
Either it really was some monster that had emerged through the crack (Which I still have a hard time believing) or it was an Origin with some shapeshifter Ability that was trying to assassinate me. But the latter assumption was seriously losing sway as this thing's onslaught continued.
No plan, no coordination, no allies. After a full minute or so of dodging it whilst maneuvering across the plains, even I was getting seriously doubtful whether if this was even a coordinated attack.
During this time, I picked up a few things about this thing. Firstly, it really was proficient in its weapon. Its swings and jabs were all quite clean and forceful. A sign its been using it for a long time. So whoever or whatever this thing was, it didnt just pop up out of nowhere. Secondly, it definitely had intelligence. I had tried to bait it into some obvious moves, but it managed to avoid those. Well, most of them at least, since it blundered and left itself open a few swings here and there. I didn't try to make use of those openings, per say, since I was still keeping a lookout for any surprises just in case. Lastly though, it was strong. Like absurdly so. I knew it had some degree of strength wielding its weapon so easily, plus its massive arms and physique, but every time this thing moved for a strike, the air around it seemingly exploded accordingly. This thing was really dangerous. To normal Origins, at least.
Anyways, as I was having such thoughts analyzing this thing, I began loosening my focus on our little fight, which was why I found something rather peculiar not too far off from where we were engaging.
-
"Wait, is that-"
-
A little gir- ? Wait……no. It could very well be an illusion. A trick, maybe?
I spotted the nearby Crack hovering near the edge of the forest. Finally found it, but that wasn't what really caught my eye.
Rather, it was the figure of what looked like a sprawled figure of a young girl lying on the ground, right next to the Crack.
Monster-10
Booooom!
-
-
Ouch, talk about a rough landing. I haven't flown this fast in like, three decades. Guess I was getting rusty. I was currently lying face down on the ground. From the massive dust cloud around me as I turned my face up, how big of a crater had I left?
Forming a mental image, I quickly returned my Ability back to normal. The pulsating feeling quickly lessened, though it remained present as compared to before. Yup, I was definitely close to the Crack now. Good. All that’s left is securing the perimeter and waiting for Michae- ?
Wait, I couldn't hear anything, were my ears damaged? I think I broke the sound barrier.
Healing my broken eardrums with my Ability, I stood back up and wiped the dust from my shades and face.
-
"Whiii—"
-
But before the dust cloud around me could fully clear, a sharp whistling sound entered my now-healed ears.
!!
-
Without thinking, I jerked my head down, just in time as I felt the wind from some sort of object slicing through the air above, where my head had been just a second ago.
An enemy? An ambush? I- How? They knew I would be here? How could they have possibly detected the Crack beforehand?
-
-
-
No, this timing felt way too unnatural and out of place. Using my Ability, I generated a massive gust of wind from my body, completely blowing away the surrounding dust cover still obstructing my vision.
I could have used it to give myself heat-detecting vision of the sort to see through the dust, but I was wary, and it was better to keep my cards hidden and acting straightforward. I didn't know how much they knew about me, and I certainly didn't know anything about them.
But as the dust cleared, I found myself staring at a- a……
-
-
A massive, towering figure wielding some sort of two-handed axe. No wait, a halberd? Bundles of loosely-tied cloth covered its lower body, and from the top up, it was completely naked, save for several cloth bands, and small little metal plates here and there, revealing its huge physique and pale-green skin. Massive arms which alone, made your average human look like a puny twig. A pair of bloodthirsty eyes and a toothed jaw snarled at me.
-
A monster.
No. Ridiculous. It had to be an Origin with some shapeshifting capabilities. It-
Shit. The thing in front of me rushed towards me. It was fast. For a regular Origin, that was. It swung its massive halberd vertically towards my figure, clearly intending to cleave me two halves.
Thinking quickly, I sidestepped. The halberd narrowly missed me, before smashing down in a surprisingly refined arc into the ground below. Ok. Despite its burly nature, it seemed to have a lot of proficiency with its weapon.
It quickly pulled its halberd from the ground with a grunt, before slashing it towards my torso with impeccable aim.
I took a step back, allowing the halberd to narrowly miss my chest as it veered off to the side. Yep, thought so.
Either it really was some monster that had emerged through the crack (Which I still have a hard time believing) or it was an Origin with some shapeshifter Ability that was trying to assassinate me. But the latter assumption was seriously losing sway as this thing's onslaught continued.
No plan, no coordination, no allies. After a full minute or so of dodging it whilst maneuvering across the plains, even I was getting seriously doubtful whether if this was even a coordinated attack.
During this time, I picked up a few things about this thing. Firstly, it really was proficient in its weapon. Its swings and jabs were all quite clean and forceful. A sign its been using it for a long time. So whoever or whatever this thing was, it didnt just pop up out of nowhere. Secondly, it definitely had intelligence. I had tried to bait it into some obvious moves, but it managed to avoid those. Well, most of them at least, since it blundered and left itself open a few swings here and there. I didn't try to make use of those openings, per say, since I was still keeping a lookout for any surprises just in case. Lastly though, it was strong. Like absurdly so. I knew it had some degree of strength wielding its weapon so easily, plus its massive arms and physique, but every time this thing moved for a strike, the air around it seemingly exploded accordingly. This thing was really dangerous. To normal Origins, at least.
Anyways, as I was having such thoughts analyzing this thing, I began loosening my focus on our little fight, which was why I found something rather peculiar not too far off from where we were engaging.
-
"Wait, is that-"
-
A little gir- ? Wait……no. It could very well be an illusion. A trick, maybe?
I spotted the nearby Crack hovering near the edge of the forest. Finally found it, but that wasn't what really caught my eye.
Rather, it was the figure of what looked like a sprawled figure of a young girl lying on the ground, right next to the Crack.
