"SCREEEE!*
The massive firebird released a loud cry as its huge body was pulled off the big branch against its will.
It flapped its wings furiously and tried to resist the massive force that was trying to pull it down to the ground.
*Roar!*
Arianne released another roar and increased the power with which she pulled the chains, causing thick veins to show across her monstrous arms.
Seeing that its flapping struggle was proving futile, an angry light shone from the intelligent eyes of the beast.
A ball-sized fireball formed before its mouth in a mere instant and shot at Arianne who didn't even get a chance to react.
A bright yellow light illuminated the dark forest, followed by a resounding:
"KABOOM!"
"Arianne!" screamed Dean with an anxious look on his face, but a second later he had no choice but to use his arms to block his face in order to protect himself from the shockwave caused by the intense explosion.
While the explosion of this fireball was far smaller compared to the previous one that had burned the surrounding 20m of the forest, the speed at which it was formed and launched made up for it as it was almost instantaneous.
*BAM!*
A body impacted the ground, raising a massive cloud of dust.
About five breaths later, the cloud of dust dispersed revealing the situation to Dean and Rosaline's anxious eyes.
Part of Arianne's uniform which had adjusted itself to accommodate her size was burnt in several places.
The smell of burnt flesh permeated the area.
But Dean and Rosaline far from showing worried looks instead relaxed upon seeing all the wounds on Arianne disappear as if they didn't exist in the first place.
This rate of regeneration was simply phenomenal.
Arianne rose from the ground but stumbled a few times before she was able to balance herself.
The previous explosion had disoriented her senses.
The firebird upon seeing that the little vermin that had tried to draw it down was unharmed from its previous attack; it raised its head and released an angry cry.
It felt humiliated.
It was a spiritual beast comparable to an early master realm mage, so it had a degree of intelligence comparable to an infant human.
So, seeing that the peak-level beginner mage Arianne was unscathed even after bearing the full brunt of its attack, a raging flame lit inside it, causing the intensity of the burning flame around its body to rise several degrees.
However, its loud cry suddenly stopped abruptly.
It looked deep into the forest before a startled look appeared on its face.
A shadow seemed to move from deep within the forest but soon after, that shadow left the dark embrace of the forest and appeared fully in its sight.
It was a golden-haired boy with silver eyes.
However, what startled the firebird wasn't the little boy, nor the ape-like beast that soon followed after him before coming to a stop upon noticing the firebird.
The firebird looked far above the tree, and a look of hesitation flashed within its eyes.
It looked down behind Dean, and its eyes fell on the 2m pitch-black snake that was being protected by Dean.
Soon after, the hesitation changed to resolve. It raised its and released a loud cry toward the top of the massive trees.
What greeted it was several strands of webs which shot out at an astonishing speed towards it.
But the firebird was also one not to be trifled with, as it quickly shot out a ball-sized fireball toward the incoming webs.
*Boom!*
The forest was lit up once again.
Arlo who had stopped in his tracks, Arianne, Dean, and Rosaline couldn't help but turn their heads and look at the monstrous entity that was revealed by the light of the previous explosion.
It was a black steel spider with a thick outer skin as hard as steel.
Its size measured about 20m and the terrifying eyes that lined the front of its face sent goosebumps around the body of all those that gazed on it.
The black ape that chased after Arlo fell to the ground, as its body shivered in fear.
In the presence of a stronger beast, it lost all sense of struggle, and could only wait for its death.
As the light from the explosion died down, the several limbs of the spider that were boring into the trunks of the surrounding trees flexed before it leaped with great speed at the firebird.
A great battle erupted.
Arlo quickly moved toward Arianne, "Are you okay?"
Even though there was no visible wound on her body, Arlo couldn't help but worry upon seeing the blood stains on her exposed skin.
Arianne didn't respond and instead shifted her head toward the clash that was ongoing far above the sky.
Arlo furrowed his brows upon seeing Arianne's reaction.
Even though Arianne didn't have any eyes at this moment, he could still tell she was gazing at the firebird.
"We need to leave now!" Rosaline approached Arlo and voiced out anxiously.
Arlo nodded and spoke once again to Arianne:
"Arianne, let us go!"
All he received as a response was a snort that escaped from Arianne's now massive mouth.
Arlo didn't know what to do, but soon after, Dean's voice drifted into his ears.
"We can't leave!"
Arlo turned back to look at Dean who seemed to not want to leave his position.
He looked behind him and saw a pitch-black snake but he didn't pay it any attention and shifted his gaze back on Dean.
He didn't know that somebody else's emotion was in turmoil upon noticing the black snake.
It was Old bro!
"What do you mean?" Arlo asked.
"Those two beasts are here for the snake behind me. And I can't let them have it. No! I won't let them have it!"
Arlo frowned upon seeing the determination in Dean's eyes. This was the first time since he met Dean that he saw the latter this determined to fight for something, to the point of risking his life.
Rosaline pitched in from the side:
"How do you know that they are fighting for the snake? That snake looks like it will soon die and honestly, I don't see anything really special about it."
Dean thought about it deeply but in the end, he could only reply with:
"I just know!"
Arlo sighed upon seeing the resolve on Dean's face.
Turning back, he looked at Arianne who was still watching the intense battle in the sky.
'She is hell-bent on killing that bird, huh?'
Left with no choice, Arlo steeled his heart.
Since his only friends wished to fight, then he would support them to the best of his abilities.
"Anita! it's time to come out!"
'Huh?' Rosaline was confused. But suddenly her eyes widened when she saw Arlo's right upper arm shine with a blue light before a slime appeared on his head.
The 2m pitch-black snake which had been lying on the ground behind Dean with its eyes closed, looking no different from a corpse suddenly snapped its eyes open.
For the first time, a different emotion from the light of indifference shone in its eyes.
Looking at Anita, surprise shone in its eyes before it was soon replaced by fear.
Arlo didn't notice any of these changes.
In fact, none of the people present noticed it except from Old Bro.
Looking at the sprawled-down ape-like beast, Arlo formed a plan.
"Anita, it's time to add more skills to your collection.!"
Anita bobbed happily in reply.
"Are these guys nuts?" Rosaline murmured under her breath when she saw the trio wanted to fight instead of escape.
*****
AN: Thanks to all those who are following the novel,
"SCREEEE!*
The massive firebird released a loud cry as its huge body was pulled off the big branch against its will.
It flapped its wings furiously and tried to resist the massive force that was trying to pull it down to the ground.
*Roar!*
Arianne released another roar and increased the power with which she pulled the chains, causing thick veins to show across her monstrous arms.
Seeing that its flapping struggle was proving futile, an angry light shone from the intelligent eyes of the beast.
A ball-sized fireball formed before its mouth in a mere instant and shot at Arianne who didn't even get a chance to react.
A bright yellow light illuminated the dark forest, followed by a resounding:
"KABOOM!"
"Arianne!" screamed Dean with an anxious look on his face, but a second later he had no choice but to use his arms to block his face in order to protect himself from the shockwave caused by the intense explosion.
While the explosion of this fireball was far smaller compared to the previous one that had burned the surrounding 20m of the forest, the speed at which it was formed and launched made up for it as it was almost instantaneous.
*BAM!*
A body impacted the ground, raising a massive cloud of dust.
About five breaths later, the cloud of dust dispersed revealing the situation to Dean and Rosaline's anxious eyes.
Part of Arianne's uniform which had adjusted itself to accommodate her size was burnt in several places.
The smell of burnt flesh permeated the area.
But Dean and Rosaline far from showing worried looks instead relaxed upon seeing all the wounds on Arianne disappear as if they didn't exist in the first place.
This rate of regeneration was simply phenomenal.
Arianne rose from the ground but stumbled a few times before she was able to balance herself.
The previous explosion had disoriented her senses.
The firebird upon seeing that the little vermin that had tried to draw it down was unharmed from its previous attack; it raised its head and released an angry cry.
It felt humiliated.
It was a spiritual beast comparable to an early master realm mage, so it had a degree of intelligence comparable to an infant human.
So, seeing that the peak-level beginner mage Arianne was unscathed even after bearing the full brunt of its attack, a raging flame lit inside it, causing the intensity of the burning flame around its body to rise several degrees.
However, its loud cry suddenly stopped abruptly.
It looked deep into the forest before a startled look appeared on its face.
A shadow seemed to move from deep within the forest but soon after, that shadow left the dark embrace of the forest and appeared fully in its sight.
It was a golden-haired boy with silver eyes.
However, what startled the firebird wasn't the little boy, nor the ape-like beast that soon followed after him before coming to a stop upon noticing the firebird.
The firebird looked far above the tree, and a look of hesitation flashed within its eyes.
It looked down behind Dean, and its eyes fell on the 2m pitch-black snake that was being protected by Dean.
Soon after, the hesitation changed to resolve. It raised its and released a loud cry toward the top of the massive trees.
What greeted it was several strands of webs which shot out at an astonishing speed towards it.
But the firebird was also one not to be trifled with, as it quickly shot out a ball-sized fireball toward the incoming webs.
*Boom!*
The forest was lit up once again.
Arlo who had stopped in his tracks, Arianne, Dean, and Rosaline couldn't help but turn their heads and look at the monstrous entity that was revealed by the light of the previous explosion.
It was a black steel spider with a thick outer skin as hard as steel.
Its size measured about 20m and the terrifying eyes that lined the front of its face sent goosebumps around the body of all those that gazed on it.
The black ape that chased after Arlo fell to the ground, as its body shivered in fear.
In the presence of a stronger beast, it lost all sense of struggle, and could only wait for its death.
As the light from the explosion died down, the several limbs of the spider that were boring into the trunks of the surrounding trees flexed before it leaped with great speed at the firebird.
A great battle erupted.
Arlo quickly moved toward Arianne, "Are you okay?"
Even though there was no visible wound on her body, Arlo couldn't help but worry upon seeing the blood stains on her exposed skin.
Arianne didn't respond and instead shifted her head toward the clash that was ongoing far above the sky.
Arlo furrowed his brows upon seeing Arianne's reaction.
Even though Arianne didn't have any eyes at this moment, he could still tell she was gazing at the firebird.
"We need to leave now!" Rosaline approached Arlo and voiced out anxiously.
Arlo nodded and spoke once again to Arianne:
"Arianne, let us go!"
All he received as a response was a snort that escaped from Arianne's now massive mouth.
Arlo didn't know what to do, but soon after, Dean's voice drifted into his ears.
"We can't leave!"
Arlo turned back to look at Dean who seemed to not want to leave his position.
He looked behind him and saw a pitch-black snake but he didn't pay it any attention and shifted his gaze back on Dean.
He didn't know that somebody else's emotion was in turmoil upon noticing the black snake.
It was Old bro!
"What do you mean?" Arlo asked.
"Those two beasts are here for the snake behind me. And I can't let them have it. No! I won't let them have it!"
Arlo frowned upon seeing the determination in Dean's eyes. This was the first time since he met Dean that he saw the latter this determined to fight for something, to the point of risking his life.
Rosaline pitched in from the side:
"How do you know that they are fighting for the snake? That snake looks like it will soon die and honestly, I don't see anything really special about it."
Dean thought about it deeply but in the end, he could only reply with:
"I just know!"
Arlo sighed upon seeing the resolve on Dean's face.
Turning back, he looked at Arianne who was still watching the intense battle in the sky.
'She is hell-bent on killing that bird, huh?'
Left with no choice, Arlo steeled his heart.
Since his only friends wished to fight, then he would support them to the best of his abilities.
"Anita! it's time to come out!"
'Huh?' Rosaline was confused. But suddenly her eyes widened when she saw Arlo's right upper arm shine with a blue light before a slime appeared on his head.
The 2m pitch-black snake which had been lying on the ground behind Dean with its eyes closed, looking no different from a corpse suddenly snapped its eyes open.
For the first time, a different emotion from the light of indifference shone in its eyes.
Looking at Anita, surprise shone in its eyes before it was soon replaced by fear.
Arlo didn't notice any of these changes.
In fact, none of the people present noticed it except from Old Bro.
Looking at the sprawled-down ape-like beast, Arlo formed a plan.
"Anita, it's time to add more skills to your collection.!"
Anita bobbed happily in reply.
"Are these guys nuts?" Rosaline murmured under her breath when she saw the trio wanted to fight instead of escape.
*****
AN: Thanks to all those who are following the novel,
