Yuna stood stock still staring at the now barren area of the battlefield. Every blade of grass had been incinerated, leaving behind only earth. Everything that had been caught in the blast had been decimated without even a piece of a carcass left in sight. The only thing that remained in the area was the target of the attack—the hydra.
‘How is that thing still alive?’ Yuna thought.
Though she stood quite a ways from the blast, the shockwave that it created nearly blew her away and would have if she hadn’t braced herself. But the hydra had withstood such a powerful attack and still looked like it had the energy to fight on.
Then something blew right by her, a gray blur that was heading right toward the hydra. Yuna looked behind herself and found that Yuki had disappeared. Her eyes widened as she realised what that gray blur was.
‘Yuki? What is she doing?’ she thought, her head whipping back towards the hydra. Sure enough, there was Yuki, daggers in hand.
‘I need to help her.’
“Yuna,” the communicator in her ear said. It was her corporal. “There are still monsters around. The spell didn’t get all of them. Help with the clean up.”
“Zero went in to fight the hydra,” Yuna replied. “She’s going to back up.”
“And?” Carol said.
“Can I be that back up?”
“You were assigned to her,” Carol said. “If you feel like you need to support her, go ahead. We can handle the other monsters.”
“Thank you.”
“Make sure your girlfriend stays safe,” Carol continued, a smile in her voice. Yuna’s cheeks fired, but before she could reply, Carol disconnected.
‘I’m not her girlfriend,’ Yuna replied in her mind. ‘Well. Yet.’
She shook her head, focusing herself.
‘Protect Yuki,’ she thought. ‘That’s my job. I can’t let her fight a rank S by herself.’
Her grip on her sword tightened before she ran to catch up with Yuki who was fending off all of the heads of the hydra with her twin daggers. But she stopped short of joining the battle. A problem had arisen. There was no opening for her to jump in that would put either herself or Yuki at risk.
“Zero!” Yuna yelled, trying to grab Yuki’s attention. Yuki didn’t seem to hear her. “ZERO!”
Yuki’s head snapped toward Yuna. When their eyes locked, Yuna took a step back. Something had changed. Yuki’s lips were curled up in a small, unnerving grin, her teeth peeking through. Yuna wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or the way Yuki’s aura flickered about her, but her teeth looked sharper than usual.
The most striking change, however, were her eyes. Her pupils had become vertical slits, like a lizard, and her irises had grown, almost no white space left. They were glowing, as well, as if mana had made them spotlights.
‘What happened?’ Yuna thought.
But she didn’t feel scared at this change. A feeling of awe and respect arose instead. Feelings that Yuna wasn’t quite sure why she was having at that moment.
“Clear the area for me,” Yuki said, her voice a low growl that reached Yuna’s ears effortlessly through the sounds of battle. “I’m taking on this lizard myself.”
Yuna looked around, but not a monster was in sight. Any monster that approached even a little bit would immediately turn around and run away.
“There’s nothing to clear!” Yuna yelled.
“Then make sure it stays that way for me,” Yuki replied.
With that, Yuki resumed her clash with the seven headed hydra. Yuna wasn’t sure what to do as the monsters were staying away just fine on their own.
‘Then I’ll just make sure nothing happens to her while she fights the hydra,’ she decided.
But as she watched Yuki fight, that plan faded into the back of her mind. The way Yuki moved about was like watching a dance, a deadly one where one mistake didn’t only ruin the show, but led to death as well. The way she wove in and out between the gnashing teeth of the hydra was mesmerizing. Her blades flashed as she blocked with one and struck with the other.
A ghostly aura surrounded her as she fought, flickering about in intricate patterns. Mana poured out from her in a constant deluge, strengthening her every attack and protecting her from the hydra’s own attacks.
What Yuna found odd though was that besides empowering herself, Yuki seemed to be refraining from using magic to attack. She summoned no earthen spikes, no blades of wind, no fireballs, nothing. She fought only with her blades against a monster whose scales resisted all physical strikes.
‘Why?’ Yuna thought. ‘She knows all of that. So why?’
But Yuki only continued to hammer away at the hydra relentlessly. The hydra tried its best to catch her, but no matter what the monster did, it was never able to touch her. However, from what Yuna could see, it didn’t look like Yuki was hurting the monster all that much.
‘What’s her plan?’
The hydra seemed to only get angrier and angrier the more and more it failed to touch Yuki. Yuki, on the other hand, looked like she was brimming with fierce joy as her snake-like eyes burned bright.
Then the monster seemed to have had enough. It stomped its feet and a blast of air exploded out from it. The blast threw Yuki backwards but regained her footing with ease. The hydra glared at her with its seven pairs of eyes, and Yuki smiled back at it.
“Yuki?” She raised a hand, stopping Yuna from speaking further.
“Brace yourself,” Yuki said, her eyes narrowed as she stared back at the hydra.
‘From what?’ Yuna thought.
The hydra roared, its seven heads in harmony as a monstrous shout reverberated through the battlefield. Then like an anvil dropping on top of her, Yuna’s knees buckled as a massive pressure pushed down. The hydra’s mana flared brightly, its menacing, evil presence slamming against Yuna.
It felt like nails, clawing away at Yuna’s head. She gritted her teeth as she tried to ignore the mana, but it refused to be overlooked.
‘This hydra,’ Yuna groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. ‘I wish it would just disappear.’
The feeling dug deeper and deeper, chilling her to her core. But then it stopped. A small part of her pulsated as it pushed the chill back, a small source of warmth, like a candle in a snowstorm. Yuna didn’t know what it was, but she knew that it was helping her. It was the only thing pushing the presence away. And so, Yuna did what she could to help it.
The only thing she could offer to it was her mana which she pushed towards it hesitantly, not sure if the little core would accept. The core sucked in the offering at once, and Yuna felt it become just a tad brighter. She fed it more and more, watching it with fascination as it continued to grow, shining brighter and brighter. The warmth it gave off bloomed with it, pushing the cold further and further away. Encouraged, Yuna threw everything she could at the orb.
At the touch of such an amount of mana, the orb pulsed, a wave of heat passing through every part of her. The heat burned away every bit of the cold mana from her body. The orb ballooned with it until it was the size of a small watermelon that hovered gently within Yuna’s chest, constantly pulsating as it drove away to the hydra’s mana.
Yuna opened her eyes, her mind clear again. She sucked in a breath and put a hand on the center of her chest. It was warmer than usual.
‘Yuki,’ she thought, her head snapping up. ‘Is she fine?’
She turned her head and found Yuki right where she had been before. She was standing up, her chin thrusted up as she stared at the hydra, her eyes unamused. It was as if the hydra’s pressure had done nothing to her.
‘How?’ Yuna wondered. She was on her knees and couldn’t muster the strength to stand. Pushing away the pressure had taken too much effort. Yet here Yuki was, standing strong.
“That’s it?” Yuki asked. “Then let me have a go.”
A deep reverberation filled the air. Yuna blinked. It was coming from Yuki.
The aura that surrounded Yuki expanded, growing and morphing. It grew a long winding tail, and a head. A head that resembled a lizard’s, but with horns protruding out from it.
‘A dragon,’ Yuna thought as images of dragons from her readings appeared in her mind.
Then Yuki roared, the aura roaring with her. The sound wasn’t anything an elf could create naturally. It was a deep, guttural roar that shook the earth and the air. With it, a pressure followed it, blasting away the hydra’s. But the pressure didn’t touch Yuna. It only skirted around her, as if it had identified her as a friend.
The hydra’s mouths snapped shut and its heads reared back. It backed away slowly, but Yuki marched toward it at the same rate, daggers in hand.
“Run. And never show your face to me again unless you mean to serve me,” Yuki growled, her voice a rumble. “Run, hydra. This is your only chance.”
And run it did. It turned around and darted back into the forest, its tail slithering behind it as it distanced itself as far away from this threat as it could. Yuna stared at where the monster was, not believing what her eyes had just witnessed.
“Yuki?” Yuna said, her voice weak.
Yuki turned around and gave her a small smile, the aura around her fading and her eyes returning to normal. She was back to the Yuki she knew.
“It’s gone now,” Yuki said softly. Then she looked up and sighed. “I’m going to need you to catch me.”
Yuna’s eyes widened as she realized what Yuki meant, and she pushed herself to her feet. She got to Yuki just in time to catch her before she collapsed to the ground.
“Are you okay?” Yuna asked, her brows knitting together.
“Will you give me a kiss if I say no?” Yuki giggled in reply. “But yeah. I’m fine. I just have almost no mana. So I’ll be knocking out now.”
With that, she fell forward, her head stopping to rest a top of Yuna’s shoulder. Yuna knelt there on the ground, not quite sure what to do.
“Need some help?” Akira’s voice asked from behind her. Yuna turned her head and saw her standing there with her arms crossed. “Good job out there. Thanks for protecting her.”
“I would never want to see her get hurt,” Yuna replied.
“My my. So touching,” a raspy voice interrupted.
Yuna swung her head and found a man standing in front of her a few yards away. A pair of black feathered wings extended from his back. He wore black jeans, a leather jacket, and a smirk. Yuna knee immediately this wasn’t someone friendly.
“Who are you?” Akira asked, stepping forward.
“I’m just a lone musician,” the man grinned. “I’m interested in your friend there. The one asleep. I’ll be taking her.”
Yuna stood stock still staring at the now barren area of the battlefield. Every blade of grass had been incinerated, leaving behind only earth. Everything that had been caught in the blast had been decimated without even a piece of a carcass left in sight. The only thing that remained in the area was the target of the attack—the hydra.
‘How is that thing still alive?’ Yuna thought.
Though she stood quite a ways from the blast, the shockwave that it created nearly blew her away and would have if she hadn’t braced herself. But the hydra had withstood such a powerful attack and still looked like it had the energy to fight on.
Then something blew right by her, a gray blur that was heading right toward the hydra. Yuna looked behind herself and found that Yuki had disappeared. Her eyes widened as she realised what that gray blur was.
‘Yuki? What is she doing?’ she thought, her head whipping back towards the hydra. Sure enough, there was Yuki, daggers in hand.
‘I need to help her.’
“Yuna,” the communicator in her ear said. It was her corporal. “There are still monsters around. The spell didn’t get all of them. Help with the clean up.”
“Zero went in to fight the hydra,” Yuna replied. “She’s going to back up.”
“And?” Carol said.
“Can I be that back up?”
“You were assigned to her,” Carol said. “If you feel like you need to support her, go ahead. We can handle the other monsters.”
“Thank you.”
“Make sure your girlfriend stays safe,” Carol continued, a smile in her voice. Yuna’s cheeks fired, but before she could reply, Carol disconnected.
‘I’m not her girlfriend,’ Yuna replied in her mind. ‘Well. Yet.’
She shook her head, focusing herself.
‘Protect Yuki,’ she thought. ‘That’s my job. I can’t let her fight a rank S by herself.’
Her grip on her sword tightened before she ran to catch up with Yuki who was fending off all of the heads of the hydra with her twin daggers. But she stopped short of joining the battle. A problem had arisen. There was no opening for her to jump in that would put either herself or Yuki at risk.
“Zero!” Yuna yelled, trying to grab Yuki’s attention. Yuki didn’t seem to hear her. “ZERO!”
Yuki’s head snapped toward Yuna. When their eyes locked, Yuna took a step back. Something had changed. Yuki’s lips were curled up in a small, unnerving grin, her teeth peeking through. Yuna wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or the way Yuki’s aura flickered about her, but her teeth looked sharper than usual.
The most striking change, however, were her eyes. Her pupils had become vertical slits, like a lizard, and her irises had grown, almost no white space left. They were glowing, as well, as if mana had made them spotlights.
‘What happened?’ Yuna thought.
But she didn’t feel scared at this change. A feeling of awe and respect arose instead. Feelings that Yuna wasn’t quite sure why she was having at that moment.
“Clear the area for me,” Yuki said, her voice a low growl that reached Yuna’s ears effortlessly through the sounds of battle. “I’m taking on this lizard myself.”
Yuna looked around, but not a monster was in sight. Any monster that approached even a little bit would immediately turn around and run away.
“There’s nothing to clear!” Yuna yelled.
“Then make sure it stays that way for me,” Yuki replied.
With that, Yuki resumed her clash with the seven headed hydra. Yuna wasn’t sure what to do as the monsters were staying away just fine on their own.
‘Then I’ll just make sure nothing happens to her while she fights the hydra,’ she decided.
But as she watched Yuki fight, that plan faded into the back of her mind. The way Yuki moved about was like watching a dance, a deadly one where one mistake didn’t only ruin the show, but led to death as well. The way she wove in and out between the gnashing teeth of the hydra was mesmerizing. Her blades flashed as she blocked with one and struck with the other.
A ghostly aura surrounded her as she fought, flickering about in intricate patterns. Mana poured out from her in a constant deluge, strengthening her every attack and protecting her from the hydra’s own attacks.
What Yuna found odd though was that besides empowering herself, Yuki seemed to be refraining from using magic to attack. She summoned no earthen spikes, no blades of wind, no fireballs, nothing. She fought only with her blades against a monster whose scales resisted all physical strikes.
‘Why?’ Yuna thought. ‘She knows all of that. So why?’
But Yuki only continued to hammer away at the hydra relentlessly. The hydra tried its best to catch her, but no matter what the monster did, it was never able to touch her. However, from what Yuna could see, it didn’t look like Yuki was hurting the monster all that much.
‘What’s her plan?’
The hydra seemed to only get angrier and angrier the more and more it failed to touch Yuki. Yuki, on the other hand, looked like she was brimming with fierce joy as her snake-like eyes burned bright.
Then the monster seemed to have had enough. It stomped its feet and a blast of air exploded out from it. The blast threw Yuki backwards but regained her footing with ease. The hydra glared at her with its seven pairs of eyes, and Yuki smiled back at it.
“Yuki?” She raised a hand, stopping Yuna from speaking further.
“Brace yourself,” Yuki said, her eyes narrowed as she stared back at the hydra.
‘From what?’ Yuna thought.
The hydra roared, its seven heads in harmony as a monstrous shout reverberated through the battlefield. Then like an anvil dropping on top of her, Yuna’s knees buckled as a massive pressure pushed down. The hydra’s mana flared brightly, its menacing, evil presence slamming against Yuna.
It felt like nails, clawing away at Yuna’s head. She gritted her teeth as she tried to ignore the mana, but it refused to be overlooked.
‘This hydra,’ Yuna groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. ‘I wish it would just disappear.’
The feeling dug deeper and deeper, chilling her to her core. But then it stopped. A small part of her pulsated as it pushed the chill back, a small source of warmth, like a candle in a snowstorm. Yuna didn’t know what it was, but she knew that it was helping her. It was the only thing pushing the presence away. And so, Yuna did what she could to help it.
The only thing she could offer to it was her mana which she pushed towards it hesitantly, not sure if the little core would accept. The core sucked in the offering at once, and Yuna felt it become just a tad brighter. She fed it more and more, watching it with fascination as it continued to grow, shining brighter and brighter. The warmth it gave off bloomed with it, pushing the cold further and further away. Encouraged, Yuna threw everything she could at the orb.
At the touch of such an amount of mana, the orb pulsed, a wave of heat passing through every part of her. The heat burned away every bit of the cold mana from her body. The orb ballooned with it until it was the size of a small watermelon that hovered gently within Yuna’s chest, constantly pulsating as it drove away to the hydra’s mana.
Yuna opened her eyes, her mind clear again. She sucked in a breath and put a hand on the center of her chest. It was warmer than usual.
‘Yuki,’ she thought, her head snapping up. ‘Is she fine?’
She turned her head and found Yuki right where she had been before. She was standing up, her chin thrusted up as she stared at the hydra, her eyes unamused. It was as if the hydra’s pressure had done nothing to her.
‘How?’ Yuna wondered. She was on her knees and couldn’t muster the strength to stand. Pushing away the pressure had taken too much effort. Yet here Yuki was, standing strong.
“That’s it?” Yuki asked. “Then let me have a go.”
A deep reverberation filled the air. Yuna blinked. It was coming from Yuki.
The aura that surrounded Yuki expanded, growing and morphing. It grew a long winding tail, and a head. A head that resembled a lizard’s, but with horns protruding out from it.
‘A dragon,’ Yuna thought as images of dragons from her readings appeared in her mind.
Then Yuki roared, the aura roaring with her. The sound wasn’t anything an elf could create naturally. It was a deep, guttural roar that shook the earth and the air. With it, a pressure followed it, blasting away the hydra’s. But the pressure didn’t touch Yuna. It only skirted around her, as if it had identified her as a friend.
The hydra’s mouths snapped shut and its heads reared back. It backed away slowly, but Yuki marched toward it at the same rate, daggers in hand.
“Run. And never show your face to me again unless you mean to serve me,” Yuki growled, her voice a rumble. “Run, hydra. This is your only chance.”
And run it did. It turned around and darted back into the forest, its tail slithering behind it as it distanced itself as far away from this threat as it could. Yuna stared at where the monster was, not believing what her eyes had just witnessed.
“Yuki?” Yuna said, her voice weak.
Yuki turned around and gave her a small smile, the aura around her fading and her eyes returning to normal. She was back to the Yuki she knew.
“It’s gone now,” Yuki said softly. Then she looked up and sighed. “I’m going to need you to catch me.”
Yuna’s eyes widened as she realized what Yuki meant, and she pushed herself to her feet. She got to Yuki just in time to catch her before she collapsed to the ground.
“Are you okay?” Yuna asked, her brows knitting together.
“Will you give me a kiss if I say no?” Yuki giggled in reply. “But yeah. I’m fine. I just have almost no mana. So I’ll be knocking out now.”
With that, she fell forward, her head stopping to rest a top of Yuna’s shoulder. Yuna knelt there on the ground, not quite sure what to do.
“Need some help?” Akira’s voice asked from behind her. Yuna turned her head and saw her standing there with her arms crossed. “Good job out there. Thanks for protecting her.”
“I would never want to see her get hurt,” Yuna replied.
“My my. So touching,” a raspy voice interrupted.
Yuna swung her head and found a man standing in front of her a few yards away. A pair of black feathered wings extended from his back. He wore black jeans, a leather jacket, and a smirk. Yuna knee immediately this wasn’t someone friendly.
“Who are you?” Akira asked, stepping forward.
“I’m just a lone musician,” the man grinned. “I’m interested in your friend there. The one asleep. I’ll be taking her.”
