The Mother of Monsters

Mack let out a shout of surprise, throwing himself forward and rolling as best he could. His whole body hurt from the effort but at the very least he managed to pull it off, popping back up to his feet and turning just in time for the creature that had pounced at him to change direction in its hot pursuit. He threw up his arms, channeling mana and casting Halo. The thing crashed into him and let out a shriek of pain, its claws failing to find purchase in its moment of disorientation. He staggered back a few steps with the force of the impact, panting hard. 

“What are these things?!” He shouted, looking frantically around for the person that was supposed to be watching over him. A low bubbling growl drew his focus back to the creature that slipped through the tall grass, the only sign of its passing the parting of the grains. He took a few more steps back and felt his back press against Delilahs. He glanced back at her, panting hard. “You alright?”

“I'm fine!” She called back, “You?”

“I’ll live!” He said hastily as the parting grass grew a little closer. The creature was moving slower, more cautiously, it didn’t like how his halo felt. He glanced back over his shoulder one more time and spotted the dark haired woman sitting on top of a rock just a few dozen feet away. She was kicking her feet and casually watching as they fought for their lives. She met his eyes and gave him a big smile. It was so hard to believe that she was a Demon Lord in disguise. He let out a sigh and looked back at the shifting grass, she wasn’t going to help him directly.

Behind him, Delilah let out a gasp of alarm and something clanged loudly. He didn’t dare look back with the thing getting closer but he figured she’d just blocked another attack. “I can’t get a bead on them long enough to use my journal!” Delilah sighed, “The grass is too tall!” 

He frowned as he kept his eyes on the approaching creature, trying to follow what little of its movements he could. It still wasn’t approaching him as long as he had his halo active but he couldn’t have it up forever. He huffed and reached for his waist. He shot a glance to the side at the Queen, she didn’t so much as blink when he grabbed at his sword. She’d said that the point of doing this was to hunt, gain experience, practice with their abilities, and level up. Yet he still hesitated to draw his weapon. He shot her a look again and she narrowed her eyes at him a little.

“Are you misunderstanding something?” She called out.

His fingers flinched over the hilt of his weapon. It was a better sword than the one he had been struggling with up to his current level. Far better. It felt almost weird using it but the Queen hadn’t even so much as blinked when she handed it over. He swallowed hard and shifted a bit, moving to make sure he was poised between the creature approaching him and Delilah. Delilah, meanwhile, shifted a bit to make sure she was watching his back properly. “I don’t know!” He shouted, “I don’t think we should-”

The queen scowled, “I do not claim every monster in these wilds as my children, you stupid boy, some refuse my call,” She said sharply. “Monsters fight with one another, consume one another, they exist and die, they are beings of struggle and strife,” She explained, “Their lives are cruel and short in many cases but they are at their core killing machines. I am protective of the ones I have claimed, yes, but if you are holding back out of some manner of deference, you might as well drop that aura and give it your neck,” She hissed, “Because you are insulting it and myself.”

He flinched at the flint in her tone and grit his teeth. It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d fought a monster. He was level eight for heaven's sakes! What was he doing acting like some know-nothing newbie? He cursed colorfully under his breath, getting a small jolt reaction from Delilah.

“Mack!” She gasped.

“We need to stop messing around, Del,” He bit out, “I’m clearing the grass.”

“How are you supposed to do that without them jumping on you the moment-” She paused when she felt his presence begin to change. He drew his weapon and pointed it in the direction of the parted grass, where he expected the creature to come from, and concentrated on his very first aspect and its most basic power.

He activated the ability and instead of turning his presence all the way down to nothing like he had so many times before in order to survive their desperate scramble to get across the Wilds, he turned it up as high as he dared. Far higher than he’d ever done it experimentally. The plan was to drive off the creatures for a few seconds to get enough time to cut some of the grass. What came next, though, was a very different result. The faint halo that glowed in outline around his body intensified, blasting out along with his own natural presence. The creatures in the grass let out shrieks of pain, hissing and scrambling back as portions of the grass started to hiss and burn.

He blinked, “O-oh!” He gasped, “That’s what it meant!”

“What did you just do?” Delilah asked.

“One second!” He called back and began swinging as hard as he could at the grass around them, cleaving a clear ring around themselves low enough that the creatures could no longer hide in it. He winced a little as he felt his mana start to plummet, the effects of [Control Presence] and [Halo] combining into a far more significant drain on his resources. He hacked and cut as quickly as he could, moving around to cut at the grass around Delilah while she turned with him to keep a lookout. When enough room had been cleared he turned his presence back down, relaxing the effects. The drain on his mana slowed to a trickle and he brandished his sword, “Okay,” He murmured, “Now we can do this.”

Behind him, Delilah nodded and held out her hands as the creatures slunk out of the grass. He could finally get a good look at them. They looked like hairless voles covered in scales rather than fur. They were also the size of medium-sized dogs. The creatures pulled their lips back, showing off rows of razor sharp teeth as their tiny hands twitched spasmodically. He could see faint burns and marks on their scales, probably from him blasting his halo like he had. He squared up a bit more, “Been a while since we were in a direct fight,” He muttered.

“It has,” Delilah said, “It’s been either hit and run, or just run, for so long.”

He met the creature’s eyes and it hissed at him. He wanted to identify it but he needed to level up a bit more to do it at will, according to the queen. He licked his lips just as the vole-thing lunged at him. Now that he finally had a clear shot he took it. He tried out his second new ability, [Luminous Strike], taking a quick step forward and swinging with all his might. He caught it on the side and it let out a shriek of pain as light flashed against its flesh with the blow, hitting the ground. He pushed forward, raising the weapon and bringing it down with a quick strike just as the sound of several small pops and cracks rang out behind him. He drove the weapon all the way through and the creature went still.

He looked up from his felled opponent at the pulverized beast at Delilah’s feet. It looked like it had been wailed on with a really big, round headed hammer. Crater-like impact spots all over its broken body hissed slightly with the residual energy of her spells.

“Ouch,” He grunted, lowering his weapon as she turned and beamed at him.

“I actually hit something on my own!” She said delightedly, “Not just experience from an assist!”

He grinned at her and walked over, holding out his fist to bump with hers. Their moment was immediately interrupted as the azar disguised as an elf, Azrael, appeared next to them. She crossed her arms and tilted her head, “What are you two celebrating for?” She demanded.

They looked at her in confusion as she gestured towards the grasses behind her, “Scrabbs hunt in packs and are vengeful to a fault,” She said with a wild grin. “Good luck!”