Hours blurred as the chariot rumbled onward, until the path narrowed into a jagged pass. They'd crossed it effortlessly before, but today the terrain seemed… wrong.
Every city in Elves was built at cardinal points, the winds travelling in four different directions into a circle, and in the middle was the fortress of Vael'Seraphis overseeing the world and its rules which they had set.
TitanForge resided in the north, and wherever they were on their way, they resided in the west. The journey had already reached hours.
Ravessa's fingers twitched, her gaze sharpening. The chariot lurched as a wheel shattered.
She leapt down as Sora sat in the carriage—puzzled. She glared out into the open and saw that they had stopped at a remote forest, a mystical scent in the air filled with lavender and...
Blood. Though only she had this scent, she was unsure if the others had the same.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
{Threat Detected}
• Danger Level: Critical
• Source: Unknown
• Proximity: Closing Slowly
[Seek Immediate Haven]
Ravessa turned to her, stretching out her hand with a 'Stop' gesture. "Please, be seated," she said, not being able to see the system, "Must be some issues"
Now that she knew that she was the only one who could see this mystical power system, it didn't really matter. Now she wanted to speak of this danger but Ravessa had already departed from her, facing the knights.
"What's the problem?" Ravessa demanded, watching as a guard lifted the broken wheel.
Her eyes traced the deep, deliberate gashes marring the wood. 'This doesn't seem right, now is it?' she thought.
This was not worn or damaged by sharp objects or stones. This was sabotage.
Immediately the bushes exploded. Leaves thrashed as twigs snapped. Sora stepped down from the carruagr, standing defensively.
"Something's coming..."
Ravessa was thrown off by Sora's sudden act but the thrashing diverted her attention. Now they waited, eyes squinted—waiting for the right time to strike any enemy that emerged.
Then—it emerged, white, small, and covered in fur.
It was a rabbit.
Ravessa heaved a sigh of relief at this, chuckling slightly at this. "Curse this.... It must be a false alarm," she said.
As the tension had dropped, something flew from the bushes, taking one of the three knights. A gauntleted hand clawed through the foliage, followed by a grotesque, pallid head—bald, metallic, its jaw unhinged like a broken puppet. Crimson eyes burned like hellfire as the creature unfolded itself: eight feet of obsidian-plated horror, spine arched like a predator poised to strike.
Sora's breath froze. She had seen this monster before, the same one she fought in the dream realm.
'How does one of its kind still live?'
The remnants of the guards' weapons materialized in flashes of light, shields locking into formation.
Then—
Motion.
The thing moved. One moment it stood there, staring; the next, it was on them, its clawed, elongated hands ready to swipe at Ravessa.
Sora's body moved before her mind could catch up. She lunged between Ravessa and the monster, her gauntlets materializing in a flash of bronze and scraps. The creature's claw slammed against the metal fists with a teeth-rattling clang—but though the force sent tremors up her arms, she retaliated, striking its jaw.
But nothing happened. No cut. Not even a scratch.
Sora's stomach dropped. The fists had gone through hardened flesh with ten times more density, before, being equivalent to at least a hundred armor plates—yet against this thing? It barely left a dent.
The guant recoiled, its grotesque head tilting as it examined the little slash across its wrist. Then those hellish red eyes that spelled danger locked onto Sora, glowing immensely.
Sora's body shook slightly as she witnessed the monster's deadly, attack, 'It was fast and strong too, what in the world is it?,' she muttered in her thoughts.
"Be careful, Sora," Ravessa warned, "That is a gold rank monster"
Sora's expression changed slightly as the information of what this beast could be reached her, 'A... A gold rank?,' she thought.
Knights were ranked by class. Monsters held ranks like those of precious rocks.
Bronze. Silver. Gold. Platinum. Mythic.
Now Sora was faced with the first three. Though, she couldn't dwell on what danger this rank possessed for that long before the monster launched at her again with terrifying speed.
Sora materialized her spear, aiming to split its skull, only for the creature to sidestep effortlessly, avoiding the attack before its fist connected with her face.
The impact of the attack rang out hard enough to cause a gust of wind so strong it paved ways towards the bushes.
Sora felt herself airborne, the crunch of bushes beneath her.
The guards attacked as they saw that Sora was rendered useless, but they were disposed of like puppets, knocked by the relentless force of the monster's blows. The mysterious creature now faced Ravessa who stood completely still.
Its red eyes sparked as it roared mechanically, its screeching echoing throughout the area. It raised its fist, bringing it down on the elven woman.
***
It felt like a single blur of time had passed after the attack, with no telling if anything occurred, witnessed by Sora who had just woken up from her slumber, her eyelids parting slowly as she was faced with the night sky, a feeling of grass on her back, and the sound of crackling flames.
From the warmth of the flames, she could feel a cold presence approaching and it seemed to jolt her awake, "Lady Ravessa!!!," she shouted, her hand reaching out only to find herself lying next to a fireplace.
Sora turned, facing the flames as the close presence seemed to be night cold. Crouched there, beside the flames was Ravessa and the rest of the knights tending to their wounds.
"Please," she began, "Just Ravessa alone would suffice..."
Sora glanced at the carriage, already put together, her gaze diverting to Ravessa who was clearly unharmed. "What happened? Where are we? Where's that cursed monster?" she demanded, placing her hand on her head as she groaned in pain.
"Monster you say," said Ravessa, shrugging, "It seems to have run away. My guards were able to inflict some wounds but that's all they could do"
'Inflict wounds? Your guards were already fucked before I was struck' Sora thought.
But how the monster was defeated was not her problem, it was the fact that it roamed free now.
She tried to rise from her feet. "You were only able to damage it?," she muttered, "It still roams... we must locate it!"
The young elf was brought to her knees, the pain from the shock of her battle overwhelming her.
Ravessa let out a condescending sigh. "I'm afraid there is nothing we can do. Your battle with this foe has rendered you weak, the guards aren't worth loosing and monsters ranked in the top three are known for evolving after near death experience." Ravessa's gaze darkened. "The next time we run across this particular one, it'll be faster. Stronger. Hungrier. Rest up for now, we should be safe in the time being, some monsters hate fire"
Sora on the other hand, couldn't shake the feeling that she was close to a near-death experience. She studied the system to see what her mistake could be.
Name: Sora Miragale
Title: Slayer
Stage: 2nd Stage
Class: Chaos User
Rank: C
Physical Amplification (PA): 60
Chaos Output (CO): 45
Adaptation (ADT): 56
Entropy Control (EC): 51
Stability (STB): 55
Mental Resistance: 37/55
Her progress wasn't enough, she had to be stronger. Her rank was at a low point, strong knights were possibly at least S-rank or more which meant she had to go higher.
She stared at her hands—the same hands that had survived the Dream World's horrors—and felt the ghost of that monstrous fist again.
This wasn't a nightmare. This was real. And the next fight?
It wouldn't end with a second chance.
But another thought that crossed her mind was the fact that the mythic had specifically gone for Ravessa first. Was it the fact that it found the woman far more threatening than the rest of them?
'Maybe it was instinct'
Thinking about it wasn't going to do her any good. She needed to rest.
The next morning, the continuation of their journey had finally begun, the four-wheeled carriage was fixed and the chariot horses were properly fed.
The guard that had been taken out had received a proper burial, his lost mana which was an essence every elf, enabling them to use magic was forged with the earth creating a bed of flowers.
As they continued, Sora was left to wonder what happened to elven figures if they died and their mana wasn't forged. 'Could it be that they became something else, like monsters?'
There was no point in thinking about it. It didn't matter.