After getting ambushed on the road and separated from her guardian, chased through the forest, and barely escaping no less than two other attacks, she was running out of energy. She hoped that she’d either find friendly faces or lose these beasts behind her, as they seemed practically tireless.
How is their Endurance so damn high for Tier one? Trying to outrun the two canine-type monsters with significantly more stamina than her would have been difficult even on her best day. Efforts to try to climb trees had failed, as these particular beasts shot out bolts of fire when enraged. Trying to hide in trees that were on fire was a decidedly bad idea.
If her heart didn’t burst from this exertion, they would certainly catch up to her, barring a miracle.
I have [Terra Spikes] I can use, but they’re too slow to hit these guys. This is it. I’m going to die. Her breath came in ragged gasps, and her lungs burned from exertion. She dared a look behind her, the two hellhounds hot on her tail.
Great. I'm about to die, and I'm making internal puns about fire-affinity monsters! She vowed she was not dying without a fight today, not when she’d barely begun to live. She saw a streambed up ahead, still flush with water from the recent rains a few days ago. These creatures had an intolerance of water; if she could reach it, she might be able to put some distance between them and her, and lose them in the forest!
One canine opened its mouth and spat out a fiery projectile. The fire bolt shot off to her right, narrowly missing and sending a plume of dirt into her flank. The heat singed her fur, and she gasped; even a near-miss was painful. Keep running, Juni! Get to the streambed, use your [Terra Spike] and uplift a blast of water from the displacement! It’s the best plan I’ve got!
It was the only plan that had a chance against two of these beasts, which, despite being only Tier one, could overpower her as an overgrown mouse.
She swerved to the right when she felt a sense of imminent danger; her instincts had guided her well, as a tangle of thorny roots erupted off to her left, catching the hound closest to her in a snare of brambles.
She had no idea where it had come from, but it was a gift of the divine she wasn't going to waste!
Danger. Dodge left!
She swerved again as the vines erupted just off to her right and behind her, not close enough to lash out, but to try to catch the other hound. She darted between a set of closely grouped trees, squeezing by, feeling the rough bark brush by her flanks. She dared a glance to see the second hound entangled in a shaking, lashing pile of roots that also ensnared it.
She skidded to a halt; they were completely immobilized. Now was her chance to fight! Before she could charge her ability, she saw something arc from the nearby brush —a bright beam of blue light that impacted the flank of the first hound, damaging it and causing it to recoil from the blow.
The hound’s fur stood on end and ignited. The hound turned toward its presumptive attacker, and Juni saw a spray of liquid hit it in the eyes from the same direction. The creature yelped loudly, shaking its head violently. It reached up one loose paw to wipe at the vile green liquid, leaving its eyes bloodshot and gummed up, and stumbled--was it blinded?
“[T-Terra Spike]!” Juni screamed out, throwing out the invocation; she didn't dare to think, only to act. She didn’t really need to shout it out since the Interface automatically did that for most abilities, but her mentor had begun talking about ‘manual activation’ as if it were some sacred thing.
The earth rumbled, and a series of sharp spikes erupted upward in a line toward the hellhound, skewering its legs with the stone spikes. It howled in pain, overwhelmed by the damage, just as another blue bolt streaked by, striking it right in the face.
Incoming, duck!
Juni rolled as a blast of fire rocketed past her, impacting into a nearby pine and instantly boiling the sap. Flaming bark smoldered and blasted outward, peppering the area with wooden shrapnel. The first hellhound had escaped the thrashing vines by incinerating them. The second one lay on the ground, bleeding from the assault of multiple abilities.
The functional one ducked low just as another blast of blue light surged by. The hellhound swerved evasively, now aware of a ranged attacker nearby. He locked eyes with Juni, growling menacingly, his eyes having gone crimson. This one was a feral–no sapience, only an instinct to rip and tear, until their deadly deeds were done.
She backed away on her legs and pulled out another line of defense–[Stone Shield], a protective barrier ability. She waited until the hound charged, then activated it with a flick of her arm. Its deadly teeth opened in anticipation of chomping down on her body.
Wait for it...now!
Well, not entirely defensive. A slate grey stone shield appeared in front of her, aligned with her forearm; it weighed practically nothing to her, but it was a sledgehammer blow to anything it hit. She timed her strike and bashed the hound in the skull while performing a deft sidestep. The hound's skull snapped to the side, and she heard the crack of bones. It was only momentarily stunned, shaking its head vigorously before roaring. Its open maw filled with molten fire, aiming at her to try and finish her off.
A blur of blue and green motion appeared in the corner of her eye, faster than Juni could track. She spun toward its trajectory and saw what looked like a serpentine monster flying through the air and stared in disbelief.
A snake. Flying through the air, fangs bared open, and hurtling towards…the hound?!
Snakes are not supposed to fly--oh, right, flying fireball!
She thrust up the stone shield to block the fiery blast already in the air. The barrier barely contained the blast, causing the stone to turn dull red from the impact. It was uncomfortably warm, but it held.
Meanwhile, the massive snake landed in a coil on the creature’s back, unfurling and wrapping around its torso in a deadly constriction. It bit down with all its might into the base of its neck.
The hound howled and tried to paw the creature off, shaking vigorously, but to no avail. Desperate, it ignited its hair with fire, and the snake sprang away with another one of those uncanny leaps, landing in the streambed nearby. The hound was slow to move, and it bore down on the injured creature. The snake hissed menacingly, as if daring it to approach.
Juni seized the opportunity and launched another [Terra Spike] at the hound while it was still slowed. One spine shot through its torso, impaling it in place. In tandem, the snake summoned blue energy into its tail, flicking the energy forward.
She'd never have guessed a snake could sidearm a magical bolt at a magical beast. Her reality screeched to a halt at a sudden revelation.
That is NOT a monster ability.
Before she could process what it was, the combined damage finally felled the beast. It toppled to its side, dying. A dribble of liquid fire leaked from its maw and scorched the grass beneath it. It twitched for a few seconds, then lay still. Burnt ash began flaking off the creature as it slowly smoldered.
Juni stood panting, overexerted. She couldn’t run if she wanted to. The snake slowly righted itself and slithered over to her. She felt her heart race and stumbled backward. All that fighting to survive, and it was just trying to steal their meal for itself.
“S-S-Stay back! I’m not going down without a fight!” she screamed out, her whiskers on her nose twitching. Realistically, she knew on instinct her mana reserves were almost empty. She might get one last shot of–
The snake stopped, flicking out its tongue as if trying to taste her. It looked right at her and tilted its head in curiosity. “W-What are you doing?!” she stammered. She took another cautious step back. Snakes filled her with a mortal dread that her human soul couldn’t persuade the monster side of her not to fear.
The snake stopped and tilted its head again. It opened its mouth lightly and let out a strange hissing sound. But not in a menacing way. It was…
Was it…trying to talk to her? It shook its head back and forth, as if trying to signal something. Now that she got a good look at it, this snake looked highly unusual. It was almost eight feet long and looked like a python. Yet, it had clear signs of evolutionary traits. The scales on its belly seemed to flex in anticipation, and its bright green and blue color banding, along with the strange gold bands, suggested it was either a sapient monster…or…
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Another Awakened?!
This snake had her dead-to-rights. She doubted she had any strength to run away fast enough from this still relatively fresh foe.
She tried something she thought she’d never do, even as her limbs trembled. “Are you going…to eat me?” she asked hoarsely, her breath still rapid and her heart pounding in her chest.
The snake tilted its head again and then shook its snout back and forth, as if indicating ‘no.’ That single gesture was enough to keep her rooted in place.
She took stock of the last sixty seconds: first, the vines exploding out of the ground. Then the blue bolts that came from the snake. It had an uncanny ability to leap large distances in a way no normal snake could. It had to be Awakened. Had it….
…Had it saved her, just now? “The hounds. Did you…save me from them?” she asked, standing tensed and ready to run.
The snake dipped its head up and down. It affirmed her theory and gave her just enough courage to keep speaking. “I’m going to ask you some questions. Please give one nod for yes, shake your head for no. Do you understand?”
The snake lowered its head and slowly coiled its body protectively. It gave a single nod. It then took a look at itself, and almost shook its head as it saw the char marks on part of its scales, before turning its gaze to Juni. “You understand me?”
One nod. And an incidental flick of the forked tongue. Juni’s instincts screamed ‘run’ at full volume, but her mind said ‘stay’ just a little louder. Her body still shook from the exertion, and she sat on her haunches. If the snake didn’t kill her, adrenaline shock might.
Neither of them moved. She waved one paw to the snake, slowly. “Okay, snake. Are you an Awakened?”
One enthusiastic nod from the serpent gave her an answer she hadn’t expected, given how this day had gone so far. “Okay. You’re like me, then! Do you have a name?"
It shook its head slowly, then glanced around. It slowly unfurled its tail and slid it around to its forward side. Juni tensed, but it instead picked up a small stick lying on the ground. It turned its head to ensure the hounds were down for good, then began scratching lines into the dirt patch between them.
It looked a little clumsy, trying to trace the lines into the loose earth. Juni cautiously tipped forward to read it. She frowned as she looked at the answer. It was in Vaingar, one of the most common languages in the world. She could faintly make out the answer.
She didn't know what was stranger: an Awakened had improvised a way to write, or its name.
“Your name is…Neska?” she asked cautiously. The snake nodded enthusiastically, holding the stick with its tail, wrapped twice around the diameter of the primitive tool. Juni, of course, couldn’t help but giggle nervously. “That’s…that’s an anagram for ‘snake’, though!”
The snake pointed the stick at the name in the dirt…then, pointed it at itself. The movement was quite wobbly, but the intent was clear. “Oh, it is your name. Sorry. I’m Juni Semou. I'm Awakened, too! Second tier. Something closer to human, at any rate,” she added with a shrug of her shoulders.
Neska nodded her head slowly. Juni tried another question. “Can you speak?”
Neska swayed its snout back and forth, indicating it could not. “My goodness, you must be First Tier, your soul must have just reconstituted! You must be an awful mess!” She took a step forward, as if to comfort the snake, but her body told her she was not stepping any closer. The mouse part of her made it clear she couldn’t overcome this instinct fully. Not yet.
No, that’s a snake. It will eat you. The instinct wasn’t words, so much as vibes. Preprogrammed instructions that spoke louder than the conscious mind. Her instructor had taught her that much, and she worried immensely for his safety, even given what she knew of his capabilities.
It certainly hadn’t looked good when they'd gotten separated. He’d taken out four of them, at least, while screaming at her to run when the hounds got between him and her. He’d evened the odds enough for her to survive.
If her instinct wouldn’t let her approach, she could keep talking with the snake–with Neska. She remained seated and folded her paws across her chest. “How long have you been Awakened?”
The snake gave it a thought, wiped the dirt clear, then drew two lines in the sand. “Eleven days?” Juni was a bit surprised that it didn’t seem too long.
Neska shook their head and then awkwardly pointed the stick at each line. Juni’s beady eyes widened. “Only two days?! And you pulled off all of…That?!”
She waved one paw frantically at the dead hellhounds. She noted there was a ping on her interface for their defeat, but she’d shoved the notifications mentally aside for later. Neska swayed its head, as if shrugging softly. Juni grabbed her oversized ears with her paws, unable to comprehend that. “My goodness, that is…well, you must be either very strong, or very resourceful! Those hounds are Tier one, but closer to the second tier based on their danger level. But the monsters don’t get closer to human forms. Usually.”
Neska tilted her head, then drew a squiggle into the dirt. A question mark? Juni stared at her. “You know the tiers of monsters, right?”
Neska shook their head. “You don’t? Okay, but why?”
She shook her head, slower this time, and etched out another clumsy word answer. {Witch.}
Juni had no idea what that meant.
But something was wrong, something that had not occurred to her, until she saw that word. A class, maybe? Or an occupation? “Neska,” Juni said hesitantly, “I saw some of your abilities. I recognized them. You were using what I think were witch hexes. Monsters don’t get class abilities; only humans do. Who else is helping you?”
Neska pointed their tail at the word witch, and then at themselves. Juni stared at the word, as if it had some kind of cipher meaning, unable to comprehend this development.
This made no sense at all. Monsters had their evolutions, but never Class abilities. What was going on here? “Neska, can you use Witch abilities?”
Neska nodded enthusiastically.
They are adamant that they have class abilities. Even my [Terra Spikes] are an evolution ability. What if they do have a class? What does this even mean?
It would be world-shattering. Monsters didn’t get classes. If they had classes, plus evolutions…she shuddered at the thought of what that could mean for humanity. The Awakened could turn the tide of the battle–they could even end this war altogether! Alternatively, she shuddered to think what kind of advantage the monsters would gain if they found a way to use the Interface in that way.
She had to find a way to overcome this communication delay. Think, think, think! Go back to basics, Juni. The Interface is a tool. Can I display messages? Can she?
Only displays of status. But the range is exceedingly limited. No more than a few feet. The overlap of too many interface signals was taken into account for this limitation.
The male voice with a slightly stiff accent had become familiar–or at least, how her brain envisioned the messages from her Interface should sound. This is completely useless! An all-powerful Interface, and we can’t even send private messages on the external projection? Well, at least I can see who she is; at least that basic function is there.
“Neska, can you bring up your status interface? I almost forgot that function exists, but it’s there.” Juni asked quietly. “I wouldn’t normally ask, but…”
The display popped up before she finished asking the question, with Neska wagging her tail to view it. Juni browsed through it.
Neska Aksen. A female. Well, that clarified one question Juni had. The last name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
Then she read the impossible part, and her jaw dropped.
Witch hexes. And monster evolutions. And a Witch designation level. NOT a monster status like her–a Terra mouse. It made her decision-making, even given the chance of being eaten, much easier to justify the risk.
“Neska? We have to get you to the academy. This is…I don’t know if I have words for how important this is!” She felt something was off: why was she alone “Who was your guardian during this? Did you know a witch?”
Neska cleared the dirt with a slow swipe of their tail, then clumsily wrote another series of words.
{Risha. One year. Awakened two days.}
Juni blinked and felt a tingle down her spine, all the way to her mouse tail. That name sounded somewhat familiar. She didn’t know why, though. “Risha was a witch?”
Neska nodded and pointed the stick end toward itself. Mine. Juni leaned in. “What happened to her? Why are you alone out here in the woods?”
Neska sank their head low, shaking their snout slowly and peering at the name, tracing the name gently again with the stick. Juni’s gaze softened as the implication hit her. “She’s…gone, isn’t she?”
A single, slow nod was all Juni needed to know how bad a situation she was in. “What happened?”
{Murdered. By Seekers.}
Juni felt the world grow a bit darker. She lost the person who was supposed to protect her…to the Seekers?
There were just too many questions she had to ask that couldn’t be answered by a minute being spent on each word. What do I do? I can’t keep wandering through the woods alone. I have no idea where the cart is. I lost track of the twists and turns I took. And the only company I have is a snake that can eat me in one bite! Who, strangely, has not done so.
She curled her paws tightly and shook her head. No. Neska is a person. Not a snake. Neska tilted her head again in curiosity, and Juni finally felt her heartbeat slowing to a more manageable rate.
“Neska, I’m going to tell you something important. I was on the way to a training center, along the southern road. It’s still a long way, and we were ambushed. I want to try to find the road, see if Jurik is alive. He’s my guardian; he was the human who tended to me before I Awakened fully. There might be a chance he’s alive. If he is, he’ll keep us safe, help us get to the Academy of the Awakened. You seem competent, and I have a danger sense that warns me when bad stuff might happen. Will you accompany me to find him?”
Neska nodded before Juni could finish. She let out a nervous laugh. “Okay, that’s a big yes, if I ever saw one! Just, please don’t eat me, alright? Snakes and mice, they uh…they don’t normally get along so well.”
Her tail wouldn’t stop shaking, despite the anxious laugh. Neska shook her head vigorously. They hinged their jaw, turned their head to the side, and then pointed the stick at the dead hounds.
Juni felt her anxious shaking recede a little. Even the mouse brain was somewhat convinced, though it remained wary. “Okay, monsters are fair game. But we don’t eat Awakened, right? They’re on our side! We’re on the same side!”
Neska pointed the stick at Juni, then at herself, and gave a deep bow of their upper body. “Okay, good enough for me. We need to find the main road…But I have no idea where it is, though. I got all twisted and turned around thanks to those monsters,” she added with a scowl aimed at the hounds. “We shouldn’t stick around too long. There’s no guarantee that more won’t come looking for us. And the monsters have this weird connection thing where they’re aware of each other within a certain distance. Sometimes. Mostly the smarter ones.”
Neska pointed her tail in a direction, then she gestured to the sun in the sky. “You’re saying…follow the sun?” Juni asked, narrowing her gaze on the snake. “Oh, right! It’s just about noon-ish. If we follow south, we should reach the road soon! Let’s go!”
Juni took the lead, though Neska had no difficulty keeping up, slithering their body forward as if they were gliding on nothing but air. She shoved the mouse instincts away as far as she could manage and proceeded south.
This was certainly not how she expected the day to go, to say the least. She just hoped Jurik had made those hounds into piles of dead meat, and not the other way around.
**Triumphant Fanfare** Juni has joined the party! But where does it go next?
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