*****
Burial Monarch
Rare
Level 11
Type: Burrowing Beast Type
*****
"It’s only a level 11! We can kill it!" Theo called out loud.
When Clara and Elias were close enough, they hurled their daggers and shot the arrows at the creature, only to face a horrifying conclusion.
Their attacks rely struck the creature’s exterior, but none of them seed powerful enough to pierce deep enough to truly harm it.
"Its hide is literally made of stone, young master!" Clara yelled, raising her voice, knowing well that it was the only way to make sure everyone was on the sa page.
Theo focused on his landing, and when he was near the ground, he rolled on it again, but that roll turned into two instead, making him experience a crushing pressure on his back.
He quickly turned to look at the creature up close. It was massive, so large, in fact, that it took its ti to even fall back to the ground; it was as if its body was still in the process of falling.
Through all his observation, Theo stuck to one thing. He scanned his surroundings only to find nothing useful and finally asked his creature instead.
’Mantis, where are you when I need you?!’ Theo shouted through the bond, ’Did I make a mistake letting you go on solo hunts, that you don’t stay in our fights anymore?’
The mantis’s emotions quickly flooded back to Theo’s mind through their bond. Theo had to deduce them while watching the stone creature continue to burrow itself under the ground.
But once he was done and understood it, Theo froze for a few seconds.
’WHAT DO YOU AN YOU ARE INSIDE IT?!’ he shouted yet again.
But this ti, the mantis didn’t respond.
anwhile, the massive rock-like creature disappeared underground again, tearing open a huge hole through the center of the camp.
Theo’s thoughts spiralled; he just couldn’t think straight at the mont.
"Just tell if you’re okay," he demanded through the bond again.
The reply from the mantis was quick, saying that it was busy and alright for the ti being.
Theo saw his attendants rushing back toward him.
"Mantis is inside its body," he inford them.
"What?!" Clara exclaid, almost instantly.
At the sa ti, Theo felt the ground beneath their feet shaking again, in a much worse way than before.
He instantly made a sharp hand sign to spread out, and everyone understood at once.
The next mont, the ground shattered open almost imdiately. Theo was forced to push himself to the limit to stretch his legs, while Elias wasn’t lucky and was thrown to the ground due to the impact.
However, thanks to the ape, he was quickly pulled by the armor and forced to stand before it retreated.
The ape let out a series of aggressive, ape-like roars and plunged its sword deep into the rocky body below.
The excessive strength behind that strike drove the blade all the way in, but then everyone noticed that sothing was off.
The blade was stuck.
The ape planted both feet on the creature’s body, which had already moved up as far as it could and was now falling back down.
Theo too felt anger surge inside him.
With his sword drawn, he charged forward and slashed the rocky surface of the massive beast with everything he could muster.
Just as his blade struck, a slight but sharp pain shot through his shoulder joints; he was literally hitting the rocks on the beast’s body.
Still, seeing what he could do when he went all out made Theo feel a little better about himself.
A deep crease had ford along the beast’s rocky body as it plunged itself back into the ground.
Theo slipped into the mantis’s bond and pushed deeper, trying to know what was really going on.
As he focused, reaching close enough while keeping track of the vibrations rippling through the ground, Theo finally felt the mantis’s raw emotions.
’I knew it,’ Theo thought, a vein on his forehead bulging in anger.
The mantis wasn’t doing well. It felt like panic and stress were flooding the connection; being inside the beast’s body was taking a heavy toll on it.
And the thing that annoyed Theo the most was how the mantis was trying to hide those emotions from him by partially closing the bond for the ti.
Theo pulled himself out of the connection the mont he sensed the vibrations getting closer.
He tapped the ground again, but this ti he noticed his attendants doing the sa thing in different spots.
Just then, Theo felt a strange vibration move away from him, prompting him to glance toward Clara and Elias.
And by the looks on Elias’s pale face, Theo imdiately understood that the fellow had realized that he was the target this ti.
Theo rushed forward.
’There is no way we can pierce that rocky surface in ti. The mantis has already been inside it for too long...’ he thought as he ran.
Mid-sprint, one of his legs gave out. His knee buckled a little too low, bringing him dangerously close to tripping, but he gritted his teeth and roared, forcing himself forward.
Clara noticed the change imdiately. The way Theo was running told her sothing was wrong.
Elias, already focused on the ground beneath him, reacted just in ti.
He quickly hyper-jumped to the side while the ape just sprinted away.
Just then, the ground split open once more, and Theo saw the massive beast rise again.
’There’s only one way to save it...’ Theo thought as the Baron’s words echoed in his mind.
He rembered the story the Baron had told him not long ago, about Cedric entering the body of a great beast and killing it from within.
’If he can do that...’ Theo thought, then hyper-jumped.
Clara and Elias both glanced up at him, but the trajectory of his jump made no sense.
"YOUNG MASTER!" Clara shouted, sprinting as fast as she could, a horrified expression on her face as she realized where Theo was going to fall, while Elias remained frozen in place.
Theo descended straight toward the worm’s gaping mouth and stared into it.
"I knew it," he muttered. There were nurous teeth, but they lined only the outer edges of the beast’s mouth.
Theo shifted his weight, letting himself fall inside. By then, Clara and Elias were already too late.
Theo was re seconds away from falling into the gigantic mouth when, suddenly, he felt himself being stopped.
Like he wasn’t falling anymore.
Sothing had latched onto him mid-air.
User Comments
0 comments from readers