After walking for a while, with Jelo leading them using his sharpened senses, they finally spotted the dabba ahead.
Five of them. Just as Jelo had predicted.
Olmo stood behind them, arms folded firmly across his chest.
"Alright," he said calmly. "Show what you’ve got."
Without hesitation, Jelo and Mira charged forward.
"Do you have a plan?" Mira asked as she ran beside him. "You’re usually the one with the strategy."
Jelo smirked.
Mira shot him an annoyed look. "Of course... I should’ve known."
"He says you’re stronger than ," she continued. "Fine. Support while I engage them."
Jelo’s smile widened slightly. "Is that really necessary?"
Mira frowned. "What do you an, is that necessary?"
"I’m one hundred percent sure I can take all of them down myself."
Mira paused for half a second, staring at him.
"Show-off," she muttered. "I’m not letting you have all the fun. Master Olmo said we handle this together. You’re not taking all the credit."
Before he could reply, Mira split into two perfect copies of herself.
At the sa mont, Jelo leapt forward, launching two dragon claw toward the approaching dabba.
The largest Daba hissed, revealing rows of serrated teeth.
Then they charged.
-----
The attack ca with frightening speed for creatures so massive. The nearest Daba closed the distance in three bounding strides, claws outstretched.
Jelo activated Skilled Guard instantly, feeling his skin harden like stone. The Daba’s talons raked across his torso with a screech of scale on hardened flesh.
No penetration, but the sheer force drove him backward, boots carving trenches in the soil.
A second Daba lunged from his left while he was still recovering. Jelo twisted and thrust his hand forward.
Dragon Claw erupted from his palm—crackling golden energy shaped like talons extending six feet outward. The projection caught the creature mid-leap, tearing through its shoulder in an explosion of black blood and shredded muscle.
The Daba roared, crashing to the ground, but imdiately scrambled back to its feet.
Beside him, Mira’s form blurred. A perfect copy materialized next to her, and both figures scattered in opposite directions. Two Dabas had split off to attack her, and they hesitated for a crucial second, trying to identify which target was real.
The clone didn’t give them ti to figure it out. It dove low, sliding between one Daba’s legs while the real Mira drove a vicious kick into the second creature’s knee joint. The Daba stumbled but recovered quickly, its tail whipping around. The clone barely ducked under the strike.
"They’re fast!" Mira shouted.
The biggest Daba—easily seven feet of scaled muscle and fury—zeroed in on Jelo. It circled right while the wounded one recovered on his left. The third moved to flank from behind.
Jelo’s enhanced vision tracked all three simultaneously, processing their movents, calculating strike trajectories. The big one coiled to charge.
The wounded one was preparing to follow. And the flanker was positioning for a killing strike the mont Jelo committed to either direction.
The big Daba charged.
Jelo triggered Wing Burst.
Reality sared. His body moved faster than thought, the world blurring around him. The physical effort hit imdiately—muscles burning, lungs demanding air—but he materialized behind the flanking Daba before it could react.
Dragon Claw, both hands, full power.
The energy projections plunged into the creature’s spine with a wet crunch. The Daba’s back legs gave out instantly, paralyzed. It scread, twisting its upper body with terrifying flexibility, jaws snapping at Jelo’s face.
Jelo activated Skilled Guard again, feeling the drain as the ability layered over his skin. The Daba’s teeth closed on his forearm. His hardened flesh held, but he felt cracks forming under the pressure of that bite.
He drove his other hand—still crackling with Dragon Claw—into the creature’s eye socket. It released him with a shriek, thrashing wildly.
The wounded Daba hit him from the side like a battering ram.
Skilled Guard shattered. Jelo flew ten feet, slamming into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. Pain exploded through his ribs. He rolled aside just as the big Daba’s claws tore chunks from the earth where his head had been.
Jelo pushed through the pain, his enhanced vision showing him the battlefield in crystalline clarity. The spine-wounded Daba was still alive, dragging itself with its front legs. The shoulder-wounded one was closing in. And the big one was right on top of him.
No ti for Skilled Guard to recharge.
He slashed with Dragon Claw, forcing the big Daba back a step. Another slash, then a thrust that caught it across the snout, drawing blood. The creature roared but pressed forward, relentless. Its claws found Jelo’s shoulder, tearing through cloth and skin. Blood ran hot down his arm.
Behind the big one, the shoulder-wounded Daba prepared to charge.
Wing Burst.
The effort nearly made him black out—he’d already used it once, and his body was screaming at him to stop. But he pushed through, materializing above both Dabas.
Gravity brought him down like a teor.
Dragon Claw blazed from both hands as he fell, energy projections extending into six-foot talons of pure force. He ca down on the wounded Daba’s head, driving both claws through its skull and into the ground beneath. The creature spasd once and went still.
One down for Jelo.
The big Daba whirled, faster than sothing that size had any right to move. Its tail whipped around, catching Jelo in the chest before he could dodge. He flew again, landing hard, rolling across the ground.
-----
Mira and her clone had separated the two Dabas, but the creatures were adapting. One of them locked onto the clone, studying its movents. Then it lunged past the clone entirely, ignoring it, and went straight for Mira.
Instinct. The real one always fought differently.
Mira cursed and rolled under the creature’s swipe. Her clone tried to intervene, leaping onto the second Daba’s back, wrapping arms around its throat. The Daba bucked violently, slamming the clone into the ground. The clone flickered but held on, buying Mira precious seconds.
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