Author's Notes:
Firstly, as always, I would like thank all those who favorite, followed or reviewed my story. Your support is really appreciated and pushes me to try harder.
Secondly, this will be my first Omake, Familiar Mayhem; it will be a series of Omakes which will depict all the possible absurd and amusing critters that could have popped up in the Familiar Forest in chapter seven. I already have some funny ideas for this, but feel free to suggest appearances for it.
Thirdly, I would like to make an important distinction regarding Devil Arts Offline; this collection is made of both Side-stories and Omakes. The Omakes will have absolutely no connection to the main story, but the Side-stories will, so feel free to consider what happens in the Side-stories to have happened off-screen in the main story.
To prevent confusion I will clearly label the Omakes in the title of the chapter, so no worries.
Lastly: I do not own either "HighSchool DxD" or "SwordArtOnline"
Omake: Familiar Mayhem
In a deep forest covered by shadows with nothing but a few pale rays of crimson moonlight filtering trough the giant trees all around them to give them light Kirito searched for the source of the noise Asuna had heard.
'This place really lives up to its name; it feels like something could pop up at any moment.' He idly thought as he moved around one of the many giant trees that composed most of the Familiar Forest.
"Kirito look!" Asuna called, pointing at a small hollow on a tree where a little fox was looking at them curiously.
Or at least it resembled a fox. The fact that parts of its body kept appearing and disappearing continuously, as if it was not fully there, was a dead giveaway that it was no normal fox.
"It's adorable." Asuna said getting closer to the curious looking fox.
"It kind of reminds me of the 'Cheshire Cat' from 'Alice in Wonderland'." Kirito said upon seeing nearly its entire body disappearing for a moment, leaving only its curious eyes floating there for an instant.
Getting even closer, Asuna tried to pet it, but much to their surprise her hand passed through the fox like it was made of mist.
But before either of them could say anything about the strange phenomenon, a loud thumping sound reverberated through the forest, immediately bringing them to alert as they searched their surroundings for the origin of the noise.
It was a heavy rhythmic sound, as if something incredibly large walking through the moonlit forest.
Looking around searching for the source of the noise Kirito noticed a small pond nearby, it's water wavering and rolling with each subsequent thump, the vibrations it revealed demonstrating the massive weight of whatever creature that was heading towards them.
Trading a meaningful look with each other they positioned themselves side by side, taking stances that would allow them to fight or flee at a moment's notice if it was proven necessary.
'Whatever this is, it's massive.' Kirito idly thought, eyes scanning the shadowed trees as the thumping sound grew louder and louder, until he started to feel his very bones vibrating with each new step.
Finally with a final loud cracking sound, heralding the creature's appearance as it uprooted a large centenary tree with frightening ease, they watched the gargantuan behemoth.
It was a massive demon-like monster, over nine feet tall, with dark blue skin, a tail resembling a cobra with venom dripping from its fangs, goat like horns on its head and a pair of crimson gleaming eyes.
Turning its head towards the duo, its gleaming eyes apparently locking into their surprised forms, the creature released a bestial roar. A roar that carried within it the darkness and fear of ages long past, a past where mankind struggled against the predators of the wilderness in an eternal battle for survival, the kind of roar that could drop mighty warriors to their knees and force even the bravest of hunters to seek cover and hide.
Oddly enough neither of the creature's intended prey appeared even slightly affected by the primordial roar it had released.
Exchanging a slightly exasperated look with his wife, who he noted had a very faint annoyed twitch on one of her eyebrows, Kirito silently conveyed his intentions.
Upon receiving a small nod of consent he turned to the towering behemoth, which was doing a fairly good job at looking confused due to the uncommon lack of fear and screaming it was more used to receive upon being spotted.
'Well one thing I have to respect Kayaba for, it seems he really researched mythology extensively in order to create SAO.' Kirito idly thought as he prepared himself to take out the massive creature… again.
With a final roar the Gleam-eyes charged forward with speed that belittle his massive size and weight, being immediately meet at the halfway point by two blurs, one black and one white.
Ducking under a massive clawed strike and immediately delivering a punishing blow to the behemoth's chest as Asuna swiftly climbed the creatures back to attack its head, Kirito couldn't fight down a smile from forming on his face.
A nine feet tall Floor Boss would make a truly awesome familiar after all.
Author's Notes:
I remember some reviewers saying they expected the Gleam-eyes appearing on chapter seven, that eventually made me start imagining the scene which ultimately leads us here to this Omake.
And then for some reason the scene from Jurasic Park with the water rippling in the cup simply would not leave my mind, so I went with it since after all, it's a classic.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review before leaving.
