(R POV)
Soon after Kenneth and I met and started our partnership, we resumed the hike to the temple. My fight with the Boarbatusks would've taken a lot more time if he hadn't shown up when he did. His fighting is definitely extraordinary, and he seems like a nice enough guy. If anything, I'd say he's just a bit too friendly. But I'll worry about that later. We walked for a couple of minutes before reaching a large clearing, in the middle of which stood the ruins of a temple.
"Looks like this is it," I said out loud. Getting here was pretty simple, and it's a hard place to miss, so it doesn't seem like anyone could get lost. That's reassuring.
"Really? What makes you say that?" Kenneth asked sarcastically. I chuckled as I rolled my eyes at him and started walking to the ruins. Stands encircled the stone floor of the abandoned structure, and although most were empty by now, some held chess pieces at their center. Many of the pieces were the only ones of their kind in the temple, but a few of them had a matching pair on another stand.
"So, these are the relics we have to take back?" I turned to Kenneth, who was eyeing a black king piece.
"Guess so," he replied, pushing the crown of the piece to tip it over and then pulling it back up upright. He continued to play with the piece as he shifted his gaze to me, "You play chess, Rory?"
"I used to play with my brother back home. I won most of the time, but he wasn't very good, so I don't know if that says much about my skill." He let out a small laugh. I chuckled, "Oh, shut up. What about you? Do you play?"
"I do, actually. As a matter of fact, I won a chess a tournament here in Vale a couple of years back," he replied, a proud smirk on his face.
"Whoa, um, wow. That's… not what I was expecting at all. You weren't kidding when you said you were full of surprises, Kenneth."
"Told ya. And you can call me Kenn, everyone does." He flashed me a smile. "Anyways, we should hurry up and take a piece so we can head back. Pick whichever one you want."
I raised my eyebrow in confusion, "You don't have a preference? Aren't some pieces more valuable than others?"
"Nah. The white ones left don't hold a lot of value, and black goes after white, so they are played responsively most of the time, which isn't really my style." He set down the piece he was messing with and walked towards me, "So, go ahead. I'll trust your judgment; after all, you do have that woman's intuition." Oh. I see.
"Okay, I getcha. Thanks," I tilted my head to the side and smiled winningly. He gave me a wink and turned his attention elsewhere, leaving me to focus on the relics. I rolled my eyes once his back was turned, then focused on my task. Alright, we have to bring back one relic to the cliff for to be graded, to then be joined with another pair to make a team. And some of the pieces have a pair here, so maybe pairs who have matching pieces are put together? If that's the case, it's basically a draw of luck that decides who my other two teammates will be. Yikes. This is a far cry from how things were done in Atlas, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Time to make a choice then; let's see…
"Rory!" I jumped slightly, turning towards the direction my name had come from, and saw the boy from the airship walking towards me.
What was his name again? Oh, right! "Nathan! Hi! How are you?" I walked in his direction to greet him.
"I'm great! I could have lived without the whole Ursa-almost-killing-me thing, but, other than that, I'm doing good," he said in an aloof tone of voice. A look of worry must have been written all across my face, since he immediately brought his hands up, "Whoa, sorry, it was a joke! I mean, I did fight an Ursa and it maybe could've killed me, but it didn't! Well, as far as I'm aware, at least." I couldn't help but laugh at his rush to reassure me, and it wasn't long before he started to laugh as well. Nathan's a bit strange, but it's not an off-putting kind of strange. It's like he's comfortable with himself, and doesn't seem to care what others think. It's quite admirable, actually.
"So, how did you get yourself out of that?" I asked, a little more relaxed.
"Oh, actually, Ellis got me out of that mess. She cut the thing in half with one swing." He looked back towards the girl he called Ellis. She wore a black shirt that reached down to her elbows, grey hiking pants tucked inside black boots, and a massive greatsword strapped to her back. She was also very tall, taller than either Nathan or Kenn, which made me feel both shorter than usual, and not-so-short at the same time. The metal armor she wore was pretty unassuming, but what caught my attention was the dark red cloth that she had wrapped around her waist.
It was sort of like an asymmetrical battle skirt, the half on her left leg being much shorter than the one on the right, which reached down to just above her knee. A distinctive emblem adorned the right side of the cloth: a maroon shield with a red stripe down the middle. The shield bore the image of a fortified tower with had griffins at its sides, wings spread to take flight. A simple straight sword ran behind the tower and through its middle, and wrapped around its guard was a single scroll that displayed the phrase, "Ad victoriam". I remember seeing that crest somewhere before, maybe in a history book. Yeah, now that I think about it, it belonged to a family known for being a spectacular dance troupe, whose mesmerizing performances won many competitions all over the- Wait, no, those were swans, not griffins! This one belong to that other family, known for their outstanding military prowess. Their strength and tactical know-how was the reason that the kingdom of Vale was able to remain standing despite being in the midst of countless opposing forces. So, that means that this girl is a member of House Turm, and, as such, is most likely quite the fighter.
I stood in front of her and looked straight into her eyes, "Is that right?"
She looked back unflinchingly, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to her left hip, "I was making my way to the objective when I came across this boy being pinned to the ground by an Ursa. It would have ended his life right then and there if I hadn't intervened." She glanced over to Nathan and let out a soft groan before looking at me again. Ooo-kay, hostile much?
"You don't have to be so blunt about it." The boy in question mumbled out, scratching the back of his head. I wonder what happened between these two? I'll find out later, I suppose.
"In any case, your family name precedes you." I straightened my posture and extended my hand, "I'm Rory Aedus. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Her lips curved upwards slightly as she straightened her back, too, and took my hand with a firm grip, which I returned as best as I could. "Ellis Turm. Though, it looks like you already noticed. Likewise."
"And I'm Kenn." I looked back to see my partner making his way over to us, with a self-assured grin on his face. "So, tell me, beautiful, what's it take to reach the peak of your summit? Cuz I'm more than up for the challenge." He swept back the sides of his open button-up bjjto stuff his hands into his pockets, in an ever-so-subtle attempt to show off his orange tee pressed tightly against his abs.
I took a step back, mildly shocked as I tried to comprehend Kenneth's calculated movements. The pose looked almost like it had been choreographed and rehearsed numerous times to get it just right. Ellis was completely silent, creating a rather unsettling atmosphere in the air. Maybe she took it as a joke? I turned to her again to check, only to see that she was staring straight at Kenn. The small smile and calm gaze she had just a second ago were now replaced with an ice cold glare, eyes locked onto his. I'm gonna go with no, she didn't.
"If you want a hiking challenge, how's about I break one of your legs, and you make your way back?" Her silver eyes burned into him as she spoke, "If you're lucky, you might even get a head start while you're still conscious." She deadpanned her words, but they carried a sharp and dangerous edge. I don't think she's joking; maybe I should stop Kenn before it's too late…
"C'mon, baby, don't be like that." With Ellis's clear threats flying right over his head, Kenneth continued his assault, getting even closer to her. "It's not my fault you're so attractive; I can't help myself from getting lost in your- Urgh!"
The words of my ever-so-charming partner were cut off as the Titan girl grit her teeth and grabbed him by the shirt collar, lifting his body up in the air. "H-hey! What the hell, let go of me!" Kenneth struggled to free himself, but couldn't get out of her iron grip. His face contorted with rage and he started to tell her off, but the moment he met her gaze, his anger was replaced with hesitation. There was nothing in her eyes except fury, but something about it didn't sit right with me. I thought she had just been offended by his familiarity, that Kenn had stepped out of line and into her personal space, but this was something else.
"Tell me, do you ever think about whether or not girls even want your compliments, huh, pretty boy?" She spoke in such a neutral tone of voice that it was easy to forget she was close to choking the guy.
"W-what? What are talk-"
"Answer the question." She raised him higher, her knuckles grazing his Adam's apple with just enough force to make him start gagging.
"What- Of course. Girls always want compliments, what kind of stupid question is that?" he spluttered. Anyone in their right mind would have been quaking in their boots, but he managed to keep his bravado intact.
She didn't say a thing, just glared at him for another second. I wasn't sure if I saw a glimmer of anguish in her eyes for just a second, because in the next moment they turned steely again. She scoffed, let go of her captive, and walked towards one of the few standing pillars. The movement was so sudden that he didn't have a chance to catch himself, and fell flat on his back.
"Man. That girl has one hell of a grip." His voice was cool and calm, which was quite the feat, considering he was two feet off the ground just a moment ago and seconds away from possibly needing facial reconstruction surgery. I walked over to Kenneth to see if he was okay, but he had already stood up and was brushing dirt off his pants.
Ellis leaned back against a pillar, let her shoulder drop, and closed her eyes. It was almost as if she hadn't just been a few badly chosen words away from killing someone. Her outburst didn't seem proportional to Kenneth's crime, but not in a way that made me think she was overly emotional. No, it seemed more like an accumulated reaction, like when a pipe with too much pressure finally bursts. She really is gorgeous, so gorgeous that I can barely look away sometimes, so "compliments" like Kenneth's must happen often.
"Nathan. Grab a relic and let's go," she yelled to her partner, who had been silently watching this fiasco unfold.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then backed out at the last minute and instead gave a thumbs up, doing his best to avoid any sort of eye contact. Looks like whatever it was probably wasn't going to be very helpful, so he thankfully kept it to himself. I wonder why Ellis spoke so badly about about him? He seems like a nice guy. He turned to us, a smug grin on his face, "Well, that went well. You two really seemed to hit it off. I mean, you just met her and she's already interacted more with you than she has with me. You are good, Kenn; didn't even have to use your cards this time. I could learn a thing or two from you."
I stand corrected.
"Knock it off, Nathan," I shot back with a half-hearted chuckle, "Anyways, let me introduce you guys; Nathan, this is Kenn- Wait, you said his name just a second ago." Did I hear wrong?
"We've met," Kenneth said in a dry tone of voice.
"You have?" I looked at the pair, and judging by the differing expressions on their faces, it didn't exactly hint at a very friendly first meeting.
Nathan walked up to Kenneth, his smile not faltering in the slightest "Yeah, I met the wizard here yesterday before the induction speech. Hey, sorry about ruining your card trick; we good?" He brought his fist up and offered it to Kenn, who just rolled his eyes and walked past him. "Is everyone just going to leave me hanging today?" he said, sounding quite defeated, and brought his hand down to his side with a sigh. He stayed like that for a moment before turning to me, "So, did you two grab your relic yet?"
"Not yet, I was in the process of picking one when you showed up."
"Oh, cool. So, do you have any idea of how the teams are picked?" He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and swayed back and forth in an attempt to seem nonchalant.
"I don't have a definite answer, but I did see that some of the relics have a matching piece, so maybe it has something to do with that. Here, I'll show you." I beckoned him over and walked back into the ruins with him, pointing out the pieces that still had their mate. He began walking around the podiums and examining the relics. "So, your theory is that we'll be paired with whoever has the same relic as the one we take, right?"
I crossed my arms and reclined on an empty stand, "Maybe. It's definitely a possibility." Nathan kept eyeing the remaining pieces, eventually walking over to a pair of white bishops, taking them both in his hands and returning to show them to me.
"Wanna take these then?" He offered one of the pieces to me with a warm smile on his face.
"You want to team up with me and Kenn?" They didn't seem to get along all that great, so why would he want to be on a team with him?
"Yeah. Sure, being with someone like Kenneth for the rest of my time here isn't exactly what I had been hoping for, but he's your partner and I really would like to be on the same team as you. That is, if you're okay with that." His body shrunk a bit as he spoke and looked away from me, his cheeks turning slightly red.
I gave a small laugh, and grabbed the piece out of his hand, "I'd be happy to be on a team with you."
"Seriously? That's great!" It took a lot of willpower to not laugh at how excited Nathan sounded, but I managed to contain myself. It's weird; with how snarky he was being just a moment ago, you'd think he would be more cool about something like this. He put his hands behind his back and stood in attention, almost like a soldier, and spoke in a formal tone, "My bow is yours, Rory. I swear that I will do anything and everything in my power to protect you and our team."
"Even die for one of us?" I asked him in the most serious tone I could manage. He's too serious for me not to tease him.
Just as I thought, the brunet archer's face went pale at the idea of dying, "Ummmm… So, maybe not everything... I was thinking more along the lines of keeping Grimm off you guys with cover fire or distracting enemies with my shots... I kind of like living, it's pretty fun…"
"Calm down, I was just kidding." I responded, chuckling at his dismay.
"Oh. Well, then. I never took you for one to play with a boy's pure heart." He crossed his arms and huffed as he looked away in mock disgust, causing me to laugh even more.
"Okay, okay, I shouldn't have said that." I managed to pull myself together, drying a tear from my eye. "Besides, I'm not planning on letting anyone die on our team, so don't worry."
"Good! We're too young to have funeral stories, don't you think?" he said, dropping his hurt act.
I giggled. "Anyways, we should get going. You go tell Ellis about this whole team thing, and I'll do the same with Kenn. Then, we'll regroup and head back to the cliff together."
He nodded, "Sounds like a plan," and walked away to pass on the information to his silver-haired partner.
Well, let's get this over with. I made my over to Kenneth, who was sitting on a collapsed pillar performing tricks with his yo-yo. His eyes were fixed on his hands as he maneuvered the string; the way he manipulated the yo-yo made it look like it was dancing around his fingers. Seeing him so concentrated on something was a bit captivating. I watched him until he took notice of my staring.
"Like what you see?" He stopped the yo-yo mid-swing, letting it dangle like a pendulum, and gave me his usual smirk.
I scoffed. "Nah. The tricks were cool though."
"Ouch." He chuckled as he let the yo-yo fall, and then reeled it back in one motion. "We moving out? We're still missing the other half of our team, and I don't want to hang around long enough to be roped together with those two."
"Yeaaaah, about that." Here we go. I moved over to the pillar and sat down next to him, "I was talking with Nathan while we were grabbing our relics, and we sorta agreed to form a team together."
"Oh, okay." He began to nod his head in agreement, but stopped once he had processed what I had just said. "Wait, what? Tell me you're joking."
"Nope. Nathan asked me if I wanted to team up with him, and I said yes. I figured that the chess pieces might have something to do with how the teams are chosen, so... they have the same piece we do." Kenneth scowled in annoyance and opened his mouth to argue, but before he could start, I said, "Hey! You gave me full reign over what relic we take back, and this was the I one picked. Or are you doubting my 'woman's intuition'?" I adopted his cocky smile and raised my eyebrow, challenging him to try and prove me wrong.
Our eyes locked onto one another for a few moments. He closed his eyes and brought his head into his palm, sighing in defeat, "I guess not. Fine. If this is your final decision, I'll play nice with those two. But don't expect me to be all buddy-buddy with either of them now just because they might be my teammates." So close, Kenn. You were doing so well.
"Fair enough." I pushed myself up to my feet and turned to face my partner, "Anyways, we should start making our way back; wouldn't want to spend any more time than we need to out here."
"Good point," he said as he stood. We made our way to the entrance of the ruins where Nathan and Ellis were waiting for us. I couldn't help but notice the latter still looked at Kenneth with a trace of disgust. These are going to be some interesting four years.
"All set on your end?" I asked Nathan, who looked over towards his partner. She offered a nod, which he then repeated to me.
I stood in front of all three of them and smiled, "Alright. Let's head back." And so we started the trek back to the cliff. Everyone was kind of quiet at first, which was expected, but still a bit upsetting, so I started making small talk and asking general questions about everyone. I decided to start with where everyone was from. I knew Nathan was from Atlas, but I learned he lived in Doldrey, a city right outside the kingdom's walls. Both Kenneth and Ellis were from Vale, but Kenn lived in the kingdom's walls while Ellis was from Patch, a small island just west of Vale. I asked her what it was like to live there, to which she only said, "Boring," and then asked me where I was from before I could ask her why.
"I live in Atlas. It's really nice and pretty, but it's nothing you can't see in a postcard," I replied, which got me a small laugh from her.
"I get what you mean," she crossed her arms, "Patch is pretty much the same. There are some nice beaches, but I didn't really have any reason to go to them other than the class trip or the rare training session." The way she talked was completely different from before.
I turned around and began walking backwards in front of her, "Well, maybe you could show me them someday. It sounds really-"
"Look out!" The sound of Kenn's voice of alarm made me swivel my head back, where I met face to face with a Beowulf just moments away from taking a good slash across my face. Before I could raise my hand to project a barrier, I was pushed aside, a large sword slamming into the lycan-like creature's abdomen and sending it flying. I looked back to see Ellis holding her weapon, both hands gripping it firmly by the hilt. I opened my mouth to thank her when two screeches brought my attention back towards the open field, where two Nevermores dove to attack me, only to be shot down by arrows.
Nathan lowered his bow and peered out into the woods around us. "We've got company," he said in an uncharacteristically calm voice.
I stood beside him and glanced at our surroundings, "How many?" Kenn joined us, ready for a fight.
"Fifteen...17... Twenty, give or take. Beowulves, Ursi, Fenrirs, a few Nevermores; it's a full house. What brought so many of them here?"
"It doesn't matter how they got here. What matters is that we have a fight at hand," Ellis replied in a dry, curt tone of voice as she rested the blade on her shoulder.
Nathan nodded, and so he pulled out another arrow and nocked it on his bowstring. Hmm, these two might have conflicting personalities, but they seem to at least find some common ground when in a fight. I raised my right arm to my chest and reached my left hand into the sleeve of my coat, pulling the shortsword from its sheath. I then flicked my wrist to activate the Dust mechanism of the concealed armguard. I wasted a few charges on those boars earlier, but I should have enough for this fight.
The wave of Grimm began to creep out from the trees, slowly surrounding us.
"Anyone got a plan?" I said as the monsters began closing in, waiting for someone to take the initiative.
"Well…," Nathan had barely opened his mouth when Kenneth charged alone towards a group of Beowolves to our right. "Wait! What are you- Ugh!" the brunet groaned in annoyance as my partner pressed on, causing the rest of the Grimm to begin their assault on us. "Do what he's doing, I guess!" he yelled as he pulled back on his bowstring and began firing at the approaching horde.
Ellis crossed over to the left toward a large group of Ursi, which left me to rush the enemies that were coming from the front. I brought up a barrier ahead of me, causing a Beowulf, which had been rushing towards me, to reel back after colliding headfirst with it. The beast staggered back from the impact, giving me more than enough time get in range and deliver a series of criss-cross slashes to its chest. I kicked the beast down to clear my view, and quickly jumped back to avoid the claws of an Ursa that came from behind the slain Beowulf. I stepped out of its next swipe and parried the third strike with my blade, breaking the bear's guard.
I quickly brought up my right hand and bent my ring finger, causing a large stone spike to form in front of my palm, which then pierced right through the Grimm's chest. A second Beowulf was coming in my direction, but turned over to the right and took off, straight towards Ellis. I turned my head to see if she needed any help, only to spot her mid-swing through an Ursa's torso. The blade went through its body like a hot knife through butter, a concept that was as impressive as it was unsettling. The Beowulf that tried to flank her was joined by another one, but both were quickly dispatched with one wide sweep of her humongous sword once they got within reach. Seriously, how can someone use something so big, so well?
It hadn't even been a second after the 'wulves had fallen when a large Ursa ran out of the trees and began its assault on her. These monsters seemed dead-set on preventing her from catching her breath, but that didn't seem to bother Ellis one bit. She accepted the Ursa's challenge and stood her ground, blocking all of its strikes almost effortlessly and moving the greatsword in her hands as if it weighed nothing. After a few more deflected strikes, the Grimm brought both its paws down on the silver-haired warrior, creating an unnerving sound as its claws met the flat of the blade. She placed her left hand on the middle of the blade to keep it steady as the Ursa attempted to disarm her. It slammed its paws against the blade over and over, one after the other and ending each time with a double overhead. Ellis didn't budge an inch. The Grimm pushed down on the blade, and she responded with just as much force.
They were at an impasse; Ellis matched the Ursa's strength, and didn't show any signs of being overwhelmed. Just as the fight seemed like it was going to go in her favor, a pair of Fenrirs sped past me towards the combatants, seeking to take advantage of Ellis' exposed back. I brought my hand up and took aim, determined to take them out before they could intervene with her fight- but as everyone knows: wolves hunt in packs. Just as I was about to fire, something inside compelled me to peer over my shoulder; speeding towards me was the rest of the pack, moments away from catching me off-guard. I jerked my body towards them and bent my middle finger, blasting the monsters at point blank range. A fiery eruption covered the area in a flash, consuming the wolves that were caught in its blast. When the smoke cleared, only the scorched remains of their bodies lingered on the ground.
I let out a deep breath as I lowered the barrier in front of me. I'm glad I put it up when I did, or else I would've cooked myself along with them. Remembering the two that were still running towards Ellis, I quickly turned my body and aimed at the attackers, but it was too late. The Fenrirs were too close to fire at them now; there was a large chance I would hit her by accident if I intervened now. As if she had read my thoughts, she looked over her shoulder and took notice of the Fenrirs that were about to ambush her, but didn't look worried in the slightest. In fact, I could've sworn I saw her grin, as she flipped a switch at the base of the grip, causing a small black square to separate from the sword. The blades of the sword split down the middle, forming two parallel rails. Does she have a plan?
Once the rails had formed, she pushed the Ursa off her and let the blade fall to the ground, completely exposing herself to her opponents. The Grimm moved in, seizing the new opportunity to take down the swordswoman. As they closed the distance, she calmly brought her left hand up towards the guard of her weapon and, placing her finger on the trigger, waited for the right moment. The Ursa reeled its right paw back and swung, striking her with enough force to send someone flying. But she didn't budge at all, firing at the ground and spinning around from the recoil. The Grimm that seemed to have the advantage over Ellis just a moment ago, were caught in the force of a powerful spin attack and now lay dead around her.
She straightened her posture and eyed her weapon, which, from the way she was holding it, seemed to be releasing a substantial amount of heat from the blade. She closed it, keeping it a good distance from her body. That's weird; could it be that the gun heats up when it's fired? As she inspected her weapon, a Beowulf managed to sneak its way over to her side, making its presence known with a snarl as it brought down its claws on her unsuspecting head. She jerked at the sound and brought her weapon up to block the strike, but the beast's attack fell short, as it's chest was pierced by an arrow that then burst into shards of ice.
I traced the arrow back to its origin, and spotted Nathan standing a great distance away from where Ellis and the Beowulf were. There was probably more than a hundred feet between them, not to mention Ellis herself; that must have been one hell of a shot to take. He lowered his bow and seemed like he was about to start celebrating, but was interrupted as he was raising his fist by a feather slicing through the air in front of him. He raised his head quickly to see a Nevermore swooping in for the kill, just before he started to scramble back as the knife-like feathers rained down behind him. He reached over and grabbed an arrow from his quiver as a stabilizer extended from the center of the bow, nocked it back, and, in one swift motion, rolled out of the path of the incoming feathers and fired at the bird, knocking the creature out of the sky. The moment he was upright again he looked over his shoulder, spun around, and jumped back, dodging the onslaught of a Beowulf. While in the air, he reached behind to his lower back and hastily pulled out a red-tipped arrow, firing it at point blank range as he touched down on the ground. The tip exploded within the beast, taking it out, but the flames of the explosion were large enough to consume Nathan as well. There was a stillness after the blast, and I started to fear for his safety, until the brunet popped out of the smoke, seemingly untouched by the fire. I let out a sigh of relief; that was a risky move he just pulled.
The sound of footsteps brought me back to my surroundings, and I looked around to see a Beowulf and a Fenrir approaching me from opposite directions. I raised a barrier between me and the Beowulf, stopping its charge, and swung at the smaller Grimm. This one, however, seemed to be a bit craftier than the rest, and bit down on the blade mid-swing, stopping the attack and leaving me completely exposed. I pulled on the sword to get it out, but it wouldn't give way as the beast's armored jaw held it tightly in place.
As I struggled to free my sword from the Grimm's snout, the largest Fenrir in the pack rushed towards me and hurled itself at me. I braced for impact, but halfway through its jump, Kenneth's yo-yo rammed into its face as the other wrapped around its hind legs, binding them together and stopping its forward motion. He started to spin the beast around, and his yo-yos seemed to disappear, sending the Fenrir flying at the one holding onto my sword, knocking them both down. Without missing a beat, he ran towards the Beowulf and, using my barrier as a wall, pushed off it and slammed his foot into the Grimm's face. As the creature stumbled backwards, he threw a yo-yo around its neck and pulled it back towards him, planting a punch square on its face and yanking on the cord until its neck snapped, knocking the lights and life out of the beast.
I brought down the barrier and turned my head over to Kenn, giving him a small smile, "Thanks." He chuckled and responded with a nod before we turned our attention back to the two Fenrirs. I brought my sword up to my right hand and stood my ground as the two dashed towards me. I bent my right pinky finger and moved my hand over the blade, coating it in a torrent of wind. Okay. Let's do this. The smallest of the two leapt at me first and was met by a flurry of blows as I swung at it, my sword moving at an incredible speed. The wolf's body was slashed left and right, eventually tumbling off to the side, dead. I immediately brought my attention to the one remaining, which was already charging straight for me, about to pounce. As soon as it did, I formed a small barrier at the palm of my hand and let the Fenrir smack its head into it. It reared back from the collision, and the moment it did, I bent my knees and lunged forward, thrusting my sword into the creature's chest and pinning it to the ground.
Kenneth walked up beside me and looked down at the felled Grimm, and nodded, "Nice." I giggled, but the laughter was short lived, as we found ourselves surrounded by three more Fenrirs. We stood back to back, and I noticed that, other than the two Ellis and Nathan were fighting, these three seemed to be the last ones.
"Hey, Kenn. Think you can show me what you can do with that yo-yo?"
He scoffed as he pressed a button on his weapon, "Please." He took off towards one of the wolves and, before it could make a move, brought his yo-yo up and slammed the underside of its jaw. He then placed his left arm on the rising string, bringing it back around into the Grimm's face. The yo-yo stayed in motion as Kenneth maneuvered it all around his body, wreaking havoc on the creature that, no matter what, couldn't escape from his assault. A second Fenrir tried to jump in while he was attacking, but it was quickly cracked in the ribs by the swinging shell. It whimpered away from Kenn, and I took the opportunity to strike the dazed Grimm at its nape with a quick thrust of my sword. As I shook the corpse off my blade, the last Fenrir set its sights on me, charging forward in what seemed like an all-or-nothing attack. I raised my weapon and prepared my counterattack, but as soon as it leaped, the exposed part of its head was pierced by an arrow, which let out a jolt of lightning once it hit its mark. The beast's body went limp and tumbled forward, stopping once it bumped into the corpse of Kenneth's opponent, as he reeled in his weapon with a quick flick of his wrist.
I sheathed my sword and walked over to Kenneth, who greeted me with a big grin.
"Okay, I'll admit. Those were some pretty impressive moves," I remarked in defeated tone.
He let out a small giggle at the comment, causing me to laugh as well. Ellis made her way over to us, with a smaller but just as pleased look on her face. The two glanced at each other, and, after a few moments of tension, exchanged accepting nods. A smile crept up on my face; maybe this won't be so bad. Who knew that a heated battle was just the thing to break the ice.
Noticing his absence, I looked over to where Nathan was, who seemed to be carving into the corpse of his last target with a dagger. After a bit of struggling, he pulled out two arrows from the Ursa, slipped them back into his quiver, and got back on his feet. He caught my gaze, and flashed me a big grin as he raised raised his fist triumphantly. It was hard not to share in his excitement. We did it! We won. He slipped his bow on his back and made his way back towards us, when a tall shadow appeared in the trees behind him. Four red dots glowed menacingly from the shadows, peering into the clearing. I watched as the figure started to come closer, the smile on my face washing away as a cold rush of fear skittered down my spine, watching as the tall form took shape. Ellis and Kenneth both took notice of the incoming creature at the same time, and their looks of unease and surprise made Nathan turn around and see what we were looking at. When he did, I watched as his back tensed up like a wolf raising its hackles at the sight of a threat.
Standing over him at almost ten feet tall, the Grimm was unlike anything I had seen before. It's head was completely armored and looked like that of a bull's skull; its gaunt features and the long horns growing from the sides of its head gave it a malevolent look that scared me more than any Ursa or Beowulf ever had. The body of the beast was absurdly muscular, and fairly lacking in armor, except for the exposed rib-cage protruding from its chest.
It's massive hands held large stones that reached all the way down its bull legs to its hooves. They seemed to be makeshift weapons, if the dry bloodstains were anything to go on. Its legs trailed up to a sort of humanoid upper body, with a long tail of vertebrae jutting out from under its waist, swaying from side to side and completing its nightmarish appearance.
We stood there, motionless, as the giant monster let out an ear-shattering screech into the sky. This fight isn't over yet.
Man, Dark Souls III is a great game. Overwatch is super fun, too. Not sure if they were the best thing during my finals, but time will tell whether or not that's the case. With the semester over, I'm now free to focus on a bunch of projects, as well as spend more time writing. Sorry for the even longer wait between chapters, and I hope to see you guys in the next one. Take care.