RB Chapter 116 Provoke

"Now that he's a spectrum warrior, his importance has risen. I want you to find a way to help him in his endeavor of bioengineering." Cleo ordered.

"Also try to glean more information out of all the other remnants of the Masanyala...clan. We need to find out how they managed to create such a fine specimen." She continued.

"Yes, boss." The secretary answered.

"How are the preparations for the upcoming All organisation meet and the Spectrum warrior meet coming along?" Cleo asked. These were two of the events which had spun out of the creation of the African Federation. One was the meeting of the largest organisations, with the power to alter the continent, and the other was a meeting of the strongest warriors, mind you, not every spectrum warrior was invited! Only those who have attained the Legend designation.

"Many warriors and organisation representatives have arrived with many more still arriving. So far no one has created any trouble for us." The secretary answered.

"Good. Have those two other super cities sent representatives?" Cleo had a glint in her eyes when she asked. The cities she was referring to were the two which hadn't sent any representatives during the creation of the African Federation.

"No, still no word from them." The secretary answered.

"Okay, go and perform your tasks." Cleo sent her away and stayed in front of the mirror. A bit further away, some flying beasts could be glimpsed playing in the sky.

"I hope the continent develops a united front faster." She mumbled, before heading back to her desk to continue with her work.

-----

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the place, throwing particles of dust into the air.

Two figures were pushed away from the center of the explosion, creating grooves in the ground.

The two figures were the girls, Elena and Leah.

"Once again, there goes my fur clothes!" Elena lamented, but looking at her expression, she didn't appear to mind one bit!

Her fur clothes had been destroyed with not a piece left exposing her skin.

Though, not all her skin was visible as she had gone through a transformation. Her brown pupils had a vertical slit running through them, her hair, elongated to the point that it met her waist.

Her canines had grown a bit, surpassing the length of her other teeth. From the sides of her cheeks, to below her neck, brown colored fur had grown out and covered her body. Her stomach and mounds, were exposed, the chest area having no fur.

Her thighs and arms had enlarged, with claws sprouting out of the ends of her fingers and feet. When her feet had dragged across the ground, she had bent her toes, causing her long nails to cut into the ground. The trail almost reached the six meter mark.

Leah, the other figure who had been pushed back, had her entire body covered in emerald scales, which were glistening in the sun. Her entire body, including her face was covered in them, only exposing her scalp and eyes. She too, had her scaly body exposed in all its glory, with all the curves in the right places.

Elena's face was adorning a smirk, while rage was painted in Leahs'. 

Their eyes still hadn't moved away from the area of the explosion, which had dust floating, masking whatever was inside.

A violent roar pushed away the cloud of dust, exposing the figure which had been hidden.

What appeared in their eyes, was an elephant, but the evolutionary powers of the super cells had wildly altered its figure such that it was now more intimidating. Its height reached 5m, and 10m in length.

A thick white bony exoskeleton covered its body, with sharp spikes jutting out of it. Except for the trunk and the eyes, every inch of its body was covered in the bony armor. Its tusks had barbed hooks causing the two girls to give them extra looks of caution.

"He he he...finally! Something to fight!" Elena's voice had a note of excitement as she beheld the beast. Her battle intent rising! She crouched low, all her limbs on the ground, exposing a tail which had jutted out from the back of her waist, waving in the air. This was her optimal battle stance!

"Why did you provoke it? We could have just passed by it!" Leah exploded! 

They had just been moving in the grasslands, when they had spotted the elephant in the distance. Leah had suggested that they move away from it, but Elena had a peculiar glint in her eyes as she followed. They had crawl away from it. But Elena stood up and sprinted towards the beast, causing their current predicament.

"Leah! We came to the wilderness to improve ourselves. How are we going to do that if we avoid danger? You saw those monkeys, that was a truly perilous situation." Elena licked her lips. Those monkeys had made her break the shackles and simply indulge in mindless slaughter. Even now, she still remembered the excitement it had brought.

"Of course we must face danger, I know that! But why did you have to provoke the danger?" Leah shouted back.

Leah, seeing that there was no way to salvage the situation, took a deep breath to calm herself. Her still circular pupils became vertical slitted and her tongue occasionally came out of her lips to taste the air. She had resolved herself to fight!

Two teenage girls challenging a mutated elephant, that would have been crazy during the 21st century.

-----

Under a large tree at the side of the road, two figures were relaxing under its shade. The place was quiet, except for the chirping of the insects and birds, and the occasional breeze which ruffled the branches of the tree, coupled with the tiny birds playing on the tree.

Eric was leaning against the stem, gazing at the waving grass on the other side of the road. He felt at peace, no thought in his mind, just lazing there. Though that didn't mean that he had forgotten that this was the wilderness, not the safe confines of the city.

Chloe on the other hand was laying down on the ground, her gaze up into the rustling green leaves. Figures of the birds were sometimes reflected in her light blue eyes. 

"When are you going to consume the fruit, Chloe?" A single question broke the peace, causing her hand to involuntarily caress the pouch resting on her stomach.

"You may find this hard to believe, but I am feeling nervous." She mumbled.

"...I didn't think that you could also have an emotion like that." Eric said after sometime. Since meeting her, he had never seen her make the expression that was now on her face.

"There is nothing wrong with the fruit...I have consumed it, you saw that nothing happened to me, right?" He tried to assure her.

"That must be because you were in that transformation, who knows how it will affect me?" She said, closing her eyes.

"...you might be right." He agreed after some time. Even he knew that his body was peculiar. In that transformation, it was close to that of beasts than humans, so maybe...it could have some unforeseen consequences, if a normal human took it.

"Even you, agree." She said softly.

"When we reach the underground city, it will be better if you first find a way to research into it." Chloe suggested.

"I will! If I find no peculiarities, I will give it to you to consume." Eric answered. 

'I will first handle the fruit, before I do any other research.' He thought. He didn't trust any other person to handle it. If they discovered the abilities of the fruit, he might find all sorts of schemes thrown his way.

-----

The white spiky elephant inhaled, both through the mouth and its trunk. A deficiency of air was created near its mouth causing more to rush in and fill the void.

That caused the hair of both the girls to wave in the wind.

'What's happening?' Such a thought passed through both their minds.

The elephant's trunk straightened in their direction, and bulges appeared from its point of origin as if something was moving through it.

Both girls were just a few feet apart, so the trunk appeared to be targeting both of them.

"Dodge!" Elena shouted as the hair on the nape of her neck rose up! Her instincts were screaming at her. Her expression had morphed into one of fear, close to transforming into one of terror.

Leah had already felt the same sensation, so both girls pushed off from the ground at the same time, but in opposite directions.

BOOM!

Something blurry was ejected out of the elephant's trunk at such speed that it impacted the ground with the two girls still in midair!

"Aaaaah!" Both cried out in pain as pieces of stone made contact with their lower limbs.

When they touched the ground though, they didn't have any time to catch their breath before another projectile headed towards one of them, Elena!

Blood was running down the fur of her legs, but she grit her teeth and sped up causing the next projectile to miss and once again form a circular one meter hole, spreading stones and debre in all directions.