"Please! This is enough, I swear!" Sweat drizzles down my skin, soaking my underclothes during my attempt at relaxing. "We've been at this for an hour now! There are so many of them! How can there be so many?!" 

 

The most creepy critters have surrounded me; the most dreadful things I think the world can manifest. Several large appendages curve through the air until they eventually meet the ground in their wake. Brown fur that'd tear a shiver out of anyone who rested their gaze upon it. Hundreds of eyes filled a lone head, with a drooling mouth that an arachnologist would immediately identify as the chelicerae. "I'm an arachnophobe, Yuri!" 

 

"There is never a better time to face your fears than the present!" In the distance, Yuri rests with his back against a boulder of his own creation. His arms are crossed while watching me as I am slowly surrounded by the spider monsters, thirsty for my blood.

 

"This isn't funny! I've killed like ten of them! They just keep coming back!" These monsters are called Brown Crawlers. They are basically exceptionally large spiders, except, their production rate is absurd. By killing just one of these monsters, you have a chance at the eggs within their abdomens bursting out into a brood of spiderlings. 

 

These spiderlings quickly feast on each other to help develop into their full size, which has made it very difficult for me to even remove one of them. Fire is very effective against them, but as things stand now, I've barely been able to get my ability off while I've been overwhelmed by their rapidly increasing numbers. Every time I attempt to incinerate one of the vermin, another one fires a web at me, leaving me only a thin window to get away.

 

"How can you be so relaxed! I can seriously die, you know?!" Yuri's nonchalant attitude is more concerning than the impending danger of the surrounding spiders I've been left to hack and slash at. 

 

Yuri rubs the side of his head with the flat surface of his dagger, his dull, uninterested eyes barely meeting my direction. "Those things aren't like the other unidentified creatures lurking around here," Yuri explains, thrusting his dagger to intercept an attacking arachnid. "I've seen them in a few dungeons. They're not anything special. If you can't handle them, you aren't fit to take up my time."

 

I'm finally convinced that if I were not in this life-threatening situation, I'd already be sending my most powerful attacks for Yuri's forehead.

 

A cloud of dust is left behind when I evade an incoming slash from one of the spider's legs. Encircled, I'd only be moving myself closer to another approaching group of arachnids, rather than escaping from their attempt at creating my entombment. 

 

Before one of them can sink their legs into me, I swing Apollo through the air, severing the appendage from the monster's body. It opens its mouth to hiss at me, but I've become too familiar with the routine of the tricky web shooters. "Fireball!" I announce, entering a prone position just before a silver string is ejected from the spider's mouth.

 

From my free hand, a massive flame erupts against the ground below me. Fireball, which would usually unleash a massive sphere of fire ahead of me, now makes contact with the ground. The flames spread across the dirt and grass, mixing in and spreading across the various webs that have become glued to the environment from previous endeavors into this bone-chilling scene.

 

Hisses and disturbing pattering quickly become blurred together, creating a symphony of satisfying hums as the flames that spread across the ground and webs begin to torch the bodies of many of the surrounding spiders. 

 

"That's how you do it!" During the incineration process, I do my best to ignore the words of "encouragement" Yuri insists on giving to me. More fireballs are unleashed around me promptly, igniting a showcasing of red and grey; flames and smoke. 

 

Softly, the flames eventually subside after carefully suffocating its intended targets. Mercilessly, the spiderlings find themselves becoming charred to a crisp. The webs either melt or go up into the atmosphere, and I am left to watch the process patiently. 

 

"See how easy that is? They've only got powers in numbers." I quickly identified Yuri's comment as snarky. There's nothing I can do about it right now. The subtle hints he's been trying to give me during my fights are pretty endearing, in a brotherly way. You know, that one irritating older brother who's always coming into your room when you least expect him to do something weird... I don't know how I know about that.

 

"Powers in numbers my fuckin' foot! They almost gave me a heart attack!" Dealing with normal spiders is one thing, but swarms of them in the form of cannibalistic monsters could tear whatever remnants of my soul remained straight out of my chest. I'm starting to appreciate this Fireball ability more and more!

 

Going through the loot acquired from the charred corpses of the spiderlings, I decide it's best to ignore the abilities I'd have gotten from them. If I had to make any intuitive guesses, they'd have something to do with shooting silk from my tailbone and sticking to walls.

 

Yuri observes the aftermath of the battle for a while, collecting his thoughts. "...Right, I think we should move from here. I don't have a clue if these things can respawn or not." His words make me tremble in fear. If another swarm of these things appear, I think I'll be going home.

 

"Don't get too excited. We're going to be looking for something even worse than these things. With your experience though, I'm guessing you aren't scared of much other than spiders." Yes, Yuri would be correct. Spiders and the outer-dimensional goddess who can blink me out of existence. 

 

"Next, I'm going to have you get hunted by a Ririan. That should be a lot of training for you." 

 

My ears perk up and twitch. "Your next training is for me to get hunted...? Those spiders must've laid eggs in your ears or something." Flicking my wrist, I wave my hand through the air dismissively. Surely he can't be serious about me being hunted.

 

"Just simmer down and listen," Even though he said this, I watched as Yuri stood up and hastily walked away from the scene. Only after hearing hissing in the distance do I realize that we'll be walking and talking. "Ririans are natural hunters, creatures whose ability-kits are so problematic that almost all creatures in their own dungeons fear them."

 

Creatures that other dungeon monsters fear? This sounds a bit suspicious. Suspicious in the sense that he's sending me to get hunted by something like that. "So you want me to get killed is how I'm translating all this." With my response, I see Yuri shake his head.

 

"The chances of one killing you are slim if you know how to properly counter them. You've been doing well at keeping them away from us so far." Over our heads, the trees rustle mightily with what I only believe to be a passing wind. "Ririans take the shape of various monsters, but their make-up can't be anything resembling what you've faced so far."

 

'Is he saying that based on fact or just to scare me? In this place, I don't know what to expect anymore.'

 

"With all of these details, make something of them." Abruptly, Yuri vanishes from my sight, startling me. Taking glances around, I discover him moving into the distance with speed I hadn't seen him wield before. I wouldn't say that he was moving faster than me, however, he was certainly up there... I couldn't catch up to him with the head start that he'd gotten on me.

 

"Gah! You fucker!" I rant blindly into the air, furious about this abandonment. 

 

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

 

I've been walking cluelessly for a good 12 minutes as of now. Something's been giving me the impression that Yuri's full of shit. My doubts aside, sadly, my tail's been standing stiff this whole walk. I typically wouldn't pay attention to my animalistic nature. Truthfully, it's been difficult for me to get used to having these features in the first place. Even though my mind's supposedly adapted, something's just been feeling off about me. It's like my body isn't my own—I feel like I'm borrowing something, rather than before when my body felt like my own.

 

Troublesome thoughts aside, something else is ticking me off while I've been walking. I'm being watched. Certainly, I can't tell from where, but every cell in my body has been stiff since a few minutes ago. That'd explain why my tail has been stiff, even I can feel the gaze of something lurking in the distance; somewhere out there, a creature is spying on me.

 

Proceeding with my walk, I make glances around myself. Searching for any minor details that might give away the position of my stalker, I'm disappointed to discover nothing. 

 

If the idea of a massive hunk of flesh stomping to my position didn't scare me, I'd shout out to whatever was watching me to startle it. There are not many options, unfortunately. I've reached a point where the trees over my head have developed oversized leaves, blocking out much of the sunlight that'd have helped reveal the position of the onlooker.

 

"Hey, Apollo?" Softly, I call out to the host of my dagger. "When you're in that form of yours, you can see, right?" I know it's a dumb question to ask, but I need certainty for my next action.

 

Emerging from thin air, hovering in front of me as I walk, Apollo emerges in the same form as before. "Obviously I can see! Otherwise, how would I be able to see you, silly?" I swear I felt a vein pop out of my forehead. Swatting my annoyance away, I continue, "Alright, how good's your eye?" 

 

Apollo is silent for a moment, probably catching on to my irritation. Poor thing, I forgot that we're linked together. "Look, I'm sorry for getting upset. Just... I need you to look around and tell me what's following me." Sympathetically, I speak to the younger of the twin souls.

 

In my eyes, Apollo is like the younger counterpart of Artemis. The fact that Artemis took the brunt of the last fight speaks wonders to me. This isn't to discredit Apollo, though. I don't speak to him often. Before, I thought about bonding with him and Artemis but never actually got the chance to do it. "Tell you what, we can talk and chat after this. You can stay manifested for as long as you want."

 

A smile grows across Apollo's innocent face. His blue eyes shine in delight as he nods his head. "Deal!" Before I know it, the [Right Twin Dagger] is drawn from my side. Apollo pulls the dagger and throws it into the air while levitating. "You're being watched from..."

 

Apollo's face scrunched up as the dagger twirls in a circle in the air. The dagger's movements eventually come to a complete stop, pointing in the direction of a set of bushes off in the distance behind me. Turning to face in that direction, I waste no time in my next action. Whoever's been stalking me couldn't be doing so thoughtfully. The idea that it could be Yuri didn't even cross my mind.

 

Unleashed from my hand is a massive fireball, speeding to its target in the form of the bush. As it approached, I could see and hear the rustling from whatever was hidden within the bush. Soon, the shadow of a creature springs out of the bush as soon as the fireball connects with the bush, setting it ablaze.

 

Something akin to the roar of a tiger cub comes from the unseen mouth of the shadow. As my dagger returns to my hand, I'm quick to spin around and track the movements of the entity. It's much faster than I'd realized. As soon as its feet touched the ground, it began bolting around the area. "You're a fast one, aren't ya'!?" Raising my dagger in front of my face, I reflexively block a sharp set of claws from reaching my face.

 

I'm effectively alarmed by this. Having used my blade to block the slash, I'd expected the dagger to cleave through the creature and split it in two with its momentum. This didn't happen, instead, the creature pushed off of the blade with sparks flying from its skin - or scales.

 

'Apollo!?' Instantly, I can hear Apollo speaking from over my head. "[Durability Negation] only works when me and Artemis are together!"

 

If not for the heat of battle, I'd question if I could strangle the dagger's inhabitant. What he's implying is that right now, the dagger has been butchering all of my opponents without the usage of its greatest ability. "Holy shit, am I being nerfed?" I'm now down by my greatest ability with my greatest weapon. This is not good.

 

Adjusting my stance, my sight catches the appearance of the creature that attacked me. It was quadrupedal, its upper appearance deceptively granting me the perception of a feline, but just by going a bit lower, I saw white scale-like fur covering the paws of the creature. Yes, this is undoubtedly some kind of strange, armored cat. "What the hell are you supposed to be? Are you a Ririan?"

 

I wasn't expecting a response back, but when that feline's mouth opened, I received one. "How offensive! You'd dare imply that I, Cinna, could be such a lowly pest?! This dimension has bred Terreans!" 

 

'Terreans? Is that a slur or something?' The feline's white fur stands up as it bears its fangs at me in what I assume is anger. 

 

"Wait, you can spe—?!" 

 

The white feline moves in a blur, darting out of my line of sight with impressive speed. I'm quick to track its movements, twisting my body with my dagger in hand. Again, the feline went in to strike me in the head from my side. With my dagger in hand, I parry the blow from the creature's claw.

 

While it's suspended in the air, I perform a swift counterattack. My body twists nimbly, almost like I'd been practicing ballet or gymnastics for a long while. My foot is raised, regardless of my minute stature, and it slams into the head of the airborne feline. 

 

With a thud, the white-armored feline is slammed into the ground, sending dirt into the air around its landing area. "Prrrrrr!" I hear an odd sound come from the feline as it shakes to knock the dirt from its fur. "Vermin! Hold still!" I hear the high-pitched creature speak again. Its voice actually sounded childish, like a grade-schooler boy speaking with the intent of intimidating his classmate. It isn't its voice that's intimidating me thoroughly though, it's the amount of power that's behind its strikes.

 

I've had to regenerate my bones after each clash with the creature. Just by parrying and blocking its attacks, the energy from the blow is breaking my durable bones. If I had to make a guess, I might have to use my transformation if I want to fight this thing. 

 

Yet, even though I know I have to use that transformation, I can't help but challenge myself here. No, that's giving me too much credit. While I do want to face a challenge that seems feasible to defeat her, my instincts are also warning me not to transform into my more animalistic form. Only by sharing having this feline gaze at me from afar did I feel discomfort that left my body tense. Transforming might trigger an even worse reaction out of that bestial form.

 

Just when I'm prepared to take the offense against the feline, something crashes down in between us. A thick smog cages the area after the unseen "something" collides with the ground. 

 

"Hoooh?" Akin to the hoot of an owl, an unsettling sound reverbs from the epicenter of the haze. "Hooooooh?" Shortly after the first hoot, I hear another come from close behind me. Quickly, I activate [Intangibility], believing that something will be attacking me from behind. 

 

I'm left looking like a total fool. Nothing attacks me yet, however, across from me, the feline rants about something. "Grraah! Look what you've brought to us, idiot! You've spoken the names of these pests!" A cat-like hiss brews from the feline's core as it stands defensively, its claws growing even sharper to the point of digging deeply into the dirt.

 

"Ririans!" The feline, Cinna, announces the names of the unwanted guests. These are the creatures that Yuri wanted me to be hunted by for training. He abandoned me here and didn't elaborate on what their abilities were in the slightest. "Fine! I will make quick work of you, then I can keep hunting my prey!" Cinna loudly decreases, lifting its right paw over its head.

 

As its claws glow, my entire vessel moves on its own. I use everything in my arsenal to make as much distance with the feline-dragon creature as possible. My instincts have never failed me yet, they actually saved my life. 

 

With power that it hadn't even showcased during our brief bout, the feline swipes its paw through the air and into the ground. Crescents emit from each of its claws, eccentric explosions detonating from each one. Spheres of neon purple overtake the area around the slashes in some odd splash effect, overtaking the area beyond the radius of the slash.

 

"Holy hell!" The wind blows by with enough force to uproot the trees around me, but I've grown strong enough to keep myself on the ground. If I were at the same level of power that I was at in Fadena, I'd have been thrown out of the Black Layer. 

 

Without giving the wind time to subside, the feline comes speeding out from what seems to be beneath the earth ahead of me. Shining silver eyes close the distance with me at an alarming rate. Activating my intangibility for a second time, the creature's attack should move through me.

 

This doesn't happen.

 

Unexpectedly, the paw of the creature increases in size, enough to capture my entire throat. Cutting off the oxygen flow to my brain, my vision booms until my back hits the ground. Impacting the ground, I'm briefly drawn back to my senses, finding what white creature on top of me.

 

This time, however, it does not look like the same feline as before. Its feline features have all faded away into leaves carried by the wind.

 

'Is this a fucking—'

 

White scales protrude from its body, but there are not many. Its body is small, but I can think of the word that best describes it based on the thumb-sized wings on either side of its body.

 

'—Dragon!?'

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