Chapter 11: Chapter 1.9 (Part 1)

The morning came quickly as we woke up and packed up our things. My clothes I originally came in, which were a pair of long black pants and a long-sleeved shirt, were now basically ruined, and I didn’t bring an extra pair. Not like it would have done me any good at all, seeing that I must have grown quite a bit, pushing my height from 5’11 all the way to maybe 6’0. So, the clothes would have most likely fit awkwardly on me.

I grabbed my bag pack and placed it on my back, then returned my short sword to its scabbard, which is on my lower back. I then picked up my makeshift bow and held it by the grip, which is in the middle of it. I looked up at the morning sky and took a deep breath.

Draven placed his bow on his back and said, "Are you ready to move out?"

I stretched and replied, "As ready as I’ll ever be."

As we walked forward, we had a conversation with each other. I finally asked him the question I’ve been wanting to ask for the longest time.

"Draven, if you’re a prince from the high elf royal family, then what are you doing out here? If you’re basically 200 years old, you should be running the kingdom or something along those lines."

Draven chuckled a bit and replied, "I gave up my succession to the throne in order to roam the world. Being a king has nothing on having the absolute freedom to go where you please."

Freedom? That is something everyone should strive for. However, everyone is a slave to something. Some people are slaves to love, some to money, some to power, etc. I am a slave as well. I am a proud slave to my goal. It’s the only thing driving me to keep pushing forward.

"So, if you gave up your succession, then that means your little sister Emra is the next queen."

"Oh no. I have another sister who is a bit older than Emra. Her name is Emyr, and she will be the next queen when it’s time. I don’t think Emra would have accepted the role anyway; she is more of a free spirit like myself. "

"Gee, thanks for telling me this now. I’ve been thinking that you only have one sister."

Draven scratched the back of his head and said, "It might have slipped my mind."

"You think?"

Draven flashed a smile and replied, "Most definitely."

I hesitated a bit then finally asked, "Hey, when we clear and capture this tower, do you want to party up so we can tackle the others? I mean, we’re pretty much a badass team."

Draven placed his hands on the back of his head and answered, "What happened to I’m an annoying high elf?"

I mumbled under my breath, "You still are."

"But sure, I see no issue with that. We can team up."

I smiled and said, "Alright, it’s settled then. We conquer these challenges together."

"Well, aren’t you excited?"

"I just got a long-range party member, so of course I am excited. That’s one down."

As Draven was about to answer me, there was a cracking sound, but it came from the ground. Both of us drew our weapons and took a

defensive stance, not sure what to make of it.

There, cracking sounds intensified, and I looked upwards. So much so that black cracks were starting to appear in the light blue sky, and out of those cracks, a bright red liquid started to seep out of them, much to the point where it began to rain. Draven and I immediately took shelter, being unsure if this liquid was dangerous in any way.

*Pitter Patter* *Pitter Patter* *Pitter Patter*

The bright red rain drops fell on the ground. I crouched down to further observe it. This looks like blood, human blood, if I were to make an assumption. The cracking continued, and there was a bone rattling sound.

*Roarrrrrrrrr*

A roar of a beast seemed angry. This wasn’t any regular roar; it sounded deeper and more intense than any of the roars I heard from the wolf hybrids here.

Finally, the cracking reached its climax and pieces of large debris started falling from the sky and shaking the earth as they fell.

Draven and I ran as far as possible from the incoming pieces of rock. As I looked backwards, I saw human bodies falling in the air as well.

Some of them were mutilated; some were just toros or just lower halves. Different body parts also fell out from the cracks, inclusive of severed arms, legs, and even a few heads.

Then finally, the main thing came crashing down and hit the earth with a resounding thud, and it caused a bit of a shock wave that pushed both of us backwards.

Draven said, "What the hell is that thing?"

I gulped and replied, "There’s only one way to find out, right?"

I carefully climbed a tree in order to get a better view of the unknown creature and Draven. What we saw was something terrifying in our eyes.

Standing at 30 feet with silver fur covering its huge body, with the head of a bear the size of a basketball backboard and long razor-sharp claws the length of an average human arm. Its reach with its arms was probably close to 13 feet.

This is the biggest creature I have ever seen. It even towers over the trees in this forest, and from the earlier display, it obviously just wiped out those humans without any effort.

Draven looked a bit shocked and uttered, "Razorback."

"Huh, Razorback?"

"Dante, this is bad. Razorback is the Tower guardian, so why the hell is it on the lower floors? The flooring just can’t magically give way."

I exhaled and stared at the guardian.

"Do you think we can take it?"

Draven chuckled and replied, "We may end up dying if we do so."

I pulled out my bow and said, "Well, you did say for me to die an honorable death, but I don’t plan on dying before my goal is accomplished."

Draven pulled out his bow as well and said, "I feel you on that."

Both of us then rushed at the creature, who stood still, confidently awaiting our attacks.

Simultaneously firing arrows at Razorback

Draven said, "Multiple."

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His one arrow became 60 and flew towards Razorback, but it didn’t pierce its skin.

I said, "Arrows didn’t work?" while firing one more shot at the creature, which then bounced off its fur.

"Regroup now!" ordered Draven as he immediately concealed himself in a tree and I did the same.

Long distance attacks don’t work on it. Is Razorback’s fur a tough shield or something? In order to test it, I need to engage in close-quarters combat.

Razorback roared again and shook the earth, then began swinging its claws in a wild manner, cutting through the thick tree trunk as if it were butter.

Draven and I made a break for it further away because Razorback’s claws were heading for the trees we were hiding behind.

While running, I said, "What’s plan b besides running?"

"How about avoiding dying?"

I replied, "Oh gee, I would never have thought of them. I think I have an idea."

"What’s the idea?"

"If you can distract it with your arrows, I can sneak in and get a clean-cut in."

"That doesn’t sound too bad, but it’s a bit too risky, you don’t say?"

"There’s no other way. If push comes to shove, we just flee and regroup."

Draven paused and said, "If you’re relying on me to use my God Force to save you at the last second, you better get that idea out of your head. I can only use it to multiply my arrows. My body can’t handle the strain of the other uses. That’s the second reason why I gave up my right to the throne. No one wants a flawed ruler."

I smirked at him and said, "Flawed or not. Let’s go this."

Draven climbed a tree and positioned himself while I rushed towards Razorback with my sword in my right hand.

Razorback raised its narrow, 13-foot-long arms in the air and prepared to bring it down. Right on cue, 50 arrows came flying towards its head. Razorback used its right arm to shield against the assault. Leaving itself open for an attack on the hindlegs.

I swung the blade with all my strength, and it connected with the front of the right leg.

*Clink*

Huh? The blade didn’t even make a scratch. I swung the blade some more and there was no effect. This is insane. Razorback then swung its left claws at me.

Draven shouted, "Watch out!"

I immediately used my blade to block the attack.

Sparkles flew as the two weapons collided with one another, and I jumped backwards and ran the opposite way in order to create some distance between the two of us. I hid behind a tree and panted while I looked at my sword.

This is bad. The body of my sword was chipped from blocking one of its attacks. What are those claws made of? I also couldn’t cut through the fur of this beast either. It’s better to stay here for a while until Draven and I could come up with a plan.

There was a rumbling sound, and then I felt the leaves of the tree I hid behind falling on me. I looked upwards and saw that the tree was cut into various pieces. I froze up for a bit because I didn’t even sense the attack coming. Am I outclassed here even with all the training I went through?

Move your legs, please. Come on, move. Damn it. It was of no use. They felt as if they were bolted to the floor.

I could hear Draven screaming at me to move out of the way, but my legs didn’t want to budge. Am I afraid right now?

Razorback jabbed its right-hand claws at me. I could see everything in slow-motion. Is this what people see before their death?

As the razor-sharp claws inched closer to me, I felt a hand grab my right shoulder and pull me out of the way. Then bright red blood splattered on the left side of my face as I hit the ground.

I was in shock at first, then it finally sank in. Draven used God Force to increase his speed to pull me out of the way and take the blow for me.

He stood in front of me with one of the razor-sharp claws the length of an average human arm piercing through his chest area and coming out of his back. He then turned to me and said, "You’re such a wuss for freezing up." He then laughed before coughing up blood.

Then Razorback swung its hand, severing its claw in Draven's chest and slamming him into a tree. I rushed towards him and said, "This is all my fault."

Draven grunted and said, "Razorback got me good, but right now is not the time to worry about who’s weak or who’s at fault." You need to run; I am basically dead weight right now."

I grabbed Draven by the collar of his shirt and said, "I can’t just leave you here. You know, I can’t do that."

Draven smiled and said, "You’re too stubborn, Dante. One day that will be the death of you."

I smiled back and replied, "My weapons won’t work on him." His fur is too tough, and his claws wear down my sword with one strike."

Draven coughed and said, "There's a way, but I was hoping that it wouldn’t come to this."

"What do you mean?"

"There’s a way for a human being to use God Force without any of the extra steps, but it comes at a price."

"Is this why you trained me in it even though I didn’t possess any?"

Draven sighed and handed me his bow. "This bow is a weapon made from the Alder Tree. We elves are the result of a union between a human and a deity. So you can somewhat use it, but it requires God Force to wield. So, instead of that, the weapon will drain you of your natural life force."

I held on to the grip of the bow and it began to change shape.

"When a weapon of the elder tree makes contact with a being, it changes form to suit that person’s preference."

The bow morphed into a wooden katana with rune symbols on the body of the blade, and as I gripped the hilt of the weapon, I felt a tingle in my arm.

So, this is how it feels to have your life literally being sucked out of you, but this is not the time to worry about that.

I took a deep breath and slowly approached Razorback.

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