CHAPTER 3 - THE LABYRINTH, PT 2
CHAPTER 3 - The Labyrinth, PT 2
Activating the ring, Elijah entered the Wraith world to expand his vision, finding the night vision/life-sensing ability quite handy as he fell ceaselessly through the dark abyss under the bridge.
His face was full of newfound nonchalance, his eyes glazing over every possible stopping point only to deny that one and keep heading further and further down. He figured that Hajime only survived that fall due to the fact that where he landed probably wasn't one of the lowest floors… Plus there's plot armor. He's sure that had a huge hand in helping him stay alive.
His free fall soon came to an end, however, his destination arriving sooner rather than later like he expected. His eyes squinted as he augmented his body with mana, and prepared for a rough landing.
Flipping in mid-air, he adjusted himself accordingly and just before he hit the stone-cold floor of the Labyrinth, his feet were parallel with the ground. Landing with a humongous THUD, dust was kicked up in every direction possible, clouding over and hiding him from the sight of the multitude of disturbed monsters.
Ranging from Claw Bears to Twin-Tailed wolves, every monster had their vision set on the boy, and there was no way for him to escape without a fight.
Not like he's one to run from one either way.
Elijah was always a prideful but laid-back kid. He often got into trouble for his rather weird mix of personality traits, though when he was riled up it was almost impossible to stop him without actually laying your hands on him, even then, he was like a miniature tank.
The dust settled and Elijah's golden pupils glinted, his left-hand gripping Yamato more securely as he made eye contact with each and every monster present. His mana settled seamlessly, becoming a stand-still akin to a calm lake.
"GRAAAAH!" The first one to move was a Claw Bear, leaving his other two companions in species behind to witness his swift defeat. Lunging at Elijah, the Claw Bear wasted no time in trying to claim the boy's life, finding him an easy target due to his size.
Elijah wanted to take this time to utilize the ring and get familiar with it. He's been familiar with mana for nearly all his fifteen years back in his other world, nothing changed except that his connection to it has become stronger and his physiology changed- All minor things in his opinion.
Utilizing the new ring, Elijah Shadow Stepped behind the Claw Bear, throwing it off completely eliciting a grunt of confusion. Unsheathing Yamato, he cleaved at the bear's tendon in its heel, causing it to buckle and go limp.
"GRRRRAG!" the bear once again roared, though this one was a cry of pain and anger. Having been injured by its prey, it felt wronged for being tricked. Unnaturally twisting on its remaining ankle, the bear once again cleaved at Elijah, its claws extending as they glowed a red tint.
Elijah easily intercepted the bear's attack, stopping its magic in its place as he cut its paw off, causing blood to spew out like a geyser. Shadow stepping once more, the boy vanished in a glint of black-golden whisps, appearing behind the bear once more, Yamato already slicing at its neck.
The bear's head rolled from its shoulders, dropping to the cold stone of the Labyrinth with a thud. Eijah didn't even bother to sheath Yamato, instead he set his sights on the monsters that held back in order to watch their battle.
'They're intelligent?' Elijah questioned, finding their strategy to be odd. Pushing that to the back of his mind, he quickly pivoted on his right foot, narrowly dodging a lunging Twin-Tailed wolf, the snap of its jaw snapped loudly behind him as he once again side stepped another attack, though this one came from a Kickboxer Rabbit.
"GRRR!" The wolf growled lowly at him; saliva shot gunning out between its razor-sharp teeth. The Kickboxer rabbit hopped lightly on its feet as if preparing itself for another supersonic jump. However, Elijah didn't let the rabbit go through with its plan.
Immediately forming a dagger made of wraithy energy, he threw it at speeds the rabbit couldn't follow, piercing its left ear causing it to get dragged by the wraith-constructed dagger until it was securely pinned against the stone wall.
Yelping out in pain, the Kickboxer rabbit's head slammed against the stone wall, eliciting a crack as its body went limp. Elijah clicked his tongue in annoyance as his plan wasn't to kill it. He wanted to immobilize it until he was done taming the wolf in front of him, though he figured settling with the wolf would be more worthwhile considering it's raring to go at him.
"..." Elijah and the wolf stared each other down, the latter waiting for the wolf to make a move. Right now, the wolf was consciously observing Elijah, trying to find a weak spot or a position to strike. Circling around, the wolf ceased its growling as it positioned itself at what it thought was Elijah's blind spot.
Of course, the boy let it do that… He's not dumb enough to let a potential enemy get in his blind spot and kill him. Even if he could track its movements alone only utilizing his ears.
"RAAAAAAR!" The wolf roared as its tails lit up with purple lightning that instantly covered the ground that separated the two, looking to completely evaporate Elijah in one go. It didn't care for a meal; it saw what he did to the Claw Bear… Not to mention the Kickboxer Rabbit.
Elijah snapped his fingers, utilizing his mana to manipulate the very stone beneath him. The ground shot up and covered around him in a dome, protecting and killing the lightning field that threatened to sting him.
'I hate electricity so much…' Elijah shuddered remembering his time from his past life, where his mentor brutally trained his resistance with electricity magic. He might've been in a modern world, but the danger of magic and monsters still reigned supreme.
The wolf's eyes narrowed, seeing that its attack didn't work. The stone dome around Elijah retreated to the ground with fervor, quickly opening up Elijah's sight.
"It was fun while it lasted, but I think I'll test this ring on something more challenging." His voice condescending as he Shadow Stepped right next to the wolf, throwing it off guard. The wolf's reflexes reacted swiftly and the wolf attempted to leap away, but it was all for naught.
Elijah's hand gripped the wolf's tail and held it in place with ease, its paws digging and scratching into the stone trying to get away, but it was all for naught.
At one last feeble attempt of running away, the wolf activated its lightning field once again, attempting to fry Elijah. Contrary to its expectations, Elijah was perfectly fine, though he was steaming and his hair was fried a bit.
The only noticeable change was that Elijah's eyes held a heavy sense of irritation, causing his grip on the wolf's tails to tighten, eliciting a crack as the bones and cartilage gave out under his strength.
"Fucker." Elijah spat with venom, dropping Yamato to the floor, Elijah quickly switched his gripping hand and utilized his right hand, wielding the ring, to grip the wolf's face. Activating the ring once more, the ring lit up with a deep gold-black light as a sizzling sound erupted from the wolf's face.
"RAAA!?" The wolf yelped in pain and surprise as it felt its mind get overwritten, its loyalties getting overridden to obey no one but Elijah as he dominated the wolf's mind. Removing his hand after a good five seconds, the wolf had a golden-black hand painted made of aura branded on its forehead.
The wolf immediately ceased all acts of aggression as Elijah released its tails and picked up Yamato. The wolf sat quietly and obediently as it waited for Elijah's command, its tail wagging in excitement.
Elijah couldn't help but feel giddy looking at the product of his work in front of him. Domination was a cool, but overpowering ability. Back in his old world he always dreamt of finding out about some type of Domination magic, hell, even something as broken as illusions would've worked. He was skilled in skill creation; he knew that no one had a better chance at creating Domination magic than him.
But then he died so he had no time to continue his research.
Inspecting the New Ring with a small, satisfied smile, Elijah patted the wolf's head, causing its two tails to pick up speed and throw up dust, dirt and pebbles.
Chuckling, Elijah ceased his actions.
"...Welp, seems like it's just me and you now huh? From fighters to companions! That's one hell of a plot twist." Elijah jokes, silently regretting the fact he had no source of storage for the mana stones dropped from the two dead monsters.
He would need currency when he gets out and as of right now? He's completely broke. Even in modern standards.
Sighing, he decided he'd get the creation magic and the certain perverted loli-vampire Princess and get the hell out of here. He wanted to collect all the ancient magics before doing anything else, though he might end up changing that plan around…
No one knows himself like he does, and he knows he'll be bored out of his mind in between Labyrinth conquering.
'Setting up a top secret team of the best monsters, demons and demi-humans doesn't sound too shabby… World domination would be within my grasp!
…
Only if that wasn't such hard work.' Elijah mused, snickering a little at his own laziness. World domination was a small and simple goal, and as of right now? He doesn't even have one!
He'd rather not have one then have one as lame and simple as that… Maybe he'll consider world travel?
'If that's possible… That would be amazing.' Elijah thought, making his way throughout the first floor of the Lower Levels, the wolf right beside him.
Glancing over, Elijah began to pet the wolf again, enjoying its soft, but dirty coat of fur.
"Mm, your name will be Cloud." The wolf froze as its eyes gained a clarity unseen before, Elijah noticed and tilted his head in interest, stopping in his tracks to observe the changes. He shrugged it off however as there wasn't any physical change at the moment. Other than the wolf looking to be a little smarter…
He had no idea what that did.