Please come inside, let's have some tea and pray for your friends. The chief led Tiny into a hut. The hut was decorated beautifully in animal skin and paintings of a strange-looking animal with several horns on its head. The chief saw her eyes fixated on the drawings of the creature and smiled slightly. "This is not the first time that visitors have become victims. There is a creature that leaves in these parts." He pointed to the painting, "Deep within the earth. It is called a Zullezu. Meaning the lonely one." He opened a little pot and brought out some tea leaves. After grinding them gently, he put them in a sieve and added some hot water. "Sugar or honey?"
"Sugar, please!" She replied.
"Honestly, it is rather very peaceful and has even contributed richly to the fertility of the earth. Some villages around even worship it. Zullezu is recognized as a mother to the earth. But around this time of the year, things are always not so peaceful. You see, this land used to b
"I know that I shouldn't invade your private matters, but what kind of problems exactly!?" Lydia sighed. "It happened a few years ago. It's a bit of an injury but at the same time, it's a curse. Madam Bastet has tried to remove it, but as it is obvious, her efforts did not work." "It is that bad!?" Derek asked but it was not Lydia that answered but Hayaa. "Yes, it is!" "Wait! you can see what's wrong with her?" He asked internally. "Of course, I can. Your friend isn't capable of moulding aura like the rest of you. Every time she tries to, it leaves her empty. In other words, no matter how great or small the technique is, it will leave her at a disadvantage. That is why she can't use techniques in a fight. Also, the continuous drain of aura will eventually damage her soul and the end result of a damaged soul is as you know, death." Derek looked at her and felt pity. The more he looked, the more emotion he felt. But then it changed. His eyes started
"Beneath the earth, there are tunnels. Caves that were probably made by the Dandy. They are hiding down there." Derek told his friends as his hands felt the earth. "But I can't find a nearby entrance that leads down there.""Don't worry bro. If there is no entrance, we will just create ours!" Aesir raised his fist to punch the ground but before he could, Lydia held his hand."Are you crazy in the head or something!?" Lydia glared at him. "Look at how potent the mist is up here. How potent do you think it would be down there? We can't just rush into this.""I agree. Here, everybody should take one." Madeline opened her palm revealing aura pills. The same ones that Bastet had given her because of her exceeding consumption of aura whenever her technique was activated. "This should help replenish our aura. Sorry, I don't have much remaining. We will have to manage one for each person.""If we do this right, then this should naturally be enough," Lydia added.
"Okay, that's all. You see, it's really simple.""Oh! yeah, it is, except will it work? I mean, are you sure it will work? Is that creature going to fall for that?" Aesir added."Well, if it works in games, I don't see why it can't work here," Madeline answered"Wait! What!? In games!?" Aesir complained but he still dove down and rushed for the Dandy. Madeline also made two Chimeras to aid his attack. Meanwhile, Derek Placed his hands on the ground to make walls with runes that appeared at different parts of the carven.Aesir went for what he thought was one of the softest parts of the beast. He went for the tail region. "First style, House of strength. Cleavage!" He released his technique and a large line of brownish line left his sword. The Dandy did not obviously stay there and enjoy the attacks. It sent a whip in Aesir's direction, clashing with the aura technique Aesir had sent out.Aesir smiled when he saw this but his smile suddenly froze. The s
Derek ran towards his friend. He lifted his upper body, "Aesir! Aesir!! AESIR!!!" But there was no response. From the side of his mouth, a small trail of blood. "Shit! he must have suffered internal injuries," Derek thought. He lifted Aesir on his shoulder and took him a safe distance away. Derek was not one to leave a friend to attend to but he had to help the others. After checking Aesir's vitals and making sure the big guy's life was not under threat, he went back to help the ladies.This Dandy was far bigger than the previous one. It was also sturdier and looked much healthier than the previous one. Worse, it had ten tentacles on each side and it flew in the air. Derek remembered that Lydia had said something about Dandies coming in pairs. This must be the mate of the other one.For most species, Females were much larger than males and this naturally also meant more trouble. This Dandy was hunting for food above and had heard the death cry of its mate and rushed ov
As Tiny fell to the ground, her eyes witnessed as the beast pulled Derek into its crazy teeth filled mouth. Her eyes opened wide in horror. "NO!!!" both her and Lydia screamed. But it was too late, Derek was drawn into the body of the beast. After which, it hid its delicate parts in its shell.Tiny's eyes suddenly became bloodshot. She attacked with everything she had. But the beast did not even burg a bit. Her attacks became frantic. Dull sounds of her blow with the Dandy's hardshell reverberated off the walls. Even though the beast gave her no attention, she remained relentless in her fight."Wait! Tiny wait!!!" Tiny looked back at Lydia, frowning in obvious anger and annoyance. Seeing the look on her face, Lydia knew that she had to explain herself and quick too or else, Tiny might resume punching the beast or maybe even her face in the process. "The shell is too hard. You won't be able to break it. you have to find a weak spot on its body and concentrate your attac
Derek was a low-level Writer. That amount of blood he just bathed in was far too much for his system. And to make matters worse, he had been using his Aura all the while. He was nowhere in a position to combat the effects of the blood in his system. Derek screamed as he thrashed about and then he suddenly stopped. His bloodshot eyes had caught sight of the fainted Tiny in the corner. He immediately dived in her direction. "Oh No!" Lydia whispered. Derek tried as had as he may, but everything in him was urging him to rip off Tiny's clothes and take her. He came on top her and just as he was about to do away with her clothes, he suddenly stopped. He looked at her sleepy face and stopped. Memories of the times they had spent together breezed through his mind. He remembered how he had opened his eyes to see that she had saved his life from that river. He remembered that she always defended him against bullies and how he would sleep and wake up in the comfort of her laps.
Derek sat with his hands hugging his legs in the void. "What have I done!?" He asked himself. The only thing he currently felt was absolute regret. To him, he had done something extremely abominable. He could not help but think about how disgusted he felt towards himself. "It was not your fault!" Hayaa comforted. "There was nothing else you could have done." She sighed. "I should have also done a better job, but I was scared of sending more of my energy through your body. I was scared that you might actually blow up. I am sorry. I didn't protect you.""Naa!!! it is not your fault. I shouldn't have been that careless." He stood up and walked towards her. Cupping her face in his palm, "You shouldn't beat yourself about it."She looked up at him. "So what are you going to do now?""There is nothing else I can do about this, I'll have to take responsibility." He sighed. "Now that I think of it, I can't possibly tell Bastet. She'll definitely be mad with me." Derek
"Don't do it!""Do what!? Derek asked."Apologise! Don't do it." Lydia responded with a firm expression plastered on her face. She still continued brushing the body of the Griffin, not sparing him a look at all. Derek was speechless. How could he not apologise, what he did was a heinous crime. Now he was tongue-tied about what to do."I... wante..."He was interrupted by Tiny's arrival. Swallowing whatever had managed unto his tongue from his belle of confusion. "Is everything alright?" Tiny asked. "It's nothing," Derek answered in a hurry and walked out of their presence. Tiny looked at his back profile as he walked away and then at the ever-busy Lydia. Now her antenna was definitely on to something. "I have to go see the chief. I have not thanked him properly for his help." Tiny also walked away.Lydia's hand was in a continuous brushing motion stopped for the first time since she saw Derek come out of the hut. "Idiot! Idiot!! IDIOT!!!" In her anno