THE BEAST INSIDE

Ivan led Yue to his base on the 149th floor as they worked together to carry the bits and pieces of the Scorpion they felt would be useful. At first she was a bit perplexed as to why he would want them but after explaining a bit of his abilities she unceremoniously bit into his neck again to regain her energy.

Then casting some body-empowering magic, she picked up pieces of the Scorpion effortlessly, Ivan marveled once again at the prospect of using such power without having to chant or use a magic circle But the appreciation in his eyes didn't go unnoticed as she smiled smugly at him.

"Tch." He softly clicked his tongue before overtaking her in speed.

This led to a bit of a contest to see who'd reach the base first, but of course Yue not knowing where it even was left her at a great disadvantage. And although she couldn't see his face through the helmet the smug ways his eyes bent and his loud humming really ticked her off.

PLOP!

Ivan threw the pieces of Scorpion carcass he carried on his shoulder to the ground as well as his backpack and satchel. He then began to stretch his body, Yue's face twitching all the while she heard cracks erupting from it.

"Now, how about we chat?" Finishing his stretches, Ivan rested his hands on the floor as he transmuted a chair for Yue to sit on. She marveled at the speedy craft before taking a seat. Jittering in her chair as its hard surface was a lot less comfortable than it looked!

She stared dissatisfied at Ivan, who only held his hand to his waist before reprimanding her.

"Oi, oi, oi, if you're gonna complain about the chair I painstakingly created for you then how about you try the ground."

She wanted to rebut the 'painstakingly' part but in the end closed her mouth. For now she had other questions regarding his behavior.

"Show me your face." She demands softly.

"Hm~?" Hearing this Ivan only moved to the opposite side of the room before transmuting himself an even cruder chair to sit on, then with a bemused tone sat on it while holding his chin. "And why would I do that?"

She showed a disgruntled face before moving onto another topic. "Then please show me your wounds, I'm sure with my magic I can heal them so long as they aren't severe!"

"Oh these." Ivan pointed to the bandages wrapping his arms and legs before waving dismissively. "You don't gotta worry about these, I'm fine I'm fine. These are just here to remind myself."

Her expression turned serious before she asked one more question. "Ivan, who were you speaking to when you first entered my tomb?"

TAP TAP TAP

"...."

The room turned silently before Ivan began tapping his chin with his left index finger rhythmically.

"....Hahahaha! What's got you so worked up? We should plan out our next steps if we're going to make it out of here, not in pieces." Ivan broke the silence as he laughed out heartily, completely ignoring the question.

"Please answer the question." Yue voiced out sternly. She got out of her chair as she approached him slowly. It wasn't until they were face to face did Ivan even speak a word regarding the matter.

"Who I was speaking to... Hm~ I suppose it would be more fitting to say 'what' I was speaking to." Not minding her stare, Ivan reached his hand into his chest plate. Yue only remained in front of him.

It took a whole three minutes before he finally pulled something out of his chest, and yet his hands trembled as he held a golden amulet imbued with a bronze crystal up to her face.

Yue reached carefully for it, slowly moving her hand to separate it from his.

JINGLE! JINGLE!

The Amulet shook fiercely as she found that Ivan just wouldn't budge his fingers. She reached for the imbued crystal.

BANG!

The moment her hands collided with it she jumped to the other side of the room before preparing her magic.

"A monster." She exclaimed softly. "Ivan, where did you get that thing?"

Ivan ignored the offensive stance before getting out of the chair himself. "Oi, don't be so rude! He is of my own creation, of my own pride and joy." He slung the amulet back over his neck, this time showing it in front of the chest plate.

Yue remembered his abilities to combine things before coming to a conclusion of her own.

"Ivan, listen to me. That amulet is corrupting you. In it is the soul of a monster that wants nothing more than for you to rely on it. And the moment you break and let your guard down, it'll abuse your trust and take you over from the inside."

She circled around the room, attempting to find a better position to attack the amulet from.

Ivan only stood still in his spot, not responding to any of her words. In this hell he's invited himself in up until now he only had one thing to talk to. One thing that responded to his words with something other than an attack or growling.

Now, who was he going to trust in this situation, the Amulet that had been his only friend for the past fifty floors or the girl he met about an hour ago.

To him, the choice was obvious.

BZZZZZZT!

Yue enhanced her physical abilities before jumping out of the way from Ivan's lunge.

Sparks burst from his hands as he attempted to grab a hold of any of her limbs. He grabbed a piece of the Scorpion he had thrown on the floor before enveloping the room in a mist of blood.

KABOOM!

Yue felt her skin boil under the heat, but her regenerative abilities numbed that pain slightly as the wounds from it vanished almost instantaneously.

'So he can control whatever liquid he touches.' She remembered the blood spear from earlier and the judging from the explosion of blood just now she deduced his abilities.

BANG!

She busted a hole through the wall of the hideout before running out, peering over her shoulder as she made sure Ivan was still following her. She wasn't sure what kind of person he was but seeing as how they both went a little overkill on the Scorpion she guessed he was about as cautious as she was. Both refusing the opportunity for their enemy to return to screw them over later in life.

Yue eliminated Ice magic and Water magic from her arsenal before leading Ivan out into an open area.

They stared at each other briefly before Yue prepared herself for any of Ivan's attacks. She wanted to free him from the allure of the amulet without causing him any severe injuries.

Ivan was her savior. The one who freed her from her centuries long captivity. They had promised to make it out of here together. And now she was his assistant.

She glared at the amulet hatefully.

And then, Ivan made a move—

Three daggers were flung at Yue's direction, each coated with either a poison, something to paralyze her, or a bomb attached to the end.

"Wind Wall!" A gust of wind appeared before the daggers and pushed them into the air.

Yue took advantage of the surprise Ivan's body showed to unleash an attack of her own.

"Tempest Flash!" Ivan was knocked flying as a hammer of air collided with his face. The worst part about wind magic was that the only indication of it was the noise the air made and the vibrations in the air. Other than that the only chances he would have of evading her attacks is by either dodging every time she yells out a name or putting up a wall.

Ivan's hands slid across the ground as he transmuted a wall to slow himself down.

"Force Lasher!" Spiraling whirlwinds littered the field as Ivan made another dash for Yue. This time forgoing any projectiles and instead opting to use his fists.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Ivan dodged the incoming wind blades by mere centimeters before he found himself standing right before Yue.

BZZZZZZT!

His hand collided with Yue's face, then outputting all of his stored up mana, her body convulsed as he held it up in the air. Looking at the steam arising from her corpse, Ivan was about to drop her before two hands latched onto his own.

"Thunder Hammer!" The steam disappeared from Yue's body as she yelled out another magic attack.

A dark cloud appeared above Ivan before unleashing a powerful thunderbolt that engulfed both Ivan and her.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Under the force of such electrifying power Ivan felt his body convulse before throwing Yue far away from him. He rested on his knees as he recuperated his breathing, sighing in relief when he found the Amulet unharmed.

In an attempt to heal his burns, Ivan reached into the satchel at his waist.

"Hm?" His expression turned sour as he felt shards of glass prick his hand and listened to the rattling of liquid.

"Fireball!" The already fully healed Yue aimed a fireball at his back as he desperately rummaged through the bag in search of items to heal with.

BANG!

Ivan was brought to his knees again as he hollered in pain. He slammed his hands to the ground and transmuted a dome of earth to surround him.

BZZZZZZT!

Yue took the opportunity to get closer to him and charge a powerful spell that would incapacitate him, standing outside the dome she yelled out to Ivan.

"Ivan, please! Please believe in me!"

The erratic breathing in the dome calmed down as she listened for his movements.

"I want to thank you for saving me. For giving me a new name. For allowing me another opportunity at life. I was delighted you know, delighted that you felt worthy of having me as your assistant. I was really happy when you mentioned making it out together and living a life on the outskirts of a city."

She extended her free hand out to the dome, awaiting his response.

"Please believe in me Ivan, let's make it out of here together."

Slowly, a side to the dome opened. A hand extended out of it shakily and hesitantly. Yue smiled softly looking at this and reached out to it. And softly, intertwined her fingers with his.

BZZZZZZZT!

That moment was broken instantly as the hand sparked electricity and made Yue black out for a second.

She looked at the arm that had been charging her spell before releasing it into the hole where Ivan hid.

"Storm Gust!" A powerful whirlwind shot out of her hand and into the dome, taking the moment where Ivan let go in reflex to the pain, Yue pulled away her hand and listened to the sound of him banging into the walls of the dome.

And when it settled, she peered in to confirm he was unconscious.

"Phew..." She let out a sigh of relief as she looked at his sleeping face. And with a grin on her face, she took the amulet off his neck and threw it into the air.

"Wind Blades." Yue spoke calmly as the amulet was broken into many pieces by the flurry of sharp winds.

She then nodded satisfied before looking back at Ivan, she had a long way to go but she wasn't the least bit upset about carrying him back to the safe room.

Not at all.

The sight of a figure standing at 140cm dragging a large figure though a cavern was quite humorous, and it did let out some of the frustrations in her heart.

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Hey hey people, last week we have hit another milestone. 200 power stones in a week! Maa~ I just wanna thank you guys for getting us closer to the top. And just like last time, let us continue to bond over weeb shit. Thanks for reading and have a great evening~!

That was fun, at least for me. I hope this brought some characterization to the two in an enjoyable way. This was a little something that just popped into my head this morning when I woke up.

If you want to support me and read ahead 10-15 chapters, you can check out my p.a.t.r.e.o.n right here: https://bit.ly/ardoaleister

Discord: https://discord.gg/tQ5TWbYd9t