6 Defensive Measures

A bright light sprung out for the screen blinding Izzy who pointed the screen away from her at the tiger. The tiger also blinded by the light, lowered its head to shield its eyes, once the light dissipated it opened its eyes to see that nothing had happened.

Izzy looked around to see if anything had changed but nothing had and she gritted her teeth in annoyance and fear.

" System I thought you-!"

Izzy was cut off when the phone suddenly began to play music.

The song was a rock song from Izzy's rocker days and as the song began the tiger growled. It paced back and forth in a dizzy manner as the song began to mess with its senses.

Izzy watched what was going on in shock. The song was making the tiger go crazy, as it whimpered and stumbled about. Realising that the music was having an effect on the tiger, Izzy shouted.

" System max the volume!" and the system complied.

The volume produced by the phone was so loud that it sounded like Izzy was in a rave, she dropped the phone and covered her ears. The song began to transition into the part where the drums, guitar and singer screamed and the tiger roared in unison.

Blood poured out of its ears and it began to run around crashing into trees and rolling on the ground before falling to the ground.

The tiger gave out one final pathetic roar and remained unmoving on the ground.

The song continued to play and Izzy yelled over the noise.

" System stop!"

Immediately the music ceased and everything in the forest seemed to be eerily quiet.

The tiger now laid not far from her near a tree, it remained motionless and Izzy hoped that it was dead. She hesitantly approached it picking up her phone and clutching the phone in her hands.

" System is it dead?"

[Yes. All vitals have ceased the creature is now dead. Would you like to scan it?

Yes or No]

Izzy looked down at the screen and tapped yes.

[ Please face the camera towards the desired object] the system instructed.

Izzy did as told and a bright blue light shone out of the camera lens. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. If Izzy wasn't so filled with fear and adrenalin she would've found it to be very cool. The phone scanned the entire creature and then suddenly the tiger disappeared and Izzy jumped back.

[ Scan complete.

Species: Armoured Tiger.

Power Level: Mid-Tier

Abilities: Sonic Roar, Armoured skin]

While the details of the tiger were displayed on the screen, Izzy could see the image of the tiger displayed on the screen as well. The entire figure of the tiger rotated around giving Izzy views of the tiger from back to front.

" Wow," Izzy whispered.

[ Due to the insufficient power levels of the host. The system cannot assimilate the creatures abilities. ]

Izzy read the message, her eyes widening.

" System you're saying I can copy the tiger powers?"

[ Yes. However, the host is too weak to accomplish that-]

" How do I get more powerful?" Izzy asked, she really wanted to gain more power to avoid a situation like this in the future.

[That is an easy feat.

The host must train both physically and magically in order to gain the powers of the Armoured Tiger.

If the host does not accomplish this, the system will attempt to forcefully merge the host with the tiger. This will result in death if the host cannot complete the desired power levels in the given time frame.]

Izzy froze, to forcefully merge meant that the system will gain the tiger's powers without her consent. She even saw that there was a time limit.

" Wait I -"

A moan from behind her made Izzy spin around, she was still on alert, afraid that something else might jump out and attack her.

Izzy saw Ruben turn over he was trying to move but looked very disorientated. Izzy ran over to him, she placed her hand on his blood-soaked back trying to support him.

" Ruben, are you okay?" she asked looking at his terrible appearance, he had lost a lot of blood and his body seemed very cold.

" Ruben!"

He looked at her his eyes unfocused.

" Call for help" he struggled and fainted. Izzy's heart fell she placed him down.

" System can you heal him?" Izzy was frantic, she had never seen so much blood in her entire life.

[ No. The host does not have sufficient power levels or knowledge for the system to attempt to heal. ]

Izzy swore, she had no idea what to do and bit her trembling lip holding back her tears. She really did not want to see Ruben die in front of her.

Ruben coughed and Izzy saw blood come out.

" System call for help!" Izzy shouted, the wound bled profusely and Izzy moved over to his shoulder putting pressure on the wound to stop it from bleeding out more.

Ruben looked pale despite his tanned skin and Izzy was worried about his condition.

The system sent out a high pitched signal, that could not be heard by any human. The signal rang out into the air and caught the attention of a nearby creature flying at high speed through the forest. The creature opened its mouth in response, its changed its direction flying directly towards the source of the signal.

[ Help has arrived] The system said and Izzy looked around. The was not a person in sight and she felt a wave of anger rise up from her chest.

" Human" a humming voice spoke from inside Izzy's head and she looked around for its source.

" H-hello"

" You called, what is it that you need?"

Realising that this was the help the system had spoken about Izzy didn't care if she didn't know who or what it was.

" Please heal my friend. He's dying!"

" What will you give in return?" the voice said.

" Anything!" Izzy shouted and then there was silence. Nothing happened and Izzy felt helpless until a warmth flooded the air and sparkling energy surrounded Ruben's body.

Izzy moved away, the phone was beside Ruben's body and coated with blood.

Ruben's body floated into the air and the white sparkles swirled around him as Izzy heard a sound akin to bells ring in the air.

Once the ringing ceased Ruben's body descended onto the ground and Izzy rushed over.

" Ruben!" she lifted his head and saw that his wound had healed but the blood was still evident on his clothes.

" Thank you!" Izzy said " Whoever you are"

The voice responded, " It is now time for payment".

Izzy looked around, she suddenly felt anxious about what she said and regretted being so hasty in her response, promising this unknown thing anything.

" What do you want?"

" Your soul" it responded and Izzy froze " I, I".

Izzy felt her whole body go cold. " I please! I can't !" Izzy pleaded.

There was no response until Izzy heard a mischievous laugh near her ear. She flinched and turned her head to see a tiny winged human staring at her.

Its skin was a translucent blue, with white hair and big purple eyes with no irises.

" I am kidding human," it said its voice was pleasant to hear and had a ring to the end of it.

" So you won't take my soul?" Izzy gulped she was still afraid of this unknown being.

The winged human smiled, " No, we Fae do not steal the souls of other beings" it stated matter of factly. Of course, Izzy didn't know that so she was still afraid and held Ruben closely.

" So then what do you want?" she asked, Izzy, prayed that it didn't ask for anything that would endanger her life or Ruben's.

The fairy flew around and crossed its arms, Izzy followed it until it stopped in front of her.

" I know" it clicked its fingers and Izzy's phone flew up " how about this?"

Izzy reached out grabbing the phone.

" Ah no! This is a very important thing to me"

The fairy pouted " But you said anything".

Izzy cleared her throat " Yes I know, but how about something else. Something like..."

Izzy searched her pockets hoping she had something in them, she smiled when her hands curled around some coins. She held out the coins in her hands, " This" she said.

' Please take it!' Izzy thought.

The fairy flew over and inspected the items with big eyes and it smiled.

" Pure metals," it said flying around excitedly.

It picked up a silver coin, the coin looked awkward in its tiny hands but Izzy didn't mind.

" So you'll take it?"

" Yes, this will do nicely in my collection" the coin disappeared along with the other and Izzy smiled relieved.

" Again thank you," Izzy said, now wishing for the fairy to leave so she could wait for Ruben to wake up and leave this God forsaken forest.

The fairy, however, had no intention of leaving. It flew around Izzy who placed Ruben against a tree and spoke.

" Human, it's rare that you can communicate with me. What is your name?"

" Izzy" she responded looking around trying to figure out what to do. The fairy flew in front of her trying to get her attention.

" That is not your name," it said lowly. Izzy shivered at its tone " Well it is, it's a nickname" she said.

The fairy looked at her, for a while, Izzy felt uncomfortable by its staring.

" My full name is Isabella Han".

The blank-faced fairy then smiled again.

" A strange name. I have never heard of it before but I like it." The fairy looked satisfied and nodded its head.

" Issssabella Hannnn" the fairy said its tongue dragging out the syllables in her name in a hypnotic manner.

[ Covenant establishment detected] the phone beeped and Izzy looked at the screen.

[ Would you like to establish a covenant with Theonymphi Antonopoulou.

Yes or No]

Izzy frowned and clicked no.

The spell from the fairy broke and it seemed like glass had shattered before Izzy and she moved back. The fairy who seemed very happy a moment ago looked shocked at what had happened.

" How did you?" it stated making eye contact with Izzy. It frowned and bellowed " How dare you deny a covenant with me."

[ Danger detected ] the system rang. Izzy spoke quickly ready for another attack.

" System how do I defeat this thing?" Izzy said hurriedly.

The wind was blowing fiercely and Izzy stumbled as a wave of air hit her from behind.

[ Covenant establishment analysed. The other party had spoken the host's name in order to establish a covenant.

The host can retaliate through speaking the other party's name or would the host like to initiate defence features?]

Izzy looked up and smirked at the fairy.

" No, I'll return the favour to this thing," Izzy said and then loudly proclaimed " Theonymphi Antonopoulou!"