12 Shield

Bang braced for impact. The Limaw was going at them at an alarming speed. If they were hit by that glowing horn, Bang's got the feeling that there won't even be any bones remaining on them.

Bang closed his eyes. He didn't want his last seconds of life to look death right at his face.

The pain didn't come. Did he die too fast? Did he reincarnate again?

Bang opened his eyes slowly and saw the same dim cave they were in. Ligi was standing on his feet, facing the Limaw. The Limaw was lying in the ground. Huh?! It's lying on the ground? Aren't we supposed to be the one to die?

It was then that Bang realized that Ligi's right hand had a shield attached to it. It was half the size of Ligi himself. The shield's width was a little bit longer than his forearm.

The shield itself seemed like it was made out of wood. It's bark protruded upwards making it look like scales.

'Huh? What the hell happened? Why is the Limaw down on the ground? Why are we alive? Why does he have a shield on his arm?'

The adrenaline in Bang still hadn't subsided. He had all these questions that was swirling in his mind.

He had no time to ponder on these questions because out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Limaw get up.

The Limaw got up slowly and looked at his two prey. It looked surprised at the sudden power they had. It noticed the shield on Ligi's arm and looked at it warily.

Ligi was surprised at the change in his body. He suddenly knew he had the power to defend himself. He felt the power flowing from his chest into his body. Is this what power feels like? Why do I feel good? Why am I not writhing in pain?

He couldn't ponder the words because the Limaw was already back up and running. He did the only thing he could do and braced himself using the shield.

The Limaw's hubris couldn't prevent it from attacking the shield again. It didn't want to believe that it couldn't burst through the tiny little thing.

Ligi felt the force of the push and he skidded one step behind but he was strangely fine. He felt the force of the Limaw go through the shield and the shield rebounded the force.

Not believing what just happened, Ligi looked at the Limaw that was blown away.

Did he do that? Was that his power?

'What the hell is his power, system?!?!'

+++++++++++++++

CREW

-Ligi

•Power : Shield of Self Preservation

•Stage of Advancement : Infancy

•Quality : Wood

•Skills :

*Vent - Power put into the shield will be reflected

*Expand - The shield can grow up to 1.5x the original size

•*locked*

+++++++++++++++

'Damn, that shield is powerful. It could reflect the Limaw's attack that could kill the muscle heads in one shot.'

Bang realized how powerful Ligi has now become. They may have a chance. They may get out of this alive.

Bang noticed that the Limaw was cut in different places of it's body. It must have collided with some stalagmites when it was blown away by it's own power.

'We can survive this. We could even potentially kill it. System, do your thing'

'.....'

The system was silent. It looked like it was speechless at the greed and arrogance of its' owner.

It was only a second later that the system finally sent some commands.

Bang looked at Ligi and spoke.

"Ligi, come here. When the Limaw comes again, reflect it in that direction."

Bang pointed at a very sharp stalagmite. If the Limaw were to successfully blown away in that direction, there was a chance that it could be impaled.

Ligi looked at his savior. The one who gave him this power. He nodded his head, fully confident in Bang's words.

The Limaw was hurt, but not in death's door. It still looked like it had a full vitality. In fact, it was now fully angry.

Scraping it's foot on the floor, it looked like it would use up it's most powerful attack.

It started running slowly. Then it started accelerating into a faster speed than all the attacks from before.

'I suggest owner to get behind Ligi.'

'What? Why? I'd die if Ligi couldn't handle the Limaw. At least if the Limaw goes through Ligi.....huh?...WHY is it going this way?!?!?!?'

The Limaw chose to dispose of the weakest prey first instead of dealing with the harder prey, literally.

Bang quickly adjusted his body and crouched behind Ligi. He had successfully dodged and was now safe, right?

No, the Limaw ran to the side of Ligi and titled it's head in order for it's horn to reach Bang.

Seeing that Bang was in danger, Ligi quickly positioned his hand to cover Bang.

The horn hit the shield but the expected reflection wasn't as big as before. They then noticed that the horn in the Limaw was not glowing.

This Limaw was smart. It saw that it's own power was getting reflected to himself and powered down when it saw the shield.

This fight will get more troublesome than they thought.

The Limaw just circled around them eyeing them warily. Bang and Ligi had to be attentive to their surroundings because the Limaw could just surprise them in this dim lighting.

The Limaw would attack them when they weren't looking. Fortunately, the system told Bang who told Ligi when and where the strike was coming.

This game went on for a while. Ligi was sweating through his clothes and he looked really weak. Ligi felt like the shield was getting heavier and heavier.

They won't survive at this rate.

Finally the system thought up a very risky play. Bang would act as bait and stand in front of the shield.

'What?!?!? System are you crazy? I can't do that, I'd die!!!!! It's your fault, you didn't give me any power.'

'I am your power owner'

The system gave the same response. What good would the system do if he can't even fight for himself.

But this is no time to argue. Ligi looked like he was on his last legs. He had to follow the system's words.

"Hey Ligi, I'll act as bait"

Surprised by the sudden words, Ligi became alarmed. He couldn't let his savior be in danger, he's supposed to be the one to take the damage.

"What?! No, I can't let you do that. You have to survive. I'll act as bait while you escape."

"No, you idiot. Have you forgotten what I told you? Value your life. I value mine, I won't put myself in harms way if I knew I was gonna die. You'll deflect the Limaw when I say so."

Ligi still looked unconvinced. He was still worried for his savior's safety.

"Trust me."

Ligi somehow felt that those words were very reliable. He finally relented and let Bang be the bait.

Bang went in front of Ligi and spoke to the Limaw.

"Hey beast. I will kill your eggs like your partner."

Bang gestured an oval shape with both hands. Once he got the Limaw's attention, he suddenly crushed his hands as if crushing the oval.

"ROOAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!"

The Limaw screamed in anger. They finally saw the Limaw again when the horn started glowing. It was staring directly at Bang.

Without any warning, the Limaw decided to haphazardly charge at Bang. It didn't care about the shield and only had it's eyes on Bang.

It couldn't forgive the man for threatening his eggs. They killed his partner now they wanted to kill their eggs. How preposterous!

It looked like an angry bull back on Earth, except this bull was monstrously big and he was the red cape.

The glowing horn was like a beacon of death. Bang sweated profusely and he wanted to jump away prematurely. But the system told him to not do it yet.

'Come on, system. He's getting uncomfortably close.'

Bang was very anxious at the thought of that powerful horn piercing him in his stomach.

It looked like it was in slow motion. He saw the horn only a few feet away from him. Then those few feet became only a few inches away until the system told him to duck.

The horn successfully hit the shield and it's eyes were red with anger. It was too late for the Limaw to power down and the force it put was now being reflected back to it.

It was blown away into the direction of the sharp stalagmite. Only a few feet away and the Limaw would be pierced, but they saw something unbelievable.

They saw the Limaw retreat from it's shell and successfully dodge the sharp stalagmite.

'FXXX, what are you, a TURTLE?!?!?!'

The shell hit the wall of the cave and the shell fell on the ground. The cave shook at the impact and the wall where the collision happened had a dent on it.

A few seconds later, it came out of it's shell. It looked happy that it survived. It looked at Bang and Ligi menacingly.

'Fxxx, we're done for.'

Ligi looked like he was out of gas. The shield slowly morphed back into his skin and he fell down on his butt.

Just as the Limaw started walking towards the two defenseless prey, the whole cave started shaking.

They all looked around warily and stones began to fall down from the ceiling.

Then, they saw a stalactite fall from the sky and pierce the Limaw's arms holding it in place.

Like a literal gift from the sky, they got miraculously saved.

"ROARRRRR"

The Limaw roared in pain.

"Ligi, let's go!"

Helping Ligi up, they stumbled their way and tried to get out of the cave.

Then a stalactite suddenly pierced the place where they once were. Bang thanked his lucky stars and hurried out of the cave.

"ROARRRRR"

The Limaw roared again. This roar wasn't because of pain, but because his prey escaped.