R17

Professor Pius Pov

Well, it seems like even HE was impatient to meet them. I haven't brought anyone here for a while now. But since he summoned them himself, they are likely to face more serious challenges than normal. Hmph. Well, I can at least watch and see what the other two are made of. That Tora boy is growing at an outstanding pace. Raksha, I sincerely hope this vessel can adapt quickly to your brother's power.

Kiri's Pov

Hmm. I suddenly appeared in the forest that was below us. But the green scenery sure is nice. Who knew that the mirror could be used like this too? It sure is fun sticking with the people you told me to Celeste. The shadows stretched and formed the outline of a fox before moving and speaking.

"You have only unlocked powers of two tails so there are still things you cannot perceive with your level of power."

"Even two tails worth of power is incredible. I wonder what I can achieve with all nine tails. Maybe I'll be able to overpower Tora."

The smile on my face was already wide and the excitement at the thought was already hard to contain. "I guess I should get going if I'm going to meet up with the others.

...

Using the trees during stealth movement is always the best. Five of my shadow lifeforms are already searching in different directions getting the layout of the land and searching for any form of threat to me. I couldn't help but think back at my first clash with Tora. Compared to what I had seen him do while sparring with the professor, that was simply child's play. Before my mind could venture any further, I sensed one of my shadow forms just gotten destroyed. A few moments later a speeding black mass joined itself with my shadow and the memory of what it had seen came to me. This might be more intense than I thought. But first I need to get there.

Sending a mental signal to all my shadows, we began to converge on the location that the destroyed shadow had given. Combining with existing shadows was faster and less noticeable than using the trees at this point. After a few minutes I arrived there and the creature was as crazy as it had been in the shared memory.

Looking at the reptilian monster that bore a very close resemblance with a gorgon, the difference that separated them was this one's body looked like it was made up of vines wrapped around a sturdy tree. Two horns protruded from it's forehead curving upward and it possessed a staff with a white stone embedded on the tip.

Sensing my arrival, it turned it's yellow snake eyes at me before giving off a scream that sent a shockwave in all directions shaking trees and literally almost ripping the shadows off me. A bead of sweat slid down the side of my head inside my mask. Luckily at least the creature couldn't see my expression. Just as I drew my blade from the sheath on my back, the monster twirled the staff in its hand a few times then slammed the bottom of the staff on the floor in front of itself. A web-like crack could be seen as the earth around us began trembling. From the ground below, rocks and vines began breaking apart from the earth and recombining themselves to form humanoid golems and smaller versions of her gorgon-looking self. Anticipation and a sliver of dread passed through me as I took out some smoke bombs and got ready for my attack.

Ame's Pov

I was a bit surprised when I suddenly found myself within the red forest I had seen from above. It had a warm atmosphere and the little leaves falling created an image of blood falling in place of rain. Butterflies of every shade of red danced around in the gentle breeze and then blew all around. The entire scene was captivating as it all seemed too beautiful to be true.

Moving towards the trees I suddenly realized that a thin sheen of sweat was on my forehead. Strange. Was I feeling sick or was it just my imagination? Shaking my head to clear out those thoughts, I moved to lean on one of the trees so I could enjoy the scenery for a little while. The moment my back touched the tree a searing sensation passed through me and I couldn't help but let out a Yelp of pain and surprise.

Drawing some water from the atmosphere, I doused my back to reduce the stinging sensation. Looking back at the tree, I conjured a ball of water and sent it towards the tree. On getting in contact with it, the water immediately turned to steam. At that moment the gentle breeze started picking up in speed and in no time the entire place became windy. Leaves and some butterflies were blown my way as I tried covering my eyes. The moment they touched my clothes however they began burning holes into them.

Alarmed by this I immediately struck the bottom of my spear on the ground creating a dome-shaped barrier around myself. Not wanting to stick around and find out if the leaves could pierce my barrier I immediately began making my way through the sea of trees trying to find a clearing that was void of trees. After running for a while I finally found one, the moment I crossed the line of trees and came into the clearing however a spiked whip slammed down on the earth in front of me creating a dent and also leaving scorch marks in its wake. Looking forward, my gaze fell upon a female-shaped humanoid golem. Her skin seemed to be composed of rocks and flowing lava as her chest down to her abdomen was glowing hot like a rod fresh out of a blacksmith's furnace.

"Well, that's interesting. Now I see I wasn't sent here randomly."

Taking a stance to attack, I was about to charge when the golem let out a scream that quaked the surrounding. Leaves fell from the trees in mass but they didn't land on the ground. They divided and started taking the form of large dogs that were almost the same height as me.

The moment the flaming dogs touched the ground they seemed to absorb the earth where they stood and transformed until they looked similar to the golem. They now looked like they were made of earth with glowing abdominals and eyes while lava spilled from their open mouths.

"If your aim was to intimidate me then you have already failed." I declared.

Using my power I drew in the water barrier I had created until it was just a few inches above my body. Doing this condensed and made it stronger than it previously was. As if noticing I was ready, the first dog charged at me. Lava spewing out of its mouth and leaving burn marks anywhere it stepped. It's speed was also nothing to joke about seeing that it moved with practiced ease. It went straight for my ankle probably intending to bring me down.

Sidestepping, I struck the side of its massive head with my blade and it crashed to the side. Standing upright and shaking itself off, it charged at me again this time going for my neck. Dodging to the side I spun around as I stabbed at its side hoping to do some damage. My spear went through but on pulling it out the blade was gone as the heat inside the dog had destroyed it.

The dog began circling me and only then did I realize the others hadn't moved yet. They had however formed a circle around me using the trees as cover. Were they testing me? The realization got me pissed as I recalled doing the same thing to Tora just a while ago. Karma really was a bitch.

Letting go of the spear, I summoned a large amount of water from the atmosphere around me and dispersed them into orbs. This was the same technique I had used against Tora. This time I made them smaller and more numerous making them harder to evade. Using my power I made them move around constantly to cut off movement coming toward me and sure enough, some began exploding as they came in contact with the lava dogs trying to sidestep them. I kept the water orbs in constant motion even as I formed a whip in my hands. Turning my focus to the whip I willed the water to spin like a drill and made it go as fast as possible.

Let's see if this works. The dog sensing I was ready charged at me again. This time instead of waiting, I leaped backward creating distance between us, and lashed at its underbelly when it tried to jump me. A loud crack resounded in the air as the wolf was thrown up from the momentum of the slash and when it fell I could see a hole in its belly where a small flame resided. Reacting on instinct I immediately shot some of the orbs I to the hole and upon explosion the flame dispersed and the body of the dog crumbled.

Smiling at the rest that started moving more consciously "Now let's play you mutts."