Draped in a long black coat, hands in his pockets and head cocked to the side with a smirk on his face, Hodi stood confidently before Frey and I.

  By his side I noticed a small creature that I assumed to be his monster partner. At first glance it had the appearance of a tiny fox with green fur, but as soon as I noticed the color, it changed to blue. And then to yellow. Then translucent and shimmering. The tufts of hair at the tips of its ears also seemed to sway and fade like dying candles.

  A text box appeared before me, giving a bit of detail on this new monster.

  Species - Fiend Fox

  Type - Earth > Forest > Wood

  Rank - D

  Level - 19

  Tamer - Hodi

  Status - Normal

  Skills - ??

  Looking at the stats of Hodi’s monster, I noticed two things: that it didn’t have a name, and that somehow this cocky rookie had a monster that was almost ten times my level!

  If that fox isn't the source of these weird illusory walls, then I'm not a reincarnated human living in the body of a magical wyrm!

  You have successfully learned the skill

  Remaining empty skill slots: 48

  As the skill was an Earth based one, not only was I able to learn it, but the Almanac updated with information on it. The small fox was able to create illusions of surfaces such as walls to confuse and entrap targets. They could also control whether the walls were solid stone or completely intangible. Which was clearly how Lock's arrows went straight through the wall Frey and Astrid had been leaning on.

  “I don’t know what Meebur could possibly see in you two.” Hodi said. “In any case, I’m excited for the chance to defeat that crazy old man, take over his guild, and make a name for myself. A title like guild leader goes a long way in this country. But in order to do that, I have to defeat Meebur’s little pet. Oh, and also his monster.” Hodi tilted his head back and laughed wildly as he pointed at Frey. “Gods, why does he care about you? You can’t even hatch an egg!”

  I could see Frey’s knuckles turn white as he gripped the fabric of the makeshift sling that held his egg. Frustrated, he clearly felt powerless to argue with what Hodi said.

  But I wasn’t powerless.

  I looked up at Frey and he could see the determination in my eyes. With Astrid’s fight still raging behind Hodi’s illusory wall, it was our job to handle this foe and help her as soon as possible.

  “Let’s see how cocky you are after you handle my friend here!” Frey said, and for the first time his mark of the beast glowed to activate the tamer skill . The white light spread from his mark through the dungeon floor in a massive rectangle. Hodi’s smirk didn’t waver, and his fox monster jumped into the arena to face me.

  I lunged forward with fangs barred, intending to strike with the skill, but as my attack neared the target, another wall rose up between us. Losing sight of the fox, for even a second, was enough to make me miss as I passed through the wall and bit nothing but air. Expecting to see Hodi and the fox on the other side, I prepared to strike again. But instead I was face to face with a labyrinth of walls that hid everything from sight. I couldn’t tell which were the real walls that marked the dungeon hallway, and which were fake. And even when the illusory walls weren't solid, they messed with my sense of direction. I could smell Hodi, the fox, and Frey, but it was impossible to pinpoint their location.

  I lunged forward and smashed my head into a solid wall that I had walked through only a moment before. The Fiend Fox was living up to its name. It was changing its walls from solid to intangible at a whim, and I wasn’t able to tell the difference. I swore I could hear the devilish little fox laugh behind every wall I attacked through.

  As I tried to get my bearings amongst all of the illusions, I felt a sudden strike from behind. The fox wasted no time taking advantage of my confusion, and bit and slashed me almost every time I turned around.

  “You may have a lot of power in that body,” Hodi said beyond the walls, “but you don’t know what to do with it. Like how Meebur doesn’t know what to do with a guild. With the fortune I make off Artemis, I could buy and sell even the capital!”

  As frustrating as it was to admit, Hodi was right.

  I had dozens of skills available to me, but no idea how best to use them in battle. My skill kept the fox from doing much damage to me with its own and attacks, but it was only a matter of time until it wore me down. I couldn’t stay like this forever.

  “N-nid!” Frey yelled out. “I know I’m not your tamer, and it feels wrong to tell you what to do but…if you can’t aim, then stop trying to!”

  Stop trying? I thought, immediately feeling a twinge of anger towards Frey. Are you telling me to quit? To run away already? Meebur didn’t ask me to help you only so I could quit at the first sign of trouble.

  “I’ve taken ten steps back, so I should be out of range if you decide to do something…intense.” Frey yelled out through one of the walls.

  Intense?

  Suddenly, I recalled the last time I had done something too intense. And knowing Frey was out of range of a fully activated use of this skill, I smirked like Hodi himself.

  I activated and put no effort into controlling the flame, letting it coat the entire arena in bright orange fire. It wiped out most of the illusory walls created with . I could hear the fox take the full force of the attack, and the rest of the walls surrounding me disappeared as quickly as they had come.

  The damage was evident as the fur of the fox was singed, but it was a testament to it and Hodi’s experience that they were still standing. Hodi was a much tougher opponent than I ever expected. Unlike my monster arena battle with Leif and her Towering Tree, I didn't have access to my full strength. I could continue to use skills to try and overpower them, but something hit me that gave me an idea. Not an arrow through the wall, thankfully, but a smell behind us. A smell of something I knew could help.

  Taking a lesson from my temporary tamer, I turned my back on Hodi and the Fiend Fox and ran in the opposite direction down another hallway of the dungeon. As the battle had not ended, the arena expanded as I fled. I hadn’t seen this effect with my own eyes, but from what I had read in the Almanac, monster arenas stretched to accommodate the unexpected nature of battles.

  Frey looked shocked, but didn’t hesitate for a second to run after me.

  “Coward!” Hodi yelled at me, and he chased after Frey and I as we sprinted down an adjoining hallway. Thanks to my strong senses that were no longer hampered by the illusory walls, I was the only one to notice this smell. However, I knew it would be unmistakable to everyone once we turned another corner. I lured Hodi down the hallway, and brought him face to face with his best friend: Lucus.

  I could smell that swampy little frog a mile away!

  “You!” Hodi and Lucus yelled out in unison. I smirked, knowing no matter what plan Hodi may have had with Lock, even he couldn’t pass up the chance to fight Lucus.

  “I was hoping I’d run into you here!” Lucus yelled, smiling like I had just given him a present. Kichi, his smelly frog monster, was already out and sitting happily atop his tamer’s head. Lucus didn’t wait to hear another word, and erected a monster arena of his own to challenge Hodi. I hadn’t been certain how multiple arenas would interact, but luckily it did what I wanted: the new challenge, thanks to Hodi’s willingness and Lucus’ commitment, superseded ours, and Frey happily dissipated his arena.

  Hodi now had no choice but to fight Lucus. Lest he forfeit and lose the trial right then and there. He sighed a little in frustration, but the trap had already been sprung. With Lucus determined to fight him, and me already leading Frey back the way we came, there was nothing to be done.

  “I was going to leave you to the golems. But it doesn't matter. Let’s finish this quickly!” Hodi said, and his fox jumped into the arena to face off against Kichi. “This shouldn’t take long.”

  “I agree!” Lucus yelled out.

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  As we ran back to where Astrid was fighting Lock, I could hear Lucus and Hodi’s battle begin. They were finally getting a chance to go at each other without interruption.

  You’re welcome!

  With the arena battle ending in a draw with Hodi, I saw my HP recover back to where it had been before the fight. However, for the first time I noticed that while my health points recovered, my energy points did not. It was important for me to realize that no matter how many arena battles I won, eventually my energy and stamina would fade. I had to keep an eye on the skills I was using as each one drained my EP.

  Current HP = 1209/1250

  Current EP = 638/780

  Frey kept pace with me as we ran, clearly excited to have helped me fend off the onslaught of the Fiend Fox and Hodi. His idea to attack wildly through the walls was good, and he had clearly paid attention to how my skills worked. He knew exactly how many steps to take back to get out of range of .

  I think I underestimated you, Frey. I thought and was suddenly happy to be working together with him.

  With Hodi and Lucus battling one another, Frey and I were now free to run back and help Astrid.

  This Lock person must really have something against Astrid if they were willing to work with Hodi to attack her.

  Back in the hallway where we had first been attacked by Lock, we saw that Hodi's illusory wall was already gone. I had hoped to get back here and see Astrid standing over a defeated Lock. But neither of them was there anymore. All that remained was the damage to the hallway signifying their intense battle.

  Frey and I looked at one another, and he said exactly what I was thinking:

  “Now what?”

  * * * *

  I took a few minutes to examine the damage to the hallway, but I couldn’t make out anything from it. There were more arrows piercing the walls, and much of the area was crushed or slashed. It looked like a battle of a hundred soldiers had fought there, not two tamers.

  Still able to hear Hodi and Lucus fighting in the distance, Frey and I decided to move on in the opposite direction. There could also be a golem or another tamer approaching to investigate the noise. We couldn’t sit still for long, and just hoped that Astrid was alright.

  The distance we had made with Astrid up until that point was impressive, as very shortly afterwards we found our way to a familiar room on the dungeon’s first floor. It was the room with all of the threads we could climb to the second floor.

  However, there was someone between us and the room. And it wasn’t Astrid who was waiting for us.

  It was Violet.

  “Hello, Frey.” Violet said with a smile that felt as inviting as a wolf’s open maw before its prey. Which was appropriate as the monster companion by her side was a massive wolf with fangs the size of swords. It had to have been twice the height of its tamer, and also had what looked like a wreath of flowers growing around its neck. The purple hue of its fur matched the lavender and lilac flowers perfectly, creating the most dangerous looking bouquet I had ever seen.

  I slithered my way between Violet’s wolf and Frey, who looked even more afraid than when we had faced the boss golem. And from the hungry look in the wolf’s eye, I found myself desperately relying on my skill.

  Species - Akon, the Wisteria Wolf

  Type - Earth > Forest > Flower

  Rank - A

  Level - ??

  Title - “Alpha”

  Tamer - Violet

  Status - Normal

  Skills - ??

  “You may be Meebur’s monster, but don’t think I’ll be holding back!” Violet said in a chipper voice. “Akon is a Wisteria Wolf, one of the rarest monsters in the entire guild. I’ve filled out a lot of those little adventuring forms myself over the years! We’ve conquered dozens of dungeons together. I’ve been near the top of the Artemis Guild for a long time, and as much as I like greeting visitors, it’s time I moved up. I’ll be an apprentice, and one step away from being a leader!”

  With a fist punching the air and setting up a purple monster arena below us in the blink of an eye, Violet’s wolf charged forward with its maw open wide. If I hadn’t refined my ability to dodge against the golems, it would have snapped down right on top of me. But luckily, I curled up my small body and bounced up and over the attacking beast.

  “Hmm, not bad,” Violet said, “but I hope you have more than that to offer.”

  Using a silver whistle, Violet quickly ordered her wolf monster to perform a skill. One that I couldn’t understand. The flowers that made up the wolf’s mane began to shake and twirl and change. They turned from purple lavender to blue roses, with its fur changing color to match. And just as I began to admire their beauty, the blue petals shot out of the mane and sliced me like a thousand throwing daggers.

  Even with my skill, I lost more HP from that single attack than any other since becoming the Withering Wyrm. My eyes went wide as pain radiated through my body. It was unlike anything I had felt before.

  “Nid! Are you ok?” Frey yelled out, but I barely heard him as I refocused on the fight. Another wave of sharpened petals came at me, and if I hadn’t used to stretch my body thinner to avoid the attack, I feared I would have been slashed in two.

  What kind of attack is that?

  You have failed to learn the skill

  Remaining attempts to learn this skill from selected target: 2

  Since I failed to learn the skill of the opposing Earth monster, my Almanac didn’t update with any details on it. Whatever other things that skill could do, I had no concept of it. But I did know one thing: I couldn’t afford to be hit by it again.

  If not for this brace, I could change to my true form and end this!

  But as frustrated as my restrictions were, there was nothing to be done about it. Meebur had placed the brace on me, and only he could remove it. As good as we were doing together, Frey wasn’t my actual tamer. A stellar raiment remained in place until a monster’s tamer removed it. And with it on, I was as helpless against the Wisteria Wolf as the golems had been against the old me.

  I’m going to need a miracle to win this.

  And with that thought, a miracle barged into the room.

  Our battle was interrupted by another battle. One that had been a long time coming, and that raged well beyond the initial borders of their arena.

  And also one that I kind of instigated…

  Lucus and Hodi, with their frog and fox monsters out, were fighting intensely through the hall. The monster arena was frantically moving to follow their battle as it made its way into the thread room. Where, upon entry, all four of them crashed right into Violet. Akon turned back to look at what had hit her tamer, and for a brief second the bloodthirsty expression of the wolf turned to an almost adorable confusion.

  “Aroo?” The wolf uttered as it tilted its head to the side and watched the chaos unfold.

  “You shouldn’t interrupt a tamer’s battle. Stupid boys!” Violet said, pushing them off of her with a single rage-fueled shove. Violet, her anger now directed at Hodi and Lucus, clenched her fists. Her monster arena shifted to match her attention, menacingly surrounding the two new recruits in a deep purple light. It absolutely swallowed Lucus and Hodi’s monster arena, turning their one on one battle into a free-for-all against Violet.

  Emotions and power must play a role in monster arena dominance. How confusing…

  The Almanac entry for “Monster Arena” details the specific nature of competing arena battles if you would like to take the time to actually read one of these entries in full-

  I’ll get right on that. After we get out of here!

  As Frey wasn’t included in the free-for-all fight, our original battle with Violet was considered a draw. Once out of the purple monster arena, I luckily healed all of the damage that the blue rose attack had done to me. I watched as my HP refilled most of the way, and felt the pain fade almost instantly.

  “You two have been nothing but trouble since joining the guild.” Violet said, standing next to her once again intimidating wolf monster. “And now you have the nerve to interrupt my battle just as it was getting good…I’ve had it!”

  “It was that fool’s fault,” Hodi said, his cocky expression melting into fear.

  “He’s the one who kept trying to hide behind walls! I had to run all over just to get a hit in!” Lucus said, pointing towards Hodi.

  “It’s HIS fault,” they both yelled in childish unison, “because I just wanted to get to the top!”

  “Oh? Well, if you really wanted to get to the top…you shouldn’t have gotten in my way!” Violet said and cracked her knuckles.

  Akon, the wolf clad in thorns and flowers, turned her attention entirely on the two tiny monsters before it. With that much focused intensity, I was able to slither back towards Frey and up his shoulder. From there I guided us out of range of their attacks. Which came at just the right time. The Wisteria Wolf’s mane began to grow as it activated its skill.

  “! Knock these brats out of the trial.” Violet shouted to her monster partner.

  The Wisteria Wolf’s bouquet shook as new plants grew. These were red cacti with thorns the size of knives. I watched as they shot out towards the Fiend Fox and Kichi. Using their illusory walls and slick body respectively, both just barely dodged the onslaught of flying thorns.

  You have failed to learn the skill

  Remaining attempts to learn this skill from selected target: 1

  Dang, I really want to try out that skill, I thought as I watched their battle intently from Frey’s shoulder.

  Kichi and the fox were surprisingly agile, and both actually held their own against Violet’s Wisteria Wolf. They weren't able to land any attacks, but they made it difficult for Akon to land any either. But no monster, no matter how enthusiastic or cunning, had unlimited stamina. The petals and thorns from Akon’s bouquet were starting to make contact, slashing at Kichi and the Fiend Fox as they got tired.

  “We aren’t giving up yet!” Lucus yelled out, Kichi taking motivation from his tamer’s unyielding determination. “We still have one ace up our sleeves!”

  The battle raged on, but Frey and I didn’t want to stick around to see how it turned out.

  “Now’s our chance,” Frey whispered to me.

  Frey made sure his egg was secure in the small sling he had across his chest. With me on his shoulder, he walked quietly towards the threads and began climbing up. It was as hard for Frey to climb as it had been last time, but hearing the battle below was all of the motivation he needed to keep going. And when we both heard screams, shouts, and a victorious howl from the Wisteria Wolf, we doubled our pace up the thread.

  “Remind me to run when we see Violet again…” Frey said, as the screams of Hodi and Lucus faded away, leaving in their place only giddy laughter from the Artemis Guild clerk.

  Luckily, losing against Violet here only means the escape buttons take them out of the dungeon…but still…

  Patreon too!