Chapter 56 - A Battle of Protection

The time was now, what would come of the confrontation with the Savage Black Terror?

From what I could tell this wasn't simply a fight over territory, rather…

It was a fight to protect those important to one another…

A fight in which the Savage Black Terror had desperately tried to protect her young against the gigantic white and fluffy ferret, which in turn had been desperately trying to protect me who was defenseless while in the evolutionary process…

To me, this was odd as we didn't know each other, yet truly heartwarming to know some didn't instantly want to eat me, as for the Black Terror though seeing how it had treated the ferret was truly worthy of the name savage had to protect her young from harm in this unforgiving environment of the deep dark dungeon…

Still… I couldn't let the beast do whatever it wanted to my newly founded friend.

It was time to show her just how serious a bond forged by trust and friendship could be!

The challenge on the other hand was to conduct combat without the intent to kill…

Instead, I was to show the Black Terror that I was defending my newfound friend and myself and that I had no intention whatsoever to harm her children…

We locked eyes and at that moment the chaos of battle erupted in a non-stop flurry of blows and dodges. Since I was now able to stand on two legs I had the opportunity to try and parry some of the incoming blows, but… The Black Terror intentionally used her claws against me making the opportunity to either block or parry non-existent…

For a moment I was able to dodge a few blows, allowing myself to calm down and pace my rhythm, but the moment the black terror realized that her attacks weren't effective it instantly chanced her page. Trying to take me down she quickly turned around using her tail as an opportunity to trip me…

I wasn't going to let her… Trying to jump up the moment her tail closed in, but seeing as I wasn't fully used to standing on all two legs I collapsed once I landed… Allowing the Black Terror another chance for attack. It jumped up taking advantage of my own mistake.

There wasn't much I could do as I lay there helplessly on my back, or that was what I wanted it to think…

For you see, I had been slowly releasing small amounts of poisonous clouds waiting for an opportunity like this… An opportunity in which the Black Terror would be defenseless…

A moment in which it had nowhere to go! At that moment I ignited the poisonous cloud around me allowing a small explosion to engulf the both of us.

Getting caught by the blast I launched myself upwards impacting my body with that of the Black Terror. Since it couldn't do much in the air this was the time to try and reason with it,

if I was even able to…

"Please… There is no need for all this… I understand, I understand that you wish to protect your young, but we weren't after them from the start… Instead, my newfound friend tried to protect me for the same reason you tried to protect your young. I was helpless and in need of protection, which is why I am truly thankful for its help…

Returning the favor, now it is my turn to protect it, yet there is no cause for alarm…

I will not harm your young, you can trust my words."

For a moment it seemed like I was getting through to the black terror.

It looked like she understood what I had been telling it.

As it stayed quiet throughout our flight in the air.

I did not know if it could use telepathy as I did, but I could see it was thinking on a rather heavy subject as if it was processing what I had been telling it.

But, rather the most important question of all; Did the black terror understand what I was saying to it? Or did I have to fight till the bitter end?

The ground was vastly approaching, I knew this was the moment in which I could prove I did mean no harm. But why exactly did I go to such extreme lengths to explain all this to an unknown creature? Could it be because of the act of kindness towards me by the other creature? Or was there more to it? Now that my path had become a bit clearer was it my human side who take over?

I blasted flames towards the ground deciding this was not the time to question kind deeds…

The flames scorched the grass and earth underneath us but allowed us to halt the vastly increased speed of the descend downwards. We landed with a soft crash getting out of it any or many injuries for that matter. I let go of the black terror which looked at me all confused as if it didn't know what to do anymore it calmly took its distance…

A short while had passed as our eyes had locked once more, when suddenly the black terror growled at me softly, almost as if it had understood what I had been telling it…

To confirm this it lowered its head allowing me to see its vulnerable side, it bowed its head in acceptance and slowly went its own way… Had I earned the respect of one of the creatures in the forest? Maybe two for that matter as the other creature which had similarities to a ferret had been protecting me all this time? Looking back at it, it truly was a humble thing to do, which was why it only felt right to try and reason with the black terror in return…

At that moment the realization of the fact that the ferret was still badly hurt came to mind which was why I rushed towards it to try and aid it in any way I could. I didn't know if its condition had worsened during the confrontation or if there was anything I could do to help, yet I had to try… It was the least I could do for such a humble creature…

I headed back to the tree from which I had awakened when I saw other creatures closing in on my newfound defenseless friend. Two gigantic centipedes thought they had found an easy snack to munch on, but since the two weren't acquainted they had started to fight over the available food. My defenseless friend!

"No! You can't have him!"

I quickly rushed to his aid seeing how he had regained consciousness.

The two centipedes had stung one another and were intoxicated by their toxins making them high as the sky could be. Wobbly waving left and right I didn't know what to think of creatures who could drug their prey… Then again it could be a cool experience, who could tell for sure? After a while, the centipedes came to their senses allowing them to comprehend the situation ahead.

Was it their lucky day? The food supply had seemingly doubled with me standing in their way. Or could it be they weren't all that lucky as I was about to kick their asses?

Nothing could be said for sure, especially since I still needed time to grow accustomed to my new body… It felt weird… But, there was no time to bitch about any of that right now.

Right now was the time I repaid my depth to the one who so gallantly protected me in a time of need. It was the least I could do, right? Maybe even test out some new abilities if I'm able to?

"Ladies, it is time to dance."

I joked around hoping to provoke them, throwing them off guard which would allow me to set the pace of this fight. But the centipedes look at each other funny and for some reason started to work together over a newfound enemy, namely me!

Coiling towards me from both sides at the same time, a pincer tactic had been initiated.

Having encountered this multiple times with larger groups I was able to react to it without much worry. I jumped up, trying to position myself in the air as their heads crashed into each other. I wanted to try something out since I was able to conjure both toxins, poisons, and flames anywhere I wanted, would I be able to utilize it as if I was a wizard?

The thought had occurred to me during the battle with the black terror, but did not want to use it back them seeing how I needed to end the battle without hostility… But now…

Now was the time to try it out, right? Having claws for hands I opened up my palms and firmly thought of the flames manifesting in them. Without any delay flames manifested in them allowing me to scorch both the centipede their heads at the same time.

My Experiment was a success!