Luna's First Battle

Shieek!

The Plague Spider crawled toward them. It stood 2 feet tall and stretched 5 feet long.

Both Kai and Lira froze in their tracks. 'Why the hell do we have to run into this thing?' Kai thought grimly.

'Shit, shit, shit! I was so stupid. We shouldn't have come here.'

Grrr!

Before the Plague Spider could get closer, Luna stepped forward, placing herself between the spider and them.

'Oh, right! I almost forgot Luna's a magical beast too,' Kai thought, and turned his head towards Lira.

"Lira!"

"H-Huh?" she stammered, snapping her gaze to Kai.

"What are you doing? Fight that spider!"

"Are you crazy? How am I supposed to fight a beast like that?"

"With Luna, of course! You're a beast tamer now, damn it!"

"But I—"

Shieek!

Their conversation was cut short by the Plague spider's piercing shriek.

The spider opened its mouth and spat acid toward Luna.

"Luna, watch out!" Lira shouted. Luna leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The acid splattered onto the grassy ground, hissing as it melted the grass away.

'Come on, Lira, you can do this. You're better than that dumb head,' she thought, trying to steady her nerves.

But the spider's loud shriek shattered her composure.

"Hurry up and attack it!" Kai bellowed.

"Hieek—" Lira froze, paralyzed by fear.

"Heeey!" Kai shouted again.

"Aah!" Lira jolted back to her senses.

"What are you doing? I said fight it!"

"How am I supposed to do that? I've never fought before! Why don't you do it?"

"Luna's your beast, not mine!"

"Kaaa!"

"Luna!"

Their argument was cut short by Luna's sudden cry. The Plague Spider had sunk its fangs into her neck and thrown her aside, sending her rolling across the ground. Without hesitation, the spider dashed toward Kai and Lira.

"What the—!" Kai exclaimed. "Run!" he shouted, and both he and Lira started sprinting away from the spider.

Luna picked herself up from the ground and bolted toward them.

As the Plague Spider opened its mouth to unleash an acid spray at them—

Swoosh!

Shieek!

An ice shard pierced the spider's leg, causing it to shriek in pain.

It immediately turned around and shot a barrage of acid sprays at Luna. Luna dodged gracefully, but the acid scorched the ground, leaving little room for her to move.

Without hesitation, the spider launched another barrage of acid. Luna managed to avoid most of it, but one spray hit her, sending her skidding backward as she groaned in pain.

Seeing an opening, the Plague Spider turned toward Kai and Lira and prepared to shoot at them.

Both of them got ready to run away, but Lira stumbled over a few pebbles and fell to the ground.

"Watch out!" Kai shouted as the Plague Spider nearly unleashed another acid spray. He quickly dashed toward Lira and pushed her aside.

Luna, having recovered her balance from the previous hit, charged at the spider and tackled it, throwing off its aim. But—

"Aah!" Kai cried out in pain as a few drops of acid splashed onto his right shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Lira quickly stood up and grabbed him by his side.

"I'm fine... Argh!" Kai grunted as the pain still lingered.

Grrr!

Luna growled at the spider, furious that it had dared hurt her mama. Two ice shards began to form at her side. "Kwaa!" With a loud cry, she launched them at the Plague Spider.

The Plague Spider countered with its own acid sprays, but Luna didn't stop. She fired a barrage of ice shards in rapid succession. The Plague Spider returned fire with more acid sprays.

Though their attacks neutralized each other, some of the acid sprays and ice shards bypassed the barrage and hit their marks. After a few seconds of this heated exchange, smoke began to form from the collision of acid sprays and ice shards.

As the smoke cleared, Luna stood on her shaky legs, panting for breath. Her skin bore several burn marks from the Plague Spider's acid.

Meanwhile, three of the Plague Spider's legs were torn, and several ice shards had pierced through its body. Blood dripped from its wounds. It was also panting, but it didn't seem as tired as Luna.

Shieek!

With a deafening shriek, the spider shot another acid spray at Luna.

Thud!

But as Luna tried to step aside, she collapsed onto the ground.

"Luna!" Kai shouted, dashing toward her, ignoring both his injury and the incoming acid spray.

As he ran toward her, everything seemed to slow down. The world around him blurred, and time appeared to stop. Slowly, his surroundings melted away, blending into a dark abyss.

Kai found himself standing on a dark, watery surface, the liquid reaching just his soles.

"This again?" Kai muttered, recognizing the infinite void.

Soon, bright, glowing eyes with fangs beneath them appeared, sending a chill through Kai. He flinched at the mere sight of it.

The eyes and fangs began to shrink, and the silhouette of a figure materialized.

It had white fur interwoven with glowing golden streaks, resembling a fox in physical form, with nine white tails trailing behind it.

The creature slowly began to walk toward Kai, but instead of fear, a strange warmth washed over him.

The beast stood before him, staring down at him.

Kai raised his head to take in the massive figure, which stood at least ten feet tall. Frozen under its gaze, he couldn't move a muscle.

The beast lowered its head and nuzzled its nose with Kai's chest. Suddenly—

Crack!

Cracks started to form in the endless void.

'What's happening?' Kai's eyes widened as they darted around, watching the void shatter.

Crack!

Soon, the void collapsed entirely, and Kai's senses began to return.

As he opened his eyes, he found a strange, vibrant orange light enveloping him and Lira.

'W-What's this? Wait, is this...' Kai's eyes widened with realization, and he glanced at Luna.

The orange light vanished, and Luna was standing on her feet.

She turned her head toward him and nodded with a smile.

"Kwaa!"