CHAPTER 15: WHAT CAN I DO?

Drip. Drip. All I can hear right now is my blood hitting the floor as this monster remains quiet. There wasn’t much of a choice but to stand back up while listening for where this thing could strike from.

My wrench is somewhere on the floor... Out of reach.

Ghost could probably find it but I don’t know when this thing will attack again so this is a tricky spot. She might be the best bet with her vision being able to pick up on this monsters location.

"I don’t see anything... It’s hiding or it’s just that fast.." Ghost says softly with panic in her voice.

"Just stay calm, we got this... Cough. Cough." I respond before coughing.

Splat. I didn’t realize that blood had come up from those coughs... But that’s not what’s important right now.

Surviving against whatever monster is in here right now is the main goal. The pain surging throughout my body isn’t going to let me do all that much.

What can I do?

I’m back to this way of thinking huh? Being stuck without any talent to fight against a monster inside of a dungeon. How could I possibly shift the tide to be more in our favor with these kind of wounds...

I began tightening my fists as I looked around the darkness. Feeling the anger within, something that I couldn’t quench easily.

This monster doesn’t seem to like light all that much so we just have to find a way to keep creating light. That would be the smartest move against it with the kind of reaction it had before.

"Ghost we need to get as much light in here as possible!" I shout while bracing myself.

I could hear it moving about this time, almost like it wanted us to hear it for some odd reason. Ghost should also be moving around but it hasn’t gone for her once yet... Am I missing something?

Fighting in the dark will only prove to be futile for me so I need to get some light in here. That will also put that monster at a disadvantage since it ran away when ghost tossed the torch over here.

Something was throwing me off with this whole situation though, why was it after me in the beginning? Ghost was in the darkness a bit more than me and yet it went after me first.

It clearly lacks sight which is a pretty big deal but that would mean that it makes it up in its hearing or another form of detection.

Flicker. It went past me without any hesitation and right towards Ghost, interrupting every possible thought I had at the moment.

There’s no way I was wrong... Why is it after her all of a sudden? Could it sense her from the beginning after all.

I can see the glow of her eyes in the dark and just barely I can see the monster rushing towards her.

I’m powerless to stop it from doing anything to her. My body is messed up with no way of moving fast enough to stop it, what could I possibly do?

Useless.

I’m always forced to watch the ones I care about die, all because I’m stuck without a damn talent to save anybody.

Always useless. Why bother?

NO! I can’t just let this happen.

I clenched my jaw and could feel something crack as my anger began to overwhelm the pain in my gut. A burning feeling was something that I could feel forming within my gut, a feeling I never felt before.

That’s when I realized it was like fire... Not anything around me, but within me. In my lungs, in my chest, and in my veins.

Feeling as if something ancient was uncoiling in my ribs like a sleeping monster.

My skin burned. My vision flickered red. Ears filled with the sound of wings... No, scales scrapping bone. The air around me bent, my blood hit the floor and I could hear it sizzle.

I don’t understand what just happened to me yet but the inability to move feels like it’s been lifted. I think it’s about time to handle this damn monster before whatever this is, goes away.

The general outline of the creature was all I could see but that was enough for me to make my way over to it. I pushed myself off the ground, hearing the sound of the ground breaking a bit from under me.

This was all so unfamiliar to me that I didn’t know what to do with this strange feeling coming over me.

My heartbeat was even louder than usual and it was drowning out a lot of whatever noises were in this room. It didn’t matter anymore because my goal was to kill this thing before it could harm ghost.

Finally I felt my fist connect with what I would assume to be the skull of this monster. CRACK! I could feel its skull breaking from the amount of force that was in the punch itself.

And within a matter of seconds I could hear the creature go flying through the air until finally it hits the wall in the distance. It sounded like a bunch of sticks hitting the hard stone floor.

The feeling was still within me as if it was always there to begin with. This feeling wasn’t human by any means, what happened to me?

I looked down to see steam rising from my arms... Not only that but through the ripped sleeves I could see something different...

Red cracks throughout my skin that seemed to pulse... Like lava had filled my veins. Scales were actually all over my arms... Dark like obsidian and the pain from my gut wasn’t really there anymore.

Did this heal me...? I don’t understand what the hell is happening to me right now. Am I turning into one of those damn monsters?!?!

I fall to my knees and raise my hands up to my head as I begin to panic.

All that strength definitely killed that monster and my wound seems to be healed but this feeling is completely different. There’s literally scales all over my arms and my vision was a bit distorted earlier too.

People with failed talents were rumored to turn into monsters... Is that happening to me too?

"Rokuro?" Ghost calls out with a bit of caution in her voice.