“RRRRarghrRfF!”

“RRRRarghrRfF!”

Archie barked in resentment at its owner.

A thick tail smashed into the earth, fracturing it into jagged fissures of telluric lightning. Dirt and dust clouded the skies as the tail repeatedly slammed into certain locations. However, before each impact, two figures could be seen retreating rapidly to safer grounds all while attempting to navigate through the shattered terrain. Despite their efforts, they were continuously forced to fall back and scatter about randomly. The owner of the massive tail refused to stop its wanton rampage and continued punishing the earth for mistakes it did not make. The ground quaked in its cries as flat lands nightmarishly transformed into colossal craters formed as a consequence of an infuriated serpent failing to hit a small, four-legged beast as well as a humanoid entity.

Archie was not happy. Regardless, Gino ignored its displeased growl and instead told it to stick to the plan. He and his companion then landed roughly on an island of rock stranded in the middle of an ocean of abyss. All the ground around them had long since flattened into the bedrock far beneath them, leaving a single patch of terra unscathed. Gino quickly surveyed the island and groaned with a face palm. Ohh, was that the snake’s plan all along? To isolate us? Damn, we just got played. Oh well, I guess playtime is over, then. Kinda hoped it lasted longer though…

He and Archie stood on a narrow pillar of earth seemingly jutting from the depths of the planet, as if floating above a chasm hundreds of feet high. In the distance, Gino amazedly noticed that the closest unaffected land was equidistant from his position to that of the lands surrounding him; he then realized that the giant serpent knew about shapes. Wow.. I should be terrified but I just can’t. This thing- this creature has enough intelligence to know how to make a circle. Just… wow. Is it worth killing now? Can I keep it as a pet? Ah, never mind that. There’s no way it can fit into my house anyways.

As if knowing his thoughts, Archie loudly barked at Gino and glared at him. However, he didn’t seem to be bothered by his partner’s actions as another entity was already staring at him- and additionally seething with madness. Priorities come first, after all. Sorry bud, you’ll have to wait your turn. Gino scratched his head while nonchalantly keeping his gaze relaxed on the sight of a snake the size of the Empire State Building. Its truck-sized, cloudy, marble-like eyes expressed intolerable hatred at the existence of Gino, yet didn’t attack. He smirked with intense interest. Ooh, it really is smart! It probably learned from watching me earlier!

Originally, Gino had reasonable confidence that the fight with the snake should have been a breeze- but that was until its mother came in. The massive mother of a beast joined the fray without warning as both Archie and its owner were occupied with a house-sized snake. Gino didn’t even perceive the mother snake until he wondered why the sun had stopped shining; a simple glance at the sky almost made him shit his pants as a massive shadow swiftly fell toward them. At first, Gino had been regretful that the much smaller snake disappeared, but had quickly cheered up when a bigger, more delicious meal offered its head to him on a metaphorical silver platter. The mother snake, however, couldn’t have known that. Parents really do sacrifice themselves for their children. Gino had happily mused.

As the starry skies lit up the atmosphere in mysterious patterns of gold and sparkling lights, an even more mysterious scene took place on a completely devastated terrain in the midst of spectating mountains. Gino entered what appeared to be a staring contest with the largest creature he had encountered to this date, while another much smaller entity loured at him with emotions it did not quite understand. Still, Archie remained in his position, solely looking at Gino, as if declaring the giant snake harmless and comparable to a puff of dust when spoken in the same breath as its owner. The three figures stood motionless for some time as the winds themselves stilled and silenced.

Minutes went by before Gino decided to break the tension up; he was actually starting to feel bored. The snake wasn’t attacking despite appearing very tense, which to him, didn’t make much sense. From his vast experiences with handling paranormal wildlife, most beasts often retreated or fought the unknown when confused with what they couldn’t comprehend or defeat. But here was an anomaly that chose to wait after annihilating the nearby environment, simply observing Gino and his companion with wariness atypical of any beast he’d seen. Size didn’t necessarily correlate to strength, and neither did it necessarily relate to intelligence, yet this was a creature that had both; Gino wanted it even more. There was another low growl from Archie but he paid it no heed.

Electing to finish this battle as quickly as possible, Gino finally allowed himself to use his powers- his Concepts. He stretched his body in comfort, embracing that indescribable feeling that connected him to his abilities. Gino sighed in exhilaration as he could now use all of his body parts once again. For the entire fight so far, he didn’t let Archie or himself use anything but their physical bodies. In fact, ever since their journey started, Gino refused using Concepts because he wanted to see if he would become stronger as a result of it. He still wasn’t sure what improved power, after all. His partner, initially, didn’t agree to such a self-imposed condition, yet the beast gradually accepted the restriction as it understood something was happening- it was beginning to change. Gino had found out later that Archie not only had upgraded its abilities, but had also acquired the Concept of Vision. On the other hand, Gino himself had discovered several of his own Concepts upgrading over the weeks that went by. As a result, in front of the snake, he still didn’t want to stop his peculiar training. However, he knew that they were required to take down such an enormous and as equally dangerous predator.

Gino whistled four times consecutively, making the snake narrow its eyes with even more caution. Archie, in contrast, let out a joyful bark; it had been a long time since it had used its powers, and desired to use them to smite the creature in front of its owner. Plus, it enjoyed snake meat as a rare delicacy. Gino’s partner, too, stretched its legs while wagging its tails.

As if sensing the sudden change in the moods of Gino and his four-legged helper, the giant snake crept backwards away from the rock island and readied itself to move out of the craters it currently resided in if need be. Vigilance and foresight were friends the snake had kept close to itself over innumerable years despite not comprehending what they were. Still, it chose to always listen and follow their instructions; they were the ones responsible for making Gino and Archie isolated as much as possible. At first, both had told the snake to be patient and wait for its husband to deal with the hard-to-hit fleas, but unexpectedly, they were now screaming at it to escape. However, the snake didn’t understand why as its husband was coming soon, already just around the corner. It was even more fazed when they told it to tell its husband to run far away as well. The snake didn’t understand why until both Gino and Archie vanished from their positions- along with the rest of their surroundings.

Gino watched Archie set up an enormous illusion that replaced all nearby dirt and void with oceans of turbid water and nauseating blue skies. He simply stared in awe despite having witnessed his partner’s abilities many times first-hand. What he was seeing shouldn’t have been possible even for an alien planet. Archie’s ‘Connection’ ability didn’t simply create a mirage; it somehow grabbed and twisted at reality to form the most realistic illusions possible. He could physically taste the salty ocean brine in the air and feel the cool, gentle breeze caressing his body and the ocean waves below. Out of any Concept Gino had experienced as of yet, this was by far the most unique as well as unbelievable.

As he admired the scenery, Gino could have sworn that he felt a rush of pride coming from Archie, but he was probably mistaken because his companion was deeply concentrating on entrapping the snake with its eyes closed. He then turned his head in the direction of their opponent to analyze how the giant serpent was faring, only to laugh with mirth. It was desperately and frantically trying to get to higher ground, reminding him of a cat having a seizure just to avoid the touch of water. The high walls of the crater seemingly turned into slippery slopes that drastically hindered the snake in its attempts to escape.

Gino didn’t wait any longer and went on the offensive for the first time against the mother beast. With his strength as well as the inability to feel pain, he explosively launched himself off the ground towards the distracted snake. A sonic boom deafeningly rang out and echoed from within the crater’s cavity. He reached the head of the creature in a moment’s notice and flipped in mid-air once before delivering an aerial kick from up above. The snake had only just perceived Gino before it jerked sporadically as its head smashed into the arid earth, sending plumes of dust to spew out into the air not dissimilar to the eruption of a volcano. Gino’s momentum in addition to the literal thousands of tons of snake mass flattened out a much smaller crater on the fringes of the larger one.

As Gino was falling down to the ‘waters’ below, he quickly reviewed his attack and tried predicting what would most likely be the snake’s next action. Archie’s illusion was still in place, leading him to assume the snake wouldn’t try retreating into the crater; it was ‘filled’ with murky and unpleasant-smelling water, and based on the creature’s initial response to the aquatic environment, he deducted it would first move away from the ocean, but he was soon interrupted from his analysis.

Gino didn’t get to finish his thoughts as a gaping maw overflowing with sharp, tree-sized teeth loomed just below him, the head of the snake rapidly approaching him with fury deeply embedded in its eyes.

!!!

What the- that’s not possible! It knows the water is an illusion?!? How?! Motherfu-

He promptly entered the gates of the dragon.