55 Chapter 2: Barlgura
She was in an unfamiliar environment which she didn't recognise with no way to communicate with her friends
[Did we all get teleported to the same area..? Maybe they were teleported elsewhere... Maybe i won't be able to find them... No, i can't think that. I have to stay positive.] She thought as she continued walking
The forest was vast, the trees were giant and little light managed to get through the gaps of the branches giving it a sort of exotic look.
"John... Serena..." She muttered
After a few minutes of walking, she felt a chill go down her spine, as if something was watching her. She looked around in haste and didn't notice anything off
Without paying much attention to it, she continued walking. The more she walked, the worse the feeling got, until eventually.
"Grr..."
She heard a growl and at the same time, the sound of branches being broken and something heavy approaching increased.
Ariel began to feel afraid as she was truly alone and there was no one to support her in the chance that she got attacked...
"John..." She muttered with a scared look on her face as she closed her eyes
The sound got closer and closer until it eventually reached her. From one of the tree branches hanged a gorilla which gave off an intimidating glare
Ariel continued to stare at the ground beneath her as the gorilla approached her
The gorilla had orange fur which covered it's entire body and blue skin. It wore a cloth around its hips
Once it stood right in front of her, It pounded it's chest in anger as it let out a loud roar which resonated throughout the forest. Ariel who stood in front of it, began to slowly tremble after she heard it, but she remained still without saying anything.
It then hastily swung it's giant arms at Ariel. The arms which were swung with the intention to hit Ariel missed. Right before the hand hit her, Ariel ducked and jumped back. A move she had learnt from watching john
"Ventus tormentum" She muttered mid-air
Air gathered in front of her hands in haste and burst out like a bubble. The Gorilla who had underestimated it's target, was surprised by her sudden action and wasn't able to react in time. It was sent flying straight through a tree thanks to the air pressure
"Fast... I've never been able to cast it that fast before..." She muttered
[I don't have time to waste being depressed... I need to find John and serena...] She thought to herself with a determined look in her eyes
Her determined expression changed into a surprised
"Ventus!" She shouted took a few leaps back
4 Wind blades were propelled at the gorilla and barely scratched it. It continued it's charged without stopping and Ariel tried getting away.
Once it reached her, it swung both of it's giant arms at her. The moment she jumped back, her leg hit one of the vines on the ground, which caused her to lose both her balance and momentum.
As the it's fist got closer to her, she thought she was going to die. Not like the time she was doing it for john, this time she was going to die alone without seeing him again. As she thought of such things, she was..h.i.t by the Gorilla and propelled straight at the tree.
She hit the tree and leaned on it with her back without falling down.
"Scutum Ventus..." She muttered
The reason why she was still standing was because the moment the gorilla swung at her, she gathered Air pressure in the spot in front of her and blocked most of the impact. Right before she hit the tree she also gathered air on her back to weaken the impact.
"I won't lose... He never stopped trying so i won't either." She muttered
Despite saying that, she didn't know what to do. Weak level spells won't work on it and she probably wouldn't have enough time to cast a more powerful one...
The gorilla pounded it's chest again and charged at her once again full of frustration.
As ariel thought deeply about what to do a familiar voice called out to her
"Ariel!" Shouted Serena
"Serena!" Shouted Ariel with a joyful expression
Serena held back her tears of happiness and joy from meeting Ariel and decided to leave it for later once she saw her getting attacked
She cast 10 wind arrows and propelled them straight at the gorilla, once it hit it's skin there was no effect, but thanks to that it changed it's aggro from Ariel to Serena
It let out another roar as it charged straight at Serena
"Forest spirits... Lend me your support... Ariel! I'll hold him off, start charging up your spell!" Shouted Serena
"Yes!" Replied Ariel
The gorilla swung it's arms at the Serena and tried biting on to her, but she easily avoided them, even when she wasn't looking, as if there was something telling her what it's next move would be.
From Ariel's perspective, The way serena avoided it's attacks were amazing. Not only was she perfectly controlling her movements but she predicted it's attacks. It was something she hadn't seen from Serena in the dungeon
Ariel cast wind spear and propelled it straight at the gorilla while it was distracted by Serena. It was..h.i.t directly and let out a roar of pain. Serena took that chance and grouped up with Ariel
"Was that enough?" Ariel asked
"No... That's considered the king of the jungle... An Rank monster called the bargula, it's magic resistance is very high but it has low intelligence... More importantly, i'm glad you're safe!" Said Serena as she gave Ariel a tight hug
"Serena... Not now..." Muttered Ariel who hugged her back
"Alright, that attack should hold it back, let's-"
Serena was interrupted by Ariel who jumped with her to the sides. Thanks to Ariel's quick reaction, they both barely avoided getting hit head on by the gorilla
"It's still fighting? That should have given us enough time... W-Wait... It went berserk..." Said Serena
The gorillas eyes were bright red, it started rampaging around and swinging at everything being in sight. It consecutively swung it's arms at serena and Ariel, who were having difficulty dodge it.
Berserk, an ability some monsters have which temporarily increases their power and speed at the cost of the consciousness
Once again, Serena who wasn't used to fighting in the forest, got caught up by one of the vines on the ground when she jumped, and again, she was about to cast Scutum Ventus as the gorillas arms approached her, but only this time, it was much faster and she wouldn't be able to make it in time.
A loud thud resonated as there was impact. However, what was..h.i.t wasn't Ariel but a wall of Ice
"Murum Glacies," I said Translation: Ice wall
Serena and Ariel both looked up to find the source of the voice and found me floating slightly above their heads.
"Looks like i made it, just in time."