Reid’s grip tightened on the sword in his hand. The aura being released by the creature was no joke.
Compared to it, the other creatures seemed like child’s play. The fact that it wasn’t even actively releasing its aura made Reid even more worried.
Without his forged beasts by his side, he was unsure whether or not he could beat this thing, whatever it was.
The creature continued walking towards Reid with unhurried steps. It exuded no malice or hostility towards Reid, only amusement.
"Since you’re at a disadvantage, I’ll allow you the first move," it stopped a few meters from Reid "whenever you’re ready."
Its confidence was evident. In its eyes, Reid had no chance of winning so it might as well have fun toying with him
"Well?" It tilted its head "what’s taking so long?"
Reid didn’t fall for his taunts. He could feel it, his instinct clearly warned him. One wrong move and he’d lose his life.
’Any ideas Evo?’ Reid asked.
[The forge lab] Evo suggested which confused him.
But before he could ask, the creature was already upon him, its fists swinging.
Reacting only by instinct, Reid raised his sword, blocking the attack.
Crack!
A sharp crack echoed through the cave as Reid’s sword arm snapped under the force of the blow. A split second later, his body was hurled backward, slamming into the cave wall with a thunderous impact.
"Gah"
The air was knocked out of Reid as he fell back to the ground.
His arm was twisted at a painfully unnatural angle, but Reid gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure.
"So, you managed to block that? Impressive," the creature praised. "But you were taking too long to make your move, so I had to give you a little motivation."
"Damn it" Reid cursed as he held the broken arm.
The creature hadn’t used any ability in that attack, just raw strength and if not for his instincts, he’d have a lot more than a broken hand.
[You idiot] Evo reprimanded [use the forge lab if you don’t want to die.]
’The forge lab?’ Reid still didn’t get how it could help in this situation. Forging a new beast would be useless since, in the end, he couldn’t summon them to his aid.
The creature didn’t allow him chance to figure it out as it soon moved to attack again. This time, it threw a punch before it even got close.
Its hand morphed, exploding into multiple tendrils with blades at the top.
The tendrils rushed at Reid, who forced himself up and started dodging the tendrils, parrying those he couldn’t.
He twisted and ducked, barely keeping ahead of the relentless onslaught. Every time he cut through a tendril, a new one regenerated, forming new, more grotesque shapes.
[You need to stop playing defense,] Evo warned. [You’re wasting energy. Use the Forge Lab before it’s too late!]
’Damn it, Evo, I still don’t—’
Then it clicked.
The description of the forge lab stated it all, a timeless space in another dimension, a dimension not connected to this space.
Figuring that out caused a momentary distraction which was all the creature needed.
One of the tendrils stabbed into Reid’s shoulders, dragging him back to the wall of the cave.
"You’re not even trying," the creature said, its tone laced with boredom. "At this rate, you’ll just die without even entertaining me."
Reid gritted his teeth as pain flared through his shoulder. The tendril twisted, pinning him against the cave wall like a nailed specimen. Blood dripped from the wound, but he refused to let out a sound of pain.
The creature cocked its head, disappointed. "You’re supposed to be strong, aren’t you?" It sighed, shaking its head. "At least try to put up a fight."
"Send me there now, Evo." His words caused the creature to raise a brow in confusion.
"What are you—"
Unlike before, Reid was able to witness exactly why the Forge Lab was called a timeless space.
The creature was frozen mid speech, not just it, even the howling of the wind that forced itself through any opening it could find into the cave had stopped.
Reid observed the spectacle for a while before he disappeared into shards of blinding light as he was released from where he was stabbed and transported to the Lab.
When Reid opened his eyes next, he found himself in the Forge Lab. He clutched his broken arm, his shoulder still throbbing from where the creature’s tendril had pierced through.
[Are you okay?] Evo asked, her tone calmer now that Reid was out of immediate danger.
"Well, aside from a pierced shoulder and a broken arm, I’m just fine," Reid muttered, his voice dripping sarcasm.
[Well, all that wouldn’t have happened if you had used the knowledge I uploaded in your brain] she sounded mad and Reid understood why.
He had every knowledge about the evolution Codex and the skills it offered, yet, he failed to use it everytime the situation called for it.
[If you get yourself killed, then it’s over] she continued reprimanding him [not even Rusty’s rewind or time gate can save you.]
Reid slowly exhaled. Evo was right, the Codex was supposed to be his greatest asset and yet, he was treating it as an after thought.
"You’re right," he admitted simply.
[I’m glad you finally understand,] Evo said, satisfaction evident in her tone. [Now patch yourself up, we still have a fight to finish.]
"Right."
Since the cave had a restriction rune which prevented him from summoning his forged-beasts, the Forge Lab was his only other option.
He plopped to the floor and with a thought, Rusty, Nyx, Beel, Axie and Atlas appeared. They immediately swarmed him in worry.
Although he wasn’t able to summon them, they knew that he was in danger.
Without waiting for his order, Rusty immediately used [Rewind] on his arm, sending it back to a state before it was broken and pierced through.
"Thank you, Rusty" Reid said.
"Squeak" Rusty answered.
"Alright" he said standing up and rolling his shoulders "let’s begin."