I am Just an Average Tamer

Vael shot into the air, wings slicing through the stale dungeon air like blades.

Stromeon snarled beside Kai, his paws grinding against the cracked ground, sparks twitching and crackling with every pulse.

Kai exhaled.

His stance lowered.

"Let's end this nightmare."

[<Ghost Steps!>]

In a heartbeat, he vanished.

His figure blurred, then flickered to the side.

The obsidian creature's glowing eyes swept forward, trying to follow, but too slow.

ROOOOAR!

The beast answered with fury.

Its chest expanded, then compressed with a hollow, vibrating snarl.

The creature moved, not fast, but deliberate.

Scree!

From above, Vael screeched.

[<Sonic Dive!>]

Wind spiraled behind him as he dove like a comet, aiming for the beast's exposed back.

BOOM!

Dust and loose stone flew. Vael twisted away mid-air, but—

SWWIIING!

The creature's tail snapped sideways, unnaturally fast.

The bladed edge caught Vael mid-escape and sent him spiraling through the air, a trail of feathers and blood left in his wake.

"Vael!" Kai's voice cracked.

The falcon skidded along the cracked floor, feathers bent, chest rising shallowly.

Kai's eyes narrowed. "Return." A flash of light swallowed Vael, pulling him to back to his soul plane.

Now it was just the two of them.

Kai and Stromeon.

Versus that thing.

The beast turned, slow but precise.

Its spines retracted slightly, forming a shield-like wall on its back.

Glyphs along its legs brightened.

Then it charged.

Kai barely had time to move. He flicked a hand.

[<Phantom Slash!>]

He appeared near the creature's flank, daggers slicing across one of its legs in a cross pattern. Sparks flew.

But no blood gushed out.

Its obsidian hide was like armor.

Then, it turned mid-charge.

Too fast.

CLANG!

The creature's claw swept out, and Kai blocked with crossed daggers.

The force launched him backwards like a broken leaf. He crashed against a stone pillar with a grunt, sliding to his knees.

"Ugh, dammit...!"

The beast roared and advanced.

But then, a flash of lightning appeared.

[<Thunder Roar!>]

Stromeon charged.

His scales bristled, lightning crackling like a storm incarnate.

He slammed into the creature's side with all his weight, releasing a deafening roar, shockwaves exploding from his throat.

The obsidian beast stumbled, its footing shattering the ground as it dug in.

[<Groundbreaker Slam!>]

Stromeon's claws glowed molten gold. He reared back on two legs, and crashed them down, splitting the dungeon floor with raw might.

Cracks webbed out. Stone exploded upward.

The beast flinched, spine shield flickering.

Kai didn't waste the moment.

[<Stealth>]

He vanished.

Sliding through shadow, he reappeared behind the creature, climbing its tail.

"C'mon… just need to find the weak point."

The glyphs.

That faint pulse.

He raised a dagger, infused it with essence.

But the creature's tail jerked violently.

CRACK!

It whipped back, smashing Kai in the ribs.

He was thrown off like a fly.

He crashed again, rolling hard, blood on his lip now. "Hhhgh!"

Grrrrr!

Stromeon growled, standing between Kai and the monster.

The beast advanced.

Stromeon's shoulders tensed. His eyes sparked.

He pawed the ground.

Once.

Twice.

Then, he bellowed.

[<Thunderclap!>]

The entire chamber lit with electric fury. Blinding arcs exploded from his body, streaking across the floor and walls.

The creature stopped mid-charge, claws skidding.

It roared again rage and pain mixing, but this time, it staggered.

Stromeon didn't wait.

[<Static Field!>]

The space around him hummed. Sparks crackled in a tight radius, trapping the creature inside a deadly sphere of shocking arcs.

Kai rose slowly, clutching his ribs. He looked at Stromeon.

The beast stood tall, shoulders heaving, growling low, ready for more.

"Let's bring it down.

Kai dashed forward. His daggers gleamed in the faint glow of light.

Stromeon answered with a snarl, electricity dancing across his shoulders like warpaint.

The obsidian beast turned toward them, violet glyphs flaring brighter, like it sensed the shift.

[<Ghost Steps!>]

Kai vanished.

He blinked beside its leg again, this time lower, his movements faster, more precise.

He slashed upward, hit like a metal on stone.

Clang!

Sparks screamed. He leapt back before the tail could sweep.

[<Phantom Slash!>]

A shadow burst ahead, slicing upward, a bait.

The beast swiped at it, but missing entirely, leaving its side open.

And then—

[<Groundbreaker Slam!>]

BOOM!

Stromeon lunged, his paws slamming into the beast's exposed ribs.

The floor exploded into a crater of rubble and smoke. The impact knocked the creature to the side, its spines cracking the wall.

It roared, furious.

But then, it moved faster than ever.

A blur of obsidian and violet light.

Its tail snapped forward, not at Kai, but at Stromeon.

"Stromeon, move!"

But, he was too late.

Smack!

The bladed tail wrapped around Stromeon's torso like a vice.

Then, in one sickening heave, the creature lifted him off the ground.

Electricity sputtered around them.

Stromeon snarled, his claws scratching at the tail, but it was tight, strangling him, crackling against his charged body.

Kai sprinted forward.

"Let go of him!!"

The beast turned.

Its claw swung.

CRASH!

A chunk of debris from the collapsed ceiling slammed into Kai, burying him under weight and dust.

Stromeon let out a muffled, thunder-choked growl, struggling harder.

But the grip only tightened.

The creature raised its other claw, glyphs glowing.

Ready to end it.

And then, it paused.

SHHHNK!

A blur of black and violet light streaked across the dungeon.

And the creature's back split open, a gash clean and deep, across its obsidian hide.

ROOOAR!

It roared in pain, stumbling, its tail loosening just enough for Stromeon to drop, gasping and sparking on the floor.

The beast twisted its head, spines flaring defensively.

Standing there, where the shadow flash had come from, was a sleek, four-legged silhouette.

Jet black fur, rippling like smoke.

Eyes like glinting voids.

Its body shimmered between solid and ethereal, and a ghostly tail swayed behind it like shadows.

A Phantom Lynx.

It growled low, not loud, not snarling, just a sound like wind sliding between tombstones.

Kai, half-risen from the debris, blood on his lip and dust in his hair, looked up.

He coughed out a breathless chuckle.

"...Right on time, Vex."