This Is Not the Life That I Imagined

The silver hound snarled as Zak launched another boulder, followed by a barrage of spears, each one slicing through the air with deadly force. Just as the boulder neared its target, the hound conjured a towering ice shield, with multiple crystalline walls erupting from the ground behind it with sharp cracks.

BOOM!

The boulder smashed into the shield, shards of ice flying in every direction, but the walls held. Within a heartbeat, the beast opened its maw, a low growl vibrating in its throat before it spat an ice blast directly toward the incoming spears.

The icy projectile clashed with the first spear, freezing it mid-air before it shattered into glittering fragments.

Zak's heart raced, surprised. He had never imagined such precise ice manipulation could come from a beast. The second spear slowed as the hound's blast spread, frost creeping along its surface before it, too, broke apart. Zak gritted his teeth, feeling the pressure mount as the beast howled.

 AWOOOOO!

The ground trembled under the sheer force of the sound, and suddenly, the prairie began to shift. Ice spread outward from the beast, coating the battlefield and freezing the once solid earth.

"What the—!" Zak's eye's widened in alarm as the temperature plummeted. With the ice spreading rapidly, he felt an immediate resistance—his connection to the earth weakening slightly.

"Damn it..." Zak grimaced, gripping his staff tighter. The earth around the icy areas refused to respond the way it should. His rocks moved sluggishly, like trying to drag boulders through mud.

"This... this isn't good." The fight became perilous. But he pushed forward, refusing to let the beast overwhelm him.

The fighting between Zak and the silver monster was escalating with the passing minutes. Meanwhile, Toby wiped the sweat from his brow, flames flickering around his hands. His attention was on the beasts around him.

He'd taken down several already, but the clash of fire and ice between him and the silver hounds produced more mist. A group of hounds circled him; their glowing eyes shone through the fog, predatory and cold.

He flexed his fingers, feeling the fire surge within him. "Alright... let's see how you handle this."

With a swift motion, he shot a stream of fire toward the nearest hound, the flames bright against the icy landscape. But just as the flames were about to connect, several silver hounds spat ice blasts at the fire. the collision producing more swirling mist that clouded Toby's vision.

"God damn it!" Toby growled in frustration, realizing that the ice gave these creatures an advantage. The thickening mist was making it hard to track the silver hounds and frost was making things complicated

One of the beasts lunged at him from the side, and Toby barely had time to react. He spun, flames roaring from his hands, catching the hound in mid-air. It yelped in pain, rolling across the frozen ground, but another one was already closing in.

"Get out of my way!" Toby cloaking his fist with a layer of condensed fire. His fiery fist collided with the hound's jaw, and in an instant, the fire exploded, frying the beast's head upon contact and blasting it off.

Suddenly, from different directions, three beasts lunged at him at the same time. Toby launched himself into the air with a burst of flames from his legs, narrowly avoiding the beasts' deadly pounce. His left palm and feet erupted with fire, smoothly rotating his body midair. He then tossed a fireball with his right hand; it ignited the air, sending a heat wave into the surroundings.

The aggression of the hounds increased, charging and pouncing at him at every turn. And he, by a hair's breadth, avoiding them every time, hardly had the time to counterattack. Toby's breath came out in short, white puffs as the temperature dropped sharply. Every step he took felt like crunching over thin ice.

The flames flickered dangerously, not burning as hot as they should. 'Damn this ice.' He thought, realizing the cold was sapping his power. The mist made it even worse—he could barely see the hounds, let alone aim properly.

The relentless cold spread from every battleground interconnected with each other, creating a world of snow. He braced himself for another attack when suddenly—crack—a shadow burst through the mist. With a powerful swipe, a lion snapped the hound's neck.

That shadow was Joe in lion form; he came to help Toby.

"You don't have to fight from a range, Toby!" When Joe spoke in his lion form, his voice was deeper and rougher than usual, with a hint of a growl. It had a strange, resonant quality, making his words sound powerful and slightly unsettling. But beneath the growl, there was a hint of urgency.

"Stop tossing fire around, now!" The usual clarity of his speech was replaced by a guttural rumble, making his commands sound both majestic and menacing. "The mist is spreading too much. Fight at close quarter."

Toby blinked, the heat in his hands wavering. 'Close-quarter?' He hesitated, glancing at the growing mist around them. Normally, he preferred to stay at a distance, using his flames to overwhelm. But Joe's lion form moved fluidly between the hounds, swiping and dodging like it was second nature.

Toby clenched his fists, nodding slightly. "Alright, let's see how they like this up close."

On the other side of the battle, Maxwell was like a tank, taking whatever came in his way without shying away. He used every part of his body in a smooth, flowing barrage of punches and kicks in a violent, brutal melee.

The armor that Zak placed on him had long been destroyed, and Maxwell was relying solely on his hardening talent to defend. His chest heaved as the intense struggle continued; he was only concerned about slipping on the ice or getting a direct hit from the ice blast, as it would make his body stiff. And its accumulation might lead to dangerous consequences.

Even though there were not only silver hounds, the others were not as threating.

"What the hell!" He rolled on the ground, avoiding a fireball from a red hound. "We just entered the dungeon, and it's this dangerous already?!"

His heartbeat was audible, his eyes darting all around, looking at the beasts that circled him from every direction. The frown didn't leave his face from the start of the fight.

 "I with John was here. He could have helped a lot." His jaw tightened as the thought crossed his mind. But John wasn't here. It was just him, Toby, Zak, and Joe against this onslaught.

Clicking his tongue, Maxwell roared, "Came at me, beasts!"

As if they understood, they leaped at him from every angle. Their clear objective in ripping the human in front of them to shards was obvious in their vicious eyes.

Across the battle field, each of the party members was fighting to survive and eliminating the monsters that were having no mercy or giving them no respite. But they were not wavering against the overwhelming odds, their determination and courage leading them to fight more ruthlessly.