Of stone skin and a serpentine neck, the draconic beast of calamity landed before him with a tremor of dirt and ash.
Finn held one arm up as his coat fluttered beneath the weight of the creature that greeted him. There was no attempt to run, though he knew a fight was just as fruitless.
The unnaturally lengthy neck of the world-ending catastrophe stretched itself around him, encircling him before its predacious eye set itself on him. As it looked at what was nothing more than fodder, the slanted pupil dilated.
Brought within such closeness to the calamitous beast, feeling its breath pushed against him like steam from a pipe, his heart thumped in his chest as sweat clung to his pores.
"You...Ah, the human that evaded my jaws last we met. I had believed my bolts turned you to ash, ground into the soil. Yet, here you are–returned to my domain."
From how the bestial eye dilated, inspecting him closer with another lofty breath pushing his hair along, the Jabberwock seemed more than keen on his rising anxiety.
'...I woke up after encountering this thing last time, right? I'll wake up–I'll wake up before it can kill me, right?' He questioned.
The Jabberwock's breaths intensified as a clicking sound emitting from its maw, honing in on the human in its reach, "Not a single being has eluded my jaws nor my claws. I have ensnared every last creature that walked the soil of this world, that has breathed its air. You are the first to have escaped, but I will mend that failure."
A chill ran up the assassin's spine at the serpentine dragon's proclamation, bringing him to jump up, flipping away from the encircling gaze of the Jabberwock.
'Shit...!' Finn thought, feeling the dirt rumbling beneath his boots.
The beast uncoiled itself, rising to its hind legs with disastrous height to cast its harrowing shadow over him like a gloomsome cloud. A storm brewed at the behest of the Jabberwock; bolts flashing from gold, to scarlet, to sapphire–a kaleidoscope of lights that spurred to the beast's grasp.
In the face of unavoidable death, Finn did the only thing he could think to do–
He raised both hands, shutting his eyes before bringing his palms against his cheeks with an unrestrained slap, "Wake up!"
The thunder intensified; the rumbling grew stronger, and the spark in the air approached with killing swiftness—
["Dreamwalking completed."]
"Gah...!"
He gasped, finding himself sitting right up in the comfort of the bed. Again, the whimsical world was gone along with the world-ending beast.
All there was now were the snores of his friend and the chirps of birds outside the abode.
He sat there for a moment, catching his breath as his heart still thumped and sweat still escaped his pores.
'...I made it back,' he realized.
It took a moment, and some steady breathing, to settle his heart after the close encounter. He looked over at the bed beside his own, finding the spellblade sleeping soundly.
By the chirps of birds outside and the faint glow of the cerulean leaves becoming brighter, it appeared dawn was near.
There was no sign of Seung on the guest floor, bringing him to one conclusion—for better or worse.
[Level: 44]
Taking another look at the status of the korean-born brawler, he couldn't find the room to protest learning from him, seeing as his stats were easily eclipsed.
"Where are we going then?--" Finn asked.
An answer was half-given by the fact that Seung grabbed the assassin by his arm, looking towards the trees above, "Monster hunting, of course!"
"Wait, what're you–" Finn tried to ask. "--Guah!"
Before he could attempt to ask what the crusher's plan was, he found himself pulled into the air without any regard for gentleness. He blinked from the sudden wind pressure, finding himself past the trees and shrouded in a golden light.
By his arm, he was carried along in the flight of the now laughing brawler, who seemed overjoyed by the act of traversing the sky. For a moment, he had forgotten that Seung was capable of flight, though he was given a swift reminder.
'Seriously...?! Would it kill this guy to be standard for once?!' Finn thought as his cheeks flapped in the sharp winds.
He couldn't make out the scenery below or where they were heading through the bright light that engulfed them amidst their flight. Before he could even somehow force another breath into his lungs as the air seemed more prone to pelting his face than being inhaled, the swift flight came to an end–
"Ah?" Finn let out.
To his surprise, he landed on solid ground before even seeing it arrive, though stumbling for a moment as the unseen arrival. It wasn't scenery he recognized at all, finding himself removed from the forest entirety, instead brought to a stone quarry, stretching into an entire region of rock, devoid of nature.
"Alright, this seems like a good spot," Seung remarked, knocking his gauntlets together as he stepped forward.
"The middle of nowhere?" Finn questioned, looking up at the massive rocks that rivaled mountains overlooking the quarry, completely devoid of trees or foliage. "There's nothing here."
It was completely plain to his view, finding nothing but some boulders and pits that held unearthed minerals, though that looked to be about it.
Seung held a burning smile on the other hand, "It's perfect–I can sense it at my feet; the ground is brimming with energy!"
"What does that even mean?--" Finn tried to ask.
An answer wasn't given as instead he watched the golden-haired man draw in a heavy breath; it was an unnatural inhale, bringing in such an abundance of air that his chest puffed up along with his cheeks before–
"COME ON OUT, YOU SPINELESS BITCHES–!"
Seung's voice boomed with unnatural volume, causing the sediment layering the smooth, stone ground to vibrate as did the air, bringing Finn to quickly cover his ears.
["Challenge of Might"]
The provocation spoken with such intensity that even the slumbering mountains seemed to tremble was returned as cracks in the stone quarry began parting with the arrival of those that lay dormant beneath.
Rising out from the splits in the quarry were titanous humanoids of skin of stone, built like powerlifters. The rocky shells of the earth-risen giants resembled the armor of knights, with gaps for freedom of moment that revealed their pink flesh beneath.
["Sleuth Status"]
[Enemy Recognized: "Mineral Titan"] [Level: 32]