Twisted Dogs

Prologue | 0 - 4

Deuce straightened himself up as he calmed down. "So there are still stones here!"

 Grim curled into himself. "Mryaah... Even as a master sorcerer, I don't think I can take down that thing myself!"

 "But we need a magestone or we'll get expelled!" Deuce took a deep breath, "I'm going in there!"

 He began taking a few steps before Ace stopped him. "Dude! Are you outta your mind!?"

 "I won't be expelled no matter what!" He pushed Ace away and continued walking. (Name) watched them for a few seconds before exhaling through his nose. He stepped to follow Deuce by his side.

 "I'm joining you. I don't want to leave you to fight that thing alone."

 Yuu reached his hand out, "Wait, it's too dangerous!"

 The two didn't turn back and stopped when they were in front of the monster. It charges towards them, but (Name) jumped and, using his ability, he punched the creature so it stumbled back. The crack in its bottle grew.

 it crashed into a wall, causing some loose, large rocks to fall. (Name) busied himself to ensure the place didn't cave in, but that allowed the monster to recover and target the teens nearby.

 "Begone! Begone! Begooone!" Deuce shot magic at it, but the projectiles didn't do anything to deter the phantom.

 "Shit!" Deuce tried to step back, but the monster was too quick, smacking Deuce into a wall to the side.

 Ace sweat dropped, "Aw, crap! Loosey Deucey's been hit! Not on my watch! Heeyah!" He sent a gust of wind, but he was also punched away.

 Yuu took some distance, but Grim had jumped off him at some point, so the little cat was left, cowering in front of the phantom.

 "Myaah! Stay away from me!" Although he froze in his spot, he was able to spit out flames that didn't affect the creature. "It's like none of our attacks are hurting it!"

 (Name) finally finished up, joining Grim's side. Yuu perked up at a sparkle. "Did you just see that sparkle?!" He pointed behind the monster that had ceased its attacks for now.

 Ace and Deuce got up and managed to carry themselves to the group. They both looked in the direction, seeing what Yuu was talking about.

 Ace squinted his eyes, "Behind the monster! Something's sparkling in the mineshaft!"

 (Name) patted Deuce's back, who was rubbing his shoulder. "Could that've been a magestone?"

 The monster growled, flailing its arms. "GWAAAAH! Nooo giiive yooouuu stooooone!"

 Grim returned to Yuu's shoulder, still shaking. "Hey, we need to book it, and fast! We're gonna be pounded into a tuna paste!"

 "Let's go, everyone!" Yuu called out, taking Grim into his arms and rubbing with the other teens. (Name) stood still for a few moments, wanting to take on the monster, but he couldn't leave the others alone.

 He quickly decided to charge at the creature, enhancing his speed and strength. "Hraah!" He jumped and punched the phantom, sending it flying into the wall behind. Rocks fell around it and its bottle head cracked more, the inky substance spilling out. It let out a shriek, but (Name) had run off to regroup with the students.

 Meanwhile, said teenagers were sprinting as fast as they could. Ace, who was in the back, looked behind and noticed (Name)'s absence. He stopped.

 "Hey, where's (Name)?! Was he too short that we missed him?!"

 Hearing his shout, Yuu and Deuce stopped as well and looked around. Deuce's eyebrows furrowed upwards. "Think he's okay? Or did he not hear us?" He held a hand to his head.