Sylrin was already wounded, and I knew the fight wouldn't last long, so I rushed towards the sound of clashing.

Two winged shadows twisted about in the air as both monsters fought for supremacy. The winged serpent was noticeably faster, and it spun circles around Sylrin who kept trying to keep up with its speed. He roared in pain when the creature swooped down to dig its claws into his back, and I grew incensed.

Not far behind me was the second winged serpent who was pursuing me, but I was much faster, as my wings flapped fiercely to increase the distance between us.

Who cares that they were two of the creatures?

If I let them take my lizard so easily, how could I hope to guarantee the safety of a pit full of creatures.

The dark mist cleared away and I zeroed in on the two, just as the creature was attempting to lift Sylrin by the claws it dug into his wings. My vision turned red and before I knew it, there was a crackling, deeply unstable dark blade sailing for the serpent's back.

It brutally cleaved through its chest, severing one of its wings and exposing a set of ribs. The dirty claw it used to clutch Sylrin was also severed, and it was forced to let go.

But none of that soothed my anger at all.

As it flailed around in the air, trying to fly with one wing, I lunged at it, biting, and clawing everything that was intact until it had several wounds on its body.

I opened up a large tear in its neck and while it fought to throw me off, I punched a hole in its other wing using my tail stinger.

I was so focused on ripping it to shreds, I didn't even notice we were both plummeting to the ground until I heard Sylrin's roar and saw the second shadow rushing towards him from behind.

Considering his wings were already hurt and it was a strain for him to stay afloat, I let go of the serpent to freefall as it smashed against the jagged rocks below. And then I quickly fired a dark blade at the second serpent prowling Sylrin.

The unstable blade of dark energy sailed past Sylrin and headed straight for the creature's chest but it managed to shift its position as the dark blade exploded against its side instead.

It tore through its chest and half of its lower body in a long strip that ripped off most of its skin and half of its wing.

The creature could only screech angrily as it faded into the mist in a spiralling freefall.

However, at the same time, Sylrin's tattered wings couldn't support him anymore and he plummeted unsteadily through the air.

I sped down after him, urging him to keep flying as I tried to pull him up from one side and he was able to stop his descent. But when I looked at his back, I saw the winged serpent had left several claw marks that severely damaged his wings.

He was already injured from before and now this only worsened his situation.

Although I tried to kill the creatures before he was harmed any further, I couldn't even succeed in that. I was angry at the creatures, but more at myself for not being strong enough to get us out of this mess.

Perhaps, Sensei was right, and I had gotten too soft.

In the end the creatures were gone, but we were out of options.

Sylrin couldn't fly out of the valley, until some of his wounds recovered, and we couldn't stay here, with so many nefarious creatures all around trying to eat us.

We have to find a place to hide and heal ourselves.

After flying around in the mist, searching for a hiding spot, I found a hollow enclave between the chasm rocks that was large enough for Sylrin and I to fit through. The only problem was that it was nearly at the bottom of the chasm where so many creatures lurked.

Sylrin could only fly for a short time, so I made a quick trip to look around for any creatures, as they could not be detected through normal means.

Fortunately, the area was mostly rocks and other debris, so I went back and brought Sylrin to the hideout. But once inside, we didn't make much progress. The extra damage has weakened him, even with potions Sylrin was recovering slowly, and I was worried about feeding him too much.

But then Sensei spoke up.

«You have other options. Why are you only buying the [Healing Potion]?»

What other options?

"The MP recovery works too slowly…" I was replying to him, but then it dawned on me.

Surely he didn't mean for me to feed him that other suspicious untested potion, ironically called 'Sensei's Brew'.

"You can't be serious! This isn't the time for such risks!"

«This is the best time for it.» Sensei replied. «Its unknown effects might even help him, and you if you take one. Don't forget you're covered in injuries as well.»

I felt myself twitch in irritation.

Using this dire situation to extort XP from me. Who did he think he was fooling?

If the [Healing Potion] didn't work, how could I expect that one to work?

Sensei grumbled at my grimace. «Why don't you stop being paranoid and trust me for once?»

But I didn't have time to reconsider.

There was a loud thump as something heavy landed high on the rocks, followed by a loud screech that sounded like rattling bones. When I looked up, there were several flying monsters rushing past the opening like they were circling the area.

And from the tiny rocks that fell through the opening, there was something else lurking not far away.

Although none landed, I was sure they had followed the blood.

I looked at Sylrin who was curled in a prone position, before feeding him one more [Healing Potion] as he needed more time to recover.

I was amused that he was nonchalant enough to fall asleep in such a situation, and after a deep thought and with great reluctance, I purchased the suspicious brew that Sensei indicated.

The potion was a rather pretty cyan colour, and unlike the others, it came in a glass bottle.

Hmph. That didn't make it any less trashy!

Still, I set it beside him to use in case there was no other choice, before rushing out of the opening.

Outside the enclave, I sped away and once I was out in the opening, it didn't take long for the creatures to spot me, and I was waiting for them so I could lead them away.

However, I hadn't bargained for one of the winged serpents being present.

I heard the familiar screech and spotted the enraged creature poised on the rock wall, looking the very picture of fury with its wings outspread.

Its serpent body was horribly injured, one of its wings was reduced to a framework of bones, while half of its chest and lower body was covered in loose, torn skin with several bones peeking through. It was the same one from before.

It was forced to crawl on its hands across the rocks, due to the damage to its wings. I flew away from the rocks where it could not easily follow, and smirked at its ferocious screech. It, along with the smaller winged creatures rushed at me from below the chasm and I was met with a slew of obstructions.

But I remained exposed, refusing to use my [Shadow Shroud] until I was sure everyone of the creatures was coming after me. And I succeeded because there were so many smaller winged monsters chasing after me that it was difficult to see their forms.

The wounded serpent was still crawling along the rocks, and it almost seemed to smirk as it looked at me.

And before I could realize, I was knocked out of the air by something moving incredibly fast.

When I twisted around to fight it off, I was surprised to see it was another of the winged serpents. And soon the injured one on the wall jumped down on us and I found myself battling against the two creatures as we stumbled down the chasm.

I was furious.

All I could see was jagged rocks rushing past as we fell, and the two serpents who were very much bigger than me, seemed only focused on tearing me apart. I tried to break our fall, but the sharp edges of the chasm were rushing up at me much faster than I could react.

Every time I was about to hit one, I barely managed to twist around so one of the two serpents got the worst of the impact, but there were still those anxious few seconds when I wasn't sure I would make it.

I only managed to break free of the tangled mess of creatures when I fired a dark blade at the wounded winged serpent, who was attacking me ferociously.

I was able to spread my wings to break my fall at the last second, but my landing was incredibly rough and I stumbled over several rocks before steadying myself.

But when I looked up, the two serpents were already rising up for the next round.

And as if that wasn't enough, the two were perfectly mobile, their worn out bodies poised to attack while I was aching in pain.

What the hell kind of creatures were they?

The winged serpent that was severely wounded was already rushing to attack me, and the second one simply followed behind it, its mouth drooling like it didn't see me as anything but food.

I was forced to dodge the first, and while my raised spikes stabbed the second as it swiped past, I was still knocked over by the force of impact, and I felt a dull pain when I tried to lift my wings.

Up above, the jagged walls of the chasm were filled with winged monsters circling in the air, like vultures waiting for a meal. I focused on condensing a dark blade to cleave an opening through them, and the unstable energy began to flicker as it took form.

But then, the energy condensing the dark blade dissipated and vanished, as I felt a sharp burning pain across my underbelly.

I stared down to see a pool of blood forming below my curls and my eyes went wide with disbelief.

There was a black blade sticking out of my body and a long brutal stab tore open my side to expose my ribs. And as it twisted in my gut, I felt a cold sensation overwhelming me before the black blade was pulled back from my body, spilling my blood everywhere.

What… was happening?

Where... did this blade come from?

No…it wasn't a blade.

The curved length looked more like a scythe, and the pitch black composition reminded me of my own shadow.

I looked back through blurred eyes, and glimpsed the shadow of a humanoid creature with the lower body of a horse, just as it was swallowed into the ground by its own shadow.