Chapter 16

**Boooom**

Lwanda and the beast came crashing down. The sound of the impact rang through the whole forest. Echo after echo sounded, announcing to every corner of the forest that the fierce battle was indeed over.

Lwanda lay in a pool of blood, he was exhausted, barely able to move a muscle. His face was still between the jaws of the panther, the only view he had was that of the throat that almost sucked him in.

The panther lay on top of Lwanda slowly growling at him, its eyes were blood red, breathing unstable. It had a slight expression of confusion plastered across its face, things had happened so fast.

“You're probably wondering what happened huh?”

“Look”

Lwanda said as he gestured towards his staff. It was lodged deep in the panther’s mouth, blood oozed out of the wound, trickling down the staff and onto Lwanda.

“My last stand wasn’t suicidal”

Lwanda said. In the split second before the jaws of the monster crashed him Lwanda channeled all he had onto the tip of the staff, creating an electric blade, he then used the panther’s momentum against it and stabbed it straight through the head.

It was a risky plan, a million things could have gone wrong and he could have been the one lying flat of the ground right now almost lifeless, Lwanda knew this, he acknowledged it, he needed to do better if he wanted to survive. He couldn’t keep relying on such methods to see the day through.

“Well I'll think about that later, for now...”

Lwanda said as he pulled himself from underneath the panther, the beast was breathing its last. Lwanda walked through the blood-soaked ground as he examined the beast further. Relishing the minor details he couldn’t before.

The panther’s physique was impressive, it made sense why a single strike from it sent him flying meters back. Lwanda knew that without the crystals he would have definitely died, twenty times over.

He felt a little happy, how lucky he was to have gotten his arsenal.

“Life truly is all about balance, ending up in this hell like place and when all seemed to be lost, I end up receiving the one thing that can help me survive”

This all felt like a joke, like some kind of prank, a give and take, Lwanda couldn't shake that feeling. However, having nothing else to prove it other than his gut feeling Lwanda pushed it aside for now.

“Speaking of arsenal”

Lwanda looked at the panther, he was getting a little excited. Now that he had emerged victorious it was time to reap the benefits. He couldn’t help but feel giddy in anticipation. He wondered what kind of crystal he would get from the panther, what it would be capable of.

Just the thought of that ran shivers down Lwanda’s body, he couldn’t hold it back anymore. Like a madman he tore through the panther’s flesh.

“Will it be the red beam claw attack from before?”

Lwanda speculated as he dug deeper and deeper. He knew for a fact that whatever he’d retrieve would be definitely functional unlike the white crystal which needed a little more experimenting.

He couldn’t help but think of the vast possibilities, the endless uses of the crystal. It was going to be a lively few days as he dug deep into unraveling the mysteries of the new crystal. He could hardly wait.

**Thuck!!**

As Lwanda sliced through the last strands of flesh he felt something hard on the other side, that was it, he had finally gotten to the crystal. Wasting no time Lwanda swung his makeshift blade, slicing through the flesh.

**Hmm*hmm*hmm**

A gently humming sound silently sounded, it was the crystal.

“Well this is unexpected”

Lwanda commented as he stared at the crystal. Contrary to his expectations the crystal gave off a gentle aura, it felt warm and comforting being in its presence.

“Well this is strange”

He had expected a violent aura, exuding power like the golden crystal. He was convinced it would be so, the giant monstrous beast he just fought was proof of that.

This place, this world it wasn’t ordinary and Lwanda was beginning to understand the meaning of expecting the unexpected, being ready for it all.

“Well anyway...”

Lwanda reached for the crystal, it was time to see what it could do. He grabbed hold of it, the crystal let out a faint hum as it lay on Lwanda’s palm. Other than its bright red color and aura the crystal was identical to the other crystals, in both shape and size.

“Seems this is the general shape?”

Lwanda wondered what the crystals were exactly, and what made them, the unknowns in this place were simple too many.

“Having the same shape, means they were designed that way, but by who? who or rather what is capable of such things?”

“Who is capable of creating such advanced devices and just what else are they capable of?”

Lwanda pondered, he was lost deep in thought. Spaced out from the rest of the world.

**Hmm*hmm**

The red crystal hummed as it activated, a gentle red aura encompassed Lwanda.

“What?! What is this?”

Lwanda reacted to the crystal’s aura.

“Just what is going on here?”

He felt confused, he was under the impression that the crystals only reacted to intent, so then why was the crystal activated, it certainly wasn’t him.

“Don't tell me ?!”

Lwanda eyes widened, it was like he’d seen a ghost. Lwanda quickly looked at his surrounding, desperately searching, searching for something, anything but nothing was there it was just him.

“Am I over reacting?”

He let out a sigh. Maybe being in this place was making him paranoid. He knew the crystal reacted to intent, so if it wasn’t him who activated the crystal then it must have been someone else, something else. But there was nothing there.

“Forget it, everything will be revealed eventually”

“I still have the crystal to explore”

Lwanda said.

As he took his next step, he felt an odd sensation, an uncomfortable feeling, it was like a thousand eyes were all fixed on him, staring. The feeling felt familiar but, he couldn’t quit trace it.

“What is this?”

“What is this feeling?”

Lwanda pondered, everything about it felt so familiar but then again so distant, two extremes, just which of those was true.

As Lwanda stood there thinking a familiar voice rang in his head once again.

“What do you desire...”

“Lwanda”