~JST POV~

I stood up from my crouch and moved in front of Cobb. His eyes had that eerie twinkle in them, an abyss ready to consume. He was serious now. I gripped the charge sword, cursing. There was no time to grab my better sword from my pack. It turned out we weren't actually captured, we just looked like savages. I sighed but couldn't fault them.

Cobb's hands lit up in familiar fire and with that my focus sharpened and I entered the slow world of Hyperfocus. The beast launched itself forward with its huge arms and the ground cracked. I moved in front of its charge against all reason. I grinned. What better way to test my strength?

The beast roared as fire splashed across its face and bullets ricocheted off of its hide. That didn't stop it though, it roared and shook the whole building as we collided. The shockwave was something physical, no one felt it as much as I did though. I lowered my center but the path of his arm rocketed me into the wall. Flying through the air and having absorbed most of the initial impact with a stupid amount of strength and precision, I noted that I took maybe half of its momentum. The little detail would've been lost to me if time wasn't slowed by almost half. Then I crashed into the wall, creating a crater in the cement. I felt a significant weakness from Overdrive for a single second, the amount of time I was boosting my stats was the second of impact.

I might've broken a bone or two, and I was for sure sore all over but Ultimate Obliviousness was paying dividends. I was no stranger to extreme cases of physical discomfort. I was definitely not feeling all of it. I peeled myself of the wall, literally. I eyed the beast and charged again, we needed a frontline and no one is stupid enough to do it but me.

~Jack POV~

The older "brother" as they called themselves charged forward despite being thrown like a ragdoll. How could they be brothers when they are not even the same race? Gaius had called it a type of comaraderie but that is not how they treat each other, it is much closer to family, strange.

I backed off of the beast, getting a feel for its movements, weakpoints, habits and tendencies. Without any large amount of power I must rely on strategy and precision. I met the eyes of the monster and saw its intent, dodging left as it slammed a fist to the ground. I jumped over the shockwave that rippled through the ground, holding my katana at the ready should I ever need the blade. It had been repaired since the fight with the demon. I backed off and observed again, George will "cover me" should I need to retreat.

The beast's eyes showed hunger, deep and insatiable. I did not falter and met its eyes with my own. Its face, barely visible through the quills gave me pause. A recognizable expression painted itself on its face. A smile, happiness, relief.

I was puzzled and took two steps back from where I marked the safe distance, allowing me to react at whatever it may throw. Still it only smiled and I wondered why. It continued to deal with Gaius, trying its best to shield its face from George's bullets.

Then the one called JST, a strange name, arrived.

"Big Bob! That's your name now!" Only two steps away he threw all his power into his shoulder and the beast was forced backwards slightly. Impressive given the size of each.

"Crazy ass bastard." George spat to the side, sighting his weapon. I had come to know the contraption as a sniper rifle or more specifically a Barrett .50 Cal, one of the most impressive specimens of weaponry i am told.

Gaius found the beast shoved toward him quite suddenly and circled around as to not get cornered, he found JST and moved with him in assaulting the beast. Meanwhile a slew of different magic rained down on the beast in different forms and in different spots, different combinations and different colors. It roared but didn't seem particularly damaged.

Their strength is unfathomable, unworldly. This is not home, or even Earth, but it is adventure and I am content to follow these strange companions, at the very least it will be interesting. To Cobb, the one who created me, it is a challenge, I know. I speak only when needed but he is surprisingly comfortable in my silence to carry the conversation on his own, his is a path of constant improvement. The younger seems only to want improvement of himself, I see it, in his eyes, the determination to best his brothers, to contribute. After every battle as well I see the disappointment, that he had failed, and yet he remains oblivious to the cause of his actions, that without them all would be lost. They are a strange group of brothers, very strange, yet a family nonetheless.

As for the older brother.

"The goddamn maniac." George was lifting his head from the rifle sight, squinting. "The kid is smiling."

He seems to only want to have fun with his brothers, a path, I think, that is just as honorable as the other two.

~JST POV~

"Damn Big Bob, you're a fat one." I said smiling up at the beast. I couldn't ignore the bruises forever and I was getting stiff.

He roared at me, rudely ignoring Gaius who could only slash at the quills ineffectively.

"Cmon fucker I need to stretch!" I ducked under the beast as it slammed its arm down, roaring and showering the spartan and I with spittle.

My left arm brought the shield up to defend against the quills from its underarm while I jumped for the extra reach and my Charge Sword stabbed into the armpit. I pressed the button and sent the charge right into Big Bob's armpit, at the same time I considered why the armpit is such a nice place to stab monsters. It was the same with the Qetzl's. Unfortunately, I don't think Big Bob felt anything, at all. He just kept roaring and though he was slow, he probably had more stamina than I did and was definitely stronger, he was also huge, so there was that. In fact, I couldn't be sure if my sword actually stabbed him, there was no blood.

The thick black quills surrounding him meant that a normal blade wouldn't actually hit his hide, you'd have to stab and shove your arm deep in the quills, no problem for me since I have a natural protection of my own. For anyone else though it's gonna be a problem, the very problem Gaius is having.

"Conserve and distract, Gaius, conserve and distract." I told him during a short reprieve. He nodded as Big Bob loomed over us.

We dived opposite of each other as he brought two fists down, sending Gaius tumbling over his shield and into a recovering roll. I followed Jack's example and jumped the shockwave.

By now, I had realized that the magic had stopped, not that it did anything, or that we were doing anything. I glanced over and saw Cobb with his backpack. Glancing back, even in Hyperfocus the speed of the incoming fist was almost too much for me to react. Maybe Jones would've gotten away with it, not me. The fist connected with my whole left side, breaking scales as I tried to turn. I stabbed my sword into the ground but was hit before I could use it to pull myself out of the way. The sword anchored me for an extra second allowing some quills on the arm to stab into me, a mistake on my part. I was launched towards the wall a second time.

The world was black for a second before I came to. Big Bob just looked at me, then to its arm, and huffed. It slapped the ground, and rubbed its arms, creating a kind of tinkling noise of heavy windchimes. It huffed again and turned to Gaius and only from afar I could see how slow he was moving compared to when he punched me. I peeled myself off the wall again and started walking toward Big Bob once more. My shield had been shattered, or rather crumbled into sand. My left arm was broken and I grimaced and how mangled it seemed. The armor didn't even help. I ripped off the shirt, easy given my strength to inspect the damage. My torso and stomach were heavily bruised, purple, black and discolored where the peripheral scales absorbed most of the impact. For the sake of everybody present I kept my pants on. The broken rubble and cement, at least that's what I think it is, started to move around me. I held my arm out, the broken one, anticipating the low whistle. The signal came but I already knew the drill. The surrounding rubble shattered and reformed, stabalizing my arm. Ironically, the very same injury that had Cobb in a splint right now. I looked over to him, who was rummaging in his backpack taking out a book and robes. He spared me a glance.

"Hey we're matching!" Just like that his splint came off and revealed a perfectly fine ethereal green arm. I forgot he told me he could read lips. He scowled at me.

I noted my crash site was only an inch away from my other crash. Now there were two human shaped indents in the wall right beside each other.

"Good work Derjar. I see a plaque here already." I winced, probably shouldn't be talking.

I then reevaluted the situation. Looking at them fighting from afar, it almost seemed like Big Bob was toying with us. It almost looked like he was having fun.

"Are you smiling?" Caught up in my scrutiny I mouthed the words unknowingly.

A click of air caught my attention and Cobb was nodding yes to me, so Big Bob was smiling. He was now wearing the mage robes he got. He looked down to his book and began to read.

He was reading. During a battle.

Are you insane? That's cocky even for you!

But as I watched the pages of the book flipped faster and faster, his eyes roamed the pages absorbing the knowledge and before I knew it he was looking up at me, thoughtful.

Before I could even begin to question that look something painful throbbed in my veins. I looked down to my chest and arm, festering blisters. I fell on my right side and I felt the ground hug me and pull me towards Cobb. I could not move, nothing responded to me, my arms, legs, head, neck, nothing. Only my eyelids worked. So I could do nothing as I was dragged to Cobb and I was given a panoramic of Gaius and Jack fighting in that effective way that they do. Even completely paralyzed I could see the futility. Their strategy was effective and efficient, scoring hits in lethal areas were it not for the mass of armored quills. As it was they were definitely skilled enough, though not nearly strong enough. My view lolled back as Cobb moved his face in front of mine and checked my pulse, vision and everything else. I was staring up into his face when he was saying something to me, he blinked once, then twice. It was then I realized I couldn't hear anything. There was pain everywhere. If this was poison what kind of wretched biological poison does this much damage under an 87% reduction.

Poison Resistance - Advanced 9 (56%)

Through exposure to various poisons your body has built a natural resistance. Poisonous effects will have less effect on you. It is said food eccentrics train this skill so that one day they can taste the Forbid Fruits, extremely poisonous and unimaginably tasty. A select few poisons disregard this skill.

Effects:

+87% resistance to poisons

A select few poisons disregard this skill, fuck me.

I fumed but had no release. I wracked with pain but had no way to show it. Tears left my eyes and there was not a single thing I could do but blink. I couldn't even answer Cobb's questions, I couldn't lip read like him. A quick glance to my health bar and I found it rapidly dropping, at the same time I found my stamina bar already greyed out, yet I remained conscious, how cruel. The little mana I had was also gone, and I realized what that painful throbbing in my head was from.

Cobb noticed too and he moved with a terrifying efficiency and purpose, rarely do I see him like this. He flipped through his book, but I didn't question him this time. A flame appeared in his hand and a floating ball of water in the other, they both rippled and became a single red and blue dot, which he brought together. They rejected each other at first but combined easily enough and I had a feeling I just witnessed something incredible to anyone who practiced magic. The colors combined and completely ignored the properties of light and instead became and radiant green. Then he began to make art in 3D, flowing branches that ended in gentle explosions of green, circles and lines, finer lines still, and he kept going. It was thicker on the left side, whatever it was, but the branching was extensive, violent even. I felt the pain somehow, despite my numbness, it was more accurate to say I was numb with pain, nothing existed but the knowledge that my insides were subject to an excruciatingly cruel poison meant for the victims to suffer. I watched my red health bar tick down to 5% its scarlet red standing stark against the darkness enroaching upon my vision. My vision was pinholing but I got one last look at what Cobb was doing, creating, painting.

I remembered something just then. A small conversation.

~FLASHBACK~

"You don't get it, magic isn't just... something flashy. It's more." Cojab said, he was lying atop a magic tree.

"Yeah, i'm sure, there's technique in everything after all." I said annoyed. This magic forest isn't my cup of tea.

"Ugh, I don't expect you to understand. All you use are weapons, it's like painting the same color with different brushes. You can only get so much out of it."

"What's wrong with that?" I said. "If we're sticking to this stupid analogy it's not like i'm only using my weapon, there are techniques, movements, feints, strategy, speed, strength. I can paint a masterpiece with one color."

"There's nothing wrong with it." He sighed. "It's like, magic has so much more..... You're missing out, is all im saying."

Nojas was off to the side, sitting in a not-magical tree. He was listening intently as he does. He seemed skeptical but interested this time though.

"Pshh, all I need is a good sword and a better opponent." I smiled. "Then I can show you art."

"Magic, no, when you use magic you become a painter. The battlefield? Your canvas. You have unlimited brushes, different ways to apply your magic. You have unlimited colors, different magics. When I look at the battlefield it's like im given a piece of art. What can I do in the smallest amount to change the most? What can a single stroke of red to a field of grey?"

"Hmph. you're saying you're a painter?" I looked up to him sitting in a glowing tree, he was looking towards the treeline in response to strange bird call.

"That I am." He squinted at the enemy that Nojas had signaled, or rather the painting.

"The painter and the canvas." I scoffed.

~END~

My health ticked down to 2%, then 1%.

And on the verge of being graced with passing out I realized what he was painting. A 3D rendition of a human made of radiant green stared back at me, his veins and biological systems were mapped out in magic, the green magic concentrated on his left side, the violent branches were veins, his heart beat and he was alive. The magic pulsed strongly through his system, his face was detailed and I found he looked familiar. With one glance at his handsome face I realized who was staring back at me.

The painter and the canvas. I see it now.

It was me.

Then the picture was broken as Cobb's hand burst through the rendering. His fist shook with green power.

But his eyes, they were solid green.