The cavern had become Nyxar's personal underground gym.
His summons loitered like oversized pets waiting for a new game, and Bug hovered with the resigned air of someone who knew the day was about to get dangerously stupid.
Phase One: Weight Class
Bug narrated with a weary buzz:
"Limit testing. Of course. Because when you acquire an indestructible, five-meter armored freight train, the logical next step is science."
Nyxar pointed at the two Steel Bears.
"Lift the Bell Beast."
The bears lumbered forward, each a mountain of muscle and iron. They planted their claws, strained, and heaved.
Stone cracked. Dust showered. The Bell Beast blinked slowly, completely unbothered, as if it were a bored elephant at a spa day.
With a grunt that could have been effort or boredom, the Bears managed to raise two of the creature's massive legs—barely a handspan off the ground—before collapsing back with a joint thunderclap.
Nyxar tilted his head, impassive. "Heavy. Good."
Bug face-palmed with both wings. "Great. Science confirms: bell-shaped mountain weighs… a lot."
Phase Two: Sharpness Test
"Mantises," Nyxar said.
The two Prain Mantises clattered forward, their claws flashing like emerald lightning. They struck the Bell Beast's shell—SKRANG! SKRANG!—each impact sparking like flint on steel.
The Bell Beast didn't even flinch. One of its giant eyes half-closed, the picture of sleepy indifference.
Nyxar nodded. "Armor: almost impenetrable."
Bug muttered, "Understatement of the century," while dodging a stray spark.
Phase Three: Impact Trials
Nyxar raised an arm toward a cavern wall thick enough to support a city. "Charge that."
The Bell Beast perked up—finally, something fun. It let out a soft bong and launched forward, an avalanche given motive.
The collision shook the entire chamber; pebbles rained like hail, stalactites shivered, and Bug shrieked in a pitch only dogs and demons could hear.
"We're all going to be beautifully flattened! Fantastic!"
The wall bowed but did not break, and the cavern somehow held.
Nyxar's eyes gleamed faintly. "Strong impact. Decent speed."
Phase Four: Burrow Dash
"From that corner to that corner," Nyxar ordered, gesturing across the wide chamber.
The Bell Beast dipped its armored head, claws gouging into stone. WHOOM—it vanished beneath the ground, a living drill. Dust geysers trailed its path as it re-emerged at the far side in seconds.
"Impressive," Nyxar said simply.
Bug spun in anxious circles. "Impressive? It just treated solid granite like warm butter! What is wrong with you people?"
Phase Five: The Bug Hunt 🐞➡️🔔
Nyxar's next words chilled Bug's tiny thorax.
"Bell Beast, catch Bug."
"WHAT—NO!" Bug's wings went into overdrive. "This is NOT a sanctioned experiment!"
The Bell Beast sank with a cheerful chime and erupted beneath Bug's flight path, jaws snapping harmlessly but close enough to stir his antennae.
Bug juked left—
Another eruption from the ceiling. Chunks of rock tumbled as the massive head lunged from above like a living stalactite.
"OH COME ON!" Bug squealed, zig-zagging like a caffeinated firefly.
Nyxar observed calmly. "Impressive dodging. Bell Beast: tactical approach from multiple angles."
Bug shot back, voice cracking, "You call it tactical, I call it BUG MURDER."
The Bell Beast dove once more, then halted at Nyxar's raised hand, lowering its armored head with a soft, almost puppy-like bong.
Nyxar laid a palm on the warm shell. "Enough. Good work."
The beast emitted a delighted low chime, a sound that somehow felt like a hug.
Aftermath Shenanigans
The two Steel Bears ambled over, curious, and began rolling boulders onto the Bell Beast's back as if testing their own personal jungle gym.
The Mantises, clearly jealous, started tracing delicate claw patterns across the plates, adding tiny sparkling scratches that looked like accidental art.
Far from annoyed, the Bell Beast rumbled happily, its entire body resonating like a giant bass drum.
Bug landed on a stalactite, panting. "I am living with lunatics. Actual lunatics. I swear, one day I'm going to accidentally get… bell-rung to death."
Nyxar merely continued to pat the gigantic creature, his face unreadable but his hand gentle.
Bug threw his legs in the air. "Great. Wonderful. Test complete: conclusion—Bell Beast indestructible, Bug highly destructible, Nyxar criminally unconcerned. Someone please carve that on my inevitable gravestone."
The cavern echoed with another soft bong, like a great cosmic laugh at Bug's expense.