Having first dealt with climbing stairs by holding their breaths. Then walking down a stone path dealing with riddles on four pillars. The group was now in an open breeze area. A long wide strip of nature, like a hallway of grass.
Surrounding the open field is a forest with dark wooden trees that no one in the group could see past. It felt infinite.
When looking into the forest the forest stared back.
An abyss.
This feeling that the forest emitted signaled for the group to continue to walk forwards. Down the straight line of grass.
The first two sections of this second event required the group to be lined up in a single file. Event one was two groups with one person carrying another. While the second event was all four members of Team Earth marching one after the other down the stone path.
This section was wide, so the group took this opportunity to spread out. Coco and Alex were in the back with a little distance between them. Zena took the right wing. Fenrir was leading the pack.
As the group walked for a while in the nice breeze similar to a cold morning. They noticed a giant circular building in the far off distance. Roughly two hundred feet away and a little bit to the left.
"I imagine that we need to head there." Zena said in a cold plain voice.
"Most likely, yes." Fenrir agreed.
As the group began to shift to the left and head over to the strange orb shaped building, they heard loud growling coming from the forest.
GRRR, WOOF, ARRRR.
All the heads in the part darted to the left, only to be met with three sets of jaws lunging at them.
Fenrir, who had his sword out ready for an attack, blocked an attack with his sword.
Zena jumped to the right side dodging another attack.
Coco instinctively raised her hands to block her face, the cloth of her trench coat defended against the last attack without so much as a cut into the fabric of the tainted clove skin.
These three animals with powerful bite forces were dire wolves. Black and red colored wolves, larger than normal, with a blood thirsty look in their eyes.
Despite failing and messing up the sneak attack, the wolves got up and began circling the group.
Two more wolves came from the back side of the forest and joined in the hunt.
Five black dire wolves were now circling Team Earth and keeping them in a box.
Dammit, I need to separate myself from the group and help from a distance. Alex is too close to use her bow properly as well. "Fenrir I need a breakthrough in their defenses!" Coco yelled out.
"Right!" Fenrir said, steadying his blade, then he turned and ran past Alex and Coco thrusting his blade forwards.
This was a simple strike, no magic, no special ability, just a steel blade attempting to connect with one of the wolves.
The animal's instincts kicked in and one of the wolves dodged the attack by jumping backwards.
Coco grabbed Alex's hand and ran past the wolves through the small opening made by Fenrir.
The next wolf that was circling the group clockwise attempted to lunge at Alex and take a bite, "Summon treant!" but the wolf's teeth met wood and bark instead of flesh and bone.
The moment the two back liners were safe, Coco separated from Alex and they were now in two ends of the grassy plane. Coco was on the far left side and Alex was on the right side.
The wolves had a decision to make. Spread outwards sending some of their members towards Coco and Alex and the others to Zena and Fenrir, or to send all five wolves at Zena and Fenrir.
"Zena, let me use some of your magic."
"You have some nerve asking me that."
"Zena, I am sorry about the comments I said in the second section, but please."
"Hmm, fine."
"Good, once I touch you, just jump."
Fenrir touched Zena's shoulder, "absorb," Fenrir then took in Zena's magic. At his command, Zena activated her magic, then jumped diagonally to the right side.
Noticing that Fenrir was the last person standing, all five of the wolves jumped up and inwards in an attempt to rip the solo party member to shreds.
"Boost!"
Fenrir activated Zena's magic and lifted his sword over his head. The blade pointing downwards.
All five wolves jumped inwards, creating a pentagram look, after a moment, Fenrir swung his blade up and back down again. The tip of the sword once pointing to the floor behind him, was now pointing straight in front of him aligned with his hip.
This one motion split two of the wolves' heads in half. One wolf's head was split from the chin upwards, and the other was from the forehead downwards.
This opening allowed Fenrir to dash in front of him, causing the other three wolves to crash into each other. Out of anger, malice, and blood lust, the three wolves got up immediately and faced towards Fenrir.
The wolves jumped towards Fenrir, blind to the other party members.
"Treant, spike!"
Alex's treant, placed its hand into the ground, as though the solid grassy dirt ground that everyone was standing on was a liquid, and right before jaws met skin and armor, wooden spikes shot up from the ground and pierced through the wolves bodies.
This was no small section of spikes, twenty wooden spears shot from the ground, instantly killing all three black wolves.
Fenrir sighed in relief then deactivated his magic. "Thank you Alex." He said with the added thought of man she is scary.
Alex smiled that she could actually be of assistance. "Vircan is my second strongest summon, he is amazing!" she added praising her pet.
Vircan the treant, although it lacked an expression, was happy to receive praise from its master.
"I am surprised that you were okay killing wolves, considering you love animals so much." Coco said to Alex.
Alex placed her hand on the back of her head, kind of embarrassed, "well, this is the cycle of life, they wanted to kill us so we defended ourselves, that's all there is to it."
"Yeah, you explained that a little bit before, during the bandit incident, but I assumed animals were different, since elves view them like deities." Coco said, offering a small smile.
"Oh, I get what you mean now. Yeah, but there is a line that I draw when it comes to that kind of stuff. I am fine with killing things like constructs or summons since those things can come back. This was an exception though because my friend was in danger." Alex said with an explanation.
"I see, but those wolves were also just constructs made by Greed, so you could have killed them anytime with your logic." Coco explained.
"Ohh, yeahhhh, then I suppose I could have killed them all a lot quicker then." Alex added with a sinister destructive look. Like she has a vendetta against non natural creations.
The group talked for a little longer before wanting to continue. Going back to their formation. Alex and Coco in the back, Zena on the right side, and Fenrir in the front.
After walking another fifty feet or so, a tall silver construct with two red glowing eyes stood in the center of the path. This construct stood seven feet tall, has a wide chest, and its metal arms almost touching the ground. Slowly it began to look upwards and meet face to face with Team Earth.
"Intruders, intruders, kill mode activated." It spoke in a monotone metallic voice before it started to move forwards.
…
As it took its first step, its long arm swayed forwards, the group noticed that on the back of its shoulder blade was a red glowing orb. When it took its next step forwards, the other arm swayed, having the same orb on the other shoulder.
"Taint" Coco whispered, tossing four black dots onto each member of the party. Fenrir, Zena, Alex, and one for herself.
The mechanical beast saw this, and spoke again, "repulsive magic detected, m-m-must eliminate the enemy." The construct spoke while tilting its head slightly to the right. Looking past the group and straight at Coco.
It then picked up its pace.
Thump, thump, thump.
It was sprinting towards them, like an armored horse sprinting into battle.
Team Earth readied themselves. Fenrir wielding his sword in a battle stance position. Zena holding her daggers close to her body. Alex, readying a shot. Coco waiting in anticipation getting ready to cast a shield spell.
Thump, thump, thump.
Right as it began to swing with its arm downwards towards Fenrir, it phased out of existence.
Disappeared.
There one second and gone the next.
After a moment, the group paused, their shoulders dropped, thinking it was an illusion or a fake.
Then, pain.
An indescribable, insurmountable, dreadful amount of pain.
A level of agony so strong that the brain processes the pain first before understanding the source.
That was the level of pain that Coco felt as her right arm bent inwards and snapped like a toothpick under the weight and force of the construct's metal arm.
The monstrosity reappeared like a blur behind the group and attacked Coco sending her flying over one hundred feet, angled in such a way that Coco was hurling towards the strange looking building in the distance.
Then the monstrosity looked at Alex who was distracted by Coco being launched to the left.
"COCO!!" Alex screamed terrified over what just happened.
"Alex!" Fenrir yelled, running and tackling Alex out of the way of the beat's next attack.
The strange construct swung its arm downwards trying to kill Alex who was quickly saved by Fenrir.
Fenrir would have had his back slashed open protecting Alex, but the construct's metal arm connected with a thick ink like shield that absorbed the force of the attack before dissipating into thin air.
Zena took this opportunity to activate her magic then jumped on the back of the creature. Zena took her dagger and stabbed the right orb on the back of the creature.
Tink
A vibrating feeling coursed through Zena's body stunning her for a second. Zena lost her balance and fell down off the metal back.
The construct turned and went to pierce Zena with its arm, but was suddenly pushed forwards causing it to miss.
Alex had summoned her deer and sent it charging forwards. It didn't do much damage, but it did push the opponent far enough forwards to avoid hitting Zena.
Zena then spun back onto her feet.
"We need to break the red gems, those are mana rocks supplying this thing's power," Zena said, prepping to dodge the next attack.
"De-summon deer. Summon treant."
"Alex, are you ok on mana?" Fenrir asked, worrying for Alex's well being.
"I am ok for now, just getting a little exhausted." Alex said feeling like her back was being pushed back into a wall.
"Entangle!" Alex yelled, giving the treant a command.
Vircan placed both hands into the ground and vines shot upwards circling around the construct, then it pulled those vines tight, forcibly dropping the metallic creature down onto its knees, and locking it into place.
Zena then bolted, taking her blade and jamming it under the construct's left eye and yanking the dagger upwards. The red mana rock popped out of the eye socket without much resistance.
"AHGGG" the construct yelled out in a loud metallic static noise.
It then attempted to get out of the vines. Lifting its body up, trying to stand.
"Zena, here!" Fenrir yelled running past Zena.
Zena nonchalantly tossed Fenrir the red mana rock.
"Absorb!" Fenrir's right arm, the one he caught the stone with, started to turn a fiery red. His fist started to emit smoke.
"Flamming punch!" Fenrir threw the best melee attack of his life. His legs in perfect position, twisting the hip properly, his arm rotated without issue, and his first connected to the center of the other glowing red eye.
A melting flame was formed creating a hole in the metal destroying not just the right stone eye, but the shoulder gem on its back as well.
Fenrir, panting, dropped the stone that was in his hand. "These aren't normal mana rocks. Something is wrong with this creature." He said grasping his arm that was currently in a lot of pain.
Alex asked the treant to grab Fenrir pulling him away from danger. "How do you figure?" Alex asked perplexed to Fenrir's previous comment.
"Usually, absorbing a mana rock's magic isn't painful, but this one hurt. On top of the searing pain, red mana rocks have a fire aspect, but this creature hasn't used fire at all, but it has activated the stones. I don't really understand what is happening, but this isn't normal."
"That doesn't matter right now. It's getting back up." Zena said, breathing a heavy breath outwards.
The vines were burned from Fenrir's attack, so the construct stood up without resistance, but it was now missing both eyes, and had a gaping hole through the right side of its face and shoulder.
"This thing can still fight!?!" Alex yelled, surprised by this development.
With everyone being exhausted, Alex running low on mana, Zena being physically drained from her magic and running around, and Fenrir being physically and mana drained from his last attack, the group was on their last legs.
The metal creature walked forwards being intercepted by the treant.
The strange construct was pushed down by the uninjured treant. The wooden summon got on top of the metal beast and began to wail on it. The sound of wood breaking against metal was heard throughout the forest.
It was two crafted behemoths duking it out, with nature winning against the man-made construct.
Eventually the treant won, with the construct being broken and battered. Metal pieces were sent flying, one of its arms was also ripped off by a vine attack.
"Good job, Vircan, rest now." Alex said, patting her summon on the back before being de-summoned.
"Alex, your summons are amazing." Fenrir said in awe.
"Hehe, yeah, they deserve a special treat later."
The group, being beaten and battered, realized that Coco was still in danger. "We need to make sure she is ok!" Alex yelled trying to bring up team morale.
The party of three, Zena, Fenrir, and Alex, all began to walk over to the far away building. Leaving the metal monster behind.