Malik didn’t move an inch.
Like a statue, he stayed rooted in that stance.
The air shifted around him, now carrying the promise of death.
Both his hands were locked tight around his shamshir’s hilt, holding it before him.
Its charred steel hissed and crackled with barely contained flames, the heat licking up his arms.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!
Then, the Roc’s shadow arrived, swallowing the land around him.
Each wing flap rumbled the ground, playing with the fire he wielded.
SKREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAW!
It screeched a second time as it descended, opening its beak wide.
An invitation to the afterlife.
Not so keen on that, Malik darted to the left and jumped.
Midair, he stabbed forward, his blade shooting out a concentrated blast.
Aimed right at its freakishly huge eye.
But then, as if following his earlier words like a script, the beast rolled before the flames could reach its weakness.
However, unfortunately for it, the move was a bit too… fast.
It couldn’t stabilize itself in time and its beak dipped into the ground.
Kcchk—THOOMPH!
The impact was stupidly powerful—chunks of dirt and rock flying all around it.
That, in turn, slowed it down a bit, an opportunity that he did not hesitate to grasp.
Malik bolted straight for it, timing his leap perfectly.
“Hup!”
His boots slammed onto the edge of its spread wing, flames roaring up his blade as he quickly drove it down, straight into its flesh.
The shamshir hit resistance—like stabbing into a tree trunk with a toothpick—but he wasn’t about to let that stop him.
“RAH!”
With a shout, he used all his weight, driving it deeper, twisting it viciously.
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!
The Roc let out an ear-splitting cry of pain.
One that might’ve sent him reeling if he hadn’t been expecting it.
Still gripping the hilt, he poured flames of gold into the wound he’d carved out.
They surged, charring feathers and blistering flesh, making for quite an acrid stench.
This attack bypassed its defenses, hitting the Roc from within, causing it to thrash wildly.
Lose control.
Its massive form crashed into the ground with a bone-shaking BOOM!
Though only for a moment, as its control was reclaimed as quickly as it was lost.
With another flap of its wings, it flew high, sending gusts strong enough to make him almost lose his grip.
Almost.
Because in that short moment, Malik had already begun his climb.
Hand over hand, nearing its spine with every crawl.
His shamshir was left behind, buried too deep to retrieve.
At least not under such circumstances.
Every crawl forward was a small victory.
Closer and closer, he could feel its heartbeat through its body.
Each thunderous THUMP vibrated beneath his hands.
He was nearing its spine, the real prize, and he wasn’t about to stop now.
The Roc twisted, bucked, and thrashed with the fury of a thousand storms…
“I WON’T BE GOING ANYWHERE!”
But Malik was stuck to it like glue, just holding on for dear life.
Nothing was going to take him away from his ‘prize,’ not even the violent wind.
Then, just as he nearly reached its spine, which stood like a hill among the flat…
SKREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAW!
The Roc tucked its wings and flipped a complete one-eighty.
It headed straight down, intending to crush him with its weight.
“Ugh…”
Though his stomach dropped as gravity took over, he didn’t panic, not one bit.
Malik never expected his plan to go smoothly.
Calmly, he looked at the ground below.
It rushed toward them in a blur of greens and browns.
‘…What now?’
No shamshir that he could change its mind with.
No time to climb back up, reach a more vulnerable point that it might not want to damage.
No tool he could use to avoid becoming a smear on the landscape below.
Except… maybe there was.
‘Yeah, I just gotta generate enough force.’
Releasing his left grip, he used its feathers like monkey bars.
With every swing, he got further away from its massive form, inching toward the edge.
When he finally let go, he free-fell beside it, the wind screaming in his ears.
The ground was now upon them, reaching the Roc first.
Crack—BOOOOOOOOOM!
The impact was cataclysmic.
It hit the earth nearly with the force of a meteor.
A deafening explosion of dirt, rocks, and debris, obliterating them.
Trees splintered, the ground caved in, and for a second, it felt like the planet itself had flinched.
It was that powerful.
Malik though?
He was about to join the same fate, testing just how durable his idea could be.
Raising both arms, he summoned every ounce of Aether he could.
Flames roared to life in his palms as he aimed downward.
“BLAST IT ALL!”
With a guttural shout, he blasted the ground with everything he had.
Whoosh!
The recoil hit like a Roc’s slap, jerking him upward for a split second before the flames started to fizzle out.
His momentum slowed, but not enough to stop entirely.
He was falling again, faster than he wanted but slower than certain death.
“Shit, shit, shit—!”
The ground came up to meet him, but this ‘Blink’ wasn’t as catastrophic.
Malik tucked into a roll, his landing more of a graceless tumble than a heroic save.
His body jarred with the impact, pain flaring up his back and sides, but it wasn’t fatal.
He came to a stop just outside the explosion’s range, sprawled out on his back.
Dirt and debris rained down around him, the air thick with the scent of scorched earth.
For a moment, he just lay there, staring up at the sky.
“…Okay.”
He sucked in a breath.
“I survived.”
Kaaaaaaawwww…
The Roc screeched softly and flipped around, standing back on its talons.
Its eyes turned towards Malik, and he soon did the same, meeting its gaze.
They stared at each other for a long moment, a man before a hill.
An ant before a man.
It was an incredible scene.
But that scene was ruined by his next words:
“Fuck it… gotta waste them now.”
He was the type to never use an item, always thinking that it might needed later.
In a worse circumstance, a less favorable fight.
Now though?
Even he saw it as necessary.
Malik reached into his belt, pulling out multiple Scrolls.
In his right hand, his dagger caught the light as he unsheathed it with a practiced flick. Holding it steady in front of him, he dropped into his usual stance, knees bent, weight balanced.
The calm before the storm.
Now, he only needed to wait.
He didn’t have to wait long, though.
The Roc was ready to end the battle as well.
SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!
Screeching once more, it went forth, like the world’s strongest warhorn.
Malik stayed still, watching as it approached.
The damn thing looked like it was going to swallow him whole in one bite.
And maybe it would’ve if he hadn’t been ready to flip the script.
‘Ten meters.’
The Scrolls in his left hand began to glow, the Path etched into them flaring to life.
Two of the eight lit up instantly, their surfaces burning away as their power activated.
What happened next was too quick for the mortal eye.
A circle of light flashed into existence above him, then another did right next to it.
Both displayed the Ability’s Path; one was white-blue and the other a dark brown.
CRACKLE!
A bolt of lightning cracked through the air, striking the Roc dead center in its head.
SKREEEEEAAAAAAW—!
The impact was so powerful it jerked to the side, its screech cutting off as its body quaked from the shock.
Smoke curled off its feathers, and the smell of singed birds filled the air.
But the gargantuan bird didn’t stop.
Now it was but three meters away from its ‘meal.’
Malik didn’t look surprised by that fact.
Rather, he seemed to find it more than acceptable.
Its beak opened wide, jagged edges glinting like giant daggers.
‘Now.’
Whoosh!
The ground beneath him trembled…
“Eat dirt.”
In a blink, a wall of jagged earth erupted from the ground, slamming into open mouth.
The resulting sound was thunderous, too loud for him to even process.
Same for the impact. Tremors sent rippling through the field.
Dust exploded outward, and for a moment, he couldn’t see anything.
Though… he didn’t need to.
The wall didn’t hold it for long.
But again, it didn’t need to.
Malik was already upon the Roc.
He had rushed the downed beast and jumped; his dagger launched forward.
“I GOT YOU NOW!”
Before it could even process what had happened, its left eye—an orb thrice Malik’s size—seized function, now impaled by a dagger buried to the hilt.
That was the target.
The plan since the beginning.
And finally, he’d nailed it!
Cause for celebration for sure, but Malik didn’t stick around to admire his work.
Nope. He hopped off, not wanting to be taken on a ride again.
The Roc staggered back for a second, unnervingly quiet.
No screech. No cry.
Just a low, guttural growl, almost like the thing was choking on its own fury.
Then it snapped.
Its talons lashed out with blinding speed, slicing through the air with such force it felt like the atmosphere itself was being torn apart.