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Time went by flying, as Luck and Lara slowly discovered their new magic powers, and the fate they held as Heroes due to the words that Luck's Spirit, the Ancient Golden Tiger spoke about, the two young Anima learned more about their true calling.
Much like Lara, Luck was also chosen as the Hero of Wild Beasts, while Lara was the Saint of Spirits. They learned of other Heroes on the Continent of Atlanta, of younglings just like them striving to become stronger and better.
Often times, much like this night, Lara often dreamed about meeting them all, and creating a party of heroes to save the world. Despite the years passing, Lara never lost her innocent and dreamful nature, her personality that could barely ever see anything bad in the future, always optimistic, sometimes, too much.
As they watched the night sky, the two, who had recently hit 13 years of age, were together enjoying the beautiful star-covered night sky. Having prepared enough, soon, they would depart in a journey.
"I can't wait to meet them, and to meet so many new places! Luck, would you mind if we took a detour to the elven kingdom? Oh! And then we should go see the Beast Kingdom! And then the Dwarven Republic." Said Lara, her golden eyes shining brightly with excitement.
"Hahaha, calm down a bit, we don't even know where we'll go eventually." Luck sighed. "You're always a bit too optimistic too… There's a lot of bad things that could happen, this world isn't a gentle place."
"Come on now! This is not the time to act all boring and pessimistic either!" Lara giggled, giving him a head pat. "Don't worry, if you're so afraid, I'll protect you!"
"You? Protect me?" Laughed Luck. "Come on, I haven't grown so strong for nothing either… Sigh."
Lara suddenly rested her head over his shoulder. The moment she did, Luck felt slightly embarrassed, blushing. The sweet smell of her hair, its fluffiness, and her warm head made for a killing combination. Although her small horns were poking at his neck a bit.
"It's gonna be a great adventure… I can assure you! We'll have… so much fun." Lara smiled. "And we'll meet so many new friends… And we'll go through many new experiences! It's gonna be crazy… And we'll go together."
Luck smiled for a bit, sighing.
"Yeah… We'll go together." Luck nodded. "Though, I'm going to miss the village… My big brother and-"
"SHAAAAAHHHH!"
Suddenly, as the two were having a rather calm and romantic moment, the roar of a ferocious, monstrous beast echoed in the outskirts of the village.
RUMBLE!
TRUUUUUMMM…!
"W-What is that?!" Luck asked, suddenly snapping out of his own calmness. "A monster?! Is it coming to the village?!"
"T-This is bad…" Lara said, gulping saliva. "So many… Why didn't you guys told me before?!"
"Kyuuuh!"
"Kyuwahh…"
"Gugkuh!"
Suddenly, the Spirits began to explain Lara these monsters had emerged out of literally thin air, somewhere, a strange dimensional gate was leading to a place where they were constantly pouring out, like an endless swarm.
"A-A portal… opened out of nowhere?" Lara was left flabbergasted. "W-What?! No… This can't be happening…!"
"Lara! Snap out of it!" Luck said, gritting his teeth. "We need to-"
CRAAAAASSSHH!!!
Dozens of gigantic insects emerged out of the darkness of the night, shattering the walls, and breaking them apart one after the other. The beasts instantly entered the village, as the screams of the people started echoing everywhere.
"Gryyaaaaahh!"
"M-Monsters?!"
"I've never seen these giant bugs before- GRAAAGGH…!"
"MOM! MOOOOM- GGYAAAH!"
"H-HELP! THE HUNTERRSSS…!"
Luck's eyes were quickly devoid of light as he saw the utter chaos that had engulfed the village in just mere seconds, panicking even more, he quickly dragged Lara with him.
"W-We need to fight them!" Luck roared.
"Spirits! Please help us!" Lara cried.
"GRYYSHAAAA!"
"GRYYYEEEKKH!"
"KRRRIEEEE!"
Three enormous black spiders quickly stepped right in front of the two, as they immediately began attacking with their sharp, spear-like legs with countless piercing blows.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
"{D-Divine Beast Awakening}!!!"
FLUOOOSH!
Luck immediately transformed, channeling the power of the Golden Tiger into his body, and stepping into action.
"Wait, Luck! These monsters are too strong, you won't- " The Golden Tiger tried to stop him, but he stepped forward into battle.
"RAAAAAHHHH!!! {Golden Tiger's Sharp Claws}!"
SLAAASH! SLAAASH! SLAAASH!
Luck furiously swung his two claws against the gigantic spiders, his attacks releasing golden aura slashes that pushed the giant bugs away, making the critters groan aggressively.
"KRIEEE!"
However, as Luck realized it, it wasn't effective. There were barely some scratches in their exoskeletons, and they were completely fine!
"W-Wha-"
BAAAAAMMM…!
A giant claw reached Luck, blowing him away into the air, as he fell down into the floor several dozens of meters away.
CRAAASH!
"AAAAGGH…! Ungh…! W-What?! I can't hurt them?!" Luck cried in horror.
"They cannot be easily beaten!" The Golden Tiger said. "Those things are comparable to Tier 7 monsters… There's no hope for you nor anybody here!"
"W-What are you talking about you damn fucking cat?!" Luck cried. "E-Everything… It was all so fine just seconds ago…!"
"LUCK!" Lara cried, as she was suddenly surrounded by monsters.
"L-Laraaa!" Luck ran towards Lara, only for him to be surrounded by more monsters. "Move… MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!!!"
Luck roared, his fur growing golden as he channeled more and more Mana, the aura exuding from his body suddenly resembled a roaring Golden Tiger, exuding a powerful enough shockwave to push away the bug-like demonic beasts away from his path.
"ROOOOAARRRR!"
"KRIEEE…!"
"GRYYEEH?!"
"KRAAAHH…!"
FLAAASH!
Luck rushed towards Lara, grabbing her right in time as a large quantity of spirits began to surge from the ground around the bugs.
"Land Spirits! {Rock Golems}! {Gaia's Hands}!" Lara cried, exuding her Mana into the many spirits around them.
TRUUUMM…!
Enormous hands made of dirt and stone emerged out of the ground, protecting whoever villagers were still alive while attacking the bugs, dragging them down into the floor by holding their long legs, only for giant golems made of rocks to punch them down furiously.
However… despite Lara's efforts, it seemed to not be working. They were at most being restrained, but they couldn't be stopped.
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