Into the Maws of Death

The people of Fiore claimed this place to be a Serene Cliff. The aged Blade knew this was far from the truth. Monsters would crop up on regular occasion and it was a regular pasttime of the ancient to make his way through these cliffs to do some training.

Today was no different. The creature roared at him, the white-haired warrior standing fearlessly, no emotion showing, whether on the mask or beneath it. He remained stoic, absently twirling the sword in his hand. The weight always felt perfect in his hands, whether he opted for a single-handed or two-handed approach, and for a creature as large as this, he held his sword at his waist, both hands holding the onyx-shaded sword. It was an odd beast, centipedal in its frame and a sickly tan color. Small barbed arms trickled the side of the burrower's body, likely to help it cut through the dirt and stone it seemed to make its home. Of course, the most intimidating feature of it was the head, which ballooned out bulbously, leading to strong mantis arms with massive claws at their tips. While the body-attached arms were maybe the size of two people, these were veritable buildings in their size, all attached to the bulbous head, which itself boasted a pair of what looked almost to be wing-shaped eyes atop its head, a blue tint to them glowing softly. In reality, its eyes were much smaller stalks, flanking a gaping four-pronged maw that gave way to a long tubular blue tongue that lashed and spit acid at the stoic swordsman.

"Poppi estimates a ninety-eight point four percent chance of victory," the artificial Blade estimated, landing behind him.

"Seems a little low," he said with a casual smile. Though he did not fully understand it, his time with Lethe certainly helped teach him a bit of relaxation. It was a feeling that he seldom felt in his time. Yet it was always a breath of fresh air to joke around. Alrest never gave him that luxury.

The beast roared and attempted to strike again. In a flash, Mathis was gone from the spot, stepping a few feet away from the descending spike before immediately mounting it. The creature had to slam its whole body down in order to attack in such away. It would have been wise to focus on its spitting, though of course Mathis could easily fend off the beast with a bow or rifle if he so desired, the sword shimmering a blue light just at the mere thought. The monster had a quick reaction, impressive to remain this strong for the length of their fight. It threw itself back upwards, attempting to buck Mathis off of it, to no avail. He kept his balance, even angled at fifty degrees, his impeccable balance the result of centuries, perhaps millennia, of a life of nothing but fighting. He sprang himself up as he reached where for a human would be a shoulder and immediately plunged Monado into one of the creature's false eyes, a spray of blue blood painting his snow-white armor. It roared and attempted to retreat into the earth, finally managing to buck Mathis off of it, sending him plummeting nearly a hundred feet towards the ground below, the worm's retreat matching gravity's pull on Mathis. Poppi was there to assist Mathis' landing, though it was unneeded as Mathis landed in stride, his knees barely buckling at the long film. He attempted to reach the beast, swinging his sword wide to try to decapitate it before it could fully submerge beneath the earth, though he was a hair too late.

"Perhaps I should not doubt you, Poppi," Mathis sighed.

"Are you ceasing your pursuit?" Poppi asked.

Mathis shook his head, gentling tapping his foot as the flame-shaped crystal glowed along the hem of his jacket. The fiery maiden, Brighid, emerged, a somewhat smug grin on her face. "You just wanted to take away the thrill of the hunt to us," she teased

"It is better for everyone if I tackle an unknown enemy alone first." Mathis shook his head. "Poppi, recharge. We'll need you to drill for our quarry soon. Brighid, you'll join me. The creature is largely acidic, though I believe quite flammable. You have not lost your touch, have you?"

Brighid smiled once more, idly summoning one of her blade whips. "Of course not. I wouldn't want to miss any sort of fight like this."

With an affirmative, if somewhat unenthusiastic nod, Mathis prepped himself for his pursuit of delving to fell this encroaching beast, be it at the cost of his time or his health.