The Dungeon Tree

"To think two humans possess the ability and skills to dodge my attacks!" The wolf shouted as he threw a barrage of daggers at us.

"There's multiple people on this island who can do what we're doing. To be honest, there's one kid here who I think might even be able to surpass me." I said, deflecting one of the daggers into a nearby tree.

"Interesting! I'll have to crush him before he can get to that point. I'll deal with you first though!" The wolf charged at the two of us, still throwing a neverending barrage at daggers in our direction.

"Unfortunately, you're dealing with a bad matchup. Allow me to show you why with a nice spell I learned back when I first started my journey." I extended my arm out and sent a small wave towards the monster, stopping all the daggers from hitting us while at the same time knocking the monster off his feet.

"Ha! Like a wave is going to deter me!" The monster quickly recovered and jolted his head back to where I once was.

The monster's eyes widened as he realized I was right in front of him. Within a fraction of a second, my knee smashed into the monster's face, sending him flying towards a tree. The monster once again recovered from my attack and pushed off against the tree to try and attack me again.

Reiner quickly stepped in front of me and swung his staff at the monster, connecting his attack with the monster's snout and shifting his momentum away from us.

"How did you-?" The monster's question was cut off by me thrusting my spear towards him, slicing the side of his torso.

"When you've got eyes as good as mine, being able to see the future is nothing!" Reiner swung his staff upward, knocking the monster into the air.

"The future?! That shouldn't be possible!" The monster shouted, attempting to recover in the air.

The monster reached down into its satchels to grab more daggers but came out with nothing. He had finally run out of daggers to use and was left with either continuing the fight bare handed or running away. Not like we'd let him get away with the second option.

"To think I could be pushed this far… this is getting really fun!" The monster suddenly appeared in front of me and kicked me in the stomach, causing me to get sent back a little.

"I'm fine! Just keep your eyes on that monster!" I shouted.

Reiner nodded, "Ya don't have to tell me twice."

The monster began running around the area, moving at speeds which almost made it seem like it was vanishing. The monster wasn't focused on me at all though. Instead, its complete attention was on Reiner. Most likely since it was aware of how dangerous his vision was.

"You're a fool if you think Reiner's the only one you have to worry about."

"Prove it to me then!" The monster said, appearing right before me.

I quickly shifted my body to the left, dodging the monster's slash before attempting to strike the monster. A normal person wouldn't have been able to dodge after throwing out such a powerful attack but this monster managed to move itself just out of my reach before returning to darting around the field.

"Your reaction timing is incredible! Are you also able to see the future?" The monster said, appearing to my left for a brief moment before vanishing again.

"Nah, I don't have anything as flashy as that. I do have some cool tricks though." I said right as I threw my trident at a nearby tree.

The monster appeared right where the trident was and ended up getting pierced in the side, letting out a loud groan as his movement came to a stop. The monster quickly pulled the trident out from his side and gave me a baffled look.

"How did you-?"

I pointed downward before he could even finish his question.

The monster looked down and saw that the field was covered in puddles from the waves I had created earlier. It looked like a light bulb went off in the monster's head when he finally figured it out. I was expecting him to start panicking, instead, I was met with him grinning.

"To think you would use the sound of puddles to figure out where I was moving. You weren't kidding when you said this was a bad matchup. You both have ways to counter my speed and stop me from throwing daggers."

"Might as well give up then." Reiner said, holding onto his staff tightly.

The monster turned his head, "give up? Nah, that's not something I can do. I'm well aware that I could lose this fight… but it's fights like these that allow me to push beyond my limits!"

The atmosphere around us seemed to change drastically. The monster's eyes grew sharper as it stood there with the same grin it had earlier. Before I could even react, the monster had begun moving again. This time however, the monster was moving at an even faster pace. It was almost as if this monster was evolving at a rapid rate, becoming even stronger by the minute.

"I like this monster. I want it to join my crew." I said, looking back at Reiner.

"What?! This monster has undoubtedly killed multiple people!" His response was to be expected.

"I won't let such strength go to waste on evil acts. Besides, he is more than just a monster." I briefly said before relaxing myself.

I raised my bangs upward, putting them in a knot so they wouldn't cover my eyes again. I closed my eyes and began to concentrate, trying to feel the aura around me. After a couple of seconds, I could clearly see my opponent's movement, easily following him with my eyes as he bounced around.

"There you are." I opened my eyes and charged forward, opening my hand to grab onto my opponent's face right as he appeared before me.

"Wha?!"

I slammed him into a nearby tree, keeping my grip on his snout as he struggled to break free. My opponent was more than just a mindless monster like a slime and deserved to be treated better than one. He had thoughts and things he wanted to accomplish. He was more human than anything I've ever seen. To let him go down a path of darkness would be a waste. Even if others were against it, I would do everything in my power to redeem him.

"What's your name?" I asked, keeping my grip on his snout.

"Huh?" The monster's eyes gave off a look of confusion.

"You're interesting. Drop this act of killing these islanders and join my crew."

His eyes widened for a second, clearly caught off guard by my question. Before I could get a response though, I felt a sharp presence to my left, causing me to release my grip on my opponent and jump backwards towards Reiner. Right as I landed, a small pillar of stone shaped like a pike shot right where I would've been had I not jumped.

"Boss man?" My opponent looked towards where the attack had come from.

"To think these two humans were capable of destroying almost all the forces I controlled. Run along now, Soleil. It's much too early for you to die here. The boss wants to see how far you can grow."

"I was thinking the same thing." I said, walking over to my trident before kicking it into the air and catching it.

The monster smirked at my comment, "you have good eyes. It's too I'm short on time or else I would've enjoyed a battle against you. Another time then." Right as the monster finished speaking, it grabbed onto Soleil's shoulders and vanished. With my aura vision, I could tell that it had run away instead of teleported.

Reiner walked over to me, "is it finally over?"

I turned my head, "no. I want that Soleil to be our next crew member and we aren't leaving until I get him."

Reiner let out a saddened sigh, "I knew you were gonna say that. Oh well, I chose to follow you in the past and I will continue to do so now."