As Mira stepped into the Spire, the ambient aura changed dramatically. The air was dense with ancient energy, making it harder to breathe. The walls of the spire were lined with intricate carvings depicting battles between legendary creatures. At the center of the spire was a spiral staircase leading up to the next floor.
But Mira's attention was drawn elsewhere. The scrolls she had in her Storage Space began resonating. Intrigued, she took them out, and to her astonishment, they floated mid-air, their surfaces shifting like liquid, and began to merge into one another.
The once separate scrolls transformed into a single, radiant parchment pulsating with power. When Mira tried to touch it, the scroll rushed towards her, binding itself to her arm. It etched a unique mark on her forearm, glowing softly.
She could feel the scroll forging an intimate connection with her, allowing her to access the combined knowledge of all the individual scrolls. However, she still couldn't understand the texts, so she let it be for now, hoping that as she climbed the spire, she'd learn more about them.
Mira was about to delve deeper into the spire when a deep voice boomed, echoing throughout the spire, "Welcome challengers! To ascend further and claim the treasures of this realm, you must prove your worth in the Beast Arena!"
Suddenly, from the massive portal, beasts of all shapes and sizes began pouring out. They roared and hissed, their eyes fixated on the intruders. Other participants who had entered the spire were caught off guard, and chaos ensued. But Mira remained calm, the mark on her forearm pulsating.
With a mental command, she could feel her connection to the beasts. Not control, but an understanding. She realized that the merged scroll had granted her the ability to communicate with these creatures on a primal level. Taking a deep breath, she focused on a particularly aggressive-looking beast, a gargantuan lion with flames for a mane.
"Halt," she mentally commanded. To her astonishment, the beast ceased its attack, turning its fiery gaze to her.
However, with an angry roar, the lion broke free from her control and charged at her.
'Interesting.' Mira raised an eyebrow.
With the lion charging, its fiery mane casting shadows in the ambient glow of the spire, Mira's instincts kicked in. She quickly channeled the power from the mark on her forearm, wanting to test it, fortifying her defense.
When the lion reached her, it didn't collide with her as the other participants expected. Instead, it met an invisible force field surrounding Mira. The impact was massive, creating a shockwave that forced the other creatures and participants to brace themselves.
The lion, disoriented but not defeated, roared in defiance. The other beasts took this as a sign, rallying behind the lion, their predatory eyes trained on Mira.
'So, the scroll can control beasts? That's it?' Mira was a bit disappointed since she had no interest in controlling beasts. She spent quite a bit of effort to get those scrolls, and all they amounted to was this?
'I thought something special might've happened since they merged, but I guess not.' She shrugged her shoulders indifferently.
Of course, she still wanted to know what the runes on it meant, as they might be the key to helping her understand the nature of her power. But these 'special abilities' were really lackluster.
She didn't need some outside power to help her control someone or something. If she couldn't handle a rampaging beast with fear, resources, or her bloodline suppression, then it was better off dead.
Taking hold of her scythe, Mira swung it, sending a wave of ice at the beasts, freezing the weaker ones.
"Alright, enough playing around," Mira muttered with a smirk. "Come at me."
"ROAR!"
With the 'barrier' down, the beasts charged at her!
The arena became a tempest of raw primal energy. Dust swirled, picking up with each determined step of the creatures closing in. The echoing roars of the beasts synchronized into a deafening battle cry, and the very foundations of the spire seemed to tremble beneath their collective might.
Mira's stance shifted, her legs spread apart in preparation. Her fingers flexed around the icy grip of her scythe, its silver blade reflecting the erratic lights of the spire. Her breathing became deliberate, each exhale forming cold mists in the charged air.
A muscular wolf, larger than any natural beast, lunged first. Its fangs, gleaming in predatory hunger, sought Mira's throat. With a sidestep, she evaded its jaws, her scythe whistling as it swung. The blade carved a crystalline arc, encasing the wolf in a block of ice mid-leap. The frozen figure landed with a muffled thud, skidding to a halt.
Almost simultaneously, a serpent, scales shimmering with a toxic sheen, lunged at her from the side. Mira pivoted, her scythe's blade barely grazing the ground, creating a razor-sharp layer of ice. The serpent's momentum carried it across the icy expanse, and its body began to stiffen and crack, encrusted with frost.
From above, a giant hawk, wings spanning the width of the arena, swooped down with talons outstretched. Mira glanced upward just in time, releasing a burst of icy wind from her palm. The hawk caught off guard, was thrust upwards, its feathers becoming a cascade of glimmering ice crystals.
However, Mira was far from a reprieve. More creatures, each more ferocious than the last, lunged, slithered, and soared at her. Yet, with each attack, she became even more untouchable, riding the wave of momentum she was gathering. Every swing of her scythe, every pulse of icy magic, was both defensive and deadly.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her trembled as a massive beast, a blend of rhinoceros and bear, charged. Its eyes, alight with fiery rage, locked onto Mira. She could feel its intent, its overwhelming desire to crush and conquer.
Mira waited, timing her counter to the last possible second. As the behemoth was almost upon her, she leaped high, flipping overhead.
As she descended, her scythe danced in her grip, the blade meeting the creature's thick hide.
Instead of slicing, the blade channeled an intense cold, turning the beast's momentum against it as it slid uncontrollably on a newly formed sheet of ice, crashing into several of its companions.
Landing gracefully, Mira barely had a moment's respite before another wave of creatures readied themselves. She smiled, not out of arrogance but exhilaration.
This was the kind of thing she sought, battles against many strong beings who could test the limits of her power.
Still, this was far from enough. The beasts that have attacked her so far have been nothing but fodder. The real challenges were in the back, waiting for their moment to strike.
'I guess I'll just have to get them to come to me.' Mira chuckled inwardly, an evil smile creeping up on her face.
Beasts upon beasts met their chilling fate as Mira effortlessly danced through the arena, her scythe leaving a shimmering trail of ice and death in its wake.
Her laughter, cold and lilting, punctuated the roars of the beasts as they fell one by one. Every sweep, every flick, was calculated to bring the maximum amount of devastation. Her ice seemed to feed on the beasts' aggression, making it even more potent.
The ground soon became a dreadful spectacle of frozen creatures trapped in their final moments of terror and aggression. The weaker creatures were dispatched with contemptuous ease and turned into gleaming ice statues, while the stronger ones became warier, circling her from a distance.
Occasionally, Mira would clench her fists, causing those ice sculptures to explode into a million pieces alongside the beasts inside them.
The air grew tense as the number of fallen creatures continued to rise. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare: an arena filled with frozen monstrosities and a lone figure standing amidst them.
Suddenly, a guttural growl echoed through the arena, drowning out the lesser cries of the remaining beasts. From the shadows of the Spire's entrance emerged three colossal creatures, each exuding an aura of overwhelming power.
First was a dragon-like beast, its scales as black as night, shimmering with an otherworldly sheen. Then, a chimera, a grotesque blend of lion, goat, and serpent, its multiple eyes glinting with malice. And finally, a snake with wings, its eyes veiled to hide its petrifying gaze.
Mira's grin widened, her eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Ah, finally, some worthy opponents."
The three creatures, sensing the deaths of their lesser kin, turned their attention solely to Mira, coordinating their attacks with an intelligence that belied their beastly nature.
The chimera lunged first, its lion head roaring fiercely while its serpent tail poised to strike. Mira spun out of its way, her scythe slicing through the air, sending a wave of ice shards toward the beast. It managed to deflect most of the shards with its goat head, but a few found their mark, embedding themselves in its body.
The dragon, taking advantage of her distraction, unleashed a torrent of dark flames. Mira countered by creating a swirling vortex of frost around herself, extinguishing the flames before they could touch her.
The snake, ever cunning, attempted to ambush her from the side. However, before its gaze could meet hers, she cast a reflective ice shield, causing the creature to recoil from its own reflection.
The three creatures, although powerful, were still no match for Mira's superior skill and tactics. With each clash, it became clear that she was in control, expertly maneuvering them into compromising positions and exploiting their weaknesses.
Hours seemed to pass in minutes as Mira gradually wore down her adversaries. With a triumphant shout, she finally delivered the finishing blow, encasing the three beasts in a massive glacier, their forms forever trapped in a moment of defeat.
Afterward, she put her hand on the glacier and stored it in her Storage Space, wanting to put it to use in the future.
Panting slightly, Mira looked around the now-silent arena, her victorious stance a stark contrast to the frozen battlefield of defeated creatures.
"That was... fun," she said with a smirk, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. But deep inside, she knew this was only the beginning. The Spire definitely held many more challenges, and she was eager to face them all.
