久久大陆

There was obviously no dissuading the eccentric man from his wish to capture the giant reptile, so he decided to oblige.

Urgh…Whatever! I've come this far–! I'll knock it out right now! He thought.

As the beast rushed towards him, he used a [Blink Step] to appear right beneath its stomach, utilizing its massive size and his much smaller frame in comparison to get in its blind spot.

…I'm taking you for a ride, you big lizard! He thought.

At his side, an energy swelled at his knuckles, coalescing in an azure energy that burned up his forearm.

"King Fist!"

[Spirit: -300 | 3600/3900]

Straight up, he used an uppercut against the underbelly of the ground dragon, emitting such force that it rippled its hide and sent the reptile straight up into the air with successive shock waves propelling it high.

"Bloody hell!" Archie let out in surprise with a smile, looking up.

–But, that was only the first part of the attack.

While the dark-scaled, wingless dragon flew upward into the air, scaling the height of the colossal trees, he swiftly raced up, using continuous blink steps to get himself above it as he leapt high into the air.

Around his leg, the same energy manifested, spiraling around his limb as it grew radiant with the burning heat of condensed power. The air around his left leg curved and distorted from the sudden spike in energy; he aimed it at the beast as it flew up directly within his range.

"King Kick!"

[Spirit: -300 | 3300/3900]

From below, Archie watched beside the shield-wielding Defect, holding his hat on his head, witnessing the violent descent of the ground dragon.

"--There she comes!" Archive yelled out with a giddy smile.

Its size overshadowed the clearing, sailing down before–BOOM.

The soil cracked and the trees groaned out as the ground dragon reunited with the forest floor, crashing down with a thunderous impact.

He was still falling from above, landing on top of it, though his weight was nothing more than a speck of lint as he stood on its body.

"...Happy?" He asked.

Archie extended his hand, causing the Defect beside him to fade away before something appeared in his hand–a shining net.

"Do me a favor and move, will ya, mate?" Archie asked.

Without knowing what was coming, he stared at the green-eyed man for a moment before jumping away, watching as the vibrant net seemed to expand as it fluttered in the wind.

What's up with that? He thought.

He witnessed curiously what his eccentric companion's move was; while the ground dragon was concussed from the powerful blows and the landing, Archie tossed the mystical net out. In the air, it expanded many times over, stretching to a size that allowed it to encompass the entire size of the beast.

…I still don't get it, how's that gonna–? He thought.

But, his doubts were quickly diminished as he witnessed a miracle before his eyes: as the net fully wrapped around the tumbled ground dragon, it began to shrink–condensing down and turning the creature within it smaller as well before suddenly–POOF.

"Success! Alrighty!" Archie celebrated.

He still didn't understand what happened, watching with a raised eyebrow as Archie picked up the bundled, condensed net and allowed it to be sucked straight into the seal on his palm.

He absorbed the net? With the creature? He thought.

Now that the scuffle with the great reptile was over, he found it was time for an explanation as he approached the Australian player.

"...What's the deal with that Defect? I think it's pretty clear that Defects aren't very keen on protecting humans. They're more fond of slaughtering us in cold blood," he asked, "I'm guessing it has to do with what you just did, too, right?"

Archie looked at his palm for a moment before smiling at him, nodding his head, "That's about right, yeah!"

It seemed his boisterous companion was happy enough to display it fully to him; he watched as Archie held his hand out, commanding a swirl of energy at his palm.

"C'mon out and greet our new friend, End Runt!" Archie shouted out.

Manifesting out from a coalescence of energy from the blonde-haired man's hand was a small figure, revealing itself to be a small-sized Defect; it was humanoid in shape, with a snow-white body and a spherical head, presenting a large mouth of sharp teeth.

"...A Defect–you can summon them?" He said.

It took a lot of restraint not to reflexively strike down the Defect, but his feelings were cooled as he watched the small creature climb on Archie's shoulder, perched there like a pet.

Archie gave it a pat on the head as he held a smile, "Sorta. I have to catch them myself beforehand, as ya saw. Everything I catch in my special neat goes to my 'Reservation'--kinda like a subspace, ya know? From there, I can call on them when I like. That's my 'Bestiary System.' Pretty nifty, ain't it?"

It was surprisingly an intricate ability for somebody who seemed as easy-going as Archie, but he was impressed.

"I'll say…That's pretty awesome. So you can just snag anything in that net and…boom?" He asked.

Archie laughed, "They have to be in a weakened state first, obviously! That's why I asked ya to handle that part! Though not everything I capture is for fighting. I've brought most of the critters from Earth into my Reservation, ya see!"

"I see–well, now you have that crazy dragon in there, right?"

"Yeah! She's a rambunctious one, that Susie! I can sense her thrashin' about in there! She'll cool down, though!" Archie assured him with a carefree laugh.

As they finished up that roundabout task, his stomach ended up grumbling out, nearly in unison with Archie's as they both were audibly hungry.

"Hah! Seems like we hit empty on the gas tank, eh?" Archie asked, patting his stomach.

He sighed out, "Yeah. Those berries aren't doing it for me."

Gesturing for him to follow, Archie began walking, "Let's find somethin' to whip up then, yeah?"

"Sounds like a plan," he nodded with a smile.

When with somebody reliable and as boundlessly joyous-and-curious as Archie, he began to feel himself experiencing a new feeling towards this new world before him.

They crossed over a curving stream of water, passing by trees inhabited by colorful monkeys of varying sizes, and even spectating more ground dragons prowling around their abodes.

It's like…I'm in a world of fantasy. It's different from before–I don't feel that same stress for some reason. Is it because of him? Is it just how this world is? He questioned.

Either way, they soon found their promised meal in the form of a golden-furred deer, nibbling on the foliage.

The two hid beside one another in the bushes, but he watched as Archie manifested a bow-and-arrow to his hands.

…He's an archer-class? I guess I didn't see him fight before, he thought.

It was a simple, but lavish bow, crafted of a verdant material that resembled the vines of the forest.

Though he felt some sort of confusion for himself when looking at the man pulling the arrow along the string.

"...Don't you love animals? I would've thought you'd be reluctant to hunt like this," he asked.

Archie smiled, looking forward as he aimed his arrow, "'Course I do. But, animals are a natural part of a human diet. That's nature; I respect nature more than anything. I'm not gonna break that beautiful balance."

"--" He was surprised.

"We may have lost our world, but not everything has to be gone, ya know?" Archie told him, "I think as long as we're still around, we can keep it all going. That's why I sought out to fill my Reservation with as many critters as I could. While Earth was beautiful, it ain't the planet that makes us. It's us that makes us–our experiences, our neighbors, our memories. To me, that's 'Earth.' I don't want Earth to truly die. That'd be sad, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

Just like that–SWISH.

Archie had shot the arrow, allowing it to carve through the air with surgical precision as it lodged itself straight into the golden-coated deer's head.

It was an instant-kill.

After their prey had fallen, they both left their place of hiding and went over to it. Archie hoisted it up, carrying it over his shoulder with a smile.

The golden-haired man certainly didn't strike one as being strong at first, through his cheery demeanor, but there was no doubt he was built like a brick wall; he was quite stocky, though–standing a whole half-head shorter than Jeong-Hui.

"How about we set up a fire for the night, eh?" Archie asked.

He looked up, realizing that the pale-blue sky had shifted to a warm orange, "...Yeah. That's probably a good idea.

Luckily, there was a tucked-away cavern that looked to be unoccupied, allowing them to settle down for the night as he gathered firewood, returning and setting it down. Though he planned to use a fire-weaving spell to create the fire, Archie insisted on doing things the "natural way."

This was done through the outgoing man vigorously grinding a stick against a rock, spinning and churning it before sparks flew and a flame was born.

"Hah! Still got it!" Archie smiled.