Chapter 3: Bloody Predator
Turning his back to the beast, Dell ran as fast as he could, hearing a horrifying bellow behind him. He looked around to find something, anything he could escape to. But in this alleyway, there were no openings to the streets, at least not any that he could see. After this discovery, the situation became much more tense.
He felt the ground shake as the beast launched itself towards him.
' Crap! '
Turning to see the beast flying above him, he ducked as it's terrifying maw missed his body, crashing a nearby wall. It roared again, stepping out the wall, thirsting for him. His sprint began once again, running as fast as he could, still feeling the monster's breath, a good enough indication to know that it was dangerously close. The deeper he ran, the more mangled corpses he saw on the path, knowing that he could easily become one of those.
The fear clouded his thoughts, as the beast dove forward cleaving with his claw, barely missing Dell's arm and flinging itself to the floor, roaring as it rose back up. Dell rolled to the side and tumbled over, hitting the wall with his back.
' Sh*t! '
He looked up to find the beast above him and his rows of teeth just meters away from his face. He scuttled as close to the wall as he could and panicked as his arms shuffled along the ground, trying to find anything that could help him. He felt a weapon, a long blade, and thought that it must've been a Government officer's weapon before they were...
Suddenly, the claws were upon him. He gripped the blade and raised it above his head with both hands on it. The ravenous hands of the beast were halted, but not for long - Dell could feel himself losing this test of strength.
" B-BASTARD! "
Using all his might, he somehow managed to push the hand away from him, plunging it deep into the wall behind him. Using that chance, he dodged to the left and kept running forward, with the weapon in hand.
But then, all hopes he had left were crushed. He began to notice more and more rubble around where he ran, until he saw a grand ruin in front of him, crushing bodies of innocent people.
' The exit... it's blocked?! '
Searching around the ruin, he could see no exit. The walls were just too high for him to climb, and even if he could, the beast would not let its meal leave. For a moment, he felt true coldness - the coldness of reality. He really couldn't escape after searching desperately for an exit. Looking at the blade in his hand, he gripped it tighter and suddenly was embraced with an odd feeling.
' I can't run, so I guess I'll just have to fight... '
His bottom lip trembled.
' But I want to run... run far away. '
Turning to face the beast that was almost upon him, he took a deep breath and entered the same stance he had been in during all those spars. And suddenly, he let out a huge scream:
" BRING IT, REPTILE BASTARD!! "
As if irritated by the scream of the young boy, the beast let out it's most ferocious bellow yet. A declaration of battle.
Without warning, the beast dashed forward with it's same barbaric claw attack. Dell ducked to the left, feeling a small cut along his cheek, he then leaned in to swing, and sliced open a bit of the creature's flesh - seeing that spray of red invigorated him. He leaped back as it swung it's tail and arms about stumbling and crashing into walls around in a fit of anger. Using this opportunity, Dell dashed back and began to run again, away from the ruined heap.
" Damned beast! "
Leaning forward, it roared as it leaped a great distance at Dell with it's mouth wide open, trying to gouge his head clean off his body. Dell barely jumped to the side, his view disrupted by the crashing of the beast and the dust it released. Coughing out the dust and swabbing it away, he failed to realise what was happening as he was suddenly smacked away by the flailing of the beast's extensive tail. He was sent flying, and landed on his left arm, feeling a shatter. He didn't feel the pain because of the sheer adrenaline, but he felt immense dread.
' Broken?! Just like that?! '
Regaining his balance using his blade, he got into a shambled stance, his left arm dangling and rendered useless. However, instead of dashing once again at him, the beast stood there, and stretched his body out. Suddenly, a strange red coat covered the scales of the beast. After a couple seconds, the peach skin of the reptile beast transformed into pale red crystals, reinforcing his whole body.
A wave of understanding came over Dell, and alongside that, a wave of terror. He realised that this beast was not a regular creature - it possessed a drive ability. This changed a lot for this fight, before he had a decent chance of winning.. but now?
' T-there's no hope... '
As he was still transforming, Dell dropped the blade, turned his back, and ran. He was a regular human, and he knew he had no chance of piercing whatever new scales the monster had just coated itself in. Maybe he could live if he ran back where he came from.
Hearing an ear deafening bellow, Dell drowned in his own fear, slowing down for just a moment. As the beast was finished coating itself in a mineral armor immediately dashing toward the cripple boy. It unleashed a flurry of swipes with it's crystal claws, tearing apart a storm of the walls and floors behind him.
The distance between them was instantly reduced with 1 great leap. Landing in front of him, the ground trembled beneath Dell, shuffling back, tears clouding his vision.
' Ah... I don't want to die... '
The beast raised it's claw, and jabbed it forward. Losing his balance, Dell tripped up, and watched as the creature swung it's claw through the side of him. Blood flowed out his mouth like a waterfall.
" B... "
Crimson painted his clothes, and eventually the street floor - even though he had dodged most of the claw, it had still dug itself deep into him. He held the wound, but fell to a knee. His vision blurred, his world darkened.
All he could see was the piercing red eyes of the beast. But suddenly, 1 red eye was missing. His eyes widened as he saw a large man with broad shoulders and an incredible muscular physique, wearing a tight black shirt white baggy pants, grab the beasts face and effortlessly hurl him into the wall, shattering the shell the beast was so proud of. Landing on the ground, he turned and squatted to face Dell, his rough white hair flowing in the wind.
" You're gonna be fine. Good job for surviving. " He then shouted behind him:
" Dre! Take him now! He needs desperate medical attention! "
Dell felt his body being lifted up and taken away from the white haired man. He watched as he waved, then walked over to the beast calmly - from then, Dell lost consciousness, drifting off while thinking about the man.
-
The bed was incredibly soft, and the covers felt nice. The smell of the room was also brilliant, but the lights were very bright. Dellin reluctantly opened his eyes and faced a blinding light. He was tucked into a bed surrounded by monitors with different readings, signs and numbers. He tried to raise himself up, but suddenly felt an incredible pain in his right side, accompanied by a really odd tingle that coursed through his body, mostly his head.
' I-I survived! Haha!...'
The image of his savior was still fresh in his mind. His eyes looked empty, and the rest of his face was pale - covered behind a sleek mask made of some metal.
" Excuse me, Mr... Veran was it? "
His attention turned to a man wearing a mask and a lab coat, he tilted his head and nodded.
" Well, your wounds will close up with some rest. So, you would be free to go right now. However... "
' However?! What now? '
" We went through a couple tests to calculate your Drive Potential after the incident, since a 'Fragmented' monster attacked you which may increase the Potential, and as we thought, it's reaching it's limit. "
A smile broadened across Dell's face.
" I'm sure you know what this means: your Driveis about to awaken, and you'll soon be sent to the trial. "
' Finally! '
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone