A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

The massive, third-ranked Nyoka-Mlima coiled its ten-foot-long snake-like body, its plated scales grinding against each other with a sound like stone scraping against steel.

Its golden eyes locked onto Erik, burning with primal fury and malicious intelligence. Its crocodile-like jaws opened wide, revealing jagged fangs dripping with venom, and another earth-shaking roar erupted from its throat. The air vibrated with raw power, but Erik merely smirked, unaffected.

"That all?" he taunted, shifting his grip on his hammer. Electricity crackled along the weapon's surface, arcs of white lightning licking the frozen metal. The ground beneath his feet frosted over as an icy wind howled around him, his frost aura and thundersnow armour manifesting in full.

With a single bound, Erik shot forward, his hammer raised high. In mid-air, his body shifted into wolf form. His new clothes stretched and bulged for a moment as his body expanded, but Elora wouldn't have given them to him if they weren't designed for this.

The Nyoka-Mlima lunged at the same time, its powerful frontal limbs propelling it with frightening speed straight at the airborne Erik. Its jaws snapped shut at Erik's location just as he vanished in a flash of lightning and reappeared beside its head, mid-swing.

The hammer struck with a thunderous boom, ice and lightning colliding as a wave of force erupted from the impact. The beast's plated scales cracked under the immense blow, sending shards of frozen armour scattering in all directions. The creature screeched in agony, its massive body writhing as it recoiled.
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But Erik wasn't done. After his fight with Lilith and the near-death he experienced afterwards, he relished the chance to beat up a weaker opponent and remind himself of his own power.

Before the Nyoka-Mlima could recover, he twisted in midair, spinning the hammer with inhuman speed before slamming it down again. A thundersnow blast followed the motion, exploding against the beast's skull and forcing it to the ground with a deafening crash. The jungle trembled, trees snapping like twigs as the behemoth struggled under the weight of Erik's unrelenting assault.

Behind the barrier, the Enkarian soldiers looked at this violence with awe-stricken expressions. Previously, they'd been frozen in fear, unnatural or not, but now the source of that fear suddenly didn't seem so impressive anymore.

The area of Erik's clash was already emptied out of any other creatures. The first- and second-ranked Nyoka-Mlimas had either perished in the brutal aftershocks of this battle, or they'd scurried back into the forest, hoping their leader would emerge victorious.

Meanwhile, the beast snarled in fury, and Erik landed back down on the lightly frozen jungle floor. After recovering from its crash, the creature showed an amazing aptitude for speed as it rushed to Erik's location, reaching him almost instantly.

It lashed out with the razor-sharp claws on its arms so quickly that Erik barely had time to raise his arm. A powerful swipe sent him skidding back, his boots carving trenches into the dirt. His heavy coat fluttered wildly, but he remained standing, grinning as he wiped a trickle of green blood from his arm.

The sleeve of his new outfit was a little damaged, but the runes and sigils were already taking care of the damage.

"Not bad," he admitted as he sniffed the green blood. "Your affinity is clearly poison, but you'll need more than a scratch to slow me down. Let's turn up the pressure a little."

Without warning, intricate, icy-white runes started glowing on his skin. Instantly, the temperature plummeted. Frost spread outward in jagged veins across the jungle floor, encasing roots and fallen leaves in thick ice. The air crackled with electricity as snow began to swirl within the battlefield, forming a localized thundersnow storm.

This was the third-ranked Runebound skill he'd ended up with after his advancement. It basically turned him into the eye of a thundersnow storm. Although not particularly useful against a powerful single opponent like Lilith… it didn't need to be, either. Not in this case.

Right now, he was having fun and wanted to try out his new skill. Plus, it didn't hurt that it put on a good show for the watching Enkarians, who watched intently as Erik froze the jungle into an electric hellscape.

The Nyoka-Mlima hissed, sensing the danger, but Erik was already moving. He leapt forward, both body and hammer spinning with a whirling cyclone of frost and lightning. The beast reared back, preparing another attack, but Erik was faster. Now utilizing his space affinity, Erik shifted forward slightly, reappearing directly above the creature's head.

"Take this!"

The final strike fell like the wrath of a god of lightning. The hammer crashed onto the Nyoka-Mlima's skull at the same place as before, and an explosion of energy detonated outward.

A shockwave of ice and electricity ripped through the battlefield, freezing everything in a perfect storm of raw elemental power. The beast convulsed violently before finally collapsing with a resounding thud. Its massive body was encased in shimmering frost, and steam rose from its still form, its horrifying snout stuck in a pained grimace.

Silence followed. Then, slowly, Erik straightened, resting his hammer against his shoulder as he exhaled a frosty breath. He turned toward the stunned Enkarians, whose wide eyes reflected awe, disbelief, and relief.

Once again, Erik basked in their admiration. However… after his conversations with Nora and Elora, this feeling suddenly had an additional edge that he still wasn't sure how to feel about, although he suspected those two would be quite happy with this development.

Shaking his head free from these thoughts, he rolled his shoulders and grinned at a certain werepanther who was looking at him with shining eyes. "Well, that was fun," he said, chuckling softly. "I don't suppose these Nyoka-Mlima are good to eat?"

Naeku blinked and cocked her head as if confused… then she began to grin and laugh. "Hehe, that's so corny. Do you want to try again?"

Erik smirked wryly as he started to walk back to his thundersnow barrier. "I don't know what you mean…"

"Hehe," Naeku snickered teasingly. "Alright, so would you like me to answer the question? About whether or not that poison-filled creature is edible?"

Erik shot a glance at the spot where the creature had previously cut him. The small bit of poison on its claws had already been neutralized by his runic energy, but he didn't doubt a larger amount would have caused him some serious problems.

So, he sighed and shook his head. "No, no. Forget I said anything."

Waving his hand, he dispelled the thundersnow barrier when he reached it and walked back to Naeku, past the awed warriors. "Anyway, shall we move on?"