Jayden Heartly Wandering through the halls of the sixth floor, was a boy. An aimless boy, his mind wandering toward facilities one could not possibly imagine at this time of night. The hour was just past one-in-the-morning, and the night was eerily quiet. In fact, the aimless boy sought out this floor because of its lack of challenge. Or rather, he sought out a floor below the first or second, though did not entirely anticipate travelling this far. In fact, the boy had absolutely no idea where he was, or what he was getting himself into. Jayden Heartly, a sheepish yawn emitting from his admittedly feminine frame, kept his (somewhat dulled) wits about him as he observed the sixth floor of the Dungeon. His eyes were as perceptive as usual, it was his hearing that felt a tad fuzzy at this time. It could very likely be a resulting product of fatigue in combination with the careless nature that Jayden was exhibiting. He threw his arms over his head, lowering the joint of the elbow to stretch out his back and waist. He'd been in the Dungeon for roughly two hours, and had seen no more than a few kobolds and a goblin or two. In addition to this, they weren't grouped or anything, in fact he was genuinely shocked to realize just now how empty the Dungeon was the past couple of hours. Despite it, he rolled his shoulders, let loose another yawn, and trekked further down the Dungeon path. Despite the change of setting appearance, Jayden discarded the notion as he had no recollection of the Dungeon changing in size, shape, color, or pressure this whole time. The boy was about as dense as osmium, and this was reflected in his blatant disregard for the danger of being in the Dungeon this late, without so much as a notice to his Goddess... or really anyone. He stopped, unsheathing his sword. Not that he was preemptively preparing for an assault, but rather that he felt an obligation to keep himself prepared. He was the responsibility of a Goddess now, Freya. Thoughts of her bled slowly into Jayden's head, as he started to walk with more caution in his step. He gulped, his eyes now widened slightly more as he forwarded to a forked hallway. The memories of the past week ensued. Freya was Jayden's Goddess, and caretaker now. She was quirky and admittedly, Jayden was not fond of the way she handled a lot of things. Her personality was fractured, or so the young Adventurer could discern. So far he could discern at least two of them, an incredibly clumsy and playful Freya, and a very cold and solemn Freya. However, from what information he procured from his other Familia member, Kuro, she had a third side that was a bit more... explicit. Jayden dared not venture into that realm, and dismissed the notion out of hand. First week in the house was quiet. Whether it was the tension of a new member, of the subtle lack of Freya once in awhile at dinner, Jayden found himself eating alone at the dinner table most nights, or simply taking his plate to his room and finishing it there. The young Adventurer admonished himself for being so hasty in his decision to be accepted to a Goddess like her. He felt her philosophies were flawed and obstructive to progression of other members of the Familia, though he dared not say that to her or even out loud in fear she might find out. Yet, while Jayden could secretly badmouth and mentally admonish himself for picking to be with her, he was now with her regardless and that was that. Even that decision gave regard to some warmth in a sliver of his heart. After all, he didn't want to necessarily see her get hurt or anything either. It was a conflict of moral interest, and that was the thing that likely agitated him the most. Before Jayden could reflect further, his ears twitched with vigor. The still quiet of the Dungeon was broken by a reticent, but audible growl. Jayden narrowed his eyes, checking all his flanks. Was it coming out of the wall? The hallway was forked and unless it was tailing him, there was no way it came from behind him-- Jayden booked it, taking the left path without a moment to waste. His feet began to carry him without restraint down the path, hearing the growl grow louder as its echo bounced off the walls of the cavernous Dungeon floor. Of course it was behind him, it had been there the whole time. The eerie quiet, the lack of monsters, all of it. He was being hunted, and now it finally found its prey out of its element. The young Chienthrope raced like an obsidian flag in the wind, though his legs weren't build for high speed chases. Soon, his own feet felt they were going to give, so he took a sharp right and pressed his back lightly against a stone wall. He stilled his heavy breathing, focusing his ears on the pursuer. Huff... huff... huff... Jayden placed a gauntlet over his mouth, the one not holding his sword, to keep his breathing from making any further indicative noise for the predator to catch onto. He slightly turned his head, angling it into the corridor he just dashed from to see if he could catch a glimpse of the thing. His eyes widened, mortification beginning to slowly eat at the boy's conscious. It crept, paw after paw. Its claws were jagged, black like the night. Its eyes were luminescent, a crimson glow emanating from them. It had fangs born sharper than the stalactites of the cavern itself. The unnerving growl was something akin to a maddening lament as it neared Jayden. For a moment, if only a very brief moment, it stopped. It opened its mouth, fangs covered in saliva, and released an ear-shattering howl. A hell hound?! Many questions ran through the boy's mind, including things like "how did a hell hound get to the sixth floor?" or, "how did it track me down this far?" or something or other that was within that particular realm. No matter how many questions he asked himself, not a single answer had time to form as the howling creature broke into a full-on sprint right at Jayden. His breath became ragged, as the very real potential of death neared. Jayden didn't want to die. So he had to run, or he had to fight. "Well, no use trying to outrun a hell hound. Guess that means I've got one question answered!
Jayden Heartly The way steel clashed against teeth was a thought-provoking sound, or perhaps a better way to phrase it is "thought-destructive." A sound that takes one out of the element, sending their mind reeling back into reality by force. It was abrasive and above all, nothing Jayden ever wanted to hear for the rest of his life. His eyes trained on the feral beast dashing out-of-line towards him. It was using the terrain to create a complex path and launch at the young Adventurer when he least expected it. Smiling Jack rose to a horizontal bar as the hell hound's teeth clutched upon the red steel. Jayden staggered backwards, his feet nearly losing their grip on the ground. His balance was forcibly altered by the indefinite momentum of the damned hound. Jayden felt the earth under him begin to slip, yet by sheer will he was able to hold his ground against the attack. Whipping his wrist vertically, the hound was sent flying a few feet back, its claws grasping the soil and creating a bellowing scratching noise. Jayden readied himself to another makeshift stance, his feet tracing his steps with such care that even a phantom might have complimented his lithe footwork. This was because if he made even a single misstep, that bloody hound might swallow the Cheinthrope whole. The blood red in their eyes were like matching sigils, once locked, there was mutual demise within these gazes. Once more, Jayden readied his blade, but as he prepared to escalate the charge this time instead of waiting for the hound to gain ground and attack, something about the area felt off. The eerie quiet that isolated the hound's growling was now encompassing a muted sound. Jayden gritted his teeth, sweat now beading on his forehead. His breathing was becoming deliberate, no longer an involuntary action of the body but a forced action taken by Jayden to stay alive. His arms became shaky as the imminent realization that he and the hell hound were no longer alone had set in. He backed up, dashing to the left and turning on his heel as he took a head start further into the sixth floor. His arms swayed by his side as the intensity of the chase multiplied. He didn't dare turn his head to check behind him, as he was almost certain that the rough pattering of claws behind him was far and above enough evidence to indicate the predator was still on his trail. The hallway was narrow and the walls shook violently. Impartial aggression of the Dungeon was evident in the night, and now moreso than ever. It was now getting close to three-thirty in the morning, and the chase was on. Flashes of red and black danced all throughout the cavern as monsters awoke from their momentary tomb of the walls and soil, exiting from their habitation to spectate or even partake in the hunt of this lost lamb of an Adventurer. Jayden shook his head, chastising himself for making another stupid mistake. How did he let himself wander this far without registering the possible dangers? Through all of his self-punishing, he latched onto the one silver lining he had. He wasn't dead yet. This young warrior took that glimmer of hope with all of its remaining glory and pushed his legs harder and harder until the very muscle felt it was going to tear and shrivel under the pressure. His lungs were growing weary and the hound was only now gaining speed to tear out the boy's throat. Jayden pressed forward, only to find one misstep cross his path now. The soil of the earth cracked and morphed ahead of the boy, as his toe caught the emerging earth and sent him barreling forward. His sword flew in a direction acute to him, angled towards the wall of the narrow corridor. He tumbled and rolled a couple of meters, before snapping his vision in the direction of the hound. As his eyes turned towards the blur of crimson, it pounced to Jayden. It leaped into the air, opening its jaw wide to pierce the tender, sweat-glistening flesh of Jayden's neck. The pulse of his neck danced rapidly as death and life alternated in flashed before him. The feral creature just barely missed its immediate mark, sending its fangs into the dirt as he pinned down Jayden. The Adventurer's eyes wore failure in them. It bore a distant future that would never be realized, a zeal that was becoming an empty shell and a soul that would drift off into nothingness as his legacy was erased from the annals of heroic legend. But he couldn't let that slip away. There was just no way he would be able to be beside himself in death if he let that kind of distant future, the one he desired to grasp with his own hands and nobody else's, by a careless mistake. This wasn't the first time he made one, and certainly not the last. And he knew that, so he had to fight to live long enough to see himself make those mistakes. Jayden's breathing became calm, involuntary again. The hound howled once more, snapping its jaw in Jayden's direction. Breaker Gambit The sound of glass shattering filled Jayden's subconscious, the darkness that ate away at his remaining courage was enveloped in red lightning. The electrical shock sent his body into a ferocious development. His arms began to force themselves up, his back arching and his neck lurching. In fact, he felt his body becoming physically powerful. The strength in his muscles was multiplicative in strength, more than twice as powerful as before. Right as the jaws of the hound went to snap off at Jayden, his body's immediate reaction to the skill was enough, paired with the intense adrenaline, to throw the hound off balance and force it to tumble to the side. Jayden took the moment of freedom to pull himself into a leaping position on all fours, diving for his blade as he tumbled and summersaulted into a standing position, colliding with the wall for good stopping measure. He trained his eyes to the feral hound now. His resilience felt drained, his body was far more sluggish than before and even his perception was dulled to a degree. But in the process, he had obtained physical prowess far beyond his general ceiling. He gulped, readying his blade for when the fangs of the howler sought blood once more.
