Chapter 29: The Tiger
Silva and Roxy fell separately. If Roxy hit the ground, she would die for sure, so Silva dived in her direction and grabbed her.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He dived towards the walls of the hole, took out his axe, and swung it, but the axe bounced off the wall.
It was as if there was a force stopping the axe from penetrating.
"You have to be kidding me," Silva said. He had no other choice; he didn't have any floating or flying ability or skill, so he would have to make do with what he had.
"Roxy, close your eyes and don't open them till we get to the bottom," he said, and then he activated his complete scales transformation.
His entire body was covered in black scales. They plummeted at a crazy rate. He made sure she was on top and he was below, then he grabbed her tight enough for her not to fall off, but loose enough for her not to take the brunt as well.
They slammed into the ground, creating a small crater. It had been a while since Silva felt this type of pain; it was like his entire body was slammed with a large bat.
He looked at Roxy and saw that she was alright.
"We made it without dying," Silva said and finally let go. He closed his eyes, trying to stabilize himself. That fall was no joke, even for him with such stats and abilities.
Silva expected that Roxy would have gotten off him, but instead, she clung to him tightly and refused to let go even after they safely landed.
"Roxy, we're alright now, you can get off," Silva said with his eyes closed.
"No, just a little while longer," she said and rested her head on his scale-covered body. Silva refused to undo his scales; he wasn't sure how he would handle it if the only thing separating them was their clothes.
After a few minutes, she finally got up from him and sat down on the floor. Silva also got up, undid his scales, and stood on his feet. He looked up and could barely see the light at the top of the hole.
"We really fell a long way," Silva said.
"We didn't fall; Mike pushed us, a-and you saved me," Roxy said while looking down. "I can't believe I trusted and believed in him. He has tried to kill me twice in one day, and you have gone out of your way twice to save me. I can never repay you for that."
"You don't have to think about repaying me; we're a party, we should look out for each other."
"But we aren't; you just joined so that you could enter the labyrinth. You have no obligation to help me, yet you did, risking your life at that, even after I was that bad to you," Roxy said and broke into tears again.
Silva walked to her side and patted her to comfort her.
"You're like a broken record, going on and on about how you did bad to me, but you really didn't do anything. You just ignored me, that's not bad," Silva said.
"It is, it is! Don't try to make me look good at all after how I acted," Roxy said.
He lifted her chin up and looked her in the eyes.
"Roxy, stop crying, you're ruining your beautiful face, though your crying is kinda cute in its own way," Silva said and flashed a smile.
Roxy had seen people smile, but for some reason, this smile felt and looked different, like she would never be able to forget it.
'Beautiful? Cute? W-what is h-he saying?' Her mind became a jumbled-up mess.
'Mike, I wanted to slowly turn Roxy to my side and use her against you, but your stupid ass made all that easy for me. Sure, I went through some trouble, but it all worked out good.'
"Are you two going to continue your little love moment in front of me?"
Silva and Roxy heard a deep voice. Two blue eyes lit up, looking in their direction, and then a massive tiger with blue fur and black stripes walked out of the darkness.
It had a domineering figure; its eyes held pride. It was a being that knew its strength and was ready to show it off.
'I didn't even sense it here all this time, it was able to hide from me,' Silva thought. He used dragon eyes to check the stats of this being.
**Thunder Tiger, Lvl 90**
**Strength:** 800
**Defense:** 780
**Speed:** 800
**Agility:** 790
**Intelligence:** 800
Silva was shocked when he saw the stats of this tiger; this was the first time he was seeing stats this high. It finally made sense why he could not sense the tiger.
But rather than backing down, he was eager—eager to fight this tiger and turn it into his summon.
"Roxy, stand back, and don't interfere, no matter what. If things turn bad, then run with all you have," Silva gave his instructions and then turned to the tiger.
"I want us to make a bet," Silva said.
"A bet? Why would I make a bet with a puny human like you?" the tiger asked.
"Well, I'll just tell you. I want us to duel, and if I win, you will become my summon, and if I lose, you can have me for food," Silva said.
"Silva, what are you saying?" Roxy tried to stop him, but he gave her a reassuring look.
If it was before, he wouldn't attempt something this silly, but he had leveled up a bit and had also gotten the axe. Yes, the axe was his trump card, and it would allow him to get stronger than the tiger for a hundred seconds.
But he couldn't use that carelessly because the intelligence of this tiger was stupid high. Silva would have to wait for the right moment to outsmart him and use the axe.
[**Summoning Mission Update: Subdue the Thunder Tiger**]
[**Rewards:** 2000 Exp, 2000 SP, 10 free stat points]
[**Penalties:** Death]