Miyra absolutely demolishes her way to the first dungeon boss, Baraqiel. None of the other creatures stand the slightest chance. The skeletons find themselves in exactly the same situation as the gobbies, if not worse thanks to the holy magic.
When we come across the familiar church-like room, Miyra wastes no time, kicking the doors open with a grin on her face. She lets out a laugh and charges at the armored skeleton in the center of the room. I stand back and make myself hover to avoid any attacks being thrown my way. I’m not gonna intervene in this fight unless her life is in danger… Though… That’s absolutely not gonna be needed…
She dodges under as Baraqiel swings his sword, sending a slash of holy energy towards her. Right before the slash reaches her, she ducks under it, planting her left hand firmly on the ground while holding the sword out from her body. She lets out a laugh before saying,
“That was pretty cool! How’d you do it? Like this?!”
She stands up and slashes in an arc upwards with all her strength. A wave of holy energy twice as wide as Baraqiel’s shoots out. The tip of the blade cracks the tile behind her and embeds itself in it.
The wave of energy cuts through the floor and ceiling, raining down debris. Baraqiel side-steps the energy before charging forth. It hits the wall with a loud cracking sound, sending chunks of debris and dust flying everywhere.
With her immense strength, Miyra yanks the blade free of the tile and meets Baraqiel’s strike head on with the flat of her blade.
It doesn’t even budge her as she pushes him off of her and grabs his pauldron as he stumbles. She stabs the sword into the ground before rearing back and punching the skeleton paladin in the face.
“RRRRAAAAAH!”
His head whips back and the sword leaves his hand, clattering to the ground behind him. She punches him again, and again, and again. He attempts to wrench himself out of her grasp, but she’s just too damn strong.
Suddenly, a holy aura coats his free left hand. He stabs forwards with it, but the energy shatters on impact, just barely drawing blood on her abs.
Seeing this, he changes his strategy. He coats his hand in the energy once more and… Cuts through his own arm at the shoulder.
His entire body is coated in holy energy for a split second, giving him just enough time to roll backwards and grab his sword again, slashing in a downwards arc as Miyra moves back in.
She raises her gauntleted arm and blocks the strike at an angle, reaching forward and grabbing him by the throat.
“Hahaha! Bye bye angel skeleton!”
*CRUNCH!*
His hands fall to his sides, and the skeleton beneath the armor turns to ash. The armor clatters to the floor beneath, with some of it somehow phasing through the floor…
The remaining pieces are the gauntlets, the leg armor, and some pauldrons. Miyra quickly bends down and picks up all the items he dropped, including the crystal, and brings them to me, kneeling in front of me and holding out the items with her tail swaying back and forth.
“Here! Mating present!”
I take the items and start scanning them while petting her.
[Divine Paladin Baraqiel’s Gauntlets: The armored gloves worn by Divine Paladin Baraqiel. They are made so no evil may escape his grasp. Effect: 2x Vitality stat]
[Divine Paladin Baraqiel’s Greaves: Leg armor worn by Divine Paladin Baraqiel. Said to have given him the swiftness of angels. Effect: 1.5x Agility stat, 1.3x Dark Magic resistance]
[Divine Paladin Baraqiel’s Pauldrons: Shoulder armor worn by Divine Paladin Baraqiel. Said to have given him the mind of the gods. Effects: 2.5x Mind stat, 1.5x Vitality stat, 2.5x Holy damage]
Damn, I almost wanna take those pauldrons for myself, but I’ll leave them to Miyra. I can always hunt down Baraqiel again myself.
I stop petting Miyra, earning a grumble and a pout from her. I let out a giggle before taking the pauldrons and attaching them to her armor with a few straps. When I do that, she starts blinking again and looks around the room, tilting her head in confusion, causing her little ears to flop slightly. I resist the urge to pet the Amazonian catgirl yet again, and help her put on the other two pieces of armor.
With everything fully equipped, she stands up and clenches her fist before saying,
“Wow, Arty! I feel a lot stronger again!”
She looks at me confidently before her eyes go wide and she looks down at her hands. She pouts a little before looking up at me.
“Uhm… Is it… A bad thing… that I feel stronger?”
I let out a soft sigh and float up, grabbing her cheeks and squishing them slightly. I slowly rub her cheeks with my thumbs before shaking my head. I smile at her and say,
“Miyra. Your strength is a gift. A gift very few people can even begin to understand. You are so very special, Miyra. You’re one in a billion.”
She starts blushing at my words, her light grey skin turning a purplish-pink color under her golden eyes. Her little ears flick on top of her head. She looks away from my eyes and sniffles as little crystalline tears dot the corner of her eyes.
She slowly looks back up at me and says,
“I don’t… I don’t wanna hurt you on accident…”
I smile at her and lean in, pressing a kiss on her forehead. I then hug her, gently raking my nails up and down her back as I whisper to her,
“It’s okay, Miyra. You won’t hurt me.”
She slowly reaches up, wrapping her muscular arms around my waist and hugging me lightly. Her hands just barely touch me, feather-light. She slowly wraps her arms around me tighter and tighter until her arms are fully wrapped around me.
She nuzzles her face into my neck and takes a deep breath. She starts to shudder slightly and lets out little sniffles. I feel wet spots building on my shoulder as I gently reach up and run my fingers through her messy white-ish gray hair.
“I’ve got you, Miyra. I’m always willing to give you hugs.”
I hold her for a few minutes, scratching her back and running my fingers through her hair. She slowly looks up at me, her soft, puffy cheeks painted with tears. I cup her cheeks again, wiping the tears from her as she slowly blinks at me.
I smile down at her softly, causing her to blush again before her mouth slowly opens, revealing little sharp canines.
“Arty?… I think… I love you…”