“It’s the big one!” Trinidad shouted, her words only barely reaching Ozzy’s ears through the rush of wind.

  Trying to look out at the horizon Ozzy finally realized what the fuss was all about. Rising up from the nasty earth was a monster that was decidedly un-froglike in nature. Yet in his heart, Ozzy knew it could be nothing other than the reason they’d come in the first place. That was Aria’s prey.

  Rising nearly 150 feet into the air was a monster that took its namesake of frog with only the barest of considerations. In fact, the only frog-like thing about the monster was its head. It had a massive green head, reminiscent of the tier two frogs, though where the limbs had sprouted out of the tier 2 frog’s bodies this bigger meaner frog had protruding horns. They stuck out at flat angles, and Ozzy could imagine the massive frog using them to terrible effect if it ever felt the need to head butt something.

  The monster stood on four legs. Not the stubby front and powerful back legged combo you might expect but six. At its front the frog had a pair of “legs” Ozzy used the term loosely as while it used them to move they were more like a pair of arms. They were incredibly thin for a monster of such size, and they held a third joint allowing for great mobility at what Ozzy assumed was the cost of stability.

  Stability that was probably not much of an issue as the next set of legs more than made up for it. Thicker than the base of a redwood, thick, musclebound flesh rose up to meet the main body of the frog. At the legs base Ozzy could see finger like appendages that extended out and gripped the muddy ground, acting somewhat like anchors and keeping the frog from slipping and sliding in the muddy wasteland.

  Last but not least were the monster’s hind legs, and while they definitely bore a resemblance to normal muscled frog legs, they were similar only in function. The back legs were shaped much like a large bird’s, a single backwards facing knee joint the only break in a chain of muscle so densely packed it made bridge cables look like wet noodles.

  Together the legs made the frog look more like a freakish conjoining of frog, insect, and bird. The crocodile style body complete with a tail spiked like a stegosaurus really clinched it all together though. It looked like it had been made in a lab by a Jurassic Park scientist high on crack.

  Ozzy had been so enamored with the creature’s visage he hadn’t even realized they’d stopped moving, or that his jaw was halfway to the floor. Seeing a monster the size of a small multiplex had a way of pulling him out of the moment. He was only just realizing they were on the catamaran again, and that Aria was trying to talk to him.

  “Ozzy. Ozzy. Ozzy. Ozzy. I’m gonna feed you to a frog. Ozzy. Ozzy.” Aria intoned, snapping her fingers in his face as she finally got his attention.

  “Really? You’re as chill as a jarvint while a literal god is around but you can’t handle seeing a crappy tier 3 monster?” She asked incredulously.

  “It’s really big and weird?” Ozzy said, hopeful that his explanation might in some way prove beneficial to his case. It didn’t, he should’ve just asked her what a jarvint was.

  “Of course it’s big and weird! It’s a tier 3 monster! Is no one teaching you anything?” She asked him, looking several times between him and the rapidly approaching monster.

  All he could do was shrug. His main teacher was Emil. Another tier 0 who while Ozzy was sure was definitely smarter than he was, he wasn’t as sure if he was actually a decent teacher or not.

  “Right.” Aria held the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, taking a calming breath, despite the now even closer tier 3 monster. “I’m supposed to be teaching you.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything.” Ozzy added helpfully.

  “Sure,” she said, clearly not believing him. “First lesson I then. Always know your enemy.” She said, and leapt off of the ship.

  ***

  Aria hurtled toward the monster so fast she left after images. Despite not even using a movement ability like Trinidad had she moved at least twice as fast, colliding with the monster only heartbeats after leaving the ship.

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  Reacting instantly to the sudden attack the monster lifted its front legs, only then did Ozzy get a full view of the bottom of the limbs, which were apparently the homes of over fifty tentacle clusters.

  Mana flashed around the eldritch appendages as the tentacles began to grow extending out in search of Aria like slimy heat seeking missiles.

  Rather than flying away from the monster to avoid the growing tentacles however she flew up above it, forcing the tentacles to wrap up and around the monster’s own body to get at her. A blunder the frog quickly fell into as it sent its tentacles at her with reckless abandon.

  Not idly waiting for the monster to do its thing Aria unsheathed her blade. Before the giant great frog her rapier looked like little more than the tiniest thinnest splinter of a toothpick, but as she raised it to swing Ozzy felt an aura of bloodlust permeate the wasteland.

  In an instant the great frog was pressing itself pancake flat against the earth. A swoosh echoed throughout the area as Aria swung her sword, an arc of darkness appearing beneath her as she launched the attack. Darkness blocked even Ozzy’s void empowered sight as the curtain of black nearly reached the hundred feet distance between Aria and the frog, though it fell only meters short.

  Unwilling to just take the attacks the monster shot back up. It’s back leg kicking so hard that it cratered the earth underneath it, sending the frog up into the air in a sick as hell monster front flip. Caught off guard by the sudden and bold strategy Ozzy didn’t even realize the purpose of the moment until the attack was already half underway.

  Flying directly towards Aria with the destructive power of a cruise missile the monsters tail whipped up, nearly slapping the circle member out of the air. It was instead stopped nearly dead as Aria used some sort of defensive spell, encasing herself in a cage of swords.

  Though the attack had not landed it had given the monster space. Unable to completely absorb the attacks force Aria was sent high enough into the air Ozzy might have mistaken her for some weird looking bird had he not followed her flight upwards.

  As Aria began to make her way back downwards Ozzy watched as the monster did something strange. It sat and watched her, like cat watching a fly before trying to catch it. That was until she got back within a thousand feet at least.

  Growling the monster took in a deep breath, as it did Ozzy felt a pull on the world around them. It was like the very energy around them would get sucked up into a rapidly condensing black hole. The furthest spine on the monster gator like tail lit up, then another, and another, all lighting up in a line like some cheap freakazoid Godzilla.

  Still waiting for Aria, it let out a booming ribbit. The frequency of the noise at a level so low he was unable to feel it, though it shook the very world around them. Then right as Ozzy felt like he’d vibrate right out of his shoes it let go.

  The world around the monster and Aria went white as white hot booming arcs of electricity jumped out of the monster’s mouth. They flew aided by a spray of the monster’s viscous saliva, energy jumping from glob to glob in a shotgun like blast of power that headed directly for Aria. Ozzy winced.

  “So that’s her plan.” Arlan, who Ozzy hadn’t noticed up until now, spoke beside him. Obviously seeing or understanding something Ozzy was at least three tiers off of getting.

  “What’s-” Ozzy began, only to stop talking and watch as Aria didn’t avoid the attack and instead fly directly into it.

  With a brilliant flash of steel somehow comparably to the brilliant white arcs Aria severed a reaching bolt of electricity. Instantly the strain of lightning disappeared, and while Ozzy couldn’t tell among the lighting storm he was sure she got just a little bit brighter.

  Aria continued her assault on the lightning, chopping through bolt after bolt until lightning was no longer the brightest thing in the sky. Perhaps the monster thought it was cooking her, perhaps it thought it only needed to hit her a few more times, or maybe it thought it was just doing the only thing it could. Whatever the case its attack only served to empower Aria, and she rapidly moved faster and faster until there was no longer any lighting left to consume, and she struck.

  Flying through the sky at what was probably the speed of sound Aria collided with the monster for the second time that fight, striking the exact spot she had when she’d first left the boat. As she struck the monsters chest a flash went up, one red that was instantly followed by the brilliant flash and crashing boom of thunder.

  The monster recoiled, stumbling backwards as a wound Ozzy could have driven a truck into appeared on the monster’s front and its right front leg fell to the earth, lying severed, never to be made whole again.

  It was the beginning of the end for the monster, and Ozzy watched on in amazement and some horror as Aria began to rapidly dissect it. It was clear she was more than a match for it in power. No matter what it threw at her, more lightning, its’ tail, an acid coated tongue, even water magic, It just couldn’t keep up.

  The final straw came when in a final last ditch effort, the monster overstepped. With Aria within its reach, it shot its head forward, snapping amphibious jaws over open air where only moments ago its quarry had floated.

  Such an aggressive strike had been risky for the monster, and its gamble didn’t pay off. Instead, it had practically presented its neck to Aria, and she was quick to take action.

  She struck with the same ability she had missed upon starting the fight. Her sword flashing as it left behind a trail not of light and electricity but pure darkness. The curtain of black passing cleanly between the monster’s heads and shoulders.

  A groaning cry went up from the monster, and its head fell, crashing into the muck like a meteor.