A SHOW of Power

Luckily, Elara managed to make it to Ben’s base in one piece.
Ben stood at the entrance in silence for a few seconds…
Then suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Open the door, you idiots!!"
Elara jumped a meter into the air beside him.

The big gate began to creak open.
"Hurry up, girl. Let’s go inside."

The two of them entered.
The inside of Ben’s base looked even scarier than the outside.
It felt like this was where the real danger was…
The sounds of shouting, swords clashing, and footsteps echoed through the dry, grassless area—full of weird, massive creatures.

"Um… Ben," Elara muttered, "I feel more in danger here than I did outside."

Ben laughed loudly.
"Don’t worry, little girl. All these big guys are under my command. As long as you stay close to me, no one will hurt you."

"Well, I guess no one can really hurt me anyway."
—I mean, I am immortal…

"You say something, little girl?"

"N-nope! Nothing at all."

They walked into a huge tent where a tall, massive man was waiting. He had three eyes, and if we’re talking height, you’d need two Elaras stacked on top of each other to match him.

"Hey, Talon! Got a new guest for you!" Ben said.

Elara freaked out and grabbed onto Ben, nervous.
"What do you mean guest, you oversized ogre?!"

"Relax, little girl. You’re just gonna have a quick fight with him. We’re just trying to check your level."

"So we’re not… killing each other?"

Ben turned to her with the most casual look on his face.
"Of course not. He’s just gonna beat you within an inch of your life."

Elara gave him a blank stare. In her mind:
"Yeah, I’m immortal… but I feel pain even more than most creatures. I better get through this with as little damage as possible."

Talon stood up and walked outside. As he passed by Elara, her head barely reached above his knees.

"Do I really have to fight this Giant?" she asked.
"And where are your weapons? Do you even have any?"

Ben looked at her from across the room, half-smiling.
"Weapons? What weapons? Until we figure out your level, I can’t give you any."

Elara’s eyes widened and yelled at ben………
"You mean I have to fight him without a weapon?! That brainless gorilla could hold me in one hand!"

Before she could react, Talon grabbed her from behind and threw her hard into one of the base’s stone walls.
As she fell to the ground, Talon leapt and landed on her with full force.
The whole place filled with dust as he kept punching her over and over again until Ben finally stepped in, pulled Talon off, and yelled:

"You idiot! I didn’t mean rip her to pieces! She was supposed to join our team and help us!"
He turned and started walking back into the tent.
"Throw her body out."

From the cloud of dust, a faint coughing sound was heard.
Ben stopped and looked back.

"Dammit, Ben… at least teach your guys not to jump people from behind in a sparring match!"
Elara slowly stood up, cracking her back.
"Ugh… That’s been stuck in there for a while."

Ben, Talon, and the others stood frozen with their jaws on the ground, staring at her.
Elara was completely fine—except her clothes were torn to shreds.

And yes… some parts that weren’t supposed to be visible… were very visible now.