Chapter 3: Too Soon

  The following morning Maury woke Dracon up very early before the sun had risen. "Ok give me a status update so I can figure out where to pick up your training" Dracon thought to himself "Display Status" as he did, the level system voice chimed in and his status was displayed in front of him. DING* "Name: Dracon, Age 13, Level 15, Elemental Affinity: Fire, Earth, Aura Type: Manipulator". The voice continued to read out the stats from his display. He relayed the information and finished after a couple of minutes. Maury looked at the young dwarf slightly slack-jawed. "You are 13 and have all those skills? How many actual enemies have you fought?" Dracon thought for a moment. "Ummm, none really. All of my combat experience is from training with Mom. Maybe a random goblin or beast here or there." "Well then let's start there. You have plenty of combat skills but judging from what I can see" looking at Dracon's Lizardman hands "You lean towards hand to hand combat like me and your mother. Defend yourself!" Maury bellowed before moving to attack. The two spared for about a half hour before they paused. Maury was impressed with how versed Dracon was in combat. He had learned everything his mother had taught him up till when she fell ill. She trained him according to how ready she felt he was to handle each and any skill.

Maury had judged within that first day that Dracon was already able to use skills and techniques that wouldn’t normally be learned for another 5+ levels. Dracon was also already more than proficient in some of these skills showing he was well beyond his years in combat, unbeknownst to him. Maury saw this as a great opportunity. He knew the boy was talented and could possibly have some underlying abilities but this was unprecedented. He was showing physical strength well beyond the years of a 13 year old lizardman. Maury then thought to ask how strong dwarf young men can be from Dracon’s father. During a break, Maury asked Dracon about his lizardman hands and arms. Dracon simply responded with how when he was younger the more he played with fire the harder and stronger his skin became until it turned to scales. The claws simply came as a similar side effect as his nails became thicker and stronger from the flames (The claws and scales both manifested into skills, probably stemming from his Metamorphoses, Dragon Skin & Dragon Claws). Maury then asked why it stopped at his elbows. Dracon replied that he assumed his whole body would possibly scale over if subjected to fire for a long amount of time and that it only stopped at his elbows due to his crafting and handling of fire. Maury thought about the Metamorphoses skill Dracon had mentioned was only at 22%. Maury then asked if Dracon could be burned. Dracon just shook his head and said “I enjoy the heat from fire but have never felt pain when handling or touching flames. Even on my non-scaled skin a flame simply feels warm and comfortable. Though I haven’t tested for long periods due to not wanting to accidentally scale unnecessarily. However, I know my Dragon Skin skill gives me full immunity to flames and heat, when my aura is active".

Maury then explained that due to natural affinities, some people are born with inherent abilities such as heat or cold immunity. Maury possessed a skill called Hot Blooded, because of his inherent fire abilities, Maury had cold and heat immunity. This ability was also a family trait that both Dracon and his mother possessed, though Dracon hadn't unlocked it yet. Dracon asked why he had still felt cold in the winter (though he had noticed his mother never seemed to feel cold). Maury explained that it was simply a lack of activating the skill and then continued to show him how. Dracon asked why his mother never taught him to activate the skill. Maury shrugged and asked what Dracon and his mother would normally do during the winter when it was cold out. It was in that moment that Dracon realized his mother would take this time to teach him the finer points of life, how to behave and right from wrong. All in the safety and warmth of the hearth. Tears welled in his eyes as the longing for his mother flooded in while he held back the tears and sniffed them down. Smiling proudly as he remembered how great his mom was.

  Dracon and Maury trained every day in the morning until winter hit. When the first snow fell Dracon’s father allowed for double days. This wasn’t a problem due to activating the latent part of his Hot Blooded ability. Maury’s wind was a good counter to Dracon’s earth affinity. The two trained hard and even Maury could feel he was improving from the training. The only days they wouldn’t train were when it was blizzarding. When this happened both simply spent time in meditation and using their natural heat to keep the house warm and comfortable. It was during these meditation sessions that Dracon learned his mother had nearly achieved a full flame transformation. Dracon had no idea such a thing was possible let alone that his mother could almost do it. Maury explained that it was only achievable if you have transmuter abilities, or if you have the inherent ability but the inherent ability is a Spirit Race racial ability.

  As winter came to an end a second tragedy befell Dracon. Dracon's levels had increased and had felt like he had significantly improved over the course of training with Maury the pass few months. He had gained a couple of levels and his combat skills had improved greatly. One day while training both Maury and Dracon froze mid-combat due to feeling a presence. Both looked at each other with fierce eyes feeling the power then looked in the direction it came from. As their heads both snapped in reflex they realized it was towards the household and Dracon's father. Without hesitation, they were moving towards the house and within half a minute they were running up the entryway, Dracon's father standing with his back towards them. As they approached, he rose his arm and pointed. As Maury and Dracon's eyes met the intended direction they both were stunned. The three men looked upon a massive black aura mass. Thick with bloodlust and malice this mass had stopped at the edge of the clearing separating Dracon's house from the forest. Slack-jawed the men gawked at the carnage left in wake of the mass. A clear burnt and bloodied path steamed and smoldered behind the aura mass, which looked like a large 4 to 6-legged creature formed by blackish red worm-like aura flows wiggling and snaking together. It was a grotesque entity and made the stout men cringe and on as high a guard as possible.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Dracon slowly walked to his father, putting a hand on his shoulder and pulling him towards Dracon and his uncle. "Maury… Do you know what that is?" Dracon asked, still slowed by the lingering presence which lay at the edge of the forest. Maury's mouth opened and as he spoke softly Dracon heard his father barely speak. "A demon…" both men could barely speak. This wasn't the first time the men had encountered a demon however, this was by far the most malicious creature that had ever crossed either of them. "What do we do?" Dracon asked as his voice started to pitch with panic. He felt Maury's hand on his shoulder and his father grasp his hand that still lingered on his father's. "We pray it moves along." He stilled his gaze on his son "But if it attacks we will either have to fight to defend our lives or flee."

  The creature seemed to stare at them though it didn't seem to have eyes. "Is it appraising us?" Dracon asked warily. "Very likely" Maury responded as he gently tried to pull both of his companions into the house. Then they slowly shuffled in keeping an eye on the monster, Dracon's father spoke "Ok here is the plan. Since it seems to be lingering it is a safe bet it will attack soon. We don't know what it wants but we can gather our essentials so we are ready to run. I don't want any of us to fight this thing if we don't have to." Dracon and Maury nodded in agreement and started gathering their things.

Once packed up, Dracon's father peeked out the window. The demon wasn't on the edge of the forest. "I don't see it but I can still feel its presence." "Me too," Maury said in a whisper. "Let's get out of here. If anything happens to me, Maury" he looked at his friend "Dracon is your responsibility." "I understand but don't talk that way. We are all getting out of here." Maury retorted quickly, both speaking in low voices. Dracon tensed worried by the gravity of the situation. "What do we do?" Dracon asked nervously. "We will tuck out the back in case it's waiting to ambush us. Keep your guard up. I couldn't Identify its level or name." Dracon's father looked at Maury. "Don't look at me, I got nothing" He said with his hands up. "All I saw were question marks too." he shrugged. Dracon's father looked up, thinking his wife might have been able to Identify this monstrosity. He shook his head dismissing the thought.

The 3 men moved swiftly and quietly as possible out the back towards what they hoped was the opposite direction of the demon. The area had become saturated in its faint lingering aura and it seemed to have concealed its potent aura blending in with the faint blanket. "Crap it's concealing itself, I can't get a read on it." Maury hissed as he kept his voice low. "Dracon stay between us." With Dracon's dad leading the way they beelined for the opposite side of the forest that the monstrosity had entered. When they were within 10 yards they all felt the aura spike. They were all frozen stiff. Dracon tried to speak but only managed a moan as his mouth wouldn't move. Maury and Dracon's father wouldn't be daunted so easily. Both men pushed their auras out enveloping Dracon and releasing themselves from the oppressive aura holding them paralyzed. "RUN!" Dracon heard his father yell as soon as they could move and they all instinctively fled away from the attacking aura. Maury looked over his shoulder and saw the demon moving towards them and one of its massive appendages streaming at them like a javelin. Maury deflected the incoming attack but received a notification on contact. DING* You have deflected attack Soul Spear. Soul Spear leaves lingering aura damage on auras that make direct contact.

"Pick up the pace!" Maury yelled after deflecting the attack. "This thing does direct aura damage and it's lingering" "How bad are you hit?" Dracon's dad asked concerned looking over his shoulder as they sprinted. "I'm fine, I deflected it easy enough but it still left damage. I don't want to see what kind of damage it leaves after a direct hit." Maury reflexively parried two more Soul Spear attacks. Dracon's father looked around trying to calculate a way out of this dire situation. He threw his aura out in front of him and created an earth sphere, half the dome above ground level, and a bowl in the earth. They ran in and he sealed it up. He focused his aura on reinforcing the sphere with more earth and hardening it as much as he could. "Ok we need to come up with a plan and quick," Maury said hurriedly " I don't know how long your dad can hold out" looking at Dracon. Dracon was panicked and couldn't think clearly. With all of his strengths and training he had gone through his whole life this was the first time he had ever been truly scared. Dracon's father spoke up. "I need you two to run for it... I" "NO WAY!" Maury and Dracon both interrupted. " We are getting out of this together" "No we aren't" Dracon's father's voice was solemn and heavy. "Look I might be able to keep it distracted long enough for both of you to get away. I might even be able to find a way to survive if you can get away. But I can't risk losing you. If you can get away safe trust that I will find a way to survive and find you" Dracon's father grasped Dracon's head and kissed his forehead. "Now listen to your uncle and get out of here! Make for Green Castle. The Adventurers' Guild needs to be notified of this thing."

With that Maury grabbed Dracon and bolted in the direction away from the entity though they were still in the fairly large dome. They could feel the demon's attacks rumble through the shell. Dracon's father started attacking back launching rock spikes at the demon from the outer shell. He opened an arch for his family to escape. He had manipulated the arch into a tunnel that ran straight towards Green Castle and resurfaced about 100 yards from the battle. He hoped this would be enough distance that the entity would ignore them resurfacing and keep focused on him.

Dracon struggled against Maury's grip but couldn't break free. Maury just gripped the boy tighter and kept running. Tears welled up in his eyes. "He is gonna make it. Your dad is the toughest guy I've ever met. If anyone can get out of that bind it's him." Dracon's eyes welled up too and he sprinted with Maury. They soon reached the surface. As they did they both turned expecting to at least see the battle commencing. All they saw was smoke and smoldering earth. The dome had collapsed after what looked like being thrown at the demon. But the demon was nowhere to be seen... or felt. The eerie lack of intense aura that once flooded the area was unnerving. "Where's dad?" Dracon asked quietly. Neither of them could sense his aura. His father and the demon were gone.