Chapter 31:

I tightened my grip on my sword as I watched all three Crystal Drakes that had apparently set up an ambush for us. Well, probably not for us specifically. They were each larger than a van. I doubted we were much of a meal for them.

Still, they weren’t likely to let us go just because of that, either.

Crystal Drakes were known to be incredibly aggressive. They could turn things into crystals with a beam attack from their mouths and were quite strong compared to many other spirit beasts at the same Rank. Though there wasn’t any mention in the bestiaries about them setting up ambushes, so there might have been other things that made them incredibly dangerous that I didn’t even know about.

Just great.

“Please tell me you can beat them all,” I asked Sun Yun as I resisted the urge to use my boost. I’d gotten really used to using it when I was in danger, but it would just be a waste now to try. With all my passive buffs now, 250 Qi was not nearly enough to improve my stats. Unfortunate, but at least I could use all that Qi for other Skills instead.

“It’s fine,” Sun Yun said, still sounding excited. “They're dangerous, sure, and they're all Mid Rank 1. But I can deal with them.”

“All at once?” Lin asked, her own grip tightening on her metal war club.

“Well…” Sun Yun said, hesitating. “You guys should probably work to tie one of them up. I should be able to keep two on me and not let them blindside you as I take them out. Might be a bit hard to let Li Lan get the finishing blow, though.”

“I’m good without it, thanks,” I said hurriedly, eyeing the dangerous Crystal Drakes that looked seconds away from charging. Something held them back, however. I was really hoping it was Sun Yun and that they could tell she wasn’t easy prey. Or even better, they were wary of all of us. “Let’s just take these things out before we all get turned into statues.”

“Okay,” Sun Yun said brightly. Then she rushed off. She was a lot faster than I’d seen her so far. Not as fast as her sister, but something about the way she moved seemed to make it hard to keep track of her. Before I knew it, she’d reached the other two Crystal Drakes. She slapped her palm into the side of one of them and sent it flying into the other.

The two beasts tumbled together further away from us, and then she rushed off to continue her assault.

That was all I could watch before I had to focus on the final and much closer Crystal Drake. It let out another roar, and the crystals on its back glowed brighter. Then that same glow appeared in its mouth. Shit.

The three of us split apart and dodged as a beam of purple energy blasted out. It missed us all, but where it struck the ground, the earth there transformed into that same purple crystal.

“I’ll distract it,” Jianfeng called out as he rushed the Crystal Drake. Wind started to swirl around him, and his speed picked up as he dodged an attempt to bite him in two. He tried to stab at its eye, but the drake was too fast. It pulled back just in time and nearly buried one of its claws into Jianfeng’s side. He barely managed to leap back from the strike, and then was forced to continue to dodge as the drake bit and clawed relentlessly.

Lin reacted faster than me and rushed to help. I followed behind after a moment, watching as blue light exploded from her body. She kicked off the ground hard and burst forward with her warclub at the ready. It looked like she was going to smash the drake in its side, hopefully giving Jianfeng some space.

But before she reached it, the drake’s crystal-clad tail lashed out like a viper. She only barely managed to put her club in the way in time as the tail smashed into her. It sent her flying for a yard before she flipped and got her feet under her. Then she landed and skidded to a halt.

I grimaced at the speed of that attack but didn’t slow my approach. Letting the drake focus all of its attention on Jianfeng for any longer than necessary was not a good idea. So I rushed in, wary of its tail even as Lin charged again from the side.

The tail lashed out again. It looked like it was trying to sweep us both. But Lin was ready for it this time and met it with her war club. The spiked crystal-clad tail met the metal of her weapon, clanging loudly and sending her skidding back. But it also sent the tail off course, giving me the opening to strike.

I launched forward with Burst Step, silver light coating my blade. As I passed the drake, I swung my sword as fast as I could. The blade bit deep into flesh, scoring a good hit, and I grinned.

Then the drake freaked the hell out.

It spun even faster than before, like a rabid cat that just got its tail stepped on. My vision was filled with the sight of purple crystal as its tail whipped toward me. I only had time to bring my arms up to block before it smashed into me and sent me flying.

All the while, I could hear the drake freaking out, roaring and smashing everything around it.

My arms screamed in pain, and I almost dropped my sword. But I was a lot tougher than in the past. A lot stronger too. So I kept my grip and spun in the air to land on my feet. It was surprisingly easy, and I skidded to a halt with a grimace.

I looked back towards the—holy shit!

I dove to the side as a beam of purple light rushed towards me. I managed to get out of the way just in time. I fell to the ground again but rolled to my feet in a rush. As I did, I frantically looked for the drake and any more danger.

Thankfully, no more beams of light met me, but now the drake was further away. Where it had been was completely covered in crystal, and Lin and Jianfeng were only now reaching it again.

Its freak-out must have given it the chance to make room.

I rubbed my right arm with my free hand for a second as I looked over my arms. They were red and there were cuts. But… Well, it honestly wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Not with how fast and how sharp that tail was.

Guess I still wasn’t all that clear on my own durability. Though, I probably could have prevented any injury at all if I’d remembered to use Armored Shell. But it was a new Skill, and in the heat of the moment, I hadn't thought of it.

I would do better next time. Hopefully.

Certain that my wounds weren’t bad, I rushed towards the drake again as Lin and Jianfeng continued to harass it. It seemed able to hold the two of them off but was slowly losing ground. If I joined in, I could probably get another hit in. Or allow them to do the same. But then it would freak out again, and I wasn’t too keen on seeing if I could bring up Armored Shell fast enough this time.

Perhaps I could damage it from range instead?

The idea came to me as I crossed over the now crystalized ground. I’d come hunting the Gem Shelled Tortoise because I thought my Earth Skills would work with crystal after all. And that crystal would make my Earth abilities hit a lot harder than more fragile rock.

Why not give it a try?

I stopped for a second and used Earth Constructs. I grinned when it worked, and a spear of pure crystal formed up from the ground. I still couldn’t really launch my Earth Constructs as fast as Rock Spear had shot spears, but I did have another way of launching them. One that was probably even better now with my Ursine Strength.

When the spear finished forming, I gripped it tightly, and I rushed forward to close the distance. I wasn’t an expert at spear-throwing or anything, so I wanted to get as close as I could without getting into freak-out range.

“Watch out!” I called when I was close enough, and I threw the spear with all my might. Which was quite a lot with my Ursine Strength. “It might freak out again!”

I aimed for its side. Even with my boosted Dex, this was my first time throwing a spear by hand—something I probably should have practiced since I still sucked at launching constructs with my Skill. I didn’t want to aim for the head and just miss.

Though perhaps that caution was unwarranted as my spear flew through and hit it right in the side. And unlike my shitty Earth spears, which would have probably just shattered, it plunged through its scales and into its flesh beneath.

Like I thought, it freaked out again from the wound. But Lin and Jianfeng were already moving away, getting out of range of the whirlwind of claws, fangs, and spiked tail.

The drake kept at this for a moment before it slowed, and the crystals on its back glowed again. Then it started blasting with its crystallization beam. It started around itself before it realized that we’d already backed off. Then it started firing at us.

First at Jianfeng, then Lin, then me. But after I dodged, the drake seemed to continue to focus on me. Almost like it was—

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I moved before I could think about it too much. Activating Earth Wader, I dove into the ground, maximizing my Qi input to make the ground as liquid as possible.

The drake lunged at me in a rush, covering the distance between us in barely any time at all, its maw wide opened to bite me in half. But I was fully into the ground before it reached me and swimming further down. I did not want to know what might happen if it turned the earth around me into crystal while I was in it.

I stayed only close enough to the surface to keep track of the drake with my Earth Sense. When it disappeared, probably to attack Lin or Jianfeng, I swam to the side and then moved to exit the ground a bit away from where I’d gone in. Just in case.

As I did this, I tried to think of a better plan than keeping up the tactic we’ve used so far and hoping it tired itself out. It might work, but the longer this fight lasted, the more dangerous things became. Perhaps Sun Yun would finish off her two soon and come help, but I didn’t want to chance that.

Thankfully, I did manage to think of something before I reached the surface.

I leaped out of the ground, head on a swivel in case the drake was too close by. But thankfully, Jianfeng and Lin had its attention again, both lashing out with their sword and war club.

I grinned at the sight as I rushed over to the largest patch of crystal I could find. Using Earth Constructs again, I made several things. One was a large structure that would be behind me, as big as I could make it without being obvious and with extra Qi channeled into it to make it more durable. The others were just more spears, each one imbued with extra Qi as well.

Crystal seemed to much more easily absorb my Qi when creating constructs. I wasn’t quite sure if that was a good or bad thing, but I hoped it meant that it was making everything extra tough faster. And it wasn’t like I didn’t have the Qi to spare now that boosting would be a waste.

“Hey! Lure it over here!” I shouted when I was done. Hopefully, despite being smart enough to set up an ambush, this drake would still fall for my trap when it was blinded by rage.

“We’ll try!” Jianfeng called out. Then after another moment, the two of them started leading the battle towards me. I sheathed my sword and hefted one of my crystal spears as they neared.

“Incoming!” I shouted and threw the spear with everything I had. Then I grabbed another spear and did the same. And then again. And again. All as fast as I could.

The first spear hit as I threw the last one.

It skimmed the side of the drake's shoulder, not even making it flinch. Then the next one sank into that same shoulder, earning a roar. Another almost got its eye, but skidded off its eye ridge, and a final one got it into the meat of its forelimb.

As expected, the drake freak the fuck out. It became a whirlwind of destruction again for a moment. When it stopped, it started blasting beams of purple. But only once. I’d been expecting to have to dodge more, but after I leaped out of the way the purple of its crystals finally seemed to dim.

I rushed back over to where I’d been standing as the drake’s ranged option was gone. And then it did exactly what I wanted it to do. It rushed me.

Maw opened wide, it clearly wanted to tear me to pieces. I watch it come, not trying to see if I could dive into the crystal with Earth Wader. Instead, I just leaped to the side when I thought it was close enough.

I might have left it a bit too close as I felt something tug at my leather boots at the last moment. But there was no pain, so I ignored it as I rolled on the ground and forced myself up on my feet. Behind me, there was the sound of tearing flesh, a thump, and an ear-piercing roar of pain.

When I spun to see what happened, I was met by a great but gruesome sight. The drake must have tried to turn at the last moment, probably to bite my foot off. But it failed and ended up ramming into the constructs of crystal spikes I made side first.

Its own weight and momentum did the rest, embedding my spikes deep into its side. It struggled for another moment, but I wasn’t going to miss my chance to end this. I unsheathed my sword and activated Metallic Razor Slash. Then I rushed to decapitate it.

It took three strikes to cut all the way through its thick neck. But I managed it in the end, and its head thumped heavily onto the ground.

I grinned at the gruesome sight before Lin’s constant reminders rang in my mind. I quickly looked around for any other danger. There didn’t seem to be any but—oh shit.

My caution turned out to be warranted. Another crystal drake leaped out from the cracks on the far side of the isolated plateau we were fighting on. It landed with a thump. Then it reared up its head and roared. It was a loud piercing roar, louder than any of the drakes we’d heard until now.

I eyed it warily, tightening my grip on my sword. But then more roars rang out as if in reply. At first, there was one. And then another. And another. And another.

Holy fuck, how many of them were there?

“Okay, we need to go,” Sun Yun suddenly said, having rushed over at some point. Her two Crystal Drakes were defeated as well and Lin and Jianfeng moved to meet us. Sun Yun reached out for the decapitated and impaled Crystal Drake. “Things are getting out of hand.”

Using the absurd vacuum function of her spatial pouch, she fit the massive corpse inside in just a second. Then she tapped her pouch again, and a small lotus blossom popped out. It flew to the ground between us and opened up as it grew large enough to fit us all, lifting up off the ground.

The world suddenly shifted. The acceleration was intense and pushed me down against the flying lotus blossom. I thought I might be crushed for a second, but the acceleration ended almost as soon as it began.

I took a second to steady myself, then looked up when Sun Yun gasped. Jianfeng and Lin were also gaping, looking over the side of the blossom. I moved to do the same, and my eyes might have bugged out of my sockets as I saw what they must have.

Down far below—holy shit we got so high up so fast—the isolated bit of land we’d been fighting on was crawling with crystal drakes. There were a least a dozen now, all looking the same size as the ones we fought. One was even larger and there seemed to be even more crawling out of—holy shit.

A massive beam of purple shot up into the sky from below.

Our lotus ride dodged to the side, narrowly missing the beam that was several times larger than any the drake we’d fought before had unleashed. I gripped onto the lotus tightly, but thankfully wasn’t thrown off by the sudden move.

“We have to leave!” Lin shouted.

“I know!” Sun Yun shouted back, and we accelerated again. This time to the side. Again, I was worried about being thrown off. But something seemed to be helping keep me in place. The acceleration also wasn’t as strong as before.

One more beam of light shot towards us before we escaped. But it went wide enough that I was pretty sure Sun Yun hadn’t needed to shift us to the side. Then the wasteland was left behind as we reached the massive trees of the forest again.

We were high enough that we were well above even the tallest of the trees. That let us move fast in a straight line, hopefully well out of range and interests of those drakes. I started to relax as it seemed we were finally safe. But then the blossom started to descend suddenly.

We didn’t fall or anything, but the abrupt maneuver put me on edge as the flying lotus neared the tree line.

“Why are we descending?” I asked.

“I don’t want to tax my new treasure,” Sun Yun said, a look of focus on her face as she somehow directed the flying lotus. “Or use up any spirit stones powering it. Something that can let a Qi-Gatherer fly isn’t cheap to repair or to power.”

“Oh,” I said, leaning over the side of the lotus blossom again as we passed into the trees. I suppose that did make sense. And we were really far away from the drakes now. The lotus had flown very fast, covering what might have been an hour's run in a lot less time. Still… “But can we use it if they somehow catch us?”

“Yes,” Sun Yun said as we neared the forest floor. “But hopefully we won’t have to. Or I’ll never hear the end of it from Big Sis.”

“I think you’ve already given her enough reason to chastise you,” Lin said, looking remarkably relaxed sitting on the lotus despite what we’d just been through. “You still snuck out of the compound after all.”

“Ah, but that’s where you're wrong,” Sun Yun said brightly. “I did sneak out. But! If I didn’t sneak out, you guys would have probably died looking for that turtle. Easily escaping so many crystal drakes without my lotus wouldn’t have been likely.”

I cringed at that, and neither Jianfeng nor Lin looked all that happy about the reminder. If Sun Yun hadn’t been here, and we just ran into that ambush by ourselves… It wouldn’t have been pretty.

“I still don’t get what happened,” I said as we landed and Sun Yun put away her lotus. “The bestiaries didn’t say anything about Crystal Drakes setting up ambushes. And we shouldn’t have even been close enough to the actual Crystal Cliffs to run into one of them, let alone a whole colony or whatever.”

“That was quite strange,” Sun Yun said with a nod. Despite the somber topic, she didn’t sound all that worried. Though I suppose with that new treasure of hers, we weren’t in too much danger.

“It might have something to do with what’s happening in the west,” Jianfeng said as he carefully scanned our surroundings. “The spirit beasts are acting up in the western parts of the Great Southern Forest. Perhaps this is a sign that the issue has come to the East as well.”

“Then we’ll have to avoid the Great Southern Forest for now,” Lin said with a frown and started heading north. “We should make our way out of here quickly.”

We all agreed with that and started to follow her. It was a shame to leave too soon, as there were still other targets I wanted to hunt. But if Jianfeng was right, then staying and trying to find those would only invite more disaster for us.

“How long do you think we’ll have to avoid this place,” I asked as we walked.

“The troubles in the West have been going on for more than a month now,” Lin said. “So at least that long, if not longer. You should give up on the idea of hunting here for now. Not unless Young Miss Sun Xia decides to escort us directly. Otherwise, it would be too dangerous. We could join other larger groups to lessen the danger, but that would cause other problems.”

Lin turned to eye me meaningfully at that last part.

“It won’t be an issue if I come along,” Sun Yun said cheerfully as she walked next to Jianfeng. “My spatial bag will make storing the beast carcasses for later a lot easier.”

I nodded at that. She wasn’t wrong. Though, whether or not Sun Xia would allow something like that after we got back was another question. Something Lin was eager to point out to Sun Yun.

The two girls playfully argued that point as we continued to make our way through the forest. So far there were no signs that the Crystal Drakes were chasing us. There were also no signs of any other spirit beasts either.

Well, except for the fox watching me.

Wait, what? I stopped and turned to look at the small fox watching me from the underbrush. It looked small and unthreatening, but my less-than-stellar experiences with its kind so far made me dislike it immediately.

I moved for my sword and—

Wait, what was I doing? It was just a cute little fox. Oh, and behind it was a gorgeous woman. She had… fuck those were big. And she looked like a weebs wet dream, with fox ears sticking out of her head and a big fluffy foxtail swaying gently behind her. I still didn’t like foxes all that much, but maybe she wasn’t so bad.

I started walking towards her, something feeling off about the whole situation, but I couldn’t quite place what. Oh well, it was probably fine.