Everyone in the party concealed themselves. Blocker items were placed, artifacts were activated, making every member of the group absolutely invisible, even to the eyes of a high-leveled mage. Knowing that his own illusion spells wouldn’t fool a dragon, Dallion summoned Gleam, who was more than eager to join in.

“No fighting,” Dallion whispered within his awakening realm. Not until we get a sense of what’s going on.

“Just promise not to forget.” The shardfly wrapped him in her wings, transforming them both into a copy of void smoke. Her attitude had drastically changed since his victory over Giaccia. Despite being his companion for a significant portion of time, she remained a creature of the wilderness and as such had a built-in reaction to strength.

The purple glow ahead intensified. It was as if someone with a lantern was making his way slowly through the opening in the mist. The seconds dragged on. In his mind, Dallion went through possible approaches. So far, he’d faced two dragons and barely defeated the shadow of one. Currently, his level was greater than both, but that was no guarantee.

Finally, the creature emerged.

A dragonlet? Dallion wondered.

Concentrating, he focused on the magic threads of the being, looking for any signs of illusions. There didn’t seem to be any. The dragon was indeed a pup. Barely larger than a horse, it moved about with its floppy orange wings, curious at the opening that had formed within the void mist.

Taking a few steps to the side, Dallion looked further along the hole behind the dragon. Other than the usual shifting terrain, there didn’t seem to be anything important.

Time had come for the first decision of the mission: whether to attack the creature or leave it be. Alternatively, Dallion could take off his blocker ring and—

A sphere appeared out of nowhere, hitting the dragonlet in the head. The moment it did, the creature stopped moving, as if taken out of time.

“It’s fine.” A noble hunter re-emerged. Other members of the group followed.

“Lose the illusion,” Dallion whispered to Gleam. “But remain as you were.” He didn’t like the current turn of events. The hunter in him agreed with the decision to take out the dragonlet quickly and efficiently before it could attract attention. The empath side, though, considered the approach reckless and unnecessary.

“Looks young,” the Count approached. “Probably a decade real time at most. No doubt we’re dealing with a pack.”

“It couldn’t have made it here alone.” Astra remained on guard. “There must be others.”

“Maybe, maybe not. The big ones must have surrounded their stomping grounds with void to keep everything out. The bigger ones don’t need to keep track.”

It was a valid explanation, but Dallion still felt on edge.

“It’s orange,” he said. “Might mean it belongs to Dararr.”

“A reaction dragon,” Abla mused. “That might make things tricky.”

“Prison items still work,” the hunter who used the sphere said. “As long as we—”

COMBAT INITIATED

A new hole burst into the void mist barrier, only this time the force that made it came from the other side. A fifty-foot dragon emerged, dashing towards the hunter near the dragonlet.

Any lesser awakened would have been caught by now, but thankfully the man’s speed allowed him to burst into instances just in time to avoid a fatal blow.

Line attacks split the air, all aimed at the creature. This was the first time that Dallion witnessed how a party of top-level awakened fought. It could by no means be called collaborative, and yet thanks to their high traits, it also was. Every member did their own thing with no regard for anyone else, fully aware that they had the skills to avoid any large-scale attacks.

Using her guard skills, Astra avoided the attacks of her allies, while also completing a full guard sequence. Dallion witnessed her speed double, then triple as time slowed down for her. Meanwhile, Abla performed a multi point attack, using her as a cover.

Astra’s speed increased more and more, as she avoided each of the blows. The dragon, though, wasn’t able to. Brute force hit its body, pushing it back.

Time for support. Dallion summoned his harpsisword and played a chord. Tors, interestingly enough, did the same. His weapon was clearly inferior, though still befitting a member of House Elazni. Waves of music strands stuck to the massive creature. The dragon had no issue ripping them apart, slowing down just a fraction as it did. That time provided an opening for the other members of the group to continue with their attacks.

Two spheres flew towards the being’s body. All that was needed was one hit for it to freeze like the dragonlet. By all accounts, this was where the fight should have ended. No matter a creature’s abilities, once it was trapped in a prison item, it was impossible to escape. Only, it didn’t.

Both spheres hit the dragon on the side. However, it didn’t stop. Dallion saw several orange scales fall off, each wrapped in a thin layer of aether.

Oh, crap! “It’s covered in aether!” he shouted. “Standard attacks have no effect!”

He played another chord, combining his music skill with spark. More scales shed off the dragon, by no means deterring it. With a roar, the creature flapped its wings, sending a wall of wind at half of the party.

Not in the least intimidated, Abla sliced through the attack with his sword, following up with a spark infused line attack. One of the hunters wasn’t as strong, allowing himself to be pushed a few dozen feet back before retaining their ground.

Dallion grabbed the hilt of the harpsisword with his right hand, while summoning his aura sword with his left.

The dragon took advantage of the momentary lull in attacks, dashing in to chomp the Count in two with its massive jaws. Before it could reach its target, Astra appeared, landing a heavy blow on the top of its head. Sound as loud as thunder ripped through the air. The dragon toppled, its head slamming into the ground.

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SHOCK EFFECT

REFLEX DRAGON’s movement has been reduced by 10% for two minutes.

Attack effectiveness reduced by 50% for two minutes.

Combining music with magic and attack skills, Dallion waved his aura sword, covering the beast with weight symbols.

“It’s down,” he said. “Not sure how long it will hold.”

All three hunters in the party rushed forward, eager to take advantage. Dallion could almost see the targeting markers appear on the dragon’s weak spots.

The Count was first to attack, thrusting his sword into the dragon’s eye. The target proved hard as diamond, causing the blade to bounce off with nearly no effect. A second of the hunters went for the side, going for the spots which had lost their scales. He was slightly more successful, though the blade didn’t sink in more than a few inches.

The last of the trio went for the back of the neck. One could assume that he was aiming to use brute strength to try and cause damage to the creature’s spine. Before he could do so, the monster’s tail twisted like a whip, striking him in the chest.

MAJOR WOUND

PHILL GOTTA’s health has been reduced by 50%

No one said a word as the man was violently thrown back. Instead, everyone doubled their efforts.

Astra joined in again, continuing with a series of point attacks, aimed at what could be seen of the dragon’s underbelly.

“Count!” Dallion shouted as he drew several softness symbols on the dragon’s eyes. “Try again!”

The old man didn’t need reminding as he spun in place and once again struck the creature’s left eye. This time the blade pierced through, sinking all the way to the hilt.

FATAL STRIKE

Damage dealt is increased by 500%

A massive roar filled the air. For a split second, the white rectangle flashed over the creature, disappearing before Dallion could get a good look. What he did manage to get a glimpse of was that the dragon’s health was down to roughly a fifth. The attacks seemed to work, despite appearances of the opposite.

“It’s at eighteen percent,” Abla shouted. “Finish it off!” He leaped forward, slamming the side of the dragon’s left wing with a spark attack. Scales fell off like autumn leaves. The dragon struggled to break loose, yet Tors and Dallion were managing to keep it on the ground.

Blades slammed against dragon scales and they seemed to be winning, when suddenly a new force broke through the void mist again.

A second dragon, just as big as this, charged forward without mercy. Everyone close to the fallen dragon burst into instances, leaping away as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, in one case, it wasn’t enough.

FATAL WOUND

YENS XANIAN’s health has been reduced by 75%

ARM SEVERED

YENS XANIAN will no longer be able to make use of his right arm

Red rectangles appeared as the new dragon chomped off the man’s arm all the way to the shoulder. It was pure luck that the rest of him managed to escape any subsequent strikes. If this were the real world, he’d be already dead. Here, he remained just as active as before. Of course, one more hit was enough to seal his awakened powers.

“Get out!” Abla shouted, throwing his sword at the fallen dragon. “You’re no use here.”

The hunter vanished in a flash of green light, leaving six behind.

MODERATE HIT

Damage dealt is increased by 200%

Another rectangle appeared as Abla’s blade sunk into the wounded dragon’s eye. The strike was impressive, though not enough to kill off the creature. That was when the blade changed form. Doubling in size, it cracked the dragon’s skull, moving further in. Several more red rectangles emerged, after which they quickly disappeared in a cloud of red particles, along with the dragon’s entire body.

“That’s one,” Dallion said, redirecting his magic attack on the new dragon.

Behind him, a dozen more balls of purple light were glowing through the mist, like fireflies in the night.

“There’s more of them,” Dallion shouted.

Fortunately, when the first few fully emerged, it turned out that they were no larger than a horse.

“They’re just dragonlets,” he added. “Freeze them!”

Having them locked in prison realms would no doubt be uncomfortable, but it was better than killing them. Right now, it was better than fighting them. While they could hardly present a challenge, the dragon species’ scales had proven they could withstand several direct strikes.

“Focus on the big one!” Tors yelled, as he kept on playing chord after chord. While not as naturally talented as Dallion, his music skills were adequate for support. The issue was that the new dragon had already gotten an idea of the group’s capabilities. Like everything else in the awakened world, defeating it wouldn’t be so easy.

“Gleam, get me to see his info rectangle,” Dallion ordered.

The shardfly stretched her wings, fluttering up into the sky. Dust from her wings filled the air, covering everything in sight. Initially, there was no change. After a few moments, however, white rectangles emerged.

ADOLESCENT DRAGON

Species: REFLEX DRAGON

Class: MAGIC

Health: 98%

Traits:

- BODY 75

- MIND 60

- REACTION 100

- PERCEPTION 60

- MAGIC 40

Skills:

- ATTACK

- GUARD

- ATHLETICS

- Scale shield (Species Unique)

- Aether shield (Species Unique)

-Weakness: EYES

That was it? The dragon they were fighting wasn’t even a full dragon. Not only that, but it had barely five skills. Even Dark was more capable. Although, the species unique skills were a rather annoying combination that ensured protection against all types of attacks, even spark.

“Are you sure that’s all?” Dallion asked.

“That’s as good as it’ll get,” Gleam replied, only for him to hear. “If anything more’s hidden, I can’t reveal it.”

There was a possibility that the creature had several more skills hidden behind some sort of natural illusion. If it didn’t, though, that presented a problem. So far, the elite group had already lost one member, and another had lost half his health. If they were having trouble against this one, what would the battle against the great dragon be like?