Ray stood ready. The plan was about to unfold. His heart thudded in his chest. Things could go wrong so easily, but he kept his head focused on one objective only.
Getting more information about what was going on.
Dory’s summons flitted by. The bird chirped, arrowing straight for the nearest Sylvan who was still distant enough to not have sensed Ray. It didn’t take long before the warnings appeared.
[Warning!]
Presence of the Primordial indicates your presence has been detected by Total Perception [Tier 2]. Presence of the Primordial has nullified the enemy aura, Sylvan Pride [Tier 2].
If that nullification had made the Sylvan hesitate, the alien showed no evidence of it. Soon enough, Ray could take a peek at what the Sylvan was actually capable of using Presence of the Primordial.
[Presence of the Primordial]
Kaylithya Kel Twelve-spire [Denizen]
Race: Sylvan
Path: Path of the Wind Walker [Rare]
Class: Acrobat Assaulter [Uncommon] [Tier 3] at Level 16
Skills:
Wind Whip [Tier 3]: Craft a whip of compressed air that can slice foes from a distance. At Tier 3, the whips can reach a maximum of 20 meters. Can only be used with a curved sword.
Pressure Block [Tier 4]: Pressurize air to create a defensive barrier that can block all attacks up to Tier 4. Can only be used with a bracer.
Sylvan Pride [Tier 2]: Aura of astral projection that automatically refills Mana. This Aura manifests in the element of the wielder’s Path, at a radius of 10 meters at Tier 2. Your extended presence will note the aura of other beings in your aura’s vicinity.
Total Perception [Tier 2]: Claim absolute detection of any living being within the spell’s vicinity. At Tier 2, the spell’s vicinity extends to 15 meters.
Storm Dance [Tier 2]: Unleash a flurry of wind scythes to overwhelm your opponents and leave them at your mercy. Each scything blast of wind has the chance to apply Stun. Tier of Stun is equivalent to the Tier of the skill. Can only be used with a curved sword.
Art of the Wind Walker [Tier 1]: Adopt the posture and flightiness of wind to raise your evasion. Your Agility is enhanced greatly.
Turbulence Cloak [Tier 1]: Vastly reduces physical damage received by layering a blanket of turbulence over the body. At Tier 1, this blanket is 2 centimetres thick.
Okay, wow. That was an interesting list of abilities for sure. The Sylvan even had a Path, unlike any of Ray’s companions. He wondered if all Sylvans had them. That couldn’t be right, though they were clearly a race who were familiar with the System far more than humans who were newbies to it. Maybe it was even genetic for them. Who knew.
That might explain the higher Tier of class as well. They could have methods of gaining something like that—and other System stuff—that humans like Ray didn’t know about.
Although, an opponent who was four levels stronger than him… Ray held back his nervous grin. The prospect of a challenging battle was both slightly scary and shiveringly exciting at the same time.
That blocking skill was at Tier 4. So much for his Thoroughness bonus of piercing enemy defences a Tier above his spell.
He could start using the Mana Infuser ring to boost his Shatterclaw. But that was going to eat up his Mana reserve too quickly if he had to use it a lot.
The Sylvan approaching Ray reminded him of Kredevel only in the gangly build, the presence of horns, and the shiny uniform.
Where Kredevel’s had been bright purple, this one’s was dark. Almost black. Her face, thin as all Sylvan’s, was grey-green instead of milky pale. Her eyes were dark completely, the pupils separated from the “whites” by a burning golden ring.
Honestly, if she didn’t look like she wanted to rip out his guts with her bare hand, he would have said she looked pretty cool.
“Oh, so we missed one,” Kaylithya said. Her voice has a singsong quality to it, melodic enough that Ray would have found it pleasant to listen to in any other situation. “Surrender, little human, and I will make sure to bring you in painlessly.”
There was one bit of information to tuck away. Whatever the Sylvans were doing, they weren’t so ruthless or inconsiderate as to start attacking him on sight. Or perhaps, this one was just intrigued to see who or what had nullified her aura.
“I don’t think so,” Ray said. He was hoping they didn’t have any sort of communication devices. If she called for backup, things would turn a lot hairier. Hopefully, his little insult should offend her pride just enough. “You need me to come quietly? Why? Is it because you can’t take on a little human?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, puny human. I was simply being kind. But I suppose kindness is lost upon monsters like you. Your kind are all the same. You hardly deserve to be brought in quietly. I am merely adhering to decorum, not that you would understand.”
Ray frowned. Had the captured group done something to personally offend the Sylvans? What could that have been? “You sound extremely biased against my entire race for some reason. Surely you possess enough reason to understand that painting everyone in the same broad brush is stupid, right? There are exceptions to everything.”
Kaylithya frowned. “Hounds bite. Moles burrow. Duskshells sprout. Those are truths aligned to an entire species for good reason. In the much the same way, humans murder.”
Ah. So a Sylvan had likely been murdered. More likely, some sort of conflict had erupted between the group of humans and Sylvans, which had led to the former’s capture.
“I am done bandying words with a lowlife such as yourself.” The Sylvan drew her sword. Curved, just as her skills needed it to be, just as Kredevel’s had been, tapering to a point. “I will give you one last chance to surrender, human. Otherwise, you will pay with your life.”
Ray spread his hands non-threateningly. “How about we make a deal?”
He was trying to think of some way he could gain more information from the Sylvan. They hadn’t found out enough. Since he couldn’t come up with some clever plan off the top of his head, he resorted to best method of improvisation—keep them talking.
“I applaud your audacity in thinking I would ever make a deal with an animal such as yourself,” Kaylithya said.
Tension made his shoulders itch. He wasn’t at all certain he could take her on in a fight. She had four levels and a better class on him. All her skills were at a higher Tier than most of his too. She also had to have some sort of bonuses and benefits from her equipment, much like the ones Ray enjoyed from his gear.
Basically, he was outmatched on paper. But still. The prospect of a fight was making his heart pump harder and harder. Not with fear.
With eagerness.
Ray realized he wanted to match himself against this Sylvan. The Brighthorns ranging all over the First Floor weren’t a challenge for him, and that underground monster might have been too powerful.
But this opponent could be just right.
It shook him a little, deep within, to realize that he was looking forward to the battle. What the hell was happening to him? It wasn’t unnatural. He had gotten into fights before, had been fired from a job for it too. Ray wasn’t a fighter. Not literally. But sometimes, when a challenge was begging him for attention, he couldn’t suppress his confrontational side.
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Not now. He had to focus on finding out more about what was going on, damn it.
“Well, you can at least hear me out,” Ray said. “I’m sure that’s part of your decorum, isn’t it?”
She scowled. Ray almost wanted to laugh. Bull’s eye.
“My proposition is this,” Ray said. “You let me go. In return, I’ll hand over the people I’ve been accompanying. They’re waiting at the back.” Ray flicked a glance behind him, near the little clump of dark, sinuous trees. “I told them we’d get into a fight, and then they could spring a surprise in the middle of it to take you unawares. But now you know, so…”
Kaylithya’s eyes flashed. Suspicion was strong there, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It wasn’t as strong as her distaste. “You truly believe I would need your help to take down you and any other mongrels with you?”
“Seriously?” Ray’s annoyance wasn’t completely feigned. “I’m trying to be helpful here. Whatever everyone else might have done, I don’t deserve to be pulled around like a dog on a leash. You have a ton of those already.”
That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say. The Sylvan’s eyes flashed with renewed anger, her nostrils flaring like Ray had just called her grandmother a hamster.
“No, you don’t deserve to be leashed. You deserve to die.” She pointed the tip of her curved sword at his chest. “Last chance, mortal. Come quietly, and I will ensure you’re the last to be fed to a Brighthorn.”
It was really, really hard not to act shocked just then. So that’s where all the humans were being led to. Brighthorn feeding ground.
And the humans were the main course.
“Well, I think I’ve learned enough for now,” Ray said, squaring his shoulder and preparing for what was to come.
The Sylvan recognized his fighting stance. A small smile danced on her lips. Oh, it looked like she was feeling much the same as Ray himself. They both wanted a good fight.
Kaylithya launched herself as fast as her class and Path suggested. Her sword slashed in so quickly, its form blurred too hard for Ray to make it out.
But time had frozen for a few seconds, thanks to the Ring of Temporal Evasion. He had a tiny window to figure out how he’d be going about. Goliath Eater would have been great here, but was it going to work? 1.5 times his current level 11 was 16.5, not the Sylvan’s exact 16.
Did the fucking System round up or down?
Up. As time unfroze, Ray tried activating the skill to no avail. He would not have access to Goliath Eater. Well, now this fight was going to be extra interesting.
Thankfully, Ray was ready with all the other counters for the Sylvan’s abilities he had in his own arsenal.
He summoned up Soaring Wings using Primal Summons as Kaylithya rushed him. Dark energy wreathed his back, the wings erupting into being an instant later, flapping backwards hard to shoot him forward.
Ray was fast enough to dodge the sword swing, but not quick enough to evade everything.
Even as he edged out of being cut in half, he felt the aura around the Sylvan thickening. A cocoon of ripping, twisting air exploded outwards. One that tore at his raiment and left cuts on his exposed face.
It might have shaved off some of his beard too if he hadn’t used Mottling Membrane just then. The sudden barrier staved off some of the Sylvan’s aura from hurting him, though the effect of the sharp, pressurized air still scratched him like an angry cat really didn’t like the cut of his jib.
More importantly, his growing barrier of chaotic energy had forced the Sylvan to leap back.
Ray didn’t waste a second. He used Occultic Apparition. The reddish black energy coating his back now overtook the rest of him.
“Interesting,” Kaylithya said. “This is going to be more fun than I thought.”
“I was going to say the same—”
Rudely, she didn’t let him finish. Kaylithya attacked again.
Ray got off a blast of Chaos Chymify but that was easily stopped by Pressure Block from a silver bracer on the Sylvan’s hand. The skill made the air compress into a translucent shield. He’d have to note its use.
The Sylvan’s slash wasn’t difficult to dodge, not when Ray had the Shaper Raiment and Occultic Apparition on. Even when she used Wind Whip to lash out at him Ray managed to evade without difficulty. She couldn’t target him properly so long as he kept moving. His newest spell was doing great at making it hard to perceive Ray’s form.
Problem was, Ray couldn’t land a blow either. He experimented with Shatterclaw a couple of times. The first time, she blocked it with no trouble.
Then the second time, she just dodged into his attack, seeking to land a stab with her curved sword.
Some quick thinking had taken Ray into the air with his wings. He couldn’t keep it up continuously. Kaylithya almost looked like she was testing how long he could keep the wings on his back.
She was waiting to run down his spell. Waiting for an opportunity when he was more vulnerable.
The spell might not have a cooldown, luckily, but just activating it meant he wouldn’t be able to use any other spells in the second he was using Primal Summons.
Ray could use the other Talisman in his off hand, but he was saving it. One thing he had settled on before this whole operation had begun was that the biggest thing on Ray’s side wasn’t his spells or his equipment or anything else he possessed tangibly. At least, not directly.
The biggest thing he had going for him was surprise.
Ray had to make that count.
He flashed around Kaylithya’s back, hoping to get the flanking bonus. Ray unleashed another Shatterclaw. She blocked it with Pressure Shield again, but there was the tiniest stutter in the way she had brought up her arm to do so. A weird hesitation, like lag in a video.
[Warning!]
Insanity proc has bypassed Sylvan Pride [Tier 2] but the effects are reduced by Silver Clementine Armour.
Well, Ray hadn’t really counted on the Insanity proccing quickly. It would have been too good to be true. But it served as a good reminder that, like him, his enemies could possess powerful gear.
At least he was certain that Occultic Apparition was speeding up the affliction proc.
Ray grinned. He just had to wear her down.
And then the Sylvan started moving. Ray had known she was fast and agile. He had seen it already. But everything he had witnessed so far had merely been the appetizer.
Now, Ray was hit with the full course of her actual speed. Art of the Wind Walker apparently allowed her to zip through the air like a bullet fired from the gun.
Even worse, it allowed her to take to the air.
As her motion had gone on hyperdrive, easily matching Ray’s movement, he had tried to create some distance between them. He had even succeeded, throwing himself back as soon as soon as his wings were out of commission. There was just enough time to call upon Primal Summons again, to recreate the wide, feathered appendages from his back to rise high.
Except, Art of the Wind Walker let Kaylithya follow upwards. She was walking on thin air. He wasn’t the only one with surprises, it turned out.
That little exchange led to Ray suffering his first blow. A kick to his surprised chest that sent him crashing to the ground. He got over the stunned sensation in record time thanks to the wings reducing the impact. Ray rolled around in a flash, arms arcing to call in a Shatterclaw just in case the Sylvan had gotten in close to strike him again.
She blocked it again. That Pressure Block skill was so annoying.
“You fight like an animal too,” Kaylithya said. She looked like she wanted to spit on him. “I should cull you like the beast you are.”
Ray didn’t bother replying. He didn’t have the chance to, anyway. Even as the Sylvan spoke, she was rushing at him to make her words a reality.
Just before the Sylvan reached him. Ray levered himself straight up using his wings. Those summoned appendages were powerful. After all, if they could carry him around the air with such ease, lifting him shouldn’t have been that difficult. Which proved true when Ray rose so fast that Kaylithya swooped through the spot he had been a breath ago.
She whirled around, shooting out her Wind Whip from the tip of her curved sword, but it simply clanged off the shield on his back. Backstab negation was lowkey amazing.
Ray took the briefest look at his Mana. Ah, shit. He had already used up over a half. He was going to have to be more economical.
But if Ray had used up that much Mana, how much had his opponent burned through? Did she even have as much total Mana as him? He couldn’t tell whether her class prioritized Spirit as a primary stat.
Better to guess yes and act accordingly. That way, he would only be pleasantly surprised.
He continued the previous method. This time, to conserve Mana, Ray only used Chaos Chymify to attack. It wasn’t like Shatterclaw was leaving a dent on the Sylvan. All he was aiming for was to proc Insanity properly, and if he kept up the aggression, then he would—
She tanked one Chaos Chymify. They had fallen into a pattern where Kaylithya knocked off his spells with her Pressure Block before counter attacking, forcing Ray to dodge but giving him the opportunity to flank her and attack again. But then, she broke the pattern by not blocking Chaos Chymify at all, letting it hit her square in the chest.
Where it did next to no damage.
Ray hissed as she attacked directly, throwing himself back with the help of his wings. His opponent missed her swing, but the whip of wind blasting out hit him square in the chest.
Once more, Ray was flung back, crashing hard on the ground. His shiny new robe had taken the brunt of that blow, but a band of rising pain was clasping his chest. He was hurt. Probably a broken rib or two. It was actually difficult to breathe.
Ignoring his instinct to panic, Ray pushed some of his Recovery to the wound. Holy crap, fixing up the damage the Sylvan had dealt had eaten up nearly half his Recovery.
Kaylithya scoffed. “So predictable. Die!”
She shot forward with blinding speed. Ray had gotten to his feet in time. He ducked under her swing, forcing his wings to push him forward. Just in time.
Kaylithya unleashed Storm Dance.
Blades of rending wind burst out from just behind Ray. He had managed to push himself out of the danger zone. Barely. The wings were still jutting out from his back, and they took the full brunt of the Sylvan’s attack. Compressed air blades shredded them to pieces of flesh and feathers, completely destroying Ray’s self-summons.
The Valorous Back Shield came to his rescue again. Ray didn’t suffer any damage whatsoever. It had said purposefully showing his back to his enemy wouldn’t work, but it looked this specific instance didn’t count.
He supposed he hadn’t meant to have his back facing Kaylithya. All he had wanted to do was dodge.
Still. The skill was strong. Ray was thrown forward, landing hard on the earth.
He turned around. The Sylvan was already closing in, sword raised high to deliver what she believed to be the final blow. And why wouldn’t she? After all, Ray had tried keeping up with her and been outclassed every step of the way.
But he grinned anyway. Surprise. That was what he had to make the most of.
Ray dropped out all the items he had taken from the hoard in his tutorial.
The rings, the other armour set, all the Mana crystals too. He let them all fall before him, even unlatching the Bag of Holding from around his waist.
“Meagre offerings will not save you from certain death,” Kaylithya said.
“Offerings? For you?” Ray shook his head, holding onto his smile. It was difficult to fathom just how fast his heart was racing in his chest. “Nope, this is my shit.”
Kaylithya frowned slightly, then flashed forward to deliver a downward blow. But her sword slashed nothing but air.
Ray had dodged out of the way, faster than before.
[Hoard Defence]
Hoard Defence [Tier 2] has raised your stats by 25% and the Tier of all your spells to this Tier.
Ray grinned. “Sorry to tell you this, but the battle is only just beginning.”