Aurelian set his stance when the Skarnids began their charge and sought out Bahamut with his thoughts.
Are you safe?
As planned I took refuge far above where the flames might have easily come.
I’m going to need help with these things.
The Skarnids’ weight upon the marble and clicking limbs caused the stone to tremble slightly, like the world’s most horrifying cavalry charge. Eight in total came for him, their mandibles clicking in rage and fire still burning on parts of their wounded bodies. Had they surprised him as had likely been planned, they might have been a hopeless obstacle for him. As they were after his explosive tactics… Well, he had a feeling things would be far less difficult than they might have been.
Shall I attack from above?
Try and drop branches on them. Preferably ones you’ve put holes into first.
Aurelian started running forward to meet the Skarnid charge.
Why would… ah. You wish to use the branches as explosives.
Got it in one. Can you do it?
Aurelian’s pace exploded into a full sprint.
Leave it to me. Bahamut said decisively before going quiet with a sense of focus.
Aurelian grinned to himself and used the dragon’s residual confidence to drown out the dregs of terror that threatened to pull at his mind with every inch he closed between himself and the Skarnids. He had seconds at most to plan his attack, and as a variety of ideas raced through his mind he came to a simple realisation: simplicity would be best.
Moments before he would have met the first of the chitinous arachnid nightmares head on, Aurelian threw his weight down and slid under the creature’s massive body in a scream of steel-on-stone. The Skarnid shrieked when its mandibles and forelegs hit only air, and Aurelian focused on his task. His runesword he stabbed upward to slice through the softer under armour of the creature’s belly while at the same time projecting his will into his cycling mana.
“Firebolt!” He snarled out almost immediately, and then followed up with another “Firebolt!” as he continued forward.
The Aspirant-tier runic steel of his blade parted the delicate flesh of the creatures readily enough, and with small enough resistance that it did not arrest his sliding momentum. Even better was that as it was torn open and the black blood and viscous, combustible corrupting essence of its interior spewed forth: Aurelian ignited it.
The moment he was out from under the creature he was pushing his dexterity, acrobatics, and agility to the maximum in order to get his feet under him and half-sprint, half-dive away.
The Skarnid detonated in a concussive wave of liquid flame and body parts.
Aurelian was thrown off his feet and smashed into a violent roll along the marble flooring in the same instant as the other Skarnids recoiled back and outright wailed in agony at the sudden eruption of liquid fire coating their armoured bodies anew, as well as at the sudden wave of force that punched them backward like the fist of an angry god.
Condition: Concussion (Minor)
Condition: Burning (Minor)
Condition: Bleeding (Minor)
That was also when Bahamut chose to drop his payload on their carapaced bodies.
Small logs of essence-leaking manawood erupted within moments of making contact with the still-burning flames on the creatures’ bodies, and more Skarnids were thrown into shrieking disarray as more than one lost limbs or even eyes and — in one case — the stinger atop their tail to the improvised ordnance employed by the young dragon.
Bahamut even had the brilliant or perhaps vicious insight to unleash a carefully targeted beam of flame against the most badly injured of the arachnids; melting through its carapace with dragonfire and causing it to detonate powerfully just like the first creature Aurelian had felled.
Thrown as far away as he was, Aurelian had enough distance to only be treated to another few metres of painful rolling when the second creature exploded, and was able to push himself at least to his knees while his enhanced health regeneration — thanks to the on-going effects of the essence loaf — worked to heal his burnt skin and bruised skull.
A quick feel of his supply pack told him it had endured the damage with outstanding stoicism, and Aurelian breathed a sigh of relief.
Tactician is now Level 10!
. . .
Tactician is now Level 12!
Congratulations, Tactician has reached Novitiate tier!
You have gained Experience!
You have reached Level 19!
Aurelian tensed with remembered pain when the System energy hit him, but once again relaxed when he again recalled that single levels were actually rather pleasant. Soothing, warm, and somehow cooling energy radiated through his body and he felt himself change to account for the increase in his attributes. The percentage modifiers combined with his natural levelling bonuses meant that while the Skarnids were notably distracted by the little dragon and the various pieces of biological ordinance he’d dropped on them, Aurelian was able to enjoy the level up and subsequent body alterations in a few moments of precious peace.
A shaky breath left his lips when the concussion, burning, and bleeding conditions abated and he felt himself grow more physically and mentally capable within moments. He also knew he had several more attribute points, and with only a moment’s hesitation slammed all five into agility. He would need the ability to weave between the attacks of the Skarnids, and make use of his smaller size.
Aurelian pulled himself to his feet, and then hesitated. Agility was good, but there was another option as well… He quickly reviewed what he had available and bit his lip. He had 19 Skill points available, and Dodge was sitting still at level 20. It would cost him ten points to push it to Aspirant tier…
“Fuck it.” He grunted before willing the change to happen.
Aurelian groaned the moment he felt the alteration take hold, and an alert chimed within his mind like a victorious chorus.
Congratulations, Dodge has reached Aspirant tier!
You have gained Experience!
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Would you like to Temper your Body with Dodge?
Y / N
Aurelian immediately selected ‘NO’ and felt a sudden pressure evaporate from his physical self. It had been akin to a soft but persistent squeezing against every molecule of his body, and only relented when he’d chosen not to change himself with Dodge. He had been tempted when Tarixi had first explained how Tempering with a Skill altered and changed the way one’s body was built in strange and still-poorly understood ways, but he didn’t see Dodge as a worthwhile investment. Not for his Aspirant Tempering. Perhaps for his Specialist, if he survived long enough for it.
He chanced a quick look at his character sheet while he readied himself to move.
Name: Aurelian Lucis Imperius
Temper: Untempered (Purified Novitiate)
Core: Calamity Core (Ignition Stage)
Level: 19 | Race: Elysean (L) | Origin: Nephilim (L) | Gender: Male | Zodiac: Dragon (L)
Health: 640 | Mana: 250 | Stamina: 163
STR: (61) 67 | AGI: 55 | DEX: 43 | VIT: (59) 64 | END: 33 | INT: 40 | PER: 23 | WIL: (73) 80 | CHA: 25
Mind Skills: Revelate (E) 9 | Linguistics (UC) 1 | Philology (R) 5 | Exploration (UC) 6 | Investigation (UC) 6 | Dragon’s Resolve (E) 5 | Tactician (R) 12 | Deception (UC) 3
Body Skills: Pain Tolerance (UC) 23 | Longsword Mastery (C) 23 | Running (C) 22 | Dodge (C) 25 | Durable (UC) 22 | Brawling (C) 21 | 14 Fire Resistance (UC) 11 | Lightning Resistance 8 (UC) | Ice Resistance 5 (UC) | Breath Control (UC) 12 | Acrobatics (UC) 21
Spirit Skills: Mana Control (R) 24 | Firebolt (UC) 18 | Shockbolt (UC) 15 | Soul Sense (UC) 6 | Spirit Bond: Dragon (M) 5
Traits: Fast Learner (E) | Dragon Force (E)
Titles: Elysean Reclaimer (U) | Survivor (R) | Mana Savant (E) | Dragon Rider (E)
12% to Level 20
You have 9 Skill Points Available!
You have 3 Skill Upgrade Points Available!
You have 2 Skill Evolution Points Available!
The hateful shriek of the Skarnids snapped his mind back to focus and Aurelian almost cursed himself for his distraction, no matter that it had been barely a few seconds. His body felt… better. Stronger. Lighter. Just barely faster and more nimble. It was exactly what he’d hoped for, and what he’d needed for what came next.
Six of the eight Skarnids remained, and of those six, only three were relatively unimpeded by injury. He could work with that. He would work with that.
Distract them a little longer! He mentally sent to Bahamut while sprinting forward quickly toward the thrashing and snarling arachnids. They were lobbing what looked like globules of acid mixed with corrupted essence at the flying dragon, though the platinum-runed form of his bond was too fast and too naturally capable to be hit by them. He would swerve or bank at exactly the right moment to dodge, though Aurelian noticed the close calls were becoming even closer the longer the stalemate went on.
Hurry. His companion sent back with focused intensity.
The fact Bahamut even urged haste was proof enough of the hatchling’s exhaustion and Aurelian put as much speed into his charge as was possible for his new body. The moment he reached the line of Skarnids he selected his first target — one of the least damaged of the six — and threw caution to the wind. Aurelian’s runesword almost sang when he cut it forward, and before the creature could properly react he sliced clean through three of its six legs on its right side.
The Skarnid’s reaction was much as he’d predicted: it released a shrill scream of alarm and staggered at the sudden loss of equilibrium, but Aurelian wasn’t done. He rolled backward to avoid the monster’s weight crushing him and sliced aggressively and haphazardly upward with his sword to cut through its underbody and most importantly open up its putrid guts.
He felt the surge of Health flow into him from his Leech, and grinned viciously.
Aurelian had already dodged backward and away when the creature collapsed under the sudden blood loss and pain of its wound, and his eyes started searching for the next target.
The other Skarnids had noticed him by then and with the exception of two still attempting to harass Bahamut from the sky, the entire group of remaining creatures turned on him. That included the last two relatively in-tact ones and one of the wounded arachnids as well. By process of elimination, and with a quick glance of confirmation; that put the last two wounded monsters as the ones harrying Bahamut. That was good in its own way.
Are you alright? He sent while maintaining careful distance from the converging Skarnids.
Yes. I will be able to retreat and recover my stamina. A pause followed. Thank you.
It’s alright to acknowledge your limits, bud. Let me know when you’re ready for another round.
Aurelian finished the conversation and was about to start a rapid-fire plan of action when the sound of familiar wails slammed into his awareness. Only instinct and force of will allowed him to avoid turning reflexively to see what he knew had to be undead reinforcements, and a curse tore from his lips. Things were going from bad to worse.
With his options dwindling and no time to lose, Aurelian did the only thing he could: he charged toward the Skarnids.
His new Dodge skill flared to raging life the moment he made contact with the hulking monstrosities, and all thought of easy aggression went out of his mind within moments. The Skarnids were not merely seeking to kill him now out of anger, but out of hatred. He could feel it prickling his Soul Sense like an oozing and corrosive wrongness that sought to poison his spirit.
Each rapid strike from razor tipped Skarnid limbs forced Aurelian to duck and weave in a way that he might not have been able to prior to the mild increase to both agility and dodge. The investment showed its worth in every near-miss, and every carefully articulated movement away from the vicious attacks of his shrieking opponents.
Whenever he could retaliate he did so, and with the intention of guiding the fight so the Skarnids were between him and the undead instead of the other way around. A glancing blow or shallow cut was enough for him to ward off the worst of the assaults before they hit a true rhythm, and on occasion he even managed to cut clean through a limb or land a strike on hardened carapace, which parted like silk before his runic blade.
When an opening on one of the Skarnids presented itself, Aurelian did not hesitate before taking advantage of it and lunging in for a powerful strike toward the creature’s exposed head.
He had been given no reason to suspect duplicity or cunning.
That had been a mistake.
The moment Aurelian lunged for what seemed to be an opportune strike, a flash of pain ignited along his ribs and he abruptly found himself blown off his feet and punted almost twenty metres away toward the burning trees.
The good news was that it was away from the undead and Skarnids both.
The bad news was what his status section showed him.
Condition: Bleeding (Moderate)
Condition: Concussion (Minor)
Condition: Broken Ribs (Moderate)