A duel? With Zirko?! Taka looked to the lizard man, hoping to see that he was joking, but found no relief on his face. Zirko was serious.
Wait just a moment, Taka sent. Let us talk before--
Zirko raised his sword, ready yourself, Sir Filo, Zirko sent back to Taka, not bothering to say the words aloud. The time for conversation has passed.
Goddammit, Taka thought to himself. Was he crazy? Zirko seemed to be opening up about his past and explaining the magic system as Taka had requested, so he thought things were going well. What am I missing? He didn't have time for that right now; Zirko drew a sword from his scabbard, and as Taka focused he saw that Zirko had begun pouring the mana from the ball of darkness in his other hands into the blade The sword shone a fierce shade of crackling purple while Zirko's aura shimmered around him, a significantly darker shade of blue than when they first met.
"Battle magic is a school of magic, not a specific form," Zirko said coldly. "I won't hold back."
Panic began rising in Taka's chest. The lizard man Taka had spent the afternoon talking to seemed to disappear behind a face that was forged in the fire of war. Then, why had he taken the time to talk? Was it a test? Taka looked at the battle mage. The blank expression in his eyes told Taka all he needed to know. I need to get out of here.
Taka opened his status window.
NAME: Filo RACE: High Worm* CLASS: Magic Scholar MAGIC: Earth, Psychic, ë̶͙͈́̋̽̃̽̆v̵̨̡̯̭̭̮̼́ͅi̸̟͓͈̲͋̒͆̐̎̅̇͆l̶̩͉͙͉͕̓̉̓̈́͌, Raw SKILLS: Telepathy, Burrow, Charm, Fear, Mana Transfusion
He had skills, or spells -- whatever they actually were -- which meant he had options. He tried to use the TELEPATHY skill to reach Syla in the castle, but an error message popped up.
WARNING: Skill: TELEPATHY can reach no new targets in range.
No new targets? That's why Zirko brought me out here... Taka mentally kicked himself for his carelessness. He didn't have time to waste beating himself up, so he moved on and tried to use CHARM on Zirko.
WARNING: Skill: CHARM failed; target's MD* exceeds skill's current maximum.
"MD" was highlighted, so Taka mentally clicked on it.
MD: Magical Defense.
This was the first time Taka had seen a reference to a stat that would have a numeric value, or at the very least, a comparison to others abilities... not right now, he told himself. He tried to use the FEAR skill on Zirko.
WARNING: Skill: FEAR failed; target's MD* exceeds skill's current maximum.
No dice... something in the back of his brain tingled a warning: imminent danger to his life was near. Out of something resembling instinct, he used his BURROW skill, and before he could blink, he was a few inches underground in the dirt. He looked up and could see light peering through a small hole -- he had gone right through the bottom of the basket. Sorry, Syla, he thought to himself. A moment later, the basket was disintegrated in a dark blaze of glory as Zirko sliced right through the spot Taka had just been. If he hadn't been underground, he'd be dead. This wasn't a duel: it was an execution.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The heat made him feel like his skin was boiling. Taka pushed through the earth, inching away from the purple flames.
Stop, stop, stop it! Taka heard through Zirko's thoughts. I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it, I need to make it-- And the connection between them was gone. That was not the same, stoic, composed man Taka had been talking to. Something was seriously. Taka continued to crawl away as he slowed his breathing and focused his concentration. Feel the flow of energy, he said to himself in the darkness of the soil. Strands of brilliant light began to dance across his vision, follow the threads, a voice in the back of his mind told him. So he did. Taka stopped moving and poured all of his concentration into following the threads of mana, spreading out through the dirt around him. He followed them up into the roots of the tree that he had been under, threads that had been severed by Zirko's powerful strike.
Good, the voice said to him, now grab the threads and weave them, bend them to your will. And so Taka did. He followed the threads to the burning tree Zirko had struck, and grabbed them with his own mana. A clock chimed in his head and a window appeared.
Update: Magic: EARTH has been awakened. Base EARTH magic skills now available.
Update: Title: PRINCE OF DIRT has been added to NAME.
Taka took the threads in the burning tree and willed them to grab Zirko, and they did. He felt the branches of the tree shoot out and wrap themselves around the lizard man. He jolted in surprise, but the tree was able to get its limbs around him. Taka was about to sigh in relief, but had his breath forcefully knocked out of him by an intense wave of energy. He tried to keep his focus on the the energy in the tree, but it was... gone. The entire tree, all of it's energy, had been obliterated. Taka could sense the the ground above him was no more than scorched earth, for at least a 20, no, 25 meter area around him. It was hopeless. He couldn't hold a candle to Zirko's refined firepower. Battle magic was the real deal, and he was about to be crushed by it.
A hand reached down through the soil and grabbed Taka by the tail end. He couldn't resist, it felt futile to even try. As he re-emerged to the surface, Taka saw the full force of Zirko's destruction. The tree and basket were reduced to ashes, and the ground was black, charred to a crisp. Zirko's face remained the blank as he placed Taka onto the ground in front of him.
"Disappointing," Zirko spit as he raised his sword.
Taka closed his eyes. This was it. As inconvenient as it was being a worm in this world, he wasn't ready to die yet -- he wanted to live. He made a last ditch effort of using TELEPATHY on Zirko, and it worked as his sword began to tremble in his hands.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO THIS ISN'T RIGHT YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T LIKE THIS PLEASE LET ME GO LET HIM GO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO--
The words hit Taka all at once like a truck as Zirko's sword began to fall, but then stopped as a flash golden of lightning hit the lizard man. He tensed up, and fall backwards, sword still clutched in hand. Taka could feel his heart about to pump out of chest. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but it wasn't working. His heart kept pumping, faster than he thought it could. Breathe, breathe, he tried telling himself, but it didn't work. You're alive, you're--
A hand scooped him up off the ground, making him wriggle in surprise and almost fall off their palm. The hand caught him and felt warm. He looked up and saw a teary-eyed Syla, with the goat horns of Vanz'goran poking up behind her head in the distance. Taka used TELEPATHY and opened the link between himself and Syla. and then cast again to create a link with Vanz'goran as well.
"Sir Filo!" Syla cried out, "I'm so sorry, I didn't think that..." her voice trailed off into sniffles.
Thank you for saving me, Taka sent back to both the elf and demon. I'm alright.
Vanz'goran reached the two them, not breaking his stride as he approached, "Sir Filo," he started, "I'm terribly sorry for all that's happened with Zirko. You have my word that I will get to the bottom of what happened."
Thank you, m'lord, Taka sent to both of them. Vanz'goran was staring at Taka with an intensity that spoke of curiosity covering unbridled rage.
I think it's time we have our chat, Vanz'goran sent to Taka.
Agreed, Taka replied back only to him.
"Syla, I'll be taking Taka back with me to my study for a while," Vanz'goran said. "I'll bring him back to your room when we're done. Is that alright?"
Syla was about to object, but something in the Demon Lord's gaze made her rethink her response. "Yes, that's fine." She looked up at Vanz'goran, "thank you, Papa," she said as she gave him a quick hug, then meandered away.
Vanz'goran smiled at her as she left, then looked at Taka. Without a word, he snapped his fingers and they teleported to his private study.
"Now," Vanz'goran began, his gentle smile replaced by a terrifying grin. "Why don't you tell me who you really are?"