Jezibel got her newly evolved owl to follow us as the other three returned to the layer entrance to wait for us. Nicotris got up on my saddle and tied herself to it, then held on to it as I took off, with the owl not too far behind us.
“Sooo. How do you intend to swing a sword or thrust a spear from my back? You won’t be able to reach half-way across my body or wings, let alone the enemy. Not unless you create some large, unwieldy weapon.” I asked her as I kept an eye for potential threats and targets.
Nicotris agreed.
“I won’t be using melee weapons on your back. A lance could fit the bill in theory, but you’re not a horse and I have to worry about all three dimensions instead of just the horizontal one, so we’re scratching that. We’ll rely on your claws and fangs for melee defense. I’ll be using my magic, my bow, and my incantations to attack enemies from range and defend you from theirs. That means your ability to deal damage will be important to supplement mine.”
“I am sure it depends on the enemy we’ll face, but it sounds like taking a ranged approach would be best from what you’re saying.” I said, flying over a frost yeti that didn’t seem to notice us.
“That’s true, but I can always get off your back and fly on my own wings if we need to fight separately or needed to rely on melee combat. It’s just that staying together gives us powerful synergy due to my class’s defensive and utility options, including the bonuses I get to mounted combat.”
“Sounds like a solid plan to me. Let’s hope it survives contact with a rank A monster.”
***
We flew around the layer for about twenty minutes, but we did not encounter any rank A monsters yet. We didn’t even encounter any flying rank B monsters.
“That’s weird. We should have found rank A monsters by now. Aren’t they supposed to populate the third layer?” I asked, bored out of my mind.
“They do populate the third layer, it’s just that they’re much fewer in number than the rank B monsters. You don’t run into rank B’s frequently in the second layer, do you?”
“I haven’t been to the second layer often, and I’ve met at least one every single time.”
“Well, that’s just your lu-”
Nicotris’s words were interrupted by a somewhat familiar, yet eerily different screech.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
I instantly turned to appraise the threat. I almost regretted it. The upgrade to my appraisal skill only made me groan further in pain.
[Appraisal Lv. 8] upgraded to [Appraisal Lv. 9]!
[Abyssal Crowned Frost Eagle]
HP: 35735/35735
MP: 12370/12370
SP: 13150/13150
Vitality: 2029
Strength: 1504
Dexterity: 2684
Intelligence: 1571
Wisdom: 803
Racial Traits:
[Frost Beam]
[Soul Damage Infusion]
[Eagle Combat]
[Soul Mark]
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
[Nifelheim]
Skills:
N/A
Titles:
N/A
Rank A creature. The Crowned Frost Eagle is an apex predator that prowls the eternal blizzards of the third layer. With the deadly ability to infuse its attacks with soul damage, even the other frost-adapted denizens of the layer tremble in fear of its already calamitous frost magic.
This monster was nearly two-thirds the size of the regular six-meter-tall frost eagle, with wings to match. The differences ended there; a crown of feathers lined its forehead, and on its chest was an ornate, circular pattern of feathers with a small sapphire-blue gem at its center that held more mana within it than everything within a kilometer.
“Prepare yourself!” Nicotris said, reciting an incantation nearly five times faster than a man with his rear on fire, which was good because the monster prepared to attack us.
I did not have time to appraise the monster’s racial traits as it launched the frost beam attack that its rank B cousin used; the only difference being that this one carried over ten times the mana and nearly twice the speed!
“[Shield of Order]!” Nicotris said, and a massive, decorated gold shield stood between us and the monster’s attack, stopping it dead in its tracks.
I followed up with the [Lady of Attraction] and [Gravitational Multiplier] combo, tying the beast to the ground alongside the natural force of gravity. If anything, mine should be much stronger, and yet the eagle seemed to shrug it off as it dashed rapidly towards us!
“Get away from it, we’re no match up close!” Nicotris said hurriedly, and I launched a fire breath attack before turning around to maintain distance.
“How can it shrug off the weight so easily?! It should weigh several times its original weight by now!” I asked in horror.
Nicotris fired arrow after arrow as the monster rapidly approached.
“Look closely, it isn’t! Just turn to the side!” Nicotris said as she pulled on my saddle.
“Are you trying to get us killed?! If I stop running directly away fro-”
“KIARA, TRUST ME!”
I did as she said and veered sharply to the right.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” the crowned eagle screeched, struggling to turn around quickly enough to follow us!
“It might be strong enough to fly with the extra weight, but it’ll still struggle to turn around with the exponentially higher momentum!” Nicotris said excitedly.
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, but the results are good enough for me.”
I summoned another fire breath and as many mana blades as I could, then launched them at the eagle. They hit the eagle’s back, and it screeched again in pain and fury.
“Do you have any big, ranged attacks to use at that thing? I am lacking in that department right now!”
I circled around the eagle, which was now unable to reach us. If it moved too quickly, I’d turn, and it would struggle to follow. If it moved too slowly, it wouldn’t be able to catch us.
“I have some spells and an incantation, but they’re not ideal. We just need to whittle it down from afar!” Nicotris responded.
I sighed and prepared to do just that, only for alarm bells to begin screaming in my head.
“Watch out, it’s trying something!” I yelled, flying away so quickly that Nicotris was jerked back on the saddle and almost tore the harness off.
Before she could say anything in response, the eagle summoned a small ball in front of its beak which was so dense with mana that it was visible to the naked eye. Nicotris gasped, and I just flew away even faster, to the point where my magic anchors were beginning to tear from the strain.
My regeneration could handle that kind of damage, but not whatever the hells the crowned eagle was preparing.
As I was about to turn my head to look away from the monster, the world lost all sound and color, with only that sphere emitting either. The world slowed to a crawl, as the frost ball was launched from the eagle’s mouth and approached us at a leisurely pace – not that I could move so much as an inch away from it. I’d thought that Nicotris was just as stuck as I was, but I felt her foot twitch on my side.
My head remained fixed as I watched the approaching sphere, praying that [Abyssal Cockroach] would save me yet again. Even if it did, Nicotris would die if I didn’t do anything.
I deactivated the class skills cast on the eagle and activated [Field of Oppression], and [Gravitational Multiplier] in a gamble with our lives at stake.
Whatever that spell did, it successfully kept us in place. We were subject to bone-crushing force, but my regeneration kept up with it, and I’d wager Nicotris’s body was sturdy enough to handle it. Even if that wasn’t the case, it’d be a lot better than the damage that ball could do. It was almost upon us, and it was time to find out if my field would apply to it.
It did.
The ball arced directly below us in a beautiful parabola, flying straight to the floor, and the world went white.
Before I even realized what was going on, my ears were ringing, and my scales were cracking because of the cold. However, I was alive.
And falling rapidly.
I switched off my class skills but ended up crashing into Nicotris’s golden shield anyway.
“Owiiieeee…” I whined and rubbed my right foot, which was broken.
I shrugged it off as my regeneration got to work fixing it. Everywhere around us were large formations of ice crystals, only sparing us and the area directly above us.
“How’d we live through that?” I asked, turning my head to face Nicotris.
“We survived because you redirected its attack and because I summoned a shield below us.” She said calmly, like it was no big deal.
She was also covered in the familiar warmth of her sanctuary spell, which didn’t extend to me.
“And before you say anything, I didn’t have time to cast sanctuary on you as well. Now focus on our opponent, the fight’s not done just yet!”
Her words were confirmed by the screech of challenge coming from the crowned eagle.