Dousing his fire, Richard started backing his way to the steps trying not to wake the sleeping creatures. Every step seemed a hundred times as loud as it had a moment ago. One of the creatures snored again, causing Richard to freeze up for a second until he was sure they weren't going to awaken. Finally, reaching the stairs, Richard climbed down a few backward before allowing himself to turn around and enter the large, dark chamber below. Crouching down on the balls of his feet, he took the first full breath he had since seeing the creatures above and attempted to calm his racing heart. Several deep breaths later he could think straight again.

'I can't catch a break on this trip! Ok. I'm in the den of the creatures we were sent to kill. I'm all alone. I have no idea when the others will get here. Or even if they will get here. Gotta make a plan.' He pulled out the little bestiary Yelxidor had given him and went over the pages about Wyverns again, looking for any edge he could get. It looked like he had very few options. Their scales covered their entire bodies, save for small spots at joints where they thinned to allow more mobility. The scales were very hard and durable, making them extremely resistant to any kind of slashing attacks. The book suggested piercing attacks to try and slide in between the scales where you could. There were also suggestions of using lightning, a high-level spell that Richard didn't know how to cast yet. It was no wonder they had sent a group of strong attackers and support to deal with them. Richard was more sure now than ever that the council had just hoped he would die while doing this task.

He played with a few ideas, trying to come up with something based on his new skills with Kinetic Magic, but he couldn't really see himself outflying them. 'Maybe I can just grab them all with Kinetic Magic and bash them around the cave.' He wasn't sure he could actually grab them all at once though so set that thought aside. He was starting to wish Yelxidor had pushed him harder so he knew lightning spells already. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. 'Wait, isn't lightning just ionized plasma? And plasma is basically just superheated gasses. Right?' It had been a while since he had been in a science class but he was pretty sure that was all correct. Summoning his fire again he looked at the dull red flame wondering how hot he had to make it before it would turn into plasma. He remembered Yelxidor bringing a flame to a bright white before, explaining that most Mages trained for years to get a fire that hot. Richard was not most mages.

'Here goes nothing.' He started slowly feeding more mana into it to increase the heat. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but as he funneled more and more mana into the small ball of fire it started to brighten. And not just in terms of lighting. From the dull red it grew to a bright cherry red. Soon after it adjusted to an almost welcoming orange glow. Richard started channeling his mana slightly faster. The flame quickly jumped through yellow and straight to white. Richard held the fire at this temperature for a few seconds before turning up the heat a little more. The flame burst into an intense blue-white, causing Richard to have to look away. The amount of mana flowing through him at this point was exhilarating. Like pure life pumped directly into him from the universe.

Not wanting to stop, Richard kept pouring more and more mana into his little flame until it pulsed and little bits seemed to drip on the floor leaving burn marks. An incredible amount of mana was coursing through him. He felt like he should be glowing as bright as the ball in front of him. Richard held the ball of plasma for a few seconds attempting to memorizing the amount of mana he had to use to create it, before finally letting it blink out. Thrown once more into the dark after images danced in his eyes. He felt empty, the sudden loss of mana had left him hollow.

Richard waited a minute before channeling his mana again, bringing the plasma ball back much quicker this time, holding it for a few seconds before releasing it. Richard repeated this process several times. Each time he got to the plasma ball quicker and held it a little longer. Richard stopped once he could jump straight to the ball of plasma.

'Not quite lightning. But it should do the job.' As a final test, Richard summoned a plasma ball and thrust it across the room. The ball streaked through the room and splashed against one of the benches on the other side, when it faded Richard brought a normal fire back to assess the damage. The bench was partially melted, scorch marks spread from the center of the bench and stretched halfway up the wall.

"Hadoken!" He whispered to himself, smiling.

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Laying on his stomach and peeking over the top stair Richard saw the mass of shadows that were the Wyverns. It didn't look like any of them had woken up yet. The angle of the light coming through the cave indicated that it was still fairly early in the morning. Richard had decided that his best course of action was going to be attacking while they were still asleep. From what he remembered it looked like there were five or six in this group. He figured he could take a couple out with his plasma attack before the others could figure out what was going and retaliate. Hopefully, he could get another couple while they came after him, leaving him with only one or two to deal with.

Richard took a deep breath readying himself. Standing trying to make as little noise as possible he summoned his plasma ball and shoved it into the middle of the shadows in the middle of the room. Before it hit he summoned a second ball and repeated his process. The first ball collided with the shadowed mass and a piercing scream rent the air followed immediately by several more screams as the ball splashed across several of the others. As the creatures dropped to the ground the second ball crashed into one of them and there was more screaming and roaring.

Richard squeezed his eyes mostly shut as he filled the room with bright fires around the ceiling and walls. It had its intended effect as he was able to make out the Wyverns that weren't writhing in pain flinch and close their own eyes. Another plasma ball and another Wyvern was down. Richard could make out three more trying to open their eyes and find their attacker. Plasma ball. Another one dropped. Plasma ball. More shrieks. The smell of scorched flesh reached him as a gust of wind came through the cave opening. The last two Wyverns had managed to identify Richard as a threat. One roared as the other charged at him, arms folded to its side. Richard got distinct velociraptor vibes as he watched the one charging him opening its jaws wide, ready to crush Richards skull. Richards plasma ball went straight into the mouth of the creature, causing it to drop like a sack of potatoes and roll till it came to a stop at his feet, smoke curling from between his fangs.

The last Wyvern was right behind that one though leaping over its dead companion. It tackled Richard who, thanks to the extra points he had placed in Dexterity and the bonus points he got from Battle Reactions, had just enough time to pull his shield from behind himself and knock the creature away using Shield Bash. It tumbled across the cavern from the strength of his knockback.

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Slashing damage taken! 500 HP lost!

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Richard tried to ignore the painful burning sensation in his thigh but as he fell to the ground, his leg not wanting to move correctly, he couldn't ignore that danger he was in. The last Wyvern had already found its feet and was readying itself to charge at Richard again. Richard shot another plasma ball, but it dodged around the projectile. Richards attack did seem to get the creature to stay back, he could see it thinking about how to handle its injured prey. Richard scrambled backward on his hands, kicking with his legs as best as he could attempting to increase the distance between them. This was the wrong choice however as the Wyvern, sensing his weakened state, stepped forward into another charge.

Richard activated Slow Motion as the Wyvern took its first step towards him. He had lost his main advantage, that being surprise. It was fast enough that it could just dodge around any new projectile Richard sent its way. Richard was injured, and the time it took to heal himself would be as long as it took for the Wyvern to reach him. He needed to figure something out fast.

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As he attempted to increase the distance between himself and the beast a new pain shot through his hand. He had placed his hand in a small pile of rubble from the wall. The jagged shavings had pierced his palm, causing it to bleed.

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Piercing damage taken! 5 HP lost!

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'Damn it!' He thought. It was bad enough he was going to get eaten by the thing he was supposed to kill this just seemed like an insult on top of injury. 'Stupid jagged rocks!' The Wyvern was almost upon him as his thoughts caught up to the damage alert. 'Piercing Damage.'

Less than three steps away from him, the Wyvern was pelted by a hailstorm of dagger-like rocks, each sharp as a razor blade. The majority bounced harmlessly off it's hardened scales. But many hit the weak spots Richard had hoped to hit. It's leathery wings were ripped to shreds, its eyes popped, vitreous leaked down his face. It took multiple jabs to the soft section of flesh where its neck connected to its body as well as the soft platelet and tongue of its widened jaws. Its pained shrieks made Richard feel for the creature. None of the beasts had died a pleasant death, but this one had received the shortest end of the stick.

His chest bubbled, and his arms and legs burned as he gained levels and skills. His spine tingled as well. That was new, but Richard ignored it all and allowed himself to flump to the floor. After several deep breaths, he took a closer look at his leg. The Wyverns claws had managed to slice straight through the leather pants and down to the muscles of his thigh. "Figures they missed the greaves entirely." He mumbled to himself as he started healing his wound. He felt the muscle knitting itself back together as the skin healed over. It itched horribly. He briefly wondered why he could mend an injured muscle, but not his shoulder the previous night. One more question for Yelxidor.

Once his leg was able to support him again, he looked at the carnage surrounding the cave. Six corpses, some still smoking, lay around the large entryway. He had managed to do what was supposed to take a full team of high-leveled, specially selected adventurers. And he had done it all in a matter of seconds. Mostly, by using an overpowered low-level spell.

He had known from the first time seeing Tied to Infinity that he was overpowered. But this was the first time it actually felt like it. He felt for the Wyverns. They hadn't stood a chance. If he had known higher leveled magics they may not have even had a chance to retaliate at all.

'Is it even fair for me to fight things like this?' He wondered to himself. Sitting on a bench he let his thoughts wash over him.

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Richard wasn't sure how long he sat there debating with himself. He finally decided to wait until he could discuss his concerns with Yelxidor. Moving quickly he ducked behind the desk ready to launch more plasma balls if needed. He heard heavy footsteps slowly approaching the center of the room where the majority of the corpses still lay. He attempted to peek through a crack in the desk, he could make out motion but it was still too dark to see any details.

"What could have done this?" Cremias voice was just a whisper, but in the emptiness of the cave, it carried like she was shouting.

"Quite!" Krr'rrk growled as quietly as he could. "It could still be here."

A knot in Richards shoulders released. He knew he could have taken any more Wyverns that had shown up, but he wasn't sure what else might have come in. "It is still here." He said grinning at his own joke as he stood from his position crouched behind the desk. "You should haveSONOFA-! REALLY?!"

"RICHARD! I'm so sorry!" Cremia exclaimed as Richard stared at the dagger she had thrown, which was now sticking out of his upper arm. Krr'rrk laughed uproariously as Richard wrenched the dagger out of himself healing the wound and dismissing the damage alert. Everyone except Krr'rrk was just staring at him as he did. Summoning a fire he came out from behind the counter, he was the only one present without some form of dark vision after all.

"Lad we watched you go over a cliff. How in the realms did you get here?" Rathart asked.

"I got lucky. I just fell into the catacombs under this place." Richard explained.

"Thank the gods for small miracles." Cremia smiled as Richard handed her dagger back to her.

"Like a flaming cockroach." Krr'rrk growled, his laughter finally subsiding. The Dragonkin turned his attention back to the Wyverns.

Eriden smiled at him. "Welcome back." Richard smiled back and nodded.

"Ok stop. Happy as I am that you didn't end up as a splatter on the bottom of the mountainside, didn't you say the bloody thing that did this is still here?" Elrast asked looking.

The mood shifted drastically at those words.

"You did say that." Eriden said eyes wide. "What was it, Richard?"

"It was me." Richard replied. "That's what I was trying to say before I suddenly got stabbed." He winked at Cremia, who looked at the floor abashed.

Krr'rrk snorted. A small flicker of flame curling from his nostrils. "Nice try, Human. But these marks came from something burning extraordinarily hot. You're just lucky that whatever actually did this wasn't here by the time you stumbled your up here." He said as derisively as usual. Unfortunately, Richard saw the doubt in the eyes of the others as well. They may accept Richard as a part of their party after he had saved a couple of them, but he was still just Human. Richard pressed his lips together in frustration.

"I killed them Krr'rrk. Accept it or not, I don't care. But it was me."

Krr'rrk moved faster than Richard could see, digging his claws into Richards cheeks and lifting Richard off the ground. "It's CAPTAIN to you Human. You'd do well to remember that."

"Captain!" Eriden started to intervene.

"Stand down, Elwwayn. I've had about enough of this little upstart Human and his mouth. He thinks we're stupid enough to believe he took out an entire party of Wyverns on his own; then he'll learn that I don't suffer fools trying to con me." He looked back at Richard, who could feel rivulets of blood dribbling down his cheeks and dripping off his chin.

"Let... me... go..." Richard managed to get out.

Krr'rrk eyes narrowed at Richards demand. "Next time you lie to me Human, I will cut your tongue out. And as far as I'm concerned, any time you open your mouth, you're lying." His claws dug harder into Richards cheeks.

Maybe it was just the stress of everything Richard had been subject to in the last few hours, but it was then that Richard decided that he had had enough of Krr'rrk. Without giving it proper thought, Richard pushed Krr'rrk with Kinetic magic, his claws tearing deep gashes into Richards flesh as he was pushed back. Richard summoned enough firelight around the room that it was as bright as noon on a cloudless day. Grunting in pain Krr'rrk slammed against the wall and slowly climbed halfway to the ceiling where he hung, clawed feet dangling off the ground.

"What is this! Find what's causing this!" Krr'rrk was yelling at the rest of the party, who was now on alert, weapons drawn. "And don't think you're off the hook, Human. As soon as we take care of whatever did this, I'm-" Richard shoved a ball of air in the Captains mouth. He hadn't even realized that was something that could be done. It was just something he had done on instinct.

"Richard..." Eriden had finally noticed where the mana that was assaulting their Captain was coming from. Richard held his hand up to Eriden, halting his question.

"I'm not going to hurt him. He's not worth it." Richard approached Krr'rrk, who was railing against the invisible barrier that kept him from talking, and lowered him, looking the lizard in the eye. Krr'rrk finally seemed to understand that it was Richard who was the cause of his current situation. There was more hatred concentrated in Krr'rrks glare than Richard thought he had ever seen in his life. "Now it's my turn to talk, so listen to me, you overgrown newt. I try to be a decent person so I'm going to give you this one warning. You want to hate me? That's your small-minded, bigoted choice. But if you ever lay hands on me again, it's not my tongue that's going to be in trouble." Richard summoned a ball of plasma, shooting it at the nearby wall. Krr'rrs eyes were drawn to the spot which was smoking and melting. "Understand?"