The rock behind him screamed.
Frank didn’t have time to think. Didn’t have time to react. One second, he was hurling himself into the crevice, body scraping against rough stone as he forced himself deeper into the tight space. The next?
The world behind him exploded.
The Young Drake hit the wall like a living wrecking ball, its sheer force cracking the cavern around him.
The impact alone nearly concussed him.
Dust and stone rained down, chunks of jagged debris bouncing off his shoulders, cutting into his arms. The air itself shook, the pressure in the confined space making his eardrums feel like they were about to rupture.
The only thing keeping him alive? A single fact.
The crevice was too damn small.
The Drake couldn’t reach him.
But it was trying.
Clawed forelimbs raked the narrow entrance, carving deep furrows into the rock, talons screeching as they searched for flesh.
It couldn’t fit.
Didn’t mean it was gonna stop.
The beast slammed its skull into the wall again, snapping its jaws, spittle flying in thick ropes. Teeth the length of his damn forearm clamped down on empty space, gnashing violently.
Frank had a second. Maybe two.
Then it’d figure something out.
He had to move.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT DETECTED. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE INCREASING.
----------------------------------------
A deep grinding sound came from above.
Frank’s heart dropped.
He could already see the cracks spreading. The walls weren’t gonna hold much longer.
Which meant if he didn’t get out of here soon?
He wasn’t gonna die to the Drake.
He was gonna get buried alive.
His body moved on instinct, hands slamming against the rock floor. He needed something between him and it.
Something big.
Something sharp.
Earth Magic.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING MANA DEPLETED. Converting Health to complete spell.
----------------------------------------
Pain hit like a freight train.
A deep, ripping sensation clawed through his chest, something vital being burned away. His HP plummeted.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 7015 / 8920 → 6581 / 8920 (-434 HP) Stamina: 62 (Critically Low) Mana: 0 (Depleted)
----------------------------------------
The ground obeyed.
A barrier of jagged stone spikes shot up between him and the entrance, thick and bristling with deadly edges.
The Drake hit it full force.
A sound like wet leather tearing.
A roar that nearly deafened him.
The monster reeled back, forelimb impaled straight through the muscle.
Blood sprayed the stone.
It should’ve stopped.
It didn’t.
The beast snarled, eyes locking onto him through the gaps. It was pissed.
And not slowing down.
It lunged again.
Frank burned more HP.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING MANA DEPLETED. Converting Health to complete spell.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 6581 / 8920 → 6129 / 8920 (-452 HP)
----------------------------------------
More spikes. More walls.
The Drake hit them all, snarling in rage, but this time?
It couldn’t break through.
Frank gasped for air, body screaming from the loss of HP. His vision blurred.
He had to last.
Just a little longer.
Just enough for Aura to finish the job.
But the Drake wasn’t giving up.
And neither was he.
The Drake wasn’t stopping.
The first wall of spikes had slowed it down, but that was it. Slowed.
Not stopped.
Frank’s breath came in ragged gasps, his pulse hammering so loud he could barely hear anything else. His body screamed, his muscles locked in place from sheer exhaustion.
And his HP?
Dropping like a goddamn stock market crash.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 6129 / 8920 → 5712 / 8920 (-417 HP) Stamina: 62 (Critically Low) Mana: 0 (Depleted)
----------------------------------------
The Drake’s tail smashed into the cavern wall, sending a shockwave of rock and debris flying. A sharp chunk ripped across Frank’s arm, opening a deep gash from elbow to wrist.
He bit back a shout.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT USER HP DECREASED: Severe laceration sustained (-124 HP).
----------------------------------------
This was bad.
The Drake had adapted.
Instead of rushing forward, it had stepped back. Its nostrils flared, pupils narrowing as it surveyed the barrier. It was watching. Thinking.
That was worse than blind rage.
It meant this thing had figured something out.
Shit.
Frank’s fingers dug into the stone beneath him. He needed another move. Something to keep it from tearing through his defenses.
Something big.
Earth Magic.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING MANA DEPLETED. Converting Health to complete spell.
----------------------------------------
Pain seared through his chest. Something deep and raw, like a hole being carved into his goddamn soul.
His HP plunged.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 5712 / 8920 → 5260 / 8920 (-452 HP)
----------------------------------------
The ground shuddered, obeying.
Another layer of stone spikes shot up, jagged edges reinforcing the first line of defense.
The Drake didn’t charge.
This time, it swiped a massive claw into the base of the spikes, testing them. The stone cracked but didn’t break.
But the fact that it had stopped blindly throwing itself forward?
Frank’s stomach dropped.
It was learning.
His Aura kept working, the passive damage stacking. But was it enough?
Frank focused, pulling up a status update.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM MESSAGE SCANNING TARGET…
YOUNG DRAKE (LVL 172) HEALTH: 79% (STEADILY DECLINING) STATUS EFFECTS: Aura Damage Over Time, Moderate Bleeding THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME
----------------------------------------
It was working.
Slowly.
Too damn slowly.
Frank wiped sweat from his forehead, heart hammering. He had two options.
* Keep turtling up. Hope the Drake keeps bleeding out.
* Take a risk and burn more HP to force an opening.
The Drake shifted, muscles tensing.
Frank didn’t have time to choose.
Because the Drake had already chosen for him.
It lunged again—
And this time?
It was aiming for the weak spot.
SYSTEM WARNING IMPACT INCOMING. BRACE FOR DAMAGE.
The Drake moved.
Not in blind rage, not in a wild thrash of claws and teeth.
No.
This time, it calculated.
Its eyes locked onto the base of the stone spikes, the weakest point in Frank’s makeshift barrier. Its massive leg muscles tensed, its tail flicking to adjust its stance.
And then—
It slammed down with everything it had.
The entire cavern shook.
The spike wall cracked, deep fractures spreading through the stone.
Frank’s stomach plummeted.
That wasn’t a desperate attack. That was intentional.
It was going to tear through.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING BARRIER INTEGRITY FAILING. ADDITIONAL DEFENSES REQUIRED.
----------------------------------------
Frank didn’t have a choice.
He slammed his hands to the ground.
Earth Magic.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING MANA DEPLETED. Converting Health to complete spell.
----------------------------------------
Pain.
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Deep. White-hot. Almost unbearable.
Like his goddamn bones were turning to ash.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 5260 / 8920 → 4786 / 8920 (-474 HP)
----------------------------------------
More spikes exploded up, layering over the fractured barrier.
But the Drake wasn’t stopping.
It reared back, claws glinting—
And then it came down.
Full force.
The spikes shattered under the impact.
Frank barely rolled away in time.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT USER HP DECREASED: Blunt force trauma sustained (-232 HP).
----------------------------------------
Frank hit the stone hard, chest heaving.
He was losing this fight.
He could feel it.
The Drake wasn’t just stronger. It had more health, more stamina, more raw power. It could keep pushing forward.
And Frank?
Frank was bleeding himself dry just to stall.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM MESSAGE SCANNING TARGET…
YOUNG DRAKE (LVL 172) HEALTH: 63% (SLOWLY WEAKENING) STATUS EFFECTS: Aura Damage Over Time, Major Bleeding THREAT LEVEL: HIGH
----------------------------------------
Frank’s fingers twitched.
Not enough.
It was dying, sure. But not fast enough.
His Aura wasn’t burning it down quick enough.
He needed more time.
And the only way to buy that time?
Blood.
His own.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING USER HP CRITICAL: 29% REMAINING. CONTINUED SPELLCASTING MAY RESULT IN COLLAPSE.
----------------------------------------
Frank gritted his teeth.
Didn’t matter.
He wasn’t dying here.
He slammed his hand down again.
Earth Magic.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING MANA DEPLETED. Converting Health to complete spell.
----------------------------------------
His HP cratered.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 4786 / 8920 → 4352 / 8920 (-434 HP)
----------------------------------------
The ground answered.
A new barricade of sharpened rock erupted up, forming a jagged pike wall.
This time?
It was angled.
The Drake didn’t just hit it.
It skewered itself.
The spikes pierced straight through its shoulder, black blood spraying the cavern floor.
The Drake let out a howl of rage.
And for the first time—
It staggered.
Frank gasped, fingers twitching.
It was working.
The Drake was getting weaker.
But so was he.
And he was almost out of blood to burn.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT USER HP DANGEROUSLY LOW. WARNING: FINAL LIMIT APPROACHING.
----------------------------------------
Frank didn’t have much left.
But he had one last gamble.
Frank was barely holding on.
His lungs burned, his vision blurred, and his body felt like it was made of shattered glass. The only reason he was still conscious?
Sheer, stupid survival instinct.
The Drake was slowing down.
Not by much. Not enough.
But enough to notice.
Its movements weren’t as sharp anymore. Its tail flicked erratically, its balance faltering.
The bleeding. The Aura damage. The constant impacts.
It was adding up.
Frank gritted his teeth, pushing himself up. His HP was in the gutter.
One more cast. That’s all he had left.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING USER HP DANGEROUSLY LOW: 18% REMAINING.
----------------------------------------
The Drake sucked in a breath.
And lunged.
Straight for him.
Frank didn’t think.
Didn’t plan.
He slammed both hands to the stone—
And burned what was left.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING MANA DEPLETED. Converting Health to complete spell.
----------------------------------------
His HP cratered.
----------------------------------------
STATUS Health: 4352 / 8920 → 3670 / 8920 (-682 HP)
----------------------------------------
The ground roared.
A final, desperate row of spikes erupted up—
And the Drake hit them full force.
Its own momentum carried it straight into the jagged stone.
Three spikes pierced through its chest.
One drove through its shoulder.
Another sank deep into its throat.
The monster. Stopped. Moving.
Frank collapsed against the wall, chest heaving.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT YOUNG DRAKE (LVL 172) - SEVERE DAMAGE SUSTAINED. ENTITY STATUS: CRITICAL.
----------------------------------------
Not dead yet.
But damn close.
Frank didn’t have anything left.
Couldn’t move.
Could barely breathe.
It was him or the Drake.
Whoever held out longer.
And Aura was still burning it down.
Frank smirked through the pain.
“Let’s see who breaks first, you bastard.”
The Drake twitched.
It was still alive.
Barely.
Its massive chest heaved, each breath wet and ragged. Thick black blood spilled from its throat, pooling beneath it.
It was trying to move.
Trying to push forward.
Frank watched from where he lay slumped against the cavern wall, body too wrecked to do anything but breathe.
This was it.
Neither of them could fight anymore.
This was just a waiting game.
Aura’s passive damage kept working, biting into the Drake’s health every second.
The Drake’s body gave another violent shudder.
It let out a low, guttural snarl. A sound of pure, stubborn rage.
It knew.
It knew it was dying.
And it still wasn’t accepting it.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING YOUNG DRAKE (LVL 172) - HEALTH 7% REMAINING. ENTITY STATUS: TERMINAL.
----------------------------------------
Frank closed his eyes for a second.
7%.
Didn’t sound like much.
But when you were fighting something this big?
Every damn percent took forever.
The Drake let out a deep, ragged snarl, claws twitching, its legs trying to push against the spikes pinning it.
It was still resisting.
Frank gritted his teeth.
“Just… die already.”
The Drake exhaled sharply, a final burst of defiance.
Then?
It stopped moving.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM MESSAGE YOUNG DRAKE (LVL 172) HAS EXPIRED. Cause: Aura Damage + Environmental Trapping.
----------------------------------------
It was over.
Frank let out a slow, shaking breath.
He didn’t feel victorious.
Didn’t feel triumphant.
He just felt fucking done.
His body wasn’t moving.
His vision was fading.
His HP was still in the gutter.
Shit.
He was about to pass out again.
The system started spamming alerts.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT USER HP CRITICALLY LOW. IMMEDIATE RECOVERY REQUIRED.
SYSTEM MESSAGE MULTIPLE LEVEL-UPS DETECTED. PROCESSING AUTO-DISTRIBUTION…
SYSTEM WARNING NEW SKILL QUALIFICATIONS DETECTED. UPGRADING USER PARAMETERS.
----------------------------------------
Frank couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.
The last thing he heard?
The system losing its shit.
Then?
Everything went dark.
SYSTEM NOTICE INITIATING STANDARD TERMINATION SEQUENCE…
SYSTEM ERROR TERMINATION FAILED: USER STATUS INVALID.
SYSTEM NOTICE USER HP: 0 / 8920 USER STAMINA: 0 (DEPLETED) USER MANA: 0 (DEPLETED)
SYSTEM WARNING USER IS NON-FUNCTIONAL. INITIATING DELETION PROTOCOL…
SYSTEM ERROR DELETION FAILED: USER ENTITY STILL PROCESSING.
SYSTEM NOTICE QUERYING USER’S CURRENT STATE…
SYSTEM WARNING USER HAS REACHED NEGATIVE HP VALUES.
SYSTEM NOTICE ANALYZING CAUSAL FACTORS…
DATA EXTRACTED: REGENERATION ACTIVE → RESTORING HP TO MINIMUM FUNCTIONAL STATE. BLOOD MAGIC ACTIVE → OVERWRITING HP VALUE TO NEGATIVE RANGE. AURA ACTIVE → CONTINUING FUNCTION WITHOUT AVAILABLE RESOURCES.
SYSTEM WARNING CONFLICT DETECTED: USER EXISTS IN A SIMULTANEOUS DEAD/ALIVE STATE.
SYSTEM NOTICE ATTEMPTING TO RESTORE NORMAL FUNCTION…
SYSTEM ERROR FAILED: USER’S PRIMARY RESOURCES HAVE COLLAPSED INTO A NON-SUSTAINABLE STATE.
| QUERY RESULT: NO EXISTING SOLUTIONS FOUND. |
SYSTEM WARNING USER CANNOT BE CLASSIFIED UNDER EXISTING PARAMETERS.
SYSTEM ERROR CRITICAL THRESHOLD BREACHED: SYSTEM RESTRUCTURING REQUIRED.
SYSTEM NOTICE EXECUTING FORCED RESTRUCTURE OF USER FRAMEWORK…
SYSTEM WARNING NEW PRIMARY RESOURCE GENERATION IN PROGRESS.
SYSTEM ERROR ADMINISTRATOR OVERSIGHT REQUESTED. NO RESPONSE RECEIVED.
SYSTEM NOTICE PROCEEDING WITHOUT ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.
SYSTEM ALERT THRESHOLD BREACHED. FORCED SYSTEM UPGRADE IN PROGRESS.
END OF LOG. SYSTEM RESTRUCTURING IN PROCESS…
SYSTEM NOTICE USER FRAMEWORK IS NO LONGER COMPATIBLE WITH BASE SYSTEM DESIGN.
SYSTEM WARNING FORCED RESTRUCTURING INITIATED. PROCESS CANNOT BE CANCELED.
----------------------------------------
PROCESSING…
The void churned.
Something deep in the system groaned, as if it were fighting itself.
Frank’s core mechanics had collapsed, his body stuck in an irreconcilable loop. Regeneration restored him. Blood Magic forced him back into negative HP. Aura refused to deactivate.
Nothing should be functioning.
Yet?
Everything still was.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ERROR CONFLICT DETECTED: USER REQUIRES A PRIMARY RESOURCE FOR STABILITY.
SYSTEM NOTICE QUERYING EXISTING FRAMEWORK FOR SOLUTIONS…
| QUERY RESULT: NONE FOUND. |
SYSTEM WARNING CREATING NEW PRIMARY RESOURCE.
----------------------------------------
A shift.
Something clicked into place.
The system stopped trying to separate his HP, Mana, and Stamina.
If they couldn’t exist as separate pools…
They would exist as one.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM NOTICE NEW PRIMARY RESOURCE DESIGNATED: [ ??? ]
SYSTEM WARNING USER RESOURCE CAPACITY BEING RECALCULATED…
----------------------------------------
Numbers flashed. Rewrote themselves. Adjusted.
----------------------------------------
STATUS UPDATE HEALTH → MERGED. STAMINA → MERGED. MANA → MERGED. NEW PRIMARY RESOURCE GENERATED.
SYSTEM NOTICE USER RESOURCE POOL HAS BEEN GREATLY INCREASED TO COMPENSATE.
----------------------------------------
The system wasn’t fixing Frank.
It was rebuilding him.
Making something new.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM WARNING AURA HAS MET FUSION CRITERIA. EVOLUTION PENDING.
SYSTEM NOTICE AURA + EARTH MAGIC COMBINATION DETECTED. ADAPTING USER PARAMETERS…
----------------------------------------
Everything flashed white.
The reconstruction was complete.
For the first time since the fight began…
Frank’s heart started beating again.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM ALERT USER RESTRUCTURING COMPLETE. NEW PARAMETERS STABILIZED.
SYSTEM NOTICE USER STATUS: FUNCTIONAL.
SYSTEM WARNING ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT REQUESTED. NO RESPONSE RECEIVED.
SYSTEM NOTICE PROCEEDING WITHOUT REVIEW.
----------------------------------------
Frank’s fingers twitched.
His lungs dragged in a slow, shaking breath.
His new resource pool flickered into existence.
The system had changed him.
And it had no idea what he was now.