Disclaimer:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 33: A close call

The drake let out a loud shriek and stared at Zephyr with its narrow yellow eyes.

The creature was clearly angry at him.

"You didn't like that, huh? Let me give you some more." This time, he took the offensive and charged at the drake.

The creature was now wary of him and used its wings as a shield.

'Hitting its wings is a waste of mana… I have to get a clear shot at its head.'

Zephyr stopped before the creature and ran around it, trying to find a better angle, but then… he found a giant tail approaching him at great speed

.

"Ah! I forgot about the tail." Zephyr had to throw himself down to avoid being hit.

And then the drake used this chance to attempt another bite.

"Lightning Strike!" Zephyr flipped himself over and shot at the drake.

The creature must have sensed the danger and moved its head to one side.

The lightning hit the scales and burned them a bit, as it did with the wings, but other than inflicting some pain on the creature, the spell didn't appear to have much effect.

'The scales on the head are as resistant to magic as those wings…'

"Oi, Seth!" Zephyr shouted. "How do I kill this thing?!"

The young hunter looked troubled.

"I don't know! All drakes are supposed to be extremely resistant to magic and blades… wait! I remember one story I heard about a group of hunters who managed to kill a drake."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Fantastic, how?" Zephyr asked.

"They were able to drive a spear in between the scales on its chest and pierce its heart," Seth explained.

"That's not very useful to me… I don't have a spear…" Neither did he know how to use one.

"I know… I was just answering your ques—careful!" Seth pointed.

"What the-!"

Somehow, the drake was able to sneak behind him during his short moment of distraction. The creature was smart enough to spot the opening during his momentary distraction.

It jumped up and attempted to grab his head with its claws, but Zephyr used his right arm to cover himself.

However, the drake was not done. The claws closed around his arm, securing it firmly, and then, the creature took off flying and dragged Zephyr along.

"Zephyr, no!" Seth yelled.

"Damn it, let me go!, you ugly beast!" Zephyr demanded. He aimed his free hand at the drake.

"Lightning Strike!" It missed…

He was being tossed around too much, making it impossible to aim.

"Lightning N… wait… status!"

[Status: Zephyr Level 10 (Poisoned) Health points: 16/30 (-1 minute) Mana points: 13/42]

'If I use the Lightning Nova now, I won't have mana for anything else… and the nova from here is unlikely to cause much damage to the drake…'

He felt the claws digging further into his arm. "Ahhh!"

The drake then used its other claw to grab onto one of his legs. Zephyr screamed again.

He was starting to feel weak.

"S-Status…"

[Status: Zephyr Level 10 (Poisoned) Health points: 09/30 (-1 minute) Mana points: 13/42]

'Only have 9 Health points left… and I'm poisoned… I won't last long like this.'

The drake looked down at him and opened its large mouth.

'It wants to finish me off… I have an idea, but I will need more Health.'

He noticed the 5 available points on his status.

'Okay… all to Vitality!, keep me alive!' He hurried to allocate them before the drake could attack.

With the 15 extra Health points gained, he was now at 24.

'That will have to do.'

The drake shrieked and went for a deadly bite to his head.

Zephyr was able to twist his body just enough to move his head out of the way, and instead, he drove his entire remaining arm into the beast's mouth.

The drake immediately closed its jaws, and all its teeth sank into his shoulder and back.

He didn't know how much health he had left, but at least he was still alive.

And the drake was exactly where he wanted it.

"Take this!... Lightning Strike!"

Sparks appeared on the surface of the hand inside the drake's guts.

The beast cried in agony as its insides were cooked to a crisp.

Its claws and mouth opened, releasing Zephyr from its hold.

This came with the expected consequence of falling back to the ground.

He could hear Seth scream his name as he fell. He had been too busy fighting the drake to notice, but they seemed to have flown quite high in that short amount of time.

'Am I going to die like this?' He thought with despair.

He didn't want his journey to end yet… but he could not think of a single thing to do… as he saw the sharp rocks of the mountain getting closer to him.

It was at that moment that the drake must have finally died.

[Level up… status recovery]

The sweet voice of the Goddess resounded in his mind before he touched the ground.

Zephyr hit the side of a rock with tremendous force, making a loud series of cracks.

After that, he continued to fall down the side of the mountain, hitting several more rocks on the way down until he reached a flat area where he stopped.

"Ugg…." He could not move at all. Just make painful noises.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" He could hear Seth shouting.

His vision was getting dark.

'Status...'

[Status: Zephyr Level 11 Health points: 02/45 Mana points: 42/42]

'That was close...' He could barely think. The pain was unbearable, his bones were broken, and he was bleeding profusely.

Seth arrived at his side and tried to cover his wounds the best he could.

His vision continued to darken until he could not see anything, and then, the sounds also started to disappear.