Arthur_Inverse
Hey everyone, I hope you are enjoying the story as always. As of 9/18/2023 I will be going on an extended Hiatus due to changing jobs. From now until most likely the end of December I will be unable to write consistently. What this will mean for the novel is that the upload schedule will be erratic, but I will continue to post until I have reached a certain chapter threshold.
For now I will continue to upload consistently until the book has reached the end of the Second Volume which is Chapter 185. From that point I will only upload new chapters once I have written a fresh chapter for Patreon. Patreon will remain up but only as support until I am able to resume a consistent upload schedule. This means that patreon will still have exclusive access to chapters beyond Chapter 185.
I will continue to write during this hiatus but as I've said I do not know when I can upload due to my new job. The patreon tiers will remain at their current advanced chapters as well, meaning the 1, 7, 9, and up-to-date draft chapters respectively.
I hope you will continue to follow the story through this as I have no intention of dropping it. If you have any questions just drop a comment and I'll answer it as best I can. Cheers.
Drake gasped out in a fit of pain, his body thrown from the tunnel as he tried his best to escape.
[Reprieval Charge Gained]
[Reprieval Charge Gained]
[Maximum Reprieval Charges Stored]
[Reprieval Charge Lost]
“Drake!” Natto shouted in his head, trying to keep him conscious through the pain.
“I know!” Drake shouted back, looking down at the Hive entrance he was just expelled from. A silver-sheened insect slowly walking out of the wrenched open entrance. An oppressive aura that stilled even Drake’s heart as he moved in defiance.
Looking down he spotted Bjorn and the rest of his party fleeing backwards. Hearing a shout from Claire in the distance her face contorted in concern and fear as she screamed his name.
“Fuck,” Drake cursed.
Using a charge, he teleported down next to Bjorn in an instant and fell to his knees in a heap as he scrambled to pull another health potion from his inventory.
“Drake?! What happened? What is- That’s the Prince…. What… What are those Stats?!” Bjorn said suddenly realizing just what they were up against.
“Oh hey, yeah I’m fine, thanks for asking. These grape-flavored health potions have been a great help, think I can get more of these?” he joked as he tipped his head back, downing the vial in one go.
“How can you joke in this situation, bro? That thing is crazy,” Bjorn scoffed, holding his claymore at the ready, the weapon quickly being enveloped in a white aura.
“No! Don’t attack him! He won’t go on the offensive unless you challenge him!” Drake shouted stopping Bjorn.
“What do you mean? Look at you, you’re a mess! We need to get you to Jacqueline.”
“No. I need Claire and Megan right now. If we have any chance of fighting, we need their buffs. Get Julia up here with Tom as well. I don’t know when that prick insect will change its mind and attack again, so we need to be beyond our best if we want to kill it.”
Bjorn clenched his jaw as he watched the Tyrant Ant Prince walk from the entrance down the hill, then seemingly waited uninterested.
“If it isn’t going to attack us, why don’t we just leave?” Bjorn asked.
"He will give chase… He seems to like the hunt, but he won’t attack first unless you turn to run… From what I can get from his Aura and what he’s done so far. He thinks even I’m weak,” Drake said admonishingly.
“With the stats I just saw, I can see why… Is the jump to E-Rank really that great?”
“He’s an anomaly just like this entire hive… He’s a higher-tiered mob from what Natto told me, normally E-Ranked Monsters are strong, but we should be able to fight them on even ground with our stats and classes. I’m hoping with both of us and the buffs we’ll stand a chance…”
“And if we can’t? What then bro?” Bjorn scoffed.
“Then I don’t need to worry about stopping you from reaching E-Rank,” Drake smirked.
Bjorn smiled but kept his eyes trained on the Prince.
“Theo!” Drake shouted.
Theodore had been close by but not invisible as the Prince exited with Drake. Running over from his position next to the rest of the group, he shakily ran up to Drake.
“Y-yes my Lord?”
“I need you to get Claire, Tom, Julia, Megan and Jacqueline here. Bjorn and I need their buffs to deal with the Prince. If we don’t have them, it will be over in a second,” Drake instructed not taking his eyes off the lackadaisical Tyrant Ant.
“A-art thou sure my Lord? Wouldeth it not be safer for them to stay at a distance?”
“I’m sorry to say this, but this guy will chase down anyone that flees. So if we fail here, we’re all dead anyway… Please just bring them here, do not tell them of what might happen. I’ll put my life on the line to make sure all of them are as safe as I can possibly manage. Now get going.”
Theodore nodded and turned on his heels heading for the group slightly farther back.
“It really isn’t moving. Why is it looking at us like that?” Bjorn asked.
“I told you, it thinks I’m- we’re weak… I guess it's just using us to test its new strength? I think it knows something we don’t. I would have expected it to kill us right away and just move on but it's been toying with me… Just like the Goblin King did,” Drake explained.
“And we both know how that turned out huh… That’s good for us then right?”
“Only if it doesn’t decide to do anything as were preparing…. I don’t know how patient it's going to decide to be.”
A few moments later the people Drake called for came up behind them. Some if only reluctantly.
“Drake! Are you ok? You’re hurt! Jacqueline heal him, please!” Claire shouted grabbing onto Drake’s arm.
“You ain’t my boss Claire…. And I can’t believe I agreed to come along just to die to some bloody insect..” Jacqueline sighed.
“You seem rather calm about it though?” Drake scoffed.
“Whatcha mean? I was scared shitless just like the rest of us when the thing started coming out of the hole in the ground! I just rightfully gave up… If you two monsters can’t kill it. We’re bloody dead anyway…” she said dejectedly but walked up to Drake all the same.
Drake waved her off, “I’m fine for now, you’re just here in case anything really really bad happens,” Drake explained.
“And the rest of us?” Julia asked.
“I need you guys to buff Bear and I so we can squash the bug,” Drake said thumbing to the Prince.”
“Are you sure you can even beat it…?” stammered Megan, gripping her staff for dear life as her arms shook.
“Pretty sure!” Drake laughed lying through his teeth.
“Where does that leave me?” Tom asked, holding onto his shield.
“Meatshield,” Drake said flatly.
“Come on! Really?!” Tom yelled.
“Yup! You better make sure you die before any of our supports die or. Well, we all die. Important stuff yeah?”
“Drake! This is serious! You are already… already so injured. Are you sure you and Bear can do this and we can’t just run? Can’t we just get away from here and wait out the tutorial?!” Claire pleaded, her face every emotion of concern and fright Drake could imagine.
“I am serious…” Drake said softly, gripping her hand, “That thing won’t let any of us leave. So I have to kill it. But don’t worry,” Drake smiled as he moved his mask, “I’m not going to let him harm a hair on your head.”
Drake patted Claire on the head, and looked to the others, “That goes for everyone. I won’t let this bug harm any of you. I bet my life on it just like I said. Except you Tom. I might let him hurt you a bit,” Drake smirked, placing his mask back.
“Have I ever told you I hate you!?” Tom growled.
“Probably.”
Claire gripped his arm tighter and Drake looked down into her eyes filled with concern.
“Trust me,” Drake told her, “I’m going to win.”
Drake turned and returned standing next to Bjorn, as the girls and Tom moved back slightly they all began to chant their support spells.
“You ready Bjorn?” Drake asked evenly.
“Don’t you remember what I said, bro?” Bjorn answered his sword again painted in a black hue, “My life’s been one fight to the next. This is just the next fight.”
Behind them, the chanting continued.
“In the name of she who is the light in the dark……..”
“Let my voice rouse the tides, hear the storm that brews deep within my heart!”
“This is going to be harder than when you kicked my ass the first time Bjorn,” Drake scoffed.
“Believe me, that first time,” Bjorn laughed, “Wasn’t that hard.”
“Let’s hope you’re telling the truth about that… If you have some secret skill, now’s the time to tell me,” Drake asked evenly lowering his stance as Claire and Megan finished their chants, with Julia not far behind with her barrier spell.
“Foster of Light!”
“Tempest’s Beckoning!”
They both shouted as the spells enveloped both Drake and Bjorn. The Prince finally showed something other than sloth as his crossed arms went to its side.
“It's time to go at it with everything we got! Everyone else get back!” Drake shouted and began to chant his own skills,” “I am the wall on which my enemies billow. Unbreakable! I am the shield, I am the rampart. Bulwark! On blessed wings. Guardian’s Reprieve!”
Bjorn stood stoically as he waited, watching Obiteron closely as Drake buffed up.
Drake flashed in three consecutive shimmering waves of green, as his eyes began cycling through his skills, his aura flexing to the fullest.
“Debuffs don’t work on him. And My aura hardly affected him at all,” Drake whispered over to Bjorn, “My spells won't dent his natural armor, so I’m leaving the damage up to you and your sturdiness. I’ll hit him with a big one once we can break it.”
Bjorn nodded, his stance tightening up as he bent his knees ready to charge.
“My magic won't affect him, but I can at least try to slow him down and keep him contained. Time to pull out all the stops!”
“Heretical Endowment!! Single! Ice!” Drake growled through his teeth, pulling a blue and red vial from his inventory, and downing them quickly as he bent to the ground.
Throwing the vials to the floor, Drake clasped his hands together a massive white magic circle forming below him, Bjorn and the Prince.
“Ryoiki Tenkai. Ninth Circle of Hell!”
Drake’s hands plunged into the ground, ice cascading in all directions as a massive structure of Frozen Waste was constructed around the three of them, flecks of purple glowed in the deep blue sheen of the ice. The Mist from the suddenly cold air covered them in a light fog.
“Don’t worry about it breaking, I put my all into it! Go!” Drake shouted his hair swiftly changing to blue for the regeneration.
Bjorn took the cue, rocketing off from his spot next to Drake, a small dent forming from his step forward.
He quickly got into position right in front of Obiteron, his sword coming down like retribution from the heavens.
But the first strike didn’t hit home. Obiteron raised his arm upwards blocking the blow as the sound of the clashing weapon and natural armor sent out an ear-shattering screech.
Obiteron immediately went for a counterattack this time, his other arm reaching out to claw at Bjorn's side. But Bjorn’s automatic defenses kicked into high gear as it went to grab the incoming clawed hand by the wrist.
Snatching it, they were locked into a power struggle that Bjorn was slowly losing.
Bjorn reassessed as he planted his feet firmly, his defensive skill beginning to ramp up, as his sword hand wound backward, coming back down in a blur of strikes. The Prince’s hand blocking each one as his other struggled with Bjorn’s.
Drake teleported behind Obiteron, using his last Reprevial charge. His hair was now a bright crimson red, as his arm tattoos flared to life and twisted with his Fire Attunement magic, Martial Skill, and infused magic into the weapon.
Throwing his fist forward at Obiteron’s blind spot Drake was sure of landing a solid hit, only to be met with one of the Ant’s four other appendages not busy with keeping Bjorn at bay.
“I’m getting really tired of blind spots not being useful!” Drake cursed recoiling his hand and throwing another forward in a battle of strength and speed with the backside of Obiteron.
Both Drake and Bjorn were stuck in a constant exchange of blows back and forth with the Prince. The Prince obviously playing with them as he stood his ground willingly.
This continued for several seconds until the Prince screeched, his wings unfurrowing, pushing Drake backward and skidding against the icy floor. Bjorn on the other hand was able to stand his ground thanks to his skills, allowing him to bring down one more strike with his white aura-infused sword.
But it did nothing as Obiteron parried the blade with a single finger, the blade instead finding home in the icy ground.
Drake saw the Ant’s arm pull backwards black aura surrounding its serrated fingers.
“No!” Drake howled, his hair changing colors to an electrifying yellow as he rushed forward.
But the Prince was faster as he swiped to the side hitting Bjorn straight in the side.
Drake arrived a second later, his palm to the back of the Prince’s head, a spinning disk of black obsidian earth aimed right at its nape.
“Sables!”
Drake launched the spinning disk, as it connected with the chitin of the Prince’s neck, sparks flying as it eagerly tried to dig into its armor.
But Drake wasn’t allowed to see if the spell dealt any damage, as the Prince gripped Drake’s arm, his claws ripping flesh from it.
The Prince screeched as it pulled him forward throwing Drake over his shoulder and toward the ground in the same direction he sent Bjorn.
Drake carreened through the air colliding with the ground as he skitted to a stop right next to Bjorn.
Looking over Drake saw Bjorn’s shoulder guard completely ruined. Sliced into pieces as blood dripped from his wound.
“So..” Drake huffed, “Fights going well I think,” Drake chuckled.
Bjorn growled instead of responding, getting to his feet as he launched himself forward once more towards the Prince his sword in both hands this time.
Drake pulled two new vials from his inventory, one red and one blue.
“Drake! You’ve already had six in the past hour! You will kill yourself!” Natto implored.
Not if he kills me first. Drake scoffed, pulling the vials in one go.
“Heretical Endowment! Septenarius! Asura! Magma, twofold!” Drake screamed as he stepped forward crushing the ground below him as he charged behind Bjorn for the Prince.
The three clashed again with a thunderous boom, the mist surrounding them scattering as if it feared for its own life as they fought.
Bjorn’s speed had increased now that he was using both hands on his claymore, throwing a flurry of strikes in every direction at the Prince.
Drake followed up, striking from the side in tandem with his own four arms.
But to no avail, they couldn’t land a solid blow on the Prince and anything they did land had little to no effect.
“Drake!” Bjorn shouted.
Drake glanced at Bjorn. Bjorn’s body suddenly becoming enveloped in a bright white aura.
Understanding what was coming Drake stepped in, his hands glowing with dirt-brown magic circles.
“Chains of the Earth!”
Drake’s step-in allowed him to touch the chest of the Prince. One of the two magic circles anchoring there. Dropping down Drake touched the ground with the other, jet-black chains forming from the circles and laching onto the Prince.
The Prince either couldn’t break them or decided to ignore the chains as Bjorn chanted his skill.
“The world has bore witness to my absolute power.” Bjorn muttered, raising his sword, the density of the white mana spiking, “Rend the skies! Heaven Splitting Blade!”
Bjorn brought down his blade on the Prince, the powerful white aura bending the air and light around it as it passed through on its way to the prince.
But only to be stopped by the Prince’s single arm.
Obiteron flexed his wings once more, breaking Drake’s chains of earth with ease.
The Prince was done playing.
Snapping Bjorn’s blade in half with a turn of his hands Obiteron reared his other arm backward and thrusted it right into Bjorn’s stomach and out the other side. Raising him into the air.
“You fucking pile of shit!” Drake shouted, his anger hitting a feverish pitch as he surged forward.
The Prince threw Bjorn to the ground, his lifeless body skidding to the side.
Drake screamed and howled as he threw everything he had at the Prince. Spells and every combination he could think of. Magic-infused fists and spell-covered jabs, but nothing affected the Ant.
Finally, Drake was stopped mid-thrust, his body freezing mid-air.
Drake looked down, a silver arm covered in red protruding from his body.
Looking back up, he saw the crimson eyes of the Prince look back at him as if sneering.
Laughing at him as if they were children playing a game, a joke.
Drake and Bjorn’s struggle where just that. A joke to Obiteron. A worthless, meaningless, inconsequential fight that they couldn’t win.
Obiteron threw Drake to the ground, the ice structure Drake had created shattering to pieces around them as he collided with the floor.
“Drake!”
Drake could hear the shattering of glass as his skills were broken one by one, Natto’s cries being slowly drowned out as the sound faded around him.
He looked up seeing the last glimpse of the Prince before his body was thrown across the ground.
The distant chime of a new notification reached him before his vision began to close in.
[New Personal Quest! Do you seek power?]
[Accept the meeting with the Sponsor]
[Reward: Meeting with the Sponsor. Unknown]
Drake’s jaw clenched as his eyes scanned the surroundings seeing Bjorn’s lifeless body on the ground, Obiteron slowly approaching it. To the side, he saw Tom and the rest of the party holding Claire back from running forward, their faces in abject horror.
In the fraction of a second it took to take it all in. Tears of frustration began forming in Drake’s eyes, one word escaping his blood-drenched mouth.
“Yes.”
Arthur_Inverse
Thank you for reading as always!
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Arthur_Inverse
Hey everyone, I hope you are enjoying the story as always. As of 9/18/2023 I will be going on an extended Hiatus due to changing jobs. From now until most likely the end of December I will be unable to write consistently. What this will mean for the novel is that the upload schedule will be erratic, but I will continue to post until I have reached a certain chapter threshold.
For now I will continue to upload consistently until the book has reached the end of the Second Volume which is Chapter 185. From that point I will only upload new chapters once I have written a fresh chapter for Patreon. Patreon will remain up but only as support until I am able to resume a consistent upload schedule. This means that patreon will still have exclusive access to chapters beyond Chapter 185.
I will continue to write during this hiatus but as I've said I do not know when I can upload due to my new job. The patreon tiers will remain at their current advanced chapters as well, meaning the 1, 7, 9, and up-to-date draft chapters respectively.
I hope you will continue to follow the story through this as I have no intention of dropping it. If you have any questions just drop a comment and I'll answer it as best I can. Cheers.
Drake gasped out in a fit of pain, his body thrown from the tunnel as he tried his best to escape.
[Reprieval Charge Gained]
[Reprieval Charge Gained]
[Maximum Reprieval Charges Stored]
[Reprieval Charge Lost]
“Drake!” Natto shouted in his head, trying to keep him conscious through the pain.
“I know!” Drake shouted back, looking down at the Hive entrance he was just expelled from. A silver-sheened insect slowly walking out of the wrenched open entrance. An oppressive aura that stilled even Drake’s heart as he moved in defiance.
Looking down he spotted Bjorn and the rest of his party fleeing backwards. Hearing a shout from Claire in the distance her face contorted in concern and fear as she screamed his name.
“Fuck,” Drake cursed.
Using a charge, he teleported down next to Bjorn in an instant and fell to his knees in a heap as he scrambled to pull another health potion from his inventory.
“Drake?! What happened? What is- That’s the Prince…. What… What are those Stats?!” Bjorn said suddenly realizing just what they were up against.
“Oh hey, yeah I’m fine, thanks for asking. These grape-flavored health potions have been a great help, think I can get more of these?” he joked as he tipped his head back, downing the vial in one go.
“How can you joke in this situation, bro? That thing is crazy,” Bjorn scoffed, holding his claymore at the ready, the weapon quickly being enveloped in a white aura.
“No! Don’t attack him! He won’t go on the offensive unless you challenge him!” Drake shouted stopping Bjorn.
“What do you mean? Look at you, you’re a mess! We need to get you to Jacqueline.”
“No. I need Claire and Megan right now. If we have any chance of fighting, we need their buffs. Get Julia up here with Tom as well. I don’t know when that prick insect will change its mind and attack again, so we need to be beyond our best if we want to kill it.”
Bjorn clenched his jaw as he watched the Tyrant Ant Prince walk from the entrance down the hill, then seemingly waited uninterested.
“If it isn’t going to attack us, why don’t we just leave?” Bjorn asked.
"He will give chase… He seems to like the hunt, but he won’t attack first unless you turn to run… From what I can get from his Aura and what he’s done so far. He thinks even I’m weak,” Drake said admonishingly.
“With the stats I just saw, I can see why… Is the jump to E-Rank really that great?”
“He’s an anomaly just like this entire hive… He’s a higher-tiered mob from what Natto told me, normally E-Ranked Monsters are strong, but we should be able to fight them on even ground with our stats and classes. I’m hoping with both of us and the buffs we’ll stand a chance…”
“And if we can’t? What then bro?” Bjorn scoffed.
“Then I don’t need to worry about stopping you from reaching E-Rank,” Drake smirked.
Bjorn smiled but kept his eyes trained on the Prince.
“Theo!” Drake shouted.
Theodore had been close by but not invisible as the Prince exited with Drake. Running over from his position next to the rest of the group, he shakily ran up to Drake.
“Y-yes my Lord?”
“I need you to get Claire, Tom, Julia, Megan and Jacqueline here. Bjorn and I need their buffs to deal with the Prince. If we don’t have them, it will be over in a second,” Drake instructed not taking his eyes off the lackadaisical Tyrant Ant.
“A-art thou sure my Lord? Wouldeth it not be safer for them to stay at a distance?”
“I’m sorry to say this, but this guy will chase down anyone that flees. So if we fail here, we’re all dead anyway… Please just bring them here, do not tell them of what might happen. I’ll put my life on the line to make sure all of them are as safe as I can possibly manage. Now get going.”
Theodore nodded and turned on his heels heading for the group slightly farther back.
“It really isn’t moving. Why is it looking at us like that?” Bjorn asked.
“I told you, it thinks I’m- we’re weak… I guess it's just using us to test its new strength? I think it knows something we don’t. I would have expected it to kill us right away and just move on but it's been toying with me… Just like the Goblin King did,” Drake explained.
“And we both know how that turned out huh… That’s good for us then right?”
“Only if it doesn’t decide to do anything as were preparing…. I don’t know how patient it's going to decide to be.”
A few moments later the people Drake called for came up behind them. Some if only reluctantly.
“Drake! Are you ok? You’re hurt! Jacqueline heal him, please!” Claire shouted grabbing onto Drake’s arm.
“You ain’t my boss Claire…. And I can’t believe I agreed to come along just to die to some bloody insect..” Jacqueline sighed.
“You seem rather calm about it though?” Drake scoffed.
“Whatcha mean? I was scared shitless just like the rest of us when the thing started coming out of the hole in the ground! I just rightfully gave up… If you two monsters can’t kill it. We’re bloody dead anyway…” she said dejectedly but walked up to Drake all the same.
Drake waved her off, “I’m fine for now, you’re just here in case anything really really bad happens,” Drake explained.
“And the rest of us?” Julia asked.
“I need you guys to buff Bear and I so we can squash the bug,” Drake said thumbing to the Prince.”
“Are you sure you can even beat it…?” stammered Megan, gripping her staff for dear life as her arms shook.
“Pretty sure!” Drake laughed lying through his teeth.
“Where does that leave me?” Tom asked, holding onto his shield.
“Meatshield,” Drake said flatly.
“Come on! Really?!” Tom yelled.
“Yup! You better make sure you die before any of our supports die or. Well, we all die. Important stuff yeah?”
“Drake! This is serious! You are already… already so injured. Are you sure you and Bear can do this and we can’t just run? Can’t we just get away from here and wait out the tutorial?!” Claire pleaded, her face every emotion of concern and fright Drake could imagine.
“I am serious…” Drake said softly, gripping her hand, “That thing won’t let any of us leave. So I have to kill it. But don’t worry,” Drake smiled as he moved his mask, “I’m not going to let him harm a hair on your head.”
Drake patted Claire on the head, and looked to the others, “That goes for everyone. I won’t let this bug harm any of you. I bet my life on it just like I said. Except you Tom. I might let him hurt you a bit,” Drake smirked, placing his mask back.
“Have I ever told you I hate you!?” Tom growled.
“Probably.”
Claire gripped his arm tighter and Drake looked down into her eyes filled with concern.
“Trust me,” Drake told her, “I’m going to win.”
Drake turned and returned standing next to Bjorn, as the girls and Tom moved back slightly they all began to chant their support spells.
“You ready Bjorn?” Drake asked evenly.
“Don’t you remember what I said, bro?” Bjorn answered his sword again painted in a black hue, “My life’s been one fight to the next. This is just the next fight.”
Behind them, the chanting continued.
“In the name of she who is the light in the dark……..”
“Let my voice rouse the tides, hear the storm that brews deep within my heart!”
“This is going to be harder than when you kicked my ass the first time Bjorn,” Drake scoffed.
“Believe me, that first time,” Bjorn laughed, “Wasn’t that hard.”
“Let’s hope you’re telling the truth about that… If you have some secret skill, now’s the time to tell me,” Drake asked evenly lowering his stance as Claire and Megan finished their chants, with Julia not far behind with her barrier spell.
“Foster of Light!”
“Tempest’s Beckoning!”
They both shouted as the spells enveloped both Drake and Bjorn. The Prince finally showed something other than sloth as his crossed arms went to its side.
“It's time to go at it with everything we got! Everyone else get back!” Drake shouted and began to chant his own skills,” “I am the wall on which my enemies billow. Unbreakable! I am the shield, I am the rampart. Bulwark! On blessed wings. Guardian’s Reprieve!”
Bjorn stood stoically as he waited, watching Obiteron closely as Drake buffed up.
Drake flashed in three consecutive shimmering waves of green, as his eyes began cycling through his skills, his aura flexing to the fullest.
“Debuffs don’t work on him. And My aura hardly affected him at all,” Drake whispered over to Bjorn, “My spells won't dent his natural armor, so I’m leaving the damage up to you and your sturdiness. I’ll hit him with a big one once we can break it.”
Bjorn nodded, his stance tightening up as he bent his knees ready to charge.
“My magic won't affect him, but I can at least try to slow him down and keep him contained. Time to pull out all the stops!”
“Heretical Endowment!! Single! Ice!” Drake growled through his teeth, pulling a blue and red vial from his inventory, and downing them quickly as he bent to the ground.
Throwing the vials to the floor, Drake clasped his hands together a massive white magic circle forming below him, Bjorn and the Prince.
“Ryoiki Tenkai. Ninth Circle of Hell!”
Drake’s hands plunged into the ground, ice cascading in all directions as a massive structure of Frozen Waste was constructed around the three of them, flecks of purple glowed in the deep blue sheen of the ice. The Mist from the suddenly cold air covered them in a light fog.
“Don’t worry about it breaking, I put my all into it! Go!” Drake shouted his hair swiftly changing to blue for the regeneration.
Bjorn took the cue, rocketing off from his spot next to Drake, a small dent forming from his step forward.
He quickly got into position right in front of Obiteron, his sword coming down like retribution from the heavens.
But the first strike didn’t hit home. Obiteron raised his arm upwards blocking the blow as the sound of the clashing weapon and natural armor sent out an ear-shattering screech.
Obiteron immediately went for a counterattack this time, his other arm reaching out to claw at Bjorn's side. But Bjorn’s automatic defenses kicked into high gear as it went to grab the incoming clawed hand by the wrist.
Snatching it, they were locked into a power struggle that Bjorn was slowly losing.
Bjorn reassessed as he planted his feet firmly, his defensive skill beginning to ramp up, as his sword hand wound backward, coming back down in a blur of strikes. The Prince’s hand blocking each one as his other struggled with Bjorn’s.
Drake teleported behind Obiteron, using his last Reprevial charge. His hair was now a bright crimson red, as his arm tattoos flared to life and twisted with his Fire Attunement magic, Martial Skill, and infused magic into the weapon.
Throwing his fist forward at Obiteron’s blind spot Drake was sure of landing a solid hit, only to be met with one of the Ant’s four other appendages not busy with keeping Bjorn at bay.
“I’m getting really tired of blind spots not being useful!” Drake cursed recoiling his hand and throwing another forward in a battle of strength and speed with the backside of Obiteron.
Both Drake and Bjorn were stuck in a constant exchange of blows back and forth with the Prince. The Prince obviously playing with them as he stood his ground willingly.
This continued for several seconds until the Prince screeched, his wings unfurrowing, pushing Drake backward and skidding against the icy floor. Bjorn on the other hand was able to stand his ground thanks to his skills, allowing him to bring down one more strike with his white aura-infused sword.
But it did nothing as Obiteron parried the blade with a single finger, the blade instead finding home in the icy ground.
Drake saw the Ant’s arm pull backwards black aura surrounding its serrated fingers.
“No!” Drake howled, his hair changing colors to an electrifying yellow as he rushed forward.
But the Prince was faster as he swiped to the side hitting Bjorn straight in the side.
Drake arrived a second later, his palm to the back of the Prince’s head, a spinning disk of black obsidian earth aimed right at its nape.
“Sables!”
Drake launched the spinning disk, as it connected with the chitin of the Prince’s neck, sparks flying as it eagerly tried to dig into its armor.
But Drake wasn’t allowed to see if the spell dealt any damage, as the Prince gripped Drake’s arm, his claws ripping flesh from it.
The Prince screeched as it pulled him forward throwing Drake over his shoulder and toward the ground in the same direction he sent Bjorn.
Drake carreened through the air colliding with the ground as he skitted to a stop right next to Bjorn.
Looking over Drake saw Bjorn’s shoulder guard completely ruined. Sliced into pieces as blood dripped from his wound.
“So..” Drake huffed, “Fights going well I think,” Drake chuckled.
Bjorn growled instead of responding, getting to his feet as he launched himself forward once more towards the Prince his sword in both hands this time.
Drake pulled two new vials from his inventory, one red and one blue.
“Drake! You’ve already had six in the past hour! You will kill yourself!” Natto implored.
Not if he kills me first. Drake scoffed, pulling the vials in one go.
“Heretical Endowment! Septenarius! Asura! Magma, twofold!” Drake screamed as he stepped forward crushing the ground below him as he charged behind Bjorn for the Prince.
The three clashed again with a thunderous boom, the mist surrounding them scattering as if it feared for its own life as they fought.
Bjorn’s speed had increased now that he was using both hands on his claymore, throwing a flurry of strikes in every direction at the Prince.
Drake followed up, striking from the side in tandem with his own four arms.
But to no avail, they couldn’t land a solid blow on the Prince and anything they did land had little to no effect.
“Drake!” Bjorn shouted.
Drake glanced at Bjorn. Bjorn’s body suddenly becoming enveloped in a bright white aura.
Understanding what was coming Drake stepped in, his hands glowing with dirt-brown magic circles.
“Chains of the Earth!”
Drake’s step-in allowed him to touch the chest of the Prince. One of the two magic circles anchoring there. Dropping down Drake touched the ground with the other, jet-black chains forming from the circles and laching onto the Prince.
The Prince either couldn’t break them or decided to ignore the chains as Bjorn chanted his skill.
“The world has bore witness to my absolute power.” Bjorn muttered, raising his sword, the density of the white mana spiking, “Rend the skies! Heaven Splitting Blade!”
Bjorn brought down his blade on the Prince, the powerful white aura bending the air and light around it as it passed through on its way to the prince.
But only to be stopped by the Prince’s single arm.
Obiteron flexed his wings once more, breaking Drake’s chains of earth with ease.
The Prince was done playing.
Snapping Bjorn’s blade in half with a turn of his hands Obiteron reared his other arm backward and thrusted it right into Bjorn’s stomach and out the other side. Raising him into the air.
“You fucking pile of shit!” Drake shouted, his anger hitting a feverish pitch as he surged forward.
The Prince threw Bjorn to the ground, his lifeless body skidding to the side.
Drake screamed and howled as he threw everything he had at the Prince. Spells and every combination he could think of. Magic-infused fists and spell-covered jabs, but nothing affected the Ant.
Finally, Drake was stopped mid-thrust, his body freezing mid-air.
Drake looked down, a silver arm covered in red protruding from his body.
Looking back up, he saw the crimson eyes of the Prince look back at him as if sneering.
Laughing at him as if they were children playing a game, a joke.
Drake and Bjorn’s struggle where just that. A joke to Obiteron. A worthless, meaningless, inconsequential fight that they couldn’t win.
Obiteron threw Drake to the ground, the ice structure Drake had created shattering to pieces around them as he collided with the floor.
“Drake!”
Drake could hear the shattering of glass as his skills were broken one by one, Natto’s cries being slowly drowned out as the sound faded around him.
He looked up seeing the last glimpse of the Prince before his body was thrown across the ground.
The distant chime of a new notification reached him before his vision began to close in.
[New Personal Quest! Do you seek power?]
[Accept the meeting with the Sponsor]
[Reward: Meeting with the Sponsor. Unknown]
Drake’s jaw clenched as his eyes scanned the surroundings seeing Bjorn’s lifeless body on the ground, Obiteron slowly approaching it. To the side, he saw Tom and the rest of the party holding Claire back from running forward, their faces in abject horror.
In the fraction of a second it took to take it all in. Tears of frustration began forming in Drake’s eyes, one word escaping his blood-drenched mouth.
“Yes.”
Arthur_Inverse
Thank you for reading as always!
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